Nov/Dec 2004

As third-generation mobile phones expand the reach of the Symbian operating system, software developers are rapidly rolling out sophisticated applications for such devices - products that would previously have been the province of PDAs or other portable computers.

One of the earlier entrants into this field is developer CommonTime, which claims to be the market leader in mobile applications that link with the Lotus Notes and Domino enterprise communication management systems.

CommonTime's flagship is its mNotes product, which extends the reach of Notes and Domino to mobile devices, and now the company has released a Beta version of the system for Symbian devices.

Chief executive Nigel Mackrill emphasises that the new product is not merely a "dressed up" version of a product working with the competing Microsoft Exchange, but has been written from the ground up for the Lotus product range.

 

As Smartphones such as the Sony Ericsson P900 and P910 find their way into enterprises, the company says, users and IT administrators have been keen to minimise costs and ensure that the technology is manageable. It predicts that the Symbian version will rival the success of its Windows Mobile and PalmOS software over recent years.