Microsoft to Discontinue Office Apps for Chromebook Users
Microsoft is reportedly discontinuing support for Office, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook, for Chromebook users from September 18.
According to reports, the tech giant is not abandoning the popular mobile device altogether. Instead of an app that is downloaded, Microsoft is encouraging users to go to the web instead. Microsoft has offered its Office suite to Chromebook users via the Google Play store since 2017.
“In an effort to provide the most optimized experience for Chromebook customers, Microsoft apps (Office and Outlook) will be transitioned to web experiences (Office.com and Outlook.com) on September 18, 2021,” Microsoft was quoted as saying in an email statement.
Chromebooks run on Google’s Chrome OS, which is a Linux-based operating system. It’s important to note that while support for Chromebooks is going away, Microsoft is not abandoning other Android-based mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones, it added.
Freshworks Files for $100 Million US IPO
Customer relationship management software firm, Freshworks has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) worth $100 million with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The 11-year old software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup has appointed Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, BofA Securities, Jeffries and Barclays as book managers to the IPO, among others.
The SaaS unicorn, which was last valued at $3.5 billion in November 2019, joins the growing list of Indian unicorns which are making a beeline towards public markets. These include financial services major Paytm, insurtech player PolicyBazaar and beauty marketplace Nykaa. Merchant fintech Pine Labs is also looking to list on the US exchanges in 2022.
UnionPay Provides Tuition Fee Refund for International Students to Pay Online
In response to the back-to-school season, UnionPay International (UPI), a global payment services provider, has launched a campaign offering a refund of AUD 68 for tuition fee payments over AUD 6,800 to Australian universities.
The campaign runs till October 31, 2021, and students can simply use the “Australia Payment” service in the UnionPay App to pay and claim refunds. Cardholders with the same device, ID, phone number, or bank card can only redeem the refund once. Besides tuition fees, UPI cardholders can also pay utilities, car rego, fines, and government rates here.
As many international students are unable to return to campus or even unable to travel to Australia, this campaign offers an alternative and effective way to pay their tuition fees and encourages staying safe during the pandemic. Since the campaign went live on July 16, UPI has experienced a surge of 269 percent in transaction volume during the first two weeks.
