Microsoft launches new product

MANILA, Philippines - Microsoft Philippines has released a reinvention of the company’s flagship Office product line for consumers.

Karrie Ilagan, managing director of Microsoft Philippines, said the new Office is a cloud service designed for the modern day users who use devices both to work and play.  

She said the new product provides the latest set of Office applications such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel among others.

The Office 365 Home Premium comes with extra SkyDrive capacity (Microsoft’s free online storage), and 60 minutes of free Skype world minutes and is priced at P3,499 available through one-year subscription which customers may now install in a total of 10 devices including five computers and five tablets.

“We mark the next big step in Microsoft’s transformation to devices and services, as we introduce and take you to your modern Office-an Office that goes beyond the four corners of a room, an Office that is accessible wherever you are,” Ilagan said.

Ilagan also announced that the Office 365 cloud services for business and education will be available middle of this year.

This is in parallel with the free social and productivity services already available to Filipinos today with email on Outlook.com, storage on SkyDrive and voice and video calls through Skype.

Tovia Va’aelua, Microsoft Office division lead of Microsoft Philippines, said the new Microsoft Office allows users to get things done at home, school and work through any device, anytime and anywhere.

“Before, Office used to belong to your machine now it belongs to you and works across all your devices,” he said.

He said the new Office was built for the dynamics of the enterprise where users would have more control on how they deploy this to their companies.

In a recent global survey, nearly 60 percent of people said they do not have the time to do the things they want to do, and more than 80 percent said they could save one or more hours a day if they were better organized.

Since the new Office is cloud-connected, you can now access your files on the go through the built in capability of SkyDrive. Thus, allowing users to be mobile and more productive.

Office 365 Home Premium is available in 162 markets in 21 languages and includes the latest and most complete set of Office applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access; one license for the entire household to use Office on up to five devices including Windows tablets, PCs or Macs, and Office on Demand available from any Internet-connected PC.

It also includes an additional 20 GB of SkyDrive cloud storage, nearly three times the amount available with a free SkyDrive account and 60 free Skype world calling minutes per month to call mobile phones, landlines or PCs around the world.

Microsoft Philippines, the local subsidiary of Microsoft Corp., has been constantly bringing innovation and making its technology available to Filipino businesses and individuals since 1995.