Microsoft Releases Office 365 Home Premium pricing

Microsoft Releases Office 365 Home Premium

New Consumer Cloud Service Works Across Devices to Help Busy People Simplify Their lives and Get More Done

SINGAPORE — Jan. 30, 2013 — Microsoft Singapore today announced the general availability of Office 365 Home Premium, a reinvention of the company’s flagship Office product line for consumers. Office 365 Home Premium is a cloud service designed for busy households and juggling ever-increasing work and family responsibilities. The new offering include the latest and most complete set of Office applications; works across up to five devices, including Windows tablets, PCs and Macs; and comes with extra SkyDrive storage and Skype calling – all for S$138.00 for an annual subscription, the equivalent of S$11.50 per month.

John Fernandes, Chief Marketing & Operations Officer, Microsoft Singapore said: “Microsoft’s new Office is inspired by the modern families and connected individuals juggling multiple devices at home and work. Today, we are making Office available as a cloud service with Office 365 Home Premium to help consumers stay always connected regardless of devices. Together with the new Windows and Windows Phone, Office as a service gives you the freedom to do things when and how you want.”

Simultaneously, Microsoft today released Office 365 University for college students, faculty members and staff as well as updated versions of the traditional Office suites – Office Home and Student 2013, Office Home and Business 2013, and Office Professional 2013 in Singapore.

Office 365 Home Premium & University

In a recent global survey conducted by Microsoft, nearly 60% of people said they don’t have the time to do the things they want to do, and more than 80% were counting on technology to make things better.  The new Office is designed to help people be as productive on the go as they are at their desk and get more time to do the things they want.

The new Office 365 Home Premium usher in new ways to get things done and sharing new ideas via collaboration:

• ·     It works across devices.  Office 365 Home Premium works beautifully with touch, pen or keyboard on Windows PCs, Windows tablets, Macs and Windows Phones.  And, with Office Web Apps, you can create, read, edit and share your Office docs on any popular device.
• ·     It is in the cloud.  Office 365 Home Premium is in the cloud, so when you sign in, your documents – and even your personalized settings – are always available wherever you are.
• ·     It delivers new capabilities.  Office 365 Home Premium includes new features to keep you connected and productive.  A few include:  the People Card aggregates all your contact information from different sources, including your social networks, in a single place; Read Mode optimizes your documents for reading on a tablet; Last Location lets you pick up right where you left off when using Office across multiple devices; PDF Reflow lets you to use information from PDFs in Office docs; Presenter View gives you a command center for presentations; and FlashFill eliminates wasteful time spent on data entry.

About Office 365 Home Premium

Office 365 Home Premium is available in 162 markets in 21 languages and includes the following:

• ·     The most complete set of Office applications – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access.
• ·     One license for the entire household – use Office on up to five Windows PCs or tablets or Macs, and get Office on Demand from any Internet-connected PC.
• ·     27 GB of cloud storage with SkyDrive – 20 GB more than the normal user.
• ·     60 free Skype world calling minutes per month – so you can call any mobile, landline or PC in the world.
• ·     All future upgrades such that consumers’ copies of Office are always updated with the latest from Microsoft.

Additionally, Microsoft is launching Office 365 University for students, faculty stuff and staff in eligible local tertiary intuitions[1]. At just S$108.00 for a four year subscription – the equivalent of S$2.25 per month – users can enjoy:

• ·        All of the applications, SkyDrive storage, Skype calling and future upgrades included with Office 365 Home Premium.
• ·        One license for the user – use Office on up to two Windows PCs or tablets or Macs, and get Office on Demand from any Internet-connected PC.

Microsoft also announced they will upgrade Office 365 multiple times per year, ending the company’s traditional three-year release cycle.  Office 365 Home Premium subscribers will get future updates and new capabilities automatically without any additional hassles.  For example, subscribers will automatically get the new applications and upgrades when available, such as the forthcoming Office applications for Mac and as-yet unannounced capabilities.

“People’s needs change rapidly, and Office 365 Home Premium will change with them,” added Mr. Fernandes.  “Now, it’s a matter of months, not years, before a great new idea makes it from an engineer’s head to a customer’s hands.”

Office suites for single users

For consumers who require single installations on their sole device at home, traditional suites are also available. Users are still able to leverage on the power of cloud with their personalized settings and documents saved within the cloud with just a single sign-in. The new Office also provides support for touch and stylus for new Windows 8 touch-enable devices, in addition to keyboard and mouse, enabling consumers more flexibility and choice.

Transition to Services

Microsoft introduced Office 365 to business customers in June 2011.  Today, the company disclosed new details on their progress in the cloud, sharing that 20% of their enterprise customers are using Office 365.  In addition, the pace of growth is accelerating with twice as many people signing up in the last quarter compared to a year ago.

“Office 365 is the fastest growing business product in Microsoft history, and we’re not slowing down,” said Mr. Fernandes. “In Singapore, we have seen momentous growth since launch, with many companies citing cost reductions and increased productivity within the workforce as key benefits of deploying Office 365 within the enterprise.”

Office 365 for businesses will be updated with new capabilities, currently available as part of a customer preview, on February 27.

Pricing and Availability

The new Office is available today at all authorized retailers:

Note: