Commtag to add Notes support

Commtag to add Notes support to Duality mobile mail

Lotus Notes users will soon be able to read their e-mail on smart phones, thanks to CommtagLtd.’s Duality Always-On Mail software.

Duality consists of three components: a server element which compresses, encrypts and forwards mail from the corporate mail server; a relay which maintains contact with mobile devices in order to push new messages out to them, and a client which interfaces with the e-mail software on a PDA or smart phone to deliver encrypted messages to the standard in-box.

Commtag, of Cambridge, England, first demonstrated Duality here at the 3GSM World Congress last February, and launched Version 2.0 in November with support for Microsoft Corp.’s Exchange mail and calendar server and PDAs with a wireless connection running Microsoft Corp.’s Pocket PC software.

This year it is demonstrating a Duality client for Windows Powered Smartphones such as the SPV, launched by mobile operator Orange SA in the U.K. in October. Commtag will launch the SPV client software in April, and plans to launch a version of the server software for IBM Corp.’s Lotus Notes some time in the second quarter, according to Commtag’s Vice President of Marketing Andrew Moloney.

Duality is designed to work over GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) wireless data networks.

To keep data traffic to a minimum, thus limiting over-the-air bandwidth charges, the server truncates and compresses messages before encrypting and forwarding them to the mobile device. Changes made on the mobile device, such as reading a message, deleting it, or replying, are promptly reflected on the server, Moloney said.

“There’s this perception that GPRS is ‘always on’, but it isn’t, for all sorts of reasons,” Moloney said. Patchy network coverage, over-zealous battery-saving software in the mobile phone, and other circumstances can result in the network connection being dropped unexpectedly, he said. “For the software vendor, there’s a lot of work involved in creating a user experience that’s ‘always on,’ even if the network isn’t. That’s the reason this software gets so much praise, for the way it handles that.”

The client software for Pocket PC devices can also handle meeting invitations, synchronizing them with the mobile device’s datebook. That function is not yet included in the Windows Powered Smartphone client.

Other versions of the client for devices running operating systems from PalmSource Inc. and Symbian Ltd. should appear within a year, Moloney said.

For now, Commtag is concentrating on the European market where it has few rivals, he said.

In the U.S., Commtag’s offering faces stiff competition from the likes of Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM), Infowave Software Inc., Visto Corp., ViAir Inc. and Spontaneous Technology, but in Europe only RIM has a toe-hold, he said.

The Duality server software costs around $3840 for either Notes or Exchange versions, and client licences are around $72 per device, depending on quantity. The relay server can be purchased, but Commtag usually hosts this element of the system for $15 per user per month, Moloney said.