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InvestorPlace.com has a report out about how Apple’s iPhone is closing in on RIM/BlackBerry in a number of categories. While the BlackBerry is the defacto standard for mobile business devices, there is a clear trend that even business users are moving to the iPhone.

With the release of Lotus Notes/Traveler support for the iPhone we have seen an amazing amount of interest. We have limited our deployment of iPhones to ensure we do our due diligence of testing it in our environment but continue to have daily inquiries about the status of that testing. I’ve never seen so many people interested in “beta testing” something for our group. I’ve also NEVER seen people offer to pay for the device out of their own pocket if they can simply get one with their company-issued cell phone number attached. I’ve even had a few people who have asked if they can buy the device AND pay the additional monthly service costs, if any.

Hmmm… perhaps I’m sitting on a profit center and don’t even know it?

This report suggests not only that there continues to be a strong migration to the iPhone (although, not necessarily at the expense moving away from RIM) but that the customer satisfaction for using the iPhone continues to be very strong… an item I find interesting in light of a variety of articles suggesting that as many as 30% of iPhone calls are dropped (I’ve never experienced anything anywhere near that number).

Regardless, I find it interesting that a device which has nominally changed in three generations (face it, it hasn’t changed significantly) still has so much interest that people are still wanting to migrate to it; love it when they have it; and willing to pay out of their own pocket so they can have it. Amazing!

Tags: blackberry, iphone, marketing, mobile, notes, traveler

LOTS of big Lotus news today but the one that has my full attention is the release of 8.5.1 scheduled for October 12! This brings the much anticipated support for the iPhone. No, not “uber-ultra lite” – a real, integrated support of Lotus Notes email, calendar and contacts on the iPhone complete with all sorts of corporate security addressed.

One other really important announcement buried in the full announcement:

THE complaint of our users who have been using Lotus Traveler (on non-iPhone devices) has been the lack of a corporate address book. This statement suggests that the new release of Traveler addresses it for at least the iPhone (probably others as well).

Other BIG news included the announcement that Designer and Lotus Mobile Connect are now free (see your specific license details for exact details). Both are huge announcements as it further shows that Lotus Notes is a complete solution that addresses a wide variety of business needs – not just “that other” email platform.

Big news indeed!

Tags: awesomeness, designer, iphone, lotus notes, mobile