Microsoft: Office coming to Android, iOS in March 2013

Shawn Knight

Posts: 15,240   +192
Staff member

Talk of Microsoft Office showing up on Android and iOS devices is headlining tech sites once again. This time there’s some solid evidence in support of a mobile Office suite. Microsoft product manager Petr Bobek reportedly told Czech site IHNED that Office software for Android and iOS is coming in 2013.

The software will arrive as native apps on the mobile platforms, according to Bobek. Not long after the announcement, The Verge came forward with claims to have seen a press release from Microsoft’s Czech Republic team. The release confirms the software will be coming to the two most popular mobile operating systems alongside Windows Phone, Windows RT, Mac OS and Symbian.

We’ve been hearing rumors of a version of Office for the iPad for the better part of a year now. The Daily was the first to report the story last November and even followed up on their article with a photo showing the app running on an iPad. Microsoft adamantly denied the accusations, claiming the story was based on inaccurate rumors and speculation.

More recent rumors suggested we would see an Android and iOS app surface in November. There’s still time for that to happen but based on the latest information, Microsoft will miss that target date. Instead, we’re now told to expect Office Mobile to arrive in March 2013.

microsoft office ios android czech microsoft office

The press release also points out that Office 2013 will be available to businesses in December. A consumer launch isn’t expected until the end of February 2013, however.

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YES! Now I can open documents, create spreadsheets and write access databases from my droid 3!... wait, why would I want to do something like that on a 4" screen with no mouse? As much as I applaud the effort I can't think of a more miserable thing to do than run office productivity software on a phone... the second most miserable thing being running office productivity software on a tablet.
 
YES! Now I can open documents, create spreadsheets and write access databases from my droid 3!... wait, why would I want to do something like that on a 4" screen with no mouse? As much as I applaud the effort I can't think of a more miserable thing to do than run office productivity software on a phone... the second most miserable thing being running office productivity software on a tablet.
This is great news for tablet owners. This story is pretty eerie because I was looking at purchasing either a tablet or a laptop just today. I teach and I use my crappy laptop for powerpoint presentations. That flaw in a tablet is the only thing that stopped me from buying an Asus tablet today. Now that I know that Office is coming to Android, I'm definitely buying an Asus tablet or the Nexus 10 when it comes out.
 
YES! Now I can open documents, create spreadsheets and write access databases from my droid 3!... wait, why would I want to do something like that on a 4" screen with no mouse? As much as I applaud the effort I can't think of a more miserable thing to do than run office productivity software on a phone... the second most miserable thing being running office productivity software on a tablet.
This is great news for tablet owners. This story is pretty eerie because I was looking at purchasing either a tablet or a laptop just today. I teach and I use my crappy laptop for powerpoint presentations. That flaw in a tablet is the only thing that stopped me from buying an Asus tablet today. Now that I know that Office is coming to Android, I'm definitely buying an Asus tablet or the Nexus 10 when it comes out.
Apparently, I didn't do my homework. There are many apps on the droid marketplace that allow PowerPoint editing and presentations. Office is still better than the OpenOffice equivalent, but it's most likely going to be very expensive.
 
Isn't this one of the biggest selling points of the Surface tablet? So why bother making it available to the competition. Either way, I'm sure it won't be as "functional" on either iOS or Android.
 
Maybe they are trying to be a software company by starting to produce software for multiple OS's like other software companies, instead for just their own OS to maintain their illegal monopoly.
 
Maybe they are trying to be a software company by starting to produce software for multiple OS's like other software companies, instead for just their own OS to maintain their illegal monopoly.
Haven't you heard, smartphones and tablets are considered PCs now so MS doesn't have a monopoly of any kind.
 
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