Outlook for the iPhone?

eWeek is reporting that a Microsoft Executive, Stephen Elop, while speaking at the Web 2.0 Expo hinted that Microsoft will eventually release a version of the Office suite for mobile devices, specifically the iPhone.  I think this is important for a couple of reasons.  It further emphasizes MS’ current move away from desktop based toward web delivery of applications.  In the statement, Elop also eluded to an Ad supported web based version of the Office suite.  For a couple of years now Microsoft has said the the future of their software  is not the desktop but the web.  This move, along with the recent Office Live releases, are proof of that directive.  As an aside, I’ve been impressed with Office Live – it is a great collaboration tool, and is free – essentially you get sharepoint for nothing.  Very cool.

Back to the Office apps for iPhone – if this is a reality, it would be another rung up the ladder to getting more business away from Blackberry.  There are already apps on the Blackberry that let you edit Word and Excel docs; on the iPhone you can view documents, but not edit them.  There are apps on the way that will give users the ability to edit docs on the iPhone, specifically QuickOffice, but a release from Microsoft would likely trump any third party contenders.

As for the utility of native Office apps on a mobile device, that is another discussion entirely.  Personally, I think there is limited use for this – maybe editing a word doc for a word or three, or correcting a cell or two in a spreadsheet, but I can’t imagine trying to do any real work in Word or Excel on a mobile device.  That said, this “announcement”, if it becomes a reality, is good for Apple, and good for Microsoft.

• iPhone 3.0 will have landscape mode, Skype for iPhone I took a deeper look at the 3.0 release and there will be landscape mode for email and SMS messages.  Check out the preview here.  It's about time that Apple put this out, but the proof will be in the pudding. On a related iPhone note, I installed the Skype......
• Dual core processors for mobile devices? ARM dual core chips for iPhone, Palm Pre next year CNET is reporting that ARM, the company responsible for designing the architecture behind most mobile comuting CPU's said  that mobile phone makers will be delivering devices that run on ARM"s latest dual core CPU's as early as next year. They are referring to the ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore application processor.  According......
• Growl for Windows Growl v2.0 beta 18 was recently released for Windows - should you care?  If you are like most people, it is getting harder and harder to keep up with everything happening around you on the web.  Twitter, facebook, email, calendar, IM - the draws on your attention are almost overwhelming. ......
• Outlook Secure Temporary File Folder Symptom - can't open attachments to emails. This is one of the things about Micrsoft that will eventually push me over the edge. A few months back, my CFO called me in to his office saying he couldn't open attachments from an email in Excel.  I poked around a bit,......
• iPhone 3.0 release date - June 17, iPhone 3Gs details released Apple announced at WWDC 2009 that the iPhone 3.0 software will be available to current iPhone users on June 17th.  At the same event Apple announced that the iPhone 3GS will be available for purchase June 19th, 2009 in 16GB and 32 GB models for $199 and $299 respectively.  They......

• Six Great Apple iPhone Apps Flying Under the Radar [/caption] By Tom Kaneshige Some 150,000 apps line the App Store's (AAPL) virtual shelves, yet there's not yet a good way to shop for them. The App Store's oft-criticized search offers little assistance unless you know exactly what you're seeking. Marketers have been accused of gaming the App Store's customer......
• Microsoft and Firefox engineering a Chrome web OS rival? In July, Google Inc. had announced that it was working on an operating system for netbooks called Chrome operating system (OS) and it is reported that it is set to have a publicly available "stable release" by the second half of 2010. The new browser based operating system can be......
• 2010: My Fifth Annual List Of The Tech Products I Love And Use Every Day It’s time for my annual list of technology products that I love and use every day. This is the (wow) fifth year I’ve done this. Here are my previous lists: 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006. The scope of the list has changed over time. In 2006 it was just......
• Make Your Home Business Mobile With Online Fax Online fax is one form of "cloud computing" which has become extremely popular with many home business owners. One of the main reasons for this growing popularity of online or Internet faxing is the mobility it gives to any business. Your home business is no longer "just" located in......
• Is Google Phone an iPhone killer?‏ Google Inc, the internet search giant has been planning for an all-out assault on the mobile-phone market via its own branded handset, which is called the Nexus One. The new device will be one of the most advanced Smartphones present in the market with Android operating system and a large......