Melissa Ma, a Senior PM in the Azure product group, talks to us about the new Pronunciation Assessment service and SDK which makes it easy to build linguistic applications that can provide the user with realtime feedback on their speech.

Media file: https://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode390.mp3 

YouTube: https://youtu.be/SdGeTmJtORw

Resources: 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cognitive-services/speech-service/how-to-pronunciation-assessment?pivots=programming-language-java

https://customers.microsoft.com/en-us/story/1379625676815325642-pearson-education-azure-cognitive-services

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/azure-ai/speech-service-update-pronunciation-assessment-is-generally/ba-p/2505501

The Speech SDK supports pronunciation assessment, which assesses the pronunciation quality of speech input, with indicators of accuracy, fluency, completeness, etc.docs.microsoft.com

Other updates:

General availability: GitHub Codespaces

How to re-size Azure virtual networks that are peered—now in preview

Azure Blob storage - Inventory generally availability

Upgrade to Text-to-Speech Neural Voice  by 31 August 2024

The team welcomes Principal Software Engineer, Jennifer Marsman, who talks about the advances in Cognitive Services and delves into a real-world scenario where Cognitive Services can help with understanding and treating COVID-19.

Media file: https://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode323.mp3

Transcript:

Resources:

https://covid19search.azurewebsites.net/

https://jfk-demo.azurewebsites.net/#/

Other updates:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/governance/blueprints/samples/hipaa-hitrust/

From <https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/announcing-reverse-dns-support-in-azure-virtual-networks/>

Updates to Azure Maps Web SDK includes powerful new features
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/updates-to-azure-maps-web-sdk-includes-powerful-new-features/

Microsoft Azure holds free 'virtual hackathon' for professionals in Asia to develop helpful technologies
https://www.msazurevirtualhack.com/

Anna Roth, a Senior PM in the Computer Vision team and Anand Raman, Group PM of Cognitive Services, join us for all the latest and greatest updates in Azure Cognitive Services.

Media file: https://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode287.mp3

Transcription: https://eus2.videoindexer.ai/accounts/e0eee289-7730-4999-978b-eb7f63be8cb5/videos/0fdc09c624/?location=EUS2

Resources:

http://aka.ms/CognitiveServices
https://github.com/Azure-Samples

Other updates:

Thanks for 10 years and welcome to a new chapter in SQL innovation
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/thanks-for-10-years-and-welcome-to-a-new-chapter-in-sql-innovation/

Reducing overall storage costs with Azure Premium Blob Storage
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/reducing-overall-storage-costs-with-azure-premium-blob-storage/

What’s new in Azure Firewall
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/what-s-new-in-azure-firewall/

Previewing Azure SDKs following new Azure SDK API Standards
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/previewing-azure-sdks-following-new-azure-sdk-api-standards/

Azure DevOps adds new features including bi-directional traceability between Releases and Jira issues
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/bi-directional-traceability-between-releases-and-jira-issues/

We talk to Anna Roth, a PM with the Azure Cognitive Services team. She gives is the low-down on these amazing services that can literally transform most businesses. 

https://www.microsoft.com/cognitive-services

Media file: http://azpodcast.blob.core.windows.net/episodes/Episode148.mp3

Other updates:

Linux support in Azure App Service
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/azure-app-service-releases-a-preview-introducing-linux-support-for-node-js-and-php-stacks/
 
 Azure App Service Companion preview
 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=azureApps.AzureApps
 
 Azure Stream Analytics query testing now available in the new portal
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/stream-analytics-querytesting/

Azure Stream Analytics query testing now available in the new portal
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/stream-analytics-querytesting/

Keeping up with Azure Government: September Highlights
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/keeping-up-with-azure-government-september-highlights/

Azure PowerShell 3.0.0–Highlights and breaking changes
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-powershell-300/

Azure Backup hosts Ask Me Anything session
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-backup-reddit-ama-oct20th/

Deep Neural Network in Azure
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/machinelearning/2016/10/12/deep-neural-network-in-azure/

Running the MEAN stack on Microsoft Azure (Part I)
http://openness.microsoft.com/2016/10/10/running-mean-stack-microsoft-azure-part/

 Getting Started with Temporal Tables in Azure SQL Database documentation webpage. To use temporal retention, customers can visit the Manage temporal history with retention policy documentation webpage.
 
UltraPerformance Gateway tier for Azure ExpressRoute generally available
The UltraPerformance Gateway connects a virtual network to an Azure ExpressRoute circuit and provides five times the network throughput of the HighPerformance Gateway. Customers can now deploy more network-intensive workloads in their virtual networks. ExpressRoute UltraPerformance Gateway is currently available in the West Central US and Central US regions and can be linked to ExpressRoute circuits located in Chicago, Illinois and Dallas, Texas. More Azure regions and ExpressRoute locations will become available in the coming weeks.

Improving Azure App Service Node.js and PHP developer experience with Linux support
In March 2015, Azure App Service became generally available, making it easier for web developers to do cool things in the cloud. In addition to a great experience for .NET developers, it supports PHP, Node.js, Java, and Python stacks, as well as a number of open source web products. A new public preview introduces native Linux support for Node.js and PHP stacks.

Name update for Microsoft Cognitive Services in invoices
As of October 11, 2016, customers using Microsoft Cognitive Services for Bing Search APIs, Bing Autosuggest APIs, and Bing Speller APIs will see new overage meters in their invoices. Previously, for any Standard plan, overages appeared as Standard S2 meters. Resource prices will remain unchanged.