Intelligent question-answering is one of the most useful and delightful features of search. As a user, you ask a question (e.g., “what are the benefits of eating apricots”) and can get the answer directly (e.g., info about health and nutrition benefits of apricots) at the top of the page without further need to search for relevant content by yourself. The feature aims to direct users to the most concise and precise answers from web documents, thus saving users time and efforts.

English-language question answering from web has been enabled on Bing for several years, and another dozen of languages, like French and German, have been added within the last year. But our work isn’t done – there are thousands of languages in the world! Not all of them have rich enough web content to derive good answers, but for those that do, uses of those spoken languages deserve the same useful, delightful, time-saving experience.

Recently, Bing expanded its intelligent question-answering feature to more than 100 languages, making AI and Bing itself more inclusive and accessible. What is amazing is this is achieved by using a language agnostic approach. In other words, the AI model generating the intelligent question-answering in Urdu is the same one generating the intelligent question-answering in Romanian.  Here are some examples of this experience in various languages (if you speak a language other than English, feel free to give it a try, but be reminded to set your browser to the relevant language):

Here are search results in different languages for “what are the benefits of eating apricots”:
Example 1 – { what are the benefits of eating apricots }
Example 2 – { hva er fordelene med å spise aprikoser }
Example 3 – { какие витамины есть в абрикосе }
Example 4 – { kayısı yemenin faydaları nelerdir }
Example 5 – { خوبانی کھانے کے کیا فوائد ہیں؟ }
Example 6 – { నేరేడు పండు తినడం వల్ల కలిగే ప్రయోజనాలు ఏమిటి }
 
The magic behind this language agnostic experience is the advanced universal deep pretrained models for natural language understanding and the combination of real-time and near real-time GPU model inference to scale question-answering to markets all around the world.
 

Universal Deep Models for 100+ Languages

Recently, multilingual pre-trained models such as M-BERT, Unicoder, XLM-Roberta and Turing Universal Language Representation model (powered by Microsoft latest cross-lingual innovation InfoXLM) have been developed to learn multilingual language representations by leveraging large-scale multilingual corpuses for cross-lingual pre-training. Those powerful multilingual models are capable of zero-shot or few-shot cross-lingual transferring capabilities. However, when shipping the models to 100 languages, the performance on low resource languages may still have a big gap with rich resource languages (such as English). To further close the gap, a series of cross-lingual techniques have been developed such as task/domain adaption, user feedback-based question answering, data augmentation, etc. Powered by these SOTA cross lingual technologies, our question answering system becomes truly language agnostic.

Serving Universal Models at Scale  

Universal models are difficult to serve at web search scale because common approaches to reduce model complexity like distillation can lead to lower quality results. This is especially problematic for question-answering where precision is essential to ensure a positive user experience. However, without reducing model complexity, real-time model inference can take longer than would be acceptable for search engines where users expect fast results.

To address this serving challenge, we augmented our existing real-time question-answering models with a near real-time inference system. This system efficiently runs sophisticated universal models that would typically be too slow for users to generate high quality answers. These answers will be immediately available the next time a similar question is asked.  By combining both instantaneous and near real-time model inference, we’re able to provide more users with direct answers to their questions in the languages they speak. 
 

Summary

We successfully scaled Bing intelligent question-answering feature to over 100 languages and 200 regions in the world. Existing language understanding techniques and platform evolution have made a big break-through for more natural and language agnostic searching experience. We do believe there is still space to continue to improve answers to users’ questions, so stay tuned as there is more innovation to come.

Beyond question-answering, Bing and Microsoft researchers released XGLUE cross lingual benchmark, which aims to help the research community further advance language-agnostic models and make AI systems more inclusive.

Please give Bing intelligent question-answering a try with your language and region setting. We would love to hear your feedback or suggestions! You can give feedback by using either the thumbs up/down button below the answers or the feedback button in the bottom right corner of the search results page.

The latest Nintendo Download update for North America has arrived, and it’s bringing new games galore to the eShop in your region. As always, be sure to drop a vote in our poll and comment down below with your potential picks for the week. Enjoy!

Switch eShop – Highlights

Super Mario Bros. 35 (Nintendo, 1st Oct, free with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription) – The iconic platforming action of Super Mario Bros. gets a 35-player twist in this free-to-download game that’s exclusive to Nintendo Switch Online players. Race against time, defeat enemies and sabotage your opponents in an online* battle to become the last Mario standing. Each player is given the same timed stage, but defeating enemies will earn you extra time while you attack your opponents. With the right combination of speed, skill and strategy, you just might thrive in Super Mario Bros. 35! (Playable until March 31, 2021).

Rogue Company (Hi-Rez Studios, 30th Sep, $0.00) – Rogue Company is now free to play! The fate of the world is in your hands in this third-person, tactical-action shooter. Suit up as one of the elite agents of Rogue Company, each with their own individual set of skills, and save the day in a variety of different game modes. – Read our Rogue Company review and more about the F2P update

Ys Origin (Dotemu, 1st Oct, $19.99) – Enter the World of Ys and discover the epic Japanese action role-playing game. Following a devastating demonic invasion, the twin Goddesses use their magic to bring the inhabitants of legendary Ys safely into the sky. While the demons work to construct Devil’s Tower and reach the humans’ new abode, the Goddesses disappear. As a mighty warrior or a cunning mage, you must seek the Goddesses in Devil’s Tower. Your swordsmanship and spells will help you banish evil from the land of your ancestors. – Read our Ys Origin review

Switch eShop – New Releases

103 (Dystopia Interactive, 2nd Oct, $9.99) – Lily has never been quite like other people. Since she was a child, her wild imagination and strong memory have given her the talent to create her own home. A place in her mind away from the dangers of the world, to keep her dreams and memories safe. But during a night out with her friends, something happened. Something terrible and now her life has changed forever. Help Lily use her imagination to unlock her memories and relive the events of that night.

9th Dawn III (Valorware, 6th Oct, $15.99) – 9th Dawn III is a huge 2D open world Role Playing Game and collectathon dungeon crawler packed full of adventure! Delve into the depths of the darkest dungeons, fighting over 270 unique monsters and searching for vast amounts of loot, treasures and rare materials.

Agatha Christie – The ABC Murders (Microids, 6th Oct, $29.99) – The ABC Murders is an adventure and investigation game adapted from the classic Agatha Christie novel. The player embodies the famous Hercule Poirot in a 3rd person perspective adventure game packed with mysteries. Once again, the private detective will find himself up against a mysterious opponent who goes by the name of “ABC”. Your intelligence will never have been so challenged! You will have to explore many crime scenes in various cities set in beautiful surroundings across the United Kingdom.

Air Missions: HIND (Grindstone, 24th Sep, $24.99) – Air Missions: HIND is an action combat flight simulator based on the Russian Mi-24 Hind assault helicopter, also known as the ‘Flying Tank’. Equip the weapon of your choice!

Animals for Toddlers (winterworks, 24th Sep, $6.99) – Tap the different animals to interact with them and hear their common sounds or other funny noises. Some animals and little surprises are hidden within the game. Can you find all secrets? The game features SIX different locations: Farm, Antarctica, Desert, Jungle, Ocean, and Australia. The game makes use of the touch screen functionality only. So the menu and every scene can be played with touch controls only.

Arcade Archives BURNIN’ RUBBER (HAMSTER, 24th Sep, $7.99) – “BURNIN’ RUBBER” is an action game released by Data East in 1982. Race the course against enemy vehicles, avoiding obstacles and aiming to be first to the goal. Speeding up will make it possible to jump, allowing you to not only avoid obstacles, but also land on enemy vehicles, exploding them to gain points.

Birthday of Midnight (Ratalaika Games, 2nd Oct, $4.99) – From the creators of Midnight, Midnight Deluxe, and 36 Fragments of Midnight comes another round of golf-like action fun! Everyone’s favorite fairy is back and ready to be once again launched into the sky. But as always, treacherous obstacles like spikes, circular saws, and plenty of other dangerous hazards are par for the course. To earn a perfect score you must accurately complete each level in the minimum number of strokes, providing an additional layer of challenge. Do you have the skill to swing for a hole in one?

Candy Raid: The Factory (KR Game Studios, 1st Oct, $4.99) – Candy Raid: The Factory is a retro top-down puzzle and exploration game. You play the candy-happy witch Candy as she uses her elemental powers to solve puzzles and unlock secrets in her never-ending quest to sate her sweet tooth. Glorious retro pixel art in a top-down adventure style. Family-friendly non-violent puzzle action and adventure.

Charterstone: Digital Edition (Acram, 6th Oct, $24.99) – The official digital adaptation of Jamey Stegmaier’s board game – Charterstone! It’s a campaign strategy game with high replayability, where players build the new Eternal City! Build and discover in Charterstone!

Danger Gazers (Ultimate Games, 5th Oct, $9.99) – Unlock new heroes and relics as you try to conquer the wasteland, master the skills, decisions and patience. Luck is not on your side. It’s all about replayability and maximum randomization. Procedurally generated levels? Check. Random map generation? Check. Random events? Check. Tons of guns and items? Double check!

Farm Builder (LAN – GAMES EOOD, 1st Oct, $9.99) – Farm Builder is strategy puzzle board game in which you have to construct farms, roads and surround windmills and water-towers in order to score points. The game is online multiplayer and in each room can play between 2 and 5 people together. The winner is the player who manages to score the most points.

From Orbit (Tentacle Head Games, 6th Oct, $9.99) – In From Orbit you’ll manage the crew of a small spaceship. Stranded deep in uncharted space, they need to make their way home. Journey from planet to planet, each procedurally generated with unique environments, challenges, and alien creatures.

Grim Legends 2: Song of the Dark Swan (Artifex Mundi, 2nd Oct, $14.99) – When a mysterious illness befalls the queen of the Eagle Kingdom, a famous healer is summoned to Eagle Castle to examine her. The Healer’s quest takes a sudden turn when the infant prince vanishes under mysterious circumstances. The queen is accused of practicing dark magic and thrown into the prison tower. According to the kingdom’s law, sorcery is a crime punishable by death. The desperate King, believing his wife is innocent, begs the healer to find a way to exonerate the queen. The protagonist has only one day to reach the ruins of the Swan Kingdom and unravel the mystery behind the ruling family’s curse.

Hot Shot Burn (Forever Entertainment, 1st Oct, $14.99) – Grab some popcorn, invite up to 4 friends, and experience crazy couch battles full of ridiculous flukes and insane skill shots. Can’t invite friends to come over? No problem! Just set up a game night and seamlessly play online. Pick your hero, from an ass-whooping space wrestler to deadly moth assassin and one very confused fluffy alien. Each character has unique skills and playstyles, so find your match and get ready to explode your friends and loved ones for a galactic audience of screaming fans. It’s showtime!

Let’s Sing Queen (Ravenscourt, 2nd Oct, $39.99) – Sing alone or share the stage with your friends in compelling game modes while you follow in the footsteps of Queen, the biggest rock band ever, with the legendary lead singer Freddie Mercury. Let their music take you on a trip through different decades. Master “Bohemian Rhapsody”, challenge your friends to a “Bicycle Race” or rock out to hits like “We Will Rock You”, “Another One Bites The Dust”, “I Want To Break Free” and “We Are The Champions”.

Liege Dragon (1st Oct, $14.99) – With Abigore, the Evil Dragon, coming back to life, the kingdom of Blaze was thrown into confusion. Yuran who has lost his memory witnesses a village being destroyed, and heads for the capital hoping to find something he could do in this time of destruction. Here begins an adventure to find the Dragon Tools of the Three Heroes, to confront the revived dragon and bring peace to the world!

Logic Puzzle Collection: Sudoku – Permudoku – Nonodoku (Diplodocus Games, 2nd Oct, $0.99) – Logic Puzzle Collection is a puzzle game that offers three distinct styles of logic puzzles. In the Sudoku mode, the player is tasked to fill out a 9 x 9 field with numbers from 1 to 9, such that each row, each column and each 3 x 3 sub-field contains exactly one occurance of each of the numbers 1 to 9. Permudoku is a variation of the classic Sudoku puzzle, where instead of numbers, colours have to be placed on a 9 x 9 in such a way that each colour appears exactly once in each column, row and 3 x 3 sub-field.

Make a Killing (Dystopia Interactive, 2nd Oct, $9.99) – Make a killing is an emotional andconfronting, anxiety provoking single-player survival horror game. Played in a first-person perspective, the player takes on the role of protagonist Cole, a man that travels to unhallowed grounds in hopes of saving his brother Jace. Crippled by debt, Jace has been blinded by the pursuit of payout collecting untouched gold deposits, only to fall into the hands of accursed mass murderer Ira King. Despite his noble intentions, Cole has become ensnared in a game of cat and mouse with Ira in an arrangement that will bring about the end.

Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix (Game Mill, 6th Oct, $39.99) – Nickelodeon Kart Racers is back and we’re kicking it into overdrive! In Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix, you can select from 30 playable racers and 70 team members to assemble your ultimate pit crew. Choose your favorites from Nickelodeon’s hall of fame, including JoJo Siwa, SpongeBob SquarePants, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the babies from Rugrats, the cool kids from Hey Arnold! , Ren and Stimpy, Lincoln Loud and his sisters, and more!

Nubarron: The adventure of an unlucky gnome (Ultimate Games, 1st Oct, $9.99) – Gnome, one of the merry and lucky inhabitants of the forest, lost his lucky hat. This unfortunate event turns out to be a little bit more important than it may seem at plain sight. Gnome’s hat was the source of his luckiness and with it gone an unpredictable thing happened. The stormy Cloud formed on top of Gnome taking the place of his hat. Gnome wanted his luck back. And so, a shakespearean drama began…

Orangeblood (PLAYISM, 1st Oct, $19.99) – [199X, New Koza] It’s the end of the 20th century, on a historic timeline different from that which we know. A manmade island off the coast of Okinawa is humming with a dirty, exotic vibe – and it’s awesome! Rust and faded concrete glisten in the morning sun and the late-night neon, showing off the various faces of the island.

Powertris (No Gravity Games, 1st Oct, $4.99) – Powertris is a creative mix of two well-known and well-liked classical titles – Tetris and Pipemania. By placing blocks, the player must pay attention to whether both sides of the system are connected with the sockets on the edges of the screen. During the game, the player will have to make quick decisions as well as use special blocks.

Quell (Fallen Tree Games , 3rd Oct, $7.99) – Quell has been critically-acclaimed for its 80+ levels of ingenious gameplay, gorgeous art style, and haunting soundtrack. The objective is simple: slide a droplet around a layout of obstacles, traps and pathways, until you have collected all the pearls. Underneath this simple gameplay lies a world of intricacy! Quell’s appeal lies in its gentle, soothing mood, which makes it a great way to unwind. Try Quell today, and fall in love with this enchanting experience. . .

Red Crow Mysteries: Legion (Ocean Media, 1st Oct, $9.99) – Your extraordinary gift is also your biggest curse. It is a burden you must bare. The ability to see things others cannot is an unbelievable challenge and responsibility. And evil never sleeps. Evil is never far away. He who has many names, has awakened again – hungry for victory and power. Can you past the test and prove you are the one who will defend mankind when judgment day comes? But, remember, fear is your worst enemy!

Retro Classix Collection #1: Data East (Golem Entertainment, 1st Oct, $19.99) – BAD DUDES: The Bad Dudes must pursue the ninjas through the streets of New York City, a moving big rig truck, a large storm sewer and much more, in order to save President Ronnie. JOE & MAC: Grab your club and get ready to go on a wild, prehistoric adventure with the Cavemen Ninjas – Joe & Mac! HEAVY BARREL: Fight through the enemy’s army and collect pieces for a secret weapon to destroy their underground artillery base. EXPRESS RAIDERS: Save the Old West, with your rifle and your horse, from thieving Train Robbers. SUPER REAL DARWIN: The inhabitants of the planet Lakya unwittingly unleash the planet’s life force known as Evol.

SEGA AGES Herzog Zwei (SEGA, 24th Sep, $7.99) – Eins! Zwei! Drei!” In the murky dawn the tyrant’s troops scuffle towards foxholes and tanks. Taking battle position, they quickly check their equipment and load cannons. Then they hunker down, awaiting the cry: “Attacke!” “Hup! Two! Three! Four!” On your order, rebel soldiers race to their war machines! Jets blast into the dawn, afterburners roaring. Convoys rumble toward the advance bases. Their single purpose: attack! War! – Read our SEGA AGES Herzog Zwei review

Shmubedi Boo (Dmytro Derybas, 7th Oct, $9.99) – Trouble has occurred in the lands of Shmubedi Boo! An evil rabbit stole supplies of apples from the inhabitants of the city. Help stop the villain and bring the stolen apples home.Play with your friends on the same screen. Who will defeat all the bosses and save the inhabitants of Shmubedi Boo?

Smoots World Cup Tennis (JanduSoft, 1st Oct, $9.99) – Customize your appearance! Create your Smoot with your own style, and chose amongst lots of fashion complements and accessories. Prepare for a hard season Beat the 66 tournaments in the World Circuit to be the top 1 in the SMOOT ranking. Defeat all your opponents and be a reference!

Space Grunts (5th Oct, $13.99) – Space Grunts combines fast paced arcade action with turn-based gameplay. The year 2476, Earth’s space-federation has been building moon-bases across the galaxy. One of the newer moon-bases has been sending out distress signals. You play as one of the Space Grunts, a team of “problem solvers”, and your mission is to find your way into the moon-base, and figure out what has happened. Find the lower levels of the moon-base, and get to the core of the problems.

The Last Days (Ocean Media, 1st Oct, $9.99) – Can you defeat the enemy and save the earth? An ancient enemy returns and the fate of the world is in your hands when you play The Last Days. Learn about the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle, and discover clues left by advanced civilizations eons ago. You’re long overdue for a vacation, so you head out to the Bahamas looking for the refreshment of sun, sea, and sand. Your diving excursions reveal mysterious artifacts strangely out of place. Can you piece together the clues in time?

Unlock The King 3 (QUByte Interactive, 29th Sep, $0.99) – New sequel of the successful Unlock The King, now with 3D boards based on Rubik’s Cubes. An originally designed puzzle game inspired by Chess.

WARSAW (Crunching Koalas, 1st Oct, $19.99) – In a city besieged by enemy forces, the only hope for freedom is to stand up and fight with everything you have. Muster every able body to join the Uprising, loot and salvage what you can to arm your resistance and take on the overwhelming enemy forces that dared invade your home.

Activities

• Celebrate the Coziest Season With the My Nintendo Animal Crossing: New Horizons Fall Sweepstakes! – Redeem your Platinum Points at My Nintendo for a chance to win a package of themed prizes, including the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Official Companion Guide and a Nook Inc. Aloha shirt! Show your island spirit any day of the week with some official Nook Inc. style.

So that’s your lot for this week’s North American Nintendo Download. Go on, be a sport and drop a vote in the poll above, and comment below with your hot picks!

Summary: The slice notation list[::-1] with default start and stop indices and negative step size -1 reverses a given list.

Problem: Given a list of elements. How to reverse the order of the elements in the list.

Example: Say, you’ve got the following list:

['Alice', 'Bob', 'Carl', 'Dora']

Your goal is to reverse the elements to obtain the following result:

['Dora', 'Carl', 'Bob', 'Alice']

Slicing with Default Start and Stop Values

Slicing is a concept to carve out a substring from a given string.

Use slicing notation s[start:stop:step] to access every step-th element starting from index start (included) and ending in index stop (excluded).

All three arguments are optional, so you can skip them to use the default values (start=0, stop=len(lst), step=1). For example, the expression s[2:4] from string 'hello' carves out the slice 'll' and the expression s[:3:2] carves out the slice 'hl'. Note that slicing works the same for lists and strings.

You can use a negative step size (e.g., -1) to slice from the right to the left in inverse order. Here’s how you can use this to reverse a list in Python:

# Reverse a List with Slicing

names = ['Alice', 'Bob', 'Carl', 'Dora']

names = names[::-1]

print(names)

# ['Dora', 'Carl', 'Bob', 'Alice']

Python masters know slicing from the inside out. Do you want to improve your slicing skills? Check out my book “Coffee Break Python Slicing” that will make you a slice pro in no time!

Alternatives Reversing List

Alternatively, you can also use other methods to reverse a list.

• list.reverse() — Best if you want to reverse the elements of list in place.
• list[::-1] — Best if you want to write concise code to return a new list with reversed elements.
• reversed(list) — Best if you want to iterate over all elements of a list in reversed order without changing the original list.

The method list.reverse() can be 37% faster than reversed(list) because no new object has to be created.

Try it yourself in our interactive Python shell:

Exercise: Run the code. Do all methods result in the same reversed list?

Where to Go From Here?

Enough theory, let’s get some practice!

To become successful in coding, you need to get out there and solve real problems for real people. That’s how you can become a six-figure earner easily. And that’s how you polish the skills you really need in practice. After all, what’s the use of learning theory that nobody ever needs?

Practice projects is how you sharpen your saw in coding!

Do you want to become a code master by focusing on practical code projects that actually earn you money and solve problems for people?

Then become a Python freelance developer! It’s the best way of approaching the task of improving your Python skills—even if you are a complete beginner.

Join my free webinar “How to Build Your High-Income Skill Python” and watch how I grew my coding business online and how you can, too—from the comfort of your own home.

Join the free webinar now!

The post Python Reverse List with Slicing — An Illustrated Guide first appeared on Finxter.

By Anthony Salcito, Vice President, Education

During Microsoft’s recent global skills announcements, it was shared that over 149M new jobs will be created in technology over the next 5 years. While this shows the immediate need to upskill and reskill on technology to fuel economic growth and talent pipeline, the question remains – how we can ensure a more sustainable solution for many years to come?

At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every student on the planet to achieve more. Connected to this mission, Microsoft continues to work hard to spark student interest in STEM and Computer Science and prepare them for a path where technology is a core subject area connected to success in every role in the future.  That’s why I’m excited to share today’s launch of Imagine Cup Junior AI for Good Challenge 2021. This is the second year we’ve run this challenge for secondary students, inviting young and talented minds to come up with ideas to make their world a better place with the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In our inaugural year we celebrated 9 winning teams from the hundreds of students across 23 countries who took part, and I was amazed by the imagination of students, the quality of their ideas and submissions.

Imagine Cup Junior AI for Good Challenge brings new skills to students across all subject areas regardless of their experience in technology. No longer is technology a separate discipline but rather a foundational capability that will enhance every students’ future opportunities, no matter what job role they pursue in their future.  Students aged 13 to 18 can take part, individually or in teams up to 6, by developing an AI concept based on Microsoft’s AI for Good initiatives. These include AI for Humanitarian Action, AI for Earth, AI for Cultural Heritage, AI for Accessibility and new to our 2021 challenge, AI for Health.

While it’s been a challenging year with remote and blended learning becoming a part of many school days for students, we have introduced a number of new elements to Imagine Cup Junior AI for Good Challenge to increase the opportunity for all students to participate including webinars, hackathons and a beginners kit. To get started, educators need to register at https://imaginecup.com/junior which will provide access to the Imagine Cup Junior resource kit which includes:

• Imagine Cup Junior for Beginners Kit – five 45-minute lessons that will prepare students for their challenge submission
• Educator guides, student guides, and slides for the following modules for those who would like to take learning further:
  
  • Imagine Cup Junior for Beginners
  • Fundamentals of AI
  • Machine Learning
  • Applications of AI in real life
  • Deep learning and neural networks
  • AI for Good
• Build your Project in a Day hackathon kit with videos from members of Microsoft’s Education, Artificial Intelligence and Cloud teams. This can be used in class to inspire students and coach them on how to get started, and perhaps even spark excitement to one day work in the field of AI
• Engagement plans for educators on how they can embed the learning within their curriculum
• Access to a series of AI webinars throughout the challenge and regional virtual hackathons for students to build out their projects live

Plus lots more, including challenges using Azure, Minecraft: Education Edition, and social kits and templates to celebrate taking part.

We are also empowering parents and guardians to register and submit on behalf of students in the event that learning from home continues, and the webinar and hackathon series will provide inspirational and exciting learning opportunities for students both at home or in school.

Registration opens today and will close May 21 2021. To ensure the privacy of students, all submissions must be made by educators/instructors/parents/guardians on behalf of their students. While we can’t wait to see ALL the amazing ideas of students around the world, Microsoft will be proud to recognize the top ten ideas globally and recognize their achievement with an Imagine Cup Junior trophy.

Challenge rules and regulations can be found here.

It is never too early to get started, and we hope by cultivating student creativity and passion for technology it will spark interest in and support the development of careers at the cutting edge of technology.

Register today at https://imaginecup.com/junior and empower students to truly change the world. I can’t wait to see their innovation and ideas to help positively change the world!

Know your customers like never before

In every industry, we hear about the struggle to transform from a reactive to proactive organization that can respond to changes in the market, customer needs, and even within their own business. When we talk to customers who have rolled out Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, the conversation shifts to the breakthrough outcomes they’ve achieved, often in very short time frames.

Customers talk about Microsoft’s unique ability to connect data holistically across departments and teams with AI-powered insights to drive better outcomes. This is precisely the business need that we identified and addressed with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, Microsoft’s customer data platform (CDP).

Customer Insights has resonated with organizations across industries and, as a result, it’s the fastest growing application in the Dynamics 365 portfolio. Customers such as Walgreens Boots Alliance, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Campari Group, and Dayton Children’s Hospital recognize Customer Insights as a trusted platform to realize business outcomes.

Transforming vision into reality

At this time last year, I described our vision for Microsoft’s CDP, which has become reality for a number of our customers. For example, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights is helping Tivoli Gardens, one of the world’s longest-running amusement parks, personalize guest experiences across every touchpoint—on the website, at the hotel, and in the park. American Electric Power Energy is using Customer Insights to better understand its customer needs, identify gaps in product offerings, and ensure delivery of efficient and sustainable energy solutions. Marston’s has onboarded Customer Insights to unify guest data and infuse personalized experiences across its 1,500-plus pubs across the United Kingdom.

Earlier this year, we announced that Customer Insights expanded its availability to the Microsoft Government Cloud, an environment built to meet the higher compliance needs of United States government agencies. The Microsoft Government Cloud meets the demanding requirements of the United States Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), enabling United States federal agencies to benefit from the cost savings and rigorous security of the Microsoft Cloud.

New capabilities to help customers drive business outcomes

Today, we’re meeting this growing customer demand for the Microsoft CDP by announcing new capabilities in Customer Insights to:

• Deliver the most comprehensive view of their customers with the new engagement insights capability, currently in preview, that enables deeper understanding of customer intent and behavior with cross-channel analytics from their websites, mobile apps, and connected products. We bring yet another dimension to customer profiles though integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Voice. Organizations can automatically augment profiles with survey responses to truly uncover sentiment and drive detailed segmentation of customers, empowering agile actions that build brand loyalty and driving detailed understanding of customers. Furthermore, organizations can enrich customer profiles with proprietary audience intelligence on brand affinity and user interests or using third-party enrichments such as Experian and Leadspace.
• Unlock powerful AI-driven insights through limitless analytics with deep integration with Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics. Organizations can leverage a library of prebuilt AI templates for churn prediction, product recommendations, and customer lifetime value, giving business users the ability to run AI/ML-based analytics on their data for quick insights without having to involve data scientists and IT.
• Drive meaningful actions across the customer journey with turnkey integrations that make it easier to share insights with any application, be it Microsoft or third-party platforms. Customer Insights is designed and built to be vendor-agnostic, from ingesting data from any source to activating insights on multiple destinations including AutopilotHQ, Bing ads, dotdigital, Facebook, Google Ads, HubSpot, LiveRamp, Marketo, Mailchimp, SendGrid, and more.
• Build on our commitment of unmatched data privacy and security by enabling organizations to better control and secure sensitive data with data classification and permissions from Microsoft Information Protection. This allows organizations to configure policies to classify, label, and protect data based on its sensitivity.

Real customers, real insights, real value

Across the world, so much has changed since last year. The global COVID-19 pandemic has impacted almost every organization and its customers. We’ve been inspired to see how many organizations are using Customer Insights to not only survive but thrive through this challenging environment.

In the healthcare space, Dayton Children’s Hospital uses Customer Insights to build a deep understanding of patient interactions across digital applications and in-person visits, and curate a secure single source of truth that complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and other essential regulations. This enables healthcare providers to improve the patient experience across every channel and touch point, helping transform the end-to-end healthcare journey. We are now scaling this use case through the Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare solution.

The pandemic has also had an outsized impact on nonprofits who are facing difficult fundraising environments and reduced government aid; however, the demand for services from nonprofits has never been greater. Innovative organizations such as UNICEF Netherlands are leveraging Dynamics 365 applications such as Customer Insights, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing to increase engagement with high-value donors through personalized experiences and communications. Ultimately, they can raise more funds with precise segmentation and AI-driven insights.

Further, these demands are exactly why we’re launching Fundraising and Engagement for Dynamics 365 Sales, built with MISSION CRM. Nonprofits, schools, hospitals, and research institutions can utilize Fundraising and Engagement to uncover new funding sources, strengthen existing relationships, and drive fundraising efficiency. Dynamics 365, Common Data Model, and Microsoft Azure, bring the most modern digital platform to nonprofit organizations to engage with their donors, design campaigns, manage recurring giving programs and events. Learn more about our commitment to help nonprofits tackle the worlds’ biggest challenges.

Like many other fast moving-CPG companies, Campari Group is using Customer Insights to connect consumer and bartender engagement by integrating bespoke marketing and sales data into a single repository. Campari Group has grown rapidly through acquisitions, each bringing in another IT landscape to assimilate including more than seven martech vendors in the marketing domain. They chose Customer Insights for several reasons, including compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Campari Group’s trust in Azure. Customer Insights unifies all the consumer and business partner data, across regions and brands, to gain a 360-degree customer view. They can now take one standardized approach to calculate CLTV and personalize marketing campaigns that support end-to-end customer journeys across marketing, sales, and customer service.

Learn more about the industry’s top-rated CDP

The Microsoft CDP empowers every organization to gain the most comprehensive view of their customers allowing any business professional the ability to learn from interactions and optimize engagement for delivering personalization at scale. For more information about Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, please visit us online or contact your Microsoft representative.

Watch the Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event today at 9:00 AM Pacific Time to learn about the incredible innovation across Dynamics 365 and Power Platform to help keep businesses moving forward. With updates, insights, and demonstrations from our experts, you’ll learn how to best leverage innovations to strengthen resiliency across your organization. Be sure to review the release plans for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform for details about the hundreds of new features and updated capabilities that will be released as part of this wave.

Powertris, a puzzle game that blends the gameplay of Tetris and Pipe Mania, has launched today on Nintendo Switch.

As you’ll see in the new trailer above, you’re tasked with simultaneously linking falling blocks and making circuits by connecting one socket to another. It’s all about fast thinking as you watch out for obstacles and carefully choose where each falling block should go.

“Powertris is a tribute to logical classic games. By placing blocks, the player must pay attention to whether both sides of the system are connected with the sockets on the edges of the screen. During the game, the player will have to make quick decisions as well as use special blocks.”

The game’s currently available at 20% off, taking its usual asking price of £4.49 down to £3.59. Or, if you happen to own any of the games listed below, you can get it for an even more welcome 50% off:

Get Powertris for 50% off if you own any of the following: Alder’s Blood, Creepy Tale, Star Horizon, Strike Force Kitty, Nonograms Prophecy, Make War, Ego Protocol: Remastered, Pirates: All Aboard!, Dream Alone, Exorder, Rawr-Off, Pool Pro GOLD, KIDS: Farm Coloring, Connection Haunted, Drag Racing Rivals.

What do you think? Will you be adding Powertris to your Switch wishlist? Tell us below.

505 Games has announced that it is bringing humorous, nostalgic narrative platformer Horace to Switch on 21st October and it’s up for pre-order on Switch eShop now.

Developed by two-man team Paul Helman and Sean Scapelhorn, Horace has you take the role of the titular robot in a heart-warming little adventure filled with mini games and nostalgic call backs to gaming eras past. Check out the brand new Switch teaser trailer above (or the Steam launch trailer) to get an idea of its eclectic, eccentric sense of humour.

The game got a warm critical reception when it released on PC last year, so it’s great to see it making the jump to Switch. We’re told that the Switch release will only be available digitally, and will include support for the Switch Pro controller.

Here are some more details from the official PR, along with some screenshots:

Meticulously crafted by a two-person development team comprised of industry veterans Paul Helman and Sean Scapelhorn, Horace is one of the most unique and heartwarming of gaming experiences. The little, big game boasts more than 15-hours of thrilling platforming and adventure peppered with bold storytelling and quirky pop culture references that will leave behind for players a lingering nostalgia for the classic 8 and 16-bit era of gaming. Metroidvania-inspired abilities are unlocked as players progress through challenging platforming areas while puzzles and difficult bosses invite players to further put their skills to test.

Horace is priced at £10.99 / €14.99 / $14.99 on Switch and there’s a juicy little 10% discount for anybody who pre-orders prior to launch. The game has got some very positive feedback on Steam and Metacritic, so you might want to keep your eye on this one.

Played this on PC? Intrigued by that trailer? Let us know below.