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Microsoft set to win EU nod on Activision with licensing offer

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With its proposal of licencing agreements to rivals, Microsoft Company is anticipated to obtain EU antitrust permission for its 69 billion USD acquisition of Activision, as per three individuals with knowledge of the situation, assisting it to clarify a huge obstacle.

Microsoft
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In January of last year, Microsoft introduced its largest-ever bid for Activision to compete with leaders Tencent and Sony in the thriving videogame market and to delve into the metaverse, which are online virtual spaces where individuals may work, play, and interact socially.

Also Read: Microsoft brings iMessage to Windows 11, will it last?

According to the individuals, the European Commission, which is anticipated to make a decision on the contract by April 25, will not require Microsoft to sell off assets in order to gain approval.

According to one of the sources, in addition to licencing deals for competitors, Microsoft might be required to provide other behavioural solutions to appease the worries of parties apart from Sony. Such solutions typically address the merged company’s future actions.

Microsoft said it was “committed to offering effective and easily enforceable solutions that address the European Commission’s concerns.”

Source: finance.yahoo.com

Activision shares were up 2.6 per cent in delayed trade after rising 1.8 per cent in pre-market trading following the publication of the Reuters article.

Over the past month, Microsoft President, Brad Smith, stated that the company was prepared to provide rivals licencing deals to resolve antitrust issues, but it was not going to sell Activision’s remunerative “Call of Duty” franchise.

Smith stated that it is neither feasible nor realistic to believe that one game or one piece of Activision can be detached from the remainder.

Microsoft revealed that it had decided to sign 10-year licencing agreements with Nintendo (7974.T) as well as Nvidia (NVDA.O) to introduce Call of Duty to their respective gaming platforms, with the approvals contingent on the Activision deal being approved.

Also Read: Microsoft Considers $10 Billion Investment in ChatGPT Creator

The deal is facing regulatory challenges in the United Kingdom, where the UK Competition Commission has recommended that Microsoft oust Call of Duty to solve its issues, and in the United States, where the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has questioned the jury to stop the offer.

“Our commitment to grant long term 100% equal access to Call of Duty to Sony, Steam, NVIDIA and others preserves the deal’s benefits to gamers and developers and increases competition in the market,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.

Source: finance.yahoo.com
windows 11

Microsoft brings iMessage to Windows 11, will it last?

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Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it intends to counter one of the major advantages enjoyed by Apple products by incorporating fresh interoperability features to Windows 11. These features will enable Windows 11 to interact with iPhones to view notifications, send texts, and make and take calls.

Windows 11
Image Source: androidauthority.com

By connecting an iPhone and a Windows 11 computer via Bluetooth radio, the new feature, which Microsoft is dubbing Phone Link for iOS, will enable “basic” support for calls, texts, and app alerts.

The software is initially only available for limited public testing, and it prevents users from sending multimedia messages like pictures and videos or joining group message chats.

Also Read: Are all Google One subscribers now able to access Magic Eraser?

The feature’s announcement was made in a blog post by Microsoft’s chief product officer, Panos Panay. “This builds on our continued efforts to bring you closer to what’s more important,” he wrote. Microsoft’s attempts with its Phone Link software are merely the most recent in a line of initiatives to better integrate Windows PCs with Apple’s well-known products and services.

In particular, Apple’s iMessage tool for texting and iCloud for pictures, documents, contacts, and calendars helped make numerous sync and messaging services for smartphones popular.

Additionally, it has made use of those technologies to link up its Mac computers, iPad tablets, and iPhone smartphones in a way that observers of the market say makes Apple products stick out.

However, over the last few years, Microsoft has released enhancements that make Windows Computers more similar to Apple products, including an updated photos app that supports Apple devices, more iCloud syncing, and a phone link application for devices running Google’s Android operating system.

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that its new features for Android smartphones would be included in the Windows 11 upgrade, including the capacity to switch on a Samsung device’s personal hotspot from a computer.

According to Microsoft, Samsung customers will also be able to access websites they recently viewed on their phones from a computer. Both features have long been accessible on Apple devices.

Microsoft is starting testing with a “small percentage” of testers this week, but if you’re intrigued, you can test the new Phone Link feature for iOS in the Dev, Release Preview, and Beta networks for Windows Insiders.

Also Read: Will the iPhone 15 Pro have as much RAM as a MacBook?

The Windows team at Microsoft stated in a blog post, “We will increase the availability of the preview to more Insiders over time and based on feedback we receive with this first set of Insiders.”

Microsoft has never before supported calls or messaging for iPhone users, so this is a move in the correct direction. The Phone Link interface for iOS is basic in comparison to what’s available for Android. Contrary to other PC link applications we’ve seen from Dell, Intell, and others, Phone Link is included with Windows 11, making it native as well.

Microsoft

Why does Microsoft limit Bing chats to just five questions per session?

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Microsoft will set a cap of five queries per session and 50 inquiries per day for chat conversation on its new Bing search engine, which is driven by creative artificial intelligence (AI).

According to a blog post by Microsoft, “very long chat sessions can confuse the underlying chat model in the new Bing. To address these issues, we’ve implemented some changes to help focus the chat sessions.”

Microsoft
Image Source: nytimes.com

Bing noted, “Our data has shown that the vast majority of people find the answers they’re looking for within 5 turns and that only around 1 percent of chat conversations have 50+ messages.” In order to prevent lengthy back-and-forth chat sessions, Bing will encourage users to start a new session if they exceed the five sessions limit.

Also Read: Can ChatGPT assist Microsoft in dethroning Google Search?

The New York Times published a two-hour-plus talk with Bing after reports of its “unhinged” conversations surfaced earlier this week. In the conversation, the chatbot expressed its affection for the author and said they were unable to sleep that night for some reason.

Microsoft made its decision days after certain media stories suggested that the latest Bing search engine’s results might be harmful and that the tech might not be suitable for widespread use.

When a Reuters reporter questioned the new, AI-enhanced version of Bing about the cost of car air filters, Bing returned adverts for filters supplied by the auto parts site Parts Geek, not just answers to the question.

Microsoft may make money from the revamped Bing, which has millions of individuals on the waiting list for access. How long these restrictions will persist is not immediately evident since Microsoft is currently attempting to enhance Bing’s tone.

According to Microsoft, “as we continue to get feedback, we will explore expanding the caps on chat sessions,” this cap appears to be temporary for the time being. The chat feature on Bing keeps becoming better every day, with technical problems being fixed and bigger weekly dumps of updates to enhance search and responses.

Microsoft pointed out earlier this week that it did not “fully envision” users of its chat interface utilizing it for “social entertainment” or as a tool for “general discovery of the world.”

Also Read: Elon Musk Forced Algorithm Change to Help Boost His Tweets

The brand-new Bing is a ground-breaking product that makes use of cutting-edge AI technology to provide better searches, more thorough answers, a new chat interface, and the capability to generate and share content with others. The new Edge browser, which provides users with many features and advantages, is also merged with the new Bing.

The new Bing may, however, experience certain problems and inaccuracies at launch, such as producing erroneous information about goods, locations, and financial documents, similar to any new product.

RGB lighting

What is the new RGB lighting feature in Windows 11?

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Microsoft is attempting to make Windows 11 natively support RGB PC gaming devices. PC gamers will be able to configure gadgets with RGB lighting using the Windows lighting interface without needing to install any additional software.

According to reports, Windows 11’s most recent Insider Build will provide direct system management of RGB lighting. The majority of Windows gaming laptops and PCs have RGB lighting as an accessory to improve the gaming experience.

RGB Lighting
Image Source: engadget.com

Most businesses, like Dell, HP, Asus, and Lenovo, provide consumers with specialised apps that let them manage these colours or the aesthetics they produce.

However, Windows 11’s settings do not have a native control or programme for these RGB lights. The light control function is reportedly being developed by Microsoft right now to eliminate the requirement for third-party apps.

Also Read: Google has rolled out Immersive View for Maps across five cities

The most recent public test releases of Windows 11 have evidence of early work incorporating this new lighting experience, according to Twitter user Albacore.

The Windows 11 settings interface contains options for adjusting the lighting effects, brightness, speed, and colours. Even better, there is a capability that will match users’ accessories to the accent colour of Windows.

Users of Windows 11 wouldn’t need to download apps from Razer, Corsair, Logitech, and other companies in order to receive the very minimum capability for modifying RGB effects thanks to Microsoft’s own native lighting controls.

Although Microsoft hasn’t yet made an official announcement on lighting features of Windows 11, the company is currently working on a variety of test features that are anticipated to be included in a major upgrade to Windows 11 sometime this year.

When it comes to Windows as a gaming platform for personal computers, Microsoft’s strategy is all over the place. Controlling RGB lighting was obviously going to become a part of Windows, but with Windows 10 and now Windows 11, the merging of the Xbox application and PC Game Pass has seen a new emphasis on Windows as a centre for gaming.

Also Read: Will Sony’s PlayStation VR 2 live up to the hype?

A built-in screen recorder has finally been integrated into Windows 11 with the Snipping Tool, according to a recent announcement from the company. Support for multiple tabs in Notepad has also begun to undergo testing. In Windows 11 Task Manager, Redmond is also experimenting with live kernel memory dumps, which would be very helpful in identifying bugs and performance problems.

In the meantime, on February 14, Microsoft permanently disabled Internet Explorer from the Windows 10 operating system. Users are now routed to Microsoft Edge when they click the Internet Explorer button on a Windows 10 PC.

chatgpt

Can ChatGPT assist Microsoft in dethroning Google Search?

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By incorporating ChatGPT into its Bing search engine, Microsoft is hoping to unseat Google as the dominant search engine. That is stated in a recent report from The Information, but will the risk be worthwhile?

Despite ChatGPT’s recent November 2022 launch, its uncanny realism has caused it to become popular among both the general population and artificial intelligence experts.

chatgpt
Image Source: bdtechtalks.com

Users have been utilizing it to write articles, create code, and create musical scores since they can enter any prompt they can imagine and get back something that closely resembles human-generated writing.

According to the Information, the Redmond-based corporation is attempting to introduce a new edition of Bing that uses ChatGPT technology to respond to user questions.

Also Read: Microsoft Considers $10 Billion Investment in ChatGPT Creator

Interestingly, the report asserts that this may be accomplished in a manner distinct from the standard list of links and text excerpts that users receive from any search engine presently.

Though the specifics of Bing’s AI-powered search results are still unknown, they most likely won’t significantly differ from current practices given that ChatGPT isn’t intended to be a search engine.

According to StatCounter, Google currently holds a nearly insurmountable lead among search engines, devouring 92.5% of the worldwide market. With only 3% of the market, Bing is mired in second place, making Google’s dominance glaringly obvious. Google is allegedly still concerned.

According to a December 2022 New York Times article, Google management had issued a “code red” alert in reaction to the release of ChatGPT because it posed a threat to the company’s hegemony and revenue.

And ChatGPT isn’t the sole AI that might put Google’s position as the industry leader in danger. There are also additional contenders for the title of best AI, including Google’s own LaMDA and BlenderBot from Meta.

Microsoft has included AI in its offerings in the past, in addition to ChatGPT. The corporation declared in 2022 that it would integrate the DALL-E 2 picture bot into its Designer application and Image Creator tool in Bing.

Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI, the company that created both DALL-E 2 and ChatGPT, leading to the development of both of these connections. Microsoft will consider its investment success if it ultimately manages to topple Google from its lofty heights.

Also Read: China’s Baidu to launch ChatGPT-style bot in March

ChatGPT is an OpenAI project that is built on top of the GPT-3 autocomplete text generator.ChatGPT is an OpenAI project that is built on top of the GPT-3 autocomplete text generator. On OpenAI, a demo of the chatbot was made accessible in late November (login required).

In addition to producing AI-generated material like music and poems, ChatGPT can accurately answer trivia questions. The AI’s capacity to assist with code debugging is another characteristic that might make it the perfect GitHub Copilot companion.

However, there are numerous reports claiming that ChatGPT frequently provides incorrect but plausible replies. Stack Overflow briefly banned the chatbot last month as a result of this uncertainty.

Microsoft

Microsoft will ‘soon’ add ChatGPT to Azure cloud services

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Microsoft said it will add OpenAI’s famous artificial intelligence bot, “ChatGPT”, to its Azure service based on the cloud soon, expanding on the two corporations’ ongoing relationship as Microsoft perceives a greater stake in OpenAI.

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Image Source: inventiva.co.in

The tech giant declared the expansion of its Azure OpenAI service, which has been available to a select group of customers since its debut in 2021. According to a blog post, the service provides Microsoft cloud users with access to numerous OpenAI functions including the GPT-3.5 language system used for creating images from text prompts and the ChatGPT system based on the Dall-E model. This allows Azure clients to use OpenAI tools in their cloud-based applications.

According to people familiar with the company’s plans, Microsoft is in talks to spend over 10 billion USD on OpenAI. The offer calls for Redmond which is a Washington-based software company to spend the funds over many years, however, the final terms might get modified, the people said, declining to be identified because the matter is private.

According to people familiar with the talks, Semaphore revealed last week that the future investment might benefit OpenAI at about 29 billion USD. Microsoft and OpenAI officials have refused to speak at the talks.

Microsoft, which was previously an OpenAI partner, is now an OpenAI partner as a result of Alphabet Inc.’s $1 billion funding in 2019. Google wants to gain an advantage over Amazon.com Inc. as well as Meta Platforms Inc. by gaining access to the most prominent and developed AI system.

Ever since its release in late November, ChatGPT has illuminated the internet, amassing the first million active users in much less than a week. Its ability to imitate human conversation has fueled speculation that it could soon overtake professional writers as well as even endanger Google’s core search biz.

Elon Musk as well as Sam Altman, a Silicon Valley investor, co-founded the company, which tends to make revenue by charging developers to license its advanced technologies.

The latest technology arrives at the year-end filled with AI news. The firm’s Dull-e, which welcomes written prompts to synthesize art as well as other images, triggered a broader discussion about the integration of AI in the creative fields. OpenAI is already developing a GPT-4 successor model which will be used for natural language processing.

Even so, worries about its accuracy, which Altman himself has stated is not adequate to trust the bot, have given rise to remaining cautious around its premature use.