Did Microsoft Just Become Cool?

Welcome to the Era of HoloGraphicComputing!!!

Microsoft- A Visionary & An industry Leader

The Internet has been been blazing with numerous catchy phrases -Did Microsoft Just Become Cool?, Finally Microsoft nails it with Hololens, Microsoft Builds a Headset and competes with GoogleGlass etc. In my opinion and in the minds of many industry evangelists, Microsoft has always been a path breaker and a leader in technology, never a follower. If Microsoft enters a space it has always been because Microsoft has always brought to the technology platform an inspiring assortment of techniques, products which are much ahead of the times- Looking Beyond What Is Possible! That’s exactly the case with Microsoft HoloLens.

As a consumer, as a technology lover, as a creative enthusiast- HoloLens just raises the bar and shows you truly in its theme- Imagine what… what if you could do with technology?

Microsoft CEO Mr.Satya Nadella once again proves that Microsoft is heading aggressively in the right direction. One of the constant struggles of many product companies as diverse as Microsoft is to not just re-innovate in existing products but also to launch products that are ahead of the curve and still be contextually relevant for the market. Microsoft’s Engineering Leadership has been standing out by helming fantastic products in Satya Nadella’s vision – the vision of products that will drive productivity in the cloud first, mobile first world.

Recently in the Windows10 event, Microsoft launched the stupendous- HoloLens – the world’s most advanced holographic computing platform enabled by Windows10.

The stellar stealer moment in the launch was when Terry Myerson appeared LIVE as a hologram and shrieked out aloud- “I am a freaking hologram, Move Over Shakespeare” ! ;)

What is HoloLens?

Hololens is a headset that fuses the real world with truly amazing and exciting phases in the digital realm. It will create hi-definition holograms integrating with your personal & professional space. The hologram is made out of light.

Windows10 will contain holographic capabilities with every version. Microsoft has said the release of HoloLens can be expected around the same time as Windows10.

hololens

Features:

a.The headset is wireless, which means    you don’t have to deal with any cords, wires, phones etc.

b.Comes with a swanky new “Holographic Processing Unit” (HPU) designed exclusively for this new-gen computing.

c. Has its own CPU, GPU

d. Built-in spatial sound will let the user hear holograms wherever they may be in the vicinity of the room

e. Has a transparent hardware, transparent lens

f. Has advanced sensors- Doesn’t need any mouse, screen to click- uses user movements as indications

How Does Microsoft HoloLens Differ?

HoloLens Leader Alex Kipman, clearly stated “Microsoft isn’t aiming to place people in Virtual World/Reality. Microsoft aims to take you beyond pixels, screens and virtual world.”

the team

Microsoft HoloLens is certainly more than a normal, simple headset display. It uses 3D holograms blended with the real world seamlessly extending beyond augmented reality and virtual reality. It is far more surreal- it will understand your vision, gestures, movements, voice, thus enabling you to interact with information in the most natural yet fantastic way possible today. The Hi-Definition holograms with transparency (doesn’t make you feel inside a box) with a clear line-of-sight will present all new ways to communicate, work and play.

Watch another incredible video to really understand why does after all HoloLens differ 

Satya Nadella has brought forth significant and I must say quite an impressive list of use-cases which will be quite difficult for competitors to match with. Some interesting use-cases being remote collaboration, engineering, design work and research along with Mars exploration experiences for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab thru holograms of Mars Rover images- an experience never possible previously.

To Know More About Microsoft HoloLens, Pls visit: http://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us

To Conclude..

Microsoft has delivered a fantastic product thru HoloLens which has combined the best of both worlds – best of real images (superior than Glass) and advanced digital 3D graphics for a more spellbinding holographic experience (superior than Sulon, Oculus Rift), doesn’t obscure whole vision (unlike Oculus Rift). Microsoft is also working with developers and creators all over the world to create some amazing and exciting holographic experiences for the user-base. With HoloLens, Microsoft has remarkably developed a prototype in 3D images with Hi-Definition to float around in real world for businesses and consumers. The USP of HoloLens is certainly the fact that it doesn’t take you thru an escapist mechanism of taking you into a different world rather allowing you to interact with your chosen environment. Microsoft has clearly demonstrated leadership in visualizing and translating this augmented reality vision – breaking barriers between technology and humans with jaw dropping artistic elements.

Anita Raj
Technology Evangelist
Team @MSExchangegur

The Rise and Fall of IT (as we know it)

By Nathan Coutinho

IT is the central nervous system of practically every modern business on the planet. However, most of us have looked at IT primarily as a cost center, endlessly pursuing a lowered Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) through massive budget cuts, technology consolidation and the migration from siloed, analog systems to integrated, digital ones. This became the norm because most companies on average spends over 70% of their annual budget on operations and maintenance. In other words, most of the actual IT budget is spent ‘keeping the lights on’ while very little is used to hire new talent, improve processes and make new technology investments. Also, most IT shops were setup as walled gardens, enforcing a specific set of platforms, applications, desktops, displays, printers etc. This may really sound bad, but for the time period we’re talking about, it was the best way to run IT. But times have changed.

The Fall of the IT Wall

IT is increasingly seeing new business and organizational pressures every day. If handling security, virus outbreaks, disaster recovery and application/desktop upgrades and migrations weren’t enough to deal with in this walled garden, then the consumerization of IT with apps, smartphones, tablets, wearable sensors etc. has created a whole new world of challenges. Initially, most IT shops ignored and sometimes banned these technologies though a company-wide IT policy. While there are some definite security and productivity risks to consider and evaluate, some business units or LOBs (lines of businesses) are now creating clearly visible, increased business value through the adoption of consumer, mobile and cloudtechnologies - be it tablets, chromebooks, Pinterest boards, Instagram pages, Salesforce groups, Dropbox shared folders etc.

For the most part, the wall has already fallen, whether we care to admit it or not. This has become evident by the large amount of apps, devices and cloud services that are being purchased directly by business units and individual employees. However, these can have short term gains, as security and compliance aren't exactly a priorty for non-IT folks. Many times, when an unsanctioned service becomes business critical, it has to be handed off to IT for security and integration, and that's where things can get ugly.

Transformation is Necessary

The fall of the IT wall hasn't exactly removed IT from existence (and it won't), but a new bar of expectations has been set. IT now has to build collaborative and effective bridges to ensure that its constituents are optimally consuming IT services. We now have to provide a platform to continually enhance productivity, breed creativity, innovation and most importantly, derive strong, tangible business outcomes from every single technology investment.

This sure is a very different IT than we're used to seeing and knowing, which is what makes this a challenging transition; one that will take many attempts, failures and most importantly, time.

Take Baby Steps

You can't rush transformation, especially since so much cultural change is ahead of us. Here are just a few things we can do as we start our journey down this path.

1. Get a seat at the executive table. If you haven't already, make sure you have a well respected voice at the executive table.
2. Change executive perception. Work hard in making it clear how critical IT services are in keeping the business running and how it helps enable growth and competitive advantage. Develop a business outcome-based investment scorecard so executives clearly see the impact of every IT investment.
3. Change company-wide perception. Integrate IT into each business unit. Hold weekly brainstorming sessions to understand each business unit's needs and wants. Discuss potential system upgrades, new technologies etc. that could positively or negtively impact each area. Ask each business unit to participate in early trials and pilots.
4. Move from a culture of No to a culture of Yes. Many business units are going around traditional IT because they are so used to hearing 'no' repeatedly over the years. While you can't exactly say 'yes' to every request, proper listening and being the voice of reason can immensely help strengthen the relationship and ultimately build trust. Expect some level of policy relaxation as well, because in order to be more agile and increase experimentation, you have to elevate risk.
5. Automate and Orchestrate. Let me be clear here, there seems to be a biggap in most IT environments and this one is fairly simple to fix. We all have gobs of virtualization, converged network, storage and server solutions today. Now all we have to do is stop doing all the manual work associated with operating these environments, use the built-in tools or add new orchestration tools to automate as much as possible. And if you don't want to go down this path or buy new software, consider moving some or all your applications to the cloud, if that makes the most sense for your organization.

So there you have it. IT is still here. IT still matters. But if IT doesn't change to help the business adapt and innovate, the business units will (and have) take matters into their own hands. Quite simply put, disruptive markets and consumerization has created a need for a new and improved IT which will continue to be a strategic enablement weapon for any organization.

Let the transformation begin.

How Cloud Can Resolve Storage Problems Associated With the Internet of Things

By Lori MacVittie

A CompTIA survey says while IoT might be over-hyped, it still promises real business value.
The Internet of things (IoT) is over-hyped, but considered to promise real business value according to a recent CompTIA survey, "Sizing Up the Internet of Things" which revealed 51 percent of IT executives believe IoT opportunities justify the hype with 48 percent believing there's more hype than substance right now.

Both are correct, of course. We're in the midst of a ramp up of IoT hype and while there have been significant business opportunity already scooped up by those in a position to do so, the hype is also high. It's the beginning of a technology trend, after all. Rising hype is to be expected.

Earlier this year, Gartner (IT) touched on the issue of data and its storage in "Gartner Says the Internet of Things Will Transform the Data Center" noting:

Data — The impact of the IoT on storage is two-pronged in types of data to be stored: personal data (consumer-driven) and big data (enterprise-driven). As consumers utilize apps and devices continue to learn about the user, significant data will be generated.
Indeed, the split of data types brings to the table concerns regarding privacy, compliance and control over each type of data. After all, personal data is mine, mine I say, and thus I should have complete control over its access, use and storage. Enterprise data, on the other hand, is something of a no-man's land with my preferences taken into consideration but ultimately its governance lies in the hands of those who collected and store it.

Cloud may be one way of resolving the problems associated with the need to build out ostensibly two separate (and costly) infrastructures to deal with storage, access and management of the data collected by the things that make up the IoT. Consumers, already well-versed in the use of cloud storage (seriously, my six year old believes cloud is synonymous with storage "out there" thanks to Minecraft) are more likely to be willing to "split the stream" as it were and use their own, cloud storage for personal data while traditional "big data" can be handled by the enterprise as it will (perhaps in the cloud as well).

By taking advantage of existing personal cloud storage options, organizations can shift the burden of storing and governing personal data onto the consumers who, for the most part, desire that control. The existing options for cloud and off-site data storage are mature and offer fairly robust integration methods (APIs) that organizations can take advantage of without extensive investment in the systems necessary to build out (and maintain) a similar environment on-premise.

Data storage and management is a critical component of the IoT. But we do need to, as Gartner as done, separate personal data from corporate, enterprise data before we begin designing the applications and systems that will enable organizations to participate and win in the economy of things. The differences in how and where we store, manage and govern access to both types of data has a very real impact on the design of the systems and applications that will eventually underpin the Internet of things.

Cloud storage is well-positioned tip at least the data obstacle toward substance.

Do you believe the IT industry as over-hyped IoT? How can organizations become better suited to leverage and manage IoT going forward?

Verizon on Internet of Things, the connected car: Location is key

Summary: According to Verizon, the mass adoption of tech which tracks our location and changes our environment as a result is far closer than we think.

 Charlie Osborne 

Credit: CNET

Verizon believes that the mass adoption of tech which tracks our location through Internet of Things connected devices is a reality far closer than we believe to be.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the concept of connecting devices to the Web and to other appliances to make energy use more efficient, appliances more effective and to use data which makes daily lives more convenient. From smart fridges which alert you if temperatures drop too far to keep food fresh to coffee machines which automatically turn on when you wake up and vehicles that 'talk' to each other and share data, IoT is a fledgling industry with much potential.
Cisco estimates that IoT will generate $14.4 trillion in economic activity in the next decade. However, according to Kevin Link, senior vice president and GM China at Verizon Telematics, it is the bridge between IoT and the connected car which has the most potential in today's business environment.

"The intersection between IoT and the car is location. When you think about how people conduct their daily lives, there are hundreds of examples out there where people have created algorithms. If the car is a learning car, it would know in the morning and in the afternoon what I’m doing and where I’m going – ‘I’m going home or I’m going to work’ – and it would change my experience [accordingly]."

For example, if your location is 'the car,' then that connection to a smart home would mean lights could turn off automatically, thermostats could be turned down, and appliances stopped. If the car learns your daily patterns, then it could estimate how far away you were from home, and change appliances in turn -- for example, turning your thermostat back to your preferred level, or turning the coffee maker on in time for you to arrive.

Link says that we are closer than we realize for this vision to become reality, due to the fact that many changes which need to be made are software-related rather than hardware-based. However, there are still challenges for automakers to overcome in terms of creating standards for interoperability, compatibility, safety and security.
On Tuesday, the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) joined US President Obama at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, VA where the President underscored the importance of using connected car technology and the research of new vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication technology. The President believes that V2V and V2I could be used to improve the future safety and mobility of our cars, as well as reduce time, waste and fuel.
However, while the convenience of having your coffee turn on as you drive home is an interesting idea, privacy concerns are another factor. Link mentioned the concept of a student's phone automatically turning on silent and back to normal settings based on whether the child was in school or not -- and there is something less than palatable about the idea of being so obviously tracked. In a time where surveillance and tracking has caused public outrage -- the NSA scandal case in question -- the concept of your daily habits being stored and used by IoT firms will not be to everyone's taste.
"We want this to be safe," Link said. "We don't want people to be able to look at other people's security cameras, or change the lighting in someone's house or car [...] so we've got some things to do, but most of it is software related."

Topics: Innovation, Verizon

GAME OF DRONES

FAA expected to give movie, television production companies permission to fly drones

This image provided by Aerial MOB, LLC

By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press
September 25, 2014 - 5:38 AM

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to announce Thursday that it is granting permits to seven movie and television production companies to fly drones, an important step toward greater use of the technology by commercial operators, said attorneys and a company official familiar with the decision.
However, the permits are expected to come with limitations, including that the unmanned aircraft be used only on closed sets and that they be operated by a three-person team, including a trained drone operator.
Until now, the only permit for commercial drone operations the FAA has granted has been to the Conoco Phillips oil company, which has flown two kinds of unmanned aircraft in unpopulated areas of Alaska and over the Arctic Ocean with significant limitations on their use.
The FAA is under intense pressure from Congress and a plethora of industries that want to use the technology or sell it to others to relax its ban on commercial drone use. Companies want to use drones to monitor pipelines, inspect the undersides of oil platforms and bridges, and spray crops. Amazon and Google want to use them to deliver packages. Wedding videographers, real estate agents, journalists and other many others are clamoring to use them as well.
The seven movie and television companies are regarded by agencies as trailblazers, the first of what are likely to be dozens of industries that could be approved in coming months for drone operations under limited circumstances.

Cj Godlewski I accept your #icebucketchallenge and will also donate to ALS. In return I challenge Nick Per Michael Quigley Rodney Tavarez and Michael Stazzone. You guys have 24 hours to accept this challenge and/or donate to ALS.

Here's a phrase you're about to hear a lot more of — if you haven't already: the "Internet of Things."
Why? It's about to be the next big thing. What does it mean? It's not just computers and phones that are linked up to the Internet — it's your stuff: refrigerators and glasses and trains and buildings.

The buzz about the Internet of things really took off earlier this year, when Google acquired smart thermostat and smoke alarm company Nest for $3.2 billion. What else is a member of this new club? Wearable devices like the Fitbit and Nike FuelBand trackers that monitor our physical activity and store that data in the cloud, Google Glass and more. But the surprising twist is that the big money in this next big thing may lie in a slightly less sexy arena than you'd think. The real future of devices that talk to each other may lie not in Google users but in smart-ifying, formerly clunky industrial companies.

Folks who have worked on building automation, railroads, heating efficiency and more are stepping full force into the Internet of Things space. Companies like Cisco ("Internet of Everything"), GE ("Industrial Internet") and others in the Valley that were around long before the dot-coms showed up now have the chance to make big-time bucks by smartening up a bunch of hefty, old-school stuff that affects our daily lives.

From banking paradise to data hub
Achieving the perfect selfie
Remembering another downed civilian aircraft

Examples? Take a smart sensor that GE is testing … in prisons. Or GE's robotic hospital systems that would handle everything from deliveries to sterilization. Or Cisco's "Internet of Everything" public sector projects — now underway across the globe: In Stockholm, the company has put cameras on city streets to monitor traffic activity and sensors to track public buses.

Varun Nagaraj, one of the players in this hot new market, is CEO of an "old" (by Valley standards), $16.5 million company called Sierra Monitor Corp., which provides gas and flame detection systems and gateway products that connect old and new things to a network. He is more pumped about the industrial Internet of things than the consumer -focused market. Meaning he's more into railroads and building automation than your Jawbone and Fitbit.
Smart cities, smart trains, smart factories — as Nagaraj puts it, those are the changes that, "over the next 20 years … will make a material difference to society, that will make a material difference to the economy … as opposed to an individual being able to measure how fit he is or not."

And though the Internet of Things is the hot new thing, it's actually been growing under the surface for ages — companies like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T have been selling home security packages with connected devices. But there remains a ton of potential to "connect" (hook up to the Internet) our transportations systems, our highways, our large-scale agriculture — even our warships. Smarter highways might mean lanes that could adapt to traffic flow or roads someday that could serve fleets of autonomous vehicles driving 100 mph, just inches apart.
Here's your cheat sheet for understanding the next Facebook — and here are three big reasons why the Internet of Things is about to explode:

1. COST:
It used to cost a ton of money to connect stuff to the Internet. No more. It's cheaper and easier to connect things than ever before, so more stuff can become intelligent. For example, Nagaraj says a parking meter can now be part of an intelligent city for just a few dollars — the cost of linking the meter to a sensor that detects if a spot is occupied or not, and to install a smart sign indicating to drivers if the parking spot is already taken. "In the past you could have done it, but it might have cost you $100," he said. "Now it costs you $5, and suddenly there is a business case to turn a parking meter into an intelligent parking meter."

2. BIG DATA AND ANALYTICS:
We're all data nerds these days. And as Nagaraj explains, "All kinds of dumb devices in the past now suddenly have the ability to tell you what they know." With all the information flowing through, he says people can crunch the data to reveal new insights to make smarter decisions. For instance, smart streetlights in a city might be able to be dimmed on slowly during an evening when the electric grid is facing high peak demand — instead of wasting energy. Or a connected city with smart parking meters might be able to direct drivers to available spots.

3. FINANCIAL:
The industrial Internet of Things has the potential to fundamentally move society forward, Nagaraj believes. These innovations could include cities developing connected transport systems and factories working only when they need to work, when demand requires it. "It is those changes over the next 20 years that will make a material difference to society … [and] to the economy, in my opinion." But who stands to reap the greatest financial benefit remains to be seen: It could be the old industrial conglomerates (think GE, Siemens, Honeywell), small to midsized companies trying to build bigger, or the venture capital world.

Venture capitalists, for one, aren't fully on board yet — precisely because it's hard to track who the clearest financial winner will be. Which may actually be why big companies (GE, Cisco and others) will be the most successful. There can only be so many Nests.

Sanjay Sarma, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, tells OZY that the huge challenge remains that the Internet of Things is still in a Wild West state. (Sarma's colleague Kevin Ashton is credited with inventing the term "Internet of Things.") Everything's being developed in an "ad-hoc manner," says Sarma, which means the field is missing a "dominant architecture" or common language — like what the World Wide Web is to the Internet or what alternating current (AC) is to power grids. For designers, a dominant architecture makes things easy to understand and build systems around. Without that, Sarma says, security becomes a problem.

All of this — even the challenges — sound like a big, big opportunity for someone hungry to solve. So open the doors for the next big thing.

By Samuel Greengard

Radical change requires radically different thinking. Business and IT leaders must begin to prepare for a highly connected and data-driven future.

The Internet of things is no longer an abstract concept. For better or worse, sensors and electronic monitoring systems are winding up just about everywhere.

Some industry observers say we're now on the cusp of a new era, "Industry 4.0," which refers to the fourth wave of disruptive industrial innovation. The previous waves encompassed mechanization, mass production, and the introduction of computers and electronics. This new wave of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication is almost certain to make today's disruptive environment look like a sea of tranquility in comparison.

A few connected devices produce some modest benefits, including cost savings. But thousands or millions of connected devices revolutionize processes and entire industries. The intersection of location awareness, enhanced situational awareness, sensor-based decision analytics, and automation and controls creates entirely new business and pricing models. Combine these capabilities with big data and everything changes.

Already, jet engine manufacturers charge airlines based on actual engine use as measured by thrust. Insurance companies, such as MetroMile, have introduced a pay-as-you-go model that replaces aggregate data with pricing based on actual mileage. A small box that plugs into a vehicle's diagnostic port transmits data to the company via a cellular modem.

Entirely new car rental systems, such as Zipcar, have popped up in recent years. These allow consumers to locate a nearby vehicle using a smartphone and then rent a car by the hour.

Further out, autonomous (self-driving) vehicles could eviscerate the concept of car ownership. You simply order a vehicle using your smartphone, and it arrives in minutes or even seconds. The service provider knows precisely how far a person has driven, how much fuel has been consumed, and how much wear and tear has been put on the vehicle.

There's also a good chance that health care providers will eventually reward those who consent to persistent monitoring by using devices such as activity wristbands, sensors embedded in clothing and even nanobots in the bloodstream.

Within this new connected order, the nature and value of data also changes. Gartner predicts that, within a few years, information assets will appear on corporate balance sheets.

Companies may even begin to pay consumers for their data. Capgemini Global CTO Lanny Cohen believes that data will eventually emerge as a bona fide currency. "Valuations of companies are likely to be based heavily on data," he predicts.

One thing is clear: Radical change requires radically different thinking. Business and IT leaders must begin to prepare for a highly connected and data-driven future.

Welcome To The Grind (Motivation)

"Rise and shine. 6am and your hand can't make it to the alarm clock before the voices in your head start telling you that it's too early, too dark, and too cold to get out of a bed.

Verizon 2014 Data Breach Investigations Report

 The 2014 DBIR is the most actionable yet and it will help companies to focus their strategy and approach more effectively. Download the report today to understand the key patterns and recommendations by industry.
Quick Facts:

• Seventh consecutive year of publication with more than 10 years of data
• Data from 50 organizations around the world
• 1,367 confirmed data breaches
• 63,000+ reported security incidents from 95 countries
• 92% of all incidents from the last 10 years fall into nine patterns 

Download the full 2014 Data Breach Investigations Report here: http://vz.to/DBIR2014