Microsoft to make Office apps for Nokia phones

Microsoft is partnering with Nokia to make Microsoft Office applications for Nokia phones. The deal is important if Microsoft is to extend its reach to mobile users who do not use its own Windows Mobile operating system. It is also part of a larger battle with Google over control of the cloud computing space.

The firms promise to release mobile-optimised versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for users of the latest Nokia smartphones. These programs will be cloud-based, meaning users can save their documents remotely and access their work from different devices, for instance, on their desktop PC or through a web browser.

Nokia is the world's largest handset producer and its Symbian operating system is the most-used mobile OS software in the world. The company claims that more than 200m of its customers own smartphones - feature-rich devices capable of running advanced applications. Microsoft already makes mobile office apps, but so far they are only available on Windows Mobile devices.

Google has offered a range of apps for Symbian and Windows Mobile phones for some time. Existing Symbian apps include cloud-based word processor, Google Docs - a competitor to Microsoft Word. Google also offers its RSS app, Reader, for Nokia phones as well as a calendar app and its popular Maps app.

The move to put Microsoft apps on Nokia phones is an effort to maintain Microsoft's user base as new devices transform the software market. Microsoft's dominance of the operating system market gives it considerable power to promote its own office applications. However, this dominance is under threat from a range of new devices. These include low-end netbooks, which often run Linux-based operating systems, and smartphones, which run one of several competing mobile operating systems.

Microsoft must work hard if it is to prevent a steady stream of users abandoning its office software as they migrate to different devices. Google was quick to see the potential of cloud computing and is ahead of Microsoft in offering office apps for all the major mobile operating systems.