Activate Email 
INDUSTRIES
INDUSTRIES
Broadband & Mobile Featured Article
March 27, 2008
Microsoft Sees Software Possibilities for iPhone
By Raju Shanbhag TMCnet Contributing Editor
After competing with Apple for a while, Microsoft has now hinted to offer software for the iPhone (News - Alert). The company recently said in an interview that developers are considering a variety of possibilities that include offering Office functionality on Apple's smart phone.
Along with new versions of the iPhone and iPod Touch operating systems, Apple (News - Alert) plans to release the final version of SDK in June. The iPod Touch operating system contains the same platform as the iPhone, but lack the cellular component. AT&T (News - Alert) is the exclusive cellular provider of the iPhone.
During in interview with Information Week, Tom Gibbons, corporate vice president of Microsoft's (News - Alert) Specialized Devices and Applications Group, said: "It's really important for us to understand what we can bring to the iPhone. 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. We do have experience with that environment, and that gives us confidence to be able to do something. The key question is, what is the value that we need to bring? We're still getting comfortable with the SDK, right? It's just come out. So we had a guess as to what feasibility would be like, now we'll really get our head wrapped around that.”
As Apple releases its software development kit this month, Microsoft is seen having an increased interest on the iPhone. Released in beta, the iPhone SDK provides developers with an opportunity to the same tools Apple developers use for building applications that run on the iPhone's Max OS X-based operating system. Microsoft makes more software for the Mac than any other vendor, with the exception of Mac. Among its most popular offerings is its Office suite for the Mac.
Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Don’t forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP
Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users. Today’s featured white paper is Best Practices for Deploying a Virtual Call Center: Tips, Techniques and Best Practices, brought to you by LiveOps (News - Alert).
Along with new versions of the iPhone and iPod Touch operating systems, Apple (News - Alert) plans to release the final version of SDK in June. The iPod Touch operating system contains the same platform as the iPhone, but lack the cellular component. AT&T (News - Alert) is the exclusive cellular provider of the iPhone.
During in interview with Information Week, Tom Gibbons, corporate vice president of Microsoft's (News - Alert) Specialized Devices and Applications Group, said: "It's really important for us to understand what we can bring to the iPhone. 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. We do have experience with that environment, and that gives us confidence to be able to do something. The key question is, what is the value that we need to bring? We're still getting comfortable with the SDK, right? It's just come out. So we had a guess as to what feasibility would be like, now we'll really get our head wrapped around that.”
As Apple releases its software development kit this month, Microsoft is seen having an increased interest on the iPhone. Released in beta, the iPhone SDK provides developers with an opportunity to the same tools Apple developers use for building applications that run on the iPhone's Max OS X-based operating system. Microsoft makes more software for the Mac than any other vendor, with the exception of Mac. Among its most popular offerings is its Office suite for the Mac.
Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Don’t forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP
Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users. Today’s featured white paper is Best Practices for Deploying a Virtual Call Center: Tips, Techniques and Best Practices, brought to you by LiveOps (News - Alert).
