Software : Office for iPad on the way, but not before 'touch first' for Windows |
| Office for iPad on the way, but not before 'touch first' for Windows Posted:  There is indeed an iPad version of Microsoft Office coming down the pike, but the company is initially saving that touch-friendly experience for its own Windows devices. The Verge reported today that Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer confirmed the existence of Office for iPad - but it's no closer to landing on Apple's market-leading tablet. Speaking at the Gartner Symposium ITXPO in Orlando, the outgoing Microsoft CEO revealed the company's "in progress" plans for a "touch first interface," but has no plans to make it available first on a competing platform. "iPad will be picked up when there's a touch first user interface," Ballmer remarked to conference attendees, suggesting that Office for Windows will be where the new version makes its premiere. Owning productivityAccording to Microsoft insiders, that sentiment appears to have been echoed by Chief Operating Officer B. Kevin Turner, who recently proclaimed the company's intention to "own the productivity experience across all devices." That's certainly not the case just yet, with Office restricted to an iPhone-only app that requires an annual subscription to use - despite persistent leaks and rumors that an iPad version actually does exist. Microsoft Executive Vice President, Applications and Services Qi Lu also recently confirmed "touch-first versions of our core apps in the Office suite" during a recent meeting with analysts. For now, "touch-first" appears to also mean "Windows first," but Microsoft isn't giving any indication of how soon that initiative might land in the waiting hands (and fingers) of users.
|
| Microsoft's updated YouTube app is nothing more than a web player Posted:  We lost track of just where Windows Phone's YouTube app situation stood, so it came as a nice surprise to learn that the app was updated to version 3.2 today. Our contented smiles were quickly smacked from our faces however when we discovered the update turned the app into nothing more than a web player, taking mobile WP users straight to the browser whenever they try to do anything YouTube related. As noted by WPCentral, even tapping an installed YouTube icon on a Windows Phone handset will land you on the m.youtube.com page, which on the bright side does save you the step of having to open your browser directly. Microsoft has long bemoaned not being able to offer its users a premier YouTube experience on par with that enjoyed by iOS and Android device owners. Today's update is about as far from premier as it gets. Even the app's Windows Phone Store description is a limp attempt at sounds appealing. Not friendsIt seems that Microsoft and Google, the two protagonists in this long tale, are getting nowhere fast in developing a legitimate Windows Phone YouTube app. We left off in August with Google blocking Microsoft's own YouTube app because the latter didn't comply with Google's requirement to build it using HTML5. Microsoft rebuttled with a missive that had two essential arguments; that Google unfairly asked Microsoft to use HTML5, something it didn't require of Android or iOS, and that Google simply didn't want to give Windows Phone users the same experience as users of other platforms. Things look pretty bleak for the video app on Windows Phone at the moment, especially for users. "Doesn't work anymore. Really ****** me off. Have to borrow other peoples phone to watch a **** video," one app reviewer wrote. "Broken," wrote another. "After update give a new feedback. ****** Google."
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from TechRadar: All latest Applications news feeds To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment