Microsoft has unveiled new products and updates at its Ignite conference. The company is joining Facebook and Cisco in the metaverse and bringing holograms to Teams and has also developed a new collaboration system for Office users called Loop. In addition, the company is launching a dedicated version of the Defender security software for small businesses.
First previewed in March, the mixed-reality system Microsoft Mesh is expected to launch in 2022 for Teams users. The platform powered by Azure and Microsoft's HoloLens VR headsets allows people in different physical locations to meet and collaborate in the same space as holograms. Microsoft said Teams users will be able to use the system also from smartphones and laptops, building on Teams features such as Presenter and Together modes to make online meetings "more personal, engaging and fun".
Mesh is billed as the company's "gateway to the metaverse", allowing people to create a digital twin with their own avatar to explore virtual places and things. On Teams, the first step to join Mesh is to create an avatar, while organisations will be able to create their own virtual places for Teams collaboration.
Loop collaboration elements
Also new in Microsoft's collaboration tools is Loop, a feature in Office designed to help improve productivity. With Loop pages and workspaces, Office users can bring together files, data and links to share, connect and collaborate with colleagues and customers in one place. Additional tools include a voting system to discuss proposals and take decisions, status tracker and extensions for messaging and workflows.
The first Microsoft Loop components will start rolling out this month across Microsoft 365 apps like Teams, Outlook and OneNote, and more details of the app will be revealed in the coming months.
In addition, Microsoft is bringing more predictive AI tools to Office with Context IQ. This update will roll out on Microsoft Editor first with suggestions for file attachments, meeting times, Dynamics 365 data or tagged colleagues. Context IQ will expand in time across Office 365, Dynamics 365 and Teams.
Small business security
In the growing security market, Microsoft is launching Defender for Business, a new endpoint security software that’s coming soon in preview. Defender for Business is built to bring enterprise-grade security to businesses with up to 300 employees and will work across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android devices. It will come with preventative analysis of threats and risks, including endpoint detection and response alerts and automated investigation and mitigation, as well as APIs for reporting and integration with other business tools.
