Microsoft Build 2016: Windows 10 updates, new devices, and more
All the action from the March 30 Microsoft developer conference.
Microsoft Build 2016 will be back today, from San Francisco, an annual tradition where the company lays out it software plans and hardware introductions for the coming year. While we may not be expecting any large new Windows 10 features today, we can expect a few updates to attract app developers to the platform. One possible feature we could be looking at are new Live Tiles, that make it easier for users to interact directly with notifications, without having to open the app. Another possibility is a deeper focus on Cortana. In addition, the new Hololens developer edition will be shipping very soon, so we might hear more about the direction that takes. There's also a likelihood of another addition to the Lumia series, as well as a possible followup to last year's Surface Book. On the gaming side, it's likely we're going to hear about apps that work across both Windows 10 and Xbox One, something the company is expected to introduce later this year, as well as maybe a few game titles that support the company's recently announced cross platform play.Stay tuned for the the live developments when Microsoft Build 2016 begins at 9pm (IST) tonight; latest details will be at the top.
Latest Updates
And it's done. No new Lumia, so is it a possibility Microsoft is coming to terms with the fact that people just won't buy into Windows Phone? Time will tell.Thanks for joining us everyone, and stay tuned for the follow up stories and analyses tonight and tomorrow.
Shaikh is on stage now. He's going to do a couple of sessions at Build as well.
Nadella on stage again. He's talking about developer accomplishments. A video rolling depicts Saqib Shaikh, a Microsoft developer who lost his sight at age seven. His app takes pictures on your phone and uses image recognition to describe scenes around you, or read out text in a photo.
Cornelia Carapcea is now up to talk about cognitive services to make devices more intelligent.
Today,we have 22 API's for you to get started with." Those are years of experience in machine learning in APIs that devs can use in their apps. Image recognition, speech recognition, search, all of it.
The Bot Builder also auto suggest synonyms to expand your bot's dictionary. An example they show is "Can you deliver 3 large pepperoni pizzas to my crib." If crib is added in as a word for home, that's a viable order. And the best part is, you don't need to be a coder to add new words to your bot's dictionary.
The great thing is, these bots you can build can also be defined to work through SMS. That's great, particularly in a country like India.
The Bot framewework includes a free, open source Bot Builder.
Dan Driscoll is up, talking about a new Microsoft Bot Framework.
Introducing Cortana Intelligence Suite. It's a bot framework to build bots into various conversational canvases. Nadella is talking about Cortana Intelligence Suite being as core as .NET.
Nadella back up again. "We want every developer to build experts for Cortana. We want every developer to be able to build bots as the new applications for every business and every service."
"We will also be bringing intelligence into real-time video."
Bots in video chat for Skype on HoloLens.
Context is key, is what Microsoft is saying. After brokering a text conversation with a hotel reservation bot, Cortana pops up a suggestion that Rincon call a friend, who lives in the destination city, that she usually meets when she goes there. Click on the suggestion and Cortana auto-populates the chat with a suggested message telling the friend when Rincon will be there.
Now Cortana sends a private message to Rincon saying a delivery bot is asking for her location for a delivery. Cortana is basically "brokering a conversation between the user and a bot".
Ooh. You can leave Video Notes, and they appear with the transcript below them using a translator.
Nadella is talking about animations, videos, and holograms in Skype
Lilian Rincon from the Skype team now. She's demonstrating on aWindows Phone
"What if we can now bring in your personal digital assistant right to your conversational canvas. What if we brought the world of bots in apps and websites that let you do things like book tickets into Skype."
"We envision a world where there are going to be more and more communications tools. We have Outlook and Skype, and we want to turn these into rich conversational canvases. Imagine if we can open up Skype."
Ok, done with Cortana now and Nadella back on stage. Are we going to hear about a Windows Phone at all?
Cortana even pulls up the Toy Store that Ash went to after Build last year. That is neat, for spaced out folk like me.
Uh...it's a demonstration of Cortana for Windows 10.....on an Android Phone.
Cortana also picks out if you message a time in text messages and offers to add it to your calendar.
"Cortana, send the Powerpoint I was working on last night to Chuck." Ok, that is honestly amazing. She'll show you the one she picks out, based on your search protocol, before carrying out the action.
Microsoft can look at Outlook with my permission, and she adds meetings and appointments from my mails to my calendar automatically.
13 countries supported for the Anniversary Update with Cortana.
Cortana on the lock screen! That's new. Just say "Hey Cortana" and it jumps to full screen. This'll be in the Anniversary Update.
Here's Marcus Ash from the Cortana team with an early preview of plans for Cortana.
Nadella talking about building Cortana so her "expertise is extensible". They want her to not be about one device, but about the user.
We conceptualise a new platform where human language is the new UI, bots are the new applications, and digital assistants are like meta apps or the new browsers.
"We want to build technology so it gets the best of humanity, not the worst." Oh that's definitely about Tay.AI.
"Last week, when we launched our bot Tay, we quickly realised it was not up to this mark. So we're back to the drawing board."More laughter. That entire incident was just a demonstration in the human anarchy and Microsoft's naivete. Honestly, the way it went was exactly as any person familiar with the Internet could expect.
This is all well and good, but I haven't yet seen any REAL anti-Skynet efforts in action.
"As we infuse intelligence into everything, we need a principled approach......Three core principles: Intelligence should ugment human abilities & experiences, be trustworthy, and inclusive & respectful."
We want to take the power of human language and apply it to computer interface. For that, we need to first infuse machine learning and intelligence into computers."
Nadella back on stage now. Talking about "conversation as a platform." Are we going to see some Tay rambling here?
On to NASA's use of the hardware. Aside from mechanical training for astronauts, which is what Microsoft demoed at the HoloLens reveal, there's more. Destination Mars is an exhibit that will be open soon, that lets the public tour Mars, alongside a holographic Buzz Aldrin as the guide.
Professors from the Case Western Reserve University on stage, talking about the use of HoloLens in medical education. The Holographic Academy Program has an app that lets students study the human anatomy using holograms projected directly into the classroom.
Updates now on votes for what apps Microsoft should build for HoloLens. Galaxy Explorer wins out.
Kipman invites Kudo Tsunoda on stage with the HoloLens dev kit that's shipping to developers today.
Phil Spencer leaves the stage saying more announcements for the Xbox One will be revealed at E3 in June. Aex Kipman coming on now for HoloLens.
Cortana is also coming to the Xbox One, as well as background music. I'm honestly not sure which one console gamers will think is more important. My money's on the latter.
"With the upcoming Windows 10 Anniversary Update, we'll be adding a single unified store across devices." That's new.
Oooh, and there's the Witcher III as well, running as a modern app.
Aside from Live Tiles and Notifications, you also get support for Xbox One controllers with these "converted" games.
Spencer is showing Age of Empires II: HD Edition, on Windows 10. It's one of the new converted desktop apps, and it has it's own Live Tiles!
"We also know many of you have win32 game codebases today, and we want to give you the access the ability to package your games into the universal platform."
That's twice now we've heard Microsoft devs (indirectly) address game developer Tim Sweeney's comments on the closed nature of the Universal App platform.
Phil Spencer is up for gaming, and then Alex Kipman for HoloLens.
Terry Myerson back on stage now.
"We have experiences that go beyond the PC. Gaming.....or HoloLens." Oh it's on now. Let's see what we've got.