To help increase developers’ productivity and simplify app development, Microsoft has announced new data platform technologies and cross-platform developer tools. The company launched a new AI-powered platform “Azure Databricks” during an event for developers late Thursday. Designed in collaboration with the founders of Apache Spark, Azure Databricks analytics platform delivers one-click setup, streamlined workflows and an interactive workspace. The platform will enable organisations to provide self-service analytics and machine learning over all data with enterprise-grade performance and governance, Microsoft said in a statement.

The government has approved a proposal made by an industry consortium led by tech major Microsoft to train chief information security officers (CISOs) and other information technology officers from the Centre, states, banks and public sector enterprises (PSUs) on cyber security-related challenges. Officials concerned with technology-related work in the defence ministry, army, air force and navy are also expected to participate in the programme. The programme — Cyber Surakshit Bharat — which will be held in participation with the National e-Governance Division (NeGD) has been approved by electronics and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, an official said.

App-based cab aggregator Ola has partnered with Microsoft to build a new connected-vehicle platform for car manufacturers worldwide. While Microsoft’s Azure (its cloud platform) will power the company’s existing connected car platform, Ola Play, Ola will also leverage Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other productivity tools like office 365 to transform passenger experience. Both firms will collaborate to take this platform to car makers globally, to integrate with vehicle systems, Ola said in a statement. Ola Play will also leverage Microsoft AI and IoT to enhance driver experiences with telematics and navigation guidance; passenger experiences with cloud-based infotainment and productivity; and provide auto manufacturers with custom digital experiences for their customers.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who is on a two-day visit to India, on Monday interacted with the software engineers working at the Hyderabad campus, one of the largest R&D centers being run by the company outside its Redmond headquarters.

Though the event was kept out of media glare, Microsoft India put out some pictures of Nadella's interaction with young employees and also Nadella's interview by NDTV's Prannoy Roy there. Employees were the sole audience at the interview session between the Microsoft CEO and Roy.

Microsoft said it will drop its lawsuit against the Department of Justice over gag orders placed on companies that prevent them from telling customers when their personal data has been accessed by investigators. Its decision comes after the DOJ issued a new binding policy that requires prosecutors to give more detailed reasons when applying for a gag order and makes it much harder to seek one that lasts indefinitely.

In a blog post about the company’s decision to withdraw the lawsuit, which was filed against the U.S. government in April 2016, Microsoft president and chief legal officer Brad Smith wrote that the DOJ’s new policy “is an important step for both privacy and free expression.

Microsofts Windows security team has discovered a remote security flaw in Google Chrome that can be exploited by hackers.

"Our discovery of 'CVE-2017-5121' indicates that it is possible to find remotely exploitable vulnerabilities in modern browsers. Chrome's relative lack of remote code execution (RCE) mitigations means the path from memory corruption bug to exploit can be a short one," wrote Jordan Rabet, member of the Microsoft Offensive Security Research team, in a blog post late on Thursday.

To help its employees gain creativity, focus and happiness, Microsoft has built treehouse workspaces with embedded tech at its Redmond campus that will serve as meeting spaces and a more casual work environment. Designed by renowned builder Pete Nelson, the treehouse is one of the three new branch-based meeting spaces and is part of a larger new system of technology-enabled outdoor districts connected to buildings around campus empowering employees to work in new ways.

Microsoft has signed a 15-year wind energy agreement with GE in Ireland, becoming one of the first global technology firms to support a new wind project in the country. Microsoft will purchase 100 per cent of the wind energy from its new, 37-megawatt Tullahennel wind farm in County Kerry, Ireland. The agreement will help support the growing demand for Microsoft Cloud services from Ireland, the company said in a statement late on Monday.

In a bid to bolster its Mixed Reality vision, Microsoft has acquired Redwood City, California-based virtual reality social network AltspaceVR for an undisclosed sum. “With the AltspaceVR team aboard, we look forward to building the world’s pre-eminent mixed reality community,” Alex Kipman, Microsoft’s inventor of HoloLens, said in a post late on Tuesday.

The next version of Microsoft Office — Office 2019 — will be released in the second half of 2018 and its previews will start shipping mid-year. The release will include perpetual versions of the Office apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook and servers including Exchange, SharePoint and Skype for Business, Microsoft said in statement late on Tuesday. Office 2019 will add new capabilities for customers, including improved inking features like pressure sensitivity, tilt effects and ink replay. “New formulas and charts will make data analysis for Excel more powerful.

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