Apple Inc's iPhone 3G is ready to serve business customers as an alternative to the BlackBerry email phone, so long as users are willing to compromise on security and battery life, Gartner Inc said.

Software released last month adds support for Microsoft Corp's Exchange corporate email system and offers the ability to erase data if the device is lost, making Apple's handset ‘acceptable’ for business use, analyst Ken Dulaney said in a report released by Gartner, a research firm.

Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs began selling the iPhone last year to consumers, seeking to expand beyond the iPod media player and Macintosh computer. The company has added business features to step up competition with Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and Palm Inc's Treo.

About a third of Fortune 500 companies are testing the new iPhone software, Apple said.

Employees at Kraft Foods Inc, the world's second-largest foodmaker, will be able to use the iPhone to access email and calendars, said Mark Dajani, the company's senior vice president of information systems.

“Our employees need easy access to key business applications -- everywhere our consumers live around the globe,'' he said.

Kraft, based in Northfield, Illinois, already lets workers access their email from the Treo or Samsung Electronics Co's BlackJack. Genentech Inc and Oracle Corp also are starting to support the iPhone, said Cupertino, California-based Apple.

Easy to read

With the new iPhone 2.0 software, released when Apple began selling a faster version of the phone on July 11, business users have access to a device with the “most readable email” and an excellent Web browser, Dulaney said in Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner's report.

Still, there are inconveniences. The device offers less than a full day of battery use and an insufficient amount of security to run a company's custom programmes, Dulaney said.

“Enterprises should approach expanded use of the iPhone slowly,'' he said.

The iPhone was the second best selling smartphone in the US in the first quarter, behind the BlackBerry, according to research firm IDC in Framingham, Massachusetts. Smartphones combine Internet and computer functions, letting users access e mail and surf the Web.

Source:Bloomberg