One of the best e-mail clients for any mobile device is about to get a lot better. On June 29, 2006 ChatterEmail will be releasing their new Exchange plugin. This plugin will allow ChatterEmail to access Exchange 2000 SP2 and above servers in real time without any middleware or complex IT changes to Exchange itself. Say goodbye to monthly fees on your Blackberry or GoodLink program, ChatterEmail is where it’s at!
I believe that ChatterEmail is the killer app for the Treo 600/650/700p. With ChatterEmail+ / EX I am able to connect to any Exchange 2000/SP2 or IMAP Idle server and get push e-mail directly to my phone. In my testing I have found that in many cases new e-mail will make it to my Treo before it makes it to my Outlook. That’s fast. Servers that don’t support IMAP Idle or IMAP at all for that matter will still work, however, Chatter will need to connect on a scheduled interval and pull the mail down just like any other e-mail client out there. The protocols supported are IMAP Idle, IMAP, POP3 and Exchange.
There are a couple of great features on the Blackberry, one is push e-mail and the others are calendar/contact sync along with remote device auditing. Chatter takes care of the e-mail aspect but at this time it does not sync calendar or contacts. If you need all of your e-mail, calender and contacts to be in sync over-the-air (OTA) with your mobile device, then you’re still looking at GoodLink or Blackberry. If you need real-time access to your e-mail and can live with calendar/contacts sync when the device is hotsynced to a computer, then Chatter is a great and far less costly alternative. It would be nice to see someone write a GCal plugin for Palm that would allow for OTA read/write access to all of my GCal calendars. I have yet to find a good online contacts manager that I really like, so I’m not sure what to do there, but I’m sure one will come along. Once these items are in place, the number of reasons for purchasing a Blackberry will get smaller and smaller. ChatterEmail getting Exchange support is just the first step in the demise of horrid middleware for smartphones.
If you’re not sure about Chatter or if you would just like to try it, they offer a free 30 day eval. Hit http://www.chatteremail.com for more info, or go to http://www.chatteremail.com/stable on your Palm based Treo to download directly to your phone. If you have a Windows Mobile or Blackberry device, see if you can find a friend who has a Treo to see this application in action. It’s just that good.
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