Welcome to Episode 214 of Observed.Tech! This holiday edition of the show starts off with Microsoft's massive Countdown Sale that is offering some big discounts on games, videos, and apps for customers. These deals are a great way to grab that game you have been thinking about getting. I then discuss the renewal of Microsoft's partnership with HERE for location data and their near $1 billion dollar support deal with the US Department of Defense to provide blue badge support to the world's largest employer. That should also help with the continued migration to Windows 10. Next was catching up with Windows 10, Redstone 2 aka the Creators Update, some app news, and where development will head as Redstone 2's code is locked down early in 2017. As always I have some Xbox related items in the show to discuss including the new Xbox Insider Program, the Xbox One Backwards Compatibility list of Xbox 360 games that is now over 300 titles, and a Twitter app that can actually be used like Twitter for your console. Of course, there are plenty of other newsy bits in the show including device usage stats, Skype's innovative year in 2016, Evernote listening to their customers about privacy, and the biggest searches in 2016 on Google and Bing. Enjoy the show and thanks for listening!