Microsoft sues Motorola over Android; IBM’s approach looking pretty smart right about now

October 2 2010

Last night I caught the news that Microsoft had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Motorola over certain methods and technologies employed in the Motorola Android-based smartphones.  According to ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, coupled with the comments from Microsoft counsel on their blog, it's pretty clear the suit in part covers the implementation of Exchange ActiveSync protocol for sync of mailbox information, as well as group scheduling.

Well doesn't IBM Lotus look pretty smart right about now.

With the fastest-growing business mobile email solution, IBM Lotus Notes Traveler supports a variety of mobile operating systems and handset manufacturers.  Specifically with regards to Android, in January we announced that we would build our own native Notes Traveler client for Android.  This was a departure from our posture with Notes Traveler until that point; building clients isn't necessarily the approach we want to take when many devices (e.g. Apple iOS) have excellent on-board support.  In Android, what I've been saying all year is that we at IBM decided we can't rely on the base operating system or device to provide us the enterprise-class capabilities we need.  The base Android OS doesn't include full-featured business email and calendar clients, and some device manufacturers have taken other approaches.  

Instead we built our own client, using the SyncML protocol, for Android.  It's taken us longer than I would have liked, but we started from bare metal in the Android OS.  And now that approach is looking like a win for Android-based handset manufacturers and our mutual customers.  Because when we [expect to] ship the client next month (yes, the target is November), it can be used with the Notes Traveler server to provide those needed business email functions immediately.

Android is a complicated market to work in.  We chose to support only 2.x devices, which are the majority in-market today but not 100%.  We encounter hurdles like the fact that AT&T has completely locked their Android-based devices from installing software outside the AT&T Marketplace -- meaning we simply can't get the Android client onto AT&T handsets.  But searches and requests for the Notes client for Android are among the most popular comments I get here, as well as inquiries through our sales/marketing channels, so clearly the market is ready.

So, dear Android users and fans, your wait will soon be over, and you can connect to the best messaging and collaboration platform without being distracted by market squabbles.  Soon.  Very soon.  And if you are in the beta, watch for an updated code drop sometime this week.

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Notes Traveler Android Microsoft  Add/View Comments [35]

Post a Comment

  1. 1  Alistair Hughes http://www.ucbestpractices.com | 10/2/2010 7:13:00 AM

    I'm not sure IBM Lotus look particularly clever to be honest. With this approach you've beholden corporate users to the usually slow and inflexible IT department. The last few companies I have worked for, I just got whatever phone I wanted and connected it to the Exchange server and got a great experience on the phone I wanted. Last time, I even chose to ditch the corporate HTC TYTN II in favour of my own iPhone, because I liked the implementation so much.

    Now, I've started work at a huge Notes house, where we only have BlackBerry and BES. They're not going to implement Traveller and thanks to IBM's approach to mobile mail, I can't use my iPhone with work email, so I've had to sell it and start using the Curve provided which is, frankly, the nastiest phone experience I've ever had.

    I'm sure Traveller is a great experience, it's just a shame it takes extra hardware, software, time and commitment to get implements.

  1. 2  Volker Weber http://vowe.net/about | 10/2/2010 7:17:04 AM

    What's the plan regarding those locked-in devices where you cannot deliver your own client? Will you talk ActiveSync?

  1. 3  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/2/2010 7:37:17 AM

    @1 is it a given that a Microsoft Exchange environment will always have the EAS server component running, configured for users, and accessible outside the firewall? Seems like there is as much beholden-to-corporate-IT in that scenario as ours, with the only difference being that in some cases, we need to install something on the client. In the case of Android, we did this for the reasons I state above, and I'll assert that yes, it's looking pretty smart now.

    @2 AT&T is the only major carrier I know of with this issue. We are having high-level discussions with AT&T on the topic, but customers should also be encouraged to contact AT&T directly.

  1. 4  Nathan T Freeman http://Http://ntf.gbs.com | 10/2/2010 7:40:29 AM

    @1 what in IBMs strategy could have been more clever given the scenario you described? If the it department is refusing to implement the no charge addon product from IBM to support your device of choice, what could IBM do to fix that?

    Even in an Exchange shops, you are still at the mercy of it if they, say, don't allow activeSync traffic through the firewall so your phone can't reach the server. I've certainly heard of Exchange shops where IT only allows mobile access through BES as a policy standard. I don't see how the messaging vendor's offer of additional approaches could stop this, unless you're suggesting that IBM should have made traveler not only a native feature set of the domino server, but that an admin wouldn't be able to turn it off and it would somehow automatically punch holes in the firewall to allow itself to be reached by mobile devices. Any other imaginable implementation would still be at the mercy of the mail and network admins that support the environment.

    The fact that your prior experience was with a group of admins who understood mobile support while your present admins don't get it is coincidence. Unless the prior admins figured "Hey we're running Exchange so none of our internal communication is secure anyway, so we might as well allow in whatever device wants to throw API calls at our servers. It can't get any worse!"

    Which now that I think about it, sounds about right.

  1. 5  Volker Weber http://vowe.net/about | 10/2/2010 7:42:24 AM

    Let me clarify. IBM failed to convince Apple. What is the plan if IBM fails to convince AT&T?

  1. 6  Michael Kobrowski  | 10/2/2010 7:48:58 AM

    My wife wanted that slide out keyboard, so we got an AT&T backflip. The locked down and limitation of it drive me nuts, but then, I guess its similar to the iPhone, isn't it?

    I think Eds reasons make perfect sense regarding the circumstances and legal environment. And, yeah, what @4 said....

  1. 7  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/2/2010 7:53:04 AM

    The scenarios are very different. The AT&T issue affects any enterprise software vendor and they acknowledge it is a challenge. I am confident they don't want to lose the business to Verizon/TMobile/etc. In Apple's case we ultimately did convince Apple of our approach versus what was initially on the table, and they are even writing case studies about our mutual customers.

  1. 8  Nathan T. Freeman http://ntf.gbs.com | 10/2/2010 8:03:09 AM

    @7 - "In Apple's case we ultimately did convince Apple of our approach..." Huh? So it was IBM's approach to brand the connectivity mechanism with the name of your leading competitor in the messaging space? A rather Pyrrhic victory if I've ever seen one.

  1. 9  Ed Brill http://Www.edbrill.com | 10/2/2010 8:19:41 AM

    No, not that. I mean using the onboard mail/calendar/contacts apps. Several other approaches were considered.

  1. 10  mike robinson http://www.invcs.com | 10/2/2010 9:13:30 AM

    @1 its cool until your phone of choice is lost and there's no remote wipe feature. Your company now has the privilege of bring on the front page of the New York Times for a data beech.

    IBM approach is actually best.

  1. 11  Volker Weber http://vowe.net/about | 10/2/2010 10:05:03 AM

    Mike, are you aware of the fact that Exchange ActiveSync provides for device lock, password policies and remote wipe?

  1. 12  Ed Brill http://Www.edbrill.com | 10/2/2010 10:45:31 AM

    Yes, if the Exchange admin sets those up, just like Notes Traveler.

  1. 13  Dennis Heinle http://www.dinkinctech.com | 10/2/2010 2:57:24 PM

    There is an easy solution for ATT customers. Look at { Link } It's an app that allows you to side load any app on any phone, including ATT. I don't have to deal with ATT so I have never used it, but it is a work-around.

    Does NOT require a custom rom or rooting.

    I can't wait for next week to get the new code drop and check it out.

    I hope this code drop is great. We are considering switching carriers and it's hard for me to recommend being stuck on Blackberry for 2 more years.

  1. 14  Richard Schwartz http://www.poweroftheschwartz.com | 10/2/2010 3:15:55 PM

    Oracle is suing Google over the use of Java in Android. Does this mean that the smart approach for IBM would have been to avoid targeting Android at all? Of course not. Both of these situations are run-of-the-mill licensing disputes that will be resolved by the respective companies with no direct impact to end-users or to third parties like IBM.

  1. 15  Mike Brown http://www.browniesbl og.com | 10/2/2010 6:38:54 PM

    Sorry, Ed, but I missing your point here.

    In what way was IBM "smart" in relation to this Microsoft lawsuit?

  1. 16  Ed Brill http://Www.edbrill.com | 10/2/2010 8:02:15 PM

    Built our own client rather than rely on a disparate and inconsistent set of email tools on the various Android implementations. Using SyncML. A host of ways.

  1. 17  Nathan T. Freeman http://ntf.gbs.com | 10/2/2010 8:56:23 PM

    @16 - Ah, so the key thing is: using SyncML instead of ActiveSync, which you could do precisely because you built you're own client.

    Okay, yes, I'll agree that turned out to be the right move. I'm sure it boils down to "Apple had licensed ActiveSync to work with their client, regardless of the server" whereas Motorola had failed to properly license ActiveSync in the first place. And so IBM's cleverness here (which you've cleverly left us to derive, I might add) is to recognize that some Android manufacturers weren't going to be properly licensed and therefore be lawsuit targets, and you shouldn't leave your app vulnerable to that legal risk.

    This also explains the obtuse answer about licensing that you gave me back when Traveler for iPhone was announced at Lotusphere 2009. It wasn't YOUR licensing -- it was Apple's.

    So yes, the Nazgul did a good job this time. It almost makes up for the 19478 pieces of code I haven't been able to get because "it hasn't cleared legal yet." ;-)

    (Fine, I exaggerate, but we literally had to change the rules at OpenNTF to give your developers a release path that met with internal IBM legal standards, so I think I have standing on this one kthxbye)

  1. 18  BrianB  | 10/2/2010 9:10:55 PM

    We just put in a Traveler server and found the process to be quite easy. The documentation was a bit confusing at first, but we worked it out and within a short period of time the system was up and running. We don't have a large environment, but we have iPhones and iPads up and running with it and the feedback has been positive. Unfortunately the pilot group that started with iPhones went back to their Blackberry devices because they missed the tactile keyboard. They have, however, started to use Ipads in place of laptops while traveling and find that the mail, calendar, and contact integration to work very well for them.

    Now if I can just convince them not to move Notes to Google...

  1. 19  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/2/2010 9:19:23 PM

    @18 re

    "Now if I can just convince them not to move Notes to Google..."

    That should be easy enough.

    { Link }

  1. 20  Bill Geimer  | 10/2/2010 10:31:05 PM

    Microsoft sued Motorola for help people to use their mail product remotely. Really? How dumb can Microsoft get... Stupid question.

  1. 21  Dennis Heinle  http://Www.dinkinctech.com | 10/2/2010 11:38:51 PM

    Once you start working with android it is clear IBM made the right move. There is no standard between carriers, manufactures and even android os levels on how mail is handled.

  1. 22  Randall Shimizu  | 10/2/2010 11:49:32 PM

    I am dismayed that the Linux foundation has not taken a more active role.

  1. 23  MIke Brown http://www.browniesblog.com | 10/3/2010 12:05:19 AM

    @16,

    So, is Microsoft saying that Motorola has reverse-engineered ActiveSync or something like that?

    The list of patents that have supposedly been violated - see Mary Jo Foley's post - are so broad and vague, to mention completely obvious, that they could apply to absolutely anything, not just ActiveSync. I mean "General meeting requests and group scheduling from a mobile device". Really? That's Microsoft's invention, is it?

    By saying that IBM played this "smart",

  1. 24  MIke Brown http://www.browniesblog.com | 10/3/2010 12:07:24 AM

    (Ooop! Last post got truncated for some reason! It should have continued like this)

    By saying that IBM played this "smart", you're implying that Motorola brought this on themselves by not being quite so smart. Surely, you don't believe that Microsoft's law suit actually has any merit?

  1. 25  Ed Brill http://Www.edbrill.com | 10/3/2010 6:57:38 AM

    I can't comment on whether the lawsuit has any merit, since i haven't read anything more than the Foley article. I have had a reaction sort of like Bill @20 above, but that is purely a personal read on what i have read. Strange times.

  1. 26  Volker Weber http://vowe.net/about | 10/3/2010 9:38:42 AM

    Ed, you really have to brush up on your Exchange skills. The user can wipe his own phone from Outlook Web Access.

  1. 27  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/3/2010 9:52:46 AM

    I'm not questioning what an end-user can or cannot do in the Exchange world. I was reacting to the assertion that corporate management of devices is somehow easier in the Exchange world than in the Domino world.

  1. 28  Mitch Cohen http://www.curiousmitch.com | 10/3/2010 1:34:41 PM

    Ed

    I am wondering why you are not planning on making the Traveler clients for Android available in the Android Market when it ships? The entitlement is in the server, the client would be useless without a server to connect to.

    How is this different then the Lotus Notes Traveler Companion App which is available in the App Store for iOS devices.

  1. 29  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/3/2010 6:27:44 PM

    @28 well, for one, the AT&T store is just one carrier, vs. the Apple app store which is the entire market. I'd also like to clarify that the entitlement for Notes Traveler runs with the Domino CAL, not with the server (it's a "supporting program" in the CAL license).

  1. 30  Bill Geimer  | 10/4/2010 8:33:15 AM

    As the sun broke through so did the notion that Motorola just happens to be a hold out on Windows 7 Phones, which sort or explains why the MS legal beagles were unleashed on Motorola.

    Other than that, @23, I have not heard any details. But there is no reason to assume any validity in their claims until they are proven in court.

  1. 31  Mike Kinder http://www.acadiasolutions.com | 10/4/2010 12:11:05 PM

    @1 - realize I am a bit late to the party, did not see this mentioned, so wanted to. You could have used your iPhone and the UltraLite client of email thru a browser and, hopefully, HTTPS for secure use.

    This of course would depend on your being able to use the iNotes version of the mail template - but I think if there is Traveler on the server, then the default mail template is sufficient. If mail is served over HTTP/HTTPS then you could have accessed it that way.

    Just an idea, and another way IBM chose some smarter implementation choices.

  1. 32  Steve  | 10/4/2010 1:51:56 PM

    @1 - 31 is correct and you could have configured IMAP if you just wanted email and used something like Apple's MobileMe to track, lock down or wipe the device.

    @ Ed - You said "And if you are in the beta, watch for an updated code drop sometime this week." Is this the last release to beta, will the non beta be coming soon too?

  1. 33  Vince Resor http://www.chardonlabs.com | 10/5/2010 12:07:53 PM

    It does indeed look like IBM Lotus has once again made a wise choice. As disappointed as I am at the prospect that the Traveler Android client will not "talk" to the Android device's native PIM apps, my complaint is with Android. Must the open source architecture really mean so little consistency between manufacturers?

  1. 34  Jon  | 10/12/2010 3:55:31 PM

    AT&T cant stop anyone from installing the client, at least not effectively. I would just encourage you to offer the client directly and through the android market. Most with an android phone know how to get around AT&T's manipulation of the android marketplace.