Whether the next generation of the iPhone will eventually support a second enterprise-class email application to Microsoft Exchange–namely Lotus Notes–remains a mystery.

IBM spokesman Mike Azzi said IBM Lotus Notes developers will be working on a Notes email application for iPhone 2.0, but he did not elaborate and could not be reached for further comment.

Apple officials would not comment on Notes for the iPhone either, but released a statement saying that 100,000 developers had downloaded the beta SDK (software development kit) for the iPhone in the first four days since its release. Several developers are named, but there is no mention of Lotus Notes.

Megasoft2000 has released a new version of its MegaLauncher for Palm OS. MegaLauncher v6.45 (Apache) is a multipurpose application manager that can work on all modern Palm OS platform devices. Highlights include a Today view with plugin support, a network and ftp manager, built-in file browser and utilities, multi-window mode, a theme manager, zip support and whole range of customization options. The latest update features full support for the GSM Centro.

Proporta has added a new screen protector to their collection which not only provides protection, but also doubles as a mirror.

The Echo–Mirror Screen Protector is available for the Apple iPhone, Apple iPod touch, and Apple 3G iPod nano, and offers you and your device more than any standard screen protector. When the backlight of your screen is turned on, the Echo works as a simple screen protector. However, when you switch your screen off, it transforms into a handy little mirror which not only offers the same level of protection that you’d expect from all Proporta products, but also looks pretty great too. Not only that, the Echo can also be washed and replaced and comes with a handy little application kit.

If you’re wondering just how secure your home network is, here’s an easy way to find out. Pure Networks, makers of the popular Network Magic management tool for home networks, has a free diagnostic scan that will deliver a scorecard on your network’s security status.

The Pure Networks Security Scan tool, which works only with Internet Explorer 6 or later, is clearly bait for Network Magic. But it’s a fun download that can provide insight into your network security in just a few minutes.

In the past few months several U.S airlines–Alaska Air, American Airlines, Continental, JetBlue, Southwest, and Virgin America–have announced plans to offer Internet access on some routes. Why now? The equipment is cheaper and easier to install, business and leisure travelers are asking for it, and the Open Skies rules, which are about to go into effect, will suddenly give U.S. airlines more competition. Each airline is taking a different approach to the technology, features and pricing.

American Airlines and Virgin America will both offer Aircell’s gogo service, a cellular system that uses a version of EV-DO Rev A to deliver broadband speeds of 2Mbps on flights over North America. Aircell says the basic pricing will be about $12.95 for cross-country trips and $9.95 for flights lasting three hours or less. Starting this spring, American will outfit 15 of its Boeing 767s for gogo. It plans to target business travelers with laptops on popular routes between New York and San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Miami. Virgin America is taking a different approach. It hopes to offer gogo on all flights and for all passengers via the entertainment system in the seatbacks. No laptop required.

If you’re looking for a flexible list manager, you can’t go wrong with ListPro. In this article, Heather Wardell reviews ListPro, discusses some of the minor quirks, and then we shift left to discuss Movie Collector, a powerful movie organizing program that nicely integrates with ListPro.

Read this Computing Unplugged article.

Russian blogger Savva Terentyev is being charged for inciting hatred toward the authorities for a post that, among other things, labeled the police “uneducated representatives of the animal world.”

Terentyev said Wednesday that the charges were a result of a February 2007 posting in which he chastised local authorities for raiding an opposition newspaper.

Terentyev’s comments, first published by The Associated Press, come amid a government crackdown on Russian internet and media outlets.

Many states (including California, New York, Washington, the District of Columbia, and Connecticut) have imposed laws requiring drivers to use hands-free devices to make phone calls. New Jersey even made violation of its law a first offense. But several studies over the years have found that talking on a hands-free device is not much safer than talking on a hand-held device.

A study by the American Psychological Association of over 500 drivers found that talking on a cell phone cut activity in areas of the brain used for driving by half. Drivers focusing on a phone conversation had slower reaction times, were less likely to recall objects on the road, and had a hard time noticing traffic around them. Researchers also noted that hands-free devices in the car posed the same hazards as hand-held devices.

AT&T and Research In Motion have announced the availability of the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 for business customers, a global handset with built-in Wi-Fi that combines business-grade communications and multimedia functionality in a small and stylish design. The new BlackBerry Pearl 8120 handset enables AT&T’s business customers to use the broadest domestic and international coverage area for wireless data services of any U.S. carrier. [Note: This is not Voice over IP like T-Mobile offers.]

To ensure the highest level of identity protection for mobile devices, provider of privacy and identity protection technology Secure-Tunnel.com recently released a new service called VPN Mobile for mobile phones that use PPTP VPN technology. The new service protects mobile users’ identity and data as information is transmitted wirelessly, providing the same level of protection that Secure-Tunnel’s computer-based customers enjoy.

Since Apple’s iPhone and other smartphones have the capability to join countless networks and are always mobile, they are constantly in search of different wireless connections, leaving the door open for data intrusion. Wireless devices like the iPhone have limited in-transit data security options and can lack the ability to secure information sent wirelessly from one machine to another. VPN Mobile provides the additional level of security needed for protected information transmission.