With Microsoft setting up three data centres in India, the Redmond (US)-based company is expected to get a leg-up in grabbing a bigger share of the Indian cloud computing business.

Globally, Microsoft has spent about $4.5 billion on setting up 19 data centres, as it accelerates its strategy to be a ‘mobile first, cloud first’ company. In 12 months, the company has expanded such centres from eight countries to 19, including Australia, Japan, China, and India.

Microsoft is working on an advanced version of its competitor to Apple’s Siri, using research from an artificial intelligence project called “Einstein.”

Microsoft has been running its “personal assistant” Cortana on its Windows phones for a year, and will put the new version on the desktop with the arrival of Windows 10 this autumn. Later, Cortana will be available as a standalone app, usable on phones and tablets powered by Apple Inc’s iOS and Google Inc’s Android, people familiar with the project said.

Microsoft in India on Tuesday announced a exchange offer for existing Asha, (a brand formed under erstwhile Nokia which was recently acquired by Microsoft) consumers with the aim of offering the latest OS experience to its consumers through the Lumia 435.

The offer will enable existing Asha consumers to upgrade to a brand new Lumia 435. The ‘Smart Exchange’ offer as Microsoft calls it is valid from till April 15, 2015 or till stocks last across the country, giving existing consumers of Asha 500, Asha 501, Asha 502 and Asha 503 an assured discount of Rs. 1,500/- and an assured discount of Rs. 1,000/- for Asha 305, Asha 306, Asha 308, Asha 309, Asha 310 and Asha 311 consumers. This discount is applicable on MRP of Lumia 435 which is Rs. 5,999/-.

Hundreds of millions of Windows PC users are vulnerable to attacks exploiting the recently uncovered “Freak” security vulnerability, which was initially believed to only threaten mobile devices and Mac computers, Microsoft Corp warned.

News of the vulnerability surfaced on Tuesday when a group of nine security experts disclosed that ubiquitous Internet encryption technology could make devices running Apple Inc’s iOS and Mac operating systems, along with Google Inc’s Android browser vulnerable to cyberattacks.

After running five start-up accelerator batches in India, Microsoft Ventures launched two new programmes on Wednesday — Accelerator Plus and Scale Up — which would focus on late-stage start-ups. The start-up engagement arm of the US technology major has so far conducted only 'acceleration programmes' that included companies from idea to mature stages.

Accelerator Plus will include start-ups, which have raised seed-level funding and has at least 50 clients (for business-to-business (B2B) segment) and 20,000 customers (business-to-customer (B2C) space).

Microsoft has updated its Windows Defender to remove the Superfish adware which reportedly made Lenovo users susceptible to attacks.

According to the Verge, researchers are reporting that Windows Defender, Microsoft's onboard anti-virus software, is now actively removing the Superfish software that came pre-installed on many Lenovo computers. Windows Defender will also carry the task of resetting any SSL certificates that were bypassed by Superfish, and restore the system to proper working order.

Microsoft on Wednesday launched its most affordable Lumia smartphones in Uttar Pradesh, which, it said, was the biggest smartphones market in India.

The Uttar Pradesh smartphone market is pegged at rougly 700,000 units a month. The devices Microsoft Lumia 532 and Microsoft Lumia 435 are priced at Rs 6,499 and Rs 5,999, respectively, Microsoft subsidiary Nokia India Director (East) Kislay Kumar said here.

With chief executive Satya Nadella stressing a productivity-and-platform agenda for software company Microsoft, a segment in which the firm wants to lead is cloud computing, with offerings under Microsoft Azure.

Independent analysts say though Microsoft in India is yet to catch up with Amazon Web Services, the aggression shown by the company in gaining market share recently is evident. For Microsoft, Azure is a $20-billion revenue business and emerging markets such as India seem growth drivers.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.