IBM's iNotes Ultralite for iPhone released

IBM finally and officially released its Lotus Notes support for iPhone, mainly aiming for corporate/business & iPhone users.

The iNotes Ultralite download comes with IBM's Lotus Notes software 8.0.2, while the AppStore version also offers an update of Lotus Symphony, the free alternative to Microsoft Office for preparing documents, spreadsheets and presentations. According to IBM, the newer version of Symphony provides improved compatibility with Office.

IT Administrators need to install IBM Lotus Domino Web Access 8.0.2 in order to make the whole thing work, once everything installed properly; IBM iNotes can be accessed via the iPhone's Safari browser. Users can also add the Lotus Mobile Connect VPN for better security.

Sources are from PCW Business Center, and One More Thing.

[blogged with my Treo 750v]

Grumpy old business for iPhone

iPhone 3G is still no success in the deep core of business market, despite with it has managed to snatched the most Sexiest Gadget Alive 2008 title. Apple’s intention to grow an exclusive branch for business and corporate, hasn’t exactly going to show its green (read: money) yet.

With growing supports of business apps for iPhone 2.0 platform like Microsoft’s Exchange Server, MobileMe & few other apps you can find in the App Store; I have not heard any news that say a big enterprise company has adopted iPhone for its main smartphone.

The only last one, is that HSBC might buy 200,000 iPhones to be used by its employees worldwide; but this is still only a rumor. And unnamed senior IT official at a large U.S. business who, after evaluating the iPhone 3G, said this about it: "It's a great product but has a ways to go. A year after Apple comes out with a consumer device, these kinds of enterprise things are not going to happen magically."

Security would be the most important issue for enterprise and corporate users, since the data and informations stored inside their humongous servers are very valuable to competitors. So data/information theft and leakage are the IT managers’ first concern when it comes to replace the existing smartphones with the shiny new iPhone 3G.

There are already some solutions came from the 3rd party software developers such as SplashData & 1Password, but as David Gewirtz, an e-mail security expert, put it: "everybody prefers stuff from the manufacturer."

The lack of native encryption is the iPhone's "one failing," said Glenn Edens, an independent mobile consultant, who is otherwise bullish on the iPhone 3G. "Remote wipe helps but is not good enough."

But another big push is coming from one of the oldest and leading in computer tech: IBM, who is planning to launch iNotes for iPhone later this year. IBM hopes to bring its widely used Lotus Domino service like email, calendar & contacts into iPhone’s good looking UI. The iNotes is acting as client app and will be using web access to use these available features:

• Easy viewing of Lotus inbox
• Read e-mail with details either hidden or shown
• The ability to quickly compose or reply to e-mail
• The ability to attach and send files
• View day-at-a-glance calendar
• View details on meetings, all day events, reminders, and anniversaries
• View an organized view of your contacts
• View information on contacts and groups
• Quickly create new contact entries

Head on to IBM web page to see more screenshots gallery, and find out if you can convince your company’s IT admins to switch into iPhone. ~LOL~

The business market, especially for mobile device, is as old as monarchy tradition itself. Not to mention it’s filled with inexplicable must be fulfilled technical demands. But there are code ethics & unwritten rules that Apple needs to address, before gunning for the technical issues such as security and integrated managements. This has proven on how old-styled devices & technologies are more easily accepted, than the new ones.

Can Apple rely on iPhone’s sexiness to woo business users rather than “the beauty inside”? For ‘common’ users, it’s has been a huge success. I can’t wait to see how it goes with the ‘sovereigns’ (read: enterprise & corporate users). ;-D

Sources are from:

IPhone 3G: Still Not Ready for the Enterprise (PC World)

HSBC Might Buy 200,000 iPhones (Brighthand)

Lotus iNotes Aims for iPhone 3G (PCW Business Center)

Lotus Domino Web Access (IBM)

[blogged with my Treo 750v]

IBM's Highlight shrinks huge websites for your tiny mobile phones

Those smart guys at IBM research groups have done it again... this time they're developing a software that lets mobile users create slimmed-down Web pages that can be viewed more easily on a small device such as a mobile phone. And it's called Highlight.

According to an interview with the software developer Jeffrey Nichols, Tess Lau at IBM Almaden Research Center; Highlight will lets users record the steps required to perform a simple task on the Web, say looking up flight arrival information on a Web site. Users can "clip" sections from a Web site and then save them on another Web server, which then serves the slimmed-down pages to the mobile device.

The software itself is an extension to the Firefox browser and was built by researchers at IBM's Almaden Research Center, it can let Web surfers create their own versions of Web sites, free of the clutter that makes them hard to navigate on a small screen.

In addition to acting as a Web server for the mobile user, this second Web server actually runs a copy of the Firefox browser that fetches the data from the Web site being copied and then serves it up to the Highlight user. However, the fact that Highlight works with a proxy server presents a problem for Highlight's developers, however. Not all Web sites are happy to have their content copied onto other servers.
Nichols isn't sure whether this problem will be solved, but he's hopeful. "IBM or some other company could host a service that hosts these things," he said. Jeffrey Nichols added that Highlight's "task-driven things" works well for shopping on Amazon.com, or getting local restaurant recommendations from Google Maps.

Wow, sounds like another great alternatives for an old and aging web browsers. Let's say, like Blazer perhaps? ;-D But then we'll be faced with another problem; OS compability. If IBM is the muscle behind Highlight, it is highly possible that it'll support Linux OS.

[blogged with my Treo 750v]