Microsoft working on Surface Phone; releases patent
Microsoft has been struggling with falling revenues for Surface PC line and Windows phones. However, this has not stopped it from aiming for new devices called “Surface Phones”. The company recently made its patent public. According to a report in Forbes on Monday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has confirmed that Microsoft will “make more phones, but they will not look like phones that are there today.”
Microsoft Paint continues to stay – in a new home though
On July 24, word spread that Microsoft is planning to push Paint on a list of “deprecated” features that would be included in the company’s Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. There was a huge and expected outcry. MS had planned that Paint would no longer be subject to active development and could subsequently go away. The company later confirmed that an app version would be available in the Windows store.
Microsoft introduces Read Aloud in Word
Last month at the Microsoft’s annual conference for partners, Microsoft Inspire, Microsoft 365 was announced and also three new business apps were released. The company also introduced new features to help Office 365 subscribers create and connect more effectively. Amongst other features, Microsoft also enabled a ‘Read Aloud’ feature in Word. Read Aloud is now available in Word on Windows desktops for Office Insiders and will reach general availability later this year.
Microsoft Photos app to be AI-powered
Microsoft’s upcoming Photos app will now have some intelligent image-sorting. With AI image search to spot and classify objects, the images can be scanned to identify and catalog photos. Windows Central reports that the Photos app will filter photos by colors, objects, faces, months they were taken, and other categories.