Everyone knows that the fate of Android rests on the shoulders of those developing for the platform. If it has cool and useful applications that make using Android Handsets effective and fun, score. If not… then… unscore?
In any case, QuickOffice makes viewing Microsoft Office Documents on your mobile device a breeze. That includes .docx, .xlsx and .ppt files. That’s great news for Android as it promises to lure in all those users currently involved in WinMo Mania. Furthermore, according to EngadgetMobile, it will be equipped with technology that will allow you to access documents remotely. And since it’s called a “mobile” phone… yeah… good idea.
So this is great news for Andoid and future Android users but what about Google? Google has been actively promoting their own software package as a Microsoft Office competitor with very limited success. People simply prefer Word, PowerPoint and Excel or haven’t mustered up the courage to dive in and make the switch. Will Android perpetuate the existing preferences or will Google step in and preload Google Doc software on Android devices?
Google obviously wants SOMETHING out of this crazy little thing called Android and it wouldn’t be out of the realm of logic that they force handsets to be preinstalled with Google Documents version of “Documents, Spreadsheets and Presentations”.
So it looks like the first battle between fully Open Source and platform owned initiatives has begun. How will it unfold? Only time will tell… but to tell you the truth, we don’t really care what comes “preloaded”. The promise of Android is that you can easily plug it in, download and use whatever the heck you want.
As long as that process is made easy… this is a win/win/win for all parties involved.
[Original story via EngadgetMobile, Talk Android]