Microsoft Event 2022: Teams and Excel get new Live Share and more

In addition to launching new Surface PCs, Microsoft also hosted the Ignite 2022 event, where the tech company announced a bunch of updates to its internal platforms. At the event, the company unveiled new updates to Team, Teams Premium and Microsoft Places, and updates to Viva, Microsoft's digital employee experience platform. The company says the new updates are aimed at improving hybrid working and helping its business users manage employees efficiently. Its video conferencing platform, Teams, added new updates like Excel Live and Teams Live Share.

Starting with Excel Live in Teams, the feature allows each participant to live edit the Excel file directly, right from the app. It means that users can make edits without opening another window. Then the platform is also improving Teams Live Share, which turns any app shared in a Teams meeting into a "real-time, multi-user collaboration experience." Microsoft says the experience allows participants to better interact and collaborate. Teams is also improving hours and location tools to make it easier to schedule in-person meetings "by letting people specify where they'll be working from and adjusting by the hour."

Microsoft has also introduced a new Microsoft Places, a connected workplace category to help new and existing employees know who will be in the office, and when and where people are sitting. It is primarily designed for managers to understand how people use the office. It can help users optimize their real estate investments.

Lastly, Microsoft introduced Teams Premium at Ignite 2022, which includes a "Smart Summary." With the power of AI, it will act as a virtual assistant during meetings, even in your absence. Create tasks, automatically generate meeting chapters, and share custom recording highlights. Teams Premium also includes AI-powered live translations for captions, allowing meeting participants to see captions in any of 40 spoken languages, so everyone can join the discussion in the language of their choice. The company has not yet shared availability details.

Meanwhile, the company announced a big update for iPhone users with Windows 11 PCs. Soon, iPhone users will be able to sync iCloud photos with the Photos desktop app in Windows 11. Later, Apple TV and Music will also come to iPhone and Microsoft Store.