Hasta La Gadget!

Office for iPad was finally launched recently. Even though the apps are available to download free of cost, they only allow viewing of documents. To unlock editing and creation features users have to get an Office 365 subscription. Last month Microsoft announced that it will offer a cheaper subscription package called Office 365 Personal. Today the plan goes live. Its great for individual users as it also opens up all features of Office for iPad.

A conventional Office 365 subscription costs $9.99 per month or 99.99 per year. It allows access to Office on five PCs or Macs as well as five tablets. Office 365 is a cheaper option. For $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year, users can access the full power of Office on one PC or Mac as well as one tablet, which includes the iPad.

With both subscription plans customers get 20GB additional storage on top of the 7GB free online storage they already receive. Though on the Personal plan its only available for one user, whereas 20GB storage is offered for up to five users with a conventional Office 365 subscription. By offering two different plans Microsoft positions Office to deliver the most bang for the buck to a broader range of households, whether its a family of five or just one individual.

Once a subscription has been purchased, regardless of whatever plan they choose, users will also be able to edit Microsoft documents on smartphones, including iPhones and Android devices.

Office 365 Personal Makes It Cheaper To Unlock All Features On iPad , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Tablets, Microsoft, office, office 365, Office for iPad,

If you just downloaded the new Microsoft Office apps for iPad , you probably noticed that they require an Office 365 subscription to actually create or edit any documents. Instead of signing up for that $100 in-app purchase though, save yourself a bunch of money by buying a subscription on Amazon.

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Back in 2012 Microsoft launched a subscription version of Office 365 under the Office 365 Home Premium moniker. For $8.33 per user per month or $99.99 per year, subscribers would get access to the typical apps in the Office suite, with the added advantage of using the software on up to five PCs and Macs. Since then the service has grown significantly, boasting more than 3.5 million subscribers. Microsoft is now turning towards consumer customers. Today it launched Office 365 Personal, a relatively affordable subscription version of its popular productivity suite.

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Microsoft Launches Office 365 Personal Subscriptions original content from Ubergizmo.

Microsoft today announced a new service called Office 365 Message Encryption. Through the service, users can send encrypted emails not only within their company or organization, but also outside it to people who’re using any other email service from any provider. Office 365 Message Encryption is actually a version of Exchange Hosted Encryption, it includes all features of EHE plus new ones such as the ability to apply custom branding to encrypted messages. The service works with Office 365 mailboxes and on-premises mailboxes using Exchange Online Protection.

Setting up encryption isn’t complicated at all. Administrators will be able to set up transport rules to apply encryption when emails match a certain criteria. Once rules have been set up, whenever anyone in the company or organization sends an email that matches the rules, it will automatically be encrypted. To prevent misdirection or spoofing, encryption is applied before the email is handed over to the outside mail server. When the recipient replies or forwards the email, it will also be encrypted. Message encryption interface is based on Outlook web app, so it won’t be hard for users to perform tasks like attach, insert, reply, forward etc. Office 365 Message Encryption will be available for free to Office 365 E3 and E4 users, it is included in Windows Azure Rights Management that’s already included in the aforementioned plans. It is included in the standalone version of Windows Azure Rights Management and costs $2 per user, per month. The service will be available early next year.

Office 365 Message Encryption Coming Early Next Year original content from Ubergizmo.

You’ve been played before. You’re vulnerable and nervous about opening up again. It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve been lied to.

Back in 2011 we heard rumors that the iPad would be graced with Office’s presence in 2012, and shortly thereafter we saw an actual photo of Office on an iPad. But… nothing. And then some more nothing. Until today.

The company is finally letting Office 365 smooch up against the iPad. Steve Ballmer today revealed at a Gartner event in Florida that an iPad-friendly version of Office 365 is in the works. The iPad version will be released after a touch-first user interface is delivered to Windows-powered machines. According to the Verge, that special touch interface is “in progress.”

Microsoft has already let Office partially into the iOS ecosystem with the release of Office Mobile for Office 365 Subscribers (catchy name, huh?). This application is only available to iPhone owners who already have an expensive Office 365 subscription.

The Verge also claims that Microsoft COO Kevin Turner expressed the “need to own the productivity experience across all devices” in a recent company meeting, which makes sense considering Office is one of Microsoft’s best and most competitive products.

Expanding distribution of the software is smart, especially if it coaxes users to pay for the pricey Office 365 subscription in order to access it. Smarter still would be to offer a specially tailored version of Office 365 on iPad and iPhone for a hefty yearly price that isn’t quite as high as the full-on desktop subscription.

In either case, though, Microsoft runs the risk of slowing down its own lagging tablet sales. After all, the only slightly interesting advantage that Surface tablets have is Microsoft’s productivity suite. After Office is rolled out to all iOS devices, that advantage simply shrinks down to the fact that it’s free on a Surface.