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Microsoft announced the commercial launch of Microsoft Office 365, the company’s next-generation cloud productivity services for business of all sizes, in Middle East and Africa region, including Pakistan.

Previously available on a trial basis in markets across the Middle East and Africa, Office 365 is now commercially available in 16 countries across the region.

The cloud solution will also be available with local pricing in Pakistan. Leading IT service providers, including CubeXS, Inbox Technologies, Maison Consulting, Premier Systems and Infotech and many more will bring the service to their customers.

Over a few months, more than 10,000 organizations, many of which were small ans midsize businesses, signed up and began testing Office 365, creating one of Microsoft’s largest global beta for businesses.

Office 365 for small businesses and Office 365 for enterprises are available now. Businesses can try it for free 30 days by signing up at http://www.office365.com/ or from their local Microsoft partner.

Overall winner: Keyflex - Victor Johansson

This new keyboard allows its users to bend, twist and squeeze the keyboard to perform tasks such as changing volume, fast forwarding a song or film, and sharing content on Facebook.

The design envisages people using Keyflex as a remote-control and keyboard as televisions become increasingly "smart", with apps and web connectivity.

Overall winner: Keyflex - Victor Johansson

The Keyflex was designed by Victor Johansson, a 24 year-old student from Sweden.

Announcing the winner, Scott Smith, a designer at Microsoft and judge in the competition, said: "I was particularly impressed with Victor Johansson’s design as he successfully met the overall goal of the programme and really showcased a possible future trend which addressed a clear consumer need."

Designer Gloves – Duo Zhang

Duo Zhang's "gloves" are aimed at graphic designers, who can use the sensors attached to each finger to have complete control over their creations.

The gloves could also map an artist's hand movements and create digital versions of their artwork.

Bendy-Cam - Martyna Bielecka

A new take on the digital camera, this design folds down to a compact size and opens up to reveal an adjustable paper-thin screen.

Bendy-Cam would be controlled entirely by twisting and bending it to take pictures, browse your photo library and share images.

Drag Fun Easy Reader - Caijun Yang

The scanner for blind people "reads" books and translates the words to braille, which pops out of the top of the device. It can also convert the book into audio, which can be listened to using a supplied earbud.

The easy reader promises to be able to scan pages of any size and analyse the layout so that text ends up in the right order.

Social Media Dice - Rahul Boggaram

These internet-connected dice have a touchscreen on each side. Users rolls the dice which randomise how content is shared on various social networks.

The dice are designed to make sharing simple and passive.

Switch - Lucie Barouillet

Switch is a central hub for a household's electronic objects that allows parents to control the amount of time their children spend online.

The glowing panel can monitor energy use in a house and send messages to users via their devices.

Ambient Games Capsule – Alexandra Sidorenko

A light-emitting glass ball projects images and colours into a room to augment the gamer's experience.

It promises to reflect the feel of the game to immerse the player in it.

Digipost - Yuhan Wan

Digipost combines the ubiquitous post-it notes found on many an office desk with digital reminders.

A touch-sensitive pad underneath the post-its uploads a digital copy of the note to your computer.

The Semaphone - Masami Lavault

The semaphone is designed to create intimacy between two people far away from each other.

A pair of devices connect to each other over the internet, and glows in different light patterns to reflect the movements of the other person.

Museo - Tom Maisey

A guitar or other musical instrument is connected to Museo, which then records onto a computer or memory stick.

The four sensors on the top of the strip are used to control a range of parameters with the player's feet, meaning they can make adjustments while playing.

Double - Liliana Carvalho

Double is a dual-sensor mouse for teaching older generations how to operate a computer.

Two cursors, one controlled by each mouse, appear on the screen so that the teacher can demonstrate how to carry out tasks.

VIA TeleGraph

Microsoft paid more than $1bn for most of AOL's patents, beating rivals reported to have included Facebook.

A Facebook lawyer described the deal as: "Another significant step in our ongoing process of building an intellectual property portfolio to protect Facebook's interests."

Facebook was sued by Yahoo for patent infringement earlier this year.

"Today's agreement with Facebook enables us to recoup over half of our costs while achieving our goals from the AOL auction," said Microsoft's general counsel Brad Smith.

Microsoft bought 925 patents and patent applications from AOL. It is now selling 650 of those patents to Facebook as well as licences to the other 275.

There has been a series of recent patent deals between technology companies as they try to defend themselves in lawsuits.

If a company successfully sues another it can demand a sales ban of its competitor's products, or force the loser to pay expensive licence fees.

Since the start of the year, Intel, Google and Facebook are among those to have bought significant numbers of patents from other technology companies.

Facebook bought a number of patents from IBM last month.

Also on Monday, Facebook reported results for the first three months of the year.

The company, which is preparing for a stock market listing, reported a drop in its first quarter net income to $205m from $233m in the same period last year.

It said that its advertising business usually slows down in the first quarter but that the growth of the business in previous years had masked that trend.

Facebook also revealed that it has agreed to pay $200m to Instagram if its recent $1bn deal to buy the photo-sharing firm were to fall through.

Microsoft Pakistan has announced the official appointment of its authorized hardware distributor, Advance Business Systems (ABS) in Pakistan.

With this appointment, Microsoft strengthens its distributor network footprint in Pakistan and ensures provision of original Microsoft hardware in key metropolitans of the country.

This appointment reaffirms Microsoft’s mission to help people and businesses in Pakistan to realize their full potential.

Although Microsoft is most famous in Pakistan owing to its Windows software, the company also offers a wide range of high quality and reliable hardware such as head phones, keyboards, mice and webcams. Now Microsoft’s hardware portfolio will be available across Pakistan through its only authorized distributor in Pakistan – ABS.

ABS has further nominated its retail partners, MUSHKO Electronics, Viper technology and IT Park to ensure availability of Microsoft hardware across the major cities of Pakistan. All Microsoft hardware is available with 1 year local warranty.

“We chose ABS as authorized hardware distributor for their solid business credibility in the market and their reputation for being the leading IT hardware and software provider in Pakistan,” said, Mr. Kamal Ahmed, Country General Manager, Microsoft Pakistan. “Considering Microsoft’s technology achievements and the passion that we put into all of products and services, customers will find the same level of brilliance and innovation when selecting from our new range of products, that they have experienced using our software and other services.”

“We are pleased to have been appointed by Microsoft Pakistan as their sole authorized hardware distributor in Pakistan,” said Mr. Syed Nasir Hussain, COO, ABS Pakistan. “To match the level of commitment that Microsoft expects from us, ABS has ascertained that our well-trained team will guide customers through their pre, during and post purchase queries and help them choose the right Microsoft hardware that perfectly matches Microsoft customers’ needs. Warranty and after-sales claims can be processed easily from any of ABS offices across Pakistan in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Multan.”

Microsoft Hardware for Business, available through qualified resellers, is an easier way to purchase and deploy Microsoft Hardware. Our full line of products for business—from webcams and headsets to keyboards and mice—are designed to work seamlessly withMicrosoft software and help save you money, increase productivity, and improve employeecomfort.

Check below the selected product list of Microsoft Hardware with pricing details: