IBM ties Sametime IM to Office

IBM later this summer plans to release an overhauled version of its Sametime instant-messaging software that's designed to integrate closely with Microsoft Office applications.

Sametime 7.5, which will be available in about two months, will allow people to use instant-messaging features without having to leave Office applications. For example, a person could open up an e-mail inside Outlook and find out whether the sender is available on Sametime and where he or she is located.

Big Blue also said it will offer Sametime, which is aimed at corporate customers, on mobile devices from Research In Motion and Nokia, and on those that use Windows Mobile. The new version can automatically figure out a user's location based on an Internet Protocol address, IBM said.

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The strategy behind the changes is to make Sametime more extensible, said Ken Bisconti, vice president of workplace, portal and collaboration products at Big Blue.

IBM has rewritten Sametime to run on the Eclipse Rich Client framework, open-source software for running desktop components. This means that the instant-messaging application can host Eclipse-compatible programs, Bisconti noted.

For example, a person could chat with a colleague whose location would be shown on Google Maps. Or people could display bookmarked Web sites from Delicious on Sametime, Bisconti said.

"This allows any Eclipse developer to build plug-ins and other extensions, so it's not just an end-user product but also a platform for a whole ecosystem of real-time applications," he said.

The same Eclipse framework will be used in the "Hannover" release of Lotus Notes, which is due in the spring of 2007, Bisconti added.

Bisconti noted that the Sametime integration with Microsoft Office will apply to Office 2000, Office XP and the forthcoming Office 2007.

[Captain_Spock]

This Is Indeed Where The Battle To Retake the "Desktop" begins!

With IBM having rewritten "SameTime to run on the Eclipse Rich Client framework, open-source software for running desktop components..."; this is precicesly where the battle to wrest control of the of 90% plus Office market share held by Microsoft since by some "unexplained" factor "Sametime 7.5" integrates today with Lotus SmartSuite and Open Office is freely available... which rightminded corporate or home user would want to spend hundreds of dollars on other additional products like Microsoft's Office when even better functionalities can be obtained using a combination of Lotus SmartSuite and/or Open Office by entension which supports the ISO approved Open Document Format Standards which were developed by the OASIS Group!

[Andrew J Glina]

Angle

What is your angle anyway? Why do you care so much about IBM and OS/2?

[Captain_Spock]

Oops...

That should have been "precisely" and not "precic....); my apologies.

[Captain_Spock]

Here Are The Signs That "Redmond" Is Beginning To Loose Ground!

"Bank of Brazil converting to OpenOffice.org"

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/05/30/1662778.htm

The article states in part:

"Federally owned Banco do Brasil has completed the migration of all its Windows XP computers to the OpenOffice.org open source suite, reported local tech service Computerworld.

The migration involved 35,000 PCs, and Banco do Brasil now aims to migrate another 30,000 computers that use the OS/2 operating system. These should all migrate to the OpenOffice.org system by year-end.

Brazil was one of the first countries in the region to adopt a policy of migration to open source at the government level, prompting multinationals to increase development in this area.

One such case is IBM (NYSE: IBM), which installed a Linux Technology Center in Brazil and recently invested US$2.2mn to expand the center, at its Campinas and Hortolndia sites in So Paulo state. The investment will cover new equipment and hiring of extra developers, with a view to boosting the center's activities."

[Maccess]

Spock, where are you?

I was just wondering where you are in the technology ideology spectrum.

I remember seeing your other posts about developing countries lining up for the "new, improved" features of Office 12, and now you're talking favorably about the migration of Banco do Brasil.

Somehow, I think we're more or less in the same general space: Microsoft will create their new products with new features, but they're no longer the only player in the market, and more and more users will find it dificult to spend money to get these new features.

Many companies will have MS Office for those who REALLY need it like large number crunchers, or will have one or two MS Office equipped PCs in each department, with OpenOffice.org on every computer for general use.

The days of equipping everyone with MS Office are long gone. Those that need it will get it, but it will be a much more difficult justification process.

If a Toyota Corolla can get people where they're going, why give the sales force Cadillacs?