Kul Bhushan

Microsoft’s annual developer conference, Build 2019, kicked off on Monday. At the conference, Microsoft launched new updates to its Azure cloud, Microsoft 365 and other key products and services. The company also launched new software tools to secure elections. Here are top announcements from Microsoft’s Build 2019 conference. ElectionGuard: Microsoft introduced a new initiative that is aimed at making voting secure and transparent through open-source software. The early version of the software tools will be ready to pilot for next year’s general elections in the US. Edge on Chromium: Microsoft has rolled out new features to its Edge browser on Windows 10. Based on Google Chromium, Edge browser now comes with new privacy controls. It also comes integrated with an Internet Explorer mode to help developers using legacy browser-based apps. Blockchain: After partnership with JP Morgan, Microsoft has teamed up with Starbucks to launch Azure-based recommendation system. Customers can also track coffee beans from farm to store through Microsoft’s new Azure Blockchain Service. Artificial Intelligence: Microsoft is now integrating AI in its Microsoft 365 and Office 365 applications and services. The new features include “Ideas in Word for Word Online, which can help you easily design and present polished documents, and Microsoft Search, a new enterprise search experience that applies AI technology from Bing and deep personalized insights surfaced by the Microsoft Graph,” said the company on its website.Here are the highlights