Microsoft will drop Skype for Business Online to ease the transition to Teams

Microsoft is slowly transitioning its business customers away from Skype to move over to Teams. The company will be closing Skype for Business Online on July 31, 2021. As you can tell, the change isn’t happening immediately. But new users who log on after September 1^st won’t be able to access Skype for Business Online. Instead, they’ll be redirected to Teams. Microsoft won’t be making changes to the Skype version used by consumers or the Skype Business server edition either.

"Over the last two years, we’ve worked closely with customers to refine Teams, and we now feel we’re at the point that we can confidently recommend it as an upgrade to all Skype for Business Online customers," James Skay, senior marketing manager for Skype for Business, wrote in a blog post. "Customers who have already made the move tell us that Teams not only has helped them improve collaboration generally, it has also provided a rare opportunity to rethink the way work gets done in their organizations."

Google starts swapping out Voice Search for Assistant

Google looks to be slowly easing out its Voice Search for Google Assistant. On some phones, the Voice Search mic icon with the “Say Hey Google” prompt is being replaced with the four-dot Assistant logo and the words “Ask your Assistant.” The interface it opens is the same as before, but now the search is performed by Assistant and it shows results in a slide-up card. While Voice Search works in more languages than Assistant, it’s clear that Google wants users to embrace Assistant, so users get a similar experience across multiple devices.

Source: Engadget

Google shows off the Pixel 4’s facial recognition and gesture control tech

Google is taking a different approach to the cycle of leaks and speculation and decided to just share what it can. This time around, the company is showing off the Pixel 4’s facial recognition technology and gesture controls. Google’s blog post also shows a tear-away view of the top of the phone, giving us a look at what sensors are accessible at the top of the phone. And there’s a lot as you can see above.

The Project Soli’s radar-based motion sensor does make an appearance, and it helps with explicit gesture support or Motion Sense as Google calls it for actions like skipping songs, snoozing alarms, and silencing phone calls. Let’s hope this provides a smoother experience than what the LG G8 offered. Also, the feature won’t be available in all countries that get the phone. According to Android Police, Google may need individual government regulatory approval for Soli’s radar technology.

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Microsoft halts OS updates for the HoloLens 1

The first-gen HoloLens is considered a prototype device, and it looks like it’s going to be left behind. Microsoft announced in support documentation that this version will be entering a Long Term Servicing state and will not get any operating system updates. “Future updates will focus on issue and security fixes, while maintaining feature parity with the Windows 10 October 2018 release for HoloLens (also known as RSS).” This means that the features introduced in Windows 10 May 2019 Update onwards will not be coming to the device. Those updates will only be available on the HoloLens 2.

Source: MSPowerUser