In an important step in defining open standards for mobile messaging, the IESG (Internet Engineering Steering Group) has approved the 'Lemonade Profile' as a Proposed Standard.
This is the final technical approval for the LEMONADE work. We've blogged about lemonade and its importance a number of times already.
The LEMONADE profile is a a set of required extensions, restrictions and usage modes of the IMAP and mail submission protocols. The profile allows clients (especially those that are constrained in memory, bandwidth, processing power, or other areas) to efficiently use IMAP and Submission to access and submit mail.
Included in the profile is the ability to forward received mail without needing to download and upload the mail, optimization of mail submission and efficient resynchronization in the event of loss of connectivity with the server.
This profile does not define technology, but references other specifications to define a coherent set of protocol specifications to meet a specific objective. This is not a typical Internet specification, as most Internet standards are used on a "mix and match" basis. The profile has been driven by requirements from the telecoms world (and in particular the Open Mobile Alliance) to have a coherent set of standards that can be specified for a service deployment.
This definition is key to those seeking to build an open standards based deployment of mobile messaging.
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