Microsoft Publishes Quarterly Earnings, Announces Both Teams and 365 Apps Coming To Apple Vision Pro And Joint Meetings Room Solution with Samsung and Cisco
This week, Microsoft published its quarterly earnings for FY Q2, underlining the strong revenue growth that the market now expects.
The business reported its best-ever quarterly sales for the fifth quarter in a row, reinforcing its new position as the world’s most valuable company — although Apple’s earnings are just around the corner. Overall sales for the quarter ending December 31, 2023, climbed 18 percent to $62bn, while revenue attributed to Microsoft Cloud grew a quarter to $33.7bn.
Teams has been the routine star of Microsoft’s earnings call since 2020, but it wasn’t particularly involved around as generative AI and Copilot stole the spotlight.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said:
When it comes to Teams, we again saw record usage as organizations brought together collaboration, chat, meetings, and calling on one platform. Teams has also become a new entry point for us. More than two-thirds of our enterprise Teams customers buy Phone, Rooms, or Premium. All this innovation is driving growth across Microsoft 365.”
Nadella also said that its AI powerhouse solution, Copilot, underpinned a 70 percent increase “in productivity using generative AI for specific work tasks”.
In other Microsoft news, Microsoft Teams and 365 apps are coming to Apple’s Vision Pro spatial computing service.
As well as central Teams capabilities such as video conferencing, file sharing and chat, Teams utilises the advanced features of Apple Vision Pro to enhance user experiences on video calls, including Personas, infinite canvas for collaboration, and interactive chats powered by emojis and reactions.
“With the Microsoft Teams app on Apple Vision Pro, you can use all your communication and collaboration capabilities of Microsoft Teams,” Lori Craw, Director of Marketing for Modern Work at Microsoft, wrote in an accompanying blog post. “Meet, chat, call, collaborate, and engage with your business processes – be a part of all Teams has to offer in the smart place to connect, communicate, and work together.”
Users can download Teams from the App Store on Apple Vision Pro beginning Friday, February 2, as well as the Microsoft Copilot, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and Loop apps.
Lastly, on the Microsoft front, the Redmond-based vendor jointly announced a series of meeting room solutions at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2024 with Cisco and Samsung. The combined room kits entail Cisco devices powered by its RoomOS software and integrated with Samsung smart signage displays featuring Microsoft Teams with Front Row.
The overarching ambition of the collaboration is integrating video collaboration solutions into the Cisco Room Series. These solutions include Front Row, an inclusive content layout specifically tailored for Microsoft Teams Rooms.
- Read five key takeaways about Microsoft’s quarterly earnings
- Read more about Teams and 365 coming to Apple’s Vision Pro
- Read more about the Microsoft, Cisco and Samsung team-up
Zoom Unveils App for Apple Vision Pro
Zoom announced the release of its latest app, designed exclusively for Apple Vision Pro, ahead of the product’s launch this week.
The app is planned to be available for download on February 2, 2024, once the spatial computer goes on sale.
Zoom’s app for Apple Vision Pro promises an excellent meeting experience by merging video conferencing with users’ physical spaces, effectively erasing the boundaries between in-person and remote interactions. The Zoom integration is expected to produce a more immersive and lifelike environment for distributed teams, creating a sense of connection and inclusivity.
Smita Hashim, Chief Product Officer at Zoom, said:
Zoom on Apple Vision Pro helps teammates stay connected no matter when and where they work or how they communicate and collaborate. The integration of Zoom on Apple Vision Pro and visionOS extends our platform promise of allowing participants the ultimate meeting experience from anywhere and delivers on our commitment of seamless collaboration and communication.”
Users will be represented by an authentic spatial representation of themselves in Apple Vision Pro, enabling meeting participants in the meeting to see their facial expressions and hand movements.
Sony and Nureva Partner on Audio-Visual Conferencing Solution
Sony and Nureva have partnered to produce a large-room audio and video bundle that constitutes Sony’s SRG series pan-tilt-zoom and remote cameras and Nureva’s Audio Conferencing System.
Integral to its camera offering, Sony will include the AI-powered SRG-A40 and SRG-A12 cameras as well as its SRG-XP1 box camera. Nureva is including its HDL410 audio-conferencing system to offer automated audio-based camera switching for corporate and education environments.
“We are very excited to team up with Sony on solution bundles that meet the demand for simplified full-room audio and multi-camera switching in larger collaboration spaces,” said Nancy Knowlton, Nureva’s CEO. “The combination of Sony cameras and Nureva audio systems delivers the natural viewing and listening experience our mutual customers are looking for.”
The Nureva HDL410 system is simple and cost-effective for IT professionals to leverage in large spaces, offering advanced audio capabilities, such as the latest Microphone Mist technology, which puts thousands of virtual microphones into a space in order to gain full-room audio pickup, regardless of which direction participants may be facing or where they choose to sit.
Meanwhile, Sony’s SRG-A40 and SRG-A12 cameras, which make up the SRG-A series of 4K PTZ cameras, have built-in AI analytics to help track and frame presenters, regardless of their posture or movements.
