Sybase Updates iPhone Office Suite

Sybase has announced a new version of its iAnywhere Mobile Office, designed to offer mobile users, including those with Apple iPhones, an enterprise solution supporting e-mail, calendar, tasks and contacts with corporate directory lookup.

Launched this week, the iAnywhere Mobile Office will be available on the iPhone. The iPhone option requires that users download and install the iAnywhere Mobile Office server and then download the iAnywhere Mobile Office iPhone client from Apple’s App Store.

The App Store has increasingly featured iPhone applications for enterprise users.

The iAnywhere Mobile Office allows users to securely use Lotus Domino and Microsoft Exchange in a mobile context. As mobile devices have proliferated throughout the enterprise, the ability to run secure e-mail and other tasks is vitally important to workers perpetually on the road.

“Today’s wireless consumers have grown accustomed to feature-rich functionality and extensive access to personal data, which is carrying over to the enterprise,” Raj Nathan, chief marketing officer of Sybase, said in a statement. “As the demand for wireless device usage and access to corporate data in the enterprise continues to grow, only solution providers with extensive mobility expertise and a single, comprehensive mobile platform … will be in a position to fulfill requirements of the next-generation work force.”

Sybase has rolled out a number of new initiatives lately. On 11 March, Sybase and SAP partnered to deliver mobile solutions for SAP Business Suite 7, enabling it to run on the iPhone, on BlackBerry or Microsoft Windows Mobile smartphones and on other mobile devices.

The nonexclusive agreement would use Sybase’s mobile enterprise application platform to deliver SAP’s CRM solutions to enterprise workers on the road.

On 23 Feb., Sybase announced the Sybase IQ 15, the newest version of its analytics server, in a move to better compete in the data warehouse space with Teradata and Vertica Systems.

For Apple and its iPhone, 23 March was not the best of days, with a lawsuit accusing Apple and AT&T of negligence and breach of contract over the mobile device’s 3G speeds. The lawsuit alleges that the Apple iPhone drastically under-delivers with regard to 3G wireless speeds.