Symbian gets mobile Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps

Microsoft has released mobile versions of its core Office products, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, for Symbian smartphone users.

Although they are not yet in the Nokia Store, the apps became available for download via the Nokia software update tool and the PC-based Nokia Suite on Tuesday. They join other Office apps, such as OneNote, Lync 2010 and Document Connection, that were released for the Symbian Belle operating system in February.

"Office Mobile apps gives you quick access to your documents so that you can get more done while on the go, or when you’re not using your laptop. And because these apps were created by Microsoft, the functionalities are as close as possible — if not the same — to the Microsoft Office apps on your PC," Nokia said in a blog post.

Microsoft and Nokia have had an alliance around Office for more than two years now.

The apps released for Symbian Belle on Tuesday were already available for those using Windows Phone, which Nokia has adopted as its main platform, to replace Symbian. However, Symbian still has a huge number of users — many more than those equipped with Windows Phones, Nokia-made or otherwise.

The Symbian Belle handsets that can get the new versions of the apps include the Nokia 700, 701, 603, E7, X7, C7, Oro and C6-01 models.

Nokia also said that availability for the N8, E6 and 500 models would come in the future, and the 808 PureView — the smartphone equipped with a 41-megapixel camera — will come preloaded with all the Office apps when it goes on sale.

Meanwhile, a new beta version of the Nokia Suite synchronisation software is reportedly out. The update, a full version of which is expected in the coming weeks, will allow users to keep information in sync between their Symbian handsets, Firefox and Thunderbird, and more easily download free apps and games.