Where do Microsoft engineers go to dream and tinker? Their garage! Microsoft Garage is the company’s in-house incubator for the next big ideas in tech. Incubators provide the space, mentors, and funding startups need to get their ideas off the ground. Many of today’s greatest technologies started in incubators, and Microsoft brings the concept under its own generous wing with Microsoft Garage.
Started as a place where Microsoft employees could experiment with side projects and create outside their daily responsibilities, Garage is now an incubator for consumer-facing apps and products. Customers can peruse current live projects on Garage’s website and provide feedback to Microsoft. The company relies on this feedback to determine the future of the project (sink or swim).
Here are a few promising projects currently in Garage:
- Send: This app provides instant messaging to Office 365 users so they can avoid sending an email when a simple message will do
- InstaNote: Pausing to write notes during a meeting is a good idea, but can distract from the continuing conversation. InstaNote records audio of meetings; all you need to do is notify it when something important was said, and it transcribes the last 30 seconds of audio
- 3-in-1 Dock Design: This product allows the Surface Pro 3 to dock at the same level as multiple monitors, turning it into an additional screen when necessary.
Keep up on what’s going on in Microsoft Garage for new ways to use your Microsoft products.
By Prasana William