"Microsoft" articles

After email and video communications, cloud storage services are the next most common tool used by remote workforces. These solutions enhance collaboration beyond traditional, thread-based file exchange capabilities, adding centralized data backup, coordinated sharing among teams, and version control history for concurrent editing. As with videoconferencing, platforms like Apple iCloud, Dropbox, and Microsoft OneDrive were already familiar to most remote workers pre-pandemic, having...

Recent research conducted by Parks Associates, and captured in the report Cloud Gaming: Demand and Preferences , finds nearly a third of US consumers are interested in cloud gaming and game subscription services. These services, including names such as NVIDIA GeForce NOW, Google Stadia, Microsoft’s upcoming Project xCloud, and PlayStation Now, have become hot topics in the gaming space for their attempt to replicate the streaming video service model. With a cloud gaming service,...

Prior to Parks Associates’ 10th annual Smart Energy Summit , in Austin, Advisory Board member and conference speaker, Joel Miller, Principle Supervisor, DTE Energy shared insights on how energy providers can do more to move the market forward. Joel will be participating on the Incentivizing the Smart Home: Utility Marketplace session on Wednesday, February 20, at 8:45 AM. Panelists joining him on this session include: Brian McKee, Director of Online Store, AM...

There's been a lot of hype around Microsoft's new Mixed Reality platform, set to debut mid-October. It's built on HoloLens technology, the futuristic augmented reality headset that Microsoft first showed off in 2015. Top PC makers - such as Lenovo, HP, Acer, Dell, and Samsung - have all announced they would be shipping headsets. But what can we expect from it - success, or failure? Why the Windows Mixed Reality platform will be a success 1.)  The price is right....

The voice-first consumer market is rapidly changing. Stakeholders continue to announce new moves and product roadmaps. Integrations and partnerships are regularly being made. New entrants, seeking opportunity in the intensifying appeal of voice-enabled technologies, are placing their bets with their own offerings. Both devices and applications are now on market—primarily in the personal assistant space—that embrace voice-first; that is, they feature an...

Voice-enabled technologies have experienced massive growth in the consumer market since the introduction of Siri in 2011. The momentum in voice technologies is similar to the Internet boom in the 1990s. Companies who did not get on board and create a web presence, especially in commerce, fell behind to their competitors. The voice-first movement may elicit the same effect. For companies to capitalize on the current market opportunity, they must consider enabling a voice experience with...

Much like last year at CES, Amazon, without a booth or formal attendance at the show, is still a dominant presence with Alexa. With companies unveiling both built-in Alexa products and integrations, Amazon is extending its lead as a way to tie together the smart home with voice-enabled capabilities. Some announcements from this year’s show include the following alliances with varying companies and Alexa: Ford – One of the largest U.S. manufacturers of cars, Ford...

Nissan recently tweeted that its upcoming CES announcement will involve Cortana, Microsoft's personal assistant. Below I offer some background about Nissan's partnership with Microsoft and its possible implications for the future of Nissan cars to provide a context for the upcoming announcement.  At CES 2016, Nissan announced a partnership with Microsoft to use Microsoft Azure, the collective name for Microsoft’s cloud services. Through the partnership, Microsoft Azure...