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Quick tip: Setting up Google mail on iOS and OS X

Geoffrey Goetz — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 20:30:46 +0000

The confusion for users of Apple’s products when it comes to Google’s online services is not just about Maps and YouTube. When it comes to using Google’s online services with Apple’s built-in apps, the confusion extends beyond iOS too. No, you are not crazy, and your Google contacts are not somehow missing. It just so happens that there is more than one way to set up your Google Mail service on your iOS and OS X devices. And if you want to utilize all of Google’s services using Apple’s built-in capabilities, you will have to set up two account setting on each device. Here’s how:

Google Mail services for iOS devices

When using the included GMail profile on iOS, you can quickly connect to your Google Mail, Calendars and Notes, but not your Contacts. To set this up on your iOS devices, all you do is the following:

Launch iOS Settings app, select “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” and tap on “Add Account…”.
Choose GMail and enter in your Google Account’s name, email password and description.
Once your account is verified, select the services you want to enable with this configuration.

If on the other hand you use the Exchange profile on iOS to connect to Google Mail, you will only be able to access your Mail, Contacts and Calendars, not your Notes. To set things this up this way on your iOS devices all you need to do is the following:

Launch iOS Settings app, select “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” and tap on “Add Account…”
Choose Exchange and enter in your Google account’s email, password and description.
Once your account is verified, enter m.google.com as the server name, leave the Domain blank, and set the username as your full Google email address.

If you really do not use Notes with your Google account on your iOS device, then consider just using the Exchange profile configuration instead of the more obvious GMail profile.

Google Mail services for Macs

Unfortunately, the Exchange interface that works so well for mobile devices does not work at all when using the same configuration settings on Mac OS X. Similar to iOS, OS X also has two different configurations that need to be used in order to access all of the same Google Mail services on OS X.

Just like on iOS, using the included GMail configuration, you can get to your Mail, Calendars and Notes, but not your Contacts. To set this up on your OS X devices, you need to do the following:

Launch OS X System Preferences application and select “Mail, Contacts & Calendars”.
Choose GMail and enter in your Google account’s name, email address and password.
Once your account is verified, select the services you want to enable with this configuration.

In order to access your Google Contacts on OS X, you will need to configure the Preferences in the Contact application directly. To set this up on your OS X devices, you need to do the following:

Launch the OS X Contacts application and select “Preferences” from the main menu.
Select “On My Mac” and check “Synchronize with Google” under the Account Information.
Enter in your Google account’s full email address and password.

On OS X, this configuration is using Google’s IMAP interface to access your email. When using your Mac, you will often notice that your iOS devices that have been configured using the Exchange configuration are notified much faster than the OS X Mail application that is forced to use the IMAP configuration.

Everything else Google

One additional feature that Apple supports on OS X that is not supported on iOS is Google’s instant messaging service, Google Talk. What may surprise you is that neither iOS nor OS X enables Apple’s Reminders to access your Google Tasks. This is odd as it does work with Yahoo, Hotmail or other Exchange Servers that support the particular interface that Apple is looking for. To access your Google Tasks and additional online services provided by Google, like Voice and Docs, you will have to install additional apps that Google has made available for iOS. On OS X, chances are you will just use the Safari web browser and access the web version of each service.

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Keep in Sync With a Free Exchange Server

Jason Harris — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:00:49 +0000

For those who have Microsoft Exchange as their email system, they know its utility for keeping multiple devices in sync with emails, contacts, calendars, tasks, and so on. However, buying and managing an Exchange Server is a time consuming and expensive proposition. Mail2Web features a hosted Exchange account with “limited access”.

With their free service, you can:

Have a personal calendar, tasks list, contacts, reminders, journal
Have 100MB of free storage
Sync with your mobile device
Automatically fetch emails from other accounts

The syncing happiness begins with setting up your Mail2Web Live account and configuring your devices. If you have a Windows Mobile device, this will involve configuring ActiveSync to work with your Mail2Web service.

Alternatively, if you have a BlackBerry device, you can use the included Exchange support and Palm users can utilize VersaMail. The ActiveSync settings are shown in the following screenshot:

There are similar solutions out there for Google Mail and other platforms, but Mail2Web Live is perfect for someone who has multiple devices to keep in sync, has a preference for Microsoft Exchange, and may already have ActiveSync on their device.

If you are seeking other hosted Exchange servers, check out web hosts who offer very inexpensive options such as RackSpace, 1and1, and WebHost4Life.

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Coffee break- the Mogo Mouse rocks

James Kendrick — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:18:29 +0000

Yesterday I was sitting in the local SBUX working away on the P1620 in notebook mode, happily working with my Stowaway Bluetooth Travel Mouse I have used for a long time. The Stowaway Mouse works well for me with two exceptions- it’s a little clunky to fit in very flat bags like my Waterfield Designs SleeveCase and it always seems to run out of batteries when I don’t have any replacements in my bag. While I sitting there working I noticed the gentleman sitting across from me was using one of those flat innovative Mogo Mice. I have been intrigued by the Mogo since it was released a good while ago but never had a chance to play with one to see if it would work well being so flat. His version was actually an HP branded version of the Mogo but it was the same otherwise. If you haven’t seen the Mogo Mouse it is flat with a pop-up prop that is used to make the mouse usable on a flat surface. It folds flat and stores in the PC Card slot for both transport and it charges the Bluetooth mouse while it’s in the slot. I was quite surprised to find that it works so well and the owner couldn’t say enough good things about it. I tried it for a bit and I must say it felt good in the hand and worked as well as I have heard. Needless to say I now have one on the way and will show you how well it works when I have it. It will solve both of the problems I have with the Stowaway so I expect it will be a great addition to my mobile kit. I got the PC Card version to fit in the P1620 slot but they have a couple of ExpressCard models too.

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When Services Fail: Relying Upon Web Email Services for Your Work

Jason Harris — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:00:25 +0000

How much do you rely upon services that are out of your control? If you’re like most web workers it’s probably quite a bit. We covered this topic in January, but the recent failures of Yahoo! Mail and Microsoft Live Hotmail have resurfaced the call to have backup solutions in place if your online email provider is unavailable for any reason.

For those of us who depend on web based mail such as Google Mail, Yahoo Mail, or Hotmail; a backup plan is necessary to keep your business running should these services go down. Google makes this process very easy with it’s support of POP and IMAP. If you use IMAP, you constantly have a a backup copy of your emails located on your local drive. For those who are looking for a different solution, check out Lifehacker’s solution, or GmailSync from Nauman Leghari.

To backup your Hotmail email, the method for backing up involves using Outlook Express to get your message and then using Outlook Express to backup the messages for your archival purposes. If anyone has any other methods for backing up Hotmail, please leave a comment and I’ll update the post.

For users of Yahoo Mail, it appears the only way to gain downloadable access to your emails is to pay $19.99 for access to Yahoo! Plus. Yahoo Plus will allow you to forward your mail and give you access to your mail via POP, among other features. Once you sign up for Mail Plus, simply use your mail client’s backup facility to create a backup copy of your emails.

It would be advisable to take these service downtimes as a call to look at your email system and see how you can create some redundancy in the event your service provider is unavailable. Another upshot of creating backups is if you decide to move do a different mail provider, you will already have your ducks in a row to easily restore your mail to the new provider.

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Britney’s Bomb Causes MTV Traffic Explosion

Chris Albrecht — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 21:35:56 +0000

While it was supposed to be Britney Spears’ comeback performance, MTV.com was the big winner after the falling star’s abysmal performance at the channel’s annual Video Music Awards.

The music site saw its traffic surge to record numbers as people visited to watch the trainwreck in action. MTV.com logged 2.6 million visitors on Sunday (remember the awards were held at night, so that wasn’t even a full day), making it the site’s highest-trafficked day ever. As of 3:30 PM ET on Monday, MTV.com had delivered 7 million streams.

The lesson here: Online video can breathe life into TV failures — as long as they’re spectacular ones.

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iPhone Campout Live Blog

Brandon Eley — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:00:26 +0000

Up and running!

Sorry for the delay in updates! When I tried to activate my iPhone, AT&T turned service to my Treo off, but the iPhone still wasn’t activated. I went about 2 1/2 hours without any cell coverage. When I couldn’t get a WiFi signal at the Apple Store, I decided to get out of there and find a hotspot.

I found a nice coffee shop and by the time I plugged in (about 8:30 PM) the iPhone activated and I was in business. Wow, what an amazing device! I had a long drive home so I still haven’t had a lot of time to play with it but I have seen enough to know it’s everything I thought it would be and more. What an elegant device!

I have several friends who also got iPhones. One friend of mine walked into an Apple Store at 7:30 PM and bought an iPhone in less than 10 minutes with no wait. It’s okay, I really enjoyed hanging out all day and getting my hands on one first. My only regret is that I didn’t get to post as much here as I would have liked. Still, it was a successful day and I hope everyone who wanted one got an iPhone.

7:57 PM – No Service

I lost service on my Treo… soon after trying to activate my iPhone my Treo stopped working. I had to find a coffee shop with free WiFi.

When I plug in my iPhone it tells me it needs additional time to activate, and the rep at the Apple Store said it could take up to 6 hours! I waited in line for 10 hours, so what’s another 6, right?!

Right now all I can do is look at this pretty phone and hope it starts working soon… I wonder if other people are having the same problem….

6:39 PM – Trouble Activating

Well this is interesting. I can’t get the iPhone to activate. It said it would email me when it was complete. I can’t do anything but call 911 right now, so I’m patiently awaiting an email.

6:20 PM – Here it is!I just got my iPhone and am activating it now!

6:05 PM – Going InIt’s pure mayhem. The first person just came out with their iPhone and now I’m going in.

5:55 PM – Entering SoonI just found out I’m 3rd in line in the 2nd group going in to the store…Its just a few minutes to launch and the security and police are patroling and they’ve already taken all the chairs and organized the line.

5:30 PM – Black Curtain RemovedWith 30 minutes left everyone is going crazy talking about the iPhone. An Apple Store employee just came by to explain the procedure.

They will be letting small groups of people in at a time so they can “experience” the iPhone. I just hope small group means 50 so I can get my hands on one!

4:00 PM – Anxiously WaitingWe’re all just biding our time now until 6 PM. Everyone is talking about the launch and there is a lot of buzz about what they’re going to do, whether they’ll give out t-shirts and free stuff, etc.

In just two hours, the iPhone goes on sale…

2:00 PM – Store is ClosedThe Apple Store closed at 2:00 PM and the employees inside are getting ready for the big launch. I can see them inside the store meeting, but they are now putting up black sheets to block our view, so it will be a secret from here out. Several Apple Store employees said they “hope” there will be enough phones for everyone but they are very optimistic. I think there will be plenty, unless the line doubles or triples in size (which is entirely possible.)

1:00 PM UpdateUpdating just a few minutes early. The line continues to grow slowly. I spent a little time in the Apple Store a few minutes ago and it’s staying packed with people just asking about the buzz and customers buying Macs and iPods. I’m looking forward to 2PM when the store closes and the anticipation starts.

12:00 PM UpdateIt’s noon, and I just grabbed some lunch to tide me over for a while. The line continues to grow but more slowly now. Only about 20 more people appear to be standing in line.

After four hours, it’s not really that bad but I’m predicting that the line will grow the most between 2PM and launch, when the Apple Store is closed. I originally planned to come up around 1PM thinking that the line would start when the store closed. Boy am I glad I decided to come when the mall opened!

11:00 AM UpdateTime is passing quickly now… it’s fun to talk to everyone and gossip about all the rumors floating around. Will there be enough iPhones to go around? Several people have said that they have 10 employees to check people out simultaneously in the store. At 6:00 PM they will let 10 people in at one time, and one at a time after as people leave.The line has grown and looks to be at least 100 people total already.

10:00 AM UpdateWell, it’s been two hours and the line just keeps growing! I’ve talked to a ton of people in line (many thanks to Jena for holding my spot in line) and here’s what the rumor mill has to offer. There is a consensus that this store is getting about 1,000 iPhones, so I think everyone in line right now is set.Also, I miscounted initially. I’m 41 in line and there are now about 45 people behind me. See the photos below. There’s also a photo of the Apple Store which is open and doing business, which will close at 2PM to get ready for the launch. I heard one rumor that the iPhone is already on sale in Europe, not sure about that one. And the final tidbit is that Apple just released a new version of iTunes minutes ago that you will have to have to activate the iPhone. So if you’re standing in line with me, go to Software Update and get the newest version of iTunes. At 6PM it’s quite possible that Apple’s servers will crash from millions of people trying to do the update at the same time.

More updates at 11 AM… Stay tuned.

9:00 AM UpdateThe line is still growing. Check out this photo from behind me; there are almost as many people behind me as in front. I counted 18-20 people behind me already and growing rapidlly!

8:00 AM Well, I’m here at the Apple Store at Lenox Square Mall and the line is forming! I got here when the doors opened at 8AM and I am still about 25th in line. I will be here all day, until the 6PM launch of the iPhone when I hope to get my hands on the most anticipated consumer device this decade.I’ve been talking with some of the people in line and it seems that Lenox Mall got it better than most – I’ve already gotten reports of AT&T stores that had hundreds of people waiting in line this morning.Only time will tell if I get an iPhone, but I’ll be here all day taking pictures and talking with other iPhone campers so keep your address bar tuned to TAB today for all-day coverage of the iPhone launch.Here is the line where I am standing (and sitting). There are 9 (I will update this regularly) people after me in line.

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Optical Vendors: fighting for scraps

Om Malik — Tue, 24 Aug 2004 14:37:10 +0000

Last week, analyst firm KMI Research came out with a report predicting that after being stalled for years, the optical networking market is going to change gears, and predicted that the market would grow at a 12 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2009. This market, which includes SONET, SDH, DWDM, DXC, and OXC products, hit $7.6 billion in 2003 and should reach $15.3 billion in 2009. They were quite bullish about the prospects of the long haul optical gear market. Fast forward a couple of days and Ciena and Sycamore Networks report their earnings, with a bit more pessimistic point of view. Sycamore on the conference call pointed out that it had hired an investment banker to explore strategic options.

This despite the news that Sycamore had beaten Ciena and Nortel and snagged Sprint as a customer. This along with their GIG-BE win, the company’s products have been selected for two of the most important contracts out there. “Despite these successes,” Pacific Crest Securities analyst Tim Daubenspeck told the Daily Deal that “finding a buyer could be tough for Sycamore. It’s a small company with essentially one product and a ton of cash. Someone might buy them for the cash and the value in their technology, but then again I don’t know of anyone who would want to enter that market.”

Sycamore has had tiny bit of good news, but things are getting downright depressing for Ciena. Light Reading is speculating that the downturn may cost CEO Gary Smith his job. “I’d say he’s got one more quarter to go,” says one investment source who holds no Ciena shares. “One more quarter of disappointment and the sh*t really starts to hit the fan.” Smith might pay the price for a broader market problem.

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