The July 2 event will pull together some of the best athletes in the country for the ‘Xbox Gaming Tournament’. Contenders have been chosen via qualifier events last month, selecting eight teams to compete in the 2018 USA Games. Interestingly, teams consist of one athlete with an intellectual disability, and one without. They’ll have to work together to cover each other’s backs, and will be playing Forza Motorsport 7. “Many of our athletes are avid gamers and research indicates playing video games can potentially boost cognitive and motor skills of people with intellectual disabilities,” said Beth Knox, President and CEO of the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games....

Workday customers will now be able to use Adaptive Planning on Microsoft Azure. In return, Microsoft will roll out Adaptive Planning across its global finance division to help with forecasting and budgeting tasks. Microsoft Teams and Azure Active Directory will now tap into Workday apps. “Now, more than ever, planning takes center stage as companies return to the workplace, rebuild supply chains, and in some cases reimagine their businesses in our rapidly changing world,” said Tom Bogan, vice chairman of Workday....

By leveraging OpenJDK, developers can use Java for Windows 10 on ARM 64-bit laptops. Microsoft’s own Surface Pro X is one such device. This port extends from Microsoft’s 2019 acquisition of jClarity, which was purchased to help push Azure optimization of Java workloads. As one of the contributors to AdoptOpenJDK, jClarity was a previous partner of Microsoft’s. In fact, Redmond has sponsored AdoptOpenJDK since 2018. With the OpenJDK port for Windows 10 on ARM, Microsoft says dev’s can run most Java workloads....

“Stop using passwords for your Azure AD account!,“ reads the changelog. “We are rolling out the capability to sign in without a password using Microsoft Authenticator across most sign-in surfaces. Upgrade to this new experience by enabling phone sign-in on your work or school account. You will begin to see a new log-in experience soon!” Users can find more information under the Get Started section of the Help menu, which will explain the new feature....

In fact, Microsoft says the Azure Cognitive Services system can describe images as accurately as humans can. Image captioning allows developers to include automated descriptions of visual content. However, the AI that underpins the tech is unable to patch human descriptions in terms of accuracy. Microsoft’s new system claims to break through this barrier. If true, developers can leverage the system to deliver more accuracy to users through improved descriptions of images....

Microsoft is not part of the group that created Marco Polo, but the company supplies the blockchain underpinning technology. Azure will be foundation of the solution, providing faster processing through the cloud. “It is exciting to be part of the growing ecosystem building trade finance solutions on blockchain. Microsoft is honoured to be providing our global scale cloud as a foundation to R3 and TradeIX to speed this solution to market,” said Yorke Rhodes III, Azure Blockchain Engineering, Microsoft....

According to Bloomberg, all the companies would agree to pay the tax if the bill is enacted. In a joint statement accompanying the endorsement, the organizations pointed to local funds going towards local issues. “We think the most high impact way to contribute to meet those needs is in the form of a new business tax imposed at a reasonable level with accountability for results in homelessness and affordable housing,” the statement reads....

Microsoft is ending support of Windows 7 on January 14, 2020. The company has been pushing users towards an upgrade to Windows 10 and is ramping up that effort. When the cutoff happens, Win7 will stop receiving new features or security updates. This week, Microsoft announced it is now placing a full-screen prompt that warns users about the end of Windows 7. Microsoft is using the warning to tell users about the risk of continuing to use the platform once security support is ended....

The company says that Windows Insiders did not like the app being removed. If you are unfamiliar with the Update Advisor, it allows users to easily upgrade from Windows Phone 8.1 to Windows 10 Mobile. Microsoft watcher Joel Rushworth revealed the app was back on Twitter. As usual, Microsoft did not announce why it was pulling the app in the first place. Windows Insider chief Dona Sarkar has previously said that the company is only going to support new insider builds....

Because this is baked into iMessage, users now don’t have to leave the app to perform Bing searches. The feature is part of a wider update that brings the Bing app to version 6.12. “While sharing a Bing link was a good way to pass along content that users had common interest in, surfing back and forth between messaging friends and sifting through a multitude of movies or restaurants is a hassle....

If you are unfamiliar with Fluent Design, it is Microsoft’s universal design language that it uses across its services. Fluent Design is an evolving UI that Microsoft will add to over time. In terms of Outlook.com, Microsoft has added new icons based on Fluent Design in the main menu of the website. Further design changes away from Fluent Design have also been made. For example, Microsoft says the “New Message” button no longer includes the + symbol and has a new color background....

The update introduces personalized predictions for users. To implement this, SwiftKey looks into predictions based on Outlook email content. Yes, that means you will need to have Microsoft email client to get this new ability. If you are not an Outlook user, the SwiftKey Android update is not a wash out. The release also comes with support for the following languages: Acehnese, Kurpian, Kiribati, Nauruan, Jamaican Creole, Persian (Latin), Mingrelian & Mizo....

The concept behind Windows IoT Core Services is delivering a platform for customers who plan to deeply integrate with Microsoft’s IoT offerings. With that in mind, the service comes with a long 10-year support. Due to its long-term support, IoT Core Services will not be updated bi-annually like the regular IoT Core platform. Microsoft says the Windows Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) allows the company to make a more stable environment: “Devices using the LTSC release won’t receive feature updates, enabling them to focus on stability by minimizing changes to the base operating system....

That R&D has been centered on Microsoft Patents that show the company wants its dual screens to become more advanced. In the latest patent, discovered by Windows Latest, Redmond shows how it plans for dual screens to be used together or separately. As we have seen in several other Microsoft Patents, the idea is focused on magnets. Microsoft filed the patent back in November 2018. “The description relates to devices that can include first and second portions....

“It’s been challenging to continue to lead the Office Experience Organization and dedicate the required time to my rehabilitation,” explained Larson-Green.“It’s going to take some time for my recovery from my spinal surgery but I’m excited to continue to represent Microsoft and push the boundaries of how the company reimagines productivity. I want the best for the team and know everyone will continue to deliver on our vision for Office....

In its announcement, Microsoft calls blockchain a “transformational technology”. The company envisions enterprise customers embracing the security and prediction benefits of blockchain. Coco Framework is an extension of this vision. The system meets all enterprise requirements and accelerates the adoption of blockchain. With the framework, Azure customers get a solution for scalability, security, and governance. Microsoft says the qualities of Coco are achievable without needing to relinquish security and performance....

In its hardware form, the HoloLens 2 has the Snapdragon 850 paired with Microsoft’s own Holographic Processing Unit (HPU). With the new application users will also be able to stream apps from their PC or Xbox One. The app description reads: “The Holographic Remoting Player is a companion app that connects to PC apps and games that support Holographic Remoting. Holographic Remoting streams holographic content from a PC to your Microsoft HoloLens in real-time, using a Wi-Fi connection....

“Product-making is about the relentless pursuit to get all the details right, which takes time…sometimes more than we planned on,” he wrote on Twitter. “To ensure we deliver the best possible experience for you, our fans & customers, Surface Earbuds will now launch worldwide in Spring 2020.” Panay did not reveal exactly why the Earbuds have been delayed. Early impressions noted the extreme comfort of the devices and noted no major issues....

The original loop concept was basically a strap to hold the Surface Pen to the Surface device. It would double as a charging method, but Microsoft has since moved on. Through several new Surface products, the pen has been magnetically attached to the device. Using a loop connection is a redundant concept. This shows why patents do not always point the way to the future. Companies often file patents to cover their bases and protect developments....

The most innovative its Microsoft’s Visual Search, which lets users upload an image to the web to find information. On the surface, it sounds similar to features that have been in Google for years, but it has some interesting new ideas. With it, users can scan QR codes, find contact information, identify landmarks, and more. It draws closer parallels to Google Lens, which recently got an iOS release. Paste and Go for iOS This build also introduces Paste and Go, which many will be familiar with from rival browsers....