Microsoft has revealed a customer preview of its new Microsoft Office productivity suite, which features familiar programs including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. It is designed to work with touch, stylus, mouse or keyboard controls and offers more social and cloud-based connectivity than previous versions.

A separate version of the software called Office Home and Student 2013 RT will be built into ARM-based Windows 8 devices, including the forthcoming Microsoft Surface tablet.

The Mobile Marketing Association has arranged over $1 million in funding to launch new global research into the impact of mobile marketing.

The project, which is believed to be the first global research project of its kind, will test real marketing campaigns to determine the economic value of investing in mobile channels compared to traditional marketing channels. It’s been named SMoX.me: Smart Mobile Cross Marketing Effectiveness.

Mark Bridge writes:

BlackBerry and bad news seem inextricably linked at the moment. RIM’s CEO admits he’s “not satisfied” with recent company performance and warns of challenging times ahead... and then the company is hit by a $147 million dollar damages order for patent infringement.

Mind you, Research In Motion wasn’t the only mobile company bringing disappointment into the mainstream news last week.