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Microsoft Likely to Unveil New Office for Windows Phone Tomorrow – Report

Report claims that Office for Windows Phone will be on Microsoft's agenda for the January 21 Windows 10 event

Jan 20, 2015 07:13 GMT  ·  By
Office for Windows Phone could soon get a major redesign
   Office for Windows Phone could soon get a major redesign

Microsoft's January 21 event will witness not only the public unveiling of new Windows 10 features but also more details about Windows Phone 10, the company's new mobile operating system which is expected to arrive on phones later this year.

In addition to a new version of Windows Phone, Microsoft is also expected to share details about the new version of Office for its mobile platform, a new report says.

It's already known that Microsoft is working to revamp Office on Windows Phone, and according to The Information, the January 21 event is the right moment to present the new version to users.

Very similar to Office on iOS

Sources have told us that, with the new Office, Microsoft is aiming at a user interface that looks more like the one on iOS, thus trying to create a seamless transition from one platform to another.

What's more, it appears that Microsoft is planning to release Office apps separately, just like they're currently available on iOS, so you'll be able to download Word, Excel, and PowerPoint separately from the Windows Phone store.

Even though the unveiling of the new apps could take place tomorrow, it's not yet clear whether the apps would also be released during the same day or shortly after that. Microsoft might actually provide us with an update on their work and a demo of the new apps, but downloads might be locked until the new version of Windows Phone is released.

Already confirmed by Joe Belfiore

Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Operating Systems Group, confirmed in a post in early January that a new version of Windows Phone would be released soon, but no details on the timing were provided at that point.

“I want to assure you that our Office team has not forgotten Windows Phone - we're just aligning all of our news and announcements to a single event. You'll hear much more about what we have planned before Chinese New Year,” Belfiore said in his post.

Obviously, people expect many more details to be unveiled during tomorrow's event, which kicks off at 9 am PT (19:00 GMT+2) at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond.