Microsoft news recap: Microsoft Planner gains push notifications, turn drawings into software 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 Dashboard redesigned with cleaner look, new streak system, more

Microsoft Rewards is Microsoft’s own take of a reward program for its customers. It offers up the chance to receive free gift cards, sweepstake entries and more by just using Microsoft products and services, such as Bing, and/or making purchases from places such as the Xbox Store. Now, the company is redesigning the Microsoft Rewards dashboard and the change is rolling out to users.

Turn your drawings into software with Microsoft Garage’s Ink to Code

If you ever get bored of typing code, Microsoft has come up with a solution. Called Ink to Code, this new Microsoft Garage app aims to allow drawings to be turned into working user interfaces, a quicker way of prototyping.

Microsoft spent about $8.5 million lobbying the US Government last year

In 2017, Microsoft spent $8.5 million in lobbying the US Government in its interests, such as opposing the travel ban, and to protect DACA recipients.

Microsoft Planner gets push notifications support on iOS and Android

The Microsoft Planner app on Android and iOS has been updated. This latest update adds support for push notifications, helping users be aware of when a new task has been assigned to them.

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