PalmOne has licensed technology from Microsoft to make
its devices work directly with Microsoft's Exchange e-mail
server.
With the support for Microsoft's Exchange Server ActiveSync
protocol, users of PalmOne devices will no longer need to install
third-party client and server software to be able to access e-mail,
calendar and contact information on a server running Microsoft's
Exchange Server 2003 software, said Steve Janiak, a senior product
manager at PalmOne.
The first PalmOne device to include the Microsoft technology
will be a new Treo smartphone, scheduled to be available before the
end of the year, Janiak said. PalmOne's licence is not specific to
one device or type of device, and the company may include the
technology in other future products aimed at business users, he
said.
Janiak does not expect PalmOne's support of Exchange Server
ActiveSync to drive the suppliers who currently link PalmOne
devices with Exchange servers out of business.
"We think that Exchange ActiveSync is going to expand the market
more than that it is going to shake other people out," he said.
Users of Good Technology and Seven Networks products will
probably continue to use those products because of the additional
management, security and other features, he said.
The agreement with PalmOne marks the first such licensing deal
for Microsoft. Support for mobile devices, previously a separate
product, was included in Exchange Server for the first time with
the release of Exchange Server 2003 in October last year.
PalmOne and Microsoft are rivals in the handheld operating
system (OS) space: PalmOne sells devices running Palm OS while
Microsoft backs its own Windows Mobile software.
For Microsoft, PalmOne is just another company with which it
both competes and partners, albeit through different parts of the
giant software company, said Chuck Sabin, a senior technical
product manager at Microsoft.
"Even though PalmOne may compete with some of the manufacturers
that are delivering Windows Mobile devices, from an Exchange Server
perspective we have the need to support a broader range of
devices," he said.
Terms of the licensing agreement were not disclosed.
Joris Evers writes for IDG News Service