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Amid ‘Intelligent Edge’ push, Microsoft partners drone giant DJI
By Nishant Arora
Redmond (Washington), May 7 (IANS) Amid a renewed call to achieve the $4.5 trillion “Intelligent Edge” and “Intelligent Cloud” global opportunity, Microsoft on Monday announced a unique partnership with China-based DJI — the world’s biggest drone company.
As part of the commercial partnership, DJI will create a new software development kit (SDK) for Windows 10 PCs.
The SDK will bring full-flight control and real-time data transfer capabilities to over 700 million Windows 10 active devices globally, it was announced during the jam-packed “Build 2018” conference here, attended by over 6,000 developers.
“The era of the Intelligent Cloud and Intelligent Edge is upon us. These advancements create incredible developer opportunity and also come with a responsibility to ensure the technology we build is trusted and benefits all,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told the gathering.
DJI and Microsoft will co-develop solutions leveraging “Azure IOT Edge” and Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) services to enable new scenarios across agriculture, construction, public safety and more.
DJI also selected Microsoft Azure as a preferred Cloud provider to improve their commercial drone and Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) solutions.
On the first day of its annual conference, Microsoft called on the thriving developers’ community to build AI, Cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) experiences while embracing Microsoft 365 platform.
Microsoft 365 brings together Office 365, Windows 10 and Enterprise Mobility+Security (EMS), delivering a complete and secure solution to empower employees.
“Microsoft 365 is where the world gets its best work done. With 135 million commercial monthly active users of Office 365 and nearly 700 million Windows 10 connected devices, Microsoft 365 helps developers reach people how and where they work,” said Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft.
Smart devices are proliferating, with more than 20 billion connected devices expected by 2020 globally.
To leverage this opportunity, the tech giant announced to open source its “Azure IOT Edge Runtime”, allowing customers to modify, debug and have more transparency and control for edge applications.
The company unveiled “Project Kinect for Azure” — a package of sensors, including a next-generation depth camera with onboard compute designed for AI on the “Edge”.
“Project Kinect for Azure” empowers new scenarios for developers working with ambient intelligence to dramatically improve insights and operations.
The company also announced “Speech Devices SDK” that delivers better audio processing from multi-channel sources for more accurate speech recognition, including noise cancellation, far-field voice and more.
With this, developers can build a variety of voice-enabled scenarios like drive-through ordering systems, in-car or in-home assistants, smart speakers, and other digital assistants.
Microsoft also announced a joint effort with chip-maker Qualcomm Technologies to create a vision AI developer kit running the “Azure IoT Edge” platform.
Developers can create solutions that use Azure Machine Learning (ML) services and take advantage of the hardware acceleration available via the Qualcomm “Vision Intelligence Platform” and Qualcomm “AI Engine”, the tech giant announced.
The company demonstrated Mixed Reality (MR) capabilities to enable richer experiences that understand the context surrounding people.
(Nishant Arora is in Redmond on an invitation from Microsoft. He can be contacted at [email protected])
–IANS
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Dr. Abhishek Verma Dedicates a Shelter in Memory of His Mother, Veena Verma, at KGMU; Inaugurated by Daughter Nicolle Verma
World-renowned business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has supported Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission. In memory of his mother, Late Veena Verma, who was a 3 term Rajya Sabha MP.
Dr. Verma dedicated a state-of-the-art free permanent shelter for the attendants of patients at KGMU Medical University, Lucknow, under the aegis of Vijay Shree Foundation. His daughter, Nicolle Verma, inaugurated the shelter.
During the event, Foodman Vishal Singh honored Nicolle Verma by presenting her with a memento. Mrs. Nidhi Sharma and Avantika Yadav, associated with the organization, welcomed her with garlands. Following this, Nicolle Verma distributed essential items to the attendants and also handed out fruits. She became emotional remembering her grandmother on her birth anniversary.
On this occasion, she also inaugurated the “Veena Verma Sevalaya” in memory of her grandmother, Veena Verma, to serve the attendants. She expressed, “I feel proud that my family is engaged in nation-building as well as social service. Today, in collaboration with Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh Ji, I feel immensely proud to dedicate this shelter for the poor, helpless, and needy attendants of patients battling serious illnesses like cancer. I am honored to be associated with the Hunger-Free World Mission for humanity.”
Inspired by the continuous humanitarian service provided by Vijay Shree Foundation over the past 17 years, Nicolle Verma donated 10 lakh rupees to support the cause. The purpose of this donation is to ensure that services continue for the needy attendants of patients suffering from severe illnesses in hospitals, as facilitated by Foodman Vishal Singh.
It is noteworthy that Dr. Abhishek Verma’s family has a legacy of public and philanthropic service. They are helping millions to carry forward the values and service work of their parents. On the occasion of his mother’s birth anniversary, Dr. Abhishek Verma dedicated this state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College to serve the attendants of patients through the Vijay Shree Foundation.
Supporting Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission, Dr. Abhishek Verma assured that he would continually support keeping this flame of humanity alive. He also promised to assist in providing medicines to the helpless patients.
Continuing her grandmother’s legacy of service, Nicolle Verma personally served food to the needy patients and attendants. She said, “It is our good fortune to have received the joy of doing this noble work today through Foodman Vishal Singh. I have taken another step forward in carrying my family’s values and cooperation by joining hands with the Vijay Shree Foundation. My father taught me to serve and help the needy, and I feel happy when I bring a smile to someone’s face.”
On the birth anniversary of the late Veena Verma, the event organizer, Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh, said, “We feel proud and happy that Dr. Abhishek Verma, a globally renowned business tycoon, has extended his support to uplift our country from the hunger index. Today, on his mother’s birth anniversary, he inaugurated a state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College, which will always be helpful for the needy attendants of patients. It is a pleasure for me and the organization to receive the affection of Mr. Verma.”
The event was attended by General Manager Verma Family Office Hemant Garg, Sonu Rajput, and the organization’s volunteers, including Sandeep Singh, Parmeshwar Ji, Prashant Rao Gautam, Balram Singh, Ramesh Chaudhary, Suman, Jeetu, Anil, Suraj, Vinay, Manish Bhadauria, Manas Mehrotra, Vivek, Apurv, Happy, and others.