Microsoft Office and the Future of Dual Screen Phones

Microsoft has been busy.

Office recently got an update where it combined multiple apps into one Office platform. It’s a handy upgrade, not having to swap apps to look through documents or reference spreadsheets.

On top of that, we know Microsoft is working aggressively on future hardware form factors, with a particular focus on dual screen devices.

The platform which runs the service seems less important to Microsoft than whether people are using their services. When a dual screen Surface phone arrives, it’ll run Android.

Microsoft’s services need to be ready to go at launch though. If an expensive gadget sporting the Surface brand stumbles on core Microsoft services, it’ll be an embarrassing misstep for a company which has struggled with their mobile strategy since the rise of the iPhone.

Thankfully, folks don’t need to wait for the Surface Duo launch to get a taste of Microsoft’s dual screen strategy. Current dual screen devices are ready to go. Continue reading “Microsoft Office and the Future of Dual Screen Phones”

Office for iPad hits 12 million downloads, Microsoft still relevant…

BkUaUk-IMAAv3bJIt’s the thing about tech blogging which most gets under my skin, the confirmation bias. I love a little snark and editorial with my news, but the reality distortion field surrounding certain topics can be suffocating.

The Office for iPad roll out had a taste of that in the tech community. There was the expected gnashing of teeth over how long it took to port the suite over to the iPad, criticisms I also shared reflecting an older Microsoft which grossly underestimated their competition. However, it was some of the social media backlash I found most interesting. The idea that we just didn’t need Office anymore, that there were Office solutions available on the iPad which were “good enough”, and that Microsoft was so late, they weren’t relevant anymore.

Yesterday Microsoft announced via a tweet that Office for iPad had been downloaded 12 million times. It’s easy to get big numbers when you put out something for free, but that’s 12 million devices which now will potentially start converting more Apple users into Microsoft customers.

If anything it’s a small sign that Microsoft is starting to figure out that being a services company means having to make your services available to popular platforms. It’s another babystep out of the pit of irrelevance they were crawling into, and hopefully it means this tech game will get a bit more interesting this year…

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Unveils Office for iPad

Microsoft CEO Satya NadellaIt’s been years in the making. We’ve seen teases and rumors, and now it’s officially arriving on iPads DATE.

Microsoft Cloud For MobileMicrosoft’s new CEO Satya Nadella took the wraps off the app we all knew was coming today during his first public address. Stressing the five to ten year outlook for Microsoft, Nadella shared his ideas on changing computing form factors not resembling the machines we use today. User interactions, apps, services, and cloud computing defining the future of our interactions.

Microsoft Office powerpoint For Mobile giant tabletGeneral Manager for Office Development Julia White discussed the solutions Microsoft are developing to serve the crossover between corporate applications and consumer applications. Showing us a highly touch optimized version of the Office Suite for iPad. Continue reading “Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Unveils Office for iPad”

QuickOffice now free on Android & iOS – Includes 10GB additional free storage on Google Drive

quickoffice google drive android tablet phone documents spreadsheets free somegadgetguyJust a quick heads up!

Google recently bought out QuickOffice, and it looks like they’re ready to start bringing it into the proper stable of other Google Apps. QuickOffice can integrate with Google Drive, and it provides much better tools for document and spreadsheet editing (IMO) than the stock Drive app. Not the least of which is the ability to create a new document while offline…

QuickOffice has become my go-to solution for writing while traveling on my little Nexus 7, and now it’s completely free! That should be enough for you to at least give it a whirl, but Google is going to sweeten the pot a little more. If you install by September 26, you’ll also receive an additional 10GB of cloud storage through Google Drive.

Hit the Google Drive Blog for more info, or go directly to Google Play to install QuickOffice!