MacRumors.com

The Associated Press reports that IBM will be releasing a version of its free Lotus Symphony office suite that is compatible with Macs next week, along with a version of Lotus Notes for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Lotus Symphony is a free productivity suite consisting of a word processor, spreadsheet application, and presentation application, currently in beta for Windows and Linux. It is based on the Open Document Format (ODF) standard which has been rising in popularity recently.

Meanwhile, iPhone/iPod Touch version of Lotus Notes promises to increase the devices' appeal to the corporate market, which has already reportedly seen some success in the corporate realm despite RIM's continued dominance. While details of how Notes will be implemented on the iPhone were not detailed, the article does state that Apple and IBM have been working together despite the release of an SDK. Note, there have been indications that some may have had early access to the iPhone's forthcoming SDK.

The releases are reportedly part of a new partnership between Apple and IBM. Apple once used IBM's PowerPC processors, however software collaboration breaks relatively new ground for the two companies. IBM says that IBM's search for Microsoft alternatives has brought them together.

"We have a lot in common," IBM spokesman Mike Azzi said. "We're going to cross-pollinate."