Windows Mobile gets free Office beta

By Jonathan Angel
2009-11-19

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Microsoft has released a free beta version of Office Mobile 2010. The software provides Windows Mobile 6.5 users with the ability to edit Microsoft Office documents while preserving formatting, automatically sync documents to a SharePoint server, and control PowerPoint presentations via a Bluetooth phone, the company says.

The Office Mobile 2010 offering is part of yesterday's release of the overall Office 2010 beta, which offers publicly downloadable versions of Office 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, Project 2010, Visio 2010, and Office Web Apps. The products are touted as delivering "the best productivity experience across the PC, phone and browser." (For more information on the desktop versions, follow the eWEEK link at the end of our story.)

Microsoft's Office Mobile 2010

According to Microsoft, Office Mobile 2010 (above) includes mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and the new SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010. The software is claimed to allow transfer of documents to and from desktop PCs while preserving rich formatting, such as tables, charts, font styles, and SmartArt graphics. Excel Mobile 2010 now provides more than 140 formulas, several previously only found in desktop Excel, the company adds.

In addition, the company says, SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010 will let smartphone users browse document libraries on an enterprise's SharePoint server, open files for viewing or editing, and save them back to the server if desired. It's said the software can also automatically sync documents -- when a file is modified on the server, a copy on the smartphone will be updated without user intervention.

Microsoft says PowerPoint Mobile 2010 now allows a Bluetooth-equipped smartphone to be used as a presentation aid. When a PC and smartphone are connected, the PC's screen will display PowerPoint slides, while the phone displays any associated notes, according to the company. The phone can even be used to advance slides, the company adds.

Outlook Mobile 2010 -- also promised but apparently not part of this week's beta -- will provide online access to corporate email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and other information from a smartphone. It will also include a Conversation View, which allows combining related messages and then moving, categorizing, or deleting them "in just a few clicks," Microsoft says.

The free Office Mobile 2010 beta requires Windows Mobile 6.5 devices -- we didn't see any word about whether they must be touchscreen-equipped, though this seems likely -- and Microsoft's Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Downloading the application from the Marketplace (below left) will automatically install the software onto a phone (below right).

The Office Mobile 2010 beta in the online marketplace (left) and on a phone (right)
Further information

For further information about Microsoft's Office Mobile 2010, see the company's website, here.

For further information about the overall Office 2010 beta, see Microsoft's website, here, and coverage by our sister site eWEEK.com, here.

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