Category: Office 365

The latest update to Microsoft Word for Android is rolling out in the Play Store, bringing support for PDF file viewing within the productivity app.  Now if you have a PDF file stored on your OneDrive or Google Drive account (or locally on your phone or tablet), you can have that file opened in Word instead of another app.  For readers who are heavily into the Microsoft app ecosystem, this will be welcome news as they won’t have to switch between different apps to view the file.

It should be noted that PDF support in Word is read only.  You cannot edit them and would need another app to do that for you.

Earlier today I posted that Microsoft had released a preview of their Office apps for Android Phone today. The new Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps are stand alone individual apps that are far superior to the old Office Mobile and are in line with the path that the company is making for Office across all device platforms. I’ve spent a fair amount of time today with each of them and wanted to provide some quick feedback on them to everyone who is on the fence about downloading them. First I’m going to take a look at Word for Android Phone and I’ll post similar quick looks for Excel and PowerPoint later on in the week.

Word for Android Phone is really impressive and if you have used it on your Android tablet you are going to find the experience very similar – exactly what Microsoft is trying to achieve.  Within the app you can create and edit documents on devices with screens 10.1″ or smaller but to get all the benefits of it, you really need an Office 365 account.  An Office 365 Personal account is $69.99 and available from the Microsoft Store or you can go with Office 365 Home where you can install the Office apps on up to 5 PCs or Macs along with mobile devices.

Building on the announcements that they made at Mobile World Congress, Microsoft and Samsung today have announced a furthering of their relationship which will include the pre-install of Microsoft Office apps on Samsung Android-based tablets.  The announcement, while not a complete surprise, is good news for Samsung devices users as they will get these apps and the impact of this is both for consumers and businesses.  While I have been quite critical of how Google themselves had played with Microsoft, it is clear that Samsung sees the value of a relationship between the two companies even after a contentious legal battle.  While I’m not sure this is all kiss-and-make-up, it certainly is a step in the right direction.

In a blog post this morning, Microsoft’s Office team has announced that the Office 2016 Technical Preview for IT Pro and Developer is now available.  While it is an early release and doesn’t contain all of the final features, updates are expected to be sent out on a monthly basis as more features, fixes and improvements become available.  The expansion of the testing into this area for Office 2016 is a good sign as it marks an important milestone for the release.  Like the Windows 10 beta, it is now at the point where real world input is needed which will help shape the final product later this year.

One of the most powerful and handy apps for enterprise users of Windows Phone, Office Lens, has been updated with the ability to send your photos of documents and whiteboards directly to PDF.  The update, version 1.4.3727.0 for those keeping score at home, allows those PDFs to have selectable text and can be saved directly to your OneDrive account for safe keeping.

If you aren’t familiar with it, Office Lens for Windows Phone allows you to snap a photo of a flip chart, wallboard or piece of paper from virtually any angle and it will straighten it and to give you a front looking view.  It’s one of those PFM (Pure Frickin’ Magic) apps because when you see it in action for the first time, you’ll be blow away.

Office Lens for Windows Phone – Free – Download Now

Microsoft has made an important and powerful update to the Outlook.com platform that allows you to save email attachments directly to your OneDrive folder.  The update was quietly rolled out to some users over the weekend but is now available to all users and is a powerful step forward for the online email service.