Gmobile
The interface is said to be very similar to the online Gmail account, giving users a fully portable Gmail facility. Features have been refined and optimized to suit handheld devices; but from a general user's point of view, there will be a fully functioning Gmail facility with all the bells and whistles to go with it.
Gmail for Mobile Devices offers improved access times and ease-of-use due to technology that automatically pre-fetches e-mail messages. Modifications from the web version include: reduced clicks and scrolling to access e-mail; fewer keystrokes for reading, composing, or searching mail; and support for attachments, including files and photos that can be automatically resized to fit the desktop on the user's phone.
Access is simple. While each phone and mobile provider has a different way of letting you view web sites, steps to your Gmail account from your mobile are as follows:
- Connect to the web. If you aren't sure how, scroll through your phone's menu and look for the option to access the web and launch your phone's web browser.
- Select the option to enter or access a URL.
- Enter http://gmail.com, and select OK.
- You're there, so e-mail away!
At the launch, Director of Product Management, Deep Nishar, outlined some clear reasons for the development of the new product. He said that Google realize the role mobile phones play in balancing online and offline worlds. Gmail for mobile services is simply intended to help people stay connected when they are away from their computers. It seems that Google are working to keep Googlers Googlified at all times, and may have visions of people on buses and in parks worldwide Gmailing away. With the launch of the new facility, Google are opening the brand up again, striving to give users new means of keeping in touch with the ever expanding world of Google.
At the moment, Gmail for mobile devices is only available in the US. However, it's likely that global coverage is only around the corner. The free software is compatible with more than 300 mobile phone models; and to implement it, you can either log on to Gmail or send a text message to your mobile phone from a PC.
Let's hope that the service does become available in the UK very soon - it'll mean we can e-mail at leisure.
BlackBerry, you say? Never heard of it...
