IBM to release Lotus Notes for iPhone
Our testing with different versions of Lotus Notes has turned up mixed results so far, so we were interested to see that an iPhone version of the widely used software was in the works.
IBM has announced Lotus Notes for the iPhone will be released in 2008. According to the official site, it will “combine with the flexibility and connectivity of the Apple iPhone. To be built on the time tested IBM Lotus Domino Web Access infrastructure, users will be able to quickly access email, calendars, and contacts through the rich Apple iPhone user experience.”
The existing Apple Mail application built in to the iPhone does a very good job of rendering HTML and CSS, so we’ll be watching with interest to see how this new version of Notes does. If you have access to it, we’d love to hear from you once the product is released.
I am speechless.
I will also be “watching with interest”, given that I can’t possibly think of two user interfaces that are less alike. The result will either be a revelation for users of the desktop equivalent of Notes, with IBM employees worldwide buying iPhones just so that they can use a more pleasant interface to read their email than the desktop counterpart, or it will be a monumental flop.
I’m backing the second horse.
Matt stole my words. I am also...uh...speechless.
When advising clients on designing email for Lotus Notes, I tell them to ignore it. I’ve never seen a properly-rendered email in Lotus Notes.
When I even *mention* Lotus Notes to clients, they say, “I know. I know. It sucks.”
dj at bronto
P.S. Love the work you are doing at the Email Standards Project. I point my clients here on a daily basis. Keep it up!
I just gave my two-week notice. ;}
Please someone tell me this is just a bad joke!
Glad to see the professional comments above.
The iPhone interface is based on Domino Web Access, which is an award-winning (yes, really) lightweight web-based UI for Notes mail users. In some customers, DWA is the primary or only way that Notes mail, err, technically Domino mail, is accessed.
The Ultralite interface has been getting good reviews from hundreds of beta testers. We’re confident it will be an iPhone hit.
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/lotus/products/domino-web-access/
--Ed/IBM Lotus
@Ed/IBM Lotus -
Good to see an IBM Lotus guy weigh in. You seem to be the kind of person who follows the groundswell. We need more of you! Not sure about the “glad to see the professional comments above” intro. Probably not the way to win supporters, but…
I’d love to hear more about what Lotus Notes is doing when it comes to supporting email standards. As this very project/blog points out, Lotus Notes is “poor” when it comes to the acid test: http://www.email-standards.org/clients/lotus-notes-8/.
I work for an ESP in Durham, NC called Bronto. Our clients really do complain all the time about how poorly their emails render in Lotus Notes. It seems like, based on your comments above, that Lotus is moving into the iPhone. But, again, I ask what you are doing to improve your application to render emails as they are designed?
Looking forward to your thoughts....
dj at bronto
twitter.com/djwaldow
DJ
In Notes 8, we made significant improvements to how HTML mail is rendered inbound. In fact, we asked the email standards project to re-test using a Notes/Domino configuration, rather than a stand-alone POP configuration. I am not sure why they haven’t done so… 99% of our customers use Notes with Domino, and in Notes/Domino 8, inbound e-mail renders using an embedded browser control...making it nearly flawless. One of my engineers has worked on some of the outstanding defects to even further improve things in 8.0.1 and 8.0.2.
Earlier versions definitely have had challenges, but as with any software, our only way of addressing this is fixing things in new versions. Notes 8 has been out for a year, and adoption is starting to happen in big numbers. 8.0.2, coming later this quarter, addresses some adoption blockers so we expect to see even bigger numbers by 1/1/09.
Ed--
Sorry for the “unprofessional” comment. I don’t feel it was unjustified, but it probably wasn’t helpful on a forum such as this.
Could you explain in more detail (or point me to some documentation) about how the embedded browser control in Notes/Domino 8 works?
Also: seeing as establishing a Notes/Domino 8 testing environment is a considerably more complex and expensive endeavor than setting up a POP verison, and knowing that the email standards project is a volunteer organization which is doing a great service to our industry, would IBM/Lotus be willing to donate and/or help establish a testing environment?
Just a thought.
Thanks,
--Dan
Several months back, I was able to provide someone evidence that Notes 8 in a Notes/Domino configuration was highly successful with the email standards project sample e-mail. I also worked with an engineer in my organization to try to further our work on this.
For whatever reason, nobody has updated that original entry other than to indicate that it was a POP/IMAP mode test. We would look a whole lot better here with the update (which is in the blog) referenced in our official entry. Since that was never done, I’ve essentially viewed this site as “hostile” for the last eight months. Someone prove me wrong.
Ed,
I’m sorry you feel that way.
We really are trying to improve things, and the post I made on the blog makes it very clear that your Domino configuration has much better results.
We appreciate your efforts, and I have updated the test with a clear link to the blog post. Please let us know if your work on this does progress, we are happy to post about it.
Ed,
Thanks for the insight! My software consultant company only uses Lotus Notes, so I am SO excited to see the interface with my iPhone. So far, this has been my only drawback to using the iPhone for work. I can’t wait to be able to get my email straight on my iPhone.
Much appreciated…
Tina
I think ipod isn’t good at rendering css and php codes.
This article is really succesful, thanks to Mr. Mathew
I’ve always liked to the Lotus products, but have not found them to be as widely used as I had thought they would be in the business circle I’ve been in. I’m glad to see them expanding to the iPhone with their Lotus notes.
We will see what happens and how it’s going to work!
I found your sie while googling info on this topic. I thought people might want to know that a new release from Lotus includes iNotes Ultalight for the iphone. it became available last week and our site, LotusUserGroup.org is hosting a free online discussion moderated by Rob Wunderlich, a famous mobility guru in the Lotus community and an IBMer himself. I don’t know if URLs are allowed here but the link is right on the home page at LotusUserGroup.org
This article is really succesful, thanks to Mr. Mathew
I think ipod isn’t good at rendering css and php codes.
Thanks good article
I found your sie while googling info on this topic.
This topic is necessery for me thanks for this topic
Thanks good article ,
It’s out! I have had the privilege to beta test it for a while and it works pretty good, too.
It actually is a revelation for me as a long time desktop user. It’s a smooth, easy interface which works like a charm.
We would look a whole lot better here with the update (which is in the blog) referenced in our official entry.
The existing Apple Mail application built in to the iPhone does a very good job of rendering HTML and CSS, so we’ll be watching with interest to see how this new version of Notes does. If you have access to it, we’d love to hear from you once the product is released.
Earlier versions definitely have had challenges, but as with any software, our only way of addressing this is fixing things in new versions
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thanks for sharing such a informative news
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