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Microsoft Office reportedly bound for iOS, Android in 2013

A Microsoft Office app is headed for Android and iOS, one news outlet has alleged. But Microsoft says the Office report is inaccurate. 

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Reuters
Microsoft Office may soon arrive on iOS and Android operating systems. Here, a boy plays with an iPad on display in an Apple store in Hong Kong.
  • By Matthew Shaer

Microsoft Office may finally be coming to iOS and Android. 

According to The Verge, which has obtained a press release from the Czech offices of Microsoft, a mobile version of the Office suite will launch for the Google and Apple mobile operating systems in March of next year. The Verge reports that Microsoft product manager Petr Bobek separately confirmed the existence of iOS and Android apps at a press conference in the Czech Republic. 

Thus far, the Microsoft press team in the US has sought to play down the rumors.

"The information shared by our Czech Republic subsidiary is not accurate," Microsoft corporate communications honcho Frank X. Shaw tweeted today. "We have nothing further to share."

As Gizmodo notes, that's not quite a flat-out denial, but it is "denial-ish." 

The launch of an Office iOS app, of course, would be a cause for major celebration. Apple has said there are about 700,000 apps in the App Store – 250,000 of which are native to the iPad. Unfortunately, there aren't many top-quality word processors to be found. (Pages, which bills itself as "the most beautiful word processor you’ve ever seen on a mobile device," is the highest rated of the bunch.) 

This is a problem for any iPad owners that want to occasionally rely on their iPad as a replacement computer. 

In related news, we're edging closer to the official launch of Windows 8, the long-awaited Microsoft OS. Rachel King of ZDNet says Microsoft is planning to team up with Boingo to provide free Wi-Fi at hotspots across New York; meanwhile, the company will roll-out a range of pop-up stores to show off Windows 8. 

To receive regular updates on how technology intersects daily life, follow us on Twitter @venturenaut.

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