HyperOffice brings corporate e-mail to the iPhone
Launched in public beta on Wednesday, HyperOffice's enterprise communications tools will enable Apple iPhone users to synchronize with Microsoft Outlook, since the iPhone doesn't support Microsoft Exchange.
Currently, the iPhone has no support for Exchange e-mail, which can be seen as a negative to its use in the corporate environment. HyperOffice hopes that its tools suite will solve this problem.
It's not software that you install on your iPhone, meaning you don't have to unlock anything first. Rather, it uses the device's built in Safari browser to perform the updating functions. Called 'webware,' the service addresses the current problem where software cannot be installed directly to the phone in a manner that avoids invalidating the iPhone's warranty.
This is not to say that in the future a software tweak could be made available that would make a software application available to perform similar functionality -- the iPhone's SDK is expected quite soon -- but right now webware is the only legitimate option available to developers.
"People really want to use the iPhone as a business tool," HyperOffice president Farzin Arsanjani said, adding that the lack of native Microsoft Exchange support is a deal breaker for many interested in using the device in the enterprise sector.
HyperOffice's HyperShare gateway tool would allow users to sync Outlook to the iPhone using the device's pre-existing mail client, which supports IMAP, SMTP, and POP3. Support here would include folders, attaches, documents and tasks, with replies being relayed back to to Outlook or the Exchange server.
Furthermore, the company's product also allows Outlook use even without Exchange, opening up use of the product to smaller companies who may not be able to afford an Exchange deployment.
With each download of the beta, the company would offer a 30-day trial of the HyperOffice product. Pricing beyond that ranges from $44.99 monthly for five users with 500 MB of space up to $1,499.99 for 250 users with 250 GB of storage. Additional users would be charged at a rate of $10 per user.
Groups larger than 250 employees would need to contact HyperOffice for pricing, its company Web site says.