Microsoft updated its Translator app to support offline translation on Android back in February, and it’s just added the same feature to the iOS version. Like the Android app, the translation works by way of deep learning. Behind the scenes a neural network, trained on millions of phrases, does the heavy lifting, and the translations are claimed to be of “comparable” quality to online samples. Your mileage will apparently “vary by language and topic,” but even an adequate translation is probably worth it when you’re saving on data costs abroad.
When Microsoft launched the offline functionality for Android, it was really bringing the [...]
Microsoft has released quite a number of major OneNote updates for Android, iOS, Windows and the web. If you’re an Android user, you’ll be able to quickly write down thoughts or copy-paste text even if you have another app open, thanks to the new OneNote badge. It can live anywhere on the screen, and you simply have to tap it to open it up. The company’s doing staged roll outs, though, so you might have to wait for two to three weeks to get the feature. If you have an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, you’ll get 3D Touch support instead.
When you press on the app icon, a menu will pop up allowing you to quickly create a new note or view recent ones. In addition, [...]
If you’ve ever slapped together a PowerPoint presentation at the last minute, Microsoft has an Office 2016 feature called Designer that may save your bacon. It worked with graphics pros to build about 12,000 “blueprint” design templates in total. All you have to do is select an image, and it will use the cloud “to analyze and identify the most compelling portion of your images,” and build an appropriate design. For instance, it can zoom in on the tomatoes or peas (above) to build a theme, or avoid busy overlay images altogether if you have lots of charts. Once you’ve picked an appropriate blueprint, you just need to fill it in with your [...]
If you still want your next PC to run Windows 7, better act soon. Microsoft has updated its “Windows lifecycle” fact sheet, and the last day you’ll be able to buy a PC with Windows 7 preinstalled is October 31, 2016. Microsoft would have shelved Windows 7 awhile ago, since it normally sells previous versions just two years after the next one arrives. However, many people treated Windows 8 like it was radioactive, so Windows 7 Professional (OEM) was extended, and will actually come off the market after Windows 8, and on the same day as Windows 8.1. Apart from pre-installed copies of Windows 7 Professional, all other Windows 7 versions are already off the [...]
