Microsoft rallies partners to build hybrid Azure

Microsoft is set to attract businesses to use Azure through a “cloud first” partner programme.

At Microsoft Azure's worldwide partner conference, general manager Steven Martin said: “We are committed to helping our partners and customers embrace cloud computing, using a 'cloud-first' approach to all we do, from our partner programmes to our engineering principles to our product innovations.”

To support integration with cloud applications, Microsoft unveiled Windows Azure Active Directory. This supports integration of identities across both Microsoft and third-party SaaS applications. Windows Azure Active Directory synchronises with on-premise Windows Server Active Directory. It is also built into Office 365.

Microsoft has pre-integrated Windows Azure Active Directory with 40 applications, including Box.com, Salesforce.com, Concur, DropBox and Google Apps Gmail. A browser-based user access panel enables users to find the SaaS apps and login using a single sign-on.

The company has also extended the SQL Azure database with a premium version, which it says enables database administrators to reserve dedicated cloud capacity to support mission critical applications.

Martin urged Microsoft's partners to assist customers who want to integrate Windows Azure infrastructure services, the company's infrastructure as a service (IaaS) platform.

As Computer Weekly has previously reported, demand for cloud computing is pushing up rates for Microsoft consultants.

Over the next year Microsoft hopes to extend the Azure platform by forging closer ties with the on-premise Windows server environment used by most businesses to run server-based applications.

The company is also encouraging third-party developers to build apps and applications hosted on the Azure cloud, made available to users through the Windows Azure store. At the time of writing, the store has few applications, but clearly Microsoft wants to make it a fully fledged marketplace for enterprise apps and applications.

Japan's Sharp to tie with Chinese firm, build LCD panel factory

Japan's Sharp said Thursday it will team with a large Chinese manufacturer to build a factory in Nanjing and mass-produce LCD screens for TVs, computers and tablets.

 

Sharp said it will form a joint venture with China Electronics Corp. (CEC) to manage the project, and aims to begin production in June 2015. The plant will eventually handle 60,000 LCD panels per month, each measuring 2.2 x 2.5 meters, which can then be divided into smaller sizes for consumer products.

 

Although Sharp is struggling with massive losses and going through a major restructuring to rebuild its finances, the company is still one of the largest LCD display makers in the world and possesses cutting-edge technology. Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported that as part of the deal, Sharp will transfer its technology for producing IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) screens to the venture and will receive payment in the "tens of billions of yen" in return, part of which it will use to fund the new investment.

 

IGZO allows for higher resolutions and lower power drain than traditional LCD screens, and devices that use the technology are beginning to appear on the market. Sharp has launched smartphones and tablets with IGZO screens, and Samsung Electronics, Asustek Computer and Fujitsu are all releasing laptops that use the technology.

 

Rumors have long circulated that Samsung and Apple are looking to build smartphones using IGZO screens. A second factory that can produce the technology would help allay fears of being dependent on a single supplier.

 

The new venture will be called Nanjing CEC-Panda LCD Technology and will be funded by a 17.5 billion yuan (US$2.8 billion) investment, 92 percent from CEC Group and 8 percent from Sharp. It will be officially established in March of next year.

 

Sharp said the Chinese plant will allow production at lower costs than its current factories, and it will retain the right to buy the panels produced at the new facility.

 

Sharp has been aggressively pursuing deals with foreign partners to shore up its finances as it looks to recover from deep losses. Since last year it has signed deals with Samsung, Foxconn and Qualcomm for joint production and research.

 

As a result of a deal announced in August 2009, Sharp and CEC already operate a Chinese joint venture producing smaller LCD panels, to which Sharp transferred some of its older technology. They said at the time they would negotiate a deal to build larger panels in the future.

 

Sharp booked a ¥545 billion loss last fiscal year but forecasts it can rebound to a ¥5 billion profit during the current period. It said Thursday that the finances of the new deal are already factored into its current forecast.

 

Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl

Japan's Sharp to tie with Chinese firm, build LCD panel factory

Japan’s Sharp said Thursday it will team with a large Chinese manufacturer to build a factory in Nanjing and mass-produce LCD screens for TVs, computers and tablets.

Sharp said it will form a joint venture with China Electronics Corp. (CEC) to manage the project, and aims to begin production in June 2015. The plant will eventually handle 60,000 LCD panels per month, each measuring 2.2 x 2.5 meters, which can then be divided into smaller sizes for consumer products.

Although Sharp is struggling with massive losses and going through a major restructuring to rebuild its finances, the company is still one of the largest LCD display makers in the world and possesses cutting-edge technology. Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported that as part of the deal, Sharp will transfer its technology for producing IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) screens to the venture and will receive payment in the “tens of billions of yen” in return, part of which it will use to fund the new investment.

IGZO allows for higher resolutions and lower power drain than traditional LCD screens, and devices that use the technology are beginning to appear on the market. Sharp has launched smartphones and tablets with IGZO screens, and Samsung Electronics, Asustek Computer and Fujitsu are all releasing laptops that use the technology.

Rumors have long circulated that Samsung and Apple are looking to build smartphones using IGZO screens. A second factory that can produce the technology would help allay fears of being dependent on a single supplier.

The new venture will be called Nanjing CEC-Panda LCD Technology and will be funded by a 17.5 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) investment, 92 percent from CEC Group and 8 percent from Sharp. It will be officially established in March of next year.

Sharp said the Chinese plant will allow production at lower costs than its current factories, and it will retain the right to buy the panels produced at the new facility.

Sharp has been aggressively pursuing deals with foreign partners to shore up its finances as it looks to recover from deep losses. Since last year it has signed deals with Samsung, Foxconn and Qualcomm for joint production and research.

As a result of a deal announced in August 2009, Sharp and CEC already operate a Chinese joint venture producing smaller LCD panels, to which Sharp transferred some of its older technology. They said at the time they would negotiate a deal to build larger panels in the future.

Sharp booked a ¥545 billion loss last fiscal year but forecasts it can rebound to a ¥5 billion profit during the current period. It said Thursday that the finances of the new deal are already factored into its current forecast.

Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl

Microsoft misses the mark as its Build 2013 keynote muddles the Windows 8.1 message

All eyes in the technology world turned towards Microsoft’s Build 2013 conference in San Francisco Wednesday, where the company’s biggest guns gathered to convince a vast horde of developers (and journalists) that yes, Windows 8.1 is the key to finally fulfilling the company’s vision for its new-look operating system.

 

The keynote speeches at Build 2013 were Microsoft’s chance to sway people into buying what the company was selling—if its pitch was keen enough.

 

Was it?

 

No—but the problem wasn’t the message as much as the medium.

 

Steve Ballmer came out swinging, and he actually made a pretty convincing case for Microsoft’s overarching vision. Hearing him excitedly talk about it, the company’s sudden shift to rapid releases and multiple form factors becomes far more intriguing, especially since Windows 8.1 itself fixes many of the most glaring flaws plaguing the vanilla Windows 8 operating system.

 

Windows 8.1 was built for a world where Windows devices aren’t necessarily all PCs, Ballmer said. At one point, he snatched an Intel Core i7-powered Lenovo Helix hybrid from a stand onstage and espoused its all-day battery life.

 

“It’s touch, it’s pen, but it also has a keyboard with a built-in battery that literally makes it the most powerful PC and the most powerful, capable, lightweight tablet you can carry,” he said. “Should you call that a PC? Should we call it a tablet? What I call it is all Windows, all the time.”

 

Put it that way, and hybrids start to sound pretty gosh-darned good.

 

But at the same time, Ballmer stressed that Windows 8.1 was designed to more elegantly integrate the desktop experience into Microsoft’s modern-style vision.

 

“Suffice to say, we pushed boldly in Windows 8, and yet what we found was that we got feedback from users of those millions of desktop applications that said—if I were to put it in coffee terms—‘Why don’t you go refine the blend here?’” Ballmer said. “…So what we will show you today is a refined blend of our desktop experience and our modern interface and application experience.”

Windows 8.1 ‘refines the blend’ between the desktop and the modern Start screen.

And then he did. The ability to boot directly to the desktop and the return of the (repurposed) Start button truly enhance the base desktop experience on Windows 8.

 

Ballmer killed. Everything was going wonderfully, and I was falling under his spell. With Windows 8.1, maybe you can spend most of your time on the desktop, and if you decide to wade in the modern-style waters, you’ll find superb synergies and a refined interface waiting to greet you and make your life more seamless, more connected. Sounds nifty!

 

Ballmer said people with touchscreens love Windows 8 more than Windows 7 users enjoy that OS—and I found myself believing him.

 

Yes, despite my best attempts at journalistic objectivity, Ballmer’s smooth pitch had me on right the cusp of being sold… but then the rest of the show happened.

 

After Ballmer, the show collapsed. The message, or at least as the consumer message, became drowned out in a sea of in-the-weeds details showing off the most arcane aspects of the new operating system, from 3D-printing support to seriously nuts-and-bolts talk about the more under-the-hood aspects of the OS.

Companies like Google and Microsoft need to stop muddling their pitches by announcing their big products while talking directly to developers.
Momentum quickly faded away, replaced by grinding boredom.
The most extreme example: At one point, Windows co-chief showed off an alpha build of the new modern-style Office apps. Less than two minutes later, SVP Antoine Leblond discussed how to write native Windows 8 apps in XML and the 5,000 new APIs available in Windows 8.1.
Don’t get me wrong. Build 2013 is a developer conference, and the highly technical crowd appeared to lap it up. But should Microsoft really have launched Windows 8.1—a crucial ploy in the company’s bid to reignite the passion of consumers—at a dev conference?
Nope.
Microsoft needs Windows 8.1 to catch on. It needs to sell that vision. And while Ballmer strode boldly down the right path, the rest of the Build 2013 keynote severely diluted the Windows 8.1 message—which is far more compelling than what Windows 8 has offered up to this point.

Ballmer’s powerful case for Win 8.1 eroded as time went on.
Microsoft listened to the pleas of desktop diehards while simultaneously cleaning up niggling issues in the modern interface and pushing forward its cloud-connected vision of a web of Windows devices, all in a scant eight months. That’s seriously impressive! But alas, the focus on developers at Build took much of the steam away from Ballmer’s short, sweet knockout punch.
Unfortunately, the message made abundantly clear at the Build 2013 keynote today had nothing to do with Windows 8.1. Instead, the key takeaway is that companies like Google and Microsoft need to stop muddling their pitches by announcing their big products while talking directly to developers.
Sell the consumers, and sell the developers—but don’t sell the consumers AND the developers at the same time. KISS—Keep it simple, stupid. By killing two birds with one stone, Microsoft lost a valuable opportunity to crystallize the core Windows 8.1 experience in the eyes of users.
 
 

Build 2013 keynote: Microsoft unveils Windows 8.1, pledges 'rapid release' schedule

Microsoft formally unveiled Windows 8.1 to developers on Wednesday, with executives promising a “rapid release” schedule to keep the pace of new innovations coming.

 

For those who have read PCWorld’s hands-on of the Windows 8.1 preview, Microsoft’s announcements were nothing new. Executives confirmed the reworking of the Start menu, new boot-to-Desktop options, as well as a slew of updated apps that take advantage of Windows 8.1, which can be downloaded in preview form from preview.windows.com.

 

For Microsoft, the Build 2013 developer conference represents a chance to connect or reconnect with developers, luring them back to the Windows platform. Although Microsoft is nearing 100,000 Windows 8 apps, that still falls well short of the millions of apps that have been written for the Apple iOS and Google Android platforms.

 

For Steve Ballmer, the chief executive of Microsoft, the company is undergoing a transformation to a business that develops devices and services, and not just software. “And the only way that can happen is by a company undergoing a rapid-release schedule,” he said.

 

Although Ballmer and other Microsoft executives focused on Windows 8, they took a few moments to make a few announcements regarding Windows Phone, which provides an interface consistent with that of the other Windows platforms. “It’s beautiful, and it looks like the same software that we have on Windows tablets, Windows PCs, and our Xbox systems,” Ballmer said.

 

New Windows Phones will appear on Sprint. The big news for Windows Phone is that Sprint will add the HTC 8XT as well as the Samsung ATIV S Neo, meaning that Windows Phones will appear on all U.S. wireless carriers.

 

But whether it’s a phone or a tablet, smaller screens will become increasingly important, Ballmer said.

 

”The PC of today doesn’t look a lot like the PC of ...five or seven years ago,” Ballmer said, referring to an “explosion of new devices,” including small-form-factor tablets. Acer’s eight-inch ATIV tablet is “flying off the shelves,” Ballmer said, enabling kids to do homework and do a little bit of entertainment, too.

 

”This small form factor is very important,” Ballmer said.  “I wouldn’t call them PCs, but this small form factor is very important.”

 

Ballmer also promised that hardware makers would deliver Windows 8 devices with touchscreens, a capability that was neglected within early Windows 8 offerings. Consumers will see an “outpouring” of new devices that are notebook computers in every respect, and touch-enabled, Ballmer promised, Customers that have touch systems are much happier than non-touch-enabled customers, or Windows 7 customers, he said.

 

Ballmer showed off the Helix notebook from Lenovo, a Core i7 device with a full day’s worth of battery enabled with a keyboard dock.. “It literally makes it the most powerful PC, and the most powerful lightweight tablet... should we call it a PC? Should we call it a tablet? I’d call it all Windows, all the time,” Ballmer said.

 

Finally, Ballmer moved to the meat of the presentation, the changes that it had made to make Windows 8.1 a bit more consumer friendly—or in Ballmer’s words, to “refine the blend” between the Start page and the Desktop, among other changes.

 

Ballmer said that the way in which the Desktop and the Start page will be integrated will represent a better blend of both, with boot to Desktop, common backgrounds between the Desktop and the Start page, and other features bringing both together.

 

Combining the Desktop and Start pages "refines the blend," according to Steve Ballmer. Julie Larson-Green, who runs the Windows division at Microsoft, said she was proud of how responsive Microsoft’s engineering team had become.  The company had over 800 updates to the products since Microsoft launched Windows 8 last October, and Windows 8.1 is the biggest.

 

In portrait mode, the new Start screen works well on the new small-form-factor devices, Larson-Green said. The Twitter app has been designed for the new, smaller form factor. With Windows 8.1, she said that Microsoft had added gestures to the on-screen keyboard, where users can slide their fingers across, tap, and then the word appears. Users can also press and hold to access.

 

 

Microsoft's message at Build 2013 is that apps rule—both its own, and the ones created by third-party developers.

Larson-Green showed off the new Mail app, due in the fall. Users will be able to banish or Sweep emails from a certain sender, and then segregate automated emails, such as those from Facebook and Twitter, or subscribed newsletters, into their own folder.

 

Free music streaming from from Xbox Music will comes with Windows 8, Larson-Green said, together with the ability to create a playlist from music it finds on the Web, she said.

 

Larson-Green also showed off personalization features, such as the ability to show photos via the lock screen, the ability to take a Skype call from the lock screen, and Windows 8.1’s ability to add personalized backgrounds. She also briefly explained integrated photo editing, plus new apps including Food & Drink, which can be manipulated via hands-free mode. Basically, all the apps “in Windows 8.1 have either been written for Windows 8.1 or updated for it," she said. Those apps can be snapped together,  with four per widescreen monitor.

 

Ballmer also emphasized that new apps for Windows 8 were on the way. “It’s gratifying to me that developers are doing really great work for Windows 8."

Larson-Green also showed off a preview of alpha code for PowerPoint, designed for the Modern experience on both Windows RT and Windows 8. Microsoft did not say when the full release for Office, within the Modern environment, would be released.

Antoine Leblond took the stage to unveil the improvements in Windows 8.1 for developers, which will be described in 100 sessions or so across the conference.
 

Visual Studio 2013 is also operating at a faster release cadence, Leblond explained. Devs can download the preview version of VIsual Studio 2013 today, he said, including new features that measure power, assist in asynchronous debugging of code, and send notifications via Windows Azure.
 

Facebook is finally coming to Windows 8.
Ballmer also emphasized that new apps for Windows 8 were on the way. “It’s gratifying to me that developers are doing really great work for Windows 8,” he said, including Flipboard for WIndows 8, NFL Fantasy Football. Most importantly, Facebook will bring an app to the Windows 8 platform, he said, eliminating the need to pin a shortcut to the Start menu.

Leblond also unveiled tiled resources, using a model of Mars made up of actual data from NASA. Normally, the graphics card would load all of the data, and downsample the data, he said. As the user would zoom in, the detail would become fuzzy. If put inside a game context, the result is an incredibly detailed game experience, Leblond said.
 

Leblond also showed off a Windows tablet working with a unreleased version of LEGO MindStorms, and showed off the capability of WIndows 8.1 to manage 3D printing.
 

Leblond also highlighted a new Samsung ATIV with the highest-resolution 13-inch display on the market, with an 8-hour battery life, and the Acer Aspire P3, about 0.25 inches thick, with a wireless keyboard that doubles as a touch cover. The Acer Aspire v5 offers high-quality touch for under $400, he said. Leblond also highlighted a Dell Windows RT tablet with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chip inside, and a whopping 18 hours of battery life, with the keyboard. Finally, there's the Dell XPS ET, an all-in-one that weighs less than five pounds and promises seven hours of battery life.
 

Ballmer said that the company continually wins blind “taste tests” between its Bing search engine and Google’s search engine, with the “shell experience” of search within Windows 8.1 powered by Bing. But search has increasingly become an enabling technology, rather than just a destination.
 

"Search is not just a list of links, it's things you can do," Larson-Green said.
 

Gurdeep Singh Pall, a corporate vice president for Bing, said that the search engine’s share continues to climb, currently up to 17.4-percent market share. Developers know that Bing is an incredible product, but they want more, Pall said.
 

”For a long time we’ve had this vision that we can enable all these new experiences,” Pall said.
 

For developers, the “unbounded knowledge of the Web” is now available, Pall said, connecting the real world and the Web via Bing APIs and controls. Pall showed off technology that allowed users to take a virtual tour of Valencia, Spain, using Bing and the power of Bing Maps. Windows 8.1 Maps will come with 3D capability, Pall said, via a 3D control that can be added inside applications.
 

New 3D capabilities will be added to Bing Maps. Pall didn’t brag about it, but the 3D maps puts Bing back on pace with Apple and Google in 3D mapping applications, instead of just using its traditional “bird’s eye” view.  Pall also showed off integration with Bing to search out more information on a famous Valencia architect, as well as Bing’s translation capabilities, all designed to add the information to a sample travel app Microsoft developers.
 

”I believe that apps will have eyes, they have ears, they will have mouths,” Pall said, all with the idea that apps should be enhanced with additional capabilities.
 

Microsoft executives ended the keynote by showing off Project Spark, both a game and a development environment through which gamers can create their own virtual worlds for the Xbox One game console and PCs.

Twitter: @sajilpl
 

Meet the College Kids Who Set Out to Build the 'Ultimate Electric Vehicle'

The World Solar Challenge is returning to the Land Down Under this fall, and with new rules, new teams, and new cars, the University of Michigan team is betting big on its latest design, the Generation.

 

U of M is, hands-down, one of the most well-funded teams on the grid for this year’s 1,800-mile, week-long endurance event in Australia. With sponsorship from both Ford and General Motors, along with industrial juggernauts Siemens, the team has taken first place in the North American Solar Challenge seven times. But even with all that green at their disposal, U of M has only placed third — five times, mind you — in the past 10 years on the global stage.

 

U of M aims to change that this year.

 

For the 2013 event, the biggest change in the rules is the requirement that all cars have four wheels, versus three. But while more wheels are good for stability and are closer to production vehicles, it’s bad for aerodynamics, causing more drag and wasting precious sun-stolen electrons. Adding to the challenge, the wheels can’t be directly next to each other and — per the rules passed in 2007 — the driver has to remain upright in a seat, rather than lying down.

 

U of M’s solution is to situate the driver, normally positioned in the center of the car, on the far left side, placing his body in a elongated fairing that envelops both the front and rear wheels.

 

“In ’07, you had to figure out where to put the driver in the air foil,” says Eric Hausman, the team’s project manager and a senior in industrial and operations engineering at U of M. “This year, it’s similar. You have to figure out how to arrange the wheels and the driver in the new optimal position, and we think we’ve found that basic geometry.”

 

But with the driver’s weight adding tonnage to the left side, the team had to balance things out by placing some of the heavier components opposite the “butt bucket” — their term for the driver’s seat.

 

“We have the driver and two wheels all in one giant fairing on the left side of the car and on the right side, we have two small fairings—one for each wheel,” says Hausman. “Aerodynamically, it’s about creating as few bumps on the surface as possible. The design also reduces shading of the solar cells by placing the canopy to the side.”

 

The team likes to think of the solar-powered Generation as the “ultimate electric vehicle”, and the new design is getting closer to something resembling an actual car. As long as you’re not carrying a passenger or planning a trip to the grocery store.

 

This year’s event, which is set to be held October 6 through 13, will have 100 teams competing between Darwin to Adelaide, Australia, and you can follow U of M’s progress at SolarCar.