Comments on: Google Releases iPhone Over-The-Air Sync Capability, Is MobileMe Obsolete?

By: Scott Jarkoff

Scott Jarkoff — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:23:49 +0000

Gmail push would definitely rock. Since they already have IMAP support, adding push is relatively simple. It's a matter of adding IDLE support, at least as far as I understand, based on the information I've read online.

I feel you on the IM apps - it's exactly why I mentioned push notifications. If Apple finished and released that feature then IM apps would be thriving.

It's because you love your iPhone that you want it to function perfectly, right? I'm with ya because it's how I feel!

By: JustinLuke

JustinLuke — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:48:55 +0000

All of the IM apps are a waste of icon space for me. You can only receive messages if they are open. With Gmail I am talking about the 15 minute push. Live would be… no more than a few seconds. Neither one of these things are going to work the way I want them to any time soon. When the 2nd Gphone hits Japan I'm going to switch. I need a real keyboard to type Japanese fast. English is ok with the iPhone. The iPhone camera is a novelty. And the lack of copy and paste is a MAJOR issue! Sorry, got carried away and went way outside the scope of this article. I still love my iPhone!

By: Scott Jarkoff

Scott Jarkoff — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:12:54 +0000

How is Gmail not already "live" on the iPhone? Not sure I understand your concern with that specific issue.

As for Gtalk, I concur - but that is dependent on the iPhone push notification service that Apple seems to have given up on. Without an app being able to "run in the background" or receive updates in the background, Gtalk will never function on the iPhone like it does on the desktop.

There is a Mobile Safari based version of Gtalk which works *ok*. Have you used it?

The future of Android is not looking too good right now. During the Mobile event in Barcelona this week, only *1* new Android phone has been announced. Seems the companies are looking towards Symbian and Windows Mobile before Android, even with all the excellent features Android offers.

Competition is definitely good. Can not let Apple rest on their laurels otherwise we will all suffer methinks!

By: JustinLuke

JustinLuke — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:29:41 +0000

I hope you're right. One of my main issues is not even exclusive to Google. I want Gmail and Gtalk to be live on the iPhone. I would also like to see better functionality for documents.

On the other side of things, last week I had a chance to play around with the first Google phone It was cool and easy to use but the second one is rumored to be more powerful than an iPhone. Overall competition is a good thing.

By: Scott Jarkoff

Scott Jarkoff — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 03:36:13 +0000

I never really found .mac all that compelling – why pay for a @mac.com email address when an @gmail.com works far better and is free. But when MobileMe offered the Blackberry-only over-the-air sync capability, I truly thought it might be viable. Unfortunately for Apple, with Google releasing such functionality, I find MobileMe to be useless for my needs.

Not sure I get the feeling that Apple and Google are inching away from each other. They seem to complement each other. as always. And with similar folks on each others board I think this will continue through the foreseeable future.

By: JustinLuke

JustinLuke — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:46:49 +0000

As much as I love all my Apple products I have never been a fan of any of their pay-to-play websites. On top of that Mobile Me did not have much of an appeal to me to begin with. I keep my Google contacts and calender up to date and I can already do that from anywhere and I have gigs of free space from Google.

I love this new feature! I hope this trend of avoiding proprietary-ism (developed a new word because thesaurus.com was no help) continues but am I the only one that feels like Google and Apple have been inching away from each other lately? Perhaps they see more and more of their revenue streams crossing.