Microsoft Office 365 Comes to Android Smartphones
A little over a month after releasing Office Mobile for iPhone, Microsoft (MSFT) is bringing its mobile productivity suite to Android users. The catch, again, is that they must be Office 365 subscribers, and the app is designed for phones, not tablets.
The service, available in the United States, lets users with Android phones and Office 365 subscriptions access and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents from their devices. The move rounds out the availability of Office 365 via apps on the big smartphone platforms; it’s now on Windows Phone, iPhone and Android.
The prices aren’t set to where MSPs or VARs can make a healthy profit off them if that’s all that they are selling. Office Mobile for Android phones is available from the Google Play store. The Office 365 subscription that you need in order to use the app starts at $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year for the Home version which lets you use it on up to five devices including PCs, Macs or phones. The small business version starts at $5 per month per user or $60 per year per user for up to 25 users.
Of course you could argue that this continues to be more expensive to the end user than Google Docs for home use (free), or Google Apps for business ($50 per user per year), but Microsoft Office still enjoys the distinction of being the standard in business.
The benefit for service providers here is that if customers choose Office 365 so that they can access their files while they are mobile, then service providers may be more likely to realize the license revenue from the on-premise sale, too. (Office Pro for one PC is still $399.99).
