Monthly Archives: September 2020

Microsoft held its annual Ignite event digitally for the first time on September 22-24, 2020. Microsoft has many interesting announcements and changes coming soon. Below we have listed the highlights from Microsoft Ignite.

SharePoint Syntex
Microsoft’s ‘Project Cortex’ has been talked about for the last three years and was hoped to have been released this summer – a new knowledge management service. It is now going to be released in parts with different branding. The first release will be Sharepoint Syntex on 1 October. SharePoint Syntex is based on machine learning technology and will allow processes, routing and metadata to be automated. Once using SharePoint Syntex, it will learn how you work and how you need your documents to be handled.

Power Platforms and Azure
Microsoft has heavily boosted how developers can extend and build apps within Microsoft. Power Platforms give the ability for developers to add Azure functions and use Azure API management within apps they have built.

Developers can pull in data from Azure into Power apps for no extra cost, bringing more control and security. With Private Endpoints, indexers now can connect to a data source behind Azure Virtual Network (VNet). Users also can request Azure Cognitive Search to create an outbound private endpoint connection to securely access data from data sources via indexers. Also Managed Identities provides role-based access control (RBAC) assignments, enabling a secure connection between an indexer and the data source. It also enables you to connect to a data source without having to enter credential information as part of the configuration.

There is also an integration with Github (now also owned by Microsoft), allowing developers to work and collaborate on projects together. See here for more about Power Platforms.

Teams
Power Platforms will also give the ability to build apps and embed them into Teams. To read more about this see here.

Teams will be having new features added later this year, such as new scenes and backgrounds. Custom layouts will also be available so hosts can control how the content is presented during the meeting. Finally, Breakout Rooms will be enabled, which will allow hosts to split up participants within a meeting into smaller groups for different sessions – for example for group activities and brainstorming sessions.

Video Conferencing
The Microsoft Stream video service is being rebuilt and will be moving to use SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business, for storing and managing videos across Microsoft 365.

New Edge browser on Linux
Microsoft is releasing a preview to Edge Insider testers of the new version for Linux starting in October.

Power BI
Power BI, Microsoft’s business analytics platform, will soon be available on a per-user basis, at what the company promises will be an affordable price. Until now, the Premium subscription was only available by “capacity”, meaning dedicated infrastructure, and for an entire organization., With a pricing entry point of about $5,000/month. New features are also being brought to Power BI such as “smart narratives,” augmented analytics, usability in Microsoft Teams, and a new visual interface.

Microsoft Defender and Azure Defender
The Microsoft 365 Defender line will change to:

• Microsoft 365 Defender (previously Microsoft Threat Protection)
• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (previously Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection)
• Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (previously Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection)
• Microsoft Defender for Identity (previously Azure Advanced Threat Protection)

The Azure Defender line will change to:

• Azure Defender for Servers (previously Azure Security Center Standard Edition)
• Azure Defender for IoT (previously Azure Security Center for IoT)
• Azure Defender for SQL (previously Advanced Threat Protection for SQL)

We a Microsoft Partner, for more information or updates please contact us.

Apple held its latest event online on Tuesday, during which it unveiled the new Series 6 Watch, new versions of the iPad, Apple One subscription bundles, a fitness class service, and the release of iOS 14

The release of a new model phone has been delayed by several weeks, which has caused some disappointment for those waiting for the iPhone 12.

Apple Watch 6
The new key feature of Apple’s Series 6 watch is a blood oxygen monitor that uses a series of sensors to measure light reflected off a wearer’s blood. Blood oxygen levels can be used to measure fitness and heart health. The Series 6 watches start from £379 with GPS and £479 with GPS plus mobile service capability. The price in the UK is once again higher than that in the US, which starts from $399 (equivalent circa £309).

Fitness+
Fitness+ is a new service, which will connect to an Apple Watch to monitor heart rate and calories. This will also play workouts on a screen, as a response to the closures of gyms around the world.

Watch SE
Alongside the Series 6 Watch, Apple has launched a lower-cost smartwatch – the Watch SE. The cost of the Watch SE is £269 compared to the price of £379 for the Series 6 watches. The Watch SE has been released with younger users in mind, and has the ability for parents to monitor its locations and control with whom they are able to communicate (without needing an iPhone).

iPad and iPad Air
Another of the key announcements was the new iPad and iPad Air 4. The new (‘standard’) iPad has received a few enhancements inside its 10.2-inch housing, and now starts at £329. The iPad Air 4 now includes key elements of the iPad Pro such as the same 12MP rear camera but at a lower price. It also uses the new A14 Bionic chipset, which is expected to be used in the new iPhone 12 and next-generation Touch ID. The iPad Air 4 starts at £579.

Apple One
Apple unveiled an all-in-one monthly subscription, Apple One, combining their services into one bundle. Apple One subscriptions start from £14.95 per month for a combination of Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade games, and iCloud cloud storage. The most expensive Apple One bundle is £29.95 a month, which includes higher storage capacity, Apple News newspaper and magazine subscriptions, as well as the above-mentioned new virtual fitness classes.

Cables cables cables
Apple announced it will no longer bundle a USB adapter cable with the Apple Watch. The decision is claimed to have come about as a desire to help against climate change by reducing production/consumption of this cable, but it is not unlike Apple to change its chargers thereby forcing users to buy specific products to solve this.

iOS 14
Lastly, Apple announced it will release iOS 14 – the latest version of its mobile operating system for phones, tablets, etc. Typically, major iOS updates have come out on the same day as the company’s latest iPhones, but not so this year. Some of the more notable additions are new home screen widgets and a new way to organise apps with the App Library. The new version is available on the iPhone 6s and above from 16 September.

The event has brought some interesting announcements, such as the lower-cost Apple Watch SE and iPad Air 4. Apple seems to be responding to current events, such as wellness and gym closures, with more focus on health and fitness. Lower cost models and customer needs, such as child protection, have also been addressed.

One confusing aspect is the new iPad Air 4 specification, which has moved close to that of the iPad Pro. Previously the iPad ranges were clearly delineated, with iPad as the standard, iPad Air as the mid range, and iPad Pro as the top end. This is no longer the case. We have seen Apple cause similar confusion before, for example with the release of the iPhone X at the same time as the iPhone 8 in 2017.

As an Apple Partner, we can provide lower costs and details on products – please contact us for more information and discounted pricing.

Apple is soon to hold its annual event, online this year, on September 15th. The event will be streamed from the company’s website starting at 17:00 GMT.

Apple is expected to unveil a new iPad Air (4th generation) and new Apple Watch 6 models. They are also working on a smaller HomePod and the first pair of Apple-branded over ear headphones, which are hoped to be released later this year. Bloomberg has reported that new iPhones won’t launch until October, delayed due to the pandemic

The new iPad Air is rumoured to feature an edge-to-edge display, and would serve as a middle-ground option between the standard version iPad and the high-end iPad Pro. The new Apple Watch 6 models are said to be lighter and have new health features including bloody oxygen level analysis. Also, a new budget-friendly Apple Watch is rumored, to replace the existing Apple Watch Series 3 and other older models.

You can watch the Apple Event online on Apple’s website and also on YouTube. We will post a follow-up article after the event discussing the announcements and releases.