Lotus Notes to Add Support for iPaq

Lotus Development Corp.s Notes and Domino messaging software is being extended to support more mobile computing.

By the end of the year, Lotus Mobile Notes users will be able to gain access to their e-mail, calendar information and address books from Compaq Computer Corp.s iPaq mobile computing devices, which run on Microsoft Corp.s Pocket PC operating system. Next year, the company plans to release products for the Epoc operating system, according to officials at Lotus parent company IBM, in Somers, N.Y.

Currently, the only handheld operating system Lotus supports is Palm OS.

Lotus also announced immediate availability of its line of Lotus Domino Everyplace servers, back-end wireless access software for a variety of devices. The suite is meant to work in conjunction with IBMs WebSphere Everyplace server, which also provides a back-end platform for wireless access to enterprise applications.

The Lotus Domino Everyplace suite includes the following:

• Lotus Domino Everyplace Access, which provides wireless access to e-mail, calendars, directories and any Domino applications that support WAP (Wireless Application Protocol). It costs $89 per user.

• Lotus Domino Everyplace SMS, which lets applications send messages to any device that supports the Short Message Service protocol. It costs $4,999 per server.

• Lotus Domino Everyplace Enterprise, which provides syncing and development software for wired and wireless devices. It costs $150 per user.

• Lotus Sametime Everyplace, which provides instant messaging capabilities between WAP or SMS devices and desktop PCs. It costs $35 per user.

Lotus officials said the wireless Domino applications will be targeted at industries such as insurance and job functions such as sales. It also will be marketed for employee self-help and trouble-shooting.

“Were not necessarily looking to mobilize the entire work force, just picking certain key groups,” said Patricia Booth, manager of Lotus mobile wireless offerings, in Cambridge, Mass.

That IBM is now supporting a Pocket PC device indicates that the Lotus-Palm relationship may not be as strong as Palm Inc. might like it to be. Palm, of Santa Clara, Calif., has been criticized for not teaming more with IBM to compete against Microsoft and Pocket PC.