Apple homes in on BlackBerrys with enterprise-friendly iPhone: Firm releases SDK

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Business has formally been introduced to Apple Inc.’s iPhone. The company invited about 350 analysts, developers and press to its headquarters today to announce a suite of business-minded applications that will be added to current iPhones through a software update in June.
The company also released its highly anticipated software development kit (SDK).
Apple Inc. hopes its iPhone will draw in millions of new business customers by supporting Microsoft Exchange and various enterprise applications. Indeed, Apple executives readily admit that the absence of such applications has limited the iPhone’s market.
“I’m really excited to be telling you today that we are doing all of these things in the next release of the iPhone software,” Phil Schiller, SVP of product marketing, told the audience.
NOC-less
Beyond that, the company is also skipping the need for a Network Operation Center for wireless e-mail. A NOC acts as a go-between for devices and e-mail servers, a design used by Research In Motion Ltd.’s popular BlackBerry service.
Calling that approach outdated and a function that “adds risks to liability,” Schiller said the iPhone will support push e-mail directly from e-mail servers.
The iPhone push e-mail will work faster by cutting out the NOC, co-founder, Chairman and CEO Steve Jobs said later during a question-and-answer session. “And it goes really slow when the NOC goes down,” he said, as a less-than-veiled knock on RIM’s e-mail difficulties.
Jobs also questioned the security of a NOC approach. There’s no way to know if someone at the NOC is looking at your e-mail, he said.
“There’s never been anything like this for a mobile device,” Jobs said.
The iPhone update will also include Microsoft Exchange support, calendar and contact integration, global address lists, Cisco IPsec VPN, certificates and identities, WPA/802.1x, enforced security policies, device configuration and remote wipe.
“These are the features customers have asked for in enterprises to make it a big hit,” Schiller said, citing a few major companies it sought feedback from.
“One of the best things about this is we’re building this into the applications customers know and love about the iPhone,” he said. “It’s an incredible device for enterprises.”
The requisite demo
Schiller demonstrated Microsoft Exchange working live on an iPhone. He quickly set up the device to synchronize contacts, calendars and mail over the air, and had a colleague edit some entries remotely from a laptop in the audience. The edits then showed up on the iPhone.
“This is exactly what business customers are asking for,” he said to steady applause.
The iPhone 2.0 software update will be free internationally to all iPhone customers and will carry a “nominal fee” for iPod Touch users beginning in June.