Is Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite the new top dog in iPad Office apps?

A couple of week ago one of my favorite iPhone Office applications, Documents To Go, was released for the iPad. As we see on the iPhone, the competition is not waiting on their laurels and yesterday we saw the release of Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite for the iPad (iTunes link). I am working on an article that takes a look at these Office solutions for the iPad, but wanted to let you know a bit about Quickoffice and have posted several screenshots in an image gallery. As you can see Quickoffice didn't just blow up the software to fit the iPad screen, but greatly optimized it for the iPad and it is a new application.

	Image Gallery: Check out several screenshots of Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite that is available now.

Unlike Documents To Go and more in line with the iWork apps, Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite is not a universal app available for the iPhone. It really is a completely new application with elements that just won't work on a small screen. Some of the key new features are the File Manager, Power Edit Mode, Page Layout Mode, and unique page navigation interface. All the features you expect in a Word document and Excel spreadsheet application are also present, including font formatting (color, type, size), paragraph and page formatting (alignment, lists), cell formatting (number type, functions), and multi-sheet management. You will also find support for remote storage solutions from Google Docs, Dropbox, Box.net, and MobileMe.

The advanced File Manager actually lets you touch, drag, and drop files between cloud storage solutions and your iPad local storage with large dynamic icons appearing to delete or email the file too. The slick page navigator in Quickword lets you tap and hold on the right side of a document and have thumbnails of each page appear in a semi-circle form where you can quickly slide up and down to jump to other pages.

After purchasing and testing out iWork, Office2 HD, Documents To Go, and now Quickoffice Connect, I personally find Quickoffice to be the best with a mix of standard Office functionality and user interface elements that rival those found in the iWork suite. For just $9.99 at launch I think it is well worth the price and am still amazed how inexpensive these iPhone/iPad applications are compared to the prices I used to pay for mobile applications.