Microsoft is planning to launch both the Android and iOS versions of its Office suite of products at the end of this year, a new report says. The date matches nearly to when the company is anticipated to unveil Windows 8 and the new version of its Office suite.
According to Boy Genius Report, which states a “reliable source,” both the Android and iOS variants will be the “full Office suite.” Apparently, that includes PowerPoint, Word, and Excel, as well as tie-ins to Microsoft’s cloud services for Office. There are already SkyDrive and OneNote apps for iOS and the former is on Android as well.
The report said it’s still not clear whether Microsoft is planning to launch its Office on iOS for just the iPad or for the iPod Touch and for the iPhone as well. A spokesperson for Microsoft declined to say anything related to this topic.
There have been earlier reports which said that Microsoft is working on the development of the Office version for Apple’s iPad, and The Daily even said it had seen the app first-hand. Although, Microsoft said an alleged screenshot that The Daily had seen is a fake. That report, from February, said the office app was “weeks” away from its launch.
That timeframe was apparently not correct, but developing an iPad version of Office is a great move for Microsoft. The company is already having its presence on Apple’s platform with its other popular iOS apps and Office for OS X. Office for iPad is also in the spirit of Microsoft’s general new direction toward making its software more platform-agnostic.
Microsoft has earlier declared that they are working on the next version of Office suite, and they said “Office 15” as the “most ambitious undertaking” till now from the company’s Office Division. The launch is surely timed to accompany the launch of Windows 8, which will be seeing a new version of Office tailored to Windows 8 tablets.
