Office for iPad to be announced next week

Microsoft has announced that office for iPad is coming soon and will officially unveil it next week during a press event. The event will be the first time we see new CEO Satya Nadella speak publicly to the press since replacing Steve Ballmer as CEO of Microsoft.

Reports say that Microsoft is sending invitations to some members of the press regarding the press event in San Francisco taking place on March 27. It is thought Nadella will himself introduce Office for iPad which is rumoured to closely resemble Office for iPhone which launched last year.

Office 365 allows subscribers to install office on up to five devices excluding Windows Phone and Windows RT devices which get free access. As with the iPhone version users will be able to view and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the go.

Nadella recently spoke of his intentions to prioritise cloud services and in particular cloud services on mobile devices so this fits in with that vision. Microsoft also recently made OneNote available on Mac as part of this effort.

We are likely to hear lot more from Microsoft about it’s future plans at the Build Developer Conference which starts on April 1st. The biggest announcement will likely be the release of Windows 8.1 update 1 but it will be interesting to see what else they have up their sleeve under the reign of Satya Nadella.

New Office for Mac to Come Next Spring, Office for iOS Not Arriving Until Fall 2014?

ZDNet has shared a roadmap it received from a source who claims it is the timetable for Microsoft's plans for both the Mac and iOS versions of Office.

The map says a new version of Office for Mac will arrive in April 2014, while the long rumored Microsoft Office for iOS and Android will arrive next Autumn, in October 2014.

I do not know how old this purported roadmap is, but my contact indicated it was likely current as of the start of 2013. I asked Microsoft Office officials for comment on the alleged roadmap, but they declined to do so.

The most recent report, from this past December, suggested that Apple and Microsoft were in negotiations over revenue share as part of Microsoft's Office 365 subscription service that launched in January. Apple wants the standard 70/30 split in revenue that is part of its developer license agreement for every developer.

Microsoft itself has leaked references to Office Mobile for iPhone, Excel for iPad, and PowerPoint for iPad, making clear that Microsoft does have iOS versions in the works.

[Source: MacRumors]

Facebook gets green light to build its second campus at California headquarters

Seems as if building new, fancy properties is quickly becoming the norm within the tech sector. Following in both Apple and Google's spacious footsteps, Facebook too will be looking to amplify its California-based headquarters -- and now it's received the OK from Menlo Park authorities to commence turning Frank Gehry's design vision into a reality. The second campus itself is set to boast nearly 434,000 square feet in total and be built across 22 acres, which will be plenty of space to house anything from a rooftop park to an underground tunnel which leads to Facebook's existent abode. As for city council members, they seem to be rather pleased by Zuck's proposed construction, with one Kirsten Keith expressing how she "feels very lucky that we'll have a Frank Gehry building here." Well then, cheers all around.

[Source: Engadget]

LibreOffice kicks it up to version 4.0, promises leaner performance and greater interoperability

It's been a little over a week since Microsoft unveiled its big Office 2013 suite (along with that Office 365 subscription option) to the world, and right on cue the Document Foundation has released version 4.0 of open source alternativeLibreOffice. The latest update promises to be cleaner and leaner according to devs, but more importantly to you and me is that it brings greater interoperability between different file formats such as DocX and RTF documents. It also integrates better with content and document systems like Alfresco, IBM FileNet P8, OpenText and Microsoft Sharepoint 2010. Other notable improvements include an Android app for controlling presentations, several new features to the Calc spreadsheet app (like chart exports and ODF OpenFormula functions), UI upgrades and a performance boost across the board. For a full run-down on what the new LibreOffice can do, have a gander at the source or download it yourself at the rightmost link.

[Source: Engadget]

Office for iPad referenced on French and Romanian Microsoft support site

Officially there is no Office for iPad... or iOS or Android. But, it seems a foregone conclusion that the premier productivity suite will be crossing those ecosystem boundaries. In addition to countless rumors and alleged screenshots, now references to the app are cropping up on Microsoft's own sites. Documents over at the French and Romanian Office support pages have been tagged (incorrectly) as applying to "Office Mobile for iPhone," "Excel for iPad," "Lync for iPhone," and "PowerPoint for iPad." The docs in question don't actually pertain to these unreleased products, but the repeated mislabeling across documents and languages (presumably by Microsoft employees) would seem to indicate they actually exist. Of course, it could all be an elaborate hoax, but we'd find that pretty hard to swallow.

[Source: Engadget]

Microsoft Office 2013 now available to businesses, wide release still set for Q1 2013

Right on time, businesses with the inside track to Microsoft's account team and partner program can now snag the latest version of Redmond's content production software suite, Office 2013. What's that? You've got the hook up, but you were also hoping for Exchange Server 2013, Lync Server 2013, SharePoint Server 2013, Project 2013, and Visio 2013? You'll be happy to hear that those are also available today -- the already announced "first quarter 2013" release window for Office 2013 stands, when it'll become widely available both digitally and at direct retailers.

The big update to Office this time around comes in the form of Windows 8-style visuals and cloud-based saves using Microsoft's SkyDrive service. We've got a full hands-on right here if you'd like to learn more ahead of next year's big launch.

[Source: Engadget]

Office for Android and iOS purportedly caught in screenshots, won't lure away Surface loyalists

We're wondering if Microsoft is a master of the non-denial. While it has twice downplayed rumors of an upcoming Office for competing mobile platforms, supposed new screenshots and details from The Vergehint that the Redmond team's use of the word "inaccurate" wasn't a flat-out rejection. The Android and iOS versions (iOS seen here) are believed to be real, but to serve mostly as hooks for those who crave Microsoft-sanctioned portals rather than full-fledged productivity suites. Excel, PowerPoint and Word apps would start off as free viewers and only unlock editing for those who dutifully subscribe to Office 365; to no one's shock, even the paid versions would be simple enough to leave Surface owners free from buyer's remorse. Anyone who hasn't already been lured away by Google Drive or iWork offerings may have some time to wait if the claims hold true, however. A mobile Office bundle may meet the rumored launch targets for iOS users with a launch sometime in late February or early March, but the Android fans among us might have to wait until May. It's safe to say that Microsoft won't clear the air anytime soon.

[Source: Engadget]

Microsoft Office 2013 releases to manufacturing, reaches most of us early next year

Break out the party streamers and balloons -- if only in an orderly fashion, because this is the day Office 2013 has been released to manufacturing. The completion swings Microsoft's attention towards a rollout staggered over the next few months. Wider availability will have to wait until the first quarter of 2013 -- such synchronicity with your branding, Microsoft -- but companies who've sprung for volume licensing will get access as early as mid-November to December 1st, depending on whether or not they're embracing a Software Assurance plan. In the meantime, Microsoft is offering an easy path for anxious workers by promising a free copy of Office 2013 to everyone who buys Office 2010 from October 19th onwards. The upgraded software might not be cheap for those who aren't already buying a Windows RT tablet, but it's likely to be an important piece of the puzzle for anyone hunting down a touchscreen Windows 8 PC.

[Source: Engadget]