SAN FRANCISCO -- Microsoft's Mac Business Unit isn't unveiling any iPhone apps during this year's Macworld Expo, and it's not commenting on anything it might be working on. So we don't know if the company is secretly cooking up an Office app for Apple's mobile phone.

Even so, I stubbornly dug for clues when I spoke with Microsoft's Eric Wilfrid, the new Mac BU general manager, on the sidelines of the show Monday. He was a good sport about it -- even agreeing to pose with his iPhone for the accompanying photo -- and the exchange did shed some light on how the Redmond company is thinking about the iPhone.

Read on for excerpts from the iPhone parts of our conversation.

Q: Any interest from the Mac BU in making an iPhone app?

Wilfrid: It's something we're looking at, clearly. Our mission is delivering Microsoft productivity to Mac customers. There are a lot of Mac customers who have iPhones, so we'll think about it through that lens. What is it that we might be able to do on the iPhone that would help Mac customers be productive, and contribute to the business that we've built and to the connections to Microsoft software and services. But we still don't have any iPhone news to share at this point.

Q: Do you use a Windows Mobile device, too, or are you pure iPhone?

Wilfrid: I'm only iPhone.

Q: It can be a little uncomfortable opening your Mac in a Microsoft meeting. Is it the same way with the iPhone?

Wilfrid: (Laughs) There are some Microsoft meetings where I choose to keep it in my pocket. But it's nothing new. There's WIndows against Mac, which is a vigorous, important competition. There's Windows Mobile against iPhone, which is a vigorous, important competition. I totally understand that there are a lot of people at my company who are deeply invested in a different solution, and yet the iPhone is definitely an important thing for me to carry and use everyday, just to be familiar with, just because so many of our customers also use that.

Q: Do you have a favorite iPhone app?

Wilfrid: Well, Seadragon. (Laughs at his display of unabashed Microsoft loyalty.)

By far the most time I spend on any iPhone app is the New York Times. It's just great to be able to have that thing with you wherever you go. Especially traveling, I can keep up with what's going on.

Although the thing that gets used on my phone overall is Super Monkey Ball. My 7-year-old is constantly asking.

Q: You mentioned that your group's goal is to serve Mac customers. But this is a gray area, because someone could be using an iPhone with a Windows machine. Are there broader strategic discussions asking, 'Hey, if Microsoft does bring a productivity suite to the iPhone, where does it come from -- the Windows side or the Mac BU side?'

Wilfrid: Those are fun discussions. I think you hit the nail on the head. ... There are all sorts of different decisions that the company is working through and prioritizing different levels of investment. It's just really fun to be a part of that, as we think about Mac customers. ... Clearly we're pretty well involved with thinking about iPhone -- technical expertise, customer understanding, Apple relationship knowledge.

One of the things we do with other groups at the company is help those groups get connected with the right people at Apple, understand what the Mac and what the iPhone do, and what to expect in working with Apple and developing for them. It matters to our customers and therefore deeply to my group that whatever Microsoft apps get out there for Mac or iPhone are of the quality level that the customers would expect.