Little did I know that Google would add a new syncing feature right after my article about smartphones on Monday.
Google is now using its implementation of ActiveSync to sync Gmail, Gmail Contacts, and Google Calendar over the air to some smartphones. Here’s the official Google blog entry about the new feature. Before today it wasn’t possible to push Gmail over the air to your phone so messages arrive immediately. This is a big deal for Gmail users!
As you might expect, you can sync Google mail/contacts/calendar over the air with phones built on Google’s Android software. The interesting thing is that now it also works on the phones that can sync with Exchange Server: Windows Mobile phones, iPhones, and Nokia S60 phones.
It’s possible to sync Google contacts and calendar with a Blackberry, but not Gmail, at least not yet.
This increases the visibility of Windows Mobile, which is about to get a big advertising push with its new version on October 6.
Please be careful! ActiveSync can only be used with one account. If you are using ActiveSync for your office mail/contacts/calendars on Exchange Server, you cannot also sync with your Google account.
