MSFT Office 10 License Cost

Microsoft will license some of the touch-based Office for Windows 10 apps in the same way it now handles those for iOS and Android, the company said today.       

That means the same policy holds for business as before: Office still costs money.

But Microsoft's licensing plans for the apps -- the core trio of Excel, PowerPoint and Word, as well as OneNote and Outlook, the firm's note taking and email clients, respectively -- are still unclear, both because Microsoft won't discuss every element and, at least in part, because of the company's Byzantine licensing practices.

Adding to the potential for confusion is that Microsoft will actually be releasing two sets of Office for Windows 10 apps: One for smartphones and tablets with screens smaller than 8-in., another for all other touch-enabled devices, including larger tablets, notebooks and desktops, and 2-in-1 hybrids.

And the two sets may be licensed differently.

While the apps will be free to use during the preview period -- which kicked off Wednesday with the launch of Excel, PowerPoint and Word for larger tablets and touch-ready PCs -- that will change when the software officially launches later this year.

A Great Deal

I recently found this excellent deal online for Mirrorless Olympus micro4/3 lens mount cameras:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/882238-REG/Tokina_rx300m43_300mm.html

Mine should get here on Tuesday.

MSFT Outlook App

The release this week of Microsoft’s first truly native Outlook app for Android and iOS has earned the company accolades and could be a sign its mobile strategy is finally getting on track.

“Microsoft is absolutely doing the right thing putting these important and popular applications on Android and iOS,” said IDC analyst Al Hilwa. “An increasing number of users of these products already use multiple devices, and it is valuable for them to be able to move across platforms with the same tools.”

The new app, released for iOS and in preview mode for Android, is technologically and stylistically different from Outlook.com, Microsoft’s mobile front-end for its Web-based email service. It’s also very different from the Outlook Web App, with which users of Exchange and Office 365 access their business accounts.

It’s not an original Microsoft product, having been acquired last December in the buyout of mobile developer Accompli. As such, it doesn’t yet support all the features of Outlook for Windows. In a statement, Microsoft acknowledged that both versions of the app currently lack the full range of support for Exchange ActiveSync administrative tools, particularly the ability to remote-wipe an entire phone if it’s lost or stolen (for now, it supports remote-wipe of email accounts and their stored attachments).

But the software is drawing praise nonetheless, helping transform the perception of Microsoft as an also-ran in mobile technology.

Q4 Tablet Shipments

Tablets shipments have declined year over year for the first time.

In the fourth quarter of 2014, 76.1 million tablets shipped worldwide, according to the International Data Corporation’s worldwide quarterly tablet tracker. Even though tablet shipments were down this quarter, they were up 4.4 percent in all of 2014 compared to 2013. A total of 229.6 million units shipped last year.

The study notes that Apple still leads the pack, holding onto more than a quarter of the global market share. The company shipped 21.4 million tablets in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Samsung shipped 11 million units. Although the company’s shipments were down for the quarter, Samsung’s shipments in 2014 grew one percent. Apple, on the other hand, experienced a 14.6 percent drop in shipments from 2013 to 2014.

IDC says this may be due to Apple’s recent roll out of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which may be cannibalizing iPad sales.

I just learned this today

Since my name has an accented letter in it I found this article of interest:

Accent marks (Android and iOS)

Don’t get caught skipping the accent grave in “voilà” while typing that email on your iPhone or Android phone.

You can access a generous portion of accent marks—acute, grave, circumflex, and otherwise—by tapping and holding a letter key (like “a”). 

Lenovo Profits

Lenovo Group Ltd. surged the most in almost two years after posting profit that beat estimates, with the Chinese company expanding its global market share for personal computer and smartphone sales.

The shares in Hong Kong rose 7.3 percent, the biggest gain since April 2013. Net income was $253 million in the quarter ended December, compared with the $182.4 million average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing is defying weak growth in the PC industry by increasing sales, margins and market share as he expands in smartphones and servers. Lenovo bolstered that push with $5 billion of acquisitions last year, including buying Motorola Mobility from Google Inc. and purchasing International Business Machines Corp.’s low-end server unit.

Phablets

Bigger is better, according to a new Juniper Research report that says phablets are destined to become even more popular over the next several years.

More than 400 million phablets will ship in 2019, five times the the estimated 138 million to be shipped this year, the report said. As such, phablets will account for more than 20 percent of mobile devices shipped in the next four years.

The phablet is defined by Juniper as a handset with a screen size of 5.5 inches to 6.9 inches that can be held while making phone calls -- but not necessarily for an extended period of time.

Big-screened smartphones have surged in popularity among consumers. That's one reason why Apple launched the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus last year -- to reclaim customers and market share lost to Android vendors.