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BMW drivers can't escape work thanks to in-car Skype access
In the age of after-hours company emails, working lunches and constant connectivity, the one place you can escape is your car, right? Not so fast, easy rider. With help from Microsoft, BMW has installed Skype for Business in select vehicles running BMW iDrive, the company's infotainment and mobility system. Just a few months ago, BMW added Microsoft's Office 365 tools to BMW's iDrive, so certain Bimmers really are turning into (very) high-speed offices.
Volvo's high-end cars will come with Skype built in
Many people depend on Skype to chat with family, colleagues and clients throughout their working day. To help them stay connected while they're outside the office, Volvo has announced plans to integrate Skype for Business into its high-end 90 Series cars. Accessible through a large touchscreen dashboard, drivers will see a list of scheduled meetings and a shortcut to their complete contact list. Tapping once will reveal a meeting summary, including the organiser, participants and the ways in which they can join the call. A "Join Meeting" shortcut will reside at the bottom so users can quickly dial in -- no pesky pin codes required (hopefully).
Microsoft offers pros a peek at the latest versions of Office and Skype
If you rely on Office or Skype to make a living, you may be in for a treat. Microsoft is following up its recent sneak peeks at universal Office apps and Office for Mac with pro-only previews of Office 2016 for the desktop and Skype for Business. The pre-release Office doesn't include everything you'll get (Microsoft says it's saving a lot of the interface tweaks for later), but it already includes better remote management and performance boosts. The Skype for Business preview, meanwhile, largely does what it says on the tin -- it expands the company's Lync communication tool with both a fresher interface and support for talking to regular Skype users. It's not certain when the desktop version of Office will be available to everyone, but Skype for Business will be ready for action in April.
