Microsoft Garage, which first began in 2009 as a part of Office Labs, was founded to work on side projects and to increase the creativity and productivity of Microsoft's employees. It seeks innovative people who can develop creative apps that will benefit the company. However, people involved in The Garage don't do side projects anymore. Now, together with apps from other parts of the company including Microsoft Research, the projects of Microsoft Garage have been made available through the revamped Garage portal.
Having morphed from an internal hacking lab to a more lightweight, consumer-focused apps incubator applicable for Android, iOS and some Windows devices, on February 25 this year Microsoft Garage released several free experimental productivity apps for Android and Windows Phones. They are now downloadable from the Microsoft's Garage incubator. Some apps of interest would be:
1. SquadWatch. This app will enable you to know the whereabouts of a person and what he/she is doing at that particular time. Accessible from Windows Phone.
2. Join Conference. It will allow you to talk to more than one person by just saying a voice command or dialing one button, accessible from WindowsPhone
3. DevSpace. It provides the project and work efficiency for Visual Studio Online developers, accessible from Windows Phone.
4. Your Weather. This app is for those who like to know the weather conditions and air quality in cities across China. Available on Windows Phone and sold in the Chinese market
5. Keyboards for Excel. It provides an optimized keyboard substituting the keyboard on the device for efficiency and speed when entering numbers or creating lists. Accessible on Android.
6. Picturesque Lock Screen. Along with some key features like news, calendars, search and weather, the app will give a nice touch to the Android lock screen by bringing the Bing homepage images without unlocking it. However, it is only available in the US and India
The Bing Search Assistant in Torque app has also been updated. It is extended from the Android Wear Watch to the phone.
