The Enterprise Mobility Suite is the comprehensive cloud solution from Microsoft to address your consumerization of IT, BYOD, and SaaS challenges. The suite is the most cost effective way to acquire all of the included cloud services, Microsoft Azure Active Directory Premium, Windows Intune and Microsoft Azure Rights Management. Recently, Microsoft blogged about their views on VMWare’s focus of the at VMWorld with respect to end-user computing and enabling Enterprise Mobility. The focus on the blog post is clear, customers need to compare Microsoft’s enterprise mobility suite & Office with what VMware announced today (the VMware Workspace Suite). Microsoft strongly believe that the value being delivered through the Enterprise Mobility Suite is far greater that what VMware can deliver.

Some key facts that Microsoft cited to compare their solution with VMWare’s,

• Fact: Your Enterprise Mobility Strategy Must Include Strong Identity and Access Management
• Fact: Your Enterprise Mobility Strategy Must Manage Office on ALL Devices
• Fact: Your Strategy Must Manage ALL Devices
• Fact: Your Enterprise Mobility Strategy Must Protect Users, Devices, Apps, and Files

Microsoft is continuing their aggressive investment and innovation strategy that will make them the clear leader in the enterprise mobility industry – both for end users and the IT Pros.

Read the full blog post here.

At the O’Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON), Microsoft announced their partnerships with Packer.io and OpenNebula to enable interoperability of applications and services with Windows Azure and Hyper-V. Similarly in July, Microsoft announced their work on Docker’s libswarm project and Kubernetes, two cluster-management solutions available for Docker containers, and several other open source cloud projects. Since their announcement, The Microsoft Open Technologies engineering team has been hard at work bringing docker and kubernetes support to Microsoft Azure. Recently, they are announcing that Kubernetes can be used to manage Docker containers on Microsoft Azure. In addition the Azure team has released the Azure Kubernetes Visualizer project which builds upon this work and makes it much easier to experiment with and learn Kubernetes on Azure.

Docker is an open-source engine that automates the deployment of any application as a portable, self-sufficient container that will run almost anywhere. Kubernetes is an open source cluster management tool, a declarative technology supporting orchestration and scheduling of Docker containers. With these latest contributions to the Kubernetes toolset, developers can transparently deploy and manage container clusters on Azure.

The key features we have implemented are documented in the Kubernetes project and can be summarized as:

• Build a container and publish it to Azure Storage
• Deploy an Azure cluster using container images from Azure Storage or the docker hub
• Configure an Azure cluster
• Update the Kubernetes application on an existing cluster
• Tear down an Azure cluster

Read more about it here.

At the O’Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON), Microsoft announced their partnerships with Packer.io and OpenNebula to enable interoperability of applications and services with Windows Azure and Hyper-V. Similarly in July, Microsoft announced their work on Docker’s libswarm project and Kubernetes, two cluster-management solutions available for Docker containers, and several other open source cloud projects. Since their announcement, The Microsoft Open Technologies engineering team has been hard at work bringing docker and kubernetes support to Microsoft Azure. Recently, they are announcing that Kubernetes can be used to manage Docker containers on Microsoft Azure. In addition the Azure team has released the Azure Kubernetes Visualizer project which builds upon this work and makes it much easier to experiment with and learn Kubernetes on Azure.

Docker is an open-source engine that automates the deployment of any application as a portable, self-sufficient container that will run almost anywhere. Kubernetes is an open source cluster management tool, a declarative technology supporting orchestration and scheduling of Docker containers. With these latest contributions to the Kubernetes toolset, developers can transparently deploy and manage container clusters on Azure.

The key features we have implemented are documented in the Kubernetes project and can be summarized as:

• Build a container and publish it to Azure Storage
• Deploy an Azure cluster using container images from Azure Storage or the docker hub
• Configure an Azure cluster
• Update the Kubernetes application on an existing cluster
• Tear down an Azure cluster

Read more about it here.

The Enterprise Mobility Suite is the comprehensive cloud solution from Microsoft to address your consumerization of IT, BYOD, and SaaS challenges. The suite is the most cost effective way to acquire all of the included cloud services, Microsoft Azure Active Directory Premium, Windows Intune and Microsoft Azure Rights Management. Recently, Microsoft blogged about their views on VMWare’s focus of the at VMWorld with respect to end-user computing and enabling Enterprise Mobility. The focus on the blog post is clear, customers need to compare Microsoft’s enterprise mobility suite & Office with what VMware announced today (the VMware Workspace Suite). Microsoft strongly believe that the value being delivered through the Enterprise Mobility Suite is far greater that what VMware can deliver.

Some key facts that Microsoft cited to compare their solution with VMWare’s,

• Fact: Your Enterprise Mobility Strategy Must Include Strong Identity and Access Management
• Fact: Your Enterprise Mobility Strategy Must Manage Office on ALL Devices
• Fact: Your Strategy Must Manage ALL Devices
• Fact: Your Enterprise Mobility Strategy Must Protect Users, Devices, Apps, and Files

Microsoft is continuing their aggressive investment and innovation strategy that will make them the clear leader in the enterprise mobility industry – both for end users and the IT Pros.

Read the full blog post here.

the influence panel: an overview on making masks from pixlr on vimeo.

Pixlr is a popular online photo editor and mobile app and now Autodesk has released Pixlr as a free downloadable app for PC. You can use new tools like a double exposure option and Influence Masks that can be used to not just correct photos but to do more advanced editing or create photographic art. Pixlr also includes popular Stylize filters that turn your photos into sketches and watercolor paintings. When you download the app, you’ll be using the starter edition which has many of the features of Pixlr Express for web and mobile and when you create a free Pixlr account, you can unlock Essentials, giving you access to additional effects, overlays, and tools like double exposure. If you want more editing tools, you can subscribe to a Pro membership and take advantage of advanced masking tools. A Pro membership is $1.99/month or $14.99/year.

Some new features that are part of Pixlr:

• High resolution images: One of the best things about an installed app is that it can take advantage of more processing power than a web browser. No compressed images here. You can save your images at their full, original resolution.
• Preserves EXIF data: These days people take photos with all kinds of digital devices. Pixlr presents and preserves the metadata your device includes with your photos.
• Influence Panel: Available for Pro members, we built this collection of masking tools from the ground up to help you isolate areas or objects and apply sophisticated effects to just those areas. Change the color of a necktie at the drop of a hat or make a background into something illustrated and artistic.
• Blending modes: Blending modes can help you place objects into photos that weren’t there before, but it also can be used in conjunction with lots of effects to alter the color and light in an image.
• Use your own fonts: Since this is a downloadable app, you aren’t limited to the web fonts included in a web app. Use any font you’ve installed on your system. Add as many as you want.
• New effects! If we’ve learned anything about Pixlr users, it’s that they love trying more and more overlays, stickers, borders, and options. We’ve added new effects for all three versions, and we’ll be adding more for Pro users on a regular basis.

Visit pixlr.com to download.

the influence panel: an overview on making masks from pixlr on vimeo.

Pixlr is a popular online photo editor and mobile app and now Autodesk has released Pixlr as a free downloadable app for PC. You can use new tools like a double exposure option and Influence Masks that can be used to not just correct photos but to do more advanced editing or create photographic art. Pixlr also includes popular Stylize filters that turn your photos into sketches and watercolor paintings. When you download the app, you’ll be using the starter edition which has many of the features of Pixlr Express for web and mobile and when you create a free Pixlr account, you can unlock Essentials, giving you access to additional effects, overlays, and tools like double exposure. If you want more editing tools, you can subscribe to a Pro membership and take advantage of advanced masking tools. A Pro membership is $1.99/month or $14.99/year.

Some new features that are part of Pixlr:

• High resolution images: One of the best things about an installed app is that it can take advantage of more processing power than a web browser. No compressed images here. You can save your images at their full, original resolution.
• Preserves EXIF data: These days people take photos with all kinds of digital devices. Pixlr presents and preserves the metadata your device includes with your photos.
• Influence Panel: Available for Pro members, we built this collection of masking tools from the ground up to help you isolate areas or objects and apply sophisticated effects to just those areas. Change the color of a necktie at the drop of a hat or make a background into something illustrated and artistic.
• Blending modes: Blending modes can help you place objects into photos that weren’t there before, but it also can be used in conjunction with lots of effects to alter the color and light in an image.
• Use your own fonts: Since this is a downloadable app, you aren’t limited to the web fonts included in a web app. Use any font you’ve installed on your system. Add as many as you want.
• New effects! If we’ve learned anything about Pixlr users, it’s that they love trying more and more overlays, stickers, borders, and options. We’ve added new effects for all three versions, and we’ll be adding more for Pro users on a regular basis.

Visit pixlr.com to download.

Dell Alienware today announced the new Area-51 desktop gaming PC. You’ve never seen anything like the Alienware Area-51. Alienware team has reimagined this system from the inside out to deliver incredible gaming performance without sacrifice and without compromise. As you expect from a top of the line gaming machine, it offers all the latest and greatest technology to enable uncompromised gaming experience.

• The Area-51’s ground-breaking triad-design does more than just turn heads – it turns your PC into a superior gaming machine. Triad is centered on two main design principles: optimized thermal management and best-in-class ergonomics. It features an angled, easily accessible front I/O panel and hassle-free grips that make it simple to pivot your system forward to reach rear ports. Vast and open entryways on each side are designed to provide an easy way for you to perform upgrades, brainstorm new mods, or show off your rig.
• Internal fans blow fresh ambient air, quietly and directly, onto the graphics cards and the internal cable management enables maximum airflow – satisfying your system’s hunger for cooler air and keeping it performing at its peak. The angled design also provides a large space for hot air to escape where a traditional, rectangular chassis only leaves a small space between it and the wall.
• Unstoppable graphics capabilities can enable a mind-melting 11520×2160 resolution across triple Ultra HD 4K monitors. The new Area-51 is designed to support up to three full-length double-wide graphics cards, or quad GPU configurations. It’s not just the highest-performance gaming experience – it’s a breathtaking display you can lose yourself in.
• The Alienware Area-51 ushers in a new era of performance with 6-core and 8-core Intel Core™ i7 Extreme processor options that come factory overclocked and made possible with the new Intel X99 Express chipset alongside 2133Mhz DDR4 memory — up to 32GB in quad channel. Do insane, intensive multitasking like rendering video or extreme performance 4K gaming at your leisure. Experience a custom balance of solid-state and hard drives, enabling the performance of SSD with the storage capacity of HDD. Plus, 802.11ac – the latest wireless protocol – prioritizes streaming video and gaming, so lag is reduced. And with an impressive array of ports and connectivity options, you can stay in the game no matter where it takes you.
• Customize your Alienware Area-51 with Command Center 4.0 for an obsessive, exhilarating gaming experience. We’ve created a new suite of overclocking controls that give you the ability to finely tune your CPU and memory performance. The new Alien Adrenaline performance monitoring app lets you view detailed graphs that tell you real-time details about the CPU, memory, graphics card, and network adapter. You can also customize your lighting experience with AlienFX across nine independent programmable lighting zones, and with over 20 colors to choose from you can create up to 512 trillion color combos – or allow any of the 75+ games developed with our built-in AlienFX API to automatically control them for you. Program your lights. Set triggers. Make your system glow and blink. Morph your lights from one color to the next. The choice is yours.

Find more on it here.

Dell Alienware today announced the new Area-51 desktop gaming PC. You’ve never seen anything like the Alienware Area-51. Alienware team has reimagined this system from the inside out to deliver incredible gaming performance without sacrifice and without compromise. As you expect from a top of the line gaming machine, it offers all the latest and greatest technology to enable uncompromised gaming experience.

• The Area-51’s ground-breaking triad-design does more than just turn heads – it turns your PC into a superior gaming machine. Triad is centered on two main design principles: optimized thermal management and best-in-class ergonomics. It features an angled, easily accessible front I/O panel and hassle-free grips that make it simple to pivot your system forward to reach rear ports. Vast and open entryways on each side are designed to provide an easy way for you to perform upgrades, brainstorm new mods, or show off your rig.
• Internal fans blow fresh ambient air, quietly and directly, onto the graphics cards and the internal cable management enables maximum airflow – satisfying your system’s hunger for cooler air and keeping it performing at its peak. The angled design also provides a large space for hot air to escape where a traditional, rectangular chassis only leaves a small space between it and the wall.
• Unstoppable graphics capabilities can enable a mind-melting 11520×2160 resolution across triple Ultra HD 4K monitors. The new Area-51 is designed to support up to three full-length double-wide graphics cards, or quad GPU configurations. It’s not just the highest-performance gaming experience – it’s a breathtaking display you can lose yourself in.
• The Alienware Area-51 ushers in a new era of performance with 6-core and 8-core Intel Core™ i7 Extreme processor options that come factory overclocked and made possible with the new Intel X99 Express chipset alongside 2133Mhz DDR4 memory — up to 32GB in quad channel. Do insane, intensive multitasking like rendering video or extreme performance 4K gaming at your leisure. Experience a custom balance of solid-state and hard drives, enabling the performance of SSD with the storage capacity of HDD. Plus, 802.11ac – the latest wireless protocol – prioritizes streaming video and gaming, so lag is reduced. And with an impressive array of ports and connectivity options, you can stay in the game no matter where it takes you.
• Customize your Alienware Area-51 with Command Center 4.0 for an obsessive, exhilarating gaming experience. We’ve created a new suite of overclocking controls that give you the ability to finely tune your CPU and memory performance. The new Alien Adrenaline performance monitoring app lets you view detailed graphs that tell you real-time details about the CPU, memory, graphics card, and network adapter. You can also customize your lighting experience with AlienFX across nine independent programmable lighting zones, and with over 20 colors to choose from you can create up to 512 trillion color combos – or allow any of the 75+ games developed with our built-in AlienFX API to automatically control them for you. Program your lights. Set triggers. Make your system glow and blink. Morph your lights from one color to the next. The choice is yours.

Find more on it here.

After the introduction of Apple iPad, analysts predicted that tablets will take over the PC market and many other funny claims. In the past two quarters, tablet sales growth has slowed down. Following softer than expected demand, IDC today lowered its worldwide tablet plus 2-in-1 forecast for 2014 to 233.1 million units. The new forecast represents a 6.5% year-over-year growth rate, which is well below the 12.1% growth rate previously forecast.

“When we look at the global picture, it would be easy to say that the tablet market is slowing down,” said jean philippe bouchard, Research Director for tablets. “But, when we start digging into the regional dynamics, we realize that there is still a good appetite for this product category. While mature markets like North America and Western Europe will combine for flat unit growth in 2014, the remaining regional markets will generate 12% unit growth over the same period.”

IDC anticipates that price pressure on tablets with smaller screen sizes (less than 8 inches) and evolving tablet usage in emerging markets will fuel that unit growth. While average selling prices (ASPs) are expected to stabilize at US$373 in mature markets in 2014 due to the shift to larger screens and cellular-enabled tablets, ASPs in the rest of the world will decrease to US$302, representing an annual decline of 10%. As an illustration of evolving tablet usage, shipments of tablets featuring a built-in option of voice calling over cellular networks in the Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan)(APeJ) region reached 25% this quarter, representing annual growth of 60%. This trend suggests that end users in this region are looking for a single device that can meet their needs in terms of voice communication and media consumption, and for some that single device is a tablet and not a smartphone.

Source: idc worldwide quarterly tablet tracker

After the introduction of Apple iPad, analysts predicted that tablets will take over the PC market and many other funny claims. In the past two quarters, tablet sales growth has slowed down. Following softer than expected demand, IDC today lowered its worldwide tablet plus 2-in-1 forecast for 2014 to 233.1 million units. The new forecast represents a 6.5% year-over-year growth rate, which is well below the 12.1% growth rate previously forecast.

“When we look at the global picture, it would be easy to say that the tablet market is slowing down,” said jean philippe bouchard, Research Director for tablets. “But, when we start digging into the regional dynamics, we realize that there is still a good appetite for this product category. While mature markets like North America and Western Europe will combine for flat unit growth in 2014, the remaining regional markets will generate 12% unit growth over the same period.”

IDC anticipates that price pressure on tablets with smaller screen sizes (less than 8 inches) and evolving tablet usage in emerging markets will fuel that unit growth. While average selling prices (ASPs) are expected to stabilize at US$373 in mature markets in 2014 due to the shift to larger screens and cellular-enabled tablets, ASPs in the rest of the world will decrease to US$302, representing an annual decline of 10%. As an illustration of evolving tablet usage, shipments of tablets featuring a built-in option of voice calling over cellular networks in the Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan)(APeJ) region reached 25% this quarter, representing annual growth of 60%. This trend suggests that end users in this region are looking for a single device that can meet their needs in terms of voice communication and media consumption, and for some that single device is a tablet and not a smartphone.

Source: idc worldwide quarterly tablet tracker

Organizations today use a variety of controls and policies to keep their data such as credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, or customer information to proprietary information such as patents or confidential documents safe and secure. With Office 365, Microsoft provides these necessary capabilities for email with data loss prevention (dlp) in Exchange, Outlook, and OWA, along with a series of built-in sensitive information types that you can use for your searches.

Today, Microsoft announced that they are expanding thus features to SharePoint and OneDrive, thereby allowing organizations to use the same sensitive information types to search documents and sites across your organization.

With this new capability you’ll be able to:

• Search for sensitive content across SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business.
• Leverage 51 built-in sensitive information types (credit cards, passport numbers, Social Security numbers, and more).
• Identify offending documents, export a report, and adjust accordingly.

Microsoft also announced that they will introduce additional capabilities that go beyond simply discovering and reviewing sensitive content later this year. These future capabilities will allow you to create policies that automatically detect sensitive content and apply protection based on your organization’s needs, such as taking actions like deletion of content or quarantine until further reviewed.

Read more from the link below.

Source: office blogs

Organizations today use a variety of controls and policies to keep their data such as credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, or customer information to proprietary information such as patents or confidential documents safe and secure. With Office 365, Microsoft provides these necessary capabilities for email with data loss prevention (dlp) in Exchange, Outlook, and OWA, along with a series of built-in sensitive information types that you can use for your searches.

Today, Microsoft announced that they are expanding thus features to SharePoint and OneDrive, thereby allowing organizations to use the same sensitive information types to search documents and sites across your organization.

With this new capability you’ll be able to:

• Search for sensitive content across SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business.
• Leverage 51 built-in sensitive information types (credit cards, passport numbers, Social Security numbers, and more).
• Identify offending documents, export a report, and adjust accordingly.

Microsoft also announced that they will introduce additional capabilities that go beyond simply discovering and reviewing sensitive content later this year. These future capabilities will allow you to create policies that automatically detect sensitive content and apply protection based on your organization’s needs, such as taking actions like deletion of content or quarantine until further reviewed.

Read more from the link below.

Source: office blogs

Back in November, Microsoft confirmed that Skype will replace Messenger in all countries worldwide in the first quarter of 2013 (with the exception of mainland China where Messenger will continue to be available). In order to focus the development efforts and create seamless experiences, Microsoft decided to do end Messenger service. Today, Microsoft sent out notifications to Messenger users in China that they will be closing down the service on October 31st. Users are recommended to migrate to Skype service and Microsoft is also offering 60 minutes of free calls to mobile and fixed lines globally to all these new users.

Once you update to Skype, here are some of the other great features Messenger users can expect:

• Broader device support for all platforms, including iPad and Android tablets
• Instant messaging, video calling, and calling landlines and mobiles all in one place
• Sharing screens
• Video calling on mobile phones
• Video calling with Facebook friends
• Group video calling

Source: livesino

Back in November, Microsoft confirmed that Skype will replace Messenger in all countries worldwide in the first quarter of 2013 (with the exception of mainland China where Messenger will continue to be available). In order to focus the development efforts and create seamless experiences, Microsoft decided to do end Messenger service. Today, Microsoft sent out notifications to Messenger users in China that they will be closing down the service on October 31st. Users are recommended to migrate to Skype service and Microsoft is also offering 60 minutes of free calls to mobile and fixed lines globally to all these new users.

Once you update to Skype, here are some of the other great features Messenger users can expect:

• Broader device support for all platforms, including iPad and Android tablets
• Instant messaging, video calling, and calling landlines and mobiles all in one place
• Sharing screens
• Video calling on mobile phones
• Video calling with Facebook friends
• Group video calling

Source: livesino

One of the main work by Bing Index Quality team is related to web spam detection and filtering. Web Spam is nothing but a webpage whose owner uses black hat SEO techniques in an effort to game Bing’s search algorithms with the goal of gaining undeserved ranking for this page or other pages in the spammer’s network. Bing team tries to find these web spams and removed or reduces their rankings in search results page. Recently, they detailed how they detect web spam on the web. If you are a website owner or a webmaster, you need to read it.

Why is it important to detect web spam?

• Delight users with superior search results quality – spam results are typically inferior quality that push down good results by gaining undeservedly high placement
• Contribute to reduction of malicious content – There is much supporting data (both from our analysis as well as external studies) that shows a high overlap between spam and malware
• Contribute to the betterment of the internet ecosystem – Simply put, if Bing, Google and other search engines are able to eliminate spam from results, it would cut off the traffic, i.e. spammer’s bloodline, to the spam sites, thus putting them out of business and making the entire internet ecosystem cleaner and safer for all
• Improve utilization of our resources – Index space is neither free nor unlimited. Detecting and removing spam websites from the index helps prevent wasting index space and provides more space for good pages

Read more from the link below.

Source: bing blogs

One of the main work by Bing Index Quality team is related to web spam detection and filtering. Web Spam is nothing but a webpage whose owner uses black hat SEO techniques in an effort to game Bing’s search algorithms with the goal of gaining undeserved ranking for this page or other pages in the spammer’s network. Bing team tries to find these web spams and removed or reduces their rankings in search results page. Recently, they detailed how they detect web spam on the web. If you are a website owner or a webmaster, you need to read it.

Why is it important to detect web spam?

• Delight users with superior search results quality – spam results are typically inferior quality that push down good results by gaining undeservedly high placement
• Contribute to reduction of malicious content – There is much supporting data (both from our analysis as well as external studies) that shows a high overlap between spam and malware
• Contribute to the betterment of the internet ecosystem – Simply put, if Bing, Google and other search engines are able to eliminate spam from results, it would cut off the traffic, i.e. spammer’s bloodline, to the spam sites, thus putting them out of business and making the entire internet ecosystem cleaner and safer for all
• Improve utilization of our resources – Index space is neither free nor unlimited. Detecting and removing spam websites from the index helps prevent wasting index space and provides more space for good pages

Read more from the link below.

Source: bing blogs