The next app you download could be for Microsoft Office

Microsoft is adding new services and APIs to make it easier for developers to build add-ins that work with Office, from add-ins for software like Excel and Outlook to mining the Office Graph – including interactions that happen outside Microsoft’s own Office 365 services.

Apps can get access to information from your calendar, so the Uber app on your iPhone can remind you to book a car 15 minutes before your meeting starts – and automatically pick up the address of your meeting from the appointment.

“We’re opening up [Office] for your apps so that they can show up in the context of what a billion-plus users of Office do in Office, which is create stuff, get stuff done, collaborate, communicate,” said Nadella.

Microsoft also announced a Web SDK for Skype, so that apps can include presence information for Skype users, and let you include video calls, chat and messaging inside your app, using the Skype service.

lack of apps in the app store still and my experience with outlook 2013

Microsoft shows off plans for one billion Windows 10 users

Microsoft has set a goal of attracting 1 billion Windows 10 users in the next two to three years, and now it’s trying to make it easier for Apple and Android developers to get in on the action.

Windows 10, slated for worldwide release this summer,

Developers will be able to take nearly all of the Java and C++ code they use to build Android apps and use it to build apps that run on Windows 10 devices, said Terry Myerson, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Operating Systems group (OSG).

Myerson said Windows Phones will include an Android subsystem that will let them run apps that use both Android and Windows 10 code. This could let an Android developer expand the scope to Windows 10 and target the expected 1 billion-plus user base, he said.

Microsoft also unveiled technology for building Windows Universal Apps — which run on any kind of device – using Apple’s Objective-C language. Developers can now compile the same code they use to build iOS apps on Windows 10, thereby taking advantage of capabilities only Windows has, Myerson said.

Project Spartan is now called Microsoft Edge

Microsoft finally decided at the Microsoft Build 2015 conference it’s time to reveal what it’s next-generation of web browser will actually be called.

From now on you have to ditch the codeword and call it Microsoft Edge.

it runs on the “Edge HTML” engine Microsoft developed for it.

Microsoft Edge retains the “E”, one not too dissimilar to that of Internet Explorer,

Turn any website instantly into a Windows 10 Store app

Just provide URL.

Windows 10 can turn any website, with the web code stored on your own servers, into a Windows 10 app.

By just linking your website into Windows 10, it automatically takes the site and runs it as a native app. This means you can close it down and still receive notifications about new content or to keep music and video playing in the background.

Because it has Windows 10 store integration you can now enable secure in-app-payments without having to break your back to add the functionality.

The potential for Windows 10 to grow its store apps is incredible, especially as websites can easily build apps for desktop and mobile devices within minutes.

Windows Store is set to offer the largest carrier billing for any eco system. This will be great news for customers who don’t have a credit card but do have a phones as their apps will be charged directly to your contract.

Apple to return more cash to investors as profits soar

Apple sold 61.1 million iPhones in the first three months of 2015, driving profit up 33% from a year earlier.

The firm reported a $13.6bn (£8.9bn) profit, with revenue up 27% to $58bn.

Sales in greater China leapt 71% to $16.8bn, outpacing those in the US for the first time, and helping to drive the sharp profit rise.

Apple also said it would ramp up its share-buying programme, returning $200bn to investors, up from $130bn.

apple currently had a record $195bn in cash on its books.

However, sales of its iPad tablet remained sluggish. Apple said it sold 12.6 million iPads, down 23% from a year earlier.

“We are thrilled by the continued strength of iPhone, Mac and the App Store, which drove our best March quarter results ever,” said chief executive Tim Cook.

Children to design new national park in Minecraft

Denmark in Minecraft

Schoolchildren in Adelaide, Australia, have been invited to design a national park in Minecraft which could then be built in reality.

Students aged from nine to 12 have been asked to create their designs in the blocky 3D world.

The results could then be incorporated in upgrades to existing national parks around Adelaide.

The government has set aside nearly $10.4m Australian dollars (£5.4m) for the redesigns.

There is a growing trend towards creating ever more ambitious designs in Minecraft.

The Danish government has mapped the entire country in the game, as part of an educational project.

And in 2012 Mojang, the creators of Minecraft, teamed up with the UN to help them design city spaces in developing countries.

They recreated public spaces in the game and then shared it with community groups, where participants could redesign them.

The project has spawned new ideas for green space in Kiberia, the largest slum in Nairobi and the tool was also used to design a new waterfront in Les Cayes, Haiti’s third largest city.

The Adelaide competition closes on 12 June and the winner will be announced a month later.

Winners will get a government-funded trip to the Belair National Park.

Victorian govt to encrypt all police radios

Victoria’s Labor government has added an extra $25 million to its $10 million pre-election pledge to encrypt the radio network used by the state’s rural police.

“No longer will criminals or eavesdroppers have more sophisticated communication than country police,”

Queensland’s rural and regional police are still fighting for the same level of encryption as their Victorian counterparts.

NBN Co ditches the ‘co’ from name

a new name for the company, ditching the ‘co’ in favour of a streamlined “NBN” brand it hopes will spur sales of products on the national broadband network.

The company said the change – which will go public next week – was initiated to encourage people to take up services on the NBN.

Its internal research found that around 30 percent of premises in NBN-ready areas were failing to take up services on the network.

The brand revamp will include a new logo: the new lowercase ‘nbn’ surrounded by a blue map of Australia is the fourth NBN Co has had in its short life.

It replaces the more recent white ‘NBN Co’ on a green background next to a map of Australia.

So far, at the end of its first half of fiscal 2015 in February, 748,000 had taken up services on the network.