Microsoft, Nokia Team To Add Mobile Office Apps To Phones

CWmike writes "On the same day a court banned sales of Microsoft Office for PCs, Microsoft and Nokia said they are working together to put Microsoft Office on Nokia handsets. It's a move that should give Microsoft leverage against Google and others that are attacking its Office business with free or low-priced Web apps. The aim of the deal is to bring an application called Microsoft Office Mobile to Nokia's Symbian devices, they said. They will also do the same for other Microsoft communications, collaboration and device-management software. The applications will be available first on Nokia's E-series phones, but eventually will extend to other Nokia handsets. The Microsoft-Nokia deal brings two competitors together, but could spell the end of Windows Mobile. Gartner analyst Nick Jones said he is becoming 'more concerned' about the future for Windows Mobile and added in a blog today that Windows Mobile 7 could be Microsoft's last update of the product."

Comments

usability

[blackraven14250]

Can anyone even imagine creating a serious document on any cellphone? That would be hellish.

Re:usability

[NotQuiteReal]

If voice recognition worked...

Re:usability

[DragonWriter]

Can anyone even imagine creating a serious document on any cellphone?

Yes. I've even occasionally done it; sure, I wouldn't want to do too detailed layout on a smartphone, but most "serious" documents don't need a lot more than a text editor with the ability to put basic structural features (multilevel headings, mostly, and maybe some tables) for most of the work you do with them (i.e., everything you do while its in the "working draft" phase.) Sure, to finalize something, for certain audiences, you may want to get in the weeds with tweaking the styles and layout, but that's not most of the work.

You don't want to do heavy work on a smartphone, but both for initial creation (which is often at an outline level), and for doing on-the-go text revisions to serious documents that are in the "working draft" stage, its not a horrible platform, and it has the advantage that your phone is more likely to be with you whenever you have an update you want to make than, say, your laptop (and much more likely than your desktop).

I'd rather work on a document on my home desktop with my 20" monitor, which is great for two-page editing. But I'd rather have the ability to edit a document when all I have with me is my phone than not at all.

Re:usability

[speedtux]

The primary use of this is for reading and annotating.

However, many cell phones now have screens like 800x350 or 800x480 and allow full (folding) Bluetooth keyboards to be used with the phone; that kind of setup isn't all that different from a netbook.

Re:usability

[Chris Mattern]

If voice recognition worked...

Or handwriting recognition.

By my calculations, we'll get handwriting recognition just about at the point computer keyboards will have killed everybody's ability at handwriting.

Re:usability

[morghanphoenix]

I've lost track of how many times I've been on one of those automated call systems that used voice recognition only to have my daughter cry in the background and select the wrong option for me.

The usual Gartner nonsense

[clang_jangle]

Gartner analyst Nick Jones said he is becoming "more concerned" about the future for Windows Mobile and added in a blog today that Windows Mobile 7 could be Microsoft's last update of the product."

What an idiotic statement. MS doesn't give up markets that easily (unfortunately). They'll have a windows mobile OS if they have to start building their own phones to sell it.

No big deal

[da_matta]

Considering that ActiveSync is already the number one mail solution in Nokia (E-series) devices and they have for a long time included office viewers, I don't really thinks this is anything that major. Nokia recognises that Office & Exchange are a necessity for their business customers and want to support that. Microsoft on the other hand would bring Office to Android if that would further their Office-business. If anything, Nokia is trying to get advantage over iPhone as a corporate phone.

user interface ?

[Tom]

Uh? Who in their right mind would even want to use office on a mobile phone? The UI is bad as it is on a full-size PC.

Seriously, a lot of these "tools" are just crap for middle management that for some reason feels empowered when they can do the secretaries job, just worse.

Re:user interface ?

[tholomyes]

"Here is your travel itinerary in Microsoft Word format."

Can you just give it to me as plaintext instead?

Re:user interface ?

[UnknowingFool]

This isn't really about new, practicality functionality but more about stopping the bleeding. Windows Mobile is losing ground to Apple, RIM, Android, and Symbian. "Pay no attention to those others platforms! Ours now has Office and a new hat!" The problem is anyone who has used Office on Windows Mobile realize it isn't very practical. Most of it has to do that Office isn't really designed for a mobile platform with the limitations in UI--the limitations not being you can't do it on a mobile device but that you can't do it very well.

Re:user interface ?

[Tom]

Been there, done that. I've owned one of the first Palms and I own an iPhone now. I've had notebooks since before they were cool.

Yes, 10 years ago I sometimes ssh'ed into our servers from a Palm III using IR connection to a mobile phone and dialin from that. It worked, it was geeky - and things that take me seconds on a desktop took me minutes on that setup.

If you have to do work while you're on travel, take a notebook. People who really have actual work to do use notebooks. People who just want the feeling of importance use their phones to do nonsense work where quality doesn't matter.

What do you mean?

[Seth Kriticos]

This sounds like they had done something innovative in the past. If you really believe that, than please enlighten me of what that might have been. I'm dying to know.

Copying from others, repackaging it in a user friendly manner and subversively bringing OEM's to install it on all new machines does not count. I mean something technical in their core business.

Re:That's odd

[Mulder3]

That doesn't mean anything, Symbian will probably die some time in the future, but not Series60(witch is nokia UI ontop of Symbian) Symbian^4 will move away from that ugly C++ API an will be completely based on QT framework and will break the binary compatibility with previous series60/symbain (http://blog.symbian.org/2009/04/30/reviewing-the-release-plan) This means that Series60 will be based on QT as well, so they can easily move to a Linux platform if they want... (and break the binay compatibility again in the process, but nokia doesn't have any problem with that, they do it regularly)

Seriously?...

[rAiNsT0rm]

If you want/need to type a Word doc or Excel spreadsheet on your damn phone then put down the phone, quit the ridiculous job that is consuming your life, and go enjoy life. A tiny screen and keyboard is no way to go through life, son.

I guess I am throwing in the towel on my geek cred here, but seriously as many IT jobs as I've had and this has never been a need (or want).

Re:Seriously?...

[PaddyM]

I guess you've never seen the tv out feature that normally comes with nokia phones.

-1, Failtard

[Anonymous Coward]

Chinese input is done using pinyin, which *gasp* uses a tradational keyboard. It's hilariously faster to type Chinese using pinyin input vs. hand writing. I mean sickengly, stupidly, mind boggingly faster to the point that it's not even negotiable: anyone who claims otherwise is lying or doesn't know what they're talking about (e.g. the above poster).

Re:So much for ...

[PRMan]

Actually Windows 7 seems quite innovative. I am really liking it, and I hated Vista.

Don't forget keyboard

[Ilgaz]

Well, you forgot to tell that any bluetooth keyboard (Apple preferred for fun) can be "plugged" to Nokia smart phones to use as input, adding more to shock.

Oh (for iPhone users), no hack needed. Nokia advertises the driver/app themselves and gives free.