All Articles Tagged Google

Okay. Fine. Our bestest buddies over at PreCentral.net are crowing over the rumor-revelation that the Palm Pre will support “push” Gmail via IMAP IDLE [Wikipedia link]. Not as robust as BlackBerry or Microsoft ActiveSync, they say, but yarly enough. And good for them.

Of course Google’s own mobile OS, Android, also enjoys push Gmail. Also fine and good and all that.

But where’s ours?

Gmail has been on the iPhone since day one — when Yahoo! offered push email to the iPhone — and has trucked along through year 2 — when Apple offered MobileMe and ActiveSync push in iPhone 2.0, and even Google offered ActiveSync for everything except Gmail (?!).

We’ve been patient. We’ve been true. We’ve used the freebie and the paid Google Accounts version. We’ve suffered Gmail’s ludicrous 10 simultaneous connection limits, its certificate errors, its “unknown email box (Inbox)” shenanigans. We’ve earned it, Google.

So, how about Apple board member Eric Schmidt stroll up on the WWDC stage — just like he did at Macworld 2007 — and announce push Gmail over either ActiveSync or IMAP IDLE (for those of us who already use our only ActiveSync account for a work-related Exchange server). Or put it out in a press release, or one line throw-away from Joz or Forstall. Really, we don’t care. Just give it to us.

Please?

The New York Times (via Daring Fireball) reports that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into whether the ties between Apple and Google’s respective Boards of Directors violate Section 8 of the Clayton Antitrust Act.

The provision is designed to prevent two rival companies from acting in concert to reduce competition. While Google and Apple have rival mobile phone platforms and cloud services, iPhone vs. Android and Gmail (etc.) vs. MobileMe, Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt is on Apple’s board of directors and the iPhone makes use of Google technology such as the built-in Google Maps, Google Search, etc.

According to the NYT, however:

Antitrust experts say that investigations of interlocking directorates rarely lead to major confrontations between companies and the government. Executives typically choose to resign from the board of a competitor if it poses a problem rather than face a lengthy investigation or a bruising legal fight.

The article also points out the “closeness” of Google to the Obama administration, and how that “closeness” doesn’t seem to offer Google any insulation from the FTC.

Google’s blog has announced that Google Product Search now joins the growing list of Google web sites and WebApps optimized for the iPhone and it’s Mobile WebKit cousins:

I’m happy to announce that as of today, when you type a product query on Google.com in your iPhone or Android browser, you’ll get Google Product Search results nicely formatted for your phone. You can see online ratings, reviews, prices, and product details if you’re out and about, or just do some mobile web surfing from your couch. Whether you’re trying to decide between two digital cameras while you’re in a store or checking out prices for a new product that you’ve just seen on TV, we hope Google Product Search for mobile helps you to make better-informed shopping choices.

[via Android Central]

Daring Fireball has been looking into Google’s new Gmail WebApp for the iPhone and the technologies behind it. We already know the iPhone packs a version of Apple’s Safari Web Browser which is, in some ways, even more advanced than desktop Safari on the Mac. SQLite database caching, for example, for example users continue to archive or star messages even when there’s no internet connection. What’s more interesting to him, us — and likely users — is how that technology improves functionality.

Says Gruber:

I use the native iPhone Mail app to read email on my iPhone, but I’m tempted to start using the Gmail web app for one reason: I waste a lot of time switching back and forth between Mail and Safari after tapping a URL in an email. When using the Gmail web app, tapped links simply open in a new Safari tab. The iPhone Mail app needs a built-in web view, like what most popular iPhone Twitter clients offer.

Google’s Alex Nicolaou has blogged about the process.

We once wondered what the future of WebApps would be in a post-native apps world. Looks like Google expects — and is out to prove — things still look very bright.

Anyone else considering ditching the built-in mobile Mail app for some web-based Gmail?

Again with the Google! This time it’s GV Mobile (short for Google Voice, the re-branded Grand Central service) and the above video comes courtesy of Sean Kovacs.

If it’s a correct reflection of what we’ll see when/if GV Mobile hits the App Store, then it seems to be focused primarily on using Google Voice to make almost Skype-like calls. Google Voice is, of course, far more than a simple calling service, so you also get SMS sending (receiving is handled via the built-in, default iPhone SMS/Messages app), as well as voicemail.

So, is this the Google Voice goodness you’ve been waiting for?

Says Google’s blog:

Today we’re happy to announce a new and improved experience when you access Gmail and Calendar through the browser of your iPhone and Android-powered devices. What’s new? For Gmail, we’ve improved the user interface to make it easier to message on the go, and we’ve introduced “Floaty Bar,” which makes sure common actions such as archive and delete are only a click away (check out the video tour below). You can also start the application, compose mail, and open recently read messages even when you’re offline. With the new Calendar, you can edit or respond to an event and, like Gmail, the app is accessible even without a network connection. To quickly navigate between Gmail, Calendar, and other mobile applications, you can use the classic links that now always appear across the top of the screen. The “more” menu provides easy access to the full list of applications. To read more about what’s new, take a look at the Gmail and Calendar posts on the Mobile blog.

Google claims they’re focusing on WebApps over native apps because they’re faster to iterate which makes sense, especially if they want to leverage their work across all WebKit mobile devices (iPhone, Android, and soon Palm Pre). Still, we have to ask…

Where’s our native push Gmail?!

While Google’s Gmail is still in “beta”, they done a lot of good stuff for the iPhone including a quirky but usable IMAP implementation so we can keep mail synced on our mobile, desktop, and cloud. But Gmai’s quirkiness isn’t restricted to IMAP, the whole concept of GMail just “thinks different”, from it’s April 1st, everyone-thought-it-was-a-joke launch, to its labels rather than folders, stars rather than flags, and flat search rather than hierarchical sort.

All this leads some to consider a separate GMail client for the iPhone, rather than leaving it bundled into Apple’s own MobileMail app. The Google Android G1 goes this route. You have one app for Gmail and another app for all your other mail. Would we ever see this on the iPhone?

Ars Technica spoke with Gmail Product Manager Todd Jackson, who had this to say (or rather, not say):

he did leave the possibility of a dedicated iPhone client on the table

But what would this mean?

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Michael on Facebook sent us link to this announcement on innerfence, which says Google is shutting down the Infinite SMS App.

According to the developers:

Google has claimed no grievance with Infinite SMS other than its success. Their given reason for the block isn’t abuse or wrongdoing; it’s that we brought too many users (and thus too much cost) to an experimental service.

Google’s official statement reads:

Infinite SMS is a third party app that has been using Google technology to provide free SMS for users, while we were paying for the cost of the text messages. While Google is supportive of third party apps, we’ve decided we can’t support this particular usage of our system at this time. SMS chat is still just an experiment in the early testing stages in Gmail Labs. We’re blocking all external XMPP clients from sending SMS; we’re not singling out Inner Fence.

SMS, of course, uses the carrier channel to inexpensively send short 160 byte text messages which the Telco’s then exorbitantly price gouge users $0.20 per message (do the math, thats thousands for megs) or offer bundled in large or unlimited numbers. They’ve even priced them so high for businesses that companies like Twitter — and apparently more so Google — can’t or don’t want to pay for them, especially for international users.

Are you an Infinite SMS user? If so, what are your thoughts on Innerfence, Google, experimental services, and SMS charges?

Apple decides which apps get approved for the iPhone/iPod touch App Store, provides little to no transparency on the process, prevents certain things like turn-by-turn GPS outright in the SDK agreement, and — though they’ve yet to use them — maintains black lists for GPS and malware that could remove any LocationServices or entire applications from iPhones everywhere. For this, and more, Apple has earned quite a bit of criticism — and rightly so in many cases.

What if Apple went further, however. They sell officially unlocked iPhones in several regions, like Hong Kong. They also have a program that grants developers tethering abilities for testing. What if, one day, people with unlocked or developer iPhones woke up to find the Paid section of the App Store gone. What would the community reaction be? What should it be?

Google, whose “don’t be evil” motto has been downgraded by management in recent years, is lauded for the openness of their Android Market (even though they’re known to have a kill switch of their ownl — to do otherwise would be irresponsible), yet our friends over at Android Central woke to find themselves in just such a situation this week. Paid apps. Gone.

We’re told it’s because of piracy concerns, that Google thinks developer units of the G1 make it easier for people to steal paid apps. Jeffdc5 on Twitter let us know developer G1 handsets could store apps on the SD memory card in addition to the on-device memory of the regular units, which could make them more pirate-able. However, we’ve seen that the iPhone — with no external memory — can have apps pirated as well, so is that readon enough? It smacks of the same “treat your customers as thieves” thinking that created DRM music, Microsoft Genuine Advantage, Sony rootkits, and Adobe invading our boot sectors…

Apple has already removed DRM from iTunes music, and has now removed product keys from boxed versions of iLife 09 and iWork 09 as well. It seems to be working out none too badly for them.

Openness is definitely A Good Thing. Maybe trust in your user base should be as well?

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