Free Google email synchs with cellphones

Google yesterday began synchronizing its free Web-based email service with smart phones using software licensed from arch-rival Microsoft

Google yesterday began synchronizing its free Web-based email service with smart phones using software licensed from arch-rival Microsoft.

Google Sync perpetually updates Gmail messages, calendars and contact lists in iPhones or Windows-based mobiles to match changes users make using computers online, or vice versa.

The feature is similar to the way Canadian firm Research In Motion "pushes" Microsoft Exchange email from servers to its popular BlackBerry smart phones. A version of Sync is available for BlackBerry devices.

"Sync uses push technology so any changes or additions to your calendar or contacts are reflected on your device in minutes," Google Mobile engineer Bryan Mawhinney wrote in a posting on the California firm's website.

"Since Google Sync is a two-way service, you can make changes on your phone or in your Google account. Your calendar and contacts are always up-to-date, no matter where you are or what you're doing."

Once Google Sync is set up on a smart phone, it automatically goes to work in the background using the wireless Internet connection. If a phone is lost or broken, its contact, calendar and email data remain stored by Google.

Mawhinney reminds aspiring Google Sync users that the service is in a test, or beta, stage and that they will be wise to back up data on their mobile phones before trying it.

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