Last week, CES 2020 came and left, but while here, enthralled us with new technology announcements. We saw Alexa in just about every device from toothbrushes to cars and witnessed some of the most advanced headphones/hearing devices. We saw smarter smart TVs, mind-blowing laptops, and even some of the silliest, most ridiculous solutions which no-sane person needs. As always, the week of CES is a week we greatly anticipate, and fortunately, it has yet to disappoint us. Let’s take a look and a few releases that we saw last week.

It is January, and CES 2020 is in full effect. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) historically was where the newest and most exciting technologies announcements were made, and this year was no different. Although, in recent years, a new wave of change has occurred. A few of the larger innovators like Microsoft and Sony are now saving their most significant announcements for their trade shows. This change has opened the doors for newer innovators to release their latest and some even outright odd problem-solving technologies.

With over 17 Billion connected devices worldwide, we all need some help keeping our families and homes safe from online attacks and intruders. Most of us have smart devices throughout our home, and many times we forget that these devices can be a front door to cyberattacks. Bitdefender box is the brute security guard we all need for our homes.

There are times when 24 hours in a day doesn’t seem like enough. Days where you feel like you never stop running from one thing to the next. What if you could review emails while you were dealing with another task like driving? Microsoft has once again offered us a helping hand and has released a tool that will help us do just that. Now through the Microsoft Outlook app, the lovely Cortana can read aloud your emails.

Last month at the Microsoft Ignite conference, there were many announcements with the focus on better security and higher efficiencies. The announcement that we are bringing to the forefront today takes this two idea to the next level. Microsoft Productivity Score considers the endpoint user and making his/her overall work experience more productive and seamless.

As was discussed last week, Microsoft Ignite was two weeks ago in Orlando, Florida. Like past years there were some exciting announcements. In last week’s blog, we touched on Project Cortex and what benefits it will add to an organization’s entire ecosystem. Another integral set of announcements at Ignite 2019 revolved around security. These announcements encompass multiple facets including, multi-point authentication, Enhancements to Azure, Endpoint protection, Firewalls, Application Guards, Compliance, and Insider Threat enhancements and will all be important against fighting cybersecurity threats. The focus this week is on Insider threat enhancements, for as we have discussed previously, your security is nothing without having a competent inside frontline.

Microsoft Ignite returned last week to Orlando, Florida and once again brought great excitement to the world of Tech. This conference is where Microsoft announces and demonstrates brand new applications. Many times they tease out these developments at prior conferences, but what makes this conference so unique is we can see the excitement and take it to work for us immediately as these applications are ready for the market. One of the exciting announcements from last week was Project Cortex. Project Cortex is an AI-based application integrated with Office 365 that brings relevant knowledge directly to where you are working.