ConsenSys has teamed up with LVMH and Microsoft to build a blockchain-powered platform that allows consumers to verify the authenticity of luxury goods, according to a news release on May 16. The consortium says the system, known as Aura, is designed to “serve the entire luxury industry with powerful product tracking and tracing services.” LVMH brands including Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior are already involved in the project — and discussions are underway to extend Aura to other high-end names within the group. The news release added: “AURA makes it possible for consumers to access the product history and proof …

Over 50 banks participated in the simulation of letter of credit transactions on R3’s blockchain platform in 27 countries on six continents. The company announced the development in a press release published on May 8. Per the release, 96% of the participants said that the system — dubbed Voltron — will accelerate and reduce the cost of their letters of credits procedure. Furthermore, 86% of them reportedly believe the inefficiencies of the traditional system are becoming intolerable. The company claims that Voltron cuts the execution time of the procedure from 5-10 days to under 24 hours. R3 states that, as …

Microsoft has released the new Azure Blockchain Development Kit for the Ethereum blockchain, according to an announcement from Microsoft Azure blog Build Azure on May 6. The new offering is reportedly an extension to Microsoft’s source-code editor Visual Studio Code, and has been designed to aid developers who are building apps using Microsoft’s newly-released blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platform, Azure Blockchain Service. The new extension can also reportedly be used for building apps on the public Ethereum network, and enables developers to use open source blockchain tools such as Solidity and Truffle. While community-published Solidity and other blockchain tools for Visual Studio …

Microsoft announced its fully managed Azure Blockchain Service in a press release on May 2. The new blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platform will purportedly allow users to build blockchain applications on preconfigured network. According to Microsoft’s head of corporate communications, Frank Shaw, this service “simplifies the formation, management, and governance of consortium blockchain networks.” Shaw further noted that Azure Blockchain Service can create a new consortium network “in a few simple clicks,” or let the user perform basic operations like adding new members to the network. Quorum, an open source blockchain platform backed by JPMorgan Chase, is the first platform that can …

Swiss food technology giant Bühler introduced two food safety products that can potentially integrate blockchain at the Microsoft booth at the Hannover Messe industrial event in Germany on April 1. The company reported the news in a press release published the same day. The so-called “blockchain-ready” products presented by the company are a tool aiming to reduce microbial contamination in dry goods, dubbed Laatu, and Tubex Pro, a scale system that self-optimizes and produces a constant flow of production data. Both solutions are connected to the Bühler Insights Internet of Things service, hosted on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. The …

French luxury goods giant Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH) is reportedly working with ConsenSys and Microsoft Azure to develop a blockchain platform for tracking its products, crypto media agency CoinDesk reports on March 26. Dubbed AURA, the blockchain-powered platform is reportedly scheduled to go live in May or June 2019 with two major LVMH subsidiaries: Louis Vuitton and Parfums Christian Dior. Louis Vuitton is French fashion house founded in 1854 and known for its signature LV logo, while Parfums Christian Dior is the perfumery and cosmetics line of other French fashion house Christian Dior. According to the report, the …

Spain’s biggest multinational telecommunications company, Telefonica, has partnered with Microsoft to expand its digital innovation using blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI), a press release confirmed on Feb. 25. Telefonica, which has sealed multiple blockchain-related partnerships in recent months, will now leverage Microsoft’s Azure platform to develop new services for the telecoms industry. The deal emerged as part of the ongoing World Mobile Congress in Barcelona. “Together, we will apply the power of Azure and Azure AI to create new, innovative experiences for millions of Telefónica customers around the world and shape the future of Telefónica’s network,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella …

The development software of corporate-oriented cryptocurrency Ontology (ONT) has been added to the Google Cloud Platform Marketplace, a Medium post from Ontology revealed on Feb. 23. The newly supported software, called ont_dev_Platform, is a set of tools for developing smart contracts on Ontology’s blockchain. The DApp product includes a block explorer, a smart contract Integrated Development Environment (IDE), SmartX, and an Ontology test environment. According to the announcement, this addition makes the project “one of the first public blockchains to have a development platform on the leading cloud provider marketplaces.” This statement is referring to the fact that Ontology is …

The Japanese arm of computer giant Microsoft has partnered with nascent blockchain startup LayerX to “accelerate” uptake of the technology, Cointelegraph Japan reported Nov. 30. LayerX, which formed in August as a joint venture from news curation app Gunosy and advisory service AnyPay, oversees blockchain integration for enterprise, including areas such as smart contracts and general consulting. Using Microsoft’s Azure Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution, the companies will seek to promote the technology further in the domestic economy. “We will support the introduction process in its entirety, even down to technical support of finished implementations,” an accompanying press release stated, adding: “Both …

American software corporation Microsoft has released a serverless blockchain-powered Azure development kit, according to an announcement published Nov. 15. The new product dubbed the “Azure Blockchain Development Kit” purportedly improves the capabilities of Microsoft’s Azure Blockchain Workbench. It contains features like off-chain identity and data, monitoring, and messaging application programming interfaces (API) in a format that can be used to develop blockchain-based apps. Per the blog post, the initial release will focus on three core objectives, such as “connecting interfaces, integrating data and systems, and deploying smart contracts and blockchain networks.” The product will purportedly enable individuals, organizations, and devices …

American software corporation Microsoft will integrate its Azure Blockchain technology into stock exchange Nasdaq Inc.’s Financial Framework (NFF), according to an Oct. 30 press release. Per the recent announcement, Microsoft will integrate its Azure blockchain service with NFF, a technology which provides software for trading infrastructure and operations outsourcing, and fulfills Nasdaq’s risk and surveillance technology offering. Within the collaboration, the parties will reportedly develop a “ledger agnostic blockchain capability” that will allow for operability across multiple ledgers. The new product will purportedly facilitate easier buyer and seller matching, management of delivery, and payment and settlement of transactions. Integrating Azure …

Microsoft’s cloud platform Azure has introduced a proof-of-authority (PoA) algorithm on its Ethereum (ETH) blockchain product, according to a blog post Aug. 7. The new Ethereum network algorithm will reportedly allow a “more efficient” way of building decentralized applications (DApps) for private or consortium networks, where “all consensus participants are known and reputable.” In contrast to proof-of-work (PoW) — the existing protocol on Azure — a PoA algorithm is based on the principle of approved identities or validators on a blockchain, and does not require competition in completing the transactions. The new Ethereum product on Azure is equipped with a …