Lotus Unveils Domino 5.0 and LearningSpace 2.5

At its annual conference, Lotus Development Corp. (Cambridge, MA) unveiled new versions of its Domino and LearningSpace products. Enhancements to Domino Version 5.0 include best-of-breed E-mail, improved collaboration features and and improved connectivity for mobile workers, and an improved application development and deployment platform. "Lotus continues to have the best vision for collaborative computing," said Michael Mandelbaum, VP of Information Systems for Prudential Insurance (Newark, NJ). "It is critical for us to use technology to change and strengthen our relationships with our customers and partners, and Domino helps make this possible." Domino Version 5.0 is expected to be available in the second half of 1998, with a beta release expected by early Q2 '98. Pricing and system requirements will be announced at a later date.

Lotus also announced the availability of LearningSpace Version 2.5, a Domino-based training and education tool for companies and academic institutions. New in this release are increase scalability, flexible management tools, easy-to-use course development and multimedia integration tools, and a more intuitive Web-based interface. LearningSpace Version 2.5 also includes a CoursePack feature that condenses course content into a form that can be transported and launched at other sites. This feature is designed for academic and training curriculum coordinators and developers to help them create and distribute courses in their learning environments. "Today's leading organizations realize they must develop global e-commerce strategies to maximize their success," said Kinetic Information (Waltham, MA) president Steve Weissman. "Their ability to do so depends, in large part, on being able to capture and leverage all the knowledge and expertise they have in-house ­ from what's in their computer databases to what's inside their employees' heads. Technologies like LearningSpace are valuable because they are designed specifically with this goal in mind." LearningSpace Version 2.5 is expected to be available by the end of Q1 '98. Pricing begins at $495 for an author license for course developers and instructors; a student license starts at $10 per course per user. Academic institutions receive a 50% discount on both licenses