Microsoft Office coming to Nokia phones

The deal with Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, could help Microsoft play a broader role in mobile devices while fortifying its Office business in the face of competition from free Web-based word processors, spreadsheets and other applications from Google Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc. and others. Microsoft, too, is testing a Web-based version of Office.

The alliance between Nokia and Microsoft is another sign that the two companies, once fierce competitors, are coming closer together as mutual threats have emerged.