Microsoft

Nearly two weeks after introducing the iPhone app, Microsoft officially announces the availability of Planner on Android. The tool was released a year ago to help teams using Office 365 better manage and collaborate on projects.

Microsoft says that Planner is available to Office 365 subscribers on the Business Essentials, Business Premium, Enterprise E1 to E5 and Education plans.

When Microsoft started the roll out of Windows 10 Creators Update on April 11, it seemed likely the new OS would see a boost in its market share as a result. Indeed, April’s usage figures from NetMarketShare suggested that was the case, with Windows 10’s share growing by a decent amount for the first time in months.

But the Creators Update roll out has been more of a dribble out so far, with only 15.2 percent of US Windows 10 users running it, and the boost that the operating system enjoyed in April hasn’t continued in May.

Formerly known as Bing Rewards, Microsoft Rewards has now made its way to the UK. The program rewards users for making searches with Bing, with extras thrown in if these searches are conducted in Microsoft Edge.

Users can accrue points by performing searches, completing quizzes, or spending money in the Microsoft Store, and these can then be exchanged for Skype credit, gift cards, Groove Music passes and more. It's a scheme that amounts to little more than bribery, and sees Microsoft paying people to use its products and services.

Whether or not the Surface Hub is a success has been a big question mark. After all, Microsoft hasn't shared exact sales figures. Obviously, the company doesn't have to sell a ton of them to be considered successful, since it has a narrow focus and large price tag. While we still do not have exact sales figures, today we can confidently call the product a success. Why? Well, Microsoft announces something very impressive -- 50 percent of Fortune 100 companies have purchased at least one of them. Keep in mind, this is in addition to companies outside of that group.

True, that could be a total of only 50 Surface Hubs, but the number isn't so important. The truly impressive aspect is that these are high-quality companies that are often seen as trendsetters. In other words, this is exactly what Microsoft should want to be seeing from a fairly niche product. Today, the product gets even more attractive for two reasons. For one, the Windows 10 Creators Update is now available for it. Secondly, Microsoft introduces a new 5-year extended hardware service plan.

Microsoft and Qualcomm announced late last year that Windows 10 will be available on ARM-based Snapdragon devices. And, unlike with Windows RT, this time around x86 programs are welcome, giving users the ability to run full-blown software like Office 2016 and Adobe Photoshop CC.

And now Microsoft and Qualcomm have provided an update on the project, announcing the hardware partners that will release ARM devices with Windows 10 and the sort of benefits that users can expect to receive from the "Always Connected PCs" that will arrive.

At Build earlier this month, Microsoft announced Windows Mixed Reality dev kits from Acer and HP, and said that new products from other partners would be coming later in the year.

At Computex today, Microsoft revealed future headsets from ASUS, Lenovo, and Dell that are set to go into production soon and bring Mixed Reality to the masses. Each has something different to offer.

Cisco has made a couple of interesting announcements in its IoT space, including a new hardware platform and a collaboration with Microsoft on hybrid IoT solutions.

There are three new components to the Cisco IoT Operations Platform: Connection Management at Scale, Fog Computing and Data Delivery.

A letter signed by more than 30 major technology companies has been sent to the House Judiciary Committee calling for a number of key changes to be made to NSA surveillance. The letter, signed by the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Google and Mozilla, asks lawmakers to make a number of considerations when reforming Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act.

The signatories refer to themselves as "U.S.-based companies that provide consumer and business technology, products, and services around the world through the use of electronic data." Their letter is timed to coincide with debate about the reform of Section 702 which is used to justify NSA surveillance programs, and is due to expire at the end of the year. There are calls for increased transparency and controls, as well as the suggestion that surveillance should be reined in.

Two-hundred-and-thirty-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days.

The roll out of the Windows 10 Creators Update is still ongoing. Wayne notes that it is at 15.2 percent of users in the US right now, which means that it will take a while longer before the new version is on the majority of Windows 10 PCs out there.

Users of older versions of Windows aren’t having the best time of it lately. Last week it was discovered that over 98 percent of those affected by the WannaCry ransomware were running Windows 7, and now a new bug has been found which can slow down and crash systems running that OS and Windows 8.1.

The new bug is trivially easy to exploit, making just browsing the web potentially hazardous, and there’s currently no fix available.

Microsoft is rumored to have acquired Israeli cybersecurity startup Hexadite in a deal worth around $100 million.

The startup was founded in 2014 and its primary focus is identifying cyberattacks through the use of artificial intelligence (AI). By connecting a number of cybersecurity detection systems that are already in place, Hexadite then uses AI to analyze threats automatically as they present themselves.

Live-streaming of video is continually gaining in popularity, but it isn't just for gaming. While platforms like the Amazon-owned Twitch were designed for video games, they have evolved to the streaming of almost anything. Popular YouTuber Barnacules has a daily Twitch show where he drinks coffee with fans, for instance. With that said, gaming is definitely still the bread and butter.

In an effort to compete with Twitch, Microsoft bought the Beam platform in August 2016. Today, the Windows-maker announces that it is giving the platform a rebrand -- it is now called "Mixer." It is not merely a name-change, however, as Microsoft is also adding some new features. Not to mention, Mixer will get a dedicated page on the Xbox One Dashboard.

Steaming music is all the rage nowadays, and there is certainly no shortage of services. Quite frankly, you really can't go wrong when selecting one, as many of them are great. With that said, for an optimal experience, Apple Music is probably best for iOS and macOS users, while Google Play Music and Spotify are great for Android and Linux desktop users.

If you spend a lot of time on Windows 10, the Groove Music Pass service is an excellent choice, as is the associated Groove app. While Microsoft's service may not be the most popular, it provides great selection and quality. There are even apps for iOS and Android. Now, for a limited time, the Windows-maker will pay you $25 for using its service!

On May 23, Microsoft did something very curious -- it announced a new product in Shanghai. No, there is nothing wrong with having a press event in China, but the time difference meant Americans would have to wake up very early to watch it, right?

No. Actually, even more odd, Microsoft chose not to live stream the event. While there was a Chinese-dubbed stream found on the web, English-speakers were left to read live-blogging instead. This is unfortunate, as Panos Panay is quite the masterful presenter -- his unveiling of products can be downright magical. Thankfully, today, the Windows-maker makes the new Surface Pro announcement video available on YouTube -- no Chinese dub.

Microsoft officially began the Windows 10 Creators Update rollout on April 11. I cautioned about rushing to upgrade to it at the time, and then Microsoft said much the same thing shortly afterwards, recommending users didn’t install it until the upgrade was offered to them.

Six weeks since the rollout began, and still the Creators Update isn’t available to the vast majority of Windows 10 users.