10 Astonishing Email Habits

Microsoft has added itself to the growing ranks of technology companies that working to make email simpler and more convenient as the company launches an application called Send, available for Apple's iOS devices.

The lightweight app strips out the unnecessary parts of email like subject lines and signatures, to let users send messages more quickly.

"With Send, there are no signatures, subject lines or salutations required," Microsoft's Outlook team explained in a July 22 blog post. "Our design principle for the app was to make conversations fast and fluid while keeping the people who are important to you at its core."

Available through the Microsoft Garage, the company's app store, Send is available for the iPhone in the US and Canada, and is also coming to Windows Phone and Google Android phones.

The fact that Microsoft made Send available on the iPhone first -- even ahead of Windows Phone -- is consistent with how CEO Satya Nadella sees the future: There will be less reliance on the old desktop model and more embracing of new platforms in order to get the company's products into the hands of a wider audience of customers.

The app works for people with Office 365 business and school email accounts, and includes a feature that allows users to swipe and choose a Quick Reply such as "On my way," or "I'll get back to you."

"The connection with Office 365 means your conversations are synced with Outlook, letting you continue the conversation from anywhere," the company blog post explained. "And just like regular email, you can message anyone with an email address. No need to exchange numbers, remember usernames or split conversations across platforms."

All Send messages are designed to comply with an organization's email compliance policies, which means that Send messages are treated like any other work email. The blog post pointed out that the company is also working on bringing more IT controls to the app in the coming months.

Because Send is based on email, users can message anyone with an email address, and there are no additional sign up steps.

Another key feature is that the people you message can respond from anywhere, even if they don't have the app themselves.

With hundreds of unwanted emails jamming inboxes around the globe, Microsoft's Send app, while a boon for harried executives in need of quick messaging capabilities, fails to solve the underlying problems the constant deluge of messaging creates.

[Read more about Microsoft's recent financial report.]

Unwanted or useless email continues to be a major problem for many US businesses and their employees -- the biggest hindrance to everyday email use, according to 45% of those surveyed in a June GFI report, is spam.

On that front, search giant Google is leading the charge. Earlier this month the company revealed some of the new ways it is supporting the senders of wanted mail, including the launch of Gmail Postmaster Tools. It's also using the latest Google smarts to filter out spam.

A recent Symantec report, however, finds that spam is down to a 12-year low.