Verizon Adds IM … Verizon announced that it is integrating its Verizon Conferencing service with popular instant messaging services, so that enterprise customers can initiate a Verizon audio conference from within IM. Available immediately for “IBM Lotus Sametime Unified Communications and Collaboration; Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005; and the Cisco Jabber XCP“, with OCS 2007 support “coming”. More

RIM and Lenovo Alliance … RIM and Lenovo announced a partnership, to enable Lenovo laptop users to send and receive email via a BlackBerry. “A PCI Express card, available from Lenovo for $150, will enable e-mail from a user’s BlackBerry to automatically sync to their ThinkPad’s e-mail program, whether that be Outlook, or a POP mail account. The key is that the ThinkPad doesn’t have to be powered on for this to happen: it can be off, suspended, in hibernation, or on. You’ll get all your e-mail on your laptop exactly as you’d see it on a BlackBerry, with these exceptions: you’ll get the full file of an e-mail message (instead of the 32K size allowed by a BlackBerry), and you’ll get any attachments in their native format.” More

Windows Mobile 6.5 … Microsoft took the wraps of Windows Mobile 6.5, an upgrade to the operating system for mobile devices. “The next generation of Windows phones will be based on Windows Mobile 6.5 and feature a new user interface and a richer browsing experience. In addition, Windows phones will feature two new services: My Phone, to sync text messages, photos, video, contacts and more to the Web; and Windows Marketplace for Mobile, a new marketplace that will provide direct-to-phone mobile applications and can be accessed from both the phone and the Web.” Windows Mobile 6.5 devices will be available in 2Q2009. More

K2 Blackpearl Book … K2 blackpearl, a workflow engine for SharePoint, is now the subject of a 986-page book. “The introductory chapters explain how process-driven applications compare to traditional business process management techniques, how to identify processes that would benefit from automation, how to measure the success of applications and how an organization can shift its culture toward process automation and efficiency. The rest of the book is a deep dive into the K2 blackpearl software. It explains everything from architecture, to how to design and deploy applications, to how organizations can collaborate on application development and how the software integrates with the Microsoft technology stack.” More