Gizmodo
I just got off the horn with PalmOne regarding their newly-announced alliance with Microsoft—or at least Microsoft's Exchange. Future Treo products (you know, the one that doesn't exist) will be shipping with a fully-compliant version of Microsoft's ActiveSync interface to Exchange, allowing Treo Who Shall Not Be Named to act just like any other well-behaved Exchange client, receiving scheduling and calendar information and meeting invitations, as well as real IMAP mail functions, so that a mail that's deleted on the Treo will be deleted on the Exchange server and so on. The stated announcement date for the next Treo is still only "this Fall," however, but from the sound of things we should hear an announcement soon.
There aren't currently any plans to back-port the new ActiveSync Exchange software to the Treo 600, however, nor are there plans to release it on the new Tungsten T5. While I won't go so far out on a limb as to suggest a switch of operating systems in PalmOne's future, it does cause one to wonder the rationale behind the decision was. I got the impression, though, that it's less of a question of "can't be done on other platforms" and instead more of a "we'll see how it goes on the Treo first."
Also, I almost cried a little on the phone trying to get them to tell me when the Treo was to be released, but it was to no avail. These Palm folks are cold-hearted misers.
Press release after the RULE.
palmOne Customers to Get "Out-of-the-box" Compatibility
with Exchange Server 2003 Data, Including Wireless Email and Calendar
MILPITAS, Calif. and REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 5, 2004 — palmOne, Inc.
(Nasdaq: PLMO) today announced that it has licensed Microsoft's
(Nasdaq: MSFT) Exchange Server ActiveSync(R) protocol to enable the
delivery of secure, wireless and direct synchronization between
Microsoft(R) Exchange Server 2003, part of Windows Server System, and
future Treo(TM) smartphones. palmOne intends to use the technology to
extend the company's device support for Microsoft Exchange Server by
adding capability for wireless server-based synchronization.
The relationship between palmOne and Microsoft underscores the market
demand to make deploying mobile email access easier for companies of
all sizes. Many mobile email solutions require a third-party server to
be installed to act as a conduit between an email server and a mobile
device. By integrating the Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol into
its devices, palmOne eliminates the need for a third-party server and
provides customers with a solution for secure, wireless email that is
cost-effective and can be deployed quickly and easily. End-users will
benefit by having out-of-the-box capability(1) to link to Exchange
Server 2003 data, including email and calendar information, using
palmOne's easy-to-use VersaMail(TM) client.
"palmOne has built its brand on making complex technologies easy to
use, and having wireless synchronization to Exchange 2003 available
out-of-the-box will enhance our smartphone customers' experience while
slashing company IT costs," said Ed Colligan, president, palmOne. "Key
to offering the premier mobile-email-access device is our
open-platform approach, resulting in a full spectrum of choices for
individuals to CIOs at the largest enterprises."
"The combination of the Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol and mobile
solutions from palmOne provides customers with a direct means of
extending wireless access to corporate email from their palmOne
devices in the field," said Dave Thompson, vice president of Exchange
Server at Microsoft. "We believe that the combination of Treo
smartphones and Exchange Server 2003 can significantly enhance
end-user productivity by providing a secure, direct, easily
implemented wireless email while simultaneously lowering IT costs by
eliminating the need for middleware."
Email is the obvious application required by mobile workers who want
to remain connected while away from the office. Between 2002 and 2006,
the number of mobile workers in the United States will grow from 10
million to a total of 104.5 million individuals, and the No. 1
application organizations plan to spend money on in 2004 is email.
According to IDC, 84 percent of businesses will look to deploy email
first and then follow with personal information management, calendar
applications and customer relationship management or sales force
automation applications at the same time or soon after. Converged
devices, such as the Treo line of smartphones, are poised to capture
this growth in mobility with an expected growth rate for converged
devices of 47 percent CAGR worldwide by 2006.
