Microsoft Office coming to iPad, iPhone?

If there’s one app suite that iOS devices like the iPad and iPhone are still sorely missing, it’s got to be Microsoft’s Office set. Sure, we’ve got Apple’s Pages and Numbers alternatives, but everyone knows that Microsoft still rule the roost when it comes to professional office software.

A new job listing over at Microsoft suggests that the wait for iOS versions of Word, Excel and Powerpoint may soon be over.

Earlier this month, a new listing for a “Software Development Engineer in Test, Office for Mac” was posted. On the face of it, that’s not exactly news; Microsoft have provided Mac versions of the Office suite for years. But delve a little deeper in the listing and it gets more interesting.

It describes the job as “part of Microsoft’s next move on the Mac and on iOS.”

“We build our own Mac and iOS products that present team members with unique technical challenges as well as exceptional opportunities for ownership, autonomy and professional growth,” the description continues.

Office for iOS would certainly make sense. More and more companies are ditching “enterprise” handsets from the likes of RIM with BlackBerry in favour of iPhones, while the iPad now is quickly rivalling the laptop as a go-to on-the-go business tool. iOS versions of some of the most widely used business applications would mean big bucks for Microsoft, and by extension for Apple too who would take a cut of any sale profits.

Via: The Verge