Fortune is reporting that Microsoft may be eyeing the iPhone as a potential outlet for their software, including Office applications and voice control for Apple’s iPhone.
“It’s really important for us to understand what we can bring to the iPhone,” Tom Gibbons, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Specialized Devices and Applications Group, told Fortune on Monday. “To the extent that Mac Office customers have functionality that they need in that environment, we’re actually in the process of trying to understand that now.”
This comes fast on the heels of the SDK announcement and some rumors that Slilverlight might be coming to the iPhone before Flash.
Microsoft is a great company. I you work at Microsoft and you are reading this, you have my deepest gratitude — it seems over the years all the criticism, warranted or unwarranted, has held you to a higher standard as far as usability and stability testing are concerned. After using Apple Macintoshes for 8 years, and watching all the while as they got slim, slippery and slow, I officially SWITCHED BACK to Windows (XP Professional x64 to be exact) in February. I have never been happier. Now, my ever-latent, foggy, buggy, low-contrast, over-aliased Mac OS 10.5 MacBook Pro stands by as an SMB server for my Windows machine, where the real work gets done.
Certainly not by App Store/iPhone 2.0 launch…
Hmm..if Microsoft involved with the iPhone, the bug fixer team might have to triple up their work to prepare for the virus attack on Microsoft product.
It makes sense that Microsoft would want in on the iPhone action… why not?
the horror, the horror…
Didn’t Ballmer laugh at iPhone before?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5oGaZIKYvo
What changed their minds. It looks weird but it will add profits for Microsoft.
If Microsoft is able to get Silverlight to work in Safari (on the iPhone that is) then we could have “flash” without having flash, making it much easier to actually use the full web (instead of looking at it from glass walls).
I’ll bet we see Documents-To-Go for the iPhone from DataViz long before we see anything remotely resembling Office for the iPhone from Microsoft (or Apple iWork?). Whomever wins that particular race, I’d be one of the first to buy it because it addresses one of the MANY shortcomings of the device.
Randy, you’re a hoot. I have a Mac and a PC that sit side-by-side, and it’s been that way for years. The funny thing is - the PC has become my web-browsing and gaming machine, while my Mac has become my media center and my workhorse. There’s nothing I can’t get done on my Mac, but there are so many things that I can’t get done on my PC…
Sure, I use the MBP and various other Macs at home for chillin’ (EyeTV, iPhoto, iTunes and Garageband are outstanding!), but during the week when the clock’s ticking down on 4:00pm my mouse just moves too fast for a MacBook Pro. Even with less RAM and an older single-core processor, any given Windows XP box keeps up with my mouse, Mac OS X cannot.
Randy, with hands that fast, screw Windows AND Mac.
You should be on the street stealing money from tourists with 3 card monte.
No M$ app will ever touch my iPhone!
Over my dead body!
Why is it always Mac vs. PC? I prefer PCs, mind, but shouldn’t it just be about using the best product/feature from whatever company? If that means you have a PC, but an Apple iPod and iPhone, what does it matter? Goddamn purists.
LOL Lelia! I always think the same thing when I see the “pissing contests” start between the Apple fanboys vs PC fanboys or Linux Fanboys. It’s like seeing people brag about being able to do more with a screwdriver than a hammer and vice versa. They are both tools with strengths and weaknesses. I say use the one that you use best and leave the playground name calling on the playground.
I do think it’s funny that the devout fans of Apple, MS, and Unix/Linux are the ones who fight. I know for a fact that within these organizations, there is a bit of animosity (obviously stemming from competition), but overall there is a mutual respect and admiration for the work the other companies do.
I’ve gotten to the point of supporting whichever organization does something right. Apple, good job with the iPhone. MS, good job with Office 2007. Unix, good job with….command line stuff
On a side note: I can’t wait for the day when Apple and Google are despised as much as MS. It’s coming. You can count on it. The culture at all three companies is similar. The work ethic is similar. The people are similar. It’s just that no individuals within Apple or Google have screwed it up for them yet.
I have a PC and Mac and love both. They both have their pros and cons. Can wait for the App Store to open!! I bet we see tons of apps from tons of software companies including MS.
it will be a win-win situation for apple and microsoft to extend its users.