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. 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.