Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac is now available. For the first time, Office for Mac includes Outlook for Mac, as well as the usual products: Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Messenger.

There a few different price options for the program. Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Student versions with one license costs $119.99, and the same version with three licenses is $149.99. Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business is $199.99 for one license and $279.99 for two. Users can purchase PowerPoint, Word, and Excel in separate packages for $139.99 each.

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“Office 2011 continues our team’s mission to connect Mac users to their counterparts who use Windows,” Eric Wilfrid, general manager of Office for Mac said in a blog post. “Office enables users across platforms to work anywhere, anytime – to build their ideas into reality.”

Microsoft allows users to access their documents anywhere through the integration of cloud-based applications including Windows Live SkyDrive, Microsoft SharePoint, and Microsoft Office Web Apps.

Wilfrid said these features are “giving users more flexibility and control to work when and where they want. Office Web Apps lets users work in any browser from any location with internet connectivity while making sure your document stays the way it was created when it’s viewed on either a PC or a Mac.”

This also allows multiple people to access and collaborate on projects through co-authoring tools.

The updated suite includes photo editing within documents. Organizing a PowerPoint presentation has been streamlined through Dynamic reorder, a feature that renders a 3D view of the presentation that allows the creator to drag elements where they please.

According to Wilfrid, Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac is faster.

“You’ll notice the improved launch speeds and other performance enhancements as your accomplish your tasks,” he said.

On Monday, Microsoft released Windows Live Messenger for Mac 8 from beta. This program is available as part of Office for Mac 2011 or as a standalone download.

For more details, read PCMag’s full reviewof Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac.

Google is slowly unlocking a new feature for Gmail that allows users to record calls directly out of their inbox. That might sound a little strange at first, so bear with us.

Within Gmail, it’s possible to link one’s Google Voice VOiP service to one’s Inbox by first enabling the company’s Chat service on the left-hand side of Gmail’s standard interface. From there, you simply have to click on the activated “Call Phone” link, which should pop up a pretty little dial pad in the lower-right hand corner of your screen.

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This is your link to Google Voice—we’re assuming you’re already rocking an account. However, you might not have the plugin you need in order to actually make a Google Voice connection via your Gmail Inbox. If that’s the case, the little dial pad will alert you to that fact and ask that you head on over to an alternate page to download and install the appropriate plugin. Do that.

One browser restart later and you’re ready to head back to your Gmail inbox. Go through the same procedures as before, only you won’t be seeing a “please download this plugin” message on your Google Voice dial pad. Dial a number now and you’ll connect straight up to whoever it is you’re trying to reach.

Now, provided your account has been deemed worthy of Google’s latest feature (it hasn’t rolled out to everyone yet), you’ll see a tiny little red dot to the left of the microphone icon—Google Voice’s mute button. Click it, and you’ll start recording your call. Once you’re finished, the call will be saved online for you to access at your leisure.

If you don’t have access to the aforementioned red button just yet, that’s fine – you can still make the same kinds of recordings via Google Voice’s normal interface. When you’re on a call, simply hit “4” on your keypad and Google Voice will start recording everything that’s being said. To note: This only works for calls you’ve received through your Google Voice number, not for outgoing calls you make.