IBM software for Apple

E-mail software from IBM will be available on Apple iPhones and iPod Touch devices under a new partnership that brings together two big rivals of Microsoft, reports Associated Press.

IBM plans a formal announcement of the Lotus Notes e-mail package for Apple's portable devices at its Lotusphere conference, in Orlando, Florida, next week. The software, which requires use of IBM's Domino e-mail server program, will be free for users who already have a Lotus Web-access licence and start at $39 per year for new users.

IBM also plans to release Lotus Notes and the free Lotus Symphony "productivity" package - which includes documents, spreadsheets and other Microsoft Office-like software - for Apple's Macintosh computers.

Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, took several big gambles yesterday, betting that he could repeat his success in selling digital music by persuading Hollywood to allow Apple to rent digital movies, says The New York Times.

This while at the same time returning to his original Macintosh roots with an elegant - but limited - ultra-light computer called the MacBook Air.

Jobs has made his keynote presentation at the opening of the Macworld Expo trade show a consistent marketing tour de force in recent years. Although Jobs did not return to the heights of media frenzy that he reached with the introduction of the iPhone a year ago, his presentation yesterday trod familiar, and popular, ground.

The head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) expressed concern yesterday that the credit crunch could hinder bidders in an upcoming government auction of wireless airwaves, says Reuters.

FCC chairman Kevin Martin said during a news briefing that he was "concerned that the overall economic conditions could end up impacting the auction". "Is it an ideal time to necessarily be conducting an auction? I'm not so sure," he said.

Martin's comments came less than a week after a key potential bidder, Frontline Wireless, dropped out of the wireless spectrum auction.

At the Super Bowl next month, the music industry will switch teams - from Apple to Amazon.com, reports The New York Times.

The major record labels lined up with Pepsi-Cola and Apple four years ago to give away 100 million songs through Apple's online store, unveiling the promotion in a Super Bowl commercial with music from the band Green Day. The effort helped spread the word about Apple's iTunes offerings.

Pepsi's promotion is back this year on a much bigger scale - but with the star wattage provided by Justin Timberlake, instead of Green Day, and Amazon, in place of Apple.