Although not officially announced, Microsoft have begun rolling out Exchange ActiveSync support to the Hotmail / Windows Live email service.
If you want to give the service a try, use the following details:

• Server Address - m.hotmail.com
• Username - your full hotmail email address
• Password - your hotmail account password
• Domain - leave blank

Currently the service supports the synchronisation of email, contact and calendar data but not tasks.

Microsoft have released a beta preview of the forthcoming Service Pack 1 update for Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, available for download here - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=193120

The update includes several new archiving and mailbox search improvements which are beyond the scope of this blog to look into, but there are also several additions to the Outlook Web Access application and Exchange ActiveSync protocol which are worth a mention from a mobility perspective.

Nokia have published an updated Mail for Exchange client to the OVI Store, freely available for download on compatible handsets.
To check whether your device is supported, view the Ovi web site - http://store.ovi.com/content/5919

The updated client can be downloaded quickly and easily by searching for Mail for Exchange in the device's built-in Ovi Store client application:

When choosing a remote email solution there are a number of approaches that you can take: you may have decided on a client device type and wish to know what solutions are compatible; you may have a specific feature set you need to be available to your users; or similarly a set of features you don't want to be available. You may have specific security concerns or may have a policy regarding which manufacturers you are able to consider.

With the release of Android 2.1 SDK it is possible to play with Google's support for Exchange ActiveSync which is included with the SDK emulator package.
It is important to note that just because the build of Android supports it, it is down to individual device manufacturers as to whether they choose to implement Exchange support - presumably due to licensing costs - and they may develop their own client software.
This post is for general geek interest only.

As Microsoft license the Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) protocol to an ever wider range of device and software manufacturers, it is important to understand how the technology operates and what to check when it doesn't work.

Exchange ActiveSync is the Microsoft protocol that enables the remote push-based bi-directional synchronisation of user mailbox data, including email, contacts, calendar and task information over the air.

As Microsoft licenses the Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol to a wider range of device manufacturers and software companies including Apple, Nokia, Google, IBM, Dataviz among others, users can enjoy push-based mailbox synchronisation from a wider range of devices - which is good for the user, but potentially a nightmare for the network administrator who needs to ensure that all of these devices conform to corporate security and usage policies.

When Exchange 2010 is released, it will include an enhanced Server ActiveSync capability that when used with a device running Windows Mobile 6.5, will include the ability to synchronise not only email, contacts, calendar entries and tasks, but also SMS test messages (http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/exchange-2010-features).

Back in February I wrote an article detailing how to set up Contact and Calendar synchronisation with your Google account using the built-in Microsoft Server ActiveSync client featured in Windows Mobile devices (http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/setting-google-sync-windows-mobile).
Google has now added email support to the Google Sync service, meaning that you can now have your Google mail pushed to your device too still using the Windows Mobile native Server ActiveSync client.

The Mail For Exchange client on the E52 is similar in terms of functionality and the setup procedure to the E75. To add a new email account to the phone, open the menu from the home screen and select Email:

The following screen will be displayed: