Microsoft Denies Rumor of Office Software for iPad

2:45 p.m. | Updated Correcting reference to the article in The Daily, which said the app would be submitted to Apple soon, not that it had already been submitted.

2:47 p.m. | Updated Adding background.

3:29 p.m. | Updated Adding a statement from Microsoft about The Daily’s photo.

6:06 p.m. | Updated Adding The Daily’s defense of its article.

A rumor that Microsoft is releasing an iPad version of its Office software was all over the Web on Tuesday. But Microsoft says it’s just not true.

The buzz was kicked off by an article in The Daily, an iPad-based news publication. It said that a Microsoft Office app for the iPad would soon be submitted to Apple for approval and could be released in “the coming weeks.”

A Microsoft spokeswoman issued this statement: “The Daily story is based on inaccurate rumors and speculation. We have no further comment.” She added that a screen image included with The Daily’s article showing an Office product for iPad was “not Microsoft’s software,” she said.

But perhaps that isn’t the entire story. Peter Ha, tech editor at The Daily, said that a Microsoft employee had demonstrated a version of the app on an iPad. “The launch screen may not be final, but the app itself is real,” Mr. Ha said. “We were told that the app was done and it was being tested internally.”

Microsoft Office, which includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint, has been around for years but remains one of the company’s top drivers of revenue and growth. It would not appear to be beneficial for Microsoft to release an Office app for iPads before releasing Windows 8, its operating system for tablets that is arriving this year. Windows 8 is crucial to Microsoft’s efforts to challenge Apple in the fast-growing market for tablets.