Google has unveiled a new service that will push Gmail and calendar items to the native client software on BlackBerry devices, stepping up the search giant's efforts in the enterprise market,reports yahoo.
The service will be included with the Premier and Education editions of Google Apps. End-users will find their Google messages pushed to the e-mail client on their BlackBerry, and messages sent from their phones will appear to have come from their organization's Google mail account.
They'll be able to access their organization's Google address list from their phone, and to synchronize contacts and calendar items. The service is in beta and will be commercially available in July.
The service requires organizations to add a piece of software to their BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), and that software is available today only for the Microsoft Exchange version of BES. The software connects back to Google's mail servers, rather than the company's Exchange server, to synchronize mail, contacts and calendar items.
Google thinks the new service will encourage more businesses to use Google Apps. Organizations use Google Apps because it can be cheaper and easier to maintain than an on-premise system such as Exchange or Lotus Notes.Some end-users want the familiar experience of receiving e-mail on their BlackBerry, however, hence Google is offering the new push service.
