Office² ($5.99)
Version – 3.0.1
REVIEW – “A great and affordable mobile office solution!”
A number of different office solutions have come along since 
Apple introduced the App Store. While some of them are easy to use and quite useful they typically come at a price when compared to the prices of most other types of apps. If you’ve been looking for a good productivity suite but don’t want to spend $10 or $15 on it then you might want to check out 
Office² by Byte Squared!
Office² has truly evolved over its lifespan and one of the coolest new features it has gained is the ability directly integrate your Google Docs account! Not only can you view your Google Docs from within this app, but you can also edit, copy, move and even save them directly to your device! In addition to being able to edit documents (.DOC) and spreadsheets(.XLS) you can also view a variety of other documents and save them to your device using this app as well. This includes file types like PDF’s and media files like photos and video!
When you open Office² you start out at the “Files” screen by default. This shows a list of all the files that are currently saved to your device. Along the bottom of the screen you’ll notice a menu bar with several options. You have quick links in the menu to create new folders, move 
or copy files to another location and/or delete files. There is also a detailed help document built into this app that you can access by touching the “i” button in the bottom right corner and a “Settings” button in the lower left corner.
The “Settings” screen offers several different options and is where you will set up any accounts that you would like to sync with Office². At the top you’ll a toggle switch to “Enable file sharing.” This will allow you to upload 
content directly from your web browser. It’s also possible to require a user name and password to access your device from here.
Below the file sharing information are three other options for receiving/storing content. You can enable and integrate your Google Docs account, your MobileMe iDisk account and/or any WebDAV compatible service by enabling the appropriate toggle switch and entering in your account information. Adding any of these accounts will add another “folder” that contains all of your files from that account. You will have the same abilities to copy, move, delete and create new content within and between your iPhone and your various accounts.
As far as the actual interface for editing documents, you’ll find it very similar to other Office applications. You have a menu bar at the bottom of the screen with options like indentation, bullets, numbering, font settings, etc. While I found that documents seemed to look more like their desktop counterparts in landscape mode, I noticed some small bugs with the various menu options while in landscape mode.
All in all this app is a great way to make small modifications to documents, or even create simple documents in a pinch. The price tag is where it really wins though. If you are constantly on the road and need to stay close to your documents Office² may be the app you’ve been waiting for. At the $5.99 price point it is certainly the most affordable solution that I have come across that just works. So what are you waiting for? Download it from the App Store today!
- David H.
Download Now!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Developer – Byte Squared
URL: http://www.bytesquared.com/products/office/iphone/
© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.