Finally! Eight months after it was introduced, the iPhone is finally getting the e-mail service it deserves. At the Apple (AAPL) special event today, Steve Jobs introduced and Phil Schiller demonstrated the next iPhone update, one that has everything on your IT department’s wishlist:
- Push e-mail
- Push calendars
- Push contacts
- Global address lists
- Cisco IPsec PVN
- Certificates and identities
- WPA2/802.1x
- Enforced security policies
- Device configuration
- Remote wipe, in case the iPhone is lost or stolen
In the demo, Microsoft (MSFT) Exchange appears on the e-mail configuration panel, right above .Mac.
No word yet on the live blogs when this becomes available, but I’m not waiting. I’m putting my request to replace my BlackBerry with an iPhone today.
UPDATE: I’ve already been turned down. “Unfortunately, no,” was the reply. “The iPhone is still not a standard device.” Anyway, it looks like all this enterprise stuff won’t be ready until Apple ships firmware update 2.0, some time in June.