It seems that Microsoft has a new emailing/chatting tool called Flow that will be launching on iPhones soon. But apparently, Flow is not the only new mobile first productivity tool that the company is developing.
As a matter of fact, there are reports that Microsoft is busy finalizing a lightweight collaboration and document sharing app, as well as working on a lightweight project management tool. Both projects will reportedly be named "Flip" and "Highlander," respectively.
Microsoft is positioning its Flow app, and upcoming Flip and Highlander apps, are productivity tools geared for mobile users. There is a good chance that the people who had worked on Do More Experiences (under Microsoft's Applications & Services) are the same crew working on Flow, Flip, and Highlander.
In more ways than one, Flow functions like the email complement to Skype Qik. Microsoft had launched Skype Qik last year as a quick and easy video chat app for mobile devices running on Android, iOS, and Windows. To be able to chat through Skype Qik, one only needs a working mobile contact number.
Flip is believed to be equipped with features that will be included in the Flow email/chat app, but it may go one step further by offering extra capabilities such as document viewing, document editing, and other collaboration features.
Additionally, it is quite possible that Flow and Flip may inevitably make use of information collected from sources like Facebook for Work or LinkedIn in order to let users keep track of email threads and chat conversations only from contacts they want to keep in touch with.
For those familiar with Yammer, Microsoft's enterprise social media app, it is likely that neither Flow or Flip are next generation versions of that tool. Pending new information that should be available during the upcoming YamJam on May 27th, it looks like Microsoft is continuing to offer the Yammer app as a separate stand alone enterprise social media app.
Also, Office 365 will not be a prerequisite for Flow or Flip, even though Flow makes use of Exchange on the back end.
As for Highlander, it should serve as a useful tool especially for mobile users who need a project management app for tracking small scale projects. Its features are basically designed to aid mobile users in updating to-do's and monitoring ongoing projects. As far as project management tools go, Highlander offers a more simple alternative to Microsoft Project, the full feature project management tool that Microsoft is already currently selling in the market.
