The technology allows for geotechnical engineering visualization for use in mine and environment restoration. BGC will use HoloLens to show clients a scene and visualize solutions to various issues. “Reclamation is about making good on the commitment that mining is a temporary use of the land,” said Bill Burton, vice president of BGC. “We can put people in that final landscape. This is easier to understand for experts and non-experts alike....

Are you looking to purchase a new laptop or desktop? Do you want to make the switch from a Windows PC to Mac or vice-versa? Given today’s complex threat landscape, security is one of the most important factors to consider before making a decision. While Macs have gained a more secure reputation than PCs, that doesn’t necessarily mean Apple machines are invulnerable to viruses and cyberattacks. The truth is, both Mac and PC are on a relatively level playing field....

Apple has already suggested it will move production out of the country, with between 15% and 30% of manufacturing likely to leave the country. Google’s preferred location away from Chine is unknown, but the company is said to be scouting locations for Google Home speaker production. China Tariffs It’s interesting that companies should be seeking to move away from China. If this is the case, it is unlikely to be related to any agreement with the tariffs imposed by the Trump government....

Chris Jackson, Microsoft’s worldwide lead for cybersecurity, says the role of internet explorer has changed. In a modern era of Microsoft Edge, IE is something of a relic from another age. And that’s fine as Jackson says the, ahem, browser is now more of a “compatibility solutions”. It is for enterprise users who are managing legacy sites that need to be updated for modern browsing. Jackson says organizations and normal users should not be using IE for web traffic....

With that in mind, Microsoft 365 Life will reportedly have Office 365 Personal and Home, including Microsoft’s upcoming Teams consumer version. It was not originally believed that the bundle would include Windows 10. The reasoning behind that speculation was sound as most people buying a consumer package would already have the latest version of the platform on their PC. It now seems that Windows 10 may be included in Microsoft 365 for consumers after all....

According to Microsoft, this feature will come into effect on February 1, 2023. It means all app contents on Microsoft 365 Family and Personal will count towards your OneDrive storage limit. That means personal files, Teams message attachments (including recordings), Outlook attachments, and more. While the limit of the Outlook account will not change, all the content (inboxes) you have on Outlook.com will count towards your OneDrive storage. Essentially, Microsoft is saying it will no longer take care of storing these elements and you have to use your own storage limit to do it....

For the unfamiliar, AV1 is an up and coming video format created by the Alliance for Open Media. It’s royalty free and designed to replace VP9 while competing with the popular yet expensive HEVC. Quality at a Cost In general, it promises a smaller file size with better quality. It’s currently implemented in Chrome and Firefox but requires a manual toggle to use. For users with slow internet or data caps, it could help....

PlayStation and home-market favorite Nintendo dominate Japan and indeed much of southeast Asia. It seems Microsoft wants to increase its presence and will create a new division called Xbox Asia. The company is currently looking for people to work in the division and has published job listings on its career page. “The Microsoft Global Gaming Partnership & Development team (GGPD) is looking for a knowledgeable, experienced, and energetic leader to lead partnership and business development in Japan, China, and South Korea to make Microsoft the global leader in Gaming,” reads the job description....

As mentioned, some of this movement is not down to kindness on the part of tech companies. Regulations such as Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) have put more restrictions on companies. Furthermore, customers are demanding more secure platforms. Microsoft is making a deeper commitment to user data moving forward. The company has been making moves towards more privacy. For example, the company announced in November it is extending its support of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) to all customers in the United States....

Users can access the open source tools under an MIT license on Microsoft’s GitHub platform. If you’re unfamiliar with fuzz testing, it is a common method for locating and deleting security flaws. Specifically, fuzz testing has become popular because it is highly effective at maintaining the security of native code. However, fuzz has often meant developers must make compromises. Most notably, while it is effective testing is typically complicated to use....

1 Xbox Game Pass for PC2 E3 2019 Previously, the Xbox Windows 10 app was the hub for users linking friends and messages from Xbox to PC. Microsoft wants to make a more dedicated experience, which is what the Xbox Console Companion delivers: “This app is being renamed to Xbox Console Companion to be a dedicated app for your Xbox console’s features and settings.” Microsoft also has plenty of interesting new features planned for the Console Companion, saying a “new desktop experience is coming soon!...

“These builds are from the 20H1 development branch. Some things we are working on in 20H1 require a longer lead time,” explained the company. “We will begin releasing 19H2 bits to Insiders later this spring after we get 19H1 nearly finished and ready; once 19H1 is ‘nearly finished and ready’ we’ll also use the Release Preview ring for previews of drivers and quality updates on 19H1.” No Going Back It’s hard to argue with the company’s logic here....

At Build, Microsoft does not usually go big on gaming, preferring to focus on other areas of its business. In fact, the company does not have a dedicated gaming conference. Instead, major Xbox and PC Gaming announcements are made at E3 and other events. However, it’s worth noting Microsoft’s “What’s Next” is a series of small introductions into the company’s future plans. In other words, you may not hear about major announcements....

If Microsoft’s plans are true and the company picks up either EA or Valve, it would simply be huge. Firstly, it would be among the biggest tech deals in history. Secondly, many believe it would provide a major disruption to the gaming industry. EA is the world’s largest game publisher. If Microsoft folded the company into Xbox, the company would have huge power over the industry. Similarly, Valve would give Microsoft a lot of clout over other gaming giants....

“The safety of our community is a top priority. In light of the health safety recommendations for Washington State, we will deliver our annual Microsoft Build event for developers as a digital event, in lieu of an in-person event,” the spokesperson said. “We look forward to bringing together our ecosystem of developers in this new virtual format to learn, connect and code together. Stay tuned for more details to come....

Yesterday Microsoft expressed its “dismay” at the controversial policy of separating families. However, the company has a conflict of interest in the form of a massive contract with the ICE. Trump’s administration holds a zero-tolerance approach towards undocumented immigrants. The situation has resulted in more than 2,300 children being separated from their parents. After news of Microsoft’s working contract with the ICE emerged, more than 100 employees sent Satya Nadella an open letter....

Of course, these days Microsoft’s core businesses are backed by the cloud. From the Azure cloud services platform to productivity through Office 365. Even Microsoft’s Xbox division is moving into the cloud with Project xCloud. While Windows taps into the cloud (Windows Virtual Desktop), there has never been a true virtualized version of the platform. With Cloud PC, that will change. However, it is worth noting Microsoft won’t be replacing the traditional locally installed version of Windows 10....

“No customer code or data was involved in the observed activities. Our investigation has found a single account had been compromised, granting limited access. Our cybersecurity response teams quickly engaged to remediate the compromised account and prevent further activity,” Microsoft says. “Microsoft does not rely on the secrecy of code as a security measure and viewing source code does not lead to elevation of risk. “Our team was already investigating the compromised account based on threat intelligence when the actor publicly disclosed their intrusion....

SolarWinds related attacks have infected 18,000 organizations, including government agencies. Earlier this week, Microsoft claimed to Business Insider that its services were not a vector for the malware: “Through all of our roles in different investigations, we have not identified any software vulnerability in Microsoft products or cloud services that led to compromise,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. “In all cases, Microsoft services were a target in the incidents, after an attacker had gained privileged credentials in some other way....

Additionally, the Admin Center will bring a unified experience including a Call Quality Dashboard and Call Analytics. IT professionals can manage Teams settings at a user level and gain end-to-end insights. Microsoft has detailed all the features in a blog post today: Microsoft Teams messaging policy: Create custom policies for messaging scenarios for your users. User management: Assign policies and configure your users. Microsoft Teams guest messaging settings: Control the messaging capabilities for guest accounts in Microsoft Teams....