Google probably should have launched a Google Docs app for Android about two years ago. The ability to view, edit, create, and collaborate on documents would have been a major selling point, and it seems like a no-brainer for a company with one of the top mobile operating systems and one of the top cloud-based office suites. Better late than never, I guess, because today Google finally got around to launching a native Google Docs app for Android, and the company is making up for tardiness with a few awesome features including the ability to scan text into Google Docs using your phone’s camera.

Google Docs for Android lets existing Google Docs users access all their existing text, spreadsheet, and presentation documents. You can search your Google Documents or filter by items you “own” or starred items, and open files for viewing and editing on your mobile device. You can also upload documents from your phone and share items with anyone in your phone’s contact list.

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Sure, Windows Phone 7 comes with its own suite of mobile office apps, but that isn’t very helpful if you’re a Google Docs user with your spreadsheets, presentations and other documents stored online. But a third party developer by the name of Tasbir Inc has released a free app that lets you view your Google Documents on a WP7 device.

GDocs for Windows Phone 7 won’t let you edit documents yet. But if you need to access your files on the go, the app could come in handy. You can also download files from Google Docs for offline viewing, and there’s even a “Download all” feature that lets you grab every file you have stored in the cloud.

The app encrypts your password and communicates with Google over a secure connections.

GDocs is available as a free download from the Windows Phone Marketplace. If you don’t have a WP7 phone or Zune Desktop software handy, you can find more details at the WP7 applist.

via WP Central

Google Docs is an online office suite that lets you create, edit, and view documents using a web browser. You’ve also been able to view apps in a mobile browser for a while, including text and spreadsheet documents. But while Google Android has supported some basic spreadsheet editing, for the most part you couldn’t change a document from a mobile device… until now.

Over the next few days Google will start rolling out editing support to Android, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users.

In order to start editing, just visit docs.google.com, open a document, and click the Edit button. Android users will also be able to enter text using Android’s built-in voice recognition feature.

Unfortunately the option doesn’t appear to be available for my account yet, but Google has put out a demo video which you can check out after the break.

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ACCESS has released a new suite of apps for Google Android, including a web browser, document viewer, and home screen replacement. The company is no stranger to the mobile space. While the ACCESS NetFront web browser doesn’t get as much attention as it once did, it was one of the first third-party browsers for Windows Mobile that offered tabbed browsing and other features that were missing from Pocket Internet Explorer. ACCESS also launched a version of Palm’s classic Graffiti handwriting recognition software for Android earlier this year.

So what do the new apps have to offer for Android users?

NetFront Life Browser

The company’s new web browser features all the usual goodies including support for tabs, bookmarks, and history, as well as page zooming. The NetFront Life browser also has a unique user interface an done feature you won’t find anywhere else – support for screen tilting, not just rotation. In other words, you can hold your phone at a 45 degree angle and web pages will adjust. No, I have no idea why you’d want to do this either, but it certainly helps set NetFront Life Browser apart from the competition.

NetFront Life Browser

There’s an option to import bookmarks from the default Android browser when you first launch NetFront Life. Then you can pull up a list of bookmarks by pressing the box button in the center of the navigation buttons. This will bring up a list of thumbnails and page titles which you can scroll through, carousel-style. From this window you can also see a small version of the currently open page at the top of the screen, plus you can scroll left or right to switch between running tabs.

There’s also a scrapbook function that lets you clip and save portions of web sites, and a checkmark feature that lets you mark areas of a web page.

The browser supports Adobe Flash, although it takes a while to load (which isn’t surprising, as that’s true on most Android browsers). It does not appear to support pinch-to-zoom or other multitouch gestures though. You can only zoom by double-tapping the screen or tapping the screen once to bring up plus and minus buttons that let you zoom in and out.

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When HP introduced webOS 2.0 yesterday, one of the features the company highlighted was the fact that Quickoffice software would be built in, making it easy to view Office documents without installing any additional software. Need to read that Word, Excel, or PowerPoint presentation your boss just emailed you? No problem.

On the other hand, if you need to edit those docs… problem.

Today Quickoffice announced that its webOS software will only let users view documents at launch. The company plans to offer an upgrade which will let you edit those documents from your phone. The upgrade will be available for purchase “in the near future.”

via PreCentral

Ever need to print a PDF file, sign it, scan it, and then email it? I’ve lost count of the number of contracts and other documents I’ve had to do this for. Doc Sign is an iOS app that saves you a few steps, by letting you use your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad to sign a PDF using your touchscreen display. No printer or scanner required.

You can use the app to open PDF attachments from the iOS Mail app, from Drop.io, or from a computer. When you’re done, you can either export the document or email it.

Doc Sign isn’t just for signatures though. You can also use it to fill out forms in PDF files. One thing that sets this app apart from other PDF signing apps is the fact that it doesn’t require an internet connection, because everything runs natively on your mobile device. That means your files will never be uploaded to the developers’ servers.

The app supports older iPhone and iPod touch models, but some features are reserved for iOS 4 and iTunes 9.2, including the ability to transfer documents from your desktop using iTunes file transfer and the ability to open Mail attachments directly into Doc Sign.

Doc Sign is available from the App Store for $3.99.

via ReadWriteWeb

Google has rolled out an updated version of the Google Docs viewer for mobile devices that lets you view DOC, DOCX, PPT, and PDF on most mobile devices running Android, iOS, WebOS, BlackBerry OS, or other mobile operating systems.

The main difference seems to be that files uploaded in those formats now seem to feature better formatting on mobile devices. But you still can’t edit documents in those formats — although you can edit individual cells on spreadsheets using a rather clunky interface.

Honestly, Google’s blog post announcing the new viewer seems to have caused a bit of confusion, with some web sites claiming that Excel spreadsheets aren’t supported (not true), or that these features have been included all along (partially true). But Google is assuring us that something’s new… and I’m not 100% certain that you could view DOCX files last week, so that’s a possibility.

Have you noticed any new functionality in the Google Docs mobile viewer this week?