What Should Google Mobile Do Next?
For me as a Blackberry user, it has been nice to see how well Google has embraced mobility with their applications. More than simply adapting their web applications for a variety of mobile browsers, they’ve managed to create a strong presence on every corner of my device. Personally, I don’t use all these services because they’re from Google. I use them because I’m more productive on the go with them than I was without them.
The new Maps application with My Location is outstanding. The Gmail client is faster than the previous version and very usable. I can get search results via SMS. An event I add on a Google calendar shows up in my Blackberry’s native calendar a minute later, thanks to the new sync capability that Om likes as much as I do. I kill time on long holiday lines by catching up on Reader feeds.
And this is well before Google’s own phone initiative is anything but a concept for developers.
As Google expands their supported platforms and applications in the mobile space, what do you want them to tackle next? Sync for Windows Mobile calendar? Gmail contact syncing? Stand-alone Reader or Docs? More iPhone-friendly browser applications?
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I’d kill to have the Gmail app integrate with my cellphone’s camera. Opera Mini is supposed to be able to do it, but it isn’t quite there yet. I can, in theory, email myself a pic using the phone’s client and then forward it on with the Gmail client … but that just seems so kludgy.
It’d be sweet if they fixed the issue of blank messages coming through IMAP on WM5 and 6 devices.
Other than that I’d second syncing google calender.
Google – PLEASE sync contacts. I want off Outlook as soon as possible.
I would like to see Google sync the contact list and task from my device.
The first thing they should do is fix it so that Google Aps users can use Mobile without a Blackberry. I know that there anren’t many of us left without them, but still, it would be nice….
They should fix their existing offerings before they introduce new ones. Make Gmail IMAP work with WM devices. Fix Maps’ Find My Location for devices that don’t report tower information the way Google likes (i.e. Blackjack, Q). Create a signed Gmail app so AT&T users can install it, or release a WM version the way they did for Maps. Fix the Mobile Reader page so it doesn’t make Pocket IE crash when marking all items as read. Google is great if you have an iPhone and maddeningly frustrating if you don’t.
Like MSfromtheOC and Stephen, contact sync is the biggest and most obvious gap to fill.
I’d also like to see a real Google Reader app instead of relying on the mobile browser version. It’s a pain to use with my Pearl, since you can’t navigate the screen by using numeric keypad. With a standalone app, maybe they could stream the feeds continuously to the screen while making it easier to read full length posts.
I’ve always thought Google needs to work on a to-do list solution. Synchronizing it to my Blackberry would be brilliant.
Sync-ML capabilities would be great for calendar, tasks, contacts, etc.
Plus I would love to be able to manage tasks on my phone for when I don’t have computer access. Let me enter my to-do’s/grocery store items on a Google website through my computer and then through sync-ML, have it sync with my phone’s integrated task functionality to reference when I am out and about.
How about syncing to my Nokia Symbian device? Also syncing with Mail.app for Macs.