Microsoft Office comes to Android smartphones for Office 365 subscribers

Microsoft is bringing a pared-down
version of its Office software to
Android phones, but it won't work on
Android tablets just as it doesn't on
iPads.
The software will be available starting
Wednesday. It requires a $100-a-year
subscription to Office and won't be
sold separately.
The new offering follows the release
of an iPhone version in June and brings
an Office app to phones running the
most widely used operating system on
new smartphones.
Microsoft Corp. is trying to make its
Office 365 subscription more compelling,
without removing an advantage that
tablet computers running Microsoft's
Windows system now have - the ability
to run popular Office programs such as
Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
"The release of this app shows that
we're committed to keep providing
additional value for Office 365
subscribers," the company wrote in a
blog post. "Office 365 subscribers will
now be able to access, view, and edit
Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents
with Windows Phone, iPhone and
Android phones."
Microsoft is pushing subscriptions as a
way to get customers to keep paying
for a product that was historically
sold in a single purchase. The company
touts such benefits as the ability to
run the package on multiple computers
and get updates for free on a regular
basis. However, a subscription can be
more expensive than buying the
package outright for just one or two
computers.
Microsoft said it designed Office Mobile
for Android phones specifically for
small-screen devices, even though many
people will prefer editing documents on
a tablet's larger screen. The company
has a version for iPads and Android
tablets, called Office Web Apps, but
that runs on a Web browser and
requires a constant online connection.
The new Android software is an app
that gets installed on the phone and
can work offline.
With a subscription, customers typically
get to use Office on up to 10 devices.
Five of them can be Windows or Mac
computers or Windows tablets. The
other five can be iPhones or Android
phones. Windows phones come with
Office installed and do not count
toward the limit.
In keeping the software off the iPad,
the top-selling tablet computer,
Forrester Research analyst J.P.
Gownder has estimated that Microsoft
is potentially ceding $1.4 billion a year
in revenue, based on 10 percent of the
140 million iPad owners paying for a $
100 subscription. Gownder said failure
to provide it on the iPad or Android
tablets gives incentives for users to
explore competing offerings such as
QuickOffice from Google and iWork
from Apple.
Like the other mobile versions, the new
Android software is designed for
lightweight use. For example, you can
use it to view and edit an attachment
sent by email. But it's not meant to
create a complex spreadsheet from
scratch.
The new software requires Android 4.0
or later - the Ice Cream Sandwich or
Jelly Bean flavors of Google's
operating system. It's available
through Google's online Play store. At
first, it's available only in the U.S.,
though Microsoft plans to expand to
117 markets with versions in more than
30 languages.
Microsoft did not announce any plans
for BlackBerry phones.