<A HREF="http://www.ibm.com/lotus/lotusphere">IBM kicked off Lotusphere 2007,</A> a five-day conference with nearly 7,000 attendees and a set of announcements that dramatically expands Lotus' collaboration portfolio. The main announcements include:

IBM Lotus Connections--the industry's first business-ready social software platform.
IBM Lotus Quickr--a new Web 2.0 collaborative content platform offering.
IBM Lotus Sametime 7.5.1--featuring expanded unified communications capabilities and increased interoperability with Microsoft software.

In addition, IBM will demonstrate IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 8 and announce the product's open beta program starting this February. The new Lotus Notes client includes major upgrades to core applications and expanded integration with the new collaboration tools announced today. New to Lotusphere this year is the introduction of a Lotusphere Complex in Second Life, marking the first time IBM has run a customer conference simultaneously in both the real and virtual worlds. By visiting the Lotusphere Complex in Second Life--which IBM will launch on Tuesday, January 23--avatars can interact with Lotus experts, learn about software solutions, and experience Lotusphere from wherever they are.