• OnePact partners Microsoft to promote sustainable energy production

    Senkron.Energy Digital Services customer EnerjisaÜretim and Microsoft today signed an agreement to drive innovation and sustainability in the renewable energy generation sector in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). ). Following the signing of this agreement at the 28th edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), in Dubai (UAE), Enerjisa Üretim and Microsoft are collaborating to harness the potential of cutting-edge technologies, including intelligence artificial intelligence, generative AI, Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Sustainability Manager, dynamic asset management, IT management and information technology security. The collaboration is based on technologies provided by Senkron Energy Digital Services’ offerings, services and operating models, which will also be brought to market with Microsoft.
    Enerjisa Uretim and Microsoft EMEA officials at COP28 Summit
    Enerjisa Uretim and Microsoft EMEA officials at COP28 Summit

    Under the agreement, Enerjisa Üretim joins forces with Microsoft as a preferred technology partner and go-to-market partner for AI-powered renewable energy generation on Senkron.Energy’s platforms. This partnership will commercialize Senkron.Energy’s new technologies and unlock new business models and revenue streams, leveraging both parties’ strengths in industry and technology.

    Enerjisa Üretim manages a diversified portfolio of energy production sources, with the aim of reaching a capacity of 5,000 MW with a rate of 59% renewable energy by 2026. While equipping existing and new capacities with AI-powered productivity, digital maintenance and management of power plants, including operational technology security, Enerjisa Üretim will commercialize this know-how for customers in the energy sector through the through Senkron Energy Digital Services for a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future at scale. Senkron.Energy Digital Services is a born-digital services company headquartered in the Netherlands and playing an active role in the global transformation of the energy sector, particularly for renewable energy resources.

    The collaboration also involves a new AI-based generative application, “OnePact AI”, which aims to improve the efficiency of renewable energy production, as well as leverage the collective power of know-how and industry technologies to strengthen the capabilities of renewable energy companies.

    Senkron.Energy’s OnePact AI uses Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI service to access and analyze IoT data collected from 40,000 data points, combined and correlated with operational data, to dramatically increase operational efficiency in Enerjisa Üretim’s more than 20 power plants. With “OnePact AI”, users can interact directly with big data for energy operations. This solution leverages Senkron Energy’s digital skills and Enerjisa Üretim’s energy expertise to provide tailored solutions to the energy sector on Microsoft Azure. It improves the efficiency of demand and supply management, digital power plant management and maintenance.

    The companies also signed an agreement to create an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data domain to enable companies to make data-driven decisions to reduce their emissions, thereby improving sustainable energy production powered by AI and carbon trading.

  • Microsoft to help with business forecasts via machine learning

    If you are looking to use your Excel spreadsheet program for more than just number crunching, Microsoft has assured that a new add-on for the app is here and it will help businesses create better forecasts with the help of machine learning and AI.

    Simply put, it is called ‘Business Assist – Forecast in Excel.’

    In a post on the Microsoft 365 Insider blog made recently, the company offered new insight on the new Excel Office Add-in program called Business Assist – Forecast.

    The blog describes the add-in in the following manner:

    Save time spent forecasting and analyzing historical data and trends with Business Assist – Forecast in Excel, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning. This tool helps the user to quickly and confidently review volume-based future support volume based on historical data.

    Customer service leaders, managers, and agents can reliably predict service-call volumes to manage staffing levels. Staff can help reduce their organization’s help desk costs and provide great customer experience with the help of Microsoft Support.

    It gives organizations the confidence needed in building in their data!

    How to use the Business Assist – Forecast in Excel

    Excel users can simply launch the app, go to the Home selection, and then the Add-ins option. They can then find the Business Assist – Forecast add-in program and click the Add button next to it to install it. It’s available now in the following Excel versions:

    Excel for the web
    Excel 2013 for Windows
    Excel 2016 for Windows
    Excel for Windows (Microsoft 365 subscription)
    Excel 2015 for Mac
    Excel for Mac (Microsoft 365 subscription)

    Once Excel is opened and the add-in is installed, the user can import data into the Date and Volume fields.

    He or she can then launch the Business Assist – Forecast add-in and select both the Forecast end date and Seasonality options on the right side of the app. Next is to click on the Run Forecast option.

    Once that’s done, there should be two new Excel spreadsheets:

    Predictions: Contains the forecast, as well as low and high values.
    Chart: Displays the forecast value and prediction graphical chart.

    According to Microsoft, Excel users with the Business Assist – Forecast add-in can use it to forecast volumes on a daily basis, along with weekly options and monthly forecasts for up to six months.

  • What’s good about Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 display?

    Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 has its strength and maybe weaknesses. Experts who have tested it agree that it’s an efficient and stylish business companion.

    The display is one of the first things that people will notice, hence it is important to list what makes it special.

    First, it is good to note that the display is a 13.5-inch touchscreen. Some think the touchscreen is not that useful after all. That’s if you don’t have the stylus – and you may not get it every time you buy.

    For the display, the chassis won’t fold into tablet mode, nor will it stand like a tent, so, don’t expect much from those angles.

    Both the keyboard and the trackpad occupy important spaces as you stare at the display.

    One good thing about the display is 2256 x 1504 display resolution. It hits the peak brightness of 411cd/m2 – good for combating sunny conditions.

    The RGB setting is best with a 95.6 color gamut score (108.4 percent for volume.

    This display is not perfect but offers a consistent experience and strong color performance.

    One big issue is the bezels because they seem to be larger than what obtains today.

  • Former Microsoft engineer sentenced to nine years

    microsoftBLOCKCHAIN

    A former Microsoft Corp. engineer has been sentenced to nine years in prison for stealing $10 million in digital currency.

    Ukrainian national Volodymyr Kvashuk worked at Microsoft at its head office in Redmond, Washington, starting in 2016 before he was fired in June 2018 and then arrested the next month. Kvashuk worked on Microsoft’s online sales platform, where he used a Microsoft Store account meant for testing to gain access to online sales where he obtained “currency stored value” such as Microsoft gift cards and then resold them online for bitcoin.

    Read on

  • Microsoft’s ‘Mandalorian’ Xbox controller

    Just in time for the start of season two of The Mandalorian on October 30th, Microsoft has announced a new Xbox One controller bundle perfect for the Star Wars fan in your life. It comes with a single gamepad and a charging stand inspired by the armor protagonist Din Djarin acquires partway through the first season of the series.

    Read

    Mando Controller

    Microsoft

  • News: Microsoft fights back, says Apple “stands alone as the only platform to deny consumers from…

    cloud gaming”
    9ce595b1 15b9 4108 8296 E5c59e93b4fe
    by Arif Bacchus
    Email Twitter: @abacjourn Aug 6th, 2020 inNews
    Microsoft is fighting back against Apple after the iPhone maker blocked the Xbox Game Pass cloud gaming service (Project xCloud) out of the Apple App Store due to its policies. In a statement seen on Windows Central, Microsoft had some harsh words for its longtime rival, saying that “Apple stands alone as the only platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming.”

    In addition to calling out Apple, Microsoft again hinted that, due to these policies, there is now no path to bringing cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to iPad and iPhone users. “Our testing period for the Project xCloud preview app for iOS has expired. Unfortunately, we do not have a path to bring our vision of cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to gamers on iOS via the Apple App Store,” said Microsoft to the publication.

    In another part of the statement, Microsoft addressed Apple’s policies of treating games on Apple App Store differently. This refers to the policy where Apple doesn’t have to moderate other streaming apps (like songs on Spotify or movies on Netflix) because they consider games as different and “interactive.” On this, Microsoft says to Windows Central, “It [Apple] consistently treats gaming apps differently, applying more lenient rules to non-gaming apps even when they include interactive content.”

    Source

    Microsoft fights back, says Apple “stands alone as the only platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming”

  • Microsoft Stock Rises on TikTok Deal Talks

    Microsoft stock is rallying Monday amid widespread enthusiasm for the company’s potential acquisition of the some operations of the video-social media site TikTok from China-based ByteDance, reportedly for as much as $50 billion.

    On Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump told reporters that the U.S. Treasury should get “a very substantial portion” of the sales price of any transaction “because we’re making it possible for this deal to happen.” The White House didn’t explain how that would work.

    More
    https://www.barrons.com/articles/microsoft-stock-spikes-on-tiktok-deal-talks-why-fastly-and-softbank-are-also-up-51596477024