Google Beefs Up BlackBerrys

Posted on December 20, 2007 by Bruce Keener

Google keeps making more of their applications and services available in mobile form, with Google Calendar formatted for the iPhone and iPod Touch being a well-known example.

Recently they have been paying a little extra attention to BlackBerry devices:

  • As explained here, they have made a Google Updater available for the BlackBerry. All you have to do is visit mobile.google.com on your BlackBerry and click download, and it will download the latest versions of the all the Mobile Google Apps to your BlackBerry. Included in these apps are Google Maps, a special Gmail app for BlackBerrys, a Google Search shortcut, and much more.
  • You can now sync your Google Calendar entries to your BlackBerry. Use this Google Mobile Link to get started with it.

I am tickled to have these on my BlackBerry Curve. I think the calendar sync application is still being tweaked, as I have noticed that it has some problems with recurring appointments on my calendar. But, it is a great tool to have.

Regarding the calendar sync, Alex King has an interesting post on how to properly sync multiple calendars.

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  • Ger Mestrum

    The programm I have recently found for windows mobile phones is this:

    http://msmobiles.com/news.php/6957.html

    With this you can also sync your outlook calender on your phone with google calender. I am currently using it, and I found out that also the recurring events don’t sync. Hopefully it will soon be fixed.

    Ger

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce

    Hi Ger !
    Great to hear from you. Turns out that the program you mention and the one I mention in the post are one in the same. I do look forward to seeing the recurring appointment bugs worked out of it.

    Thank you for commenting and best wishes for the holidays.

  • Thomas R. Hall

    The new Google services on the BlackBerry are GREAT. I can’t wait to see what else they add, and it’s easy to check using the Google Updater program.

    One problem I’ve noticed about the calendar sync function (besides the recurring issue you mentioned) is that it only works for syncing items created on the BB or Google Calendar. I also sync my BB with a hosted Exchange server, and items entered either in Outlook or on my Pocket PC that get to the BB via wireless Exchange syncing do not get copied over onto my Google Calendar. Not a huge deal, and a very odd use case, I’m sure, but something I would like to see fixed later on.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce

    Hi Thomas,

    That’s a bit disconcerting about the problem with hosted exchange sync, as I am sure a lot of folks use hosted exchange. Thanks for letting us know about it. Hopefully the problems get fixed soon.