Dear Techies,
In this week’s newsletter, we discuss Whisper, OpenAI’s new text-to-speech service now available in Azure. We’ll also show you how to use OneNote to transcribe Teams meetings, and more! Let’s go!👇
📊 Your opinion matters!
Which sections were helpful or interesting? Let us know by participating in the poll at the end!
✉️ THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
🚀 OpenAI’s Speech-to-text Service, Whisper, is Now Generally Available in Azure
Whisper is a speech-to-text service built by OpenAI and is now generally available in Azure. With Whisper, companies can turn audio or video files into text, allowing them to gain insights from saved phone messages or add captions to videos.
The prospects of this kind of technology is exciting for many reasons. For example, future developments could fuse the capabilities of Whisper and Copilot. We could then imagine a situation where a customer is talking on the phone:
The customer's spoken words are converted into text in real-time using speech recognition technology.
The written text is then processed by an AI system, like Copilot, which understands the customer's query or statement and generates a response accordingly.
The response, in text form, is transformed back into spoken words using text-to-speech software, which is already available in Azure.
Finally, the synthesized speech is played back to the customer over the phone, allowing them to hear and understand the response in a natural-sounding voice.
As you can imagine, such advancements could revolutionize call centers.
For more information, click the link below:
🤝 Microsoft and Oracle expand partnership
Microsoft and Oracle are teaming up to make it easier for businesses to use Oracle Database on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform. They're adding more locations around the world where you can access this service, with plans for a total of 15 regions. This includes bringing Oracle Database to Germany for the first time.
Oracle Database is a widely used relational database management system (RDBMS) developed by Oracle Corporation. When combined with Microsoft Azure, Oracle Database can offer several benefits:
Migration Simplification: Users can seamlessly migrate their existing Oracle databases to the cloud using compatibility tools like Oracle Zero-Downtime Migration.
Performance and Scalability: Leveraging the high performance, scale, and availability of Oracle Database on Azure infrastructure ensures that applications can handle increasing workloads efficiently and maintain responsiveness.
Unified Support and Purchasing: The partnership between Oracle and Microsoft offers unified customer support and simplified purchasing through the Azure Marketplace. Users can also take advantage of existing licenses, commitments, and discount programs from both providers, streamlining their operations and reducing costs.
🔄 Microsoft Updates Outlook with Add-ins Menu and Stream Video Viewing
Microsoft have updated the New Outlook for Windows to consolidate add-ins. Now, add-ins can be accessed in a single flyout menu in the Ribbon.
Teams search-based message extensions are also integrated into the new flyout menu, fostering better collaboration between Outlook and Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft have also introduced the ability to watch Stream videos inline in Outlook on the web and the new Outlook for Windows. Now, if someone sends you a Stream video link, you’ll be able to watch it from your inbox.
⚖️ Microsoft Settles Caltech Lawsuit
Microsoft has reached a settlement in a patent infringement lawsuit filed by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
The lawsuit, which accused Microsoft of infringing Wi-Fi related patents with devices such as Surface tablets, laptops, and Xbox video game systems, has been settled in principle. Details of the settlement are not immediately available.
Caltech had previously won a billion-dollar jury verdict against Apple and Broadcom over similar Wi-Fi patents.
The settlement comes after a U.S. appeals court threw out Caltech's verdict against Apple and Broadcom in 2022, ordering a new trial.
Caltech's lawsuits against HP Inc and Dell for infringing its Wi-Fi patents are still ongoing.
The case is California Institute of Technology v. Microsoft Corp, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
💡 THIS WEEK’S TOP TIP
Teams calls and meetings are not always transcribed, and if you’re not the organizer, you have no control over transcription. In cases such as this, it’s possible to use OneNote to transcribe a meeting. Here’s how:
In Teams, click the (…) three dots in the left menu.
Select “OneNote” and create a new notebook specifically for transcriptions.
When the meeting begins, open OneNote in Teams again from the three dots in the left menu.
In OneNote, click anywhere inside a page.
In the “Home” tab, click the microphone icon.
The first time you click the microphone, you may be asked to allow access.
With dictation enabled, continue your meeting.
After the meeting, click the microphone icon again to stop dictation.
The results may not be perfect, but the transcription could prove to be a vital resource!
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🪲 THIS WEEK’S BOTHERSOME BUGS
Some users have been experiencing problems when signing into OneDrive this week. The error message says, “There was a problem signing you in” with the error code: 0x8004da9a.
Clearing your cached credentials could potentially fix the problem. Here’s how:
Windows
Click the Windows search bar (located at the bottom of the desktop).
Type “Credential Manager.”
Click “Open” under Credential Manager.
Click “Windows Credentials.”
Scroll down to the “Generic credentials” list.
Click all credentials related to “OneDrive” or “Microsoft.”
Click “Remove” for each OneDrive or Microsoft credential.
Now try to sign into OneDrive.
Mac
Open Finder from the dock.
Head to “Applications” in the left menu.
In Applications, head down and open the “Utilities” folder.
In Utilities, open “Keychain access.”
In Keychain access, search for “Microsoft.”
Select any of the Microsoft credentials, then press Command + A.
Right-click any of the selected credentials, then click “Delete.”
Now try to sign into OneDrive.
Fore more possible solutions, check our dedicated blog post:
✅ WRAPPING UP!
Did you find this newsletter interesting or helpful?
That’s all for this newsletter. Remember to keep your eyes peeled for the first newsletter in April, where we’ll be announcing the winner of our Grammarly Premium competition!
Thanks for reading and see you soon! 👋