Microsoft pulled a surprise last year when it revealed the Surface Headphones. We recently reviewed it and quite enjoyed it, but this year the company is back again with something that is keener to Apple’s infamous AirPods.

We spent some hands-on time with the new Surface Earbuds during Microsoft’s event today in New York City, and we were fairly impressed. Here are our impressions.

Charging Case

Like the dental floss style case that comes with Apple’s AirPods, the first thing I noticed with Surface Earbuds is its charging case. It’s shaped a bit like a traffic light. You can simply rest the earbuds on the top of the case when it’s open, and the buds will magnetically be pulled in to start charging. If you put the wrong bud in the wrong spot, it won’t accept it.

The case itself charges via USB-C and can hold up to 24 hours of battery life, but the buds themselves will only last 8 hours. That is quite impressive considering that the earbuds will be used all day. It is also outfitted with the Microsoft Logo and features a pairing button on the bottom.

Comfort and fit

Of course, the Surface Earbuds are not all about the case. Microsoft tells me that the ear tips on the Surface Earbuds can fit 95 percent of all human ears. It was tested extensively in labs with over 1,000 human ears and is designed for comfort and stability.

For the other 5 percent, Microsoft includes options for a small size or large size ear tip. That just so happens to be me, as I needed to try the small tip for the Earbuds to properly fit inside my ear.

As Microsoft demoes in this video above, you need to pop off the tip and then slide it back into the Earbuds for it to snap into place. I had trouble doing this, but Microsoft assured me it’s a seamless process once you get used to it. I should also note that the buds rest inside your ear without touching your ear canal. That means, there’s no sound cancellation, as I discover later.

Microsoft also mentions that you need somewhat of a “screwing” motion to first rest the buds on your ear canal, and then get the Earbuds to fit properly into your ears. I had trouble getting it to sit inside my ears, but once I repeated the process, things were smooth.

Hey, where’s Cortana?

A notable feature on last year’s Surface Headphones was Cortana. The digital assistant was built right in, and you could voice activate it for certain tasks. This time around, with the Surface Earbuds, Microsoft is doing something different. There’s no voice activation or inbuilt Cortana.

Pressing and holding on the touch surface on the outside of the Surface Earbuds will instead summon any digital assistant that you have tied to your device. On Windows devices, that can be Cortana. But, on Android that can be Google Assistant and even Cortana, if you’ve configured it as default on your device. Presumably, this also includes Siri on the iPhone, but we couldn’t confirm that.

Of course, there are also some additional controls on Surface Earbuds. You can swipe up and down on the exterior of the Earbuds for volume control, and you can swipe forward to advance songs on Spotify. You also can swipe back to go back to a previous song in Spotify.

This exterior touch control surface makes the Surface Earbuds look huge, but it’s appreciated. You have a large surface to scroll through and control your device when running, or doing other activities.

Sound quality and other features

Last year’s Surface headphones feature noise cancellation onboard. I expected the same with Surface Earbuds, but, apparently, Microsoft took a different approach. Microsoft instead focused on designing Surface Earbuds so it could be used across different contexts. This includes using it by yourself in silence, or while you’re commuting, talking to a coworker. Essentially, Microsoft doesn’t want you to take the buds out and put it back in every minute. It envisions you keeping these on all day while you need it.

I wasn’t provided a specific answer on the noise cancellation. Instead, Microsoft mentioned the Omnisonic sound it did during the keynote.  A Microsoft rep also played some tunes for me and urged me to continue speaking. As I did, I still heard the rep talking to me, as well as the music. Music was clear and concise, and bass was decent, as was the voice of the person speaking to me. There’s some sort of magic going on, but it was hard for me to judge true sound quality in a crowded event hall.

Finally, is a cool feature that I’ve not seen on other earbuds. Surface Earbuds can live caption your PowerPoint slides. When I tried doing this my spoken words were slightly delayed as the PowerPoint presentation picked them up, but Microsoft told me that was due to the WiFi. Still, this is a cool feature. Other features onboard let you access your Outlook calendar and emails with your voice.

You’ll be able to pick up Surface Earbuds in later this year, and pricing starts at $249. That might be a high price to pay compared to other products from competitors (including Apple’s AirPods), but Surface is definitely a premium brand and products are priced accordingly.

Hopefully, the investment should be worth it for Surface fans. Be it the PowerPoint live captions, or the support for other digital Assistants, Microsoft has built quite the number of features in its Surface Earbuds. However, audiophiles may still prefer the Surface headphones and their killer noise cancellation feature, something we’d really like to see in the next version of the Surface Earbuds.

Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop 3, Surface Pro 7, and Surface Pro X are available today to pre-order on the US Microsoft Store. Pages are up now, but at last check the actual “add to cart” links weren’t working, but have been promised to be live today.The new laptop seems to be the most significant upgrade, with a new modular design (with replacable SSD), a bigger trackpad, and new aluminum finish. There’s also a bigger 15” model powered by new AMD Ryzen processors.

The Surface Laptop 3 will start at $999 for the base 13” model with an 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. There are also Core i7 models starting at $1,599, with the most expensive model with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage costing reaching $2,399.

The 15” Surface Laptop 3 will start at $1,199 for the model with an AMD A9 Ryzen processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128 GB of storage. The most expensive model with an A11 chip, 32 GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage costs $2,799.

The Surface Pro 7 will start at $749 for the model with an Intel Core i3 processor, 4G of RAM, and 128GB of storage, but you may prefer the $899 model with an Intel Core i5 processor and twice the RAM. Core i7 options start at $1,499, with the most expensive model with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage costing $2,299.

Last but not least, the Surface Pro X with the new custom-designed SQ1 ARM processor is slightly more expensive, starting at $999 for the model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There are two other options, a $1,299 model with twice the storage, and a $1,799 model with 512GB of storage. Keep in mind that you’ll be able to upgrade the SSD yourself, just like on the Surface Laptop 3.

The Surface Pro 7 and Surface Laptop 3 will start shipping on October 22, while the Surface Pro X will be available on November 5.

At today’s Microsoft Event in New York City, Microsoft took the wraps off a trio of new products and hinted at even more to come. The list range from the Surface Earbuds, Surface Laptop 3, Surface Pro X, and even the dual-screen products dubbed the Surface Duo and Surface Neo.

There’s a lot to process, but we received some quality hands-on time with the devices after today’s show. While Surface Duo and Neo were behind a barricade and out of our reach, here’s a look at the Surface Laptop 3. We’ll be following up a bit later with a video all about the Surface Pro X and Surface Earbuds.

Surface Laptop 3

As rumored, Surface Laptop 3 comes in two different flavors at both 13.5 inches and 15-inches. We’re starting first with the 13.5-inch version. Some quick points to note are that the 13.5 inch Surface Laptop 3 comes with 10th Gen Intel Core processors. There’s also an option for a version with a full aluminum enclosure on black and gold-colored models, in addition to classic versions with the Alcantara fabric.  Here’s a quick video of the device below, explaining some of these details.

Personally, one of the first things I noticed when holding the 13.5 inch Surface Laptop 3 was the aluminum finish. It’s easy to hold in the hands and it is very cool to the touch. The device itself is also easy to open, as I could pull its lid up with just one hand. Asides from that, the keyboard keeps the same layout and 1.3 mm of travel. The trackpad is 20 percent larger, and I was easily able to navigate Windows 10 and the web without issues.

Another thing that stuck out to me was the beautiful screen. That default landscape wallpaper really popped right out, and the brightness wasn’t even turned past 50 percent. Of course, also of note are the ports on the device. There’s now USB-A, USB-C (but no support for Thunderbolt 3, sadly) as well as Surface Connect. That makes it well rounded and modern for most individuals, without having to worry about dongles. Users can even upgrade the device is they want, as Microsoft mentioned to me that the components are modular, including the hard drive.

Under the hood, the 13.5 inch Surface Laptop 3 sports 10th Gen Intel Processors. The model I was hands-on with sported the Intel Core i7-1065G7. Naturally, that means opening up multiple apps and instances of Edge didn’t slow the device down. Microsoft is claiming this Surface Laptop 3 is 2 times faster than the previous generation. There also are some significant graphical improvements with Intel’s new Iris Plus integrated graphics, that could make it good for light gaming, but more testing is needed.

Next up is the 15 inch Surface Laptop 3. While it keeps the same design and build as the 13.5-inch version, this model is particularly different from anything Microsoft has ever released before. Instead of Intel inside, it sports a custom AMD Ryzen 5 processor under the hood, with an extra core on the GPU. Apparently, this is spiffy enough for web browsing, and even some CAD design, and light gaming, according to Microsoft. I wasn’t able to take the processor THAT far, but it was able to handle web browsing, and opening some of the other apps in Windows 10. It didn’t once freeze.

For all that power under the hood, the 15 inch Surface Laptop 3 is a bit heavy. Microsoft says it’s 3.4 pounds, and I noticed this when trying to carry the device around the showroom floor and when holding it and the 13.5-inch version in my hand.

Other things to note on the Surface Laptop is its support for fast charging. You can now get up to an 80 percent charge in just one hour. Microsoft claims 11.5 hours of battery, but more testing will be needed again, especially when such power-hungry processors. Either way, the 13.5 inch and 15 inch Surface Laptop 3 are definitely powerful, and closer to being MacBook killers.

Microsoft has just announced the new line of Surface Devices at the Surface Event earlier today. Perhaps the most exciting new device (at least of the ones available this year) announced on stage is the Surface Pro X, which comes with many new features including a new Microsoft-designed ARM-based SQ1 processor for enhanced portability and long battery life.

The company says its new processor will be very power efficient, providing three times the computing power per watt compared to the Surface Pro 6. It is a custom build of the Snapdragon 8cx processor and will also feature an integrated AI engine, which will bring enhanced eye tracking to the device. It will also offer a graphics performance rating of 2 teraflops, allowing users to play casual games and use various graphics applications, and Surface Pro X will also support two separate 4K displays.

Microsoft has also integrated a 13-inch display on the same panel that was designed for the older 12-inch Surface Pro. The display will offer a screen resolution of 2880 x 1920, giving the device a pixel density of 267 per inch. With the new custom-designed ARM processor, Microsoft is also able to give users LTE Advanced, always-on functionality, and crazy fast charging speeds. The device also comes with a USB type-C port, just like the company’s recently announced Surface Laptop 3 and Surface Pro 7 devices mentioned below.

Microsoft will also be selling the new Surface Pen with will be much slimmer and will allow it to charge from inside the keyboard case, replacing the near-obsolete AAAA batteries the older generation devices used until now.

Surface Pro 7

Microsoft also briefly announced the Surface Pro 7 on stage at the event. The device will feature the same 12.3-inch display as the previous generation, but the most notable change is the USB-C port in place of the outdated mini Display port, while retaining the Surface Connector. The company didn’t go into details about specs on stage, except that the tablet will use Intel’s 10th generation Core processors. We’ll have to wait and see when pre-orders become available later today.

Surface Pro X will be available November 5 and pre-orders are open today, with prices starting at $999. If your budget is tighter or you need Intel Core computing power, the Surface Pro 7 will be available starting October 22 with prices starting at $749.

Microsoft rattled off a series of updates, redesigns, and custom chipset development during its October 2, 2019 event and in the melee of announcements, the company dropped its latest installment in the wearable productivity space. Alongside its over-the-ear Surface Headphones, Microsoft will be selling its newly unveiled Surface Earbuds later this year.

See the all-new Surface Earbuds. #MicrosoftEvent @rmseiler pic.twitter.com/4RO1lDCZHt

— Microsoft Surface (@surface) October 2, 2019

Sometime during the holiday season, customers can pick up the Surface Earbuds for $249.00 and for that price the earbuds claim to provide 24-hour battery life, support for any platform, 2 mics per earpiece, a multitude of gesture controls, and Office dictation and real-time captioning as the cherry on top.

Microsoft could be working on a new high-end camera system for its Project Scarlett, according to a report from Gizmodo. As per the media outlet’s sources, the camera would primarily be used for live-streaming and won’t be an upgrade to the Kinect hardware.

This would make sense, as Microsoft has been pushing gamers, especially those on Xbox, to use its live-streaming service Mixer over that of competitors such as Twitch and YouTube, although in a strange twist, the company has removed Mixer game streaming from the Windows 10 Xbox Game Bar. With live-streaming as a core focus on Microsoft’s new hardware, it could help the company’s streaming service gain more attention.

According to Gizmodo, the new camera system could be capable of streaming in 4K Ultra HD with an incredible two-frame latency. We’re not sure how that converts to milliseconds, but the Kinect was capable of somewhere between 8–10 ms. The report also notes that Microsoft has also been demoing Snapchat-like filters for use that changes with the lighting within games.

Sony is also reportedly working on a camera system of its own for the unreleased PS5 as can be seen in a leaked Brazilian design sheet published on Scribd. The document doesn’t explain anything as far as internal specs, only showing a few diagrams of the device.

What do you think about the live-streaming camera that could be bundled with Microsoft’s unreleased console? Do you think Microsoft should bundle it in, or sell it separately? Let us know in the comments.

Just announced yesterday, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) got a new server update allowing cross-play between Xbox One and PS4. The cross-play console announcement was made back in August, and you can test out the console crossplay using PUBG’s new Update 4.3 on public test servers now.

Drop in together TODAY! @Xbox and @Playstation #PUBG players can enable Console Cross platform play as part of Patch 4.3!
Patch Notes: https://t.co/rvJ2abXrY0 pic.twitter.com/xpyrs1yuS0

— PUBG (@PUBG) October 1, 2019

In addition to cross platform play, Console Update 4.3 adds a number of other features, including a new featured map, the ability to see Xbox One and PS4 icons next to players on game leaderboards, updates to new weapons, character customization, and more.

When you are playing on PUBG’s Public Test Server, you will be able to identify which players play on which platform through special console-specific icons. Other cross platform play benefits include:

• Players playing on the same platform will show the platform logo in front of their ID when played on Cross Platform Play option “on”.

• Players will be able to identify the platform of other users in loot box, when spectating, on user status message, etc.

View the Console Update 4.3 Patch Notes for the full list of other updates, changes, and bug fixes.

Download the PUBG Public Test Server for Xbox One.

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PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS – Public Test Server

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Part of the setup process of Windows 10 usually involves creating, signing in with a Microsoft Account (MSA,) or signing in with an Offline Account locally without an MSA if you prefer not to use one. Well, according to new reporting from HowtoGeek, the latest version of Windows 10 Home with the May 2019 Update now steps back from that.

Though we haven’t confirmed it ourselves, it is being claimed that the latest stable versions of the May 2019 Update no longer automatically provides an alternate option for local sign-in during the first time set up process. Apparently, the option to create an Offline Account has disappeared entirely from the setup.

Clicking “Next” or “Create account,” during Account set up will automatically prompt for an MSA or Skype name. As HowtoGeek points out, clicking “Learn More” on the following set up pages will instead come up with the following disclaimer, telling users to create an MSA anyway, and then remove it in settings.

“If you’d prefer not to have a Microsoft account associated with your device, you can remove it. Finish going through Windows setup, then select the Start button and go to Settings > Accounts > Your info and select Sign in with a local account instead.”

We’ve reached out and asked Microsoft for a comment on this issue. However, for now, it would appear that the only way to bring back the classic option to use an Offline Account (and not use an MSA) would be to disconnect a PC from the internet during set up.

That can either be done by disabling WiFi or unplugging the Ethernet cable. This will force the setup into an error code, and you can then “Skip” the process of creating an MSA, and see the old Offline Account option.

As the public beta for Microsoft’s Project xCloud game streaming service is about to kick off in the US, UK and Korea, the Xbox Game Streaming (Preview) app for Android phones has showed up on the Google Play Store (via Windows Central). The app isn’t available for download yet, but Android users can still add it to their Wishlist.

According to the app description, the Android app will support streaming games from Microsoft servers as well as from your own console. Microsoft said last week that only 4 games (Halo: 5 Guardians, Gears 5, Sea of Thieves, and Killer Instinct) will be available initially during the Project xCloud public beta, but the new Console streaming feature that Microsoft should start testing you will allow Xbox One owners to stream any game they own to their Android phone or tablet.

We still don’t know when Microsoft plans to kick off the public beta for Project xCloud, but an announcement is likely coming very soon. As for the Console Streaming, the network test for this feature is now live in the latest Xbox One preview builds for Preview Alpha and Skip Ahead Insiders, and the feature should be available soon for select Xbox Insiders.

These are definitely exciting fans for Xbox fans, though iOS users may be out of luck for now. Microsoft previously said that Project xCloud will only support Android phones and tablets at launch, and iOS support is still unclear for Console Streaming.

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Xbox Game Streaming (Preview)

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Free

Microsoft is partnering with Novartis, as Switzerland based pharmaceutical company, to use use artificial intelligence to improve drug discovery. The company aims to use AI to enhance research into developing new treatments for many of the health issues that are still without a cure.

Microsoft says that the partnership will help provide solutions to challenges when it comes to drug development, including research, trials, manufacturing, and even finance. The two companies can also address other challenges such as increasing the efficiency of analyzing huge sums of data and allow associates to easily share each others’ work.

In the announcement video, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella explains:

“That’s why I’m so optimistic about this strategic partnership we’re announcing today with Novartis, which brings together the life sciences expertise with the power of Azure and Microsoft AI. Together we will work to answer some of the most challenging questions facing the life sciences industry today.”

Data scientists from Microsoft will work with Novartis research teams to investigate new ways on how AI can be used in three different areas. The first is to address challenges for personal treatment for macular degeneration, a disease that leads to irreversible blindness. Second, the companies want to look into using AI to increase the efficiency of manufacturing new gene and cell therapies for those with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. And lastly, they will work on ways to use neural networks to generate, screen, and select promising models to help improve the time it takes to create new medicines.

In addition to this partnership, Microsoft also worked with Novartis in 2016 in the past to help doctors access multiple sclerosis using the Kinect. The more recent partnership definitely makes a lot of sense, especially as Microsoft pushes to try to be the leader when it comes to AI advancements.

What do you think of the partnership? Feel free to drop a comment down below.

Microsoft has acknowledged that some users running the latest version of Windows 10—the May 2019 Update—have been experiencing issues preventing them from using wireless printing. The company says it’s working on a fix for the issues, but has also provided temporary workarounds for users to try in the meantime.

???? [Windows Release Health Update – New Known Issue: Mitigated] The print spooler service may intermittently have issues completing a print job and may result in a print job being canceled or failing. Read more here: https://t.co/NHEQuEjsVX.

— Windows Update (@WindowsUpdate) October 1, 2019

Microsoft’s Windows Health Dashboard notes the issues arose in version 18362.357, causing print jobs to be canceled or failing altogether. The dashboard also mentions that affected devices could include older versions of Windows 10 dating back to version 1607 in addition to Windows 8.1, Windows 7 SP1, and Windows Server.

The company says users should be able print the file after the first error, but that a restart could work if the failure is persistent. If all else fails, it also notes that those using the v4 print driver might be able to install v3 to correct the issue.

The company says that it is “working on a resolution” for the issue and “will provide an update in an upcoming release.” Hopefully it will get sorted out sooner than later.

Are you experiencing issues like this on your Windows 10 machine? Let us know in the comments area down below.

If Sony pioneered video game streaming with its PlayStation Now service back in 2014, the company is apparently taking the new competition from Google Stadia and Microsoft’s Project xCloud pretty seriously. Today, the Japanese company announced some big changes for PlayStation Now, including a significant price cut, which affect both current and new subscribers.

Starting today, the subscription service currently available on PlayStation 4 and Windows will cost $9.99/month (previously $19.99), or $59.99 yearly (previously $99.99). The new $9.99 monthly price is now in line with Xbox Game Pass and Google Stadia Pro, though Sony wants to stay competitive by adding new blockbuster games to the PlayStation Now catalog every month.

“We currently have the largest game library of any console game subscription service, with more than 800 games available. Starting today, we’re adding more blockbuster content that includes some of the most highly played and critically acclaimed PS4 games ever,” the company said today. The PlayStation 4 exclusives God of War, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, inFAMOUS Second Son, along with Rockstar Games’ GTA V are joining the catalog today and will be available through January 2, 2020. Going forward, Sony said that it plans to make more “marquee games” available in PlayStation Now for a limited period.

If adding more blockbuster games and PS4 exclusives will be important to make the service stand out, Sony is also about to kick off its first global marketing campaign for PlayStation Now. You can watch the first TV spot below:

Five years after its initial debut in the US, PlayStation Now is now available in 19 territories and 70% of the PS4 user base, the company said today. Earlier this year, Sony revealed that PlayStation Now had reached 700K subscribers worldwide, and this new price cut may push more PS4 owners to check out the service. Sony also announced this summer that it had sold more than 100M PlayStation 4 units worldwide, so the company is definitely well-placed to become one of the biggest players in the emerging cloud gaming market.

In a move that appears to be focused on security, Microsoft’s Outlook on the web will be increasing the number of blocked file extensions that can be accessed through the online email service.

Last week the company explained in a post on its Exchange Team Blog, that its BlockedFileType property will now be “adding several additional file extensions.”

For those interested, the following file extensions being added to the list are as follows:

“.py”, “.pyc”, “.pyo”, “.pyw”, “.pyz”, “.pyzw”

“.ps1”, “.ps1xml”, “.ps2”, “.ps2xml”, “.psc1”, “.psc2”, “.psd1”, “.psdm1”, “.cdxml”, “.pssc”

“.appref-ms”

“.wsb”

“.cer”, “.crt”, “.der”

“.jar”, “.jnlp”

“.appcontent-ms”, “.settingcontent-ms”, “.cnt”, “.hpj”, “.website”, “.webpnp”, “.mcf”, “.printerexport”, “.pl”, “.theme”, “.vbp”, “.xbap”, “.xll”, “.xnk”, “.msu”, “.diagcab”, “.grp”

Microsoft is assuring users that the newly blocked file extensions were rarely used by organizations and shouldn’t affect most of its user base. Going forward though, anyone who sends or received any of the above file extensions through attachments will relieve a notification that will not be able to download the attachment.

However, for any person or organization fearful of being accidentally blacklisted, Microsoft does offer a manual whitelist ability for file extensions to be added to AllowedFileType lists with the following script:

$policy = Get-OwaMailboxPolicy [policy name]
$allowedFileTypes = $policy.AllowedFileTypes
$allowedFileTypes.Add(“.foo”)
Set-OwaMailboxPolicy $policy -AllowedFileTypes $allowedFileTypes

Users can also leverage the following shortcut, Set-OwaMailboxPolicy -Identity “<Policy Name>” -AllowedFileTypes @{Add=”.foo”}

Lastly, for anyone looking to salvage their file extensions from Microsoft’s predetermined blacklist, users can apply the following script to bump the file extensions out of lock and key in the future.

$policy = Get-OwaMailboxPolicy [policy name]
$blockedFileTypes = $policy.BlockedFileTypes
$blockedFileTypes.Remove(“.foo”)
Set-OwaMailboxPolicy $policy -BlockedFileTypes $blockedFileTypes

If, you’re still confused by the change or wondering why a certain file extension was added to the Outlook on the web’s blacklist, read the company’s individual explanations on their inclusions here.

Microsoft has just announced the next games coming to Xbox Game Pass for Console in October. Following Doom, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Fallout 4, and Prey, Dishonored 2 will be the next Bethesda game to join the catalog on Thursday, October 3. While it’s a bit surprising that the original Dishonored game isn’t coming first to Game Pass, the sequel received the same level of critical acclaim, and you should really check it out if you enjoy steampunk universes and games with stealth elements.

Five other games will be coming to Xbox Game Pass in October, and on October the 10 the service will welcome the co-op third-person shooter World War Z and the open-world platform Yooka Laylee. Three other games will follow on October 17 with the Xbox 360 games Fallout: New Vegas and Panzer Dragoon Orta, as well as Felix the Reaper, a new 3D puzzle adventure game that will premiere on Game Pass.

Microsoft will likely announce more games coming to Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC later this month, and here comes our reminder about the great limited-time discount on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. For just $2, you can get two months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which includes Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass for PC, plus Xbox Live Gold.

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Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

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Microsoft Teams is one of the core areas of Office 365, and as the month of September is coming to a close, it is now time to take a look back at some of the new features added to the Teams experience this month. From chat filters, cross channel posting, and more, here’s everything new in Teams in September.

We begin first with all the new chat and collaboration features. First off, there was a new ability to cross-post messages across multiple channels. This feature allows you to get your important words out across different Teams channels, without having to manually visit each one.

Next, there’s an ability to filter through chats. With the new filters in Chat and Teams channels, you can filter our group meetings, one-on-one- conversations, and more. You also can add more filters of your own, such as unread messages. Finally, there was the ability to turn off notifications for channels. As the name suggests, this feature lets you concentrate, and zoom out the noise when working on something important.

Moving onwards, also new are some additional calling features for Teams. Microsoft added a secondary ringer option, which allows Teams users wearing headsets to hear incoming rings on their computers. Other new calling features include enhancements to Cloud Voicemail, reverse number lookup, and the ability to make calls from the Chrome web browser.

Finally, are the enhancements to the meeting experience. On this end, Microsoft added an ability to pin a meeting participant, allowing you to create a custom view of participants in meetings. Other enhancements include the addition of a new notification type which shows if you missed being added to a meeting. Finally, Microsoft made easier for those using Internet Explorer, Safari, or Firefox to join Teams meetings with light-weight meeting capabilities.

These features keep making Teams great and prove that Microsoft is always working to make Teams a better competitor to Slack.

If you’ve decided to bring your company or small business on board with Microsoft Office 365, congratulations! There’s a lot of value on your new subscription and a lot of ways that you can make your small business more successful. Over the past few months, we’ve been giving all of the Office 365 apps a close look, so now, here is a wide look at some tips and tricks for how you can get started with Office 365.

Check out the Office 365 Dashboard

One of the first things you should check out with Office 365 is the main dashboard. This is the hub for all Office 365 activities. You can find links to your apps, a list of your most recent files, a search bar to reach out to your contacts, and a SharePoint section for other internal files. Like the Start Menu in Windows 10, this is the place to go for everything Office 365 related.

Try out Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Planner

Another element of Office 365 worth checking out is Microsoft Teams. As we’ve highlighted before, this service allows you to collaborate with your employees, regardless of their location. The user interface is very friendly, and there are many apps and services you can integrate with it. By trying out Teams, you can boost your productivity levels, and check up on what your employees are doing, and give them central channels and hubs to chat and stay healthy. You might also be able to replace your internal phone-lines, and PBX platforms with Teams, as Microsoft itself has done.

Secondly, tying in with Teams is Microsoft Planner. This service lets you reduce chaos at work, and create different buckets and lists for tasks. You can track and assign tasks, set due dates, put your details in cards, and create groups to pick tasks that matter. You also can enjoy a chart-view to give you an analytic look at your progress on the days work.

Configure your OneDrive

When you run a small business, storage space is important. Be it emails, photos, invoices, receipts, and other documents, you’ll need to put things in the cloud for easy access. Luckily, with certain Office 365 plans, you can get up to a 1TB of storage on OneDrive. This will allow you to share files both internally and externally, as well as back up PCs to the cloud. You even can save email attachments to OneDrive. And, for collaboration, you also can send Office files via OneDrive links, to make things easier for those within your organization.

Get the most out of Outlook

Emailing is the core part of the modern world, especially if you’re running a small business. Luckily, most Office 365 subscription includes access to Microsoft Exchange. This means you’ll get to create your own domain name, and enjoy the abilities to manage calendars, share meeting times, schedule meetings, and more. Of course, with Microsoft Exchange, you also can recall en email, if you happen to make a mistake. And, you can enjoy all the capabilities of the dedicated Outlook app on Windows or macOS included with Office 365.

Install the Office apps

Finally, if your subscription allows it, you should download and install the Office 365 apps. Once you’ve downloaded, you can create professional-looking PowerPoint presentations, crunch numbers easily in Excel, and even create newsletters and mass emails in Publisher. Of course, you also can enjoy all the features of Microsoft Word,  and auto recover lost files with the power of OneDrive.

Other tips and tricks

There’s so much more that you can accomplish with Office 365, and we’ve just touched the surface. You can convert to PDF files in Office, and try out Microsoft’s video streaming service. Your workers can even use MyAnalystics as part of Office 365 to stay healthy on the job. How are you using Office 365 to be successful? Let us know in the comments below.