Bad News for Office Docs Users: Docs2Go for webOS Delayed?

According to a recently published report on Palm Infocenter, the much-anticipated webOS version of DataViz' Documents To Go, an expanded version of the Doc View program bundled with the Pre that will allow for editing as well as viewing of Microsoft Office documents, may be delayed until early 2010. DataViz' Web page for the product still states that the company "will be releasing Documents To Go for webOS later this year," meaning 2009, but this latest report suggests that "coordination with Palm on a potentially-necessary ROM update for WebOS may hold up the whole shebang." 

Even if it's true, this does not mean that Pre (and soon Pixi) users will not be able to edit their documents until and unless Documents To Go for webOS is finally released. First, the PalmOS version works under MotionApps' Classic (see this thread in the Official Classic forum for instructions on installation; the HotSync conduit works with the new Classic 2.0), so Classic owners have this functionality now. Second, Documents To Go isn't necessarily the only possible solution; other developers have written Office editing programs in the past for Palm devices (notably Blue Nomad's Wordsmith for PalmOS, which unfortunately does not work for now under Classic), and Pre users have had varying success editing via Google Docs in the Pre's Web browser.

Still, the relationship between Palm and DataViz (evidenced by the bundling of the reader apps with the Pre) and Documents To Go's overall sophistication across platforms made it the best and most likely tool for webOS users who need (or wish) to edit MS Office documents. The sooner it can come out, the better it will be for the Pre's prospects for business and educational sales.