Longtime Yardi client Gary Shaw, president of Arizona-based commercial property manager Arcadia Management Group Inc., is a fan of doing business with a single connected solution. “Going with the single stack approach was a no-brainer,” he says, referring to Arcadia Management’s use of Yardi Voyager, Yardi Procure to Pay, Yardi Inspection and other products from the Yardi Commercial Suite. “It’s so much more efficient housing several business operations in one place rather than updating software in separate databases for finance, maintenance and other operations.” Although highly successful as a third-party management company, “we are constantly looking for ways to improve our business processes,” Shaw says, which is why Arcadia Management Group frequently volunteers as a beta tester for new Yardi products. Too Many Databases An unresolved dilemma recently gave Arcadia Management a chance to go first again. The company kept some documents, such as invoices processed through Yardi Procure to Pay in the Yardi cloud. Other content, such as vendor management activities uploaded from VENDORCafé and various lease and property documents, were kept in Microsoft SharePoint. “Maintaining security on multiple systems was hard on our users. I didn’t want to continue running multiple databases. That produces duplicate effort as well as inconsistent security permissions,” Shaw says. “I wanted our document management functionality to become completely integrated with our business the way our other Yardi products were. “When Yardi approached me with a new solution that linked Voyager with SharePoint, it patched a huge hole in our document management system.” Centralized Content Management That solution is Yardi Document Management for SharePoint, which integrates Yardi Voyager business data with the Microsoft SharePoint platform to create a single, centralized content management solution. Arcadia Management Group became the first beta user in May 2017. “Going between Voyager and...

Microsoft’s Surface lineup welcomed its newest computer, the Surface Laptop, the company’s direct answer to the MacBook. The new flagship device for Windows 10 S was designed with college students in mind. It will sell starting at $999 (upgraded versions will costs as much as $2,199) and will begin shipping on June 15. The new device doesn’t hold any records—it’s not the thinnest nor lightest out there, but its 0.6-inch thickness and 2.74-pound weight make it an easy burden to carry around. The Surface laptop doesn’t bring any novelties either, it’s a Microsoft PC with the Surface branding. The overall design makes you think more about a MacBook-style notebook rather than a Microsoft’s Surface Book—the screen is not detachable and the hinges are not supposed to be seen. In fact, the Surface Laptop feels to be geared toward Apple customers more than anyone else. It will be available in four colors—burgundy, graphite gold, platinum and cobalt blue—the burgundy and blue versions are special in a way that will immediately stand out. Out stands the cloth-like Alcantara fabric, brought from Italy and is laser cut to coat the palm rests and the space between the keys. Even though it’s not more luxurious than metal, its softness and warmth look appealing. How well will it stand the test of time? Remains to be seen. Tech-specs wise, one of the first things that catches your eye is its lack of ports (which seems to have turned into a trend lately): the headphone jack is still there, next to an USB 3.0 port and a mini DisplayPort. But that’s it, Microsoft decided that the USB-C doesn’t have a place there, nor does Thunderbolt 3. One cool thing is that it doesn’t have any visible speaker grilles or holes,...

Bing is far from being one of the popular kids on the internet playground. But here’s some good news: Bing has updated Bing Maps with the option to view 35,000 live traffic cameras in 11 unnamed countries including the US and Spain. Pretty cool, no? This looks like a helpful tool in checking major roads for congestion before hitting the road. Moreover, the feature ties into the Clearflow traffic prediction algorithm which was launched in mid-November. The move points to Bing Maps planning on becoming a strong competitor to Google Maps; Microsoft’s traffic service is well aware of the fact that it needs to offer what the competition doesn’t have if it wants to lure Google loyalists. However, Microsoft doesn’t want to force-feed the new service, thus those who are not interested in the camera feeds can toggle the feature off—this will hide the camera icons on the maps. To access the traffic camera feature, users need to first download the Bing Maps app and then with a simple tap of the Traffic button (at the top of the app) they can study the traffic levels. Viewing multiple cameras at the same time is also possible, causing the screen to divide into smaller windows. The user has the ability to configure a specific route, too. This way, the app will help peruse through the cameras that are on the path. Bing Maps separates traffic levels in four color-coded categories: green for no traffic, yellow for light traffic, orange for moderate traffic, and red for heavy traffic. Having access to this piece of information from the traffic cameras will make each and every driver plan a better, quicker route to their destination. Furthermore, users can compare traffic cameras in the area by going to the...

On October 6 Microsoft took its fall hardware collection to New York, raising many eyebrows with its first laptop ever—the Surface Book. The long-awaited device (so long, that many believed it would never happen) bears the genes of the Surface family with its 2-in-1 mobile experience. Yet, it adds something the previous models lack: a stiff hinge. The Surface Book is still a tablet with a separate keyboard, but there’s no kickstand. The Dynamic Fulcrum hinge (which resembles a tiny metal gauntlet) holds the screen up and allows positioning it at any angle. The screen is firmly anchored into the keyboard/battery base; it can be ejected either through the physical eject button or through the one included in the software. The result is an incredibly thin but generous 13.5-inch, 3000×2000 screen, a standalone tablet. And this is not all—the screen can be reattached backwards to the laptop base, allowing to fold the tablet over the keyboard. It is what Microsoft calls the “drawing mode”. The look of the Surface Book will be divisive: the dynamic fulcrum hinge doesn’t completely close, the screen isn’t flush against the keyboard—look from the side and there is a gap. This might be unpleasant for some, despite the rest of the polished features. By far, this is the most beautiful Windows laptop ever made; it feels solid, well-engineered and designed, even though some might make a wry face when seeing its unadorned, almost industrial look. Microsoft’s newest star has an angular silver magnesium casing adorned with just two physical buttons—for volume and power. It measures 12.30” x 9.14” x 0.51 – 0.90” and weighs 3.34 pounds, including the keyboard. The screen sports 6 million pixels, 267 per inch, surpassing MacBook Pro’s 227ppi and making colors pop. The Surface Book...

The future of computing, in Microsoft’s vision, is way beyond the mouse, keyboard, and touchscreen. Will this extraordinary vision of personal computing be strong enough to walk side-by-side Apple and Google? Time will tell. Let’s take a look at Microsoft’s pitch. Many had given up hope when picturing Microsoft’s future in the world of OSes, after the launch of 8 and 8.1.  But the vast majority of us has at least one device running on Windows OS, typically a PC or laptop. The press event which took place last week in Washington made spectators wonder: is this really a Microsoft conference? It was indeed Microsoft, and it made 2015 be the year that science fiction becomes real. Windows 10 will arrive in fall 2015 as a free update to Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 and will run on phones, tablet, laptops, on a massive conference-room TV, and a mind-blowing holographic headset.  Opening the session, Joe Belfiore reminded attendees what the company showed off last September regarding Windows 10. Then, news started flowing. Cortana Enters the PC Platform The witty Cortana has outgrown the Windows Phone platform and now finds a home in  Windows 10, aiding with the system’s search features. She sits nicely right next to the Start button on the desktop’s taskbar, able to perform any basic trick she does in the Windows Phone, whether she’s asked vocally or via text. Thanks to Microsoft’s cloud-based Bing brains, she is able to advise whether or not you’ll need a coat the next day by checking the forecast. She can dig on your local machine, OneDrive account, and even your business network, to find files or respond to commands through natural language queries: Belfiore asked her to find some specific PowerPoint slides and to show...

The world was expecting the new Windows 9, but it seems that arithmetic is not the strategy used to name the Microsoft OS. The company decided to jump straight to 10 and unveiled the new operating system recently in San Francisco. It will become available next year; the early presentation aimed to involve customers in the development process through a Technical Preview available for download. The first thing that catches the eye in the new Windows 10 is the Start menu. It’s divided in two columns; the left one has the traditional Windows 7 design that displays the familiar list of pinned and recent applications, the search box, and the power button for shutting down or restarting the PC. The search box has Windows 8’s features – it includes results from Bing and the Windows store; there is also a separate Search menu next to the Start button that displays trending topics, also from Bing. The right column is a customizable and resizable live tiles-based menu. Windows 8 Metro apps can now also open in a windowed mode on the desktop, not entering into a full-screen mode by default. This change has been originally demonstrated at Build. Moreover, the modern Windows 8 can be used side by side with the standard Windows desktop app. The combination gives the new interface a sense of the new, but also stays familiar. Microsoft added a Task View button on the taskbar which, when triggered, displays a multitasking view very similar to Apple’s OS X Expose feature. From here, multiple desktops are available, something Windows always needed. Yet, this is another feature that had as source of inspiration rival operating systems OS X and Linux/Unix. Still, it’s not identical, as Windows 10 has incorporated its productivity-focused snap views....

Microsoft needs to take bold steps to regain precious ground. To that end, its Build 2014 Developer’s Conference included news both expected and surprising. The expected announcements were related to the new Windows Phone 8.1 software and the much-anticipated update to the Windows 8.1 OS. The surprise was the new Windows 7-style Start menu for Windows 8, which will be launched as a free update. The main focus of the conference reflected Microsoft’s path of offering the ability to experience the same look and feel of applications across phones, tablets, and PCs, as well as the ability for the developers to easily build apps for all three platforms. “I am absorbing the Internet… now I’m learning about you.” The spotlight of the keynote was on Cortana for Windows Phone 8.1, the upcoming voice assistant that has the task of competing with Apple’s Siri and Google’s Google Now. Even though right now the new sassy digital assistant is a beta app, there are a few interesting things about her – she’s talkative, but knows what she’s talking about as she’s been given the ability to mine the Windows Phone content (with the user’s permission) and also search the web. “Because she’s powered by the Internet, you could say that she knows everything about the world,” Joe Belfiore said. “But because she runs on your Windows Phone, she also knows everything about you.” Cortana will have her own Live Tile, at the same time replacing the search function on the Windows Phone. She can take notes, send reminders, set alarms, and recognize the places you frequently visit. She also has a “Notebook” where she tracks certain user interests, including an “inner circle” of favorite users. The “Quiet hours” feature blocked notifications, with permission to reach you...

Microsoft’s latest tablets, Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, are now on the market with a number of new covers and other accessories (dock, mouse, and charger). Both tablets seem like iterations of the concept Microsoft first demonstrated last summer. They kept the same angular design with metallic finish, announcing upgrades to the processing power and battery life, to the display and camera resolution. Enhancements in Windows RT 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Pro promise to make the two tablets more powerful and customizable. Surface 2 The lower-priced ARM received a 1.7GHz Nvidia Tegra 4 processor and 2GB of RAM and flipped the 1366×768 screen with one of 19290×1080 with better color accuracy. Basically Microsoft addressed two of the most complained about features of the predecessor – weak performance and low screen resolution. The Surface 2 is just a bit thinner and slightly lighter than the previous version, with 25 percent more battery life and a USB 3 port. The cameras are improved to 3.5MP for the front and 5.0MP for the rear for Skype and other webcam uses. To differentiate it from the more powerful brother, the Surface 2 tablet will only be available in a silver/magnesium color with just the front surface still retaining the black bezel. It looks good and feels more comfortable, but the main concern remains the software; it’s clear that Microsoft patched some holes and added some much-needed functionality to the mix, and the number of apps in the Windows Store is rising (there are now over 100,000 apps), but the fact that this version of Windows can’t run the same apps and perform as well as the full-blown Windows might be a momentum killer. Interesting about the two tablets are the keyboard covers (Touch Cover, Type Cover and...