5250 Emulator for iPhone? Mochasoft is On It

July 15, 2008 Alex Woodie

So you picked up one of those new cool new iPhones, and are browsing the Apple App Store for some awesome new apps to use during your commute. In addition to such highly desirable titles as Super Monkey Ball, Etch a Sketch, and Pac Man, you will soon find a 5250 terminal emulator in the online store, according to Mochasoft, the Danish software developer.

Mochasoft is currently working on developing a 5250 emulator that runs on the iPhone and the iPod Touch, according to a statement on the Mochasoft Web site. It’s not known when the application will be ready.

Mochasoft was waiting to receive documentation from Apple for iPhone 2.0 and iPod touch 2.0, the latest software updates released as part of the recent launch of the new iPhone devices. The updates went live on Apple’s Web site on Friday, but many users complained of problems with the updates, which could slow development and release of the 5250 emulator.

Mochasoft acknowledged there could be a setback. “As the release depends on Apple, we cannot at the moment offer a fixed release date,” the company said in a statement on its Web site. “Our best guess at the moment is August 1, 2008.”

The new emulator will be displayed within the Safari Web browser, and support all standard 5250 emulation features, Mochasoft says. It will utilize 24×80 or 27×132 screen sizes, include SSL encryption and device name support, and support macros and auto login features.

Mochasoft currently offers a 5250 emulator for Microsoft‘s Windows Mobile and Windows CE operating systems, a more business-oriented competitor to the iPhone that runs on a variety of mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDA)s, and costs $25.