Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Xbox One Backward Compatibility is here. Now you can play a growing number of your Xbox 360 games on Xbox One at no additional cost. With over 100 titles available now, and hundreds more in the months to come, Xbox One is now the best place to play your Xbox 360 games.  Experience the greatest games lineup in Xbox history—exclusively on Xbox One.

Xbox One Backward Compatibility is easy to use
The digital tiles that you own and are part of the Back Compat game catalog will automatically show up in the “Ready to Install” section on your Xbox One. For disc-based games that are a part of the Back Compat game catalog, insert the disc and the console will begin downloading the game to your hard drive. After the game has downloaded to your hard drive, users will still need to keep the game disc in the drive to play.

• For a living list of Xbox 360 titles that work on Xbox One visit:
  http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/backward-compatibility
• For a text version of the list:
  http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/backward-compatibility/available-games

Looking for an avatar graphic to demonstrate your love of Xbox?  Look no further than this collection, courtesy of Ken Microsoftee (@XboxFloat):

Grab them here!

• DOWNLOAD: Team Xbox Avatar graphics
  https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21ANDYE2qcxhQ0Iqk&id=C10F2A7D7CF351A3%21240819&cid=C10F2A7D7CF351A3

Interested in Microsoft’s vision for the Automotive Industry?  Here’s an excerpt of an article entitled “Cloud Driven: A Revolution in the Automotive Industry” in Atlantic Monthly that talks about just that:

Once thought of mainly as a tool for remote backup, the cloud is transforming global business by providing computing power on demand, and that change is nowhere clearer than in the automotive industry. As a platform for big-data analytics—the ability to find meaning in the undifferentiated data stream from every moving part of the Internet of Things—the cloud has revolutionized everything from design, manufacturing, and supply-chain to dealerships, customer experience, and the future of connected cars.

A great circle of cloud-based communication among cars, dealers, and manufacturers puts the owner-customer at its epicenter, promising highly responsive service, quick-turn design of new features, and hands-free productivity tools that seamlessly integrate the car with home and office. Even now, major auto makers are betting heavily that cars will themselves become an on-demand service, leaving ownership to fleets. The future is being built right now, thanks largely to the cloud.

…

Here’s an index of topics covered:

• The Future of Sales, Showrooms, and Customer Experience
• Assembly Line and Automotive Value Chain
• The Connected Car
• The Great Data Loop
• Looking Ahead

Read more here:

• ATLANTIC: Microsoft excerpt: “Cloud Driven: A Revolution in the Automotive Industry”
  http://www.theatlantic.com/sponsored/microsoft-2016/a-revolution-in-the-automotive-industry/849/

Ready to learn how Microsoft Visio can help you simplify your work and visualize your data more effectively? Register now to attend our series of free Visio Webcasts!

Microsoft Visio webcasts will occur on the first Tuesday of each month, from 12:30pm – 2:00pm EDT / 9:30am – 11:00am PDT.

Upcoming topics include:

• Solving Real Business Problems with Containers and Lists
• Hidden in the Corners – Visio Diagrams you never knew you could make
• Is your Diagram Correct?
• Moving from Visio "user" to "Power user"
• …

Visit the following sites for more information and registration:

• UPCOMING WEBCAST TOPICS/AGENDAS:
  https://vts.inxpo.com/scripts/Server.nxp?LASCmd=AI:4;F:APIUTILS!51004&PageID=27276744-71FD-47D1-B184-08B94F478D2B
• REGISTRATION:
  https://vts.inxpo.com/scripts/Server.nxp?LASCmd=AI:4;F:QS!10100&ShowKey=26805&AffiliateData=AprilTwitter3.25

Quick reminder:

We’re thrilled to announce our second annual Microsoft Edge Web Summit, coming to San Francisco on April 4^th, 2016! Free registration opens soon – watch this space for more details.

Last year, we had a blast hosting developers from around the world, representing over 100 organizations, for a first look at Microsoft Edge and our plans for the future. This year, we’ll be in town immediately after Build 2016 for a one-day conference packed to the gills with short, focused, technical talks covering everything from in-depth performance analysis to the tools we use to measure and improve interoperability across the web.

Come learn what’s under the hood of our newly open-sourced JavaScript engine, powerful techniques for building accessible sites, and what’s on our roadmap for the year ahead – not to mention a few surprises!

This is a unique opportunity to learn from the engineers who build Microsoft’s browser, rendering engine, and developer tools, and for us to learn from you in breakout sessions, Q&As, workshops, and lots of opportunities to socialize! There’s no better place to make your mark on the future of EdgeHTML.

From the registration announcement:

Registration is now open for Microsoft Edge Web Summit 2016. Space is limited and reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis, so book your seat today! Sessions run all day on April 4th, just after Build and a short hop away at Dogpatch Studios. We’ll also be streaming live on Channel 9 and recording each session, so it’s easy to join in even if you won’t be in town.

Read more below:

• ANNOUCNEMENT: Save the Date: Microsoft Edge Web Summit returns on April 4th in San Francisco
  https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2016/01/19/save-the-date-edge-summit-2016/
• REGISTRATION: Register now for Microsoft Edge Web Summit 2016
  https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2016/02/11/register-now-edge-summit-2016/

[taken from the Surface Hub announcement blog post]

Surface Hub has begun shipping to business customers. We are excited to see how Surface Hub will bring people together to work, create and learn in new ways.

We are not just releasing a powerful device. We are releasing a team-empowering solution that will make meetings more productive, modernize workflows, and let people engage with data much better. We designed Surface Hub from the ground up for ink and touch, and harnessed the best collaboration and security features of Windows 10, Skype for Business, Office, OneNote and Universal Windows apps. We’ve seen how businesses and disciplines like healthcare, manufacturing, automotive, consulting, defense, finance, education, and design can bring Surface Hub into workspaces to bring a new level of innovation and efficiency to their teams. They can reduce costs and improve effectiveness, compared to legacy AV and presentation technology.

…

REPORT ON COST SAVINGS:
In a recent Total Economic Impact study commissioned by Microsoft, Forrester Consulting* worked with five Surface Hub early adopter customers to outline the costs, benefits and risks for implementing Surface Hub in a business environment. This resulted in benefits of more than $850,000 (3 year NPV**) based on savings in device deployment and management costs, avoided printing and device purchase costs, and improved sales. Download the study from Forrester here:

FORRESTER: Surface Hub Total Economic Impact Study
http://aka.ms/surfacehubtei

PURCHASES:
If you are interested in purchasing Surface Hub for your business and for more details about Surface Hub, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-surface-hub.

• BLOG: Microsoft Surface Hub has begun shipping to business customers
  https://blogs.windows.com/devices/2016/03/25/microsoft-surface-hub-has-begun-shipping-to-business-customers/

[taken from the Microsoft Research page on Holoportation]

Holoportation is a new type of 3D capture technology that allows high quality 3D models of people to be reconstructed, compressed, and transmitted anywhere in the world in real-time.

When combined with mixed reality displays such as HoloLens, this technology allows users to see and interact with remote participants in 3D as if they are actually present in their physical space. Communicating and interacting with remote users becomes as natural as face to face communication.

• Project page:
  http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/holoportation/
• Team page:
  http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/groups/i3d/

On the cusp of the availability of Windows 10 Mobile for Lumia devices, comes the User Guide for Windows 10 Mobile for Lumia owners.

If you’re interested in knowing if your Lumia will be upgradable to Windows 10 Mobile, check the following site:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mobile/support/product/lumia640/faq/?action=singleTopic&topic=FA144485

The main site for Windows 10 Mobile is available here:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mobile/windows10/

The user guide is download able here:

• DOWNLOAD: User Guide for Lumia with Windows 10 Mobile
  http://download-support.webapps.microsoft.com/ncss/PUBLIC/en_US/smartwebpdf/GUID-8D2842BA-8EA5-49A6-A66E-36C87437D092/Lumia_with_Windows_10_UG_en_US.pdf

Introducing the Visio NCAA Bracket Generator!

The Visio NCAA Bracket Generator employs a robust algorithm to automatically identify your top pick.

Select your priority criteria in the Generator’s user-friendly interface and let the app do the rest of the work for you!

• Win %
• RPI
• Schedule strength
• Scoring Offense
• Scoring Defense
• Scoring Margin
• All Time (historical)
• Seed
• Mascot

To read up on the Visio NCAA Bracket Generator, go to the link below:

• DOWNLOAD: Visio NCAA Bracket Generator
  http://aka.ms/visiomm

The Economist has published a report entitled, “Changing Roles: How Technology is Transforming Business Functions” which Microsoft has licensed and made available at no cost:

In this report from the Economist Intelligence

Unit, explore how the workplace is evolving and the effect technology will have on how people collaborate, form global teams and make decisions across various business functions.

Download the report from here:

• DOWNLOAD: The Economist, “Changing Roles: How Technology is Transforming Business Functions”
  http://note.microsoft.com/Enterprise_EN-US_ITLeaders_EconomistReport.html?ls=eam_corp_en-us_vnext_hp