IBM Lotus Domino to support Apple iPhone

The latest version of IBM's Lotus Domino, set to be announced Tuesday, will natively support the Apple iPhone, allowing users to automatically synchronise e-mail, contacts and calendar data to the popular handset over the air.

Domino 8.5.1 supports the iPhone through Lotus Notes Traveler software and is the first version of the collaboration software to do so, according to IBM. The addition of push e-mail, contacts and calendar will allow iPhone users to automatically get the latest data from their enterprise Notes system and work with that content on the phone while they are out of coverage or otherwise offline. If an iPhone is lost or stolen, the Notes data can be wiped from it remotely for security, IBM said.

The new version will also let iPhone users look through corporate directories behind a firewall with a corporate directory lookup feature.

With the addition of native support for the iPhone, Domino and Notes are supported on the vast majority of the world's smartphones, IBM said. The software already works with the Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Symbian platforms. On Tuesday, IBM also added features for Symbian, including the ability to lock a device, wipe data remotely, manage passwords and integrate with external calendars. Those features are already available for Windows Mobile, the company said.

With Domino 8.5.1, IBM also is making Domino Designer application development software available free of charge. Software developers will be able to download Domino Designer free from IBM's developerWorks site to build and extend Notes and Domino applications.

Lotus Notes Traveler, which provides real-time replication between mobile devices and Notes, is supported by several device manufacturers, including Nokia and Samsung, and by carriers including Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint Nextel.