IBM brings business software to iPhone and Mac

IBM is making a bid to bring its business and social networking applications to a suite of Apple products.

The company has developed enterprise social networking for the iPhone, iPod Touch and Mac platforms in what it calls a "business-grade collaboration".

The applications include instant messaging, securely encrypted email and collaborative efforts with Apple.

IBM's Lotus Symphony 3.0 office productivity suite is now available for free on the Mac, while the firm's Lotus Connections and Lotus Sametime are also available for the iPhone and Mac.

Big Blue claimed that Mac support will help Apple users "build professional networks with social capabilities such as blogs, wikis, activities and micro-blogging, as well as instant messaging".

IBM also believes it is the first company to offer securely encrypted email and collaborative applications to help streamline the way people work with Lotus Notes and Domino Software for the Mac and iPhone platforms.

"A mobile workforce that can tap into the insights and assets of the entire organisation is essential to IBM's vision for a smarter planet," said Alistair Rennie, general manager of IBM Lotus Software.

"That's why we are delivering all forms of collaboration securely and reliably across the most popular devices to transform the way people want to work together."

IBM will demonstrate new Lotus solutions for Apple at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco.