In a video, Xbox’s Larry Hryb and Kevin Gammill introduced the device, which began shipping to developers this week. “When we went and kicked off project Scorpio, we actually went on the road and talked to our third party development partners and talked to them about really what they want in a dev kit,” said Gamill. “To get the tools out of the way of the developer and really enable them to create the game they wanted to create and the vision that they wanted to create it in....

Microsoft Dev Box provides developers with a way to create a virtual machine that is configured automatically through the company’s cloud infrastructure. This can be done without needing to setup workstations. With Dev Box, developers can configure their team members and images to allow instant coding on virtual machines. In its announcement blog post, Microsoft provides the following details: “Microsoft Dev Box ensures developers always have the right tools and resources based on project, task, and even role....

With the new build, users will note suggestions for Windows enterprise users, internal bookmarks, and people as they type. “This should make finding and navigating to internal resources, sites, and bookmarks just as easy as going to a public webpage,” explained Microsoft’s Suhel Parekh. “People suggestions will land users on a Microsoft Search in Bing (MSB) results page where they can explore the people card and more.” The features require no additional setup on the part of MSB admins....

With the shopping add-in, users will see a shopping icon when they fire up the Microsoft Edge app on iOS and Android. Clicking the icon moves users to a new page that shows curated products and deals available. Of course, this is not a collection of random products but will be determined by your activity. According to Microsoft, the feature also taps into your device GPS to find deals that are available nearby....

The fresh look will change how users interact with configurations in Microsoft Edge. Currently, the settings options in the browser are located on the right and are accessed via a drop-down menu. When opening this menu, the settings features match the general UI of Windows 10. Obviously, a two-click process to access settings is hardly difficult. Still, Microsoft believes it can make the process more efficient and the results more aesthetically pleasing....

That means users of Outlook on macOS, Windows, Android, web, and iOS can now access Microsoft Editor. Of course, the feature has been available in other Microsoft 365/Office 365 apps – such as Word – on those platforms for some time. “Microsoft Editor is now available across more Outlook apps. Editor will help you write with confidence when using Outlook for Windows, Mac, Web, iOS and Android with a supported account type....

Over the last three years, employee income satisfaction in Microsoft has been on a consistent decline. Surveys conducted internally by the company are published each year. CNBC reports this year’s survey was taken by 86% of Microsoft’s 124,000+ employees. In this year’s Microsoft employee study, 61% of respondents answered positively to the question “my total compensation (base pay, bonus, equity) is competitive compared to similar jobs at other companies”. While this remains a majority, it is a 4% decrease compared to last year’s poll....

Currently, Azure free users get $250 credit for the first month and various free services for a year. As part of the offering, they’ll now be able to deploy RHEL. A similar deal is available to Visual Studio subscribers, who get up to $150 in monthly Azure credit, which can now be spent on RHEL. Strings Attached Essentially, it’s not the no strings attached deal some may be expecting, but it’s a great offer nonetheless....

Microsoft has gained control of six internet domains formerly in the group’s possession, with one pointing towards Republicans. Among them is a mimicry of the International Republication Institute, which holds a board of directors of six Republican senators. Other domains have similarities to senate services and email, the cybersecurity-focused Hudson Institute, and OneDrive. Though Microsoft has of use in attacks, the intent of phishing seems logical. The company’s Digital Crimes Unit now holds the domains, with plans to analyze them....

AfterNow’s Philippe Lewicki spoke to Mashable and described the game: “There’s mapping that’s done with a depth camera that creates a 3D mesh of the world and that’s synced with head tracking.” We have already seen how games can used mixed reality. Pokémon Go is the classic example, but with HoloLens, titles can become even more immersive and interactive. Starting with the Windows 10 Creators Update, developers can build more impressive titles....

Microsoft has a range of options available for government, from its Azure offerings to various collaborations with the U.S. defense department. However, the Washington-based firm also co-operates outwards, with foreign governments. Most recently, Microsoft has partnered with CETC to create a custom Windows 10 image for Chinese government and infrastructure. The move comes after the country denied internal procurement of the OS following Edward Snowden’s leaks. “We have already developed the first version of the Windows 10 government secure system....

Interestingly, Microsoft is sending out two OneNote updates. One is for Windows Insiders, who are getting a slew of preview features to test. A second update is for end users, who are receiving features Insiders have previously had. The updates were announced by OneNote Product Manager William Devereux on Twitter. Here are the features available on the full version of the app for general users: Now you can pin a new page tile to your Start menu....

nsKnox describes its product as ‘the most powerful payments protection out there’. It analyses the data in payment files to detect, block, and alert corporations of fraud in real-time. “The funding will enable nsKnox to expand its global customer base and to further develop its corporate payment protection platform – helping to ensure verified and secure business transactions, mitigate reputational risk and prevent billions in corporate losses,” said the company in a press release....

Microsoft is now reportedly offering employees bonuses if they can specifically help Microsoft Teams “win against Zoom and WebEx for meetings.” A report by Business Insider centered on leaked internal documents details Microsoft’s bonus plans. This also shows the company is clearly serious about overturning Zoom in the ongoing communication app wars. At the start of this year, any thoughts about Teams and Zoom being major competitors were fleeting. Microsoft was driving Teams against Slack for the last few years and Zoom was an also ran with a few million users....

Office 2021 will launch on October 5, the same day Microsoft rolls out Windows 11 to the masses. As always, this is the non-subscription version that is not based in the cloud and is geared towards consumers. According to Microsoft, Office 2021 will be a single use licenses for a single PC or Mac device. The company says pricing will remain the same as the outgoing Office 2019. As for the Office LTSC, it is already widely available and brings Microsoft 365 benefits to regulated scenarios....

Researchers with Proofpoint say the issue stems from an incorrect belief that SharePoint/OneDrive files stored through “auto-save” and backed up in the cloud are automatically protected from ransomware. However, this is not true in many instances, leaving files potentially vulnerable. “Proofpoint has discovered a potentially dangerous piece of functionality in Office 365 or Microsoft 365 that allows ransomware to encrypt files stored on SharePoint and OneDrive in a way that makes them unrecoverable without dedicated backups or a decryption key from the attacker,” claim the researchers....

Specifically, Dutch authorities say a telemetry data function in Microsoft Office breaks GDPR rules. The investigators go as far as to say Microsoft has participated in a “large scale and covert collection of personal data” through Office 2016 and Office 365. Eight points of interest have been identified, including a lack of option to turn off Microsoft Office telemetry data collection. Furthermore, the investigators say they were unable to find any documentation highlighting what data Microsoft gathers....

Those named Microsoft services all have integration with the Autodesk, which is a library for the FBX file format for 3D animations. Among those products are Paint 3D Microsoft Office 2016 Click-to-Run, Microsoft Office 2019, and Office 365 ProPlus. All affected Office products are for 32-bit and 64-bit systems. Microsoft points out the vulnerabilities were “important” and not “critical” even though they would allow bad actors to execute remote code execution attacks through Autodesk FBX....

As part of Microsoft Office Build 16.0.12026.20096, the voice recorder is available to Office Insiders and only for English (US). Like the name suggests, the core of this tool is the ability to record voice. This is in itself an important feature that allows Android users to use their smartphone as a Dictaphone. Of course, importantly any recordings are directly integrated with the Microsoft 365 suite of apps. Aside from the voice recording, the tool also boasts speech-to-text transcription in real time....

The company has had poor form with wearables on the consumer side with the Microsoft Band. Like many aspects of Microsoft, what is happening on the consumer face is not necessarily representative of what the company is cooking up in other areas. A new Microsoft patent application explains how taking blood pressure could be done with a head-mounted sensor. This is something of a break from the current line of thinking....