Nokia, IBM Bring Lotus Notes To S60 HandsetsNokia, IBM Bring Lotus Notes To S60 Handsets

Nokia and IBM are bringing Lotus Notes Support to the nearly 80 million S60 3rd Edition smartphones.

This will enable mobile professionals to connect to their corporate accounts via Lotus Domino Server software known as Notes Traveler. The integration will be possible without any middleware, and users will be able to get real-time access to e-mail, calendar, address book, and other data.

The move will affect more than 40 different Nokia handsets, including many of the popular E Series devices. The S60 series of phones are powered by Symbian, but it has been optimized for convergence with multimedia applications as well as making enhancements to security.

This is Nokia's latest attempt to gain a stronger foothold in the U.S. enterprise market, which is currently dominated by Research In Motion's BlackBerry. In September, the phone manufacturing giant dropped its own enterprise software and instead focused on working with corporate e-mail partners like IBM and Microsoft.

Nokia also has recently released highly capable smartphones aimed at the enterprise, and the flagship E71 will reportedly be picked up by AT&T.

"This collaboration means nearly 90% of business e-mail can be mobilized with Nokia devices, without needing to purchase additional servers, middleware, or licenses. With the presence, position and technology that IBM have in the corporate e-mail market, they are an essential partner for us in enterprise," said Soren Petersen, Nokia's senior VP, in a statement. "People need to be connected to their e-mail, information, and network when they are out of the office and that has to be done conveniently and on their terms."

For IBM, the move is a natural expansion of its overall strategy to enable customers to have access to their information wherever they need it.

"We are literally freeing millions of people using Nokia's Symbian platform from having to rely on a desktop or laptop to access their important business communications," said Kevin Cavanaugh, VP of Lotus Software, in a statement.

As smartphones grow in processing power and information access, there are some who believe these handsets can replace laptops for working professionals. information weighed the pros and cons of using a smartphone as a laptop replacement, the report can be downloaded here (registration required).