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TECHNOLOGIES & PRODUCTS

the Bot Framework. This is available across Win-
• Support for containers of nearly every type, on every
platform, with the general availability of Windows dows 10, Android, iOS and the new Cortana-
Server Containers support in Azure Service Fab- powered Harman Kardon Invoke speaker. The Cor-
ric, with Visual Studio tooling, and a preview of the tana Skills kit, however, is currently available in the
ability to use Docker Compose support for Service U.S. only.
Fabric to deploy containerized apps to Service Fab-
ric — enabling developers to deliver mission-critical, • A demonstration was provided on how multiple Mi-
scalable apps and services. crosoft products and services, including Dynamics
365, Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Cortana Skills,
AI to augment capabilities Microsoft Graph and Sentiment Analysis, will be
integrated into Tact, the sales experience plat-
Microsoft also highlighted its vision to amplify human in- form that turns any connected device into a AI-
genuity with intelligent technology, bringing AI to every powered virtual sales assistant, later this year.
developer through the unique combination of the Mi- Finally, Microsoft announced plans to better connect
crosoft cloud and AI. New cognitive services, platform developers with Office 365 customers around the
innovations in the Microsoft Bot Framework, advances in globe:
deep learning tools, continued infusion of AI into the
company's products and services, and intelligent insights • Any developer can now publish for Microsoft
offered through the Microsoft Graph unlock this oppor- Teams, the new chat-based workspace in Office
tunity for developers and new growth scenarios for busi-
nesses. New announcements included the following: 365. Coming soon, apps in Teams will be more
discoverable for end users through a new app ex-
perience. Developers can also add new capabilities
• The company added new services to the industry's to Teams apps, including third-party notifications in
broadest offering of cognitive services and now 29 the activity feed, Compose Extensions and Actiona-
services for developers, with unique customization ble Messages.
options. That enables developers to infuse off-the-
shelf or custom intelligence capabilities such as vi- • Microsoft also made new Microsoft Graph APIs
sion, speech, language, knowledge and search into available to developers, including APIs from Share-
their app and bot experiences in any scenario. New Point and Planner. The Microsoft Graph gives de-
services include Bing Custom Search, Custom Vi- velopers access to Office 365 data and intelligence
sion Service, Custom Decision Service and Video
Indexer. A new PowerPoint add-in called Presenta- and helps connect the dots between people, con-
versations, projects, schedules, processes and
tion Translator, which leverages Microsoft's Transla- content. These insights help developers build
tion APIs, was featured, allowing real-time translation smarter apps, enabling smarter ways to work.
to multiple languages during any presentation. The
new Cognitive Services Labs were also launched,
enabling developers to experiment with new ser- • Developers and ISVs who host their production
vices, such as a Gesture API, still in the early stages SaaS applications on Microsoft Azure and sign up
of development. through the Azure website can now have their
apps' data and workflow automatically extend-
ed to authorized Office 365 customers through
• Using the new adaptive cards supported by the standard connectors for PowerApps and Microsoft
Microsoft Bot Framework, developers can write
cards once that look great across multiple apps and Flow. To help ISVs expand their business even
further, Microsoft is also providing additional incen-
platforms. Using the Bot Framework, developers can tives to its sales force when they jointly co-sell eligi-
also now publish to new channels including Bing, ble SaaS apps and services to enterprise custom-
Cortana and Skype for Business, and implement Mi- ers.
crosoft's payment request API for fast and easy
checkout in their bots. Nadella announced during his keynote speech as well,
that Windows had reached 500 million Windows 10
• Azure Batch AI Training is a new Azure offering, monthly active devices and noted how — together —
available in private preview only, that will allow devel- Windows, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Azure offer
opers and data scientists to configure an environ- developers more than a billion opportunities to connect
ment with parameters and run their models against their innovations with Microsoft customers. The compa-
multiple CPUs, multiple GPUs and eventually field- ny’s announcements that new Azure data and cloud
programmable gate arrays. services will help developers quickly modernize their
existing apps, new AI and Azure services allow any
• In addition to Harman Kardon's Invoke intelligent developer to more easily build intelligent apps, with un-
speaker with Cortana, partnerships were also derstanding and natural user interaction capabilities,
signed with HP on devices and Intel on reference and the fact that Microsoft showcased new data, IoT
platforms to deliver Cortana-enabled devices. edge and AI services built for a future with an intelligent
cloud and intelligent edge, will for sure make quite a
• The Cortana Skills Kit is now in public preview. stir. ◊ By MediaBUZZ
Developers can build skills for Cortana by creating a
bot and publishing it to the new Cortana channel of

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