iWork, Apple's productivity suite aimed squarely at Microsoft Office users has been available on iPad since the hardware debuted, and Apple has now made those existing applications universal iOS apps to support iPod Touch and iPhone users. Because this is a universal app update, existing owners of those apps will receive full iOS support at no additional cost, and will simply need to update the app in order to install it on their iPhone.

This is really interesting, not only because it marks the further encroachment into MS Office territory by the more beautiful and affordable iWork suite, but also because this is clearly a response to MS Office integration on WP7 devices. Apple knows that as long as Microsoft can dangle Outlook and Excel support in front of business-class users, they will hold a competitive advantage. Realistically, I can't imagine ever needing to update a spreadsheet so desperately that I needed it on my phone, but, at least psychologically, that need is there for many businesses in America. Hopefully, this new update and extension to small-format mobile devices will allow Apple to gain further traction inside businesses and with professional users as a whole.

Now it's a waiting game until we see MS Office for iOS. The latest update of Office for the Mac has brought Outlook to Mac users, and while it's still chock full of bugs, Microsoft is clearly trying to win back the hearts of some of its lost users to Exchange support and at the very least, an integrated lifestyle using both Windows and OS X.

Apple, by contrast, will *never* ship iWork for Windows.