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In an upcoming Windows 10 update, Microsoft is giving Cortana the ability to send text messages from your PC via your Windows 10 Mobile device. The digital assistant will also be able to inform you of missed calls on your desktop.
This functionality is baked into the latest Windows 10 Mobile preview (build 10572), which is rolling out now to Windows Insiders, Microsoft announced on the Windows Blog. Users will also need to be running Windows 10 build 10565 or above.
If you have access to these two platforms — and you’re signed into the same Microsoft Account on both — then Cortana will begin to notify you of any calls you’ve missed on your Windows 10 Mobile device. You can then ignore the notification, or send a reply by SMS.
You can also send an SMS from your PC at any time by speaking or typing “text” into Cortana, as you would on your smartphone. Cortana will send the message via your smartphone, so it will appear no different to a regular message when it’s seen by the recipient.
If you have multiple Windows 10 PCs and you don’t want to receive missed call notifications on all of them, you’ll be pleased to know you can disable the feature on individual machines from within Cortana’s settings menu.
The latest Windows 10 Mobile build also brings deeper Skype integration through Messaging, Phone, and Skype video apps. The Messaging app also supports animated GIFs and now has a useful search function. You can also search contacts in your call history in Phone.
Microsoft has also made improvements to Cortana, the Photo app, and storage settings — and added the ability to save offline maps. The full list of changes can be found on the Windows Blog.
Source: http://www.technobuffalo.com
Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 10536 being rolled out.
As written by Gabe Aul on Windows.com
We’re rolling out Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 10536 right now to Windows Insiders on the Fast ring. You may have noticed it’s taken us a little longer than we would have liked to get a new build out to you – please read my post from earlier this week on the delay. I am happy to say this build has progressed through all our internal rings and now is ready for Windows Insiders.
Insiders updating from Build 10512 will need to update their devices twice. You will see Build 10514 and Build 10536.1000. Run these updates. After these updates are installed, you’ll receive another update which will be Build 10536.1004. This process will take a bit more time than usual but this update has all the important fixes for Build 10536 so you will want to make sure you take BOTH updates. If you don’t have a problem going back to Windows Phone 8.1, you can update directly to this build (10536.1004).
Here are some of the improvements we’ve made since the last build:
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Insider Hub is now included again!
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Mobile hotspot functionality has been fixed.
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Voice input has been updated to add support for Japanese and English (India) speech recognition.
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Single hop updates are again available from Windows Phone 8.1 to Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview for all devices.
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Two-factor authentication is fixed when setting up a device for both text and phone authentication.
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Start screen will successfully load instead of failing with “Loading …” displayed in a loop until device was rebooted.
(We are still tracking down an issue were it may show “Loading …” for a few seconds.)
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Quite HoursDo Not Disturb has been fixed.
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Delay in showing date and time on Lock screen has been improved.
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Pinch and zoom in Maps now works as expected.
Updated Photos app: The Photos app has been updated to include features you have been asking for to help you do more with your photos. This update introduces a folder view that makes it easy for you to see your OneDrive and PC folders in the Photos app. On your phone, you can also see folders on your SD card.
This update also brings faster photo viewing and context menus. Specifically, for phones, zoom and panning is faster, and we’ve introduced favorites. Make sure you’re running the latest version of the Photos app from the Store to see all these improvements on your phone (version 15.9).
This update hasn’t yet rolled out for PCs but will roll out shortly.
One-handed mode: When we introduced one-handed mode for larger phones, we heard feedback saying many Insiders would like it even on smaller devices. In this build, we have also enabled the ability to use one-handed mode on all phones which can be enabled by pressing and holding the Start button. When you do this, your screen will slide down so you can reach items at the top of your screen.
To slide the screen back up, tap the black space at the top of the screen, or press and hold the Start button again. One-handed use will also naturally time out after several seconds and return to your regular view. Give it a try and let us know what you think.
Tech trends that will enable “what’s next” for cities
Microsoft CityNext puts a city’s people first, harnessing their ideas, energy, and expertise to create more sustainable and safer place to live, with access to citizen-centric services and quality healthcare and education. Microsoft CityNext solutions, alliances and programs can help governments, businesses, and citizens shape the future of their regions, cities and municipalities. Microsoft is uniquely equipped to enable this approach. No other company offers as broad a portfolio of secure, consumer-to-business software, devices, and services; as diverse a network of global partners to implement it all; and as extensive a history of successful education and social programs. In combination, all of this helps cities imagine and realize what’s next for their people.
While many cities are already well on their way toward modernizing their technology infrastructures, they will continue to face growing challenges as migration trends rise and citizen demands for public safety and other services increase. Microsoft CityNext is the bridge to help them meet these challenges in a phased approach, now and into the future.
Working together, Microsoft and our partners can provide cities with highly integrated solutions that will focus the most important technology trends — cloud, Big Data, mobile, and social — on their most pressing issues.
Microsoft and Its Technology Partners Help Smaller Companies Take Advantage of Cloud and Mobile Technologies
By: David Smith, General Manager of Worldwide SMB
Let’s talk about a catch-22 that many business owners find themselves in – and it doesn’t matter the size of the company or the type of business they own. They recognize the value of adopting technology to better run their business, but they have a hard time determining the exact technology solutions that meet the needs of their unique companies and staff.
In fact, according to a recent survey by CompTIA, 47 percent of small businesses are only moderately close or not at all close to where they want to be in terms of utilizing technology to improve their business.
Two areas of technology that commonly vex small and medium-sized business (SMB) leaders these days are cloud and mobile. They know they want to take advantage, and many have started to leverage these technologies, but with so many options, which one is the best for your business?
At Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Orlando this week, more than 11,000 of our best and brightest technology partners converged to figure out how to help businesses solve their technology and business challenges. And among lots of exciting news and discussion, two announcements in particular promise to have an impact on small businesses looking to gain an edge.
Cloud Solutions That Meet the Unique Needs of Your Company
The first announcement involves Microsoft’s Cloud Solutions Provider (CSP) program. In addition to Office 365, Windows Intune and Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS), CSP partners can now offer SMB customers Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. So not only do SMBs have access to more cloud-based tools, but they can have them all bundled in one simple bill from a single vendor, who becomes their hands-on partner in cloud computing.
The benefit of working with a cloud solution partner — like Eastridge or Palmetto Technology Group, for example — is that they can help you choose and onboard the tools you need to achieve a variety of business goals, from better collaboration to better customer management. And with a partner managing these tools, business leaders can focus on other tasks, like acquiring new customers and growing your business.
In a recent survey of SMBs conducted by Deloitte, heavy cloud users saw 26 percent faster growth and 21 percent higher profit than companies that don’t utilize the cloud.
Finding a partner to help you answer the “how” part of the cloud is really important. Because the answer to the “why” question is clear: In a recent survey of SMBs conducted by Deloitte, heavy cloud users saw 26 percent faster growth and 21 percent higher profit than companies that don’t utilize the cloud. And two-thirds of all SMBs surveyed believe that the cloud allows them to beat their competitors.
More Mobile
Mobility is another area of vast potential for SMBs. According to IDC, SMBs that experience revenue growth are 54 percent more likely than average to have made supporting mobile workers a priority. Mobile devices and mobile management services like Intune untether people from their desks, freeing them to work on the go — whether that’s in route to a customer meeting, during a daily commute or even just from the balcony or a different room in the office.
Take Dan Prud’homme of Carolina Realty Group as an example. Through Windows devices and cloud services like Office 365, his office is nearly paperless, and he’s powering a truly mobile workforce that connects more quickly and reliably both in the office and out in the field. He also uses Skype to showcase and sell homes to potential buyers who can’t see a property in-person – all via his phone or tablet.
Other companies are using Microsoft Surface tablets to arm employees with more information, better resources and mobile points-of-sale on the show floor. Alex Shvartzman, owner of Brooklyn-based Kings Games, has noticed this having a positive impact on sales. Since his employees can call up product reviews, research information on specific games and ring up sales all using one device, a customer asking a question quickly and easily turns into a customer making a purchase.
According to IDC, SMBs that experience revenue growth are 54 percent more likely than average to have made supporting mobile workers a priority.
Which brings us to the second big announcement coming out of WPC this week: Microsoft is increasing the number of partners that can sell Surface globally. And the big advantage for SMBs is that partners can provide Surface tablets with the exact apps and functionality their customers need. So rather than trying to build a smooth-running mobile point-of-sale system piece by piece, you can work with one technology partner who handles the device as well as the apps and integration. And that technology provider will also offer service and support for all of your Surface devices.
Final Thoughts
This week’s announcements give SMBs of all stripes, from a small retailer with five employees to a pharmaceutical research company with 50 employees, even greater access to game-changing technology and best practices. Being considered a “small” business is no longer a disadvantage. Smaller companies are having big impact nowadays and Microsoft and our technology partners are here to help.
Ad-Blocking Feature In iOS 9 May Cripple Mobile Advertising Industry By Christian de Looper, Tech Times
While it was not a main point at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, the next version of Safari may include an ad blocker by default, arguably one of the company's biggest announcements.
This is big news for online advertisers, who are in uproar over Apple's decision, which could have very worrying effects on the Internet industry in general.
Ad blocking itself is basically running a piece of software that blocks ads on most websites. While it has been fairly limited to a small percentage of people that used ad-blocking software in the past, a report from last year found that the use of ad-blocking was up 70 percent from 2013, with 41 percent of those aged between 18 and 29 using the software.
Needless to say, this is a big deal for advertisers, especially since this will be the first time that the software is offered on mobile devices. The move is seen as a pretty big jab at the likes of Google and Facebook, both of which make a significant majority of their money from online advertising.
Many users, however, are likely excited at the news because of the intrusive and frustrating way in which many advertisers implement advertising. If advertisers want users to consider not using ad-blocking software, they will need to find ways to include ads much in a more subtle way.
"Consumers have shown that they only want ads and extensions they really are interested in and not sent to them out of context," says Tim Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies. "They play a role in the overall tech ecosystem, so Apple needs to make it easy for people to opt in or opt out. Apple is mainly responding to the demands of consumers who only want things they really care about."
Publishers are already struggling to find effective ways to generate revenue online as it is, and the move by Apple could significantly hinder this process. The move is made even more significant because of the popularity of Safari on mobile with the rise of the iPhone.
Of course, there are good reasons to use ad-blocking software. Ads often significantly slow the performance of a web browser. Not only that, but they include tracking technology, worrying many of the more privacy-aware among us.
"Unlimited tracking and web pages cluttered with direct-response ads has prompted consumers to look for solutions to block ads altogether .... Ultimately, our industry needs to move faster on these issues so that we can combat the low level of trust in digital advertising and avoid having a third party be the arbiter of what's allowed and what's not on our sites and apps," said Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next.
