Microsoft has announced a number of updates to its Office and cloud-based services, including Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Office 2013 coming next year, Office 365 Message Encryption and an updated SkyDrive app for Apple’s iOS 7.
The software giant disclosed in a blog post that it plans to release Service Pack 1 for the 2013 set of Office products early in 2014, including the Office desktop applications, SharePoint and Exchange.
Microsoft gave away little information other than saying that SP1 will deliver performance enhancements, feature updates and improve compatibility with Windows 8.1.
“Of course if you’re an Office 365 customer, you’re always up to date with the latest versions of our products. We’ll have more details to share on all that is coming in SP1 and how customers can acquire it closer to availability,” said Chris Schneider, a marketing manager on Microsoft’s Office team.
Meanwhile, Microsoft said Office 365 customers will soon be able to send encrypted emails to provide a measure of protection for sensitive information.
Due to be available during the first quarter of 2014, Office 365 Message Encryption is the new version of Exchange Hosted Encryption (EHE). It will be part of Windows Azure Rights Management and available at no extra cost for customers on the Office 365 E3 and E4 plans, the firm said.
Unlike EHE, Office 365 Message Encryption allows administrators set up transport rules to apply encryption automatically when emails match specified criteria. This is an improvement over EHE, which required complex headers and multiple setup steps, according to Microsoft.
Finally, Microsoft has delivered updates to its SkyDrive app for Apple iOS 7 devices. This gives iPhone and iPad users the ability to automatically upload captured photos and videos to SkyDrive, which Microsoft claimed as one of the most popular features on Windows Phone.
Users can also control whether uploads happen over WiFi or the mobile network, whether photos are uploaded at original resolution or downsized to save space on their SkyDrive account. It is also possible to free up space by deleting photos and videos on a device after they have been uploaded to SkyDrive.
The update also includes improved editing and viewing in Office Mobile, and OneNote integration Microsoft said.