The world’s biggest mobile phone manufacturer Nokia, and the internet behemoth, Microsoft have entered into an agreement, where Microsoft’s Office suite will be available as a pre-installed software, on all upcoming Nokia mobile phones.
The all new deal will enable Microsoft to put up a stiffer competition in the mobile office suite arena, where established companies like Google and Sun Microsystems have already made a name for themselves, providing users with various Office Suite services, such as word processors, spreadsheets and other applications.
Nokia and Microsoft have been at logger heads for a long time in the business of mobile devices. A large portion of smart phones operate on the Microsoft Windows Mobile platform, which is a stark competitor against the Symbian operating system, that has been the backbone of all Nokia mobile phones. However, the alliance is expected to give both the companies a renewed chance of getting their sales statistics up to the mark. Nokia and Microsoft have have witnessed a slump in sales for some time due to the introduction Apple’s iPhone, Blackberry by RIM and the Google Android mobile operating platform.
According to Stephen Elop (V.P, Device Unit, Nokia),
“Nokia and Microsoft do compete in some areas and will continue to do so. We remain deeply committed to Windows Mobile. I know that Kai is also deeply committed to Symbian.”
Via Wall Street Journal.
This is a great development!
Let’s face it; the business world revolves around the Microsoft Office suite. So having Office software available on smart phones will be a godsend to busy individuals who are always on the move, no longer restricting them to the confines of the office. It will be particularly useful on road to important meetings as it will allow PowerPoint users to flick through slides and view notes to practice their presentations, or even edit and tweak their PowerPoint files on their morning commute or business trip.