There has been a lot of energy surrounding Microsoft’s Power Platform lately.

A couple of weeks ago during a presentation he gave on campus, Satya Nadella talked about the importance of the Power Platform and how it serves as a core offering for our customers.

Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and the Power Platform on top of what we’re doing with Azure is the core of what we are doing as a company vis-à-vis I would say our commercial customers – businesses of all sizes, whether it’s small business, large business, whether it’s in an emerging market or in a developed market.

The Power Platform is today comprised of three services – Power BI, PowerApps and Flow. While each of these services is best-of-breed individually, their combination as the Power Platform is a game-changer without equal for our customers.

I wanted to spend some time today introducing you to our vision for this platform and, more importantly, to highlight some of the people and organizations leveraging it to bring that vision to life.

An introduction to the Power Platform

Now more than ever, organizations have embraced the value of using data to drive business outcomes. They’ve adopted the cloud to store mass quantities of data and have become more efficient at harnessing data and signals coming from a multitude of sources such as web traffic, social media and business systems such as CRM/ ERP applications. But once they’ve implemented the infrastructure for harnessing data, how can they make that data work for them most efficiently? They need a layer atop that data that lets all workers, regardless of technical ability, leverage it in a straightforward way to drive business impact.

That’s what the Power Platform does. It is a system that enables users to do three key actions on data that help them drive business: Analyze, Act, and Automate. We do this with Power BI, PowerApps, and Flow, all working together atop your data to help EVERYONE, from the CEO to the front-line workers, drive the business with data.

While we believed what we were doing would make a positive business impact for our customers, none of us fully anticipated the impact it would have on the lives of those it touched.

Empowering a community of millions (and growing daily)

Last year Satya said something about those who come to Microsoft that really resonated with me.

“You join here, not to be cool, but to make others cool.”

More than anything else, this is power of the Power Platform.

For several years now our teams have been quietly developing and working with a community that has swelled to millions of monthly active users globally. We’ve been guided by a belief that magical things are possible when technology is made approachable and accessible to those in the best position to identify transformative applications – those who work on the front lines of a business.

There is a growing community of people who have discovered the Power Platform, leveraged it to drive transformational change for their organizations and in the process completely changed the trajectory of their careers and lives.

I’ve been fortunate to meet and to get to know some of these amazing people:

Nick Gill, a training specialist at the American Red Cross, who with no formal IT background taught himself how to use Power BI, PowerApps and Microsoft Flow then used them to transform a process that over 650 First Aid and CPR instructors use to order training class supplies. Nick has since been promoted to Manager of Logistics for the Preparedness, Safety, and Services department for the entire country. You can learn more about Nick and his work on the PowerApps Blog.

Ashley Culmsee, a psychology student with no IT experience learned to use PowerApps and Flow. With her father she built “the universal audit app” – allowing people across many industries to perform inspections and audits. Ashley’s story about how she got into building these apps is pretty amazing and inspiring. Growing up she suffered from anxiety and social phobia and in the Power Platform found an outlet and built a passion for technology. Today she works with her dad Paul Culmsee running hackathons and building Power Platform-based solutions for mining and engineering companies worldwide. Here is a blog from her dad that speaks to the impact the Power Platform has had on his daughter.

Martin Lee, was a dispatcher at AutoGlass, and built his first app to automate the process field technicians use to update their job status while out repairing chipped and broken glass on autos. As a dispatcher, Martin saw firsthand the inefficiency of their old process. In the summer of 2017, he taught himself PowerApps, built and deployed his first app into production within one month. By October 2017 he had singlehandedly deployed eight apps used by more than 1,500 technicians. Martin has since moved from his role as dispatcher to a dedicated technology role. He has since built 50 more apps and deployed them across the business to more than 3,000 employees. You can learn more on Martin by watching this video.

Brian Dang, was a third-grade teacher in Southern California who discovered PowerApps and used it to build some pretty stunning applications for his students, other teachers and for the school district. When I first met Brian we were preparing for an upcoming PowerApps technical review with Bill Gates. Knowing Bill’s passion for technology and education I invited Brian to join us in the meeting to show off his great work. My colleague Sameer Bhangar interviewed Brian when he came up for that meeting. A couple weeks after this video was produced Brian moved to Redmond and joined the team at Microsoft! Over the last year he’s helped thousands of others across the globe discover and master the Power Platform.

Each of these individuals is deeply engaged in the Power Platform community, helping others succeed as they have. To celebrate and recognize these champs, our Power Platform “Customer Success Team” created a set of trading cards. My growing collection hangs just inside my office door and helps me start each day focused on what really matters – the people we’re empowering to achieve more.

My growing collection of Power Platform champs trading cards as of January 2019.

Meeting up with some of our Power Platform champs in July 2018.

The “Triple-A Loop”: Analyze, act, automate

Our vision for the Power Platform started from the recognition that data is increasingly flowing from everything, and a belief that organizations that harness their data – to gain insights then used to drive intelligent business processes – will outperform those that don’t.

We also recognize there aren’t enough programmers, data scientists and tech professionals to go around. So our goal was to build a platform not targeting these technology experts but for people like Nick, Ashlee, Martin and Brian – and the millions of other frontline workers who see opportunities every day to create something better than the status quo, but who’ve never been empowered to do anything about it.

Our guiding vision was a framework we called the “Triple-A Loop” – a closed-loop system allowing users to gain insights from data (Analyze) used to drive intelligent business processes via apps they build (Act) and processes they automate (Automate).

The Microsoft Power Platform implements this vision via three cloud-based services: Power BI, PowerApps and Flow.

Let’s look at each component:

Microsoft Power BI

Power BI is a self-service business intelligence solution that makes it easy to connect, analyze and gain insight from the data that runs your business – wherever that data may be: in the cloud, or in your own data center; in an Excel spreadsheet or SharePoint list, an Oracle database or in an SAP or Salesforce application; or in any of the hundreds of other systems with built-in support by the Power Platform. Power BI was the first Power Platform service delivered, entering preview in January 2015.

In just four short years, Power BI has been adopted by tens of thousands of companies and millions of users. Every single month the service has been updated and improved.

Some of the service metrics today are just stunning: Power BI is available in 43 languages and used across 18,000 cities spanning the globe. Nearly 10 petabytes of data are uploaded to the service each month with more than 10 million report and dashboard queries executed against that data every hour (!) on behalf of users.

But insights without action are little more than idle chatter, so, while we were busy pushing toward general availability with Power BI we were simultaneously creating the services that would make Power BI’s insights actionable: PowerApps and Flow.

Microsoft PowerApps

Selection of PowerApps built by London Heathrow Airport

PowerApps is a “citizen application development platform” – allowing anyone to build web and mobile applications without writing code. The natural connection between Power BI and PowerApps makes it effortless to put insights in the hands of maintenance workers, teachers, miners and others on the frontline, in tailored and often task-specific applications that supercharge their productivity and make their work perhaps a little less tedious.

Like Power BI, PowerApps connects to hundreds of business systems and databases, making it easy to connect workers with the existing processes and data that makes the business tick. And all the data captured in PowerApps can make its way right back to those very systems for further analysis in Power BI creating a closed-loop process for continuous improvement. Additionally, PowerApps comes with a built-in, fully-managed, enterprise-grade datastore called the Common Data Service (CDS) for those applications that generate data not destined for a legacy system – and Power BI and Flow have deep connections to CDS making it that much easier to get even more value from data stored there.

I can remember like it was yesterday a meeting that really cemented for me that PowerApps was going to be a game-changer for our customers. In the Spring of 2016 I met with Integrated Power Services – a company that traces its roots to 1904. Sitting in a conference room in building 44 on our main campus IPS told me how they’d built a PowerApp that transformed their core business process – inspecting and repairing large electric motors and generators from a variety of manufacturers. Turns out there’s not “an app for that” and before PowerApps the technical hurdles to build such a solution put it far beyond their reach.

I’ve never had a customer so completely energized and excited by one of my products. For them PowerApps was like magic – they’d transformed an error-prone collection of manual processes into a tablet-based app their repair professionals could use to fix motors faster, with fewer errors and while keeping their customers informed of the process in a way never before possible. And they built the app right on the shop floor at one of their depots, with the repair personnel who now use the app.

Microsoft Flow

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is garnering a lot of interest and attention in the market – with pure-play vendors raising enormous sums of money at astronomical valuations. By automating simple tasks, RPA solutions promise to lower costs while reducing errors. Microsoft Flow is an intelligent process automation service that goes beyond simple task automation, allowing non-technical users to automate complex business processes and workflows without a complex IT deployment.

Through a simple and intuitive interface, users can create automated workflows that can be triggered by insights from Power BI, leveraged via apps built with PowerApps (e.g. a user action in a PowerApp might kick off an approval process) and integrated with events from any of the hundreds of systems the Power Platform natively supports. The workflows run completely in the cloud and are fully managed and secured by Microsoft.

The power of three = The Power Platform

Power BI, PowerApps and Flow each represents best-of-breed solutions in their individual categories, but their combination as the Power Platform is a game-changer without equal for our customers.

Power BI unlocks insights and intelligence, PowerApps converts that intelligence into action through transformative applications built in record time, and Flow makes business process orchestration an easy point and click exercise … with further feedback to Power BI creating a powerful system of continuous improvement.

Putting this power to “analyze, act and automate” in the hands of individuals who know their business best, with built-in connectors to all the systems and sources of data in an organization, creates previously unimaginable transformation opportunities for our customers.

SNCF operates France’s national rail service and is a global leader in passenger and freight transport services. With 270,000 employees spread across 120 countries, it aims to become the benchmark for mobility and logistics solutions in France and worldwide. SNCF is a great example of a customer that has gone “all in” with the Power Platform. As with many customers, initial adoption was grassroots in nature – starting in some places with Power BI and others with PowerApps. They quickly realized the potential the platform represented for their business and has built a company-wide center of excellence to educate, train and support the thousands of employees now using the platform to help shape the future of SNCF.

Here is a short video that highlights the great work they’re doing at SNCF.

What’s Next?

It has been an exciting journey for all of us on the team. In so many ways we are just getting started.

As we look forward to the year ahead, we are planning to deliver some really special product developments. These will come together across all of our offerings – from Dynamics 365 to the Power Platform – as part of our April 2019 release. You can get ready for that now by checking out the Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, April 2019 release notes.

I would also welcome you to join us for our Virtual Launch Event in April, where we may have a few added surprises.

And lastly, to our community of makers and creators – thank you for being on this journey with us. Your dedication, energy, and ingenuity inspire me. Your passion literally has me running up the stairs every day when I come to work. Thank you. Hope to see you all soon!

James.

 

By Roger Fingas
Tuesday, January 29, 2019, 07:42 am PT (10:42 am ET)

Casper, until now known for its mattresses, on Tuesday launched the Glow — a bedside sleep light with its own gesture and iPhone controls.

Physically resembling Apple’s HomePod, the Glow‘s main feature is automatically adjusted color temperature. One gesture, for instance, will trigger a 45-minute transition from bright conventional lighting to a dim red before shutting off. On the flipside of sleep it can gradually wake owners up over the course of 30 minutes, using a time picked in a companion iPhone app. Functionally this is similar to smartbulbs by companies like Philips and LIFX.

A gyroscope sensor lets owners control brightness by twisting. The product can be taken off its wireless charging station for walking around at night, and shaken to trigger a low-level lantern setting. A built-in battery is said to run for up to 7 hours during continuous use.

The iPhone app also lets owners control power, pick from five preset modes, and sync multiple Glows together. So far Casper hasn’t announced support for Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, or any other third-party smarthome platforms.

A single Glow costs $89. People wanting a pair can get them for $169.

March Madness is almost upon us, and in celebration of this magical time of the year Christopher Dixon has release a tiny little college hoops game designed for casual play. But does it go the distance? The pixel graphics are cute and communicative with a minimum of animation. It would be nice if uniform numbers could have been squeezed into there somewhere, since it’s otherwise necessary to keep track of your players based on hairstyle and skin tone (of which there are an impressive variety!). I loved the rim-shattering NBA Jam-esque dunks. The music is great as well: exciting and never annoying.

I do worry a little that the game will get hit with a cease and desist from some of the more litigious universities, who can be very protective of their colors and names. It appears some changes have been made to avoid this: Duke is called “Durham” on the schedule, but DUK on the scoreboard. Of course, the players’ names are randomly generated, not reflecting actual team rosters. Still though, you’ve got 87 “real” teams in seven conferences, so one of your favorites is bound to be in there.

On the court, after the tip-off, your three players will distribute themselves around the three-point line, and based on your chosen strategy of focusing on twos, threes, or a mix of them both, will shuffle around to try to lose their defender or make a drive on the basket. All you get to do is tap a button to make them shoot, or they’ll hold on until the shot clock runs out. If they catch the rebound, you can try again. Otherwise, you’ll wait for the AI players to run down to your side of the court and do the same. Unfortunately, you don’t get any input into how your squad plays defense. That means you’ll spend half your time watching your opponent pass the ball around until you get your chance to go for the score again.

Players get fatigued over time, especially as they get bumped, blocked, or robbed by the opposition. When a player gets too tired, they are swapped out for your single benchwarmer. That’s a good opportunity to tweak your strategy, encouraging your players to shoot more threes or twos, or a little of both. That’s the only other input you get into the game.

Games only last three minutes, but that’s about a minute too long to play with so little interactivity. In the end, you’re just watching for likely opportunities to make a shot and keeping an eye on the makeup of your team so you can switch strategies if, for example, your three-point star gets swapped out for a dribble driver. If you’re looking for a game that you can engage with regularly every ten seconds or so, this might work for you. From the main menu, you can just pair off any two teams for a quick scrimmage, but the more robust gameplay is found in the coach mode – but even here it is simplified too far.

Coach mode sets up a season including a championship tournament. You have some control over the makeup of your team, but just like on the court, this control is sorely limited. Your team is made up of only four players, which keeps one on the bench at the start of a game.

Player skills are pretty much limited to defense, two-pointers, and threes, and each player also has a star rating. They get better over the years, but you’ll lose your players when they graduate (And hopefully get picked up by the majors! After each game, you can bench your most tired player and try to woo a star high-schooler to your school for the next season. At the end of the season, you get to pick up the players that have the strongest affinity for your school. Over time, you’re building a team with complementary skills, and hopefully one that won’t graduate all at once.

Thus, in just a few paragraphs, I’ve described every possible thing you can do in the game. No secrets remain. What’s there is good: on-court gameplay makes sense and is balanced, and coach mode provides some level of strategy. However, it’s just not enough, unless you’re after something to play with one hand while you are doing something else.

The developer seems to be very active in responding to player feedback and planning future features. I haven’t played his previous micro-sports manager Mini Matchday, an association football game, but that previous effort clearly has a lot more going on than Bit Ballers, including a greater ability to control your team’s makeup and on-field strategy. With time, Bit Ballers may develop into something really interesting. Adding defensive options and more depth to players (like training, for example) would be a great start.

Right now, Bit Ballers is exactly what it says on the box: a tiny college basketball simulator. It doesn’t have enough depth to recommend broadly, but for a basketball fanatic looking for something to play on the subway, it will do well.

In this GDC 2018 talk, Sharkbomb Studios’ Martin Nerurkar shows developers how to effectively showcase their game without a booth, no matter what conference they’re at.

Nerurkar also goes over how devs can prepare themselves to make the most of their time on-site, as well as discussing what sort of games work well in a show environment, how to find and talk to an audience, and what kind of merch to bring.

It was an insightful talk that’s definitely still worth watching, so developers shouldn’t miss the opportunity to do so now that it’s freely available on the official GDC YouTube channel!

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent company Informa

RESIDENT EVIL 2 / BIOHAZARD RE:2 is Now Available on Steam!

A deadly virus engulfs the residents of Raccoon City in September of 1998, plunging the city into chaos as flesh eating zombies roam the streets for survivors.

An unparalleled adrenaline rush, gripping storyline, and unimaginable horrors await you.

Witness the return of Resident Evil 2.

At X018, we shared a commitment to improve the PC gaming experience on Windows 10. We know we have work to do to make gaming on Windows 10 seamless and live up to the potential of PC gaming.

At Team Xbox your ideas and feedback are critical to our efforts to continuously refine and deliver more for gamers. That’s why the Xbox Insider team wants to hear from you directly on the features you’d like added or changed in Windows 10.

We’re currently running an Idea Drive on the Xbox Ideas site where you can vote on your favorite feature suggestions or submit your own, and the level of activity we’ve seen has been incredible! We’ve already received over 1,900 suggestions, so thank you to everyone for sharing your ideas.

We’re actively reviewing all the great ideas you’ve submitted and adding them to the site. If you submitted an idea over the weekend, you can expect to see it by 5 PM PST today, Jan. 23. If you’d like to submit a new idea, you can check out the Gaming on Windows 10 Idea Drive and start typing an idea in the search bar to see if it’s been suggested already. If your idea doesn’t currently exist on the site, you’ll be given the option to post a new one.

Once you submit an idea, your suggestion will be in our moderation queue, where we’ll review it for content and clarity. With the considerable amount of incoming suggestions, we’re reviewing your ideas as quickly as we can and appreciate your patience.

Please be sure to check for new suggestions over the next few weeks and vote for the ones you like. The PC Gaming Team is keeping an eye on the forum and subreddit, so let us know how we can make gaming on Windows 10 even better.

We are excited about our journey to deliver more for gamers on Windows 10 and can’t wait to create new experiences for you based on your valuable feedback.

Note: If you need a reminder about the various phases of an Idea Drive or are new to Xbox Ideas, you can learn more about the process here.

Generation Zero is Now Available for Pre-Purchase on Steam!

Experience an explosive game of cat and mouse set in a vast open world. In this reimagining of 1980’s Sweden, hostile machines have invaded the serene countryside. Go it alone, or team-up with up to three of your friends in seamless co-op multiplayer. Utilize guerilla tactics and fight back!

Sandbox

Super Tuning

Hunter: Gunslinger

Hunter: Nightstalker

Hunter: Arcstrider

Titan: Sunbreaker

Titan: Sentinel

Titan: Striker

Warlock: Voidwalker

Warlock: Dawnblade

Weapons Tuning

Exotic Armor

Miscellaneous

Crucible

Breakthrough

Heavy Ammo Tuning

Redrix’s Broadsword Quest:

Crucible Ranks

Activities

Raids

Black Armory and Forges

Weapon Frame Updates:

Public Events

General

Eververse