Microsoft enables Skype and Lync video integration

On December 5, Microsoft announced that it is beginning the rollout of the second piece of Skype-Lync federation by turning on video integration between the two services.

"We're excited to announce that Skype users can now video call their Skype contacts on Lync, and vice versa!" said company officials in a blog post announcing the new capability.

In May 2013, Microsoft officials said they would deliver Skype-Lync federation in two steps. In 2013, Skype and Lync users were able to integrate contacts, presence, instant messaging and audio calling across the two services. At that time, officials said video connectivity between the two would happen until mid-2014.

Earlier this year, Microsoft execs pushed back the due date for Skype-Lync video integration until year-end 2014.When Microsoft announced last month that the company would be changing the name of Lync to "Skype for Business," officials also said that they planned to update Microsoft's Skype clients with H.264 codec support so as to be able to provide video integration between Skype and Lync 2013.

Update: According to a December 5 Office Blogs post, Skype for Windows desktop is getting the Skype-Lync video federation first. Android and iOS Skype releases will get the new capability "in the coming months."

Microsoft also announced a new Skype update for Windows desktop users today. With Skype 7.0, users can now scroll, call, and browse using touch.

Dropbox’s Mobile Apps Are Now Integrated With Microsoft Office

Earlier this month, Dropbox and Microsoft announced a partnership that would see Dropbox offer better support for Microsoft’s Office Suite, including the ability to edit Office docs from the Dropbox mobile app among other things. Today, those integrations have gone live for users of both the Android phone and iOS Dropbox applications.

Explains Dropbox in a blog post announcing the news, users can now edit their Office files when they’re “on the go,” editing them directly from the Dropbox app and accessing the files directly from the Office apps. To use the new feature, you’ll first need update your app to the latest version, then open any Office document, spreadsheet or presentation that’s stored in your Dropbox.

From here, a new “Edit” icon (see above picture) will be available that will allow you to switch over to the new mobile Office apps to make changes to the file. When you’re finished working, those changes will be saved back to Dropbox automatically.

The Dropbox/Microsoft partnership is an extensive deal aimed at increasing collaboration between the two firms, and may have surprised some given that the two companies offer competing products. Microsoft has a Dropbox-like service called OneDrive, but Dropbox’s larger service reaches hundreds of millions of users, including 80,000 businesses.

The agreement announced at the beginning of November included four parts, as reported: the ability to quickly edit docs from Dropbox on mobile, accessing Dropbox docs from Office apps, sharing Dropbox links of Office apps, and the creation of first-party Dropbox apps for Microsoft’s mobile offerings.

Source:Techcrunch

Microsoft Office comes to Android smartphones for Office 365 subscribers

Microsoft is bringing a pared-down
version of its Office software to
Android phones, but it won't work on
Android tablets just as it doesn't on
iPads.
The software will be available starting
Wednesday. It requires a $100-a-year
subscription to Office and won't be
sold separately.
The new offering follows the release
of an iPhone version in June and brings
an Office app to phones running the
most widely used operating system on
new smartphones.
Microsoft Corp. is trying to make its
Office 365 subscription more compelling,
without removing an advantage that
tablet computers running Microsoft's
Windows system now have - the ability
to run popular Office programs such as
Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
"The release of this app shows that
we're committed to keep providing
additional value for Office 365
subscribers," the company wrote in a
blog post. "Office 365 subscribers will
now be able to access, view, and edit
Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents
with Windows Phone, iPhone and
Android phones."
Microsoft is pushing subscriptions as a
way to get customers to keep paying
for a product that was historically
sold in a single purchase. The company
touts such benefits as the ability to
run the package on multiple computers
and get updates for free on a regular
basis. However, a subscription can be
more expensive than buying the
package outright for just one or two
computers.
Microsoft said it designed Office Mobile
for Android phones specifically for
small-screen devices, even though many
people will prefer editing documents on
a tablet's larger screen. The company
has a version for iPads and Android
tablets, called Office Web Apps, but
that runs on a Web browser and
requires a constant online connection.
The new Android software is an app
that gets installed on the phone and
can work offline.
With a subscription, customers typically
get to use Office on up to 10 devices.
Five of them can be Windows or Mac
computers or Windows tablets. The
other five can be iPhones or Android
phones. Windows phones come with
Office installed and do not count
toward the limit.
In keeping the software off the iPad,
the top-selling tablet computer,
Forrester Research analyst J.P.
Gownder has estimated that Microsoft
is potentially ceding $1.4 billion a year
in revenue, based on 10 percent of the
140 million iPad owners paying for a $
100 subscription. Gownder said failure
to provide it on the iPad or Android
tablets gives incentives for users to
explore competing offerings such as
QuickOffice from Google and iWork
from Apple.
Like the other mobile versions, the new
Android software is designed for
lightweight use. For example, you can
use it to view and edit an attachment
sent by email. But it's not meant to
create a complex spreadsheet from
scratch.
The new software requires Android 4.0
or later - the Ice Cream Sandwich or
Jelly Bean flavors of Google's
operating system. It's available
through Google's online Play store. At
first, it's available only in the U.S.,
though Microsoft plans to expand to
117 markets with versions in more than
30 languages.
Microsoft did not announce any plans
for BlackBerry phones.

Will you be using Microsoft OfficeMobile on your Android or iOS device?

Microsoft Office is one of the most popular office suites available today, and as of recently it has finally made its way into more than just Microsoft's own corner of the mobile computing world. In late June, Microsoft quietly released Microsoft Office Mobile for the iPhone, and yesterday we learned that they also released Office Mobile for Android as well.

Many people who prefer to use Android and iOS have been waiting a long time for Microsoft to port a mobile version of office to these two popular platforms, but now that they have and the details of how one can obtain the application on their phone is released, will people still be as interested? "Details? What details?" Unlike the Windows Phone platform, which has naturally always had support to Microsoft Office Mobile for free, Android and iOS users are going to have to pay for an Office 365 subscription if they want to take advantage of Office on-the-go: $99 for a year, or $9.99 a month. 

With this subscription you can download Office 365 on up to 5 computers and 5 mobile devices; and by "mobile devices", when it comes to Android and iOS at least, that really just means mobile phones. You can't use Office Mobile on tablets other than Microsoft's own Surface or Windows 8 tablets. This makes sense, given that the main focus of commercials promoting said tablets is to prove how wonderfully productive it is to have Microsoft Office on your tablet (or how it is possible to live your lifelong dream of breaking out randomly into synchronized dancing if you own a Surface Pro). If you give the iPad or Android tablets that luxury, that's taking away the one thing Microsoft has been pushing. 

When it comes to the subscription aspect, it's not a bad idea nor is it necessarily surprising. After all, every new subscription for Office 365 that comes through is more money for Microsoft, which means that they could possibly be using said money to help improve Windows Phone. 

However, since it stands that Office Mobile isn't available for Android and iOS tablets, I don't think Microsoft will see an influx of new Office 365 subscribers because of it. Although it is becoming easier to edit Office documents from the influx of phones that are releasing with larger screens, many can still argue that editing a Power Point or a Word document would be a lot easier and more productive on a true tablet-sized screen. 

Another thing that Microsoft Office Mobile has against it is the fact that third-party developers have had ample time to make alternatives for those who have been longing for a proper document editor and viewer for the mobile devices. Not only have several been made, but they've also been able to polish their software to the point that many would prefer to use the alternatives over the new Microsoft Office Mobile. 

Also, most don't charge a subscription premium. I used to really want to see Microsoft Office on Android and iOS, but at the time the thought had never crossed my mind that Office would ever take the subscription route. Yes, I expected there to be some sort of fee involved ($9.99, perhaps?) to download the application, but the fact that anybody needs to pay a subscription for this type of service seems bizarre to me. For people that already use Office 365, Office Mobile makes sense. You don't have to pay anything extra. Just download the application , put in your credentials, and get to editing. But for anybody else, especially for people who use Office passively (and do fine using previous versions of Office) it's likely not that great (or big) of a deal.

There are enough alternatives that can A.) function across computer, phone, and tablet and B.) don't cost an extra subscription for a service that a lot of people won't get their money's worth out of. To be quite honest, though, I don't think it's the subscription that kills this idea; I think Microsoft really shot themselves in the foot by not offering Office 365 on iOS and Android tablets. Readers, what are your thoughts on Microsoft Office Mobile? Are you interesting in having this on your Android device or iPhone? Why or why not?