Mobile Apps Get a Shot In The Arm with Google Gears for Mobile
March 4th, 2008 (9:00am) Jason Harris 5 Comments
Those of us who rely on hosted (the current buzz word is “in the cloud“) data and software solutions, connectivity is a must. When we’re a way from a wi-fi hotspot or otherwise unable to get online, these hosted services have little to no value.
Now take this line of thinking one step further to the mobile platform. The mobile computing revolution is just starting to take off and for it to be valuable, mobile access to data is a must-have. This is why it’s welcome news for web workers that Google Gears is now available for some mobile handsets.
Initially only available for Internet Explorer on Windows Mobile, Google Gears for Mobile will give you access to Gears-enabled Web services when you’re out of reach of a cell phone signal. Whether you’re in an area with spotty cell coverage or on a plane, Google Gears will allow you to access to your favorite online services once they are Gears-enabled.
Zoho and Buxfer are highlighted on Google’s Mobile blog as being the initial services known to harness the power of Google Gears for mobile. For web workers, this gives Zoho a new facet of usefulness as we can use Zoho Writer on the go with or without connectivity to the mobile web.
While Zoho is a great example of the utility of Google Gears for mobile, I’ll be more excited about Gears when it is integrated into more web services and more web platforms. On the web in general, Google Gears is only found as an option on only a handful of sites. For example, in the Google suite of applications, only Google Reader has offline access.
Additionally, Google Gears is only available for Windows Mobile. This will be a much more exciting offering when it is available for other platforms including Symbian, BlackBerry, and iPhone.
For the web worker, offline mobile access would be fantastic on a number of applications including email, billing/invoicing information, contact information, scheduling, and news reading. We here at Web Worker Daily will keep an eye on this space and let you know when developments occur!
Tags: BlackBerry, buxfer, google gears, iphone, symbian, zoho
5 Comments Post your own comment
Yahoo Aims to Keep Mobile Content in OnePlace - GigaOM says: March 4th, 2008 9:39am
[...] onePlace is user-friendly, it will be a powerful force in mobile content aggregation. With Google and Microsoft starting to ramp up their mobile online offerings, this is one area where Yahoo needs [...]
Brad Neuberg says: March 4th, 2008 1:54pm
Hi Jason!
Hey, what web apps would you like to see Gears enabled? I can help work with them if possible.
Best,
Brad Neuberg
Google Gears
http://codinginparadise.org
A couple of Gadget links | Keener Living says: March 5th, 2008 2:03am
[...] Gears is now enabled for Windows Mobile. This is one of the more informative links on this important development. I’ve been looking to see [...]
Jason Harris says: March 5th, 2008 9:08am
Hey Brad! Thanks for commenting
For me, my tops would be GMail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar; in that order.
Web Worker Daily » Archive Customer Service in a Web World « says: March 18th, 2008 9:36am
[...] the Google Documents team requesting more information on how I use the service. Additionally, a post about Google Gears spurned a blog comment/email discussion with a member of the Google Gears team [...]