Lotus Notes eMail coming to iPhone?
By Will Park on Friday, January 18th, 2008 at 3:24 PM PST In Announcements, Apple, Applications, iPhone
With AT&T (NYSE: T) rumored to be bringing the iPhone to its corporate and business customers, we speculated that AT&T and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) would roll-out some enterprise-class email support. Namely, we had looked for the iPhone duo to introduce native support for Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s Exchange Server, which would open up a world of Outlook Server-tethered businesspeople.
Well, we haven’t heard anything about AT&T or Apple bringing Microsoft Exchange support to the iPhone, but we are hearing that IBM’s Lotus Notes eMail could be released for the iPhone and iPod Touch as soon as January 20 - which roughly coincides with the iPhone’s rumored launch on corporate and business accounts. A Lotus Notes eMail application on the iPhone would be the first-ever software suite developed on Apple’s official iPhone SDK.
An IBM spokesperson stated that Apple and IBM have “a lot in common. We’re going to cross-pollinate.” Sounds to us like a sly confirmation of an iPhone-bound Lotus Notes eMail platform.
[Via: AP]
I wouldn’t be surprised if they do the Lotus platform, and hold off on the MS server for Exchange. I think they will only do the MS server if they’ve got overwhelming customer requests for it.
Poor iPhone users. First they pay $400, then they have to use the worst piece of software ever invented.
Lotus notes is the most un-Apple-like software ever. I have never seen a buggier, counter-intuitive, piece of Craptastic garbage in my life.
This is not a benefit, rather a punishment.
I would never use Lotus Notes because it’s the epitomy of what’s wrong with the PC way of thinking. Stuff features into a package without regard for usability or “friendliness” - it’s the opposite to Apple’s way of thinking.
But, the thing that you should take away from this is that even those poor souls unfortunately tethered to Lotus Notes will be able to integrate the iPhone and its fantastic UI and user experience. I just hope IBM and Apple work together to bring a more “Apple-like” experience to the table.