Tag: Microsoft

Microsoft’s continual updating of Arrow Launcher, the company’s Android launcher app, has been impressive and for the most part, have been significant updates.  That’s no different with the latest update, version 3.6.  This update to Microsoft Arrow Launcher brings a handful of refinements and improvements to the launcher.  Perhaps the most interesting one for the majority of users is the ability to hid or show the system status bar.

The System Status bar is the bar at the top of the display where you see your clock, Wi-Fi indicator, battery indicator and so forth. Arrow Launcher now gives you the option in Settings>General Settings to turn this on or off.  This is a great feature if you want to have a more clutter free view of your home screen.

Microsoft Cortana, the company’s digital assistant, has been available on Android for some time now and its latest update brings an exponential improvement in usability to the app.  The new build, version 2.8.0 for those keeping score, allows you to configure Cortana so that it is your default assistant app instead of Google Assistant.  It means that you can now long press the Home button on your phone and it will pop-up Cortana so you can ask questions directly to it.

The new feature in Cortana is not enabled by default so if you want to use it as your Assistant, you will have to configure you phone to do so.  Just go into Settings and use the search feature to find Assist.  This will open up your defaults page on your phone (where you set your home launcher, browser, etc) and you will see a section Assist & voice input.  Tap it then tap on Assist app.  Now you can change it from Google to Cortana.

Microsoft Authenticator, the 2-factor verification app from the Redmond company, has a nice update rolling out to it for users.  The new build, version 6.1.7 for those keeping score at home, brings fingerprint authentication to the app.  What this will allow you to do is approve a login request by tapping the fingerprint scanner on your phone and not require you to enter the six digit code to approve it.  It is all aimed at keeping things easier but also secure.

If you haven’t tried Microsoft Authenticator, it works how you would expect a 2-factor app to work but it does so with a bit more flare by having avatars for your accounts.  For example, you have the Facebook logo for your Facebook account, or the Google “G” with your Google account.  It also has a nice, 30 second countdown clock next to each code so you know when it is about to expire.

The Bing search app for Android has a small but nice update rolling out to users today.  The update is version 6.8.25183598.D2C for those keeping score at home and who like to play version number Bingo.  On the surface, you are not going to find massive changes.  Functionally the app is the same as the previous version.  However, when you do a search, the results page are much more aligned to what you see when you use the desktop search in your browser.

Search results now offer a mix of links, branded results (if you are searching for a brand) and photos.  The idea is to bubble up not just text links to information but also provide more relevant media too.

Microsoft has released an update to their popular note taking app OneNote for Android.  The updated build is version 16.0.8067.1772 for those keeping score at home and the biggest new feature is the ability to share a page from the share panel built into Android Marshmallow or later.  This will make it far easier and fast to share thoughts and ideas with others.

The editing tools have also improved in this update.  The ability to cut, copy and past are there now along with other performance improvements to editing tools.  Couple this with the formatting tools being immediately available in the command bar, this overall makes the app easier to use, especially on a phone.

Microsoft has released their financial report for their fiscal year Q3 2017 that ended in March.  The company reported revenue of $23.6 billion for the quarter which was down slightly from what analysts had expected.  Their expectation was $23.62 billion and it has impacted their stock in after hours trading.  The positive however were around Microsoft’s cloud solutions and Office.  Cloud revenue, principally Azure, were up 11% to $6.8 billion year-over-year.  Productivity and Business Processes increased by 22% with Office products revenue increasing by 7%.  Office consumer products rose 15% and Dynamics saw a 10% for the quarter.

A bit of a surprise in the report was the falling Microsoft Surface revenue.  It fell 26% for the quarter despite the launch of the Surface Studio.  The lack of significant hardware upgrades in the lineup likely impacted this the most and there is only rumor and conjecture at this point when the Surface Pro will get a technology refresh.  Overall, personal technology numbers fell by 7% to $8.8 billion.