Apple on Wednesday released updates to its three iWork apps for the iPad. Version 1.2 of Numbers, Keynote, and Pages feature improvements to file-format support and file transferring, adding the ability to transfer files to and from remote servers and enhancing support for exporting files in Microsoft Office-compatible file formats.
All three apps now support transferring documents to and from the iDisk feature that’s a part of Apple’s MobileMe online service. Users without MobileMe aren’t completely out of luck, though: according to Apple’s release notes for the products, the apps can also transfer files to servers running WebDAV.
While Pages already had the ability to share its files in Microsoft Word DOC format, the other two apps in the suite added the ability to export their files in Microsoft-compatible formats with this update. Numbers 1.2 can now export spreadsheets to Microsoft Excel XLS format, and Keynote 1.2 can now export presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint PPT format. All apps also boast improved speed and reliability when importing DOC, XLS, and PPT files.
Other Numbers 1.2 features include the ability to group and ungroup objects and the ability to open comma-separated data files from other apps including Mail. Apple’s release notes for the update also list numerous improvements and bug fixes.
Other Keynote 1.2 features include support for audio in builds when importing presentations from Keynote ’09 on the Mac, the ability to group and ungroup objects, animated build support for groups, and new animations including Lens Flare, Spin, and Wipe (for builds) and Revolving Door, Swoosh, and Wipe (for slide transitions). Apple’s release notes list many other improvements and bug fixes.
Other Pages 1.2 features include the option to display a word count for a document, opening text-file attachments from Mail, and object grouping and ungrouping. Apple’s release notes list other improvements and bug fixes.
The iWork updates should all be available immediately on the App Store.
