IBM prepping Lotus Notes for iPhone/iTouch

In a move sure to get Microsoft thinking, IBM will be releasing a version of Lotus Symphony for Macs at the Lotusphere Conference next week in Orlando. Lotus Symphony is a free productivity package consisting of a word processor, spreadsheet application, and a presentation application based on the increasingly popular open document format (ODF).

Although there are no clear details, along with the Symphony, IBM is promising a version of Lotus Notes email application for the iPhone and iTouch, a software which makes use of IBM's Domino email server program, aimed at competing directly with the RIM's Blackberry and other business-oriented phones, at $39 for new users while keeping it free for the current customers. This would mean that IBM has got it hands on Apple's SDK, expected to be released next month.

This is the first time the two giants are collaborating on a software platform, after Apple stopped using IBM's chips in favor of Intel's. "We have a lot in common," IBM spokesman Mike Azzi said. "We're going to cross-pollinate." A clear indication of teaming up to contend with Microsoft, we say.