BES version 5 en route, maybe with HTML e-mail handling?

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I was recently at a conference where a RIM rep spoke. He confirmed details on all of the above. From the slides he reported the following (some of which is already listed, some not):

For 4.1.5:
• Intelligent HTML & RTF E-mail handling
• Free/Busy lookup during meeting request creation
• Remote Email search and retrieval
(Full mailbox experience)
• Application Extensibility, Enterprise IM & Security Enhancements

For 5.0:
• Brand New Admin UI
– Web-Based, WAN Friendly, Intuitive, Field Tested, Usability Tested, Extensible
• A full suite of APIs
– Every aspect of the Admin UI is tied to core API’s all of which are availed to both customers and partners
• Enhanced SW Configurations
– Unified management of all applications (Java, MDS, Pushes, 3rd Party)
– User initiated downloads restricted and controlled
– Configurations associated with users, groups, servers or server collections

Enterprise Directory Support

• Integration with Active Directory
• Robust Grouping Structure
(hierarchical, nesting, inheritance)
• Custom Administrative and User Roles
• Role Scoping (servers, domains, groups of users)
• Scheduling of Administrative Jobs & Tasks
• Multi-layered Software Configurations with inheritance
• Hierarchical IT Policies

High Availability

• Primary – Standby architecture
• Automated failover option
• 2n – preconfigured HA servers
– Uses same SRP ID
– No need for new service books
• Additional options for complex architectures around distributed components
• Manual failover for maintenance

They mentioned several other interesting items regarding end-user provisioning (the “WEB Desktop”–all web-based), BES monitoring, PBX integration, Windows Mobile 6.0 support, etc.

I’ve got more, if you want it. They gave us a copy of the PPT, which includes further info about the WEB Desktop and other items mentioned….

Will 4.1.5 or 5.0 support synchronizing of Public Folders, i.e. shared contacts.

Nice to see there is an Exchange Permission check at the beginning of the install, which is shown on the Pre-Install Checklist once the install check completes.