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Software giant, Microsoft has released a new stripped-down version of Office for smartphones running on Google's Android platform.

The company is aiming to link the new service to its Office 365 subscription plans. The company's Office for iOS devices was also linked to Office 365. The new Android app allows users to access a scaled-down version of Word, Excel and PowerPoint on smartphones running on Android 4.0 or newer.

The US International Trade Commission has said that more time is required to take a decision on the patent battle between technology giants, Apple and Samsung.

Samsung is competing well with Apple in the mobile device industry as it has access to cost effective resources as well as chips and core tablet components. The two companies are locked in a legal battle the previous year when the American giant sued Samsung in a U. S. federal court for infringement.

Netflix has launched a new feature in its service, the use profiles allowing users to create upto five different profiles within a single account for appropriate movie recommendations.

The video streaming service is aiming to avoid the mismatched set of movie recommendations in a single account. The profiles can be created either on Netflix. com or the Netflix app for PlayStation 3 and users will also be allowed to link their Netflix profile with their Facebook account to connect with friends and see their movie choices.

Motorola Mobility, a unit of internet giant Google, has announced the launch of its new smartphone, Moto X in the crowded smartphone market.

Google has been successful in software and its Android platform has emerged as the dominant platform for the global smartphone market but it has not been able to attract significant number of customers to its hardware. The Moto X, which is the first major device since Google acquired the handset maker for $12.5 billion, might be able to boost the company's hardware sales.

Chicago, August 2 : US automaker Ford Motor Corporation has agreed to pay a penalty of $17.35 million because it did not notify the customers of a defect in a timely manner, media reported.

In 2012, Ford recalled about 423,000 Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute models made during the period of 2001-04 because the gas pedal could remain depressed even after the drivers removed their foot from the pedal, which could cause crashes.

However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Ford's recall "may have been untimely", Xinhua reported Thursday.

Mumbai, August 2 : A benchmark index of Indian equities markets was trading half a percent or 100 points down in afternoon trade Friday, a day after government announced divesting 10 percent in Indian Oil and other reform measures to boost foreign investment.

Scrips of metal, public sector undertakings (PSU), bank, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and automobile companies were down. However, consumer durables, information technology technology, entertainment and media (TECk) stocks gained.