Hands-on with Quickoffice 5

Pretty much anyone who has used a Symbian-based device is familiar with Quickoffice, the suite of applications that brings Office documents within reach for the millions of power users out there who've brushed off Windows Mobile's in-built capabilities for something a little more European in flavor. The package has just been updated to version 5, bringing with it a handful of tweaks -- and most importantly, support for Office 2007's XML-derived files.

We've had a while to play with it, and we're pleased with what we've seen. Quickoffice has historically managed to find the right compromise between functionality and simplicity and v5 is no exception; documents loaded quickly (by phone standards, anyway -- 5 seconds or less) and reading them was as painless as it could be considering our E61's 320 x 240 display. Office 2007 docs loaded as advertised, and one of Quickoffice's advertised new features -- marquee scrolling of file names in the title bar with auto-collapsing tabs -- is an awesome trick that we'd like to see in more S60 apps. At $70, the suite is probably the most you'll ever spend for a single piece of software for your phone, but it's pretty much a must-have if you plan on using it as a business tool. If you have a Nokia smartphone, odds are you already have a Quickoffice trial loaded that you can use to buy the goods; otherwise, it's available now from Quickoffice's site. Click on for some screen shots!

Hands-on with Quickoffice 5