Microsoft bringing Office apps to rival phones?

Microsoft has confirmed to TechRadar that it is evaluating taking other apps from its Windows Phone Office suite and bringing them to other platforms.

We spoke to Chris Adams, product manager for Office 2010, on the subject of the Office apps as the iPhone OneNote app is finally released in the UK today.

Version 1.2 of OneNote for iPhone brings a raft of new features, including searchable notes and the ability to view shared projects on the Apple device.

Not eating itself

However, Adams doesn't think pushing OneNote further on the alternative platforms will cannibalise the nascent Windows Phone platform:

"I think we're a while off OneNote being the differentiating factor in mobile product platforms. We want to make sure the [Office] experience fits with the users choice of phone, so if you have an iPhone you get the iPhone experience."

Adams wouldn't confirm that platforms like Android or BlackBerry will be getting the same service, but pointed to the like of ActiveSync being offered in rival operating systems as proof Microsoft will push out what the user wants:

"We've already got the [Office] partnership with Nokia, announced well before the Windows Phone tie-in, and we're moving in the direction where we want to help users be more productive - it's not unreasonable to expect to see OneNote on other platforms.

"We're evaluating things like adding in editing functionality for Word and PowerPoint documents - working based on user feedback, it could be more about minor edits and tweaks to allow commenting or spelling correction rather than creating a whole presentation on your phone on a train."

The Microsoft OneNote application is available for free from the App Store for a limited time now, so grab it while you can if you're a fan of putting pictures and words together in a virtual scrapbook.