Thursday 30 October 2014

'Cloud' Boosts Microsoft Earnings Beyond Their Expectations


Microsoft
According to the reports published by Microsoft, although their revenue was more than what was forecasted by the analysts, the net profits of the company during the same quarter of last year dipped from $ 5.2 billion to $ 4.5 billion.

Now Microsoft has reported in quarterly profits, which are beyond their expectations. The company has attributed this boost to their Xbox consoles and internet cloud services that were being offered to different enterprises.

According to financial reports, the revenue of the company has reached over $ 23 billion, which is the best figure for the first quarter of any fiscal year. This boost in the revenue has pushed the shares of the US technology giant by nearly 3.8 % which is now at $ 46.75 in all after-market trades.

According to Satya Nadella, “Microsoft Company is looking towards faster innovation, engaging far more deeply through the industry and they are ensuring that their customers are the focal point of every process as it will help in shaping up the future of the company.

The company has confirmed that the record setting high revenue is because of the huge popularity of their Xbox video game consoles and Surface tablet computers apart from turning business to software offered as services as in the Internet "cloud."


According to Kevin Turner, who is Microsoft’s chief operating officer, the customers are now willingly accepting their latest technologies like Office 365 and Surface Pro 3 to Azure and SQL Server (cloud based) meant for corporate customers.

The net revenue of the Microsoft's customer and device unit increased to 47 % and reached $ 10.96 billion. The company was able to bring in nearly $ 1 billion from the sales of their Surface Pro 3 tablet computer.

The sale of Xbox consoles increased and was nearly doubled their value at $ 2.4 million in the quarter, which basically observed the new versions of the Xbox consoles being sold out in more than 28 new markets. According to Microsoft, there was a 10 % increase in the revenue from the commercial offerings of the company like that of Office 365. 128% growth was seen in Azure according to the company.

Nadella during their press brief held in San Francisco gave details about the latest changes and modifications in the strategies of Microsoft, which will enable them to attract more companies and businesses.

They are aiming to do so with their ability to hit the power of colossal online data centers whenever required. At this event Nadella was seen boasting about the fact that the company’s cloud is currently the most completed cloud services offered, which can empower every organization, every company across various industries and different locations and geography.

Microsoft was focused on highlighting the main fact that they have been using their power in the software’s which are used by companies to basically benefit from a trend which is moving towards renting of the computer power, their storage as well as software as services that is hosted at data centers with the cloud internet.

Now GPS Support And Free Music With Android Wear Updates


Android Wear
With many companies venturing into the wearable game, Google has kept up their promise they had made last month. The company has started rolling out their first few major updates for the android wear. This is Google’s operating system for the wearables.

What’s the advantage of the update?

The newest update from the company focuses on the fitness features and will allow the Android wear powered smart watches to also support a built in GPS sensor, music playback as well as music storage. The latest update will allow the users to connect with Bluetooth headsets independently to listen to the music. With the addition of GPS function, the Android wearable devices will be able to track the user’s activities like distance, route, and even speed without the need to be connected with any smartphones. The device users will be able to not only re-sync their fitness stats, but also transfer all the data from their wearable devices to their smart phones.

The users of the wearable devices will be able to  store music on their smart watches and also will be able to connect to a Bluetooth device and listen to them offline now. They will no longer need to rely on smartphones to listen to music. With the latest version of Google Play music supporting this function, Moto 360, LG G watch and even Samsung Gear Live users will also be able to draw benefits from this functionality. Apart from Google, Sony’s Smartwatch 3 also comes with GPS sensor for their Android Wear smart watches. These are now available throughout USA for purchase. Apart from this latest update, Google has now promised to come up with another update which will allow users to download watch faces from the Google Play store.

This update has certainly calmed down the speculation pertaining to the wearables for being merely useless devices when away from the smart phones. Battery life has been an added advantage since their launch. Apart from this update the company has also developed 8 new apps for the Android wearable collections, which is available in Google play. This includes apps for travelling, social as well as health and fitness applications.

The new update brings out the music experience that a user wants to feel without the burden of carrying a handset while walking or exercising. Initially the device which had to rely on a companion for this function will now will be able to perform the function and moreover will be able to pair up with another Bluetooth device and the music can be played on the paired device as well.

If you are among the people desperately waiting for this update to be rolled out worldwide and soon, then you might have to wait for some more days. The company is rolling out the latest update in the devices stage by stage. But at the end the user will be able to enjoy music by using Google Ecosystem and by giving refined controls to other apps of the device as well.

Chrome and Android Merger Coming Close To Reality

Chrome Android Merger
The talks regarding the merging of the Android and Chore Os into one single platform is nothing new and it has been expected for a long in industry.

The Tech enthusiasts and analysts were apprehensive of the merger from the very first day Google introduced its cloud-based operating system. The Google co-founder SergyBrinhas also admitted to their merger in a single platform as long back as 2009.

Only now the reports are filling with show with positivity towards much waited merger news. The Wall Street Journal has reported that such a merger is looking extremely likely due to the change in the management structure inside the software giant technology department.

The Change In The Google Management Structure

The Vice President of the Google’s Android Division named Hiroshi Lockheimer has been appointed to overlook the task of Chrome engineering team. Earlier this job was performed by Linus Upson.

How Tech Analysts View This Change

The Tech analysts are of view is that this move should be seen in isolation rather than it has meaning hidden behind him. They have finally begun to see some synergy between the two platforms. Last month Google has even brought the first batch of Android apps which could run effectively well on its clod Os i.e. Chromebook.

These Android apps are Duolingo, Evernote, Sight Words and Vine. These applications could easily run on the Chrome by using the App Runtime for Chrome (the beta version); this project was announced by Google in June this year.

A Secret Project Called ‘Hera’ Points Towards Imminent Merger

The rumours suggests that the search engine giant is running an ambitious project inside named ‘Hera’ which would represent a huge step forward in effectively integrating the Google’s popular mobile-based operating system ‘Android’ with its web based operating system ‘Chrome’ and it powerful search platform.

The Merger of the three distinctive services will give a new kind of advanced experience for the users. Google is expected to do this by using a special Chromium build which is meant to run on Android and execute tasks through the web both for the Google and third-part apps as well.

There are rumours that this merger would allow the users to call functions from third-party apps without having to open the app. It is touted to be a great feature for enterprise users juggling multiple tasks on a small mobile screen.

The Future Prospects of the Merger

As of now the search engine giant is working with a select group of Android developers for adding more of the popular app on the Chromebook. It is also working towards developing such apps which would work seamlessly on both the platforms and could provide a unique and beautiful experience to its users.

Some even suggests that this project looks more like an Androidfication of the Chrome than just a merger of two services. Google wishes to introduce us toward a world where Chrome is the computing platform of choice for users and it would be able to run across various operating systems and devices flawlessly.

Wednesday 29 October 2014

Twitter Unveils ‘Fabric’ Platform for Developers

twitter Fabric
The success and popularity of the social networking sites like Twitter or also Facebook depends totally on the achievement of those persons who develop many interesting and ideal apps since apps are the most significant part of these sites.

For example, Facebook has obtained a huge number of users due to the social games created by Zynga Inc. Furthermore, the services on the site of Twitter have achieved usability owing to the thousands of applications. These apps permit the public to shorten the web links, display photos and even utilize the Smartphone to get the service.

There are already more than million of apps all over the world that want technical maintenance to stay up and operate, and long-term business policy of Twitter is to endow developers with the necessary tools to make cash from their apps and prevent them from crashing.

A conference for the App makers to launch tools-

Few years ago, Twitter developed some firm rules and regulations regarding the apps development in social media and as a result, it annoyed many developers. But, recently Twitter has brought out some attractive news for those developers by arranging a conference for them. It is going to declare a new set of tools for the app makers.

The social network was stocking up on the developer-based tools over the previous 18 months, holding the startups such as Crashlytics that helps the makers to debug and check new apps. If app makers utilize Crashlytics to analyze and fix their app, they are more probably to use MoPub to promote on it. And in the future, when Twitter releases the best, pricier versions of those tools, the present customers will probably upgrade.

The new service of the tools will be given though a last platform known as Fabric. Fabric that is free, will provide developers a channel to report troubles in the development procedure by means of Crashlytics The tools will incorporate some things from Crashlytics. It is a crash-reporting tool that is used by different companies to know when their apps would crash on the customer devices and it was acquired by Twitter in the year 2013.

Main Goal of Twitter

But, this meeting with the developers will not be to promote the mobile manufacturers to build on this social networking site. The discussion in the conference will be more like a general conversation. The focus in this conference will be mainly to create a good relationship with the app makers by offering them some free tools so that Twitter will be able to earn some profit in this context.

Ryan Sarver, who is an associate of Redpoint Ventures and an ex- director of Twitter mentioned about the same thing. He also said that a new type of service from this social media sites is pleasing to all of the mobile makers, it can create a good bond with further some more developers in the future. He did not speak clearly enough early on concerning which apps it aimed to make and which it wished developers would create. Twitter must make reliable apps for the sake of the users.

However, the relationship became controversial in August of 2012 while Twitter implemented some severe necessities for third-party apps and basically ordered apps which would be capable to flourish in the future years. The company was attempting to take control over the user experience and starting to build features that had been created by external developers.

Apple Glass Maker Makes Deal To Exit The Arizona Plant


GT
According to the reports published by New Hampshire-based GT Advanced Technologies, Merrimack on 23rd Oct 2014, the company is looking forward to invest and sell furnaces and want to exit from their glass-making business. On 6th Oct, GTAT had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. According to the company they will be using the proceedings to refund $439 million Apple advanced GT to equip the Mesa, Arizona, plant. Currently this agreement needs approval from the bankruptcy court judge.

According to the recent reports, nearly 20000 furnaces are expected to be removed from an Arizona factory which were installed for making synthetic sapphire glass for Apple company. These furnaces will be sold under a deal that has been made between the company and the tech giant.

The company is currently preparing for producing large amounts of products that will be used in various Apple products. Currently Cupertino-based Apple has retained the rights to purchase the furnaces.

Last November, Apple company had announced that they will be purchasing a vacant 1.3 million-square-foot plant and will be contracting GT technologies for operation as well as making the glass which is currently being used on their iPhones camera lenses, and also on the home buttons.

With speculations surrounding the iPads and iPhone screens, the company was still unsure about the use of the massive source of the glass. On the other hand, GT technologies encountered issues to get the plant running successfully and Apple company has to release their latest iPhone 6 with their standard glass screen this September.

Apple is currently in the process of laying off nearly 124 employees of this plant which is expected to be completely closed by the end of 2014. They are also looking towards closing another small plant in Salem, Massachusetts.

Apple was quite surprised by the bankruptcy filing from GTAT. Apple released an official report on 23rd Oct 2014 stating that they have put forth a lot of energy and efforts towards their grand new sapphire manufacturing process along with GT Advanced Technologies but they are currently not ready for any production.

The company is planning to continue assessing the GTAT's progress pertaining to huge sapphire boule development and might consider other options for their facility. According to reports, Apple is quite concerned about the employees that will be laid off and hence they are looking to get new jobs for the GT employees and also want to remain committed towards Mesa city.

Initially, GT technologies were using the furnaces for making huge amounts of synthetic sapphire which was in turn used for making various components, but now they are concentrating to focusing on making the equipments that are used in the sapphire making process.

According to the Governor of Arizona, they are very happy with Apple’s decision to start a new plant in the City of Mesa as it indicates the efforts of Arizona is paying towards providing a pro-business climate. The state has been offering various incentives to Apple in the form of their existing facilities which was meant for manufacturing of Solar panel.