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HyperOffice brings corporate e-mail to the iPhone

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

January 31, 2008, 3:13 PM

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.

Add a Comment (9 Comments)

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By DeadFly

posted Feb 1, 2008 - 11:06 AM

No way I'd let my users do this. I think admins are going to have to start checking their logs for this this company connecting to their OWA; users will hand over their password without even thinking about it.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Feb 1, 2008 - 2:09 PM

Firewall: Blocked.

Problem solved.

Score: 0

By flake

posted Jan 31, 2008 - 9:57 PM

Heh "syncs with Outlook." That's not supporting Exchange lol. To compete, they will need to have a "HyperOffice Enterprise Server" that syncs with Exchange. Just like Blackberry has the BES. And that still says nothing about Intranet file share and appserver access like Blackberry....

Long road ahead guys... But I do say it would be cool if they can pull it off.

Score: 0

By yountmj

posted Jan 31, 2008 - 6:31 PM

People honestly believe the iPhone is well-suited for corporate use, when this is the answer to Exchange functionality?

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jan 31, 2008 - 5:06 PM

This does not sound at all secure. I doubt any major companies will be allowing this.

Score: 0

By xyzcb1

posted Jan 31, 2008 - 4:49 PM

If I am not mist-interpret the article, this "software" host the exchange mail from their server, and iPhone user access it via the web browser.

If that's the case, why not just use Outlook web access?

Score: 0

By yountmj

posted Jan 31, 2008 - 6:37 PM

I agree. Quite a few of our customers use and rely on OWA on a regular basis, as well as myself and a few other techs in our shop.

Score: 0

By willgill

posted Jan 31, 2008 - 5:24 PM

Outlook Web Access on a full sized computer isn't too painful, but how does it look on the iPhone? However, I think IT depts would steer you towards OWA as opposed to this solution. I'd agree with others, it doesn't sound secure. Corporate email on someone else's server? Good luck with that. Besides, I don't see any mention of Calendar sync or PUSH. I see "sync with Exchange". So your Exchange server PUSHes to HyperShare gateway, then if you have HyperOffice running, the gateway then pushes out to HyperOffice on the iPhone which deposits emails in your pre-existing mail client. Seems hokie.

Score: 0

By Paul Skinner

posted Jan 31, 2008 - 3:56 PM

"the service addresses the current problem where software cannot be installed directly to the phone in a manner that does avoids invalidating the iPhone's warranty."

Should be:

in a manner that doesn't avoid invalidating

Score: 0

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