Continuing Nokia’s flourishing relationship with Microsoft, the release of Microsoft Apps brings Microsoft’s market-leading Office software to Nokia Symbian Belle smartphones. Spread across two updates, you can soon enjoy full Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote functionality on your Nokia phone.

With the dominance of Microsoft’s Office software showing no signs of waning, more of us than ever use its market-leading word processing, spreadsheet and multimedia presentation tools on a daily basis. Well, soon you’ll be able to enjoy all these great applications on your Symbian Belle smartphone too.

Showcased at Nokia World 2011 in London, Microsoft Apps will be launched via two updates, which will bring full Microsoft Office functionality to Symbian Belle-powered Nokia devices such as the Nokia 700, Nokia 701 and Nokia 603; with the first update on the way before the end of the year and the second update coming in the early part of 2012.

In the first update, Microsoft Apps will bring a range of tools to Symbian Belle smartphones, including Microsoft OneNote, for detailed note-taking; Microsoft PowerPoint Broadcast, for showcasing your presentations over the internet; Microsoft Document Connection, for managing files stored in the cloud; and Microsoft Lync 2010 Mobile, for staying connected with clients and colleagues.

The second update will launch for Symbian Belle in the first few months of 2012 and is the one we’re most looking forward to. Bringing native support for Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, the update will allow you to easily create and edit Office files on your Nokia Symbian Belle handset, letting you enjoy full Office functionality on your phone.

With Nokia stating the free Microsoft Apps updates will bring the market-leading Microsoft Office tools ‘as native applications for the first time outside the Windows platform’ they should integrate perfectly into the Symbian Belle OS and work smoothly and responsively on our Symbian Belle smartphones, when they arrive over the next few months.

Will you be downloading and trying Microsoft Apps on your Symbian Belle handsets, or do you prefer to keep your handset for entertainment and your laptop for work? Why not let us know in the Comments below?