IBM is aiming at making the mobile phone fully Web 2.0 compatible with changes to its’ Lotus collaboration tools platform.
The company announced it is adapting the Lotus Expeditor software platform to enable mobile phones to run several desktop-style applications such as social networking and mash-ups simultaneously, which it claims will be an industry first.
The new version of IBM Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 software enables mobile application developers to create new applications and services combining information from different sources.
The use of the Eclipse-embedded Rich Client Platform (eRCP) application model will allow applications to be created to span desktop and mobile devices, claimed IBM.
“People want to be productive anywhere, anytime,” said Alistair Rennie, vice-president, development, IBM Lotus Software. “IBM Lotus Expeditor enables faster delivery of a new generation of Web 2.0 applications to mobile phones. Already supporting Lotus Notes and Lotus Sametime, Expeditor has a proven track record as a platform for innovative applications.”
American telecoms operator Sprint has already made available a beta configuration of Lotus Expeditor called Sprint Titan for Windows Mobile 6 smart phones in the US.
Developers are beginning to use Sprint Titan to create customer relationship management (CRM), sales force automation and other traditionally desktop business applications for the mobile phone.
“We are intentionally blurring the lines between desktop and mobile development and allowing developers to easily move their applications to the mobile environment,” said Tom Moore, director of Mobile Business Solutions, Sprint.
By Niall Byrne
