Microsoft has announced another major boost to its Azure cloud computing platform in the shape of its new DevTest Labs integration, aimed at helping developers test their blockchain-based applications.

“Blockchain technologies will become even easier to build and test using Azure’s DevTest Labs currently in preview,” wrote Marley Gray, director of Technology Strategy at Microsoft U.S. Financial Services, in a blog post last week.

Gray explained that DevTest Labs is a new service that allows developers to quickly provision Windows and Linux-based test environments on Azure. The service makes it possible to set up any blockchain-related service as an artifact in a lab environment, which means developers can decouple the technology from the virtual machine itself and apply it more discretely.

In addition, Gray also announced two new partners in Microsoft’s Blockchain-as-a-Service, Coin Science Ltd.’s MultiChain and Netki Corp.

Netki is interesting as it offers secure wallet technology that facilitates digital currency transactions, while MultiChain’s platform allows developers to “design, deploy and operate distributed ledgers”, Gray explained.

Microsoft also made another announcement on the cloud-based media streaming front with Update 1.6.1 for Azure Media Player (AMP). According to Amit Rajput, program manager at Microsoft Azure Media Services, the update includes “a 33 percent reduction in size of the AMP scripts and the additional support for hotkeys and a time tip hover for accurate seeking” along with various bug fixes. It also adds a new diagnostics tab that allows users to view performance data in real time. Rajput explained that a new “protection section now allows you to pick and choose which protection type you have dynamically packaged your content with in addition to allowing you to select multiple tokens in case they are different in the case of having both PlayReady and Widevine”.

Finally, Rajput said AMP 1.6.1 makes it easier to distribute changes among users. “You can share the demo page with your configuration with others by simply sending them the navigation URL in the address bar or by clicking the code tab and selecting Get share code,” he explained in his blog post.

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