Submitted by Frank Macey on
Apple has released new versions of its three productivity applications as universal apps, so iPhone users can now create and edit documents on the go. Keynote, Pages and Numbers were previously touch-screen optimized and available for the iPad. Now iPhone owners who already have the software on their iPads can upgrade for free.
For everyone else each individual app in the suite costs $9.99. Keynote is Apple's answer to Microsoft Powerpoint, while Pages and Numbers handle word processing and spreadsheet functions. The products import and save documents in Microsoft compatible formats, although many enterprise users are still looking to Microsoft to create mobile versions of their software.
If recent history is any indication, Microsoft doesn't have plans to expand their Office software into the mobile space. They currently rely on Office Web Apps for iOS device users, preferring to keep native versions of their product running on Windows platforms with the exception of OneNote. Apple, meanwhile has been pushing the iWork suite on its Mac OS X desktop computers and now on iOS devices including the iPad and iPhone.
iPhone users can run the apps on the iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4. Each component app can be purchased individually, and owners of the iPod touch third and fourth generation, iPad and iPad 2 can also get in on the action. Several competing apps are available on the iPhone, however iWork apps have garnered excellent reviews when it comes to mobile document editing. The only drawback is that documents must be imported to and exported from a special iOS format before editing on Apple's devices. Download all or part of the iWork suite now on the App Store.