Lucid, provider of visual collaboration software, announces integration of its virtual whiteboard, Lucidspark, with Microsoft Teams. The Lucidspark integration with Teams will connect distributed teams by bringing collaboration right into their existing workflows.
The new integration feature will allow users to collaborate and interact with a Lucidspark board directly within a Teams meeting. By sharing it to the meeting stage. Providing the full experience of an in-person whiteboarding session without ever leaving Teams. Thereby making it easier for hybrid teams to collaborate, align and move into action.
“One of the key ways we help teams see and build the future is by providing integrations and solutions that work wherever teams work,” says Sable Petersen, senior director of product marketing for Lucid.
“Through our continued collaboration with Microsoft Teams, this new integration experience will enable our users to more effectively and seamlessly collaborate right within their existing workflows, providing seamless collaboration in today’s hybrid environment.”
Sable Petersen
“We’re pleased to continue our relationship with Lucid and improve collaboration to better enable and support today’s hybrid teams,” says Ben Summers, director, Teams Platform Marketing at Microsoft.
“This updated integration experience brings powerful solutions right to where teams already work, allowing distributed team members to innovate and drive the business forward even more efficiently.”
Ben Summers
Team members can contribute in real-time while also taking collaboration to the next level with Lucidspark features like emoji reactions, collaborator colors, notes and timers, voting sessions and automatically organizing and prioritizing ideas into action plans with intelligent data synthesis. These capabilities allow distributed and hybrid teams to stay connected while centralizing conversations and turning those into action through visual brainstorms.
The updated Lucidspark integration builds on existing features, including the ability to share boards quickly and easily within Teams. To bring everyone together and add boards directly to team channels for later reference or asynchronous collaboration.
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The Office app for Windows and web version Office.com are getting a refresh and bringing new experiences. Microsoft announces this at Ignite 2021 as part of reimagining Office and transforming for a hybrid world. With the redesign Microsoft says it will serve as a hub for your content, easily finding content and taking action.
Changes to the Office app include a new homepage with a Quick Access section and a set of Recommended Actions. It also has a new My Content page to easily search and filter content and a Create page with all apps and tools, plus templates from all the apps. Microsoft will roll out the new features and experience to users gradually over the next couple of months.
The enhancements we’re making to Office.com is to help you optimize your time and simplify your work. These updates make it even easier to find all the content associated with you, access your apps and templates in one place, take action quickly, and understand what work needs your attention.
What is new in Office desktop app and Office for the web?
Microsoft Program manager Alyssa Galvin takes you on a deep dive into all the new changes.
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Mesh for Teams is how Microsoft is planning to keep up with the Metaverse space. For Microsoft though, it will only mark the beginning of its Metaverse solutions which will cut across a host of its products. Mesh for Teams is an immersive 3D meetings experience enabled by the integration of Mesh and Teams. It is the next evolution of Microsoft’s mixed-reality product Mesh and collaboration tool Microsoft Teams. Preview will start rolling out in the first half of 2022.
Microsoft says Mesh will enable users to meet in traditional Teams meetings and immersive virtual spaces using personalized avatars. Using either a Personal Computer, mobile device, HoloLens or virtual reality headset. The avatars will enable participants to maintain a presence without turning on their cameras. Employees will also be able to collaborate using all of the Microsoft 365 productivity tools even in immersive spaces.
I can’t overstate how much of a breakthrough this is.
Satya Nadella
Microsoft metaverse, Mesh for Teams announced
Speaking at the Keynote event of Microsoft Ignite 2021, Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, announced the company’s plan on the metaverse space. Introducing two new solutions; Microsoft Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces and Mesh for Teams.
He noted that “as the digital and physical world come together we [Microsoft] are creating an entirely new platform layer which is the metaverse. The metaverse is not just transforming how we see the world, it’s changing how all of us actively participate in it“, he adds.
We are bringing people, places and things together with the digital world in both the consumers space as well as in the enterprise. When we talk about the metaverse we are describing both the new platform and new application types. We are building the metaverse platform for you to build upon. In a sense, the metaverse enables us to embed computing into the real world and to embed the real world into computing, bringing real presence to any digital space. I can’t overstate how much of a breakthrough this is. It’s no longer just looking at a camera view of a factory floor, you can be on the floor. It’s no longer just video conferencing with colleagues, you can be with them in the same room. It’s no longer just playing a game with friends, you can be in the game with them.
Satya Nadella
Microsoft says Mesh builds on the Together mode and Presenter mode features to keep meetings engaging and fun. It will roll out with a set of pre-built immersive spaces including meetings to social mixers. Organizations will get the opportunity to customize the spaces in future.
Facebook metaverse compared to the Microsoft metaverse
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What is Microsoft Office 2021, Microsoft 365 and Office for the web. Are they are the same or different? Which of these should you get or use and will it work for your needs? I’ll try and explain what the differences are, what is new and how to maximize them.
Office 2021 explained
Office 2021 is a one time purchase software that allows you to install and run Office apps for only one PC or Mac. It does not have upgrade options till the next major Office release becomes available usually after 2-3 years. You will also have to pay the full amount to get this new version when it becomes available, that’s if you want the new features. But you will get security updates as and when they become available.
Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based version of Office that makes sure you are always up-to-date with the latest Office feature updates. So after Office 2021 is released you will start getting all the new feature updates and not have to wait till after two years to use them. Microsoft 365 includes plans for personal, home, small and midsized businesses, large enterprises, schools, and non-profits. The Microsoft 365 Family plan allows you to share your subscription with your family for up to six people, and use your apps on up to 30 devices. You can choose from monthly and yearly purchases.
Office for the Web
Microsoft Office for the webis a free version of Office that you can use in a web browser. All you need is to sign up for a Microsoft account with a new or existing email address. You can use Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote to create, edit and save files to your PC or save to the cloud. But you can only use it in the web browser that is all, it wouldn’t work if you aren’t connected to the internet. You can click to try Office for the web if this works for you. Note that Microsoft 365 subscribers have access to this and get more features when they use office for the web.
Office 2021 vs Microsoft 365, what’s the difference & what’s new?
Kevin Stratvert says over the first two years, Microsoft 365 users end up paying less compared to Office 2021 users. $70 for an individual plan & $100/year for the family plan, which is good for up to 6 people. Microsoft 365 users get everything in Office 2021 and more. Including Grammarly type offering with Microsoft Editor, presenter coach in PowerPoint, plus Access and Publisher. Watch the video below to find out the major differences and downsides of Office 2021.
Should You Upgrade to Office 2021? What is new for Excel users
Leila Gharani says Office 2021 is a huge jump for Excel 2016 and 20019 users. Noting it has at least 9 new functions that will change the way you use Excel. This includes XLOOKUP, FILTER, UNIQUE, and SEQUENCE. Watch the video below to find additional features you can look forward to in PowerPoint, Word and Outlook.
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Microsoft is offering Office 365 for free to anyone between the ages of 8 to 24 in South Africa. Through a Microsoft initiative called Mahala. The free offer allows you to use the full version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, and 5 TB of Onedrive storage on your PC, MAC, mobile phone or tablet.
Microsoft says it has simplified the signup process to remove blockers such as lack of an academic email address. And has extended the benefits to include the installed version of Office instead of limiting it to only web access. More than about 20,000 South Africans are on the Microsoft Mahala platform so far. The main signup requirement is to have a South Africa ID number to verify you qualify for the offer. You can find this ID number on a birth certificate or ID book.
“Providing access to programs such as Word, PowerPoint or Excel, which are common in the modern workplace, ensures that young people are equipped with basic digital literacy skills that are essential to get them employed or self-employed,”
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Windows and Mac users can log into http://portal.office.com and click “Install Office365 to get the Desktop & Laptop versions of Office and OneDrive.
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As part of their commitment to fostering innovation and building digital skills even in the remotest part of the country, Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa, today heralded in a new digital dawn in the Eastern Cape with the opening of the first Innovation and Digital Skills Centre (IDSC) in Mthatha.
Through this initiative, communities close to the Digital Skills Centre will be exposed to local learning and business opportunities. The IDSC will serve as a technology hub where learners and entrepreneurs can equip themselves with the latest and most relevant digital skills. The IDSC is equipped with state-of-the-art classroom learning facilities with high-speed connectivity, helping positively impact the education system in the city.
As part of the learnerships, the courses on offer will include:
Microsoft Office Fundamentals: In this training course, learners will learn basic Word, Excel, and Outlook skills.
Introduction to Design Thinking: This course will introduce learners to the Design Thinking process and illustrate best practices for each step along the way.
Introduction to C#: This is part of a three-part course where learners will be taken through the fundamentals, object-oriented programming concepts and instruction on data structures and algorithms
According to Deon Geyser, Chief Executive Officer Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa, “As we stand at the cusp of the 4IR, digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, Big Data, Robotics, 3D technologies and many more have become the means and solutions to many of the world’s problems. We believe that empowering the youth with the necessary technological skills will prepare them to thrive in today’s digital age and become part of the digital revolution. The opening of the centre is a realisation of our commitment to future-ready local communities, upskilling the youth and accelerating digital adoption among entrepreneurs based in the Eastern Cape.”
Empowering South African youth and communities has always been at the core of Liquid SA. The organisation has implemented leadership programmes for 93 students in the Eastern Cape covering ICT while also awarding 20 bursaries to students through the Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu Universities for the 2020 Academic year.
Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Ms Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams says, “A key aspect of economic development and growth is the ability to enhance competitiveness through skills and competencies that are on par with international markets. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies pro-actively developed the National Digital and Future Skills strategy to keep pace with the advancement of technology.”
Commenting on the opening of the centre, Honourable Premier: Eastern Cape Provincial Government, Mr L. O. Mabuyane said, “It is indeed heartening to see social partners, across the spectrum, including business, heed the call by government, to join in the pact towards a better life for all – of our people. The mastery of the set of skills that, in particular, an evolving curriculum and a refocused education outcomes agenda – towards a workforce that will be ready for the 4th Industrial Revolution, will place all of us and the future of generations to come on the right footing towards exponential growth and development in our province. Through innovation and digital technologies, we have the potential to tap into the full potential of the Eastern Cape and her peoples”.
To date, 140 underprivileged students benefitted from bursaries to leading tertiary institutions; 811 learnerships and internships have been implemented in various courses for learners, including those with disabilities. 50 unemployed youth were trained on Introduction to Programming, 630 mainstream schools and 20 learners with disabilities benefitted from ICT equipment and expos, while 389 learners went through The Virtual Mathematician maths and science schools in the Eastern Cape.
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