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Microsoft has released a significant update to the task management app, Microsoft To-Do, for Android.  The updated build is version 1.11.29 for those keeping score at home and brings some nice improvements and new features.

First, and for those who have managed accounts (like Office 365) you can now add those accounts to To-Do.  Previously, the app would only work with @Outlook.com or @Hotmail.com accounts which was fine, but if you want to have all of your information within your Office 365 account, you couldn’t do it.  In order for this feature to work, you must have To-Do enabled on your account which is something that your administrator will need to do if you can’t sign in with your managed account credentials.  Also keep in mind that if you are adding a managed account, permissions to your Contacts will be required for it to work properly.

The ability to integrate with Office 365 accounts was something that the company said would be coming when the announced the original preview of Microsoft To-Do back in April.

Microsoft Bing is a mirror reflection to a large degree with that of Microsoft’s mobile device strategy.  It’s been hyped, gutted and updates numerous times and, at one point, somewhat left for dead.  But unlike Microsoft’s mobile device strategy, Bing survived and is now thriving thanks to continual nurturing from Microsoft and more users coming to it for their search and news needs.

On Thursday of last week, Bing tweeted out two stats about the search engine during a webcast they were having at the time.  The first tweet highlighted not only the 33% market share in the US, but the market share in other countries.

Bing is bigger than you think! #SEM #PPC #bingadswebcast pic.twitter.com/fFtEDvM634

— Bing Ads (@BingAds) August 17, 2017

This is interesting in that we normally don’t see a country-by-country breakdown of this information.  As you can see, the US had the biggest market share with Taiwan at 26% and the UK at 23%.

HMD Global, the OEM who owns the Nokia brand, have finally announced their first flagship device, the Nokia 8.  Sporting impressive specs throughout, the Nokia 8 will be available in September, starting in Europe, for €599.  That translates to $704 at today’s exchange rate.  It is expected that the device will make it to the US at some point this year but for September, expect it to be in Europe and China first.  It will also likely be at a lower cost than $700 as device tend to be a bit less here than in Europe.

At that price point, the Nokia 8 is in the flagship category which begs the question of if the specs justify the price.  On the surface, it would appear that way.  The 5.3′ QHD device is powered by the Snadragon 835 octa-core processor and is coupled with the Adreno 540 GPU.   It has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.  That storage can be expanded by an additional 256GB thanks to the MicroSD slot.  The phone is rated as splashproof with an IP54 certification and will run a near AOSP version of Android Nougat 7.1.1.

Google Home has a server-side update rolling out that brings a much desired feature to the Smart Speaker device:  Hands-free calling.  Home users in the United States & Canada will now have the ability to place a call to a local business or a contact by saying, “Hey Google, call (business or contact)”.  It is a feature that was highlighted earlier this year at Google I/O as Google continues to improve the device.

The new feature means that instead of having to pick up your mobile, you can simply make a call from any Google Home device you have in your home.  Obviously the call is broadcasted via the speaker built into the device so private calls should still be dealt with from your phone.