Lotus Notes for the iPhone ?

The Associated Press reports that IBM will be releasing a version of its free Lotus Symphony office suite that is compatible with Macs, along with a version of Lotus Notes for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Lotus Notes is a free productivity suite consisting of a word processor, spreadsheet application, and presentation application, currently in beta for Windows and Linux. It is based on the Open Document Format (ODF) standard which has been rising in popularity recently.

Meanwhile, iPhone/iPod Touch version of Lotus Notes promises to increase the devices' appeal to the corporate market. While details of how Notes will be implemented on the iPhone were not described, the article does state that Apple and IBM have been working together despite the release of an SDK. Note, there have been indications that some may have had early access to the iPhone's SDK.

The releases are reportedly part of a new partnership between Apple and IBM. Apple once used IBM's PowerPC processors, however software collaboration breaks relatively new ground for the two companies. IBM says that IBM's search for Microsoft alternatives has brought them together.
Let's hope this rumor becomes real :o)