REDMOND, Wash. — Feb. 25, 2013 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has expanded on a global Enterprise Agreement with a new Memorandum of Understanding to offer Microsoft Office 365 and other products as the standard communications and collaboration platform for its National Societies worldwide, helping provide greater licensing flexibility. The signing has the potential to serve more than 1 million volunteers and staff members in the network.

Through this renewed and expanded partnership with Microsoft, the IFRC is aiming to help these National Societies grow stronger by more strategically using technology advances such as cloud services, while making the best use of the resources and investments made by donors. Already two of the estimated 80 early-qualifying National Societies — in Bangladesh and Namibia — have deployed Office 365, and many more are expected to follow close behind.

“The success we saw from real-world use of Office 365 in our American and Danish Red Cross Societies helped pave the way to this broader adoption,” said Edward Happ, Global Chief Information Officer, IFRC. “And now, for the first time in our history, all of our National Societies will have the ability to free up IT spending and time to focus more of their resources on the activities that are ultimately saving lives.”

Prior to signing the agreement for Office 365, the IFRC was actively seeking a solution to address its internal digital divide and provide smaller National Societies with access to the same tools, same technologies and same modern processes that the larger National Societies have. Based on its fundamental principle of universality, providing equal access to entirely new ways of working regardless of location ensures the National Societies become more efficient, participate more fully in the work of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, work more closely with their partners in the broader organization, and are better able to reach out to the vulnerable communities they serve.

“Microsoft is uniquely positioned to help create a secure framework for improved access to technology without compromising on capabilities or effectiveness,” said Laura Ipsen, corporate vice president, Microsoft Worldwide Public Sector. “I am proud that our collaboration with the IFRC will generate new opportunities to achieve their goals and deliver real impact for millions of beneficiaries around the world.”

Finding a company with global deployment expertise and an understanding of how important technology is for providing on-the-ground communications and organizational tools was a critical factor in the IFRC’s decision. Now, with the support of Microsoft’s reliable cloud computing technologies and robust security features, the IFRC will be able to provide all stakeholders with a world-class technology platform no matter where they are and improve the process of delivering new programs directly to recipients.

More information about how organizations are turning to Microsoft technology is available on the Microsoft Customer Spotlight newsroom.

About the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest volunteer-based humanitarian network, reaching 150 mil¬lion people each year through our 187 member National Societies. Together, we act before, during and after disasters and health emergencies to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people. We do so with impartiality as to nationality, race, gender, religious beliefs, class and political opinions.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

REDMOND, Wash. — Feb. 23, 2013 — TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development) — a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc. that serves as the North American racing arm for design, development and assembly of Toyota’s factory racing engines and chassis — worked with Microsoft Corp. to design a touch-enabled app for Windows 8 as the centerpiece of a new strategy to improve the performance of the Toyota teams competing in NASCAR. When drivers, crew chiefs and team engineers expressed the need for a more mobile computing platform to monitor real-time performance data, TRD answered with the Windows 8 Trackside app running on Surface Pro hardware.

During practice, drivers and crew chiefs previously had to record racing performance data with software on a laptop, or even with pencil and paper, requiring drivers to get out of their race cars to view information about the car’s performance, as well as to explain what was happening on the track.

“Microsoft is excited to work with TRD to design and architect a mobile platform on Windows 8 for Toyota’s NASCAR race teams,” said Jason Campbell, group product marketing manager at Microsoft. “The Trackside app for Windows 8 on Surface Pro allows TRD to spend more time driving and less time in the garage reviewing performance data, with a touch-based mobile tablet that can go from portable note taker to a high-performance monitor in less time than it takes to change even one tire.”

Now with the Windows 8 Trackside app and Surface Pro, the race team can efficiently capture performance data through the touch-based app and share it with the crew in real time, enabling mechanics to immediately get to work fine-tuning the race car for enhanced performance. Trackside also offers touch-enabled data that gives the crew chief and driver insight and analysis on timing and scoring data versus competitors, allowing a team to determine if the right adjustments have been made to the car or what adjustments may need to be made.

“Trackside running on Surface Pro means more time is spent on the track and less time is spent talking,” said Steve Wickham, TRD’s vice president of chassis operations. “Teams are back on the track faster, allowing them more time to determine the optimum setup for the race car. Our mission is to take advantage of the latest innovation in technology to quickly get better data — which translates into faster cars on the track.”

Since 2007, TRD has been developing racing software on the Windows platform for teams to analyze and improve performance, enabling Toyota race teams to be frequent visitors to victory lane and annually compete for series championships. TRD differentiates itself within the hypercompetitive racing business through technology innovation. Today, RAB Racing with Brack Maggard is one of the first Toyota teams in the NASCAR Nationwide Series to use the new Trackside solution.

“For Toyota teams to finish first on the track, we must also be the first to innovate our technologies behind the scenes,” said Darren Jones, group lead for software development at TRD. “We chose Windows 8 because we get enterprise-ready security and management, the familiarity of the Windows development environment, and a fully capable touch-enabled interface.”

When it came to choosing a device, TRD wanted a high-performance, lightweight, touch-enabled computer to complement the fast-paced environment at the race track. Several tablets were tested during the pilot phase, but Surface Pro was ultimately chosen because it delivered the power and performance of a laptop PC in a tablet package, as well as the hardware benefits of its unique Touch Covers and durable VaporMg chassis to protect the tablet from hazardous track environments. Surface Pro allows drivers and crew to use the device as a tablet or laptop, and its excellent screen visibility in outdoor lighting is essential when working at the race track.

“Working together with TRD and Microsoft, RAB Racing tested the Windows 8 Trackside app at the end of last season and found it to be an extremely useful tool for our organization,” said Robbie Benton, owner, RAB Racing with Brack Maggard. “This year with a rookie driver Alex Bowman, we need to get him as much time as possible on the race track to make sure we prepare good race cars for him. The Trackside app will help us accomplish both of those goals, and help our race team be better.”

More information about how organizations are turning to Microsoft technology is available on the Microsoft Customer Spotlight newsroom. For press, more information on how TRD and other businesses are implementing Windows 8 is available via SkyDrive: http://sdrv.ms/132zedi. For businesses, more information about Windows 8 planning and deployment is available at the Windows 8 Enterprise resource site: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/default.aspx.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) will present at the following upcoming conferences and events for the financial community:

The PyPgDay committee has selected the speakers and talks for PyPgDay 2013. We have an awesome program for you, including talks about monitoring, scaling, performance, Python application development, Django and mobile applications, and speakers from Disqus, Apsalar, VMware, 2ndQuadrant and Uber. While we can't give you everything you want to know about PostgreSQL and Python in one day, we can certainly give you a lot.

You also want to register soon, because registration is already 50% full.

Check out the list of speakers on the draft schedule. We may reorder them from here, but the talks and speakers are pretty solid. We still have room for some lightning talks.

PyPgDay is presented by Disqus.

The PyPgDay Party Sponsor is Salesforce.com. The Wifi Sponsor is Heroku.com. PyPgDay is sponsored by Urban Mapping, Uber.com, TransLattice, PostgreSQL Experts, Pandora.com, File-Away.UK and Apsalar.

GTC 2013 -- NVIDIA today announced its lineup of world-class keynote speakers for the fourth-annual GPU Technology Conference (GTC), which will be held at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, Calif., March 18-21.