CloudOn, a free iPad app that offered Microsoft Office functionality with Dropbox support, appeared briefly in the App Store yesterday before going up in a puff of smoke a short time later.

CloudOn has responded saying their app has "sold out", but we think this may have had something to do with server overload.

Thanks for your support of CloudOn! We're currently sold out. We look forward to the feedback we will receive as we continue to support the many users that have registered in this first phase.

The fact that CloudOn came with full Dropbox support for storing and managing office files on-the-go was a great idea for power users, and the overall offering is unique in respect to beating Microsoft to the punch at their own game. This could be another reason the app is no longer available, as Microsoft could have called shenanigans if CloudOn didn't go through the appropriate channels before release.

I gave it a quick whirl when it was actually up and running, and noticed the app was somewhat sluggish from the get-go (probably due to how much it relies on the cloud backend to get things done paired with the influx of users hammering their servers).

We'll let you know as soon as CloudOn is back in the App Store. In the meantime, here's its description:

• Use Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint on your iPad to create or edit documents.
• Rename, delete and manage documents with your Dropbox account
• Display, edit or create charts, change formatting, spell check, insert comments, into any Word, Excel or PowerPoint files
• Track changes while reviewing Word documents
• Use pivot tables and insert formulas in Excel workbooks
• Display and edit animation or transitions in PowerPoint presentations
• Present in full PowerPoint mode (not in PDF)
• Open files directly from your iPad email accounts or Dropbox account
• Automatically save documents to avoid losing changes

Source: CloudOn

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Microsoft has released OneNote, which is its first Microsoft Office application for iOS devices. OneNote is a note-taking application, which is very popular with Windows tablet users. With OneNote you can create and view notes and also sync them across multiple platforms and devices. Created notes can contain text, pictures, bullets and checkboxes. To use the application, you will need a Windows Live ID.

OneNote is compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 4.2 or higher. It can also be used with the iPad however it is not a universal binary so will not be the greatest experience. The app is free for a limited time only and currently only available in the US App Store.

With many other fully featured note taking apps already available for iOS, do you see any advantage to using OneNote compared to something like Evernote? Either way could lead to Microsoft releasing iOS versions of Word, Excel and Powerpoint?

[iTunes Link]

Now this is something from Microsoft that we're really excited about -- Office Web Apps that take the traditional second pillar of Microsoft's business and launch it up into the iPhone Safari browser-compatible cloud.

We'd prefer a native Microsoft Office for iPhone at this point, of course, but a free (ad supported, though hopefully not with 15-30 sec. un-skippable commercials...) version online? That's a great "good enough for now".

Microsoft has just begun showing off the tech preview, though Techcrunch says the mobile version is still in its infancy:

We mentioned in our original post in July that the ability to use products across the OS, browser, and mobile device is a key part of Microsoft’s strategy. We actually demo’d the Sharepoint-based version of PowerPoint on an iPhone and it was disarmingly sleek. While this functionality has already been established for Sharepoint, the SkyDrive-based apps are still being developed to work on mobile browsers. Microsoft says it will be done by the time the product launches next year.

With Google's Web Apps really raising the bar (and bringing the competitive pressure), it's not surprising to see Microsoft pushing back. And, hey, maybe Apple could get in the game and start doing something more interesting with iWork.com as well...

As part of their ongoing Office 2010 ramp up, Fortune reports:

Microsoft – the king of paid software – will announce today that it is going to give a version of Office away for free online. Both the online and desktop versions are scheduled to arrive in the first half of next year. Yes, you read that right. The latest version of its ubiquitous productivity software, dubbed Office 2010, will come as both a piece of software you can buy for your computer, and as a service you can access in your browser. [UPDATE: Microsoft says it will support the Firefox and Safari browsers as well as IE.]

Which immediately makes us ask -- how about Mobile Safari?

While native Office-supporting apps are obviously the way to go for many people, Google Docs has proven a place and usage case for WebApps, and having Microsoft Office 2010, of all things, as a WebApp on the iPhone would no doubt appeal to many, many users as well.

(Not to mention WebKit, the engine behind Mobile Safari, is also used by Android, Palm, and some Nokia devices, which would certainly be additional eyeballs for Microsoft's ad sponsorships.)