quickoffice
Latest
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for June 30, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Google to pull QuickOffice from App Store
Have you been using QuickOffice to edit those Google Docs and Sheets on your iOS device? Put on your sad face -- Google has announced that it will remove the QuickOffice app from the App Store in the next few weeks. The app is being pulled because it the very functionality it provided has been integrated into the Google Drive apps (Docs and Sheets) -- the ability to work directly with Microsoft Office files without converting them first. If you use and like QuickOffice you can still continue to use it, but new users will be unable to install the app and no new features will be added. iOS users also have the option of using Apple's very own iWork suite, made up of Pages, Keynote, and Numbers, to edit, store, and share documents, presentations, and slide shows. Microsoft's Office for iPad -- Excel, Word, and PowerPoint -- offers excellent compatibility with the desktop versions of these popular apps, but requires an annual subscription.
Google drops Quickoffice now that its own apps can handle your work
Google bought Quickoffice to boost the productivity of its Apps suite, and it clearly accomplished that mission when it released a slew of mobile editing tools that merge Quickoffice's file tech with Google Drive. Accordingly, the search firm is pulling the plug on the earlier software; it's going to remove Quickoffice from both Apple's App Store and Google Play "in the coming weeks." You can still download it after that if you're an existing fan, but newcomers will have no choice but to use either Google's apps or their rough equivalents.
Google makes Quickoffice for iOS free and universal
With Apple making its iWork for iOS suite free with the purchase of a new iOS device, the mobile office wars are heating up as more and more people turn to their phones to conduct business. Not to be outdone, Google announced today that it is making its previously paid-for Quickoffice iOS app free for everyone. Announcing the move in a blog post, Google said: Everyone likes free stuff, which is why starting today we're making Quickoffice available for free, for everyone. With Quickoffice, you can edit Microsoft® Office documents across your devices, giving you the freedom to work with anyone no matter what hardware or software they're using. Quickoffice also integrates seamlessly with Google Drive storage so you can safely access your files from anywhere. And while the easiest thing to do is simply convert your old files to Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, Quickoffice gives you another way to work with people who haven't gone Google yet. Google is also giving users who download the Quickoffice app and sign into their Google Accounts from it by September 26, 2013 an additional 10 GB of storage space on their Google Drives for the next two years.
Google makes its Quickoffice app free for both Android and iOS users
Less than two weeks after Apple decided to make iWork free for new iOS devices, Google went and did us one better: it's offering its Quickoffice suite for free, to both Android and iOS users. If you recall, the apps have actually already been free to Google Apps subscribers, specifically, but now the offer applies to anyone, regardless of when they activated their device or what OS version they're using. As an added incentive, if you sign in to your Google Account from the Quickoffice app by September 26, 2013, you get 10 gigs of extra storage space for two years. And that's all there is to it. Hit up the source link for more details, if you need them, or else find the app on Google Play or the App Store.
Chrome OS dev channel gains Quickoffice powers, lets users edit native Excel and Word files
Chrome OS hardware continues to proliferate, and on the software front, Google continues to add features to the platform in the hopes of persuading more folks to exit the traditional PC paradigm. Today marks a significant step in achieving that latter goal, as the dev channel of Chrome OS has received the ability to edit Excel and Word files thanks to Quickoffice integration. While it's not ready for public consumption just yet, it shows that Google's getting close to fulfilling its promise to deliver native doc editing to the Pixel and other Chromebooks. Should you be among those on the dev channel of Chrome OS, you can enable the functionality now by going to chrome://flags, enabling document editing and restarting your machine. According to developer François Beaufort -- the man who discovered the functionality -- editing's still a glitchy process, but the more folks that use the feature now, the faster the problems can be found and fixed. The power of productivity is in your hands, people, so get cracking squashing those bugs!
Quickoffice on Android and iPhone now free for Google Apps for Business users
Quickoffice for iPad became a free perk for Google Apps business subscribers back in December, and now Mountain View has extended the offer to its Android app, and made its iPad application iPhone-compatible. By wielding the office suite, users can edit, create and view Excel, Word and PowerPoint files that reside on Google Drive. In addition to going gratis, the software has been tweaked to show Drive folders such as Recent, Shared With Me and Starred, as well as subfolders, to boot. On iOS, Quickoffice picks up a few additional improvements, including support for multiple Drive accounts, refined chart rendering and the option to create and share zip folders from several files. Ready to take the search giant up on its deal? Click the neighboring source links for the downloads. If you aren't a business type, picking up a Chromebook Pixel will snag you Quickoffice for free as well, but that route is a wee bit pricier.
Chromebook Pixel to have integrated Quickoffice, able to open docs natively
While the Chromebook Pixel has that pretty display for looking at pictures and browsing the web, many users would probably still want to use the laptop for, like, actual work. Thankfully the Chrome team has thought of that and have developed an integrated version of Quickoffice so that you can finally open and edit office documents natively within the Chrome browser. The final app will take two to three months to ship, but that office functionality will be built-in with the Pixel (update: we've clarified this statement below). Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Chrome, said at the Chromebook Pixel event in San Francisco that this "completes the story for a lot of users" who want something a little more beyond just Google Docs. We've also learned that while the Quickoffice integration will be available initially for the Pixel, it'll eventually roll out to other Chromebooks as well via a software update. Update: To clarify, we've learned that all Pixels will ship with Quickoffice already installed. You'll be able to open and view documents on it as soon as you get it. However, the ability to actually edit those docs won't be available until two to three months down the line as they're still working on perfecting the app (the demo they had at the event failed a couple of times).
Google Apps for Business users get free Quickoffice for iPad
Google purchased mobile productivity suite maker Quickoffice this past June and now we're seeing one of the fruits of that buyout. Starting immediately, users of Google Apps for Business will gain free access to a specialized free version of Quickoffice for iPad. The app, which requires you to enter your Google Apps for Business credentials in order to function, has been built specifically to work with Google Drive. Using the company's cloud storage service, you can create, store and open Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. Of course, if you aren't a Google Apps for Business user, you can still download Quickoffice Pro HD (US$7.99) from the App Store.
Google Apps for Business users receive Quickoffice for iPad as a freebie
If Google recently caught you off-guard with its announcement that Google Apps would move to a $50 per user model, perhaps some free software will help restore balance to your world. Today, the company announced a free version of Quickoffice for the iPad, which is an exclusive perk for users of Google Apps for Business. The software suite allows users to view, edit and create Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, and as proof that integration isn't lost on Google, all files are stored to Google Drive. For the moment, only iPad users will be treated to this free version of Quickoffice, but Google insists that iPhone and Android versions are on the way. If you'll recall, this is the same bit of software that Google purchased earlier this year. Nice to see it's being put to good use.
Daily Update for June 5, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Google acquires Quickoffice
Google has announced that it's acquired Quickoffice, originally founded in 2002 and known for its productivity suite for iPhone and iPad. The move is a smart one. I've never been impressed with how Google Docs has been handled on the iPad. The desktop version of Google Docs made its way to iPad in 2010, and the performance was disappointing. I've always considered Quickoffice to be the stronger of the iOS productivity suites, and it'll be interesting to see what Google does with the property. I would like to see Quickoffice become an official Google Docs app, complete with dropping the app cost.
Google acquires Quickoffice, expands cloud-based app suite for enterprise
What's a search giant with nigh endless cash reserves to do? Acquire, acquire, acquire -- that's what. In keeping with its recent track record, Google's taken yet another company under its ever expansive wing with the purchase of Quickoffice. The move, no doubt positioned to further the company's reach in enterprise cloud services, should enhance its existing portfolio of GApps and, by logical extension, Docs. It's safe to say that the company just bought itself an existing suit-and-tie user base and a mobile future filled with even more native productivity applications. Check out the source below for Mountain View's official release.
Connect by QuickOffice and Box OneCloud attack iPad file round-trip challenge
The baseline of iOS document sync and editing rests with Apple's iCloud, which allows the company's three productivity apps (Keynote, Numbers and Pages) to automatically back up, synchronize versions across devices and accept uploaded files via the web browser -- or, if you're sneaky, you can use a Mac folder that ties into the cloud storage service. That's all well and good, but it doesn't deliver the syncing magic of services like Dropbox, Box.com, Egnyte or SugarSync for easy and rapid file access on the iPad. Of course, getting your files onto the iPad is only half the trip -- specifically, half of the round trip. "Round tripping" files means that your iPad productivity apps need to be able to save modified documents back to the cloud, creating new versions automatically rather than having to be manually emailed, uploaded or copied over. Cracking that challenge is a key advantage for apps that aim to address the enterprise/mobile professional market. This week, two major players announced new round tripping features for their productivity platforms; one's from an application vendor moving into the cloud, and the other's from the cloud storage side opening up new opportunities for app developers. First, we have Connect by QuickOffice. QuickOffice was founded in 2002 and grew up in the smartphone space, but CEO & co-founder Alan Masarek told TUAW that "things have really gotten off the hook for us with tablets." In fact, the flagship QuickOffice HD product is the #2 highest-grossing iPad app in the store, sometimes trading spots for #1 with Apple's Pages app. QuickOffice HD already allows solid document, spreadsheet and presentation editing (including the XML/Office 2010 and 2011 formats for Excel and Word), with good round-trip cloud storage hooks for most popular services. The recently-released Pro Select HD product allows administrators to set data security policies and turn off specific file access methods. With Connect by QuickOffice, the company is moving towards providing a proprietary, highly tuned cloud storage system of its own with the viewing and editing prowess of QuickOffice HD on the front end. The new app will allow users to sync immediately, save round-trip and access files stored on remote computers (either in designated folders, or via remote access to the full volume) while still providing sync with other cloud services besides the core Connect service. Collaboration options include file sharing and commenting; you can manage your shared files online via the Connect web portal. Connect will be offered on a free/subscription basis -- the free version lets you view files and sync up to two devices. Premium and Pro subscriptions (at $19.99 or $69.99/year, with Premium going up to $44.99 after an introductory period) add editing features while bumping up the device limits and file sync capacity. Connect by QuickOffice should be available as a free download in the App Store within the next few days. The second new wrinkle is from cloud storage vendor Box.com (formerly Box.net). The company's free iPad app has been revamped as Box OneCloud, providing quick links to over 30 Box-friendly iOS applications for viewing and editing files. Four of those apps get pride of place as "premier apps," offering -- wait for it -- round-trip file saves directly back to Box.com for the simplest possible integration and file management. Rockin' demo video below. The four premier apps available at launch with Box OneCloud are portable document reader/annotation tool PDF Expert, speech-savvy notetaking app PaperPort Notes, remote signature & authorization app Adobe EchoSign and, surprise surprise, QuickOffice HD. All four should gracefully save back to Box, and there will be more premier apps coming in the future. Box accounts are available free for personal use (5 GB storage, with paid upgrades available), and business accounts start at $15 per user per month. The iPad may not be the ideal tool for office applications, but if these two vendors have anything to say about it the story is going to get better.
Quickoffice releases ProSelect HD, targeted at enterprise administrators
Quickoffice has released its new iOS ProSelect HD application suite through the App Store's volume-purchasing program. ProSelect HD combines the existing Quickoffice document suite with corporate security features, and the new package is targeted specifically at enterprise users. Features include a configurable file manager system, integrated cloud service collaboration, device-based encryption and SaveBack. The SaveBack feature allows users to securely edit documents synchronized with cloud storage services like Box.com, Egynte, Catch, Google Docs, Dropbox, Huddle, Alfresco, SugarSync or Evernote. What's most important about ProSelect HD is what it lets you turn off. Enterprise IT managers may need to lock down their iOS office suites more than the average iPad user would, so ProSelect HD allows a central administrator to disable features from the regular Quickoffice suite like WiFi sharing, copy and paste and specific (read: less secure or auditable) cloud services. Secure file access is one of the big reasons enterprises are looking at solutions like GroupLogic's ActivEcho for iOS access to corporate data, skipping the commercial cloud and going back inside the firewall to Windows fileservers. ProSelect HD is offered at tiered-purchase levels beginning at 50 users. It includes maintenance and support for a year. Contact the company for a quote if you're in the market.
Quickoffice update brings document editing to the TouchPad
Well, we knew it was coming, and folks, it's finally here -- the promised update to Quickoffice HD that brings document editing to HP's webOS slate. Available gratis for TouchPad owners, the overhaul enables text formatting in Word docs, in addition to enabling cell and function editing in Excel spreadsheets. Unfortunately, editing of Powerpoint presentations is sorely lacking, but that's nothing another update can't cure, right?
Quickoffice Pro HD update includes Evernote, social media integration
Quickoffice Pro HD for the iPad updated to version 3 on Monday, introducing file storage on Evernote and Catch along with social media integration. Users can now access and store files on Catch and Evernote, adding to a robust list of remote file storage that includes Dropbox, Google, Box.net, MobileMe, SugarSync and more. Users also can share files on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Yammer. Quickoffice Pro HD is currently on sale for US$19.99 in the App Store. The new features do not extend to Quickoffice Pro, which is just for the iPhone.
HP TouchPad rumored to lack document editing at launch
The WebOS nuts at PreCentral have received an anonymous tip-off that HP's imminent slate won't be able to edit Office docs out of the box. As much as we'd like to dismiss this as a retaliatory rumor put out by BlackBerry, it emits an unfortunate whiff of truth. While HP has previously made a big deal of the TouchPad's inclusion of the Quickoffice app, it has only said it's "working with Quickoffice" to include document editing, and it has never demoed editing in action. The company has recently been trying to boost its app count, but perhaps it should have put more effort into securing core functionality instead. A glimmer of hope, though: the same tip-off also suggested that at least some editing capabilities will be introduced "via a downloadable update in Q3 2011". Hey, what's the rush?
Droid Incredible 2 review
It wasn't that long ago that we were jonesing for a Nexus One on Verizon. What HTC gave us instead was the Droid Incredible, with the same 1GHz Snapdragon CPU and gorgeous 3.7-inch AMOLED display -- not to mention a better camera (8 megapixel vs. five), 8GB of built-in flash storage, an optical trackpad, HTC's Sense UI on top of Eclair, and a dash of funky industrial design. The Incredible was an impressive phone with a lovely camera, marred only by questionable battery life and lack of supply, forcing HTC to build a Super LCD-equipped model to satisfy demand. Judging by the popularity of the Incredible, it came as no surprise that following HTC's announcement at MWC, the Incredible S eventually became Verizon's Droid Incredible 2. With a 4-inch Super LCD display, global CDMA / GSM radio, front-facing camera, updated internals (including 768 MB of RAM), trick capacitive buttons, and a Froyo-flavored serving of Sense, the Incredible 2 seems like a worthy successor to last year's Incredible. Does it live up to our expectations or is it just another fish in the crowded sea of Android? Does it significantly improve upon the original formula or is it merely a refresh? Hit the break for our review. %Gallery-124397%
Macworld Expo 2011: Quickoffice for iPad offers cloud storage, publishing
Last year at Macworld Expo we saw Quickoffice for the iPhone. This year we got a look at Quickoffice for the iPad, including some features that aren't yet available from the App Store. With this release, the Quickoffice team has emphasized cloud-based storage and publishing. Plus, the iPad version now includes PowerPoint editing. Here's our quick look at Quickoffice for iPad. You'll find a video after the break. The app's full title is Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite for iPad, and it's quite nice. Upon launch, you'll see a list of supported cloud services. On the far left of the display you'll see all of the available services, or "connected partners," including iDisk, Google Docs, Dropbox (naturally), Box.net and new with the iPad app, Huddle and SugarSync (I wonder if iDisk feels self-conscious while hanging out with the cool kids like Dropbox). From there you can select any Microsoft Office file as well as PPT, PPTX, PDF, iWork, HTML, PNG, JPG or GIF files, among others. Of course, the Office files are fully editable and, since they're stored remotely, can be accessed from nearly any computer with an internet connection. Some cool features include pinch-and-zoom within Excel documents (it's very smooth). Word docs viewed with Quickoffice for iPad are displayed as pages, as opposed to the iPhone which doesn't break them up. I think it's much nicer, visually, to see your file with the page breaks. There's also a very nice "Toolbox" available when editing Word docs that's similar to the Inspector in Pages and some other apps from Apple. In fact, you can apply style changes to text right within the Toolbox window. It saves jumping around and is well done. The new PowerPoint editing is also interesting. I especially like the option to batch-select slides for repositioning, a "film strip" that works as a type of presenter mode that only displays on the iPad as well as a "laser pointer" that lets you highlight the important bits or distract the easily distracted. One feature that's not yet on the current release lets you drag-and-publish files to Slideshare, Scribd and docstock. It's super simple and should be included in a future release. Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite for iPad is available now from the App Store for $US14.99. Watch our video below for Mike's demonstration.
