microsoft – Tech Raman

Microsoft showcases SaaS solutions for cloud-first startups in India

Lakshmi Rajan — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 03:51:37 +0000

Microsoft showcased Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions for the Indian enterprises and particularly focusing on the new-age technology start-ups who are born-in-the-cloud start-ups. The company’s BizSpark Plus programme aims to provide right tools, resources, connections, knowledge and expertise that startups need to leverage the full potential of the Cloud and create innovative, SaaS solutions built on the Cloud. The programme offers free Azure Cloud services to qualified startups to power their business. Recognizing the growing number of startups and give them the necessary support, Microsoft Accelerator program has also partnered with 13 startup accelerators to roll out this program. The Accelerator programme also guides and offers inputs on scaling up and customer acquisition for mature and late stage startups. Close to 100 startups have graduated from eight batches of the Microsoft Accelerator program. The SaaS solution built on the Microsoft Azure public cloud platform offers technologies for offering better customer experiences, building intelligent infrastructure through cloud, local market on chat and talent management platform. The solution also offers scalability, reliability and make them future-ready as they grow up their business model. Indian datacenters provide local customers with data residency and replication in multiple regions for backup and recovery, and the option of a private connection to the cloud. Some of the startups on board the cloud-based SaaS solutions include Ameyo that offers an Omni-channel platform to streamline customer interaction across all conduits of communication and has helped businesses increase customer conversion by 6% to 15% while reduced cost of sourcing, lower churn and higher customer retention. Vymo – a personal assistant app for enterprise sales or service teams focusing on schedules, routes, alerts and recommendations that are actionable. Vymo’s solution has helped increase sales productivity by 30% for one of the leading insurance companies in India, and lower TAT by 80% for one of the leading Indian Banks. FlamencoTech – a cloud solution provider that creates its own ‘services layer’ customization on top of various technologies that fulfill varied business needs of each customer; QUSTN (Capabiliti) – a mobile-first talent management platform to Recruit, Onboard, Train and Assess frontline employees has helped companies improve employee engagement index by 65%, with new hires becoming productive team members in less than half the usual time. Yellow Messenger – a universal messaging platform to Shop, Book, Order anything on Chat. The solution helps reduce marketing and support costs by 30% and increases customer conversion and retention by 20%. “Our strategy is to build best-in-class platforms and productivity services for a mobile-first, cloud-first world. We realise the pivotal role that startups, with their ideas and enthusiasm, can play in leveraging those platforms to create newer solutions,” said Harish Vaidyanathan, Director, Independent Software Vendor Programmes at Microsoft, in a statement.]]>

Microsoft brings the Surface Pro tablets to India; Surface Pro 4 and 3 launched

Lakshmi Rajan — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 08:49:53 +0000

Top of the line and the latest Surface Pro 4 is larger, lighter and thinner version of the Surface Pro 3 and it also comes bundled with Surface Pen which has to be separately availed for the Pro 3. Surface Pro 4 runs on Windows 10 and is powered by 6th generation Intel i5 or i7, users can also choose between 4GB / 8GB RAM option. It has a 12.3-inch pixel display with a 2736 x 1824 resolution packing a 267 PPI. The Solid state drive (SSD) makes is ultra faster device with a 128GB, or 256GB options. At 8.45mm it is attractively thinner too. The Surface Pro also features Windows Hello, an automatic biometric sign-in option introduced earlier this year. The feature allows users to scan their face, iris or fingerprints to verify their identity and give them access to Windows phones, laptops and personal computers. Surface Pro 3 comes at a starting price of Rs 73,999 for the core i3, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage model. The display is marginally smaller than the Surface Pro 4 at 12-inch and sports a 2160 x 1440 pixels resolution. The tablet is available in 128GB storage with 4GB RAM and 256GB or 512GB storage with 8GB RAM variants. It has 5 megapixel rear-facing and front facing cameras. Microsoft has also launched the Surface Pen and new Type Cover, which are backward compatible with the Surface Pro 3. The keyboard is available for Rs 12,490, while the Surface Pen is priced at Rs 5,990. The power supply unit comes for Rs 8,490. The Surface Pen has a year-long battery life, 1,024 pressure points and comes in five colours with inter-changeable pen tips with the Pro 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECAzI07tyD8]]>

Microsoft Lumia 950 vs Lumia 950XL: What are the differences?

Lakshmi Rajan — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 16:14:30 +0000

launched these devices today in India at a price of Rs 43,999 and Rs 49,399 respectively. In case you are confused between the two, here is what differs between both the devices.

Microsoft Lumia 950 vs Lumia 950XL: Which one is yours?

Design

A silver metal ring around the Lumia 950’s rear camera apart, both the devices looks near identical. They are housed in the same black or white polycarbonate shell with the same line up of volume, lock and camera shutter buttons along the right edge of the device. The dimensions though differ slightly. They both uses USB Type-C for faster charging and data transfer. The Microsoft Lumia 950 measures 145 x 73.2 x 8.2mm, while the Lumia 950 XL measures 151.9 x 78.4 x 8.1mm. The 950 weighs 150g and the 950 XL weighs 165g.

Display

The Microsoft Lumia 950 features a 5.2-inch display, while the Micrsoft Lumia 950 XL, the bigger sibling sports a slightly larger 5.7-inch display. While the display size differs, both has a sharp WQHD resolution (1440 X 2560) with AMOLED screen with ClearBlack technology. Due to the varying display size, the Lumia 950 works up to 565ppi and Lumia 950XL stands at 515ppi. Though, let’s be honest it doesn’t make much of a difference in real terms when you stare at it. Both the displays are gorgeous. Both the displays are strengthened by Corning Gorilla but the Lumia 950 uses a Gorilla 3 and the 950XL gets the latest Gorilla 4.

Processor

Under the hood, both the devices differs, though both have 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage with a microSD card support up to 200GB. The Lumia 950 is powered by hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 chipset, Adreno 418 GPU, while the Lumia 950XL is super-charged with octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, Adreno 430 GPU.

Battery

Again both the devices has fast charging and built-in wireless charging support. The battery size though slightly differs. The Lumia 950 features a 3,000mAh battery while the 950XL is backed by a slightly bigger 3340mAh battery to compensate for its slightly bigger display.

Conclusion

While the Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950XL share most aspects, there are few differences as we mentioned above. Having said that, both are a perfect premium flagship devices and fills the vacuum at the top of the line of Microsoft’s Lumia portfolio. Also, not everyone are comfortable with 5.7-inch display size and for them the Lumia 950 should be a ‘fitting’ flagship device.]]>

Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950XL launched in India; Pre-booking opens

Lakshmi Rajan — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 13:26:44 +0000

Microsoft Lumia 950 specifications and features: The smartphone features a 5.2-inch WQHD (2560×1440 pixels) AMOLED ClearBlack display with 564ppi and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Powering the device is a 1.8GHz Snapdragon 808 hexa-core processor paired with 3GB of RAM. It comes with 32GB internal storage, which can be further expanded up to 2TB using a microSD card. On the camera front, the smartphone comes with a 20-megapixel f/1.9 PureView rear snapper with triple-LED flash, optical image stabilization and 4K video recording capabilities. For selfies there is a 5-megapixel wide angle f/2.4 setup with fullHD video recording capabilities. The device is backed by a 3,000mAh battery and also features built-in wireless charging support and fast charging. The device can charge up to 50 percent in 30 minutes. Connectivity options include dual-SIM card slots, 4G LTE support, Wi-Fi802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1, and USB Type-C port. Microsoft Lumia 950 XL specifications and features: As the XL indicates, the 950XL is a slightly bigger brother to Lumia 950. The display is slightly bigger at 5.7-inch while retaining the same WQHD AMOLED ClearBlack display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection. Powering it is a 2GHz Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor paired with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot. It shares the same camera specs with the Lumia 950. The battery is slightly bigger at 3,34omAh in comparison. Connectivity options remain the same with a dual-SIM card slots, 4G LTE support, Wi-Fi802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1, and USB Type-C port.]]>

Microsoft unveils a bagful of surprises at its Windows 10 devices event

Lakshmi Rajan — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 19:23:19 +0000

What Microsoft showed to the world in its Windows 10 devices event held at NewYork would silence all its critics and restore the faith on them. It also turns the software giant into an all-important hardware company too. It was one of the best presentation I have ever seen, full of dramatic flurry and Microsoft’s VP Panos Panay gets full credit for it. There was the expected mentions of the new quick heights the Windows 10 OS has occupied within two months of its launch. 110 million+ devices now run it. While am still intrigued with the HaloLens (may be because I never got a chance yet to experience it), Microsoft announced that it will make HoloLens development kits available in the first quarter of 2016. From here on wards, everything was super-charged for me. The flurry of show-offs. Take this list.

Microsoft Band 2.o
Lumia 950 and 950XL , the flagship devices
Lumia 550, a budget offering running on Windows 10
Display dock
Surface Pro 4

And then the unexpected biggest surprise,

Surface Book

Quiet an impressive laundry list, agree?

Microsoft Band 2.0

Aesthetically looking better than the original band and packing more sensors now, the Microsoft Band is what the company calls as the ultimate fitness device. The design language is smooth all through and it flaunts a curved OLED screen with a Gorilla glass. In the latest avatar, the band looks pretty with aluminum metal accents. We have all the fitness features that was thrown in the first generation band , we are talking about stuffs like GPS, a heart rate monitor, sleep and calorie tracking, guided workout notifications etc. Then there is the new sensor included, barometer to track elevation. Plus, there is also new additions like golf swing tracking, the ability to dig into body’s VO2 max, which I came to know from the presentation is the maximum amount of oxygen you can body can use while you work it out. There is also deeper Cortana integration. Not just this, there is also array of third-party developers right from Starbucks to Twitter and Uber (yes, your next cab is right on your wrist now!). Microsoft Band will be available from October 30th and is listed at $249.

Lumia 950 and 950XL

After a long gap and dozens of affordable devices in betweem, we have a real flagship Windows Phone and not one but two. The Lumia 950 and 950XL. The former gets a 5.2-inch display while the the XL flaunts a 5.7-inch screen. Both the phones use the USB type-C port. Both the phones will be available from Novermber onwards and the 950 starts at $549 and the XL at $650.

Here is a quick rundown on the 950 specs:

Display: 5.2-inch WQHD OLED (564 PPI)
Processor: Snapdragon 808, hexacore, 64-bit
Storage: 32GB internal, microSD card slot
Memory: 3GB of RAM
Cameras: 20MP PureView on the rear, with optical image stabilization; 5MP wide angle (front)
Battery: 3000mAh (removable)

And the 950XL with a big sized specs

Display: 5.7-inch WQHD OLED (518 PPI)
Processor: Snapdragon 810, octacore, 64-bit
Storage: 32GB internal, microSD card slot
Memory: 3GB of RAM
Cameras: 20MP PureView on the rear, with optical image stabilization; 5MP wide angle (front)
Battery: 3340mAh (removable)

Both the phones has a infrared sensor for “Windows Hello”, which unlocks a user’s phone by face recognition. Going by the demo, it worked neat. Microsoft also talked of a liquid cooling system, 5th generation OIS. And then there is also a dedicated camera button.

Display dock

Microsoft showcased a little block that could turn the Windows phone to give a PC experience on a bigger screen. The small box has ports for HDMI, DisplayPort, and three full USB ports. It connects to the monitor by a Type-C USB cable. What was interesting to see during the presentation is how the Windows 10 scales to the bigger screen from the Smartphone and the universal apps of Windows 10 needs a special mention for making the experience seamless.

Surface Pro 4

Slowly and steadily, Microsoft is getting everything right with their Surface tablets. With Surface 3 giving them a shot of confidence, the new Surface Pro 4 is a perfect followup. It’s thinner, lighter, and faster and the screen even slightly larger with the thinning of the bezel. The convertible now has a 12.3-inch display with what Microsoft calls a ‘PixelSense’ technology. The Surface Pro 4 also gets a Microsoft developed G4 chipset and the company claims it is 50% faster than the MacBook Air and 30% faster than the Surface Pro 3. Specs include ‘up to’ 16GB of RAM and 1TB of solid-state storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and a larger trackpad on the keyboard accessory. Microsoft also has fine tune the Surface Pen and it also gets an eraser and with some 1000 odds pressure points for accurate scribbling. The Surface Pro 4 is available October 26th, starting at $899.

The Surface Book

Definitely the biggest ‘one more thing’ moment that surprised everyone. The folks at Redmond event managed to keep it a big surprise with no leaks or rumours what-so-ever before the event. Microsoft’s direct answer to Apple’s MacBook and also the first laptop from them. One workd, the Sufrace Book is amazing with whatever details the company shared. Something, I would really want and a befitting answer to Macbook. It’s beautiful. It’s powerful. It has a 13.5-inch display that supports both stylus and touch input. It has six million pixels, which adds to 267 PPI. It runs a Nvidia GeForce graphics, the latest Intel Core processor with Core i5 and i7 models. It has an quirky hinge that snakes on the behind that Microsoft calls the dynamic fulcrum hinge and the screen can be flipped around. Pressing a button on a keyboard, the display can miraculously detached from the strong hinge and be worked as a standalone surface tablet. Am sold. The Surface Book is available on October 26th and starts at $1,499. ]]>

Giveaway : Day 5 Question to Win a Lumia 535 #AchieveMore

Lakshmi Rajan — Sat, 03 Oct 2015 12:07:44 +0000

Day 5 and we conclude our giveaway blogathon with a final question. Thanks for the overwhelming response and also a special mention to Mircrosoft India for sponsoring a Lumia 535 as our giveaway. In case, you just came to know about our #AchieveMore giveaway, you still can participate by answering all the previous question and the final one and fancy a chance to win the Smartphone.

Click Here for DAY 1 Question and Rules and Regulations of the Contest

Click Here for Day 2 Question

Click Here for Day 3 Question

Click Here for Day 4 Question

Day 5 Question

Baleshwar works as a Finance Head in an MNC. He’s on a family picnic when he gets a query mail on his Windows Phone about a new marketing budget he had approved. But he doesn’t have his laptop. How will he manage to download and go through the budget once again before he solves the query with a Lumia 535?

Please note:

Do answer all the 5 questions we ask.
During the five days, you can still participate by answering the previous days questions and the remaining ones.
Do read our rules and regulations in the Day 1 post clearly to be eligible for the contest.
Do follow our social media channels.

Good luck! ]]>

Giveaway : Day 3 Question to Win a Lumia 535 #AchieveMore

Lakshmi Rajan — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 13:06:27 +0000

Day 3 is here. And we are back with yet another question to make it 3 down, two more to go. In case you missed out the previous two questions, fret not. You can still answer the previous days questions and participate in our giveaway contest. Please refer the links below for the previous days questions, rules and regulations of the contests.

Click Here for DAY 1 Question and Rules and Regulations of the Contest

Click Here for Day 2 Question

Day 3 Question

Aditya is a Sales Head. He is on a break but his boss wants to close an urgent sales report and give his subordinates an urgent heads-up. Which Lumia 535 feature will he use to create this urgent report?

I know this is an easy shot, so go ahead submit your answer in the comment section and wait for the next two remaining questions. Please note:

Do answer all the 5 questions we ask.
During the five days, you can still participate by answering the previous days questions and the remaining ones.
Do read our rules and regulations in the Day 1 post clearly to be eligible for the contest.
Do follow our social media channels.

Bonne chance!]]>

Giveaway : Day 2 Question to Win a Lumia 535

Lakshmi Rajan — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 11:53:28 +0000

Welcome back to the day 2. In case you are reading it for the first time, do visit our previous post (the link is given below), you can still be part of the contest and stand a chance to walk away with a brand new Microsoft Lumia 535. All you have to do is answer / comment on the 5 questions we ask, 1 question a day in our blog.

Click Here for DAY 1 Question and Rules and Regulations of the Contest

Day 2: Question

Anmol works as a Creative Head in a big Ad Agency. He has not been feeling well, so he took an off today. He doesn’t have his system and all his stuff is on OneDrive. How will he put all the creative ideas in a presentation with a Lumia 535?

Update:

Day 3 Question is live > click HERE

Please note:

Do answer all the 5 questions we ask.
During the five days, you can still participate by answering the previous days questions and the remaining ones.
Do read our rules and regulations in the Day 1 post clearly to be eligible for the contest.
Do follow our social media channels.

Good luck! ]]>

Giveaway: Win a Microsoft Lumia 535 Smartphone #AchieveMore

Lakshmi Rajan — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 06:30:28 +0000

Time for a great giveaway and one of you could walk away with Microsoft Lumia 535. It’s always great to host a giveaway / contest and thanks to Lumia India for sponsoring this one. Here is the format. It’s simple do of course. Beginning today, we will be asking total 5 questions with 1 question a day for the next 5 days. You have to answer all the questions or try giving your best shot, of course the questions are no rocket science either. The person giving most correct answers will be declared the winner. Of course, we expect more of you to give the right answer so in that case one of the luckiest will be randomly picked the winner. You never know, it could be you too. Please refer below for the rules and regulations. Day 1 Question is listed at the end of the post.

About Lumia 535

Lumia 535 is the first-ever Lumia smartphone with the Microsoft branding. This mid-range smartphone comes with a 5-inch display, 5 MP wide-angle front camera, and 5 MP rear camera. Powered by a 1.2 Ghz quad-core processor, the device has a strong 1905 mAh replaceable battery and comes with in-built 8GB memory and signature Microsoft apps like: MS Office Suite Lumia 535 is pre-packed with MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to help users Achieve More productivity on-the-go. Skype Lumia 535provides amazing Skype experience on its 5 inch wide display. Users can enjoy a simulating video call experience through the 5 MP wide angle camera and connect with loved ones anytime, anywhere. OneDrive In addition to the in-built 8 GB storage, Lumia 535 comes with 30 GB of Free OneDrive storage. This makes it easy for users to share, view, and edit their documents on-the-go. OneNote OneNote on Lumia 535 empowers users to take quick notes, store them on the cloud, and share them in real-time. Lumia 535 is upgradable to Windows 10.

Contest rules:

Each participant has to answer each question correctly. Answers must be posted in comments section below, please use correct email id so that we can contact the winner.
All 5 questions need to be answered.
Participants must follow @TechRaman and @LumiaIndia on twitter and TechRaman on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel TechRaman TV
One lucky winner will be selected at the end of the contest and winner announcement will take place on 2nd week of October
This contest is open only to residents of India. Winner has to share a photo ID to claim the prize.

DAY 1: QUESTION

Sohail is a multinational Senior Executive who has to leave for Mumbai urgently due to some family issues. He doesn’t want his work to suffer. He has put together a presentation but he forgot to bring his laptop along. How will he manage to procure and complete his work before deadline with a Lumia 535?

DAY 2: QUESTION

Day 2 question is up > HERE

Day 3: Question

Day 3 question is up > HERE

Day 4: Question

Day 4 question is up > HERE

Day 5 Question

Day 5 question is up > HERE]]>

Microsoft adds Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL to its Indian inventory

Lakshmi Rajan — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 18:45:20 +0000

I lost count of Lumia models and here are two more to join the list. Launched during the WMC earlier this year, both the devices are launched today and will go on sale exclusively on Flipkart from today. The Lumia 640 & 640 XL comes at a best buy price of Rs 11999 & Rs 15799 respectively. The Lumia 640 has a 5 inch HD screen with resolution of 720p resolution and strengthened with Corning Gorilla glass. Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (MSM8926), 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, the phone gets a 1 GB RAM and 8 GB internal storage, with an option to expand via microSD card. It also houses a 8MP front camera capable of shooting video at 1080p and a front camera of 1MP for video calls. The phone houses battery of 2500mAh. XL obviously implies big size and the Lumia 640 XL is a bigger version of 640 but with a better specs and even the build. The matte finish of the XL feels much better than the glossy rear of the 640. For those who love bigger screen, the Lumia XL’s 5.7-inch HD screen with a resolution of 720p should be a good news. Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor clocked at 1.2GHz, there is a 1GB of RAM and 8GB of ROM, with a provision for external memory card. The camera set up includes a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera for selfies. A 3000mAh battery is a good addition. Both the devices are available in white, black, cyan orange and green. We will come up with our reviews soon. Watch the space. ]]>