Editor’s note – May 21, 2014 – The information below about access to Office 365 for Education was updated following initial publication.

Bangkok — May 21, 2014 — The Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) and Microsoft (Thailand) Limited on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding that will provide 8 million students and 400,000 teachers across Thailand with access to Microsoft Office 365 for education. The agreement, which also includes the extension of the highly successful Partners in Learning initiative to 2019, represents the single biggest cloud service deployment for Microsoft in the education sector globally.

“OBEC and Microsoft have enjoyed 10 years of collaboration for the betterment of Thailand’s future under Partners in Learning,” said OBEC Senior Advisor in Technology for Teaching and Learning Anek Ratpiyapaporn. “The 11th National Economic and Social Development Plan states that Thailand’s top priority is to develop its human resources through improvement in education. Microsoft’s support will ensure that educators and students are empowered with solutions and platforms that are aligned with their needs.

“This initiative will play a key role in our preparations for ASEAN Economic Community integration and drive the development of 21st century skills that are vital to the Smart Thailand 2020 strategy, whose key objective is to foster sustainable national growth and raise the standard of living through technology,” Ratpiyapaporn added.

Thai students utilizing access to new Office software Eight million students in Thailand now have access to Office 365 to help maximize their learning potential.

Conceived in 2003, Partners in Learning is a global Microsoft program that fosters innovative use of technology in education to help students and teachers around the world maximize their potential. So far, the program has provided training to more than 12 million educators and enhanced the learning experience for 200 million students in 119 countries. In Thailand, Partners in Learning has reached out to more than 164,000 teachers and 8 million students across 39,000 schools nationwide.

Haresh Khoobchandani, managing director of Microsoft (Thailand), said, “Microsoft has always seen technology as an important enabler of quality education, and this memorandum of understanding underscores our long-term commitment to Thailand and our vision of a holistic transformation of the Thai education system. Throughout Microsoft’s 20 years in Thailand, we have invested $5.2 million (156 million THB) in Thai education as part of our vision of We Make 70 Million Lives Better. This dedication to education in Thailand is part of our global YouthSpark initiative to help young people capture opportunities, to learn skills, to prepare for the jobs of the future or even to start their own business.

“Two million university students and staff members are already taking advantage of cloud technology through Office 365 for education, and this landmark partnership with OBEC will increase the number of users to more than 10 million,” Khoobchandani continued. “This enables schools and universities across Thailand to create massive repositories of knowledge that can be accessed and shared anywhere, any time, and on any device in a secured and trusted environment.”

Under this memorandum of understanding, schools under OBEC jurisdiction will gain access to Office 365 for education, giving students and teachers alike the ability to create, connect and collaborate on an advanced and enterprise-ready cloud platform that is safe and secured. A 2013 IDC study commissioned by Microsoft found that proficiency with Microsoft Office applications ranks high at No. 3 of the top 20 in-demand skills globally. The study also found that 29 percent of high growth or salary occupations call for Microsoft Office or Microsoft Office-related skills, such as word processing, spreadsheets and financial reporting.

Teachers and educators across Thailand now have better access to teaching software 400,000 teachers across Thailand have access to Microsoft Office 365 for Education.

Microsoft YouthSpark is a companywide, global commitment to provide young people with opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship, and Partners in Learning is a key element of this commitment that helps students and teachers benefit from Microsoft’s academic and technical resources. These include free educational materials through the Microsoft IT Academy, various teacher and school development programs, access to professional-class development tools and technical guidance through the Microsoft DreamSpark program. They will also be able to benefit from tech startup support through the Microsoft BizSpark program, and opportunities to showcase their creativity and expertise in the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition.

“With young people between the ages of 15 and 24 forming the largest segment of the unemployed in Thailand,1 there is a pressing need to drive transformational change in education,” said Anthony Salcito, vice president of Worldwide Public Sector Education for Microsoft. “The full impact of Microsoft’s partnership with OBEC is not simply in the millions of students that will have access to the most compelling and engaging technology for education and collaborative learning. It will be seen in how we are able to effectively integrate technology into the classroom to help prepare these students with the skills of the future.”

Wednesday’s announcement surpasses Microsoft’s previous largest cloud education partnerships — a partnership with the Sao Paulo State Department of Education to provide Office 365 to more than 4 million students; the 7.5 million Office 365 seats that the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) deployed across 11,500 technical colleges and institutions in India; and the 4.5 million seats that the Catholic International Education Office deployed globally in 2012.

The memorandum of understanding between Microsoft and OBEC will cover a five-year period from June 1, 2014, to May 31, 2019.

For more information on Partners in Learning and Office 365 for education, visit http://www.pil-network.com, http://www.pil.in.th and http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/academic.

About Microsoft (Thailand) Limited

Established in 1993, Microsoft (Thailand) Limited provides world-class software that is easy to use and localized to suit the local market’s needs. It also has a compelling and consistent platform to build powerful business solutions that can scale from a notebook computer to a mainframe – class multiprocessor systems using Microsoft technology. For further information, please visit the Microsoft (Thailand) website at: http://www.microsoft.com/thailand.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

1 International Labour Organization, Unemployment distribution by sex and age, Thailand (2012)

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

Surface Pro 3 May 19, 2014 Surface Pro 3 has a 12-inch ClearType Full HD display, 4th-generation Intel® Core™ processor and up to 8 GB of RAM. With up to nine hours of Web-browsing battery life, Surface Pro 3 has all the power, performance and mobility of a laptop in an incredibly lightweight, versatile form.

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NEW YORK — May 20, 2014 — On Tuesday, Microsoft Corp. introduced Surface Pro 3 — the lightweight tablet that packs the power and performance you expect from a laptop.

Surface Pro 3 is a tablet and a laptop: multiple processor, RAM and storage options intersect with a sleek design that, with a simple snap or click, transform the device from a perfectly balanced tablet to a full-functioning laptop and back again — all in a beautiful package that is 30 percent thinner than an 11-inch MacBook Air. Its stunning 12-inch display and new, continuous kickstand provide the screen real estate and multiple viewing angles people need for work and play. And the new Surface Pen — completely redesigned with form and function in mind — delivers a precise, luxurious drawing and note-taking experience with a single click of the pen.

“So many people carry both a laptop and a tablet but really want just one device that serves all purposes,” said Panos Panay, corporate vice president, Microsoft Surface. “Surface Pro 3 is the tablet that can replace your laptop — packing all the performance of a fully powered laptop into a thin, light and beautifully designed device. You’ll love being able to carry a single device for your next class, workday or weekend getaway knowing you have all the power you need.”

Surface Pro 3 and Surface a ccessories

Surface Pro 3 features a 12-inch full HD display, 4th-generation Intel® Core™ processor options, amazing click-in keyboards, and a multiposition kickstand that goes from movie mode to working mode and all the way to writing mode. Because it runs Windows 8.1 Pro, people can run the desktop software they rely on, including Microsoft Office, multitask with side-by-side windows, and use it at work. Surface Pro 3 delivers the best writing and drawing experience with Surface Pen included and an amazing new capability where with just a click of the pen, Surface launches a fresh page in OneNote, so you can capture your thoughts immediately — as quickly as a pen and piece of paper. And it delivers big-screen entertainment anywhere with the larger, full HD screen, the kickstand, great speakers with Dolby® Audio enhanced sound, and up to nine hours of Web-browsing battery life.

New Surface accessories like the improved Surface Pro Type Cover will take Surface Pro 3 from tablet to laptop in a snap. The new premium Surface Pen with pressure sensitivity enables a more natural writing experience, while a full-size USB 3.0 port, microSD card reader and Mini DisplayPort allow for quick file transfers and easy connections to a range of peripherals.

Coupled with additional optional accessories, including a new Docking Station for Surface Pro 3 and a Surface Ethernet Adapter, Surface Pro 3 has all the features and capabilities of a complete laptop. The new Surface accessories can be found here.

Surface Pro 3 for b usiness

With the introduction of Surface Pro 3, our commitment to business has never been stronger. Since introducing commercial availability less than a year ago, Surface has expanded into 31 commercial markets, celebrating new customers along the way. Surface Pro 3’s versatile features allow commercial customers to deploy a laptop replacement that delivers the power, manageability and security they need to conduct business with confidence. Companies such as BMW Group, The Coca-Cola Company and LVMH - Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton have already committed to purchasing and deploying the device as one of the choices inside their organizations.

“Surface Pro 3 is a truly innovative device that will replace both a tablet and a powerful laptop,” said Mario Müeller, vice president IT infrastructure, BMW Group.

Microsoft is proud that these esteemed brands are adopting Surface Pro 3 to harness the promise of mobility to transform their customer experiences.

Pre- o rder and a vailability

Starting at an estimated retail price of just $799, Surface Pro 3 will be offered in multiple configurations featuring 4th-generation Intel® Core™ i3, i5 and i7 processors. Specs are available here.

Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro Type Cover and Surface Pen will be available for pre-order starting May 21 at 12:01 a.m. EDT through Microsoftstore.com, Microsoft retail stores and select third-party retailers. Commercial customers should speak to their authorized reseller.

Beginning June 20 in Canada and the United States, customers can visit Microsoftstore.com, Microsoft retail stores, select third-party retailers and commercial resellers to purchase Intel® Core™ i5 Surface Pro 3 and select accessories. Additional configurations will become available during August, and additional accessories will be available in the next few months.

By the end of August, Surface Pro 3 and select new accessories will become available for purchase in 26 additional markets, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom.

More information on Surface can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/surface.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Some information relates to a pre-release product, which may be substantially modified before it is commercially released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

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Visit Surface Newsroom at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/presskits/surface for b-roll clips.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.