The Wilsonville, Oregon facility is closing, but Microsoft insists that it is sticking with the Surface Hub. Indeed, rumors persist that the company is currently developing a sequel to the Hub. Instead, Microsoft says the closure and job cuts are coming as it seeks to consolidate its Surface manufacturing: “We are consolidating our Surface manufacturing. This will result in the closure of the Wilsonville, OR office and factory. We remain committed to the Surface Hub product line and will move forward with Surface Hub development in Redmond,” said a company spokesperson to ZDNet....

According to the company, the Microsoft Store for Business and Education will not be part of Windows 11. Of course, the new Windows versions includes an overhauled Microsoft Store and will launch this fall. So, where does this leave enterprise customers who want to deploy the apps or find business and education apps? Well, Microsoft says from early 2022, those customers can manage applications on devices through Microsoft Intune. Alternatively, they can use their unified endpoint management (UEM) service....

Furthermore, the company says it has editing features in development that will launch soon. To start a longer screen recording, head to Microsoft Stream on Edge or Chrome and choose “Create” and “Record Screen”. When the recording appears, users have options such as mic and audio system integration, the ability to choose what screen areas to record, and using a webcam. If you’re unfamiliar with Microsoft Stream, it’s a a video streaming service that is geared towards businesses and enterprise customers....

A recently published Microsoft Patent points to a potential successor or stablemate of the Surface Duo. However, unlike the two screens of the Duo, this new Surface Phone would have three displays. Found by Windows Latest, the patent describes a smartphone that looks like the Surface Duo but has a thin third display between the two larger displays. If the Duo looks like a book form factor, this third screen would look like the spine of that book and sit on the hinge....

There are several reasons why this is a good move and will appeal to customers. While the Surface Pen is undoubtedly a powerful peripheral and can be used for a multitude of tasks, it is not a necessary component. The Surface Pro 4 works without the pen. If a user is not a designer or has no need for the pen, it is a costly addition. Indeed, the new Surface Pro 4 version sans Surface Pen is $100 less than the same model with the pen....

For the unfamiliar, Sway is a presentation program but differs from PowerPoint in several key areas. It’s primarily a web-based tool with a focus on responsive design, collaboration, and sharing. As such it’s much more restrictive but offers great visuals very quickly. In many ways, Sway is a modern alternative to PowerPoint, and its new features are in that vein. Microsoft’s Sabrina Mohamed calls it “the biggest update in the history of Sway for iOS”....

While coronavirus deaths are around 3,000, the outbreak is already having a significant global impact. As it teeters on the edge of becoming a pandemic, institutions are closing and economies straining. One of the key mitigations to stop the spread of coronavirus is isolation. Whether this is companies closing their doors, schools shutting, or people containing themselves in their bedrooms. To keep up with productivity when isolation is happening globally, many are turning to collaboration software....

The Teams Developer Preview gives dev’s tools to easily create applications for the collaboration platform. Integrating services into Microsoft Teams has allowed the Store to be populated with a decent number of apps. To continue to drive development, the Microsoft Teams platform is scoring new developer tools. However, Bill Bliss, Platform Architect and Head of Developer Ecosystem for Teams admits the company has not always done a good job at keeping track of new features....

With that in mind, the latest major update brings features that cover both workplace collaboration and direct communication. Like we have seen with other recent update, this Microsoft Teams release is extensive. “There is a broad spectrum of needs that are required to connect employees from the worksite to the main office to the home office, across locations and time zones,” Microsoft’s Nicole Herskowitz says. “The spectrum starts with the most basic 1:1 meetings and calls with colleagues, to larger group meetings, all the way to large events and conferences … At the other end of the spectrum, Teams modernizes 1:1 calling with a cloud-based phone system in the same Teams app that keeps you in the communications flow....

In an announcement, Canonical explained the implementation of the Ubuntu Desktop image will allow a smoother experience on Windows 10. Microsoft teamed with Canonical after users’ requests pushed for a better Ubuntu experience on Linux and Windows virtual machines (VMs). It is worth pointing out that the new integration with Hyper-V is still in development. Microsoft says this is just a preview. “With the Hyper-V Quick Create feature added in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, we have partnered with Ubuntu and added a virtual machine image so in a few quick minutes, you’ll be up and developing,” said Clint Rutkas, a senior technical product manager on Microsoft’s Windows Developer Team....

Currently, conversational UI mimics a text conversation. It encourages users to type their query, hit send and receive a popup in the UI like a text message. Then, a digital assistant –in this case Cortana– will respond back to the user in the same way. Of course, voice input will be available just like on Google Assistant. Users can choose between their voice or typing, and the assistant understands both....

According to the Wall Street Journal, CO2 vacuum cleaners are very expensive, which is why they have not become widespread. It is also a nascent technology that takes a lot of energy and is not scalable. However, some companies are big enough to ride these issues and adopt the technology. Microsoft is among those companies and is now investing in the CO2 vacuum cleaner technology. Not much is known about the project other than Microsoft’s involvement alongside Audi....

Before we sharpen our pitchfork for the big cancel Microsoft party, let’s take a look at the joke in question. After a year of millions of people being forced to work from home, Microsoft decided to tweet out the following to those remote workers: “Reminder: build your schedule around meals”. The horror. Now, I guess some of you are like me and may be wondering what all the fuss is about, but ZDNet says the tweet sparked some blow back from the Twitterverse....

Among the new additions of this release is a do not disturb mode. Like it says on the tin, the feature lets Xbox One users mute notifications and other aspects when playing, consuming media and invites. So, if you do not want to get those bings and bongs during gameplay, this is the way to go. To accompany the do not disturb, Microsoft has included an online status. This will let friends and contacts know when you do not want to be disturbed....

As more people look to increase they cryptocurrency investments in hot wallets, cybercrooks will look to target them. Microsoft says cryware is the term it gives the malware category (crypto + malware = cryware). Crypto markets are increasingly volatile and info-stealing malware will seek to gain access to passwords and private keys for hot wallets. If you are unfamiliar with hot wallets, they store cryptocurrency online. The alternative is offline storage, which is a cold wallet....

For example, users can see Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and PDF files in the web version of Windows 10 Whiteboard. The new feature was introduced on Twitter by Ian Mikutel, Senior Project Lead in charge of Microsoft Whiteboard. Whiteboard integrates with the inking capabilities of Microsoft Office to bring content to a screen that can be used by multiple users across devices. Functional locally or online, the service works with mouse, keyboard, pen, and touch....

Many zero-days that are targeted through documents are already patched. Unfortunately, this flaw does not rely on macros, which Office can usually detect and warn users. This vulnerability is deployed when an infected Word document is opened. The Microsoft Word document is created to look legitimate and passed through an email. It downloads an infection in the form of a malicious HTML application from a server. This is designed to look like a Rich Text document file....

Microsoft has largely escaped the kind of controversy Facebook and Google have faced, but still several aspects of Windows 10 privacy have been called into questions. Facebook’s situation suggests users are willing to ditch a service eventually if their privacy is not protected. Project Bali aims to give users more control over their personal data. Microsoft describes it as a personal data bank The solution would allow individual users to aggregate their personal data across websites and services into a single location....

Firstly, to coincide with the launch of the Xbox One X, Minecraft will be available in 4K. Microsoft today launched the Xbox One X, which we have known as Project Scorpio for the last year. The console delivers big time on Microsoft’s promises. It is the first true native 4K console and is the most powerful console ever made. It will launch November 7. Minecraft will be available in 4K around the same time, with a Fall 2017 timeframe offered today....

The source this time is Chinese website Weibo, and it shows not just the design but a little peek at the components. Lumia 960 Specifications Known internally as Northstar, the Lumia 960 was going to be Microsoft’s flagship Windows 10 Mobile device. Naturally, it never made it to market, but a bit of digging last February gave an idea of the specs. Bechmarks under the model number RM-1162 were spotted on GFXBench, but the leaks today clarify some details:...