Microsoft is set to kickstart is Build 2018 conference today in Seattle. Just a day before the commencement of the Google I/O 2018 developers’ conference, Microsoft is seizing the day with the big announcements centred around the new prospects for the company amid the sinking PC sales and lost mobile phone business entirely.
The Microsoft Build 2018 conference starts at 8:30 am PDT, May 7 at the company’s home turf Seattle. In India, this time translates to 9:00 pm IST, Monday. The conference will end on May 9, however, the major announcements will dominate the first and a major half of the second day. This is the second time Microsoft chose its base to organise the Build conference, as opposed to the venue in Silicon Valley two years ago.
Microsoft will also be live-streaming the conference on its Build website – https://news.microsoft.com/build2018/. However, the website needs users to register themselves first.
The Microsoft Build 2018 begins with the keynote speech by CEO Satya Nadella who will talk about the company’s future goals and will later be joined by Vice President of Operating Systems, Joe Belfiore, who will shed light on many technical announcements, in addition to Artificial Intelligence and, of course, coding.
Here’s are the major areas that are likely to be in the main focus at the Build 2018:
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Microsoft, much like other tech companies, has more frequently used the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ for many of its products – nearly all of them to be specific. The company is now moving closer to the implementation of AI for a far-reaching ecosystem. Microsoft will address how it is going to employ AI to tackle breaches and vulnerabilities, in addition to providing a well-knitted suite of Microsoft apps.
The Redmond-headquartered colossus will also lay a focus on Machine Learning under Windows ML, a Machine Learning platform that Microsoft introduced alongside Windows 10 April 2018 update. The Windows ML platform allows the developers to harness the trained AI routines in their apps to maximise the output by running them either locally or on the Azure cloud platform.
Cortana, the virtual assistant of Microsoft, is the best example of Artificial Intelligence and will be the focal point of the keynote. We can expect a lot of announcements on Cortana, which now sits at the helm of AI platform of Windows. There are other apps too, such as Translator, that use AI to offer real-time translation, regardless of the Internet connectivity. Microsoft’s XiaoIce chatbot that is natively available in China recently learned to ape human-like voice, instead of the robotic one. Microsoft is seeing an area of development there as well.
Windows 10
Fresh off the Windows 10 April 2018 update, Microsoft paved a way for the upcoming features that are due to be announced at Build 2018. The major feature of the update released last month is Timeline, offering the users to chronicle all their work, apps, and files on all devices, including Android and even iOS. However, Microsoft is planning to take the productivity of Timeline up a notch.
Microsoft is also paying attention to Microsoft Graph, the single platform that collects and stores all the user information. The Microsoft Graph is set to receive some useful features, ultimately benefiting users to leverage some of the newly-introduced features. There are also some announcements expected around the ambitious feature called Sets. Sets is an experimental feature that allows the users to use apps in tabs, just like the web browsers. With the company keeping mum about it since its launch, Sets is likely to find itself a worthy mention during the Build 2018 conference.
Mixed Reality Headsets
Microsoft has openly shown its keen interest in the mixed reality headsets powered by Windows Mixed Reality platform. With an ample number of headsets now available in most markets, Microsoft is likely to announce the roadmap of its AR and VR platforms. While the Mixed Reality headsets have failed to impress many, as evident from the steep price cuts on almost the entire range recently, Microsoft may have another chance to enthuse the developers to take up working on Mixed Reality again.
Azure
All the quarterly earnings reports by Microsoft outline an undeniable fact that the company’s cloud business is growing at a rapid pace. Microsoft Azure is available to many corporates and businesses – both large and small – from all around the world. With cloud computing becoming a necessary ingredient for online-run businesses, Microsoft is expected to announce on how it can make Azure more appealing to the developers.
