iPhone gets ActiveSync support for Exchange
By Sean Cooper 
posted Mar 6th 2008 12:42PM
posted Mar 6th 2008 12:42PM
As was hinted at some days ago, the Cupertino crew decided that the iPhone was finally ready for prime time in belt clips around the nation. Well, great news friends, Enterprise to Apple means Microsoft Exchange and ActiveSync support. We can expect features like Push mail and Contacts, Global Address List, Cisco IPsec VPN, authentication via certificate, and even remote wipe. Also on the table is Salesforce.com's Sales Force Automation CRM Application (SFA) and they've even thrown in support for maps. When can we get our greedy little hands on this you ask? As soon as the next iPhone firmware update rolls out, that's when.
It's about time.
Ya, It's about time I stopped jerry-rigging my CEO's iPhone to work with exchange.
iphone is fo bitches!
Awesome. I use my phone primarily for web browsing (reason i switched from cingular 8525, to iphone), but i also do quite a few ebay auctions and like to quickly answer questions. The iphone sucks for email. I set it to check every 15 minutes (which sucks compared to my old pushmail). However, it doesn't even really do that. It rarely checks my email. It seems to do it only when i'm using the phone. This will be great. I'll just have to tell everyone to go back to my old email address. Thats always fun.
Nice, I can finally connect to my university's WiFi network with my iPhone.
The US(S) enterprise will never be the same. The iPhone will boldly go where no smartphone has gone before. ..... I'm just joking.
However, I'm sure that once decent apps are written for it, it will be an invaluable tool for road warriors.
Man, that was hilarious!
They low rank people for no good reasons at all.
when iphone gets 3g service, a fully released SDK (read 3rd party apps)32g (16g is not bad) and a blackberry clinet.... this will be a good device.
I like keyboards ala ATT Tilt, but I also prefer that they slide out on teh proper side and have the stylus in your right hand, not your left.
If they make an enterprise version iphone with 3g and a keyboard, I'll buy. Whatever the price. It's worth it.
whatever dude...the iPhone is not for Enterprise squares like you...it's for cool people like us Apple fanboys.
Cool people don't use Blackberry and/or Exchange. They use Gmail.
Why will you need Blackberry Connect software?
I mean, BES runs on top of MS Exchange anyways, so if you've got a BES you, most likely, have access to the features of Exchange which are essentially the same as BBs. I suppose you could argue that BB's e-mail client is superior to Exchange's, but we'd be using Apple's client, but with an ActiveSync to Exchange.
"when the iphone gets an SDK"
Um.. thats exactly what finally came out today, even if beta.
Yet another bad day at RIM, thanks to the iPhone.
False, RIM has devices with replaceable batteries. Tell a C level exec they have to be tethered for their phone call because you can't swap a battery. See what they say.
Yet another? RIM devices have seen record sales ever since the iPhone was released. Thus far, all the iPhone hype has done nothing to RIM but increase interest in their devices. This announcement might hurt RIM, but that remains to be seen. If the trend continues as it has been though, this is great news for RIM, because it just means more hype for smartphones in general, where they seem to stack up pretty well against every device.
@Gfar Dude are you saying blackberry users carry batteries in their pockets all the time?????? yeah right,
The fact that the iPhone doesn't have a replaceable battery is pointless. The battery in any portable device will far outlast the device itself. I'm sick and tired of people who don't have a clue about the iphone pulling out this argument because it's the only one they can come up with. You spend a day with the iPhone I'd bet you'd be hooked.
No snitch, what most heavy phone users do is charge one battery, while they are using the other. That way, when your battery gets low, you just pop out the old one, pop in the new one, and you only ever have a few seconds of downtime, instead of having to sit there waiting for the phone to charge.
Go to a conference with your iPhone, enable wifi, bluetooth, and use it all the time to keep in touch with the office. Remember we're talking about business use with an exchange server.
I'll do the same with my BlackBerry and bring an extra battery for it. I'll be mobile in the afternoon, and you'll be looking for a plug.
Hmm contacts calendar and email, but no tasks with Exchange Activesync? Something smells fishy here.
These are features that should have been available at launch imo.
No tasks? Instantly useless.
Am I the only person around who uses the tasks lists way more often than the calendar?
Come on everybody, let's all stand together and wave good bye to Palm!! She's about to sink beneath the water for good.
hahahah
Come on everybody, let's all stand together and wave good bye to Palm!! She's about to sink beneath the water for good.
I take pleasure in the fact Apple will be paying Microsoft royalties on each iPhone sold :>
Somehow I think that pales in comparison to the amount music PC users have bought from iTunes.
iTunes downloads != activesync royalties.
Microsoft doesn't pay Apple for every song bought.
iTunes downloads != activesync royalties.
Microsoft doesn't pay Apple for every song bought.
So when is it coming out? Can't wait to use it. Hopefully today
Funny, I seem to remember all sorts of talk about how the iPhone was going after a completely different market than all the other smartphones. How it was aimed at consumers, and the general phone market, not the nerdy corporate types who walk around all day staring at their Blackberries. How it was going to transcend the niche market of the corporate smartphone ghetto. How you couldn't even begin to compare the iPhone to Windows Mobile, because they were catering to completely different markets, with completely different needs, and how Apple didn't even want the stinky corporate market, because it was too small for the iPhone. Now, almost a year after it came out, what a surprise, it is just another smartphone, that can't hope to make it's projected sales figures without enterprise applications that appeal to the Blackberry crowd. How revolutionary!
Just how does that foot taste, in your mouth?
I really don't even begin to know what you mean John. Back when the iPhone first came out, and Engadget claimed that ActiveSync was coming out for the device "any day now," I said that Enterprise support was just about the only way Apple would ever make its sales targets. Everyone explained how wrong I was, and how the iPhone didn't need the stupid corporate market. This is a vindication of what I said, not an instance of my foot being in my mouth.
John - How foolish of Apple to try and win other customers to iPhone, the way they were acting you would think they were out to make money, smug or bitter? I can't decide... but can't see what your beef is?
Or Mr. L. M. Lloyd....
one could say Apple made the first ever Smartphone that the general consumer actually wanted, desperately, and now they are crushing those complaints that it isn't ready for enterprise.
Come June the iPhone will the the "only phone" on the planet that can live "comfortably" in both the consumer and enterprise worlds. I love my iPhone!
I'm wondering who's talk you are referring to. Yes, Apple said that their phone was better than the competitions (which company doesn't?) but I've never read anything that said they weren't going to compete in the corporate market or that their product was too good for it. Are you making this stuff up?
Hmmm... If the iPhone is the "first ever Smartphone that the general consumer actually wanted," then why is it still being outsold by the Blackberry? Hell, for that matter, why is it only selling roughly twice as many units as a single model of HTC's large number of devices, and nowhere near as many units as Nokia's smartphones? No, I think you are confusing it being the only smartphone to ever be relentlessly advertised on every channel at all hours of the day and night for an entire year, with it being the "first ever Smartphone that the general consumer actually wanted."
When the iPhone starts selling more than any other smartphone has ever sold, then you can start making claims like that, but right now there are 14 million active Blackberry subscribers. The iPhone taking a year and a half to reach 10 million units sold is hardly some off the charts feat, assuming they can make their target, now that they have enterprise apps. At this rate, assuming every iPhone counted as sold equates to an iPhone user, then they still have about a year and a half before they catchup to the number of Blackberry users, assuming the number of Blackberry users doesn't increase, which it surely will.
Kelmon, Steve Jobs said it wasn't a smartphone, it was just the best phone ever made before it was launched. Several people on this site and others have said repeatedly that you can't compare the iPhone to Windows Mobile, because they were aimed at completely different markets, and every single time enterprise support has come up on this site since the thing was launched, several people have authoritatively stated that Apple has no interest whatsoever in the corporate market, because this phone was going to be the iPod of the smartphone world, taking it out of the corporate ghetto, and putting it in the hands of "the rest of us." I know it is hard for Apple fans to remember what they said before the RDF was re-tuned with a new message, but try reading the site, and looking at old comments.
@LM Lloyd-
How do you know the iPhone sales targets weren't formulated with Apple knowing their product roadmap and knowing that this support would be coming down the line? Looking at the presentation made today it seems to me that Apple has been planning on this for quite some time.
Now, someone hop on that SDK and work up a BB Connect solution for me please.
It seems to me that Apple handled all of this in a very smart manner. You want a phone that appeals to everyone, so launch it to Joe Blow customer first so that it doesn't get a stodgy corporate image attached to it from the start. Also let Joe Blow customer work out all of the kinks in the system since screwing up on Joe Blow = loss of $ for Apple but screwing up on Mega Corp = loss of $$$$$$$ for Apple.
Dan, I never said they didn't. The rumors that they had licensed ActiveSync started floating the week the thing came out. At the time I said that their best hope of meeting their target was to go after the same market as all the other smartphones. My comment was not directed at Apple, it was directed at all the Macheads, who have this compulsive need to say that anything an Apple product can't do, isn't worth doing in the first place.
Guys you're casting pearl amongst swine trying to debate with L.M. Lloyd, he has issues with S.P. Jobs and the i.P One you're trying to reason with a bitter fuckwit!
@L.M. Lloyde : The fact that BB outsells all other smartphone is obvious, corporations. Most BBs I've seen in real life was mere corporate leash to its pawns. Most everyone has a personal cellphone besides that. So for you to say that iphone is "sucking" as a "consumer" phone is just idiotic.
I am an Apple fanboy, but I've always been the style over slightly less function. However, I do not own an iphone due to the fact that I enjoy my 3g phone too much to give it up. As a student in a "consumer" category, I would buy some other phone that's capable of 3g rather than buy BB. It's just bit much for the regular consumers. iphone on the other hand, is not.
last time i checked Blackberries still had keyboards with them and iPhones dont, so good luck trying to sell this to any law firm, since all lawyers do all day outside of the office is correspond and write memos on their BlackBerries, not to mention after viewing Apple commercials on television that anyone middle management or above wouldnt be caught dead with an iPhone for fear of looking extremely unprofessional/like a total tool trying to be "trendy".
Exactly who are you ranting at? The 3 people who told you what you claim? Who said it wasn't going to be aimed at enterprise use? With the power of OSX in your pocket and a native SDK, there wasn't a chance in hell that corporate users weren't going to jump in...
Is Enterprise-ville located somewhere in Canada? Because that's the only iPhone news that interests me. :)
A keyboard! Are you nuts or what. It's not a CrackBerry, ya know. Apple might even do away with keyboards on their desktop machines. It's a virtual world.
Close..along with 3G they are getting there. Gotta hand it to Apple though, an Event for stuff that should have been available on day 1.
Still No tasks
No Keyboard-will the screen keyboard really be enough for biz users
Can it edit Office Docs?-someone tell me
spotty reception
crap camera
can this thing record video yet?
MMS yet?
Looks like I'm keeping my Tilt...till the EXPERIA is released anyway
Apparently Sun are working on a version of Office for the iPhone, or something like that...
The only thing that would scare me about the Experia - which I do admire on paper - is consider the late, lamented Sony Clie UX50.
Fast processor, backlit keyboard, Bluetooth, WiFi, records video and audio, takes (admittedly crap) photos. When everything is on and you are browsing hte Web via WiFi while BT is active while listening to music - the battery lasts...
about 45 minutes. And that is without a phone!!
Commonly heard by Tilt owners: "Is that a brick in your pocket or do you have an AT&T Tilt?"
Really Scott, It's a 7 millimeter difference.
Just how tight are your standard issue Steve Jobs hippster skinny jeans?
Did someone mention my beloved UX50? Mine's still ticking. With its old battery it now lasts about 30-40 minutes doing those things. When it was new, it lasted for hours. My Clie is retired due to its ancient OS (essentially todays version of Palm OS) and the fact that it's not a phone. I whish they'd release that form-factor in a smartphone.
Nice - Now I am interested in one of these with activesync support. I will wait for the second revision of course, only suckers buy 1.0!
When I show my fellow drones that I can actually *read* a PDF or DOC on the screen, they fairly swoon with envy. Amazing how the iPhone literally changes into a new phone with just a software update.
I am still wondering when WM 6 will hit my late, lonely (and illegible) BlackJack.
And I can wait 14 minutes for the next e-mail; if it is THAT freakin' important they better call me!
Actually the WM6 update for the blackjack has been out for several weeks now. Do a google search and you can figure out where to download it. It makes the blackjack a much better handset!
But I gave up on my BlackJack months ago as I can actually read the buttons to make a call and make out actual words on an attached PDf file. Plus without the ginormous battery pack, battery life was pathetic.
Cisco VPN? Ahhh, I only use Juniper!
Actually, Juniper's SSL VPN supports several iPhone features, including clientless ActiveSync, NATIVELY! :)
Hi Kevin,
I have been desperately trying to get my iPhone to connect to my corporate network that allows Nortel SSH VPN. Whenever I navigate to the Juniper SSL VPN URL, it appears to access but then gives me an error relating to Safari not allowing popups when I select to start the network connector..
Any ideas? Am I doing this wrong? Should I be configuring this in the VPN settings? If so, how?
It all depends how the SSL VPN is configured. Network Connect, for example, isn't supported (yet) on the iPhone, so you'd need to do Core Access (web rewriter) for Intranet-like web apps, and Email Proxy to remotely access Corp email through the iPhone. Safari is supported for certain features, just like anything - for more details you can check out the Supported Platforms doc for your IVE version.
Is anyone else there a proud iTouch user and sick of having to pay for stuff iPhone users get for free?
am i the only one that finds it very strange that the iphone now has(/will soon hav) great exchange support, but the mac wont? (eg ical has no support at all, mail week and address book a bit week too)
hopefully we will see ical 4 that will add support for this
Any corporate sys admins in here?
Even though ActiveSync and Exchange are great, what are the support resources from Apple dedicated to helping the people in the background make sure their security protocols remain intact and allow the Judas Phone to enter the ecosystem?
I hope it works out, because it's going to look really bad on Apple if a jailbroken phone brings down a corporate network.
I had to laugh as I work in a Fortune 150 (non-IT Corporate job) and have bought my own MacBook. We have had facilities down for days due to a Windows viral infection; my Mac even came to the rescue when the corporate IT folks needed a secure system to D/L a patch from Microsoft a couple of years ago, as the entire office was infected.
@Markcih: At least they were smart enough to grab a system that couldn't be infected, but not rolling updates immediately after release, or learning enough about the installed system to plug up MOST vulnerabilities.
Viral infections, as usual, are successful because of unnecessary services being run. Your case is probably related to the IT staff being too nice with the rest of the employees.
There's enough information available online to ensure that MOST, if not ALL, threats to a corporate environment can be completely avoided.
ASTALAVISTA welcomes everyone, no matter what color hat they wear.
Wondering if anyone can help a non-apple person. I don't use exchange server, but I do use Outlook and have been on it for over 10 years. I like the iPhone, but didn't want to lose my sync functionality i have with my M$ Mobile 6 phone. Does this mean that I can get an iphone and sync my outlook calendar, tasks and contacts (pop email)?
according to http://www.apple.com/iphone/easysetup/getready.html
the iPhone will sync contacts, calendar, email with Outlook. It also can support pretty much any POP3 or IMAP email account. Sorry I can't give you any more information, but a quick google will help: "Iphone sync outlook"
With the release of the SDK, if the iPhone can't meet your needs, I'm sure someone will develop the required functionality in a 3rd party application.
What makes anyone think that having ActiveSync support solves the push email, calendar, contacts etc problem ? ActiveSync is not new technology, it has been available since Exchange 2003 and is supported by Windows Mobile, Nokia Eseries devices. Which didn’t seem to make much of a dent to corporate blackberry usage? So what makes anyone think that ActiveSync support on iPhone will give Apple the boost to compete with the Blackberry in the corporate arena?
Along with this the blackberry has the highest level of end-to-end security certification that is attainable. So its frivolous to believe that its anywhere close to competing with the blackberry for corporate usage.