Lotus Traveler on the Android phone

A.f.a.i.k there are 5 different ways to get your Lotus Notes mail on an Android phone.

1) Lotus Traveler for Android

Benefits: 100% support; fast.

Against: still in beta; requires update of server

2) HTC built-in Exchange Sync

Benefits: Built in and well integrated with phone.

Against: Requires HTC with Android 2.1; Slow; Buggy

3) TouchDown for Exchange

Benefits: Has supported Traveler server since November 2009.

Against: Pay application – not even officially available in Sweden; Not the best looking GUI

4) IMAP

Benefits: Does not require Traveler

Against: Only mail; Requires Imap task on server and open ports in firewall

5) iNotes

Benefits: Works on all smartphones; Fast; Does not require Traveler

Against: Requires 8.0.2 mail template; Login form does notes save password (easily removed); iNotes redirect database needs to be updated with “android” redirect to ultralite mode

If you try to connect an ActiveSync client to Lotus Traveler server. Remember this:

1. Appen /servlet/traveler to dns name of server
2. No domain!
3. Always use email address as username

Breathing new life into and old Android phone

When I bought my HTC Hero I was very happy. It was all I asked for, with sole exception of no support for enterprise email Lotus Traveler, but none the less I love this phone.

It was delivered with the Android 1.5, which back in September 2009 was very modern. But as time passed and new Android releases saw the daylight. My phone was still on old 1.5. No official update did ever show up.

For about a month ago I got really tired of this and installed a customized Android 2.1 rom (a.k.a root). I found it on
http://hero-roms.blogspot.com/ . And at the same time I upgraded the “Radio” (meaning that drivers for Wifi, GPRS etc are also updated).

Now my HTC Hero has a new life. Benefits of this upgrade:

• faster
• more functions
• more pleasant interface
• better battery life
• better signal strength (faster wifi, 3g, gprs)
• better built in applications

So the HTC Hero is a real Smartphone, it’s actually getting better as time passes! ;-)

Lotus Traveler on Android

There is no Lotus Traveler for Android yet. Lots of people are asking for this application. IBM has promised us this application this year, but we still not know when. Could IBM provide us with a beta? Probably not.

I have tried to connect to Lotus Traveler 8.5.1.1 using an Android 2.2 device (Google Nexus One) using built in ActiveSync, but this failed. I would have screamed of happiness if this worked!

Is there any workaround in the mean time? Yes there is. If you are using Android 2.0/2.1, there is TouchDown for Exchange (Android 2.0) application to download from Android market. This application does indeed work!!!

Here is some info how to install:
http://learninglab-bth.blogspot.com/p/tips-tricks.html

Note that username and email-adress are the same. Also that server is: travelerserver.mycompany.com/servlet/traveler. Accept all kind of SSL certificates.

Sadly for us Swedes (and lots of other nations) there is just a DEMO version, that will expire in 5 or 30 days depending on what version that one downloads. Since we can’t buy from Android market. There is of course the alternative do download it from a famous Swedish bittorrent tracker, this is an ugly solution and I don’t want to do it. It cost something like 9 dollars and I would gladly pay for it if I could.

Conclusion:
IBM – could you please release Lotus Traveler for Android as soon as possible, even a beta would be sufficient for now. Also in the meantime, please make an update for the server so that the native ActiveSync on Android 2.2 (a.k.a Froyo) is compatible (this would be the best solution).