Killer App Alert: Microsoft Releases Lync for Smartphones

A smartphone app with a lot of business potential just shipped -- Microsoft on Monday formally posted the Lync 2010 for Windows Phone app in the Windows Marketplace, and versions for other smartphone platforms are on the way.

"The Lync 2010 for Windows Phone app is...available today, and Lync 2010 clients for iPhone, iPad, Android and Nokia Symbian have been submitted to their respective mobile app marketplaces and will be available as soon as they have been approved," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement Monday.

According to the spokesperson, the new Lync mobile clients allow instant messaging, call-related features and audio conferencing using a Lync ID.

To be useful, the mobile client will depend on a user's company having a Microsoft Lync 2010 server installed. Once the Lync server administrator enables mobile clients, users can download and begin using the Lync 2010 mobile apps, according to the Microsoft Unified Communications Group Team Blog.

While the Windows Phone version features Microsoft's Metro-style user interface, the clients for iPhone, iPad, Android and Symbian will use the tab interfaces familiar to those platforms, according to Microsoft.

The shipment of the Windows Phone version, at least, ends a frustrating wait by partners for a product that was first discussed in late 2010 and kept having its promised 2011 delivery redefined as later and later in the calendar year.

Also on Monday, Microsoft released OneNote Mobile for iPad, the first version of the Microsoft Office-family application tailored for Apple's tablet, and an update to OneNote Mobile for iPhone (version 1.3).

Posted by Scott Bekker on December 12, 2011 at 9:03 AM