Tag Archives: Outlook.com

Outlook.com update brings a load of new features, including GIFs

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Microsoft teased a revamped version of Outlook.com last year, including a preview that began in May. Today, the company announced that the updated web-based email service is now open to all. In addition to a redesigned look, Outlook.com migrated over...

Skype video and voice chats come to Office and Outlook on the web

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You can already have Skype text chats while you're collaborating on Office Online docs or checking mail at Outlook.com. But wouldn't you rather talk to your colleagues and keep your hands free for, you know, work? You're about to get just that: M...

Outlook.com now supports IMAP and OAuth

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Microsoft is opening its doors to other email services. Announcing the good news on its Outlook blog, Microsoft details the "immediate availability" of IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) and...

Outlook.com gains IMAP support, integrates with third-party services like TripIt

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Outlookcom gains IMAP support, integrates with thirdparty services like TripIt

Hello, compatibility! Microsoft's obviously a major proponent of Exchange ActiveSync (EAS), but if you've been using electronic mail for any length of time, you're probably aware that IMAP is a darn near universal protocol. Now, Microsoft is adding IMAP (and OAuth) support to Outlook.com. In addition to this being a lovely sign of Microsoft not shunning rival standards, it also opens up a ton of new possibilities. For one, applications that haven't supported EAS -- programs such as Mac Mail and the Mac edition of Mozilla Thunderbird -- can now host Outlook.com accounts.

Moreover, IMAP gives devs the ability to build third-party clients and services that are useful to end-users, and Microsoft's announcing the first set of those as well. TripIt, Sift, Slice, motley*bunch, Unroll.me, OtherInbox, and Context.IO have taken advantage of Outlook.com's new IMAP capability and are rolling out updates today that allow their apps and services to integrate with your Outlook.com email. If you'd like for your own app to follow suit, Microsoft's providing a bit of instruction right here.

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Source: Outlook Blog

Skype for Outlook.com preview now available in the US

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Skype for Outlook.com

Americans waiting for the Skype for Outlook.com preview can stop twiddling their thumbs -- the test release is now available in the US, complementing existing access in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany and the UK. As in other countries, stateside users with merged Outlook.com and Skype accounts just have to install a plugin for Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer to make calls while checking email. Those in other regions will have to sit tight, however; Microsoft only promises worldwide access to Skype for Outlook.com sometime in the "near future."

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Source: Outlook Blog

Microsoft explains Outlook.com outage, provides long-term fixes

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Microsoft resolves Outlookcom outage, offers explanation and longterm fix

It may have taken three days, but Microsoft has officially resolved its Outlook.com outage -- and it has both explanations and long-term solutions for affected email users. Trouble began with the failure of a caching service for Exchange ActiveSync. The resulting deluge of reconnection attempts promptly overwhelmed company servers; a slow recovery was necessary to avoid another meltdown, Microsoft says. To prevent repeat incidents, the tech giant is both upgrading its network capacity and implementing a more elegant error handling system. While the fixes likely come too late for some users, they suggest that Microsoft has learned a hard lesson about the fragility of online services.

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Via: The Next Web

Source: Outlook Status

Microsoft asks US Attorney General to intervene on security disclosures, denies assisting with NSA interceptions

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Microsoft request on FISA disclosures

Microsoft sits between a rock and a hard place when it comes to privacy -- it can't reveal more about FISA requests, but it's also accused of assisting with NSA eavesdropping. The company is trying to settle both matters today, starting with a call on the US Attorney General for help. Microsoft hasn't had a response to its June 19th request to publish aggregate security request data, and it wants the Attorney General to directly intervene by legalizing these disclosures. The government official hasn't publicly acknowledged the request so far, although we weren't expecting an immediate answer.

At the same time, Microsoft is expanding its denials of The Guardian's recent reporting that it facilitates large-scale NSA snooping. Along with insisting once more that it only offers specific information in response to legal requests, the firm claims that its supposedly eavesdrop-friendly actions were innocuous. Microsoft was only moving Skype nodes in-house rather than simplifying the NSA's access to audio and video chats, for example. It's doubtful that the public position will completely reassure doubters given the veils of secrecy surrounding the NSA and its collaborators, but the crew in Redmond at least has a full statement on record.

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Source: Microsoft on the Issues

Microsoft reportedly eased NSA access to Outlook.com, SkyDrive and Skype

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NSA seal

Tech firms say they aren't giving the NSA direct access to their servers, but that might not even be necessary. The Guardian reports that Microsoft, at least, is making it easy to snoop on services from the outside. Documents provided by Edward Snowden claim that Microsoft helped the NSA bypass Outlook.com chat encryption, even before the product launched; reportedly, it also simplified PRISM access to both SkyDrive and Skype conversations. The company denies offering any kind of carte blanche access, however, and insists that it only complies with specific, legal requests. Whether or not that's true, we can only know so much when Microsoft is limited in what it can say on the subject.

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Source: The Guardian