Kurt Shintaku's Blog

We just announced the availability of a new option for Azure Media Services called, “Premium Encoding”. 

It now enables complex workflows & tuning for transcoding media into different formats using some automation that can dynamically adapt to the content.

Among other things, it also provides users with the ability to output their content in 4x the number of formats using a large number of audio & video codecs.  It also provides the ability to ingest 2x the number of audio/video formats.

Video encoding can be a complex and complicated space. I often get requests from customers asking for ways to transcode formats that are used primarily in broadcast studios, or in the movie industry. Accompanying these formats are also complicated ‘recipes’ to process the videos that requires custom logic to make decisions about what encoding steps are required.

This week, I am excited to introduce a new technology in Microsoft Azure Media Services that allows our more experienced customers to solve such workflow problems. This premium encoder offers superior quality and flexibility suited for broadcast industry/professional media transcodes. This includes automated decision-making logic that can adapt to a variety of input and output file formats such as MXF, support for additional input and output codecs such as DNxHD, support for higher output resolutions – up to 4K in AVC, support for closed captions,  and much more.

In this blog, I will provide you an overview of the new capabilities of the premium encoder. Please click here to find out more about pricing and visit our documentation center to learn more details about how to use this encoder.

…

• ANNOUNCEMENT: Introducing Premium Encoding in Azure Media Services
  http://azure.microsoft.com/blog/2015/03/05/introducing-premium-encoding-in-azure-media-services/
• DOCUMENTATION: Encoding On-Demand Content with Azure Media Services
  http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/media-services-encode-asset/#compare_encoders

Another release of the Microsoft Products Portfolio has been released. 

I actually don’t have the release notes for this document so I can’t tell you what changed between 3.4 and 3.6.  I can tell by looking at the document, a lot of Azure services appear to be newly added.

Download it below:

• DOWNLOAD: Microsoft Products Portfolio – All-Up View v3.6
  https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=DA410C7F7E038D!78728&authkey=!ANWOq3CEnWV7YXw&ithint=file%2cpdf

Earlier, we released a new version of the "Outlook for iOS and Android_Info for IT Pros" Word document.

<taken from the introduction>

This document provides a deeper look into Outlook for iOS and Android for IT professionals including information from Microsoft engineers and answers to frequently asked questions we’ve received from customers. If you have additional questions, please reach out to your Microsoft Account Manager or contact our product team directly by posting in the Exchange IT Pro group on the Office 365 Yammer network.

• DOWNLOAD: New release of the "Outlook for iOS and Android_Info for IT Pros" (v2.0)
  http://1drv.ms/1DUoCuN

We just released a new .MSI that contains all the most current firmware and Driver Updates for Surface Pro 3 as of January 30th, 2015.

The .MSI was created for customers that can’t or don’t use Windows Update and for customers that need to do a mass deployment.

Cumulative and current firmware and drivers for the Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 2, and Surface Pro. This firmware and driver package contains drivers for all of the components in the Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 2, and Surface Pro devices, as well as updates to the system firmware that have been released via Windows Update. These drivers and firmware are compatible with Windows 8.1 (Pro and Enterprise). The Surface Pro driver pack contains drivers and firmware that are compatible with Windows 8.0 (Pro and Enterprise). The Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 2 drivers and firmware are not compatible with Windows 8.0 (Pro and Enterprise). These drivers and firmware are not compatible with Surface RT and Surface 2.

For more details, read the announcement here:

• ANNOUNCEMENT: Surface Pro 3 MSI Now Available
  http://blogs.technet.com/b/surface/archive/2015/03/02/surface-pro-3-msi-now-available.aspx
• DOWNLOAD: Surface Pro 3 firmware and Driver Updates .MSI
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38826

We’ve made a new eBook available that focuses on adapting to the world of mobility.

Separate the fact from the fiction around mobile, and understand the factors to consider in adopting a mobile strategy.

Read Unplugged: How mobility changes the way we work to learn how to:

• Bring innovation to business with low-cost devices
• Deliver exceptional customer experiences using the latest mobile technologies
• Choose the right device for specific business needs
• Assess the total cost of ownership

Visit the link below to download the book:

• DOWNLOAD: Free eBook: “Unplugged: How Mobility Changes the Way We Work”
  http://www.microsoft.com/enterprise/ebooks/
  devices/affordable-innovation/unplugged/default.aspx

We’re made available a free eBook from O’Reilly on Azure Machine Learning.

The Microsoft Azure Machine Learning cloud platform provides simplified yet powerful data management, transformation and machine learning tools.

R language scripts integrate with built in Azure ML modules to extend the platform. Additionally, models running in Azure ML can be published as web services.

You will be provided information on how to perform data science tasks including, data management, data transformation, and machine learning in the Azure ML cloud environment.

You will learn:

• Data management with Azure ML.
• Data transformation with Azure ML and R.
• Data I/O between Azure ML and the R Scripts.
• R graphics with Azure ML.
• Building and evaluating machine learning models with Azure ML and R.
• Publishing Azure ML models as a web service.

Free tier Azure ML accounts are now available with a Microsoft ID at: https://studio.azureml.net/Home/Free.

• DOWNLOAD: Free eBook, “Data Science in the Cloud with Microsoft Azure Machine Learning and R”
  https://azureinfo.microsoft.com/CO-Azure-CNTNT-FY15-02Feb-Data-Science-in-the-Cloud.html

We finally released the preview of Office 2016 for Mac.

For those of you who’ve been using the Office 365 release of Outlook 2016 for Mac, you know that big changes are in store. 

The product is demonstrably modern & tremendously improved over the 2011 release.

Read on for more info.

• ANNOUNCEMENT: The Office 2016 Mac Preview is here!
  http://blogs.office.com/2015/03/05/office-2016-mac-preview/
• BETA: Office for Mac Preview
  http://products.office.com/en-US/mac/mac-preview
• FIRST LOOK: Microsoft Launches Office 2016 for Mac Preview
  https://www.thurrott.com/office/1797/microsoft-launches-office-2016-for-mac-preview

Here’s a list of blogs about Surface & Surface Pro in particular that might be useful for those of you with new Surface Pro 3 units.

• Microsoft Surface Blog
  http://blog.surface.com/
• Surface Pro Bro Blog
  http://surfaceprobro.blogspot.com/
• Surface Pro Artist
  http://surfaceproartist.com/
• Surface Geeks
  http://surfacegeeks.net/
• Love My Surface
  http://www.lovemysurface.net/
• Surface Tablet Help
  http://www.surfacetablethelp.com/
• WindowsRT Source
  http://www.winrtsource.com/
• Microsoft Surface Forums
  http://www.surfaceforums.net/
• Official Surface Facebook Page
  https://www.facebook.com/Surface
• Surface SubReddit
  http://www.reddit.com/r/Surface

And as a bonus, if you use Twitter, here’s some folks to follow that tweet a lot about Surface:

• @surface
  https://twitter.com/Surface
• @surfacesupport
  https://twitter.com/SurfaceSupport
• @winrtsource
  https://twitter.com/WinRTSource
• @MS_SurfaceEvang
  https://twitter.com/MS_SurfaceEvang
• @surfacegeeks
  https://twitter.com/surfacegeeks
• @surfaceprobro
  http://www.twitter.com/surfaceprobro
• @surfaceproart
  https://twitter.com/SurfaceProArt
• @lovemysurface
  https://twitter.com/Lovemysurface

Quick blurb on accessories for your Surface Pro 3 that you may not have known about:

• Portable Car Charger Power Adapter for Surface Pro 3 ($10.99):
  http://www.amazon.com/Yakamoz-Charging-Adapter-Charger-Microsoft/dp/B00OXD9OMA/
   
• 2 port USB 3.0, SD/SDHC/MMC4.0, MicroSD/SDHC Adapter ($29.99):
  http://www.amazon.com/Juiced-Systems-Microsoft-Surface-Pro/dp/B00SVFUB5A/
   
• ORIGINAL Microsoft Surface Pro 3 36W Power Supply ($43.49, 50% discount):
  http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Surface-Pro-Power-Supply/dp/B00KRQ9YKO/
   
• DC12V External Power Bank Charger Charging Cable Adapter for Microsoft Surface Pro 3 ($5.99):  
  (For charging off an external portable battery)
  http://www.amazon.com/Yakamoz-External-Charger-Charging-Microsoft/dp/B00OXD9OL6/
   
• Wireless Type/Touch Cover Adapter for Surface Pro 3 ($59.99):
  http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/
  msusa/en_US/pdp/productID.286867300
   
• 12V 3A 36W AC 100-240V Wall Charger Adapter US Plug Power Supply for Microsoft Surface Pro 3 ($16.99):
  http://www.amazon.com/Yakamoz-Replacement-100-240V-Charger-Microsoft/dp/B00OXD9OKW/
   
• 12V 2.58A AC 100-240V Wall Charger Adapter US Plug Mini Version Power Supply for Microsoft Surface Pro 3 ($14.99):
  http://www.amazon.com/Yakamoz-Replacement-100-240V-Charger-Microsoft/dp/B00PTILWNM/
• Surface Power Cover – Keyboard & Backup Battery in one (Works w/ Surface Pro 3 – $69.99)
  http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-6L-RKD8-ZQT5-Surface-Power-Keyboard/dp/B00IZMKM94/

Last week, Microsoft & Chef announced a strategic partnership to automate their cloud workloads and move them into the Azure cloud:

• https://www.chef.io/solutions/azure/
• http://www.geekwire.com/2015/chef-and-microsoft-team-up-to-enhance-azures-automation/

Coming this Month:
In case you’re interested in managing Linux & Windows instances within Azure, both Chef & Microsoft are running doing a seminar March 19^th on automation using Chef & Azure:

• OpenSource Automation on Azure using Chef
  More and More Windows Administrators are being called upon to extend themselves into the world of managing Linux based systems. This talk will focus on how Chef, a popular open source framework, can make managing Linux workloads on Azure easy. We’ll also touch on how to manage Windows workloads with Chef. We will cover the basic paradigms of Chef, launching Linux instances and deploying applications to Linux instances.
  https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/11349/145733

Microsoft & Azure @ Chef Conf 2015 (March 31-April 2 – https://www.chef.io/chefconf/):
Microsoft is sending Distinguished Engineer, Jeffrey Snover, to Chef Conf 2015 – one of our highest ranking engineers. Also in attendance will be Microsoft Technical Evangelist, Jessica DeVita, and Technical Evangelist Manager, Damien Caro. The following sessions will be delivered on Azure & Chef:

• Tuesday, March 31 – 9:00am – 5:00pm: Orchestrating Linux workloads & Docker Containers on Azure with Chef
  https://chefconf2015a.sched.org/event/6fca38b49e47bf00be1bf5adcfe0f745?iframe=no&w=i:100;&sidebar=yes&bg=no#.VPTAcf8tHY4
• Wednesday, April 1 – 2:25pm – 3:05pm: The Chef Prince of Azure: How 10th Magnitude used Chef to flip-turn ZS Associates into Microsoft Azure Royalty
  https://chefconf2015a.sched.org/event/6f7f443ea47eca39f6817e3e29e99c68?iframe=no&w=i:100;&sidebar=yes&bg=no#.VPTAc_8tHY4
• Thursday, April 2 – 1:15pm – 1:55pm: PowerShell from the Ground Up
  https://chefconf2015a.sched.org/event/04752697d12354dc85cb335313abf922#.VPTJh_8tHY4
• Thursday, April 2 – 1:15pm – 1:55pm: Automate what you can, document what you can’t and have the wisdom to know the difference
  https://chefconf2015a.sched.org/event/68c107b6496edf97b467193c91be9c80#.VPTJnv8tHY4
• Thursday, April 2 – 2:10pm – 2:50pm: Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) for Veteran Chefs
  https://chefconf2015a.sched.org/event/c6c4ea3bf794e736c151108afb6868ff#.VPTJvf8tHY4

Previous Chef & Azure Video Broadcasts:

• ChefConf 2014 Keynote: Microsoft Technical Fellow Mark Russinovich – "Microsoft Azure Group"
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtMV07GeaEs
• Edge Show: Chef deployments to Windows Azure
  http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/Edge/Edge-Show-93-Chef-deployments-to-Windows-Azure
• Azure+Chef=AWESOME : The Series
• Episode #1: https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/11349/115265
• Episode #2: https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/11349/121585
• Episode #3: https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/11349/134563