SAN FRANCISCO - At Macworld this week, TMO had the opportunity to chat with Marketcircle's CEO Alykhan Jetha, "A.J." for short. He spoke enthusiastically about an exciting new product: Daylite touch -- which brings the Daylite task, contact, calendering and opportunity manager to the Apple iPhone. Executives and project managers will be particularly interested in being able to track tasks, delegate them if necessary, and see "What's next" all in a convenient, organized interface on the iPhone.

For the past several years, Marketcircle has been developing the Daylite software, now at version 3.8, which is an elegant, database driven, group oriented solution for small to medium sized teams to manage contacts, opportunities, calendars and tasks. TMO previously told the story of the development of Daylite in an interview with Mr. Jetha in 2007.

TMO: So, what's next?

A.J.: Mobility!

TMO: That's a very natural thing to do with the iPhone. I'm wondering why didn't you try that earlier...

A.J.: We did think about it, and it was always part of our vision. We looked at RIM and Windows Mobile, and we realized that the SDKs just didn't afford the on screen power and the tools we needed to bring our vision to life. So we waited.

TMO: Until the iPhone...

A.J.: Exactly. You know, you have to love what you're doing to keep your spirits up when the inevitable obstacles arise. When we saw the Apple SDK, we knew that it was going to be a joy to create what we wanted -- something that could build software we could take pride in. Actually, I think one of our people caught the Apple Website within minutes of the SDK release -- before the server got overloaded. But even before that, I saw the iPhone at Macworld 2007, and I knew right away this was the platform we were waiting for.

TMO: What struck you as important to implement your vision?

A.J.: Well, first if all, the iPhone has real TCP/IP. We had the real Internet! That enabled our essential, wireless sync back to the server. The other platforms didn't have that -- they had weird, non-standard stacks we couldn't use. Then, we discovered that the iPhone has SQL Lite built-in. Finally, the iPhone GUI has the controls and flexibility we needed to implement our vision.

TMO: I'm, curious. Do you think the small size of the iPhone's screen forced you into a more elegant, thoughtful design? Compared, for example to a larger 5 or 7 inch screen on the rumored, so-called iPad?

A.J.: Absolutely. If the screen had been larger, it's likely we wouldn't have had to put as much thought into the design of the interface. It's better to design it correctly now, and if Apple lets the screen size grow down the road, we still have a great interface.

At this point, A.J. provided a demo of Daylite touch and showed how one could both work at a high level, seeing events, people and tasks of immediate importance, but also drill down to get more details. The app showed the same attention to clean organization that drives the desktop counterpart, driven by its relational database.

TMO: Tell me about the business model for the Daylite touch.

A.J.: That's an interesting issue. What we've decided to do is sell individual licenses that enable the Daylite server, per iPhone user. The price there hasn't been set, but it will reflect the effort we put in and the power of the handheld app. However, if customers want to download the iPhone app from the App Store, they'll be able to test it, free, with a sample database for a period of time. We did that because this really isn't what you'd call an impulse buy.

TMO: When will Daylite touch ship?

A.J.: We expect to ship in the first calendar quarter of 2009.

TMO: Do you have any closing thoughts?

A.J.: I do. This has been a long and detailed development process. Made joyful by the SDK, but there have been many gotchas and challenges. We've worked closely with Apple. I've been to Cupertino myself several times. We respect the fact that there are real human beings on the Apple side. So when we do run into the inevitable bugs and problems, we've chosen to work with Apple in a constructive way. We don't just start up a blog and beat on Apple without ever talking with them.

TMO: That sounds like really good advice. So. Until we meet again, good luck with Daylite touch. and be sure to let let us know when it ships.

A.J.: I will!