Microsoft news recap: Microsoft Rewards arrives in Italy, Translator gains six new text-to-speech languages, and more

Microsoft news recap is a weekly feature highlighting the top Microsoft news stories of the past week. Sit back, grab some coffee, and enjoy the read!

Microsoft Rewards expands to Italy

Microsoft’s latest expansion of its Rewards program brings it to Italy, following its initial expansion outside of the US to the UK, France, and Germany. Those in Italy are now able to earn Microsoft Rewards points by performing searches on Bing, or shopping through Microsoft’s stores, such as the Windows Store or Xbox Store.

Microsoft Translator adds six new text to speech languages including Vietnamese and Tamil

Microsoft’s cross-platform translation app, Microsoft Translator, has added text-to-speech translation support for an additional six languages, which include Vietnamese and Tamil. They’re available now in the Android app, and coming soon for iOS and Bing, as well as developer APIs.

Microsoft Launcher for Android beta adds custom daily backgrounds

Microsoft’s custom Android launcher has received a new update for beta users which adds custom backgrounds that change daily from a selection of backgrounds you set, as well as options to set backgrounds to scroll, and more customisation options.

Microsoft introduces new Azure For Students plan for university youths

A new Azure plan, specifically for students, has been launched by Microsoft. The plan offers 25+ free Azure services to students, while also providing $100 credit towards use of paid services, with no payment information being needed.

That’s it for this week. We’ll be back next week with more Microsoft news.