iPhone News Updated

Sybase on Tuesday said it is adding Apple iPhone support to its suite of mobile middleware, making it possible to access IBM (NYSE: IBM) Lotus Domino or Microsoft Exchange e-mail servers through a secure environment.

Sybase's Information Anywhere Suite enables IT organizations to provide e-mail and other services to a broad range of mobile devices. "We've had significant demand from our customer base for iPhone support, as companies want to allow the iPhone as an approved device choice for wireless e-mail, along with their other Windows Mobile, Symbian, or Palm devices," Mark Willnerd, VP for Sybase iAnywhere, said in a statement.

Sybase plans to provide e-mail service to the iPhone first, starting at the end of the month. Other services will be added later, Willnerd said.

Information Anywhere enables IT staff to reduce e-mail security risks by making it possible to restrict attachments, prevent user access to servers, and remove e-mail data from a device. In addition, the Sybase product can synchronize with the iPhone or other client device to make e-mail available for offline use. The software also provides secure access to contact data, such as corporate directories and personal contacts.

Along with the iPhone, Information Anywhere supports more than 250 Windows Mobile, Symbian and Palm-based devices. The Sybase product supports Lotus Domino R6, 7, and 8; and Exchange 2000, 2003, and 2007.

Apple released in beta a software development kit for the iPhone. The move is part of Apple's plan to open up the device's software platform to third-party developers. Before the SDK, developers were restricted to building applications that could only run in the iPhone's Web browser.

In June, Apple plans to release a new version of the iPhone operating system. The upgrade will have the necessary hooks for tying SDK-built apps to the OS. Among the most widely requested technology for the iPhone among businesses is support for Exchange, Apple said.

[Thanks: http://www.informationweek.com/]