Microsoft Office 365 Launched for Students

Microsoft has launched the Microsoft Office 365 targeted at the youth and college going students in India. At the budget rate of Rs 87 per month, the tech giant is offering the service for Rs 4199 for a period of four years.

Microsoft has tied up with major institutes and colleges in the country to offer the service to students. According to Ramkumar Pichai, "University students will love the capabilities of new Office. Office 365 University will be a trusted and integral part of students' everyday always-on, always-connected life, taking full advantage of the cloud and touch capabilities, all at the best price."

The service will ensure that students can easily access all MS files like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access. The service will be synced with two PCs or MACs at a time so students can sync their home systems and one another source. Also, Microsoft is offering additional 20 GB Premium SkyDrive Storage to boost sales.

Microsoft Office 365

The company has already collaborated with most colleges and institutions in India and students will have to specify their university credentials before gaining access to the program. Incase a student does not find a particular college listed, additional information about the same can be provided and then access can be gained.

While most science course run a duration of four years, there are multiple other courses which are not longer than three years for graduates and two years for post graduates. In such a scenario, members will be able to use the system for a period of 4 years. 

According to Tarun Malik, Director of Product Management and Strategy at Microsoft India, “Four years is the usual length of a college course that is why the subscription will be for a minimum of that period.”

Microsoft hopes to create an interest in the youth by this move. Also, Office 365 will enable youth of explore all of MS Office tools at once and will also aid the ailing tech giant’s sales. With a rise in alternate services and options, Microsoft needs to push their offerings and promote them among the youth segment which is more open to experimenting and trying out newer products. Whether Microsoft Office 365 manages to penetrate and create an impact, time will tell. 

WhatsApp introduces one-press voice texting, to be rolled out on all operating systems in 24 hours

The company announced the availability of this new feature while announcing that it has now hit the 300 million monthly active users mark.

Instant messaging service WhatsApp has rolled out an update that lets you now send voice texts by just pressing one button.

The company announced the availability of this new feature while announcing that it has now hit the 300 million monthly active users mark.They garnered a whopping 50 million new active users in just 2 months.

With this new feature, you can record and send voice clips with one press of the mic icon.

According to a report in AllThingsD, WhatsApp users now send 11 billion messages and receive 20 billion messages per day - up from 27 billion total in June.
WhatsApp has began rolling out voice messaging for all of its apps, on iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone and Nokia.

Simple and easy:
What's interesting about this feature is that it is simple with less taps on the screen to get the job done.
You just press the record button to record your message and let go of the mic icon once ur done to send the message.
If you decide not to send the message then you just swipe to the left to delete the recording.
There is no time length limit when recording a message therefore users can get as creative as they want.
Another interesting feature is that the playback of a voice text will automatically switch from handset's speakers to its earpiece when the device is held to your ear.
The mic icon also turns blue when recipients have listened to the message .

Feature available in 24 hours
In the report it is also mentioned that WhatsApp with its strength of just 45 employees will push the new voice feature simultaneously on all its platforms and will make it available to all users within 24 hours.

Facebook and WeChat already have the voice texting feature but what's interesting about Whatsapp is its one press voice text feature.
Siddhartha Bhavsaar, a businessman and an active user of WhatsApp from Mumbai is quite happy with the update, " I hate typing. Voice messaging will be so much easier and fun!"
One of the last useful update rolled out by WhatsApp was to allow its users to send batches of photos in one go.
Divya Saboo, a mass media graduate from UPG College of Management in Mumbai feels that the realms of conversation has increased ten-folds. " With family, you normally conversate in your regional language. With voice text now on WhatsApp I can easily communicate with my mother who does not know English effectively."
Rahil Shaikh, a design proffessional does not really think it makes much of a difference. "To voice chat, I will call the person. Why would I voice text and then wait for a reply on WhatsApp. The app is great for free texting and group chats, but there is no need for voice text."
This feature does not need the app updated and will automatically appear on your device once it is rolled out.
Wonder if 'instant video' is the next update from WhatsApp. We can only wait and hope.