IBM Software Coming For IPhone
IBM Software Coming For IPhone, Other Apple Devices
Today, January 16, 2008
IBM software coming for iPhone and other Apple devices
By BRIAN BERGSTEIN
AP Technology Writer
386 words
16 January 2008
02:00
Associated Press Newswires
English
(c) 2008. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
E-mail software from IBM Corp. will be available on Apple Inc. iPhones
and iPod Touch devices under a new partnership that brings together
two big rivals of Microsoft Corp.
IBM plans a formal announcement of the Lotus Notes e-mail package for
Apple's portable devices at its Lotusphere conference in Orlando,
Fla., next week. The software, which requires use of IBM's Domino e-
mail server program, will be free for users who already have a Lotus
Web-access license and start at $39 per year for new users.
IBM also plans to release Lotus Notes and the free Lotus Symphony
"productivity" package -- which includes documents, spreadsheets and
other Microsoft Office-like software -- for Apple's Macintosh
computers.
With these moves, IBM is trying to find more avenues for its software
and take advantage of Apple's natural affinity for Microsoft
alternatives.
The iPhone already can connect users to Web-based e-mail services and
to corporate e-mail sent over Microsoft's Exchange e-mail platform,
though businesses rarely enable the setting that makes it possible.
If IBM, which counts 135 million Lotus users worldwide, can get
companies to let their employees check Lotus e-mail on iPhones, the
partnership could make Apple's gadget more competitive with Research
in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and other business-targeted smart phones.
IBM and Apple, competitors in the early years of the PC market,
traditionally have not worked closely together in software, though
Apple used IBM chips in some Macs for several years until ditching
them in favor of Intel Corp. processors in 2005. But now the sides
appreciate that "we have a lot in common," IBM spokesman Mike Azzi
said. "We're going to cross-pollinate."
One reason for the distance between the two companies is the small
overlap between Mac users and the big corporate customers that
commonly buy products from IBM.
Now, Apple hardware has become a broader platform with the popularity
of the iPhone and Web-enabled iPod Touch devices. However, Apple has
delayed fully opening the devices to third-party applications; a
"software developers' kit" to enable that isn't due until next month.
Apple and IBM have been working together on their own.
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