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Microsoft's Bing scored some points in predicting the outcome of several events in 2014, which included FIFA World Cup, US Elections, and the Scottish independence vote, and now has also resorted to its crystal ball to pinpoint what technology to expect in 2015.

Bing predicts, analyses search and social signals, among others to uncover emerging trends that it expects to break in the coming year.

Bing's predictions for technology in 2015 includes: Wearables, Digital Personal Assistants (like Cortana), Home Automation, Virtual Reality and 3D printing.

The predictions consider things like search intent and contextual understanding to distinguish the difference between what is truly a trend versus something that's just a buzz.

Microsoft is harping on earlier successes to pitch itself against Google as the go-to destination for predictive technology. And may perhaps, establish Bing Predicts in the space following more successful outcomes.

Bing Predicts: What Technology to Expect in 2015?

Insights for Office is Microsoft's newest enhancement added to Office Online, which includes online versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, and Outlook, plus access to your calendar, People contacts, and OneDrive cloud storage.

It avails Office users on any modern browser, ability to highlight a word or phrase, right-click it, and search for more information on those specific terms.

Microsoft has provided several options, including copy and paste, and the ability to add a hyperlink. With the new addition, Insights bring up a right-hand sidebar that offer up information from Bing Snapshot, Wikipedia, Image Search on Bing.com, and more.

Albeit, Insights is still an online-only feature for now, some of its improvements might migrate to Office 365.

Microsoft, however is yet to add it to its Office 365 roadmap, but as the company is poised into positioning all derivative of Office (both, Office Online and Office 365 or its standalone software), may eventually collapse the versions into a unified experience.

Microsoft: Insights for Office gets smarter Context

Sway is a free way to publish and share content, as a simple content creator for documents that can be shared online. Sway preview debuted in October as the latest free Office app, and is still an invite-only service.

Sway allows you to import images from your PC, Twitter, Facebook, or a variety of other sources, including images from the Creative Commons repository on Bing.com and use them to illustrate your stories. It equally makes it easy to start building layouts that look professional.

It's intuitive, and keep track of what you’re writing, and will pre-populate relevant images when it's time to look for an image.

There's a critical limitation, however, akin to Microsoft's norm, printing is not enabled for Sway and may limit its effectiveness in some circles.

You can sign up for an invitation at Sway.com to try out the service before launch date.

Microsoft Sway: Shareable Content Creator of the Future?

Now, picture the usual Christmas holiday's scenario, carol-singing, hot chocolate and ice skating are all things that get us into the spirit of the season. Google is currently planning a new way to deck the halls: with code.

Madewithcode.com, a program to inspire millions of girls to try coding, launched by Google earlier in the year is getting the girls to use the introductory programming language, Blockly to animate the lights of the state and trees that will decorate President’s Park, one of America’s 401 national parks and home to the White House, through the holiday season.

Albeit, the tradition of the tree lighting ceremony dates back to 1923 when President Calvin Coolidge lit the first fir tree outside the White House, this is the first year kids from across the country will be in control of the state and territory holiday tree lights.

The lights will debut at the 92nd annual National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony, which will be live-streamed by the White House today, December 4 and aired on PBS nationwide throughout December in partnership with the National Park Foundation and National Park Service.

Google reimagine the Holidays Made with Code

The Web is dynamic - right from the kind of code you use to build your website to the aesthetic design you adopt, there's a lot that needs updating from time to time. Keeping a website up to date is an essential part of maintaining its popularity. Not only do you need to ensure that it's always functional, but you need to keep an eye on its level of appeal and ability to attract newcomers.

Right here, we'd consider a few things you can do to keep your site up to date.

Check your SSL certificate

Security is becoming an increasingly important issue for web users. After a number of large scale hacks and leaks in recent months, there's good reason for the average web user to be careful.

SSL certificates are a great way for users to stay safe online and a great way for website owners to prove that their site is safe. By using an SSL checker you can ensure your certificate is up to date and this will help to provide piece of mind for your online visitors.

Use the latest code

As browsers are changing and getting updated, and the languages they read are changing, it equally affects how your website is presented to visitors. It's a good idea to ensure you're using the most up to date codes to ensure that your site displays as good as possible; regardless of what browser your visitors are using.

Keep it mobile-friendly

As smartphones adoption is increasing, also too amount of web traffic coming through mobile devices. The result of this is that there is a greater demand for mobile-friendly web design.

Whether your website design is a dynamic mobile-friendly or you implemented a dedicated mobile version, it's all up to you, but mobile visitors need to be catered for one way or another.

Use fresh content

It's not just functionality that you need to keep an eye on when you're looking to get your website up to date,  fresh content is, of course, hugely important. Fresh content is essential if you're looking to attract regular traffic to your site. It is also needed to lure previous visitors back time and time again.

Coding, Mobile and SSL Check: Tips for keeping a business website up to date

Microsoft unveiled its next generation operating system, Windows 10, against the expected numbering continuum - skipping 9 to 10, with supposed integration of the new OS across desktop and mobile platforms, as well as Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Even as analysts have predicted the future Internet as "an evolving convergent Internet of things and services that is available anywhere, anytime as part of an all-pervasive socioeconomic fabric, made up of converged services, and shared data", Windows 10 represents a whole new generation of technology in that aspect.

Windows 10 will deliver the right experience on the right device at the right time, and it will be the most comprehensive platform ever, stated Terry Myerson, VP of the OS group at Microsoft.

Microsoft's biggest challenge, however is likely to be in developing an entirely converged desktop-to-mobile cum everything-else platform as related to integrating the experience and functionality of applications between desktop and mobile platforms.

The company have planned a converged application platform for developers, across all devices, with a unified application store. But, given the claim that a unified operating system can operate any application across any device; the user experience may be anything but seamless.

For now, what is sure is that Microsoft is keen to create a consistent user experience across every device.

Windows 10 "technical preview" will allow PC users to experiment with new, and carried-over Windows functions, and submit feedback/suggestions before Microsoft commits to a specific release date. You can join the Windows Insider Program to download the Windows 10 Technical Preview and try out features like the new Start menu, multiple desktops, snap enhancements, and others.

Windows 10: Convergence of the Desktop and Mobile platforms



In this age of information technology, there are people that only work on Mac computers and others that feel more comfortable on the Windows server, even though information is not easily shared between these two systems.

While some others feel somewhat comfortable using both of the computers, it becomes hectic when employees or students need to flip back and forth between the systems.

And to solve the issue, iRAPP allows users to remote their desktop between both servers, with the information between the two servers intact, so people can cut down from using two computers. It doesn't stop there, you can also access all the information that you need for work on your iPad, iPhone, and Android products.

The whiteboard video above better explain how it works. Now you can feel comfortable using the computer and server that you're used to while accessing the information that normally cannot be accessed on that particular desktop computers.

Whiteboard Video: Remotely access files on Mac from Windows PC using iRAPP

The Service Worker is an in-browser proxy that gives you the power to script what happened before going to the network, and what happens after you're back from the network. It ensures a website is responsive, that it is always available and speeds up delivery of Web content by reducing the amount of back-and-forth communication between a browser and a server.

It is a generic entry point for event-driven background processing in the Web Platform that is extensible by other specifications. It works through the provision of a browser-based offline processing capacity, allowing a website to store documents, and other resources.

The draft specifying how Service Workers should be implemented in browsers, co-edited by Google Engineer Alex Russell and Jungkee Song of Samsung Electronics, describes a method that enables applications to take advantage of persistent background processing, including hooks to enable bootstrapping of web applications while offline.

A Web page is treated like a desktop application, with a shell stored locally to serve as the initial user interface if a site is offline, then a Service Worker provides the user with cached pages, or other information and functionality to peruse until access is restored.

The service will be coming to Google Chrome later in the year, while Mozilla is also planning to implement Service Workers for Firefox.

Enter Service Workers: No more Offline sites?

Apple's new payment system, Apple Pay, brings Near Field Communications (NFC) - the technology behind swipe-free terminals, allowing instant payment by just tapping the terminal with your credit card instead of swiping and waiting for payment to the mobile device.

NFC is a set of standards for mobile devices to establish radio communication with each other by bringing them into close proximity, usually no more than a few centimeters.

Albeit, NFC isn't a new mobile technology, Apple's Watch, iPhone 6 or 6 Plus brings the secure element and the NFC chipset, as core hardware. And Apple is the first vendor to support this new payment system.

Apple Pay initializes a connection to the payment network or issuing bank associated with your card, which then provides a Device Account Number, known as tokenization.

Tokenization, as a security structure, replaces a sensitive piece of data (credit card number) with a random data that has the same formatting. It is handled by the payment network, which encrypts the credit card number, sends it back for the token, and provides that to the merchant to keep for things like refunds or customer tracking.

Unlike Google Wallet, in which Google stores your card on its own servers and mediates and records all transactions with the payment networks. Apple doesn’t store a user's card locally, neither does it track your transactions, and your privacy is protected.

While, Apple Pay is certainly not the first mobile payment system, Apple is poised to shake things in the mobile payment scene, for some obvious reasons.

Apple Pay: Swipeless Mobile payment using NFC technology

With more and more African companies taking their business online, the race is now on to conquer new markets - but as only 6% of individual Africans are online, the market within the continent itself is limited. Reaching out to connect with customers globally is the smart strategy for businesses looking to expand and really fulfill their potential. Globally, customers are also willing to pay more and are more willing to make quick decisions. So what do you need to know to reach them?

Understanding global markets

Before you can expect to start selling in a foreign market, you’ll need to understand it first. This means not only studying economic data but also getting a feel for a country culturally. Social media is a great tool for doing this, allowing you to observe the way potential customers in your sector talk to each other regarding purchases. You can also use it to acquire business contacts in the areas where you hope to expand, so that you'll have somebody to go to with your questions. Remember that every national market is different, so take your time in selecting those that are the best fit for your business.

Mobile marketing

One big difference between different international markets is the number of people using mobile devices. As this is a growing trend, it’s really essential to have a mobile-friendly website. This also increases the importance of search engine optimization (SEO), because if you’re not ranked high on SERP in any given search, mobile users are not going to visit your site.

Social media

Effective use of social media is not only important for reaching a mass audience, it’s also important because of the way it lets you engage directly with prospective customers. This means you can talk to them in the personal, friendly manner of a traditional shopkeeper, not like an aloof and inhuman corporation. Much like the strategy that proved so successful for the Jubilee Alliance in last year’s Kenyan election, this builds loyalty and helps to generate good word of mouth publicity. Social networks like Facebook are the best way to reach customers in most countries, but Twitter too has a good degree of international penetration.

Getting involved

One of the most effective ways to help your business grow internationally is by getting involved in community and social initiatives that raise your personal profile, as well as by engaging with others who will speak well of you and your business as their own careers take off. If you look at the bio of Tunde Folawiyo, for instance, you will see how his work to help build the next generation of young African leaders has helped him to increase his visibility and make an impression on major international players.

Breaking into global markets can be tough if you don’t have the right connections, so make an effort to use social networking personally wherever you can, both internationally and within Africa. As the likes of Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu and Farai Gundan have shown, getting to know the right people can give you the leverage you need to get your business noticed worldwide.

How African entrepreneurs are using the Internet to reach a global audience

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