Tuesday news part 2: Notes/Domino 8.5.1 is in beta, including iPhone support in Lotus Notes Traveler

May 12 2009

IBM's press release on Notes/Domino 8.5.1 beta has been published on the newswire, including news that Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.1 beta supports the iPhone via Exchange ActiveSync:

Although iPhone users can already access Notes e-mail via IBM Lotus iNotes Ultra-Light, today's ActiveSync support will mean push access to the popular software including the ability to view Notes mail, calendar and contacts data when not connected on the iPhone.
As Brent Peters and I announced at Lotusphere, we've added the Exchange ActiveSync protocol to Lotus Notes Traveler in the new 8.5.1 beta.  Initially, we are configuring and testing that for the iPhone (and iPod Touch) 2.0 software.  The functionality is similar to the existing Lotus Notes Traveler capabilities for Windows Mobile and Symbian-based devices.

The 8.5.1 beta went out to hundreds of Notes/Domino design partners just a few hours ago (they know it as "code drop 5").  A managed beta follows later this quarter.  IBM plans to ship 8.5.1 later in 2009.  For those interested in testing the iPhone piece specifically, it will be available via the Lotus Greenhouse within a week -- target is Friday, May 15.

The Notes/Domino 8.5.1 beta has many other additional features, including support for XPages in the Lotus Notes client, new LotusScript and Java editors in Domino Designer, and incremental usability Notes improvements.  We will be publishing more details about 8.5.1 as the beta progresses, and we head towards availability in the second half of 2009.

Link: IBM Announces Beta Availability of Lotus Notes 8.5.1 Software with iPhone Support >
Link: Network World: Notes push e-mail coming to iPhone > (Note: Since the interview, I've learned that the Greenhouse support is coming more quickly...see above)

Ed Brill Orlando, FL USA Category:  Notes and Domino 8.5  Add/View Comments [38]

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  1. 1  Adam Osborne http://www.preemptive.com.au | 5/12/2009 3:06:48 AM

    Nice work Ed. You're on a roll.

  1. 2  Jesper Kiaer http://nevermind.dk | 5/12/2009 3:20:18 AM

    Great news.

    Hopefully 8.5.1 is at much higher quality than 8.5.

    After been working daily with the 8.5 designer since LotusPhere, I can only say that the 8.5 Notes client and designer is very much Beta material.

    From a marketing perspective it had to be release, from a quality perspective this version was no where near production ready...it should never had been released at this time.

    Jesper Kiaer

    { Link }

  1. 3  Markus  | 5/12/2009 3:44:30 AM

    @2: I totally agree. 8.5 throws you back to the time where you would never ever install a '.0' version of ANY notes client or server, but wait for a '.0a' or '.0b' version.

    I admit, 8.5 looks nice but the many bugs and performance issues (especially in the designer) are just annoying.

    Still I love the sidebar, the widgets, iNotes Ultra Light and look forward to 8.5.1 improvements like Active Sync and more :)

  1. 4  Stepan Karandin  | 5/12/2009 3:47:31 AM

    No one page at IBM corporative site. Arggghhh! =)

  1. 5  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 5/12/2009 3:50:23 AM

    @2 / @3 I'm just not seeing this, though admittedly 8.5 has been flawless on my Mac the last three+ weeks. On the Windows machine we had the occasional crash or lock-up.

    A fixpack for the 8.5 client is scheduled for June, followed by 8.5.1 in the second half of the year.

  1. 6  felix  | 5/12/2009 4:12:41 AM

    @2 @3 I agree. I'm just waiting a 8.5.x release or a fixpack to migrate some customers.

    Great release anyway the 8.5; better than 8.0, 8.01 and 8.02 with a lot of problems with most of the installed clients.

    No mayor problem with all the Domino R 8.x releases; excellent!

    @5 >A fixpack for the 8.5 client is scheduled for June, followed by 8.5.1 in the second half of the year.

    ahhh, wonderful words :)

  1. 7  Markus  | 5/12/2009 4:43:07 AM

    @5 there are some issues with the win client not starting, loosing config, having to delete .config dir etc.

  1. 8  Colin Williams http://guttedgeek.posterous.com | 5/12/2009 5:19:31 AM

    Excellent news, can't wait for all of this goodness!

  1. 9  Barry  | 5/12/2009 5:28:05 AM

    @5 Ed - you are scaring me. Are you implying IBM thinks 8.5 designer client is stable? I hope you are referring to the notes client and the server. Which I do believe are stable.

    But the designer is another story.

  1. 10  Peter LaComb  | 5/12/2009 5:43:59 AM

    @9 - I'd have to agree. The client, and server seem good. Admin client (when not in basic mode) and Designer are prone to crashes, loosing toolbar settings, etc, and Designer is REALLY slow if you don't manage your working sets.

    Also, some lists in designer scroll in a way that makes me dizzy (scrolling down specifically results in an odd repaint - but Visual Studio has the same problem).

    I still wish all three apps were running under different processes - though I realize that doing so would make 'full access admin' hard to pull off without having to turn it on in each app.

  1. 11  Henry Ferlauto http://www.geniusinside.com | 5/12/2009 5:54:49 AM

    Very nice to see. It can't come soon enough.

    Once 8.5.1 is released the iPhone issue is hopefully put to rest.

    Two thoughts / questions:

    (1) I hope that in Beta that iPhone OS 3.0 is supported because come something this summer (most likely June 9th) it will be released and as per Apple ({ Link } any new apps MUST be iPhone OS 3.0 compatible to be listed in the App Store.

    (2) Ed - You did not mention anything about Symphony. I recall in your slides a major upgrade was coming, but the timeline escapes me. What Symphony changes will be 8.5.1? On a related note is this the release that will include macro support (particularly in spreadsheets) that is keeping the remaining 20% of IBMers on Microsoft Office?

  1. 12  Ben Poole http://benpoole.com | 5/12/2009 6:19:14 AM

    @11 As I understand it, the iPhone OS 3.0 / app store question doesn't apply, because Traveller is all about making the iPhone work via ActiveSync -- in other words, you're not installing a specific Domino iPhone application from the App Store, you're synchronising the iPhone's native email application with Domino via Traveller.

  1. 13  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 5/12/2009 6:59:48 AM

    @11/@12 Ben is correct.

    @11 Symphony 1.3 is coming later this quarter and is also the code that will be in 8.5.1. That gets a very brief non-specific mention in the press release, and I was planning to blog another update about that later this week.

  1. 14  Mike McP http://openntf.org/mPortal | 5/12/2009 7:06:11 AM

    @5: I think we're talking about two different things. 8.5 designer is a complete mess of screen re-drawing madness, 8.5 client is quite usable.

  1. 15  Werner Novak  | 5/12/2009 7:21:19 AM

    Ed, will the Activesync part only work with IPhone or is it possible to use it on all the other Activesync devices, like WM, NOKIA, SONY, LG, .....

  1. 16  John Head http://www.johndavidhead.com | 5/12/2009 7:59:48 AM

    @11 Henry, Symphony 2.0 will have the vba macro runtime support. That will be out next year. Symphony 1.3 is mostly around stability, file format support including Office 2007 read ability, and the new LSX that gives LotusScript and Java support to developers from Notes - no more UNO hacks needed.

  1. 17  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 5/12/2009 8:05:22 AM

    @15 we already support Windows Mobile and Nokia (S60) devices in Traveler. We are considering whether to support other devices that use ActiveSync through this implementation, but our first engineering work is to test and support the iPhone.

  1. 18  Declan Lynch http://www.qtzar.com | 5/12/2009 8:09:44 AM

    Does anybody know if they will be upgrading the version of DoJo to the latest available so that IE8 can be supported ?

    This is probably the one thing I'd be looking forward to in 8.5.1

  1. 19  Werner Novak  | 5/12/2009 8:13:49 AM

    @17 that's true, I'm already using it, but it need's mobile software deployment and maintenance and the above devices already have the activesync client's installed. Nevertheless I'll try it when this version get's available.

  1. 20  Kevin Mort http://www.theglobalmind.com | 5/12/2009 8:25:13 AM

    This is much anticipated, especially for iPhone and a certain Notes issue on some misbehaving Windows installs.

    Can't come soon enough...well outside of it being stable. : )

  1. 21  Tim Paque  | 5/12/2009 1:51:31 PM

    Although I love the client and server of 8.5, I really hate designer/admin. I've been counting the seconds to 8.5.1

    I'd rather have an unproven beta than a proven bad production version.

    Where can I get it?

  1. 22  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 5/12/2009 10:35:48 PM

    @21 the initial beta went out to design partners....we will open up a managed beta in June/July and be able to expand participation at that time.

    @4 you are right, there is no web content on 8.5.1 yet. We will be working on it as we move further along in the beta process.

  1. 23  Ondra http://www.spinesys.cz/ | 5/13/2009 2:57:59 AM

    And is there any word about Traveler on Linux servers?

  1. 24  Ralf M Petter  | 5/13/2009 3:06:44 AM

    Is there any word on Traveler for the i/5 servers?

  1. 25  Kazuyuki http://www.yoomi.se | 5/13/2009 5:24:56 AM

    Any news on the Domino Designer for Mac.

    We are really looking forward to that one.

  1. 26  Kazuyuki http://www.yoomi.se | 5/13/2009 5:24:59 AM

    Any news on the Domino Designer for Mac?

    We are really looking forward to that one.

  1. 27  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 5/13/2009 5:48:29 AM

    @23/24 We are considering a port of Traveler to Linux after the 8.5.1 release. There is no plan to port it to System i.

    @25 No plans for Designer on Mac at this time but we are aware of the market interest for this.

  1. 28  Pete Janzen  | 5/13/2009 8:23:14 AM

    @18 The plan is to upgrade the version of Dojo to 1.3 which will give XPages IE 8 support. This upgrade did not make the beta but we hope to get it into the builds shortly.

  1. 29  Mike Robinson http://www.invcs.com | 5/13/2009 3:50:59 PM

    so is designer usability improved in 8.5.1? I've had to go back to 8.0.2 b/c for straight notes dev it's just to quirky.

  1. 30  Willy  | 5/13/2009 8:18:11 PM

    Hi Ed.

    We downloaded the code drop 5 from beta site program.

    Just a few comments and suggestions. The documentation are not enough for me. We speed a lot of time looking for a nsf of doc with a few words to read.

    Thanks

  1. 31  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 5/13/2009 8:44:28 PM

    @30 Willy, if you are a design partner, your access to code drop 5 is under non-disclosure. You should use the design partner forum for feedback on CD5. In the forum, there are many notes posted by Jan Kenney (from my team) with documentation on various new features.

  1. 32  Xavier Hernández  | 5/13/2009 10:44:21 PM

    Ed:

    Will this new Traveller or the IBM Lotus iNotes Ultra-Light on the iPhone make it possible for creating and/or accepting invitations ?

    Thanks,

  1. 33  Fr@nk  | 5/14/2009 4:25:00 AM

    Ed:

    Is the 8.5.1. beta equiped with new Certs?

    Or is this also applicable for 8.5.1?

    { Link }

  1. 34  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 5/14/2009 6:46:05 AM

    @32 both - Ultra-Light is updated in 8.5.1 to do this and also there is some limited calendar workflow when using Traveler.

  1. 35  John Woods  | 5/15/2009 8:11:47 AM

    @33 - Yes. The 8.5.1 stream is signed and timestamped w/ the new certs.

  1. 36  Steve Dickson  | 5/15/2009 9:45:26 AM

    Hi Ed,

    With Traveler 8.5.1, will administrators be able to send remote wipe commands to a lost iPhone? This level of control really is necessary, at least with my clients in the financial sector.

  1. 37  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 5/15/2009 11:47:50 AM

    @36 we plan to support remote wipe.

  1. 38  YingChian  | 5/20/2009 8:02:47 PM

    Hi Ed,

    We noticed an issue with the latest 8.5 mail problem which attachments appear in the header section of a memo or form for email sent by external. You may refer to this link { Link } for more details. So, is this issue being resolved in 8.5.1?

    thanks & regards,

    YingChian