Google is stepping up their game with the announcement of in app payments.  

A couple of HUGE advantages that Google is leveraging in draw in developers are:

1)  with a single line of code (according to Google), in app payments can be integrated into any application, regardless of where the application is hosted.

2)  Google will only take a 5% fee, as opposed to Apple’s 30% fee, of all revenue.  Put another way (without insulting you of course), with Google in app payments, developers keep 95% of the revenue.

It’s a pretty sweet deal…

Check out the video for Google in app payments:

Update – 2-13-2019 – Google has updated their in app payments a lot since it begain, when we posted this article. Here is an updated video!

Microsoft

The Office 365 product is basically Microsoft’s attempt to bring their production suite of software, a.k.a. Microsoft Office, to the web (or the cloud as they would call it).

However, in typical Microsoft fashion, they’ve complicated the entire process by offering multiple product packages to chose from, long lists of features that are either turned on, or turned off depending on what you’re purchasing, etc…

However, Google was very quick to respond to the Office 365 announcement yesterday by releasing a blog post titled 365 Reasons to Consider Google Apps. The list of comparisons and differences is extensive, but below are a couple of key points made in the post:

“Technology inevitably gets more complicated as it gets older,” Sinha’s blog post reads. “Upgrading platforms and adding features results in systems that are increasingly difficult to manage and complex to use. At times like these, it’s worth considering a clean slate: an approach based on entirely modern technologies, designed for today’s world.”

Simple & Affordable
Office 365 is 11 different plans, three editions and two tiers. Apps is $5/month with no commitment.

Productive Anywhere
Office 365 is built for Microsoft. Apps is built for choice.

Designed for Teams
Office 365 is for individuals. Apps is for teams.

Pure & Proven Cloud
Office 365 is about the desktop. Apps is about the web.

Google is clearly not going to sit back and let Microsoft make a big deal about Office 365.  And the only thing I’m wondering, and would love to ask someone like Steve Ballmer, is what do you think about Google’s response to Office 365?  And do you have a response for Google?

via GoogleEnterprise

It’s interesting to me that Verizon is now offering what they call Google Apps for Verizon.

This is basically a bundled package deal for Verizon small and medium size business customers to start leveraging Google Apps.

Verizon will be charging enterprise clients $3.99 per month / per user for those who just want to use the Google Apps suite of products.

Coupled with data plans, and according to the Verizon website, plans are starting at $74.99 per month.

Google Apps is actually something that businesses can get for free. But Verizon’s move to incorporate the Apps suite of products into a bundled solution is, in my opinion, more about generating new data plan customers.

I commend Verizon for finding a creative way to bundle together something that is already free.

And even moreso with their business saviness in bundling it together with the stipulation that you need to subscribe to a bundle consisting of Verizon Internet service and either Verizon voice or TV service or both.

Here’s a list of services you get with the Google Apps for Verizon:

• Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sites, Google Video
• 3 free user accounts (bundled data plan required
• Additional accounts can be purchased
• “Do it yourself” kit to get started
• Free website for your business
• Online backup (via Google Docs backup)
• Access to the Verizon Small Business Center

This is also a reflection of the influence that Google is having in the overall marketplace of all things data.

Verizon is already the number retailer for Google’s Android OS operated smartphones.

And more than likely will become one of the largest retailers of Android operating tablets.

via Google Enterprise

Well that won’t be the case with the Dell Aero, AT&T has put up a sign up page for the Dell Aero listing some of the handsets tech specs. The page states that the Dell Aero will have a 5.0-megapixel camera, 3.5 nHD display, support for Flash lite & GPS.

The Dell Aero will have the Google Apps that are found on all the other Android handsets such as the Android Market place, You Tube, Google Maps, Google Talk, Gmail & Google search. If you want to sign up for more announcements for the availability of the Dell Aero please go the source link below.

Source: Dell Aero

Josh Uhlemeyer
Former Author of Mobile News Now

One measurement of growth in the mobile market can simply be the number of apps that are added to a particular platform.

If you look at the Google Android OS market space, then you won’t have to dig very deep to see that Android is growing – and it’s growing fast!

According to AndroLib, the Android Market experienced a growth spurt in March 2010 with 9,308 app additions compared to February’s 5,532.

We’re not even third of the way in April and the Android Market has already added 2,229 apps so far. The credit naturally goes to HTC’s line up of high-end Android smartphones that are debuting worldwide on an ongoing basis, says CoolTechZone.com.

Android’s influence is now reaching beyond just phones as well. Products from autos to TV’s are starting to be operated by the Android OS.

Google Announced Apps Marketplace YouTube Channel

To help customers find useful applications for their Google Apps platform, Google has just announced a new Google Apps Marketplace YouTube Channel.

The Apps Marketplace YouTube Channel will help vendors connect to Google Apps end users more efficiently.

And the ability to submit videos will allow vendors to present their products in a more tangible fashion, given prospects hands on previews of their Google Apps products.

Read more at the Google Enterprise blog.

Google Apps Cuts Orlando City IT Costs By 62 Percent

Google Apps is the premier enterprise solution that pushes email, calendaring, communication and collaboration to the web (or the cloud).  According to WebProNews, the City of Orlando has cut costs by 62% since they’ve switched over to the Google Apps platform.

According to WebProNews,

The city of Orlando loves Google, and it’s not hard to understand why – according to the city’s own estimates, switching to Google Apps cut its IT costs by a massive amount.  So now Orlando’s CIO, Conrad Cross, is returning the favor (and maybe helping Orlando secure a special prize) by spreading the Google gospel.

Cross wrote a post that went up on the Official Google Enterprise Blog this afternoon, and in it, he stated, “If we were to keep our current system, we estimated it would cost $133 a year for each of its 3,000 employees – or $399,000 including annual software licenses.  Google charges $50 per user, or $150,000 delivering more than 60% in savings.”

From the Google Apps Marketplace homepage:

The Google Apps Marketplace offers products and services designed for Google users, including installable apps that integrate directly with Google Apps. Installable apps are easy to use because they include single sign-on, Google’s universal navigation, and some even include features that integrate with your domain’s data.

The Google Apps Marketplace Promo Video:

The latest school to convert to the Google Apps system is Hamilton College.

Here’s the announcement by Hamilton College:

For the greater part of a decade, Hamilton has been using the Sun Java Communications Express system for e-mail, paying $30,000 or more per year for service.  Gmail, on the other hand, costs nothing. According to members of Hamilton’s Information Technology Services (ITS), the reduced cost was among the many benefits that led them to adopt Google Apps for Education.

Beginning on Monday, March 1, ITS began transitioning all students to HillConnect, an umbrella for the suite of applications available through Google Apps for Education.

Google Apps provides a robust suite of applications for the modern day students, faculty, and anyone else associated with a university.

From Gmail, calendars, and online documents, students and teachers alike can collaborate at nearly any level – all via the web (or as Google Apps calls it, “the cloud”).

Google Apps can even integrate the suite of applications into just about any mobile device making the system even more collaborative.

DocVerse was acquired by Google last week for an estimated $25 million.  This now puts Google in control of what has been the primary dominant force in uploading MS Office documents to the web.  And once the docs are on the web, in DocVerse, people can update data and share the documents with other easily.

This move makes me think that Google is about to beat Microsoft at their own game.  With DocVerse now in the control of Google, it’s easy for Google to leverage their brand and marketing prowess to quickly dominate the online document market space.

Not to mention that Google already has a growing market share with their Google Apps suite.  Google Apps is also an online version of the Office suite, only not quite as robust as the MS Office software that you use on your desktop.

Google has stopped allowing new sign ups at DocVerse until they’ve integrated DocVerse into their business model.  However, existing DocVerse users can still use their documents.

It will be interesting to see what Google does with the new DocVerse acquisition.  One thing’s for sure – Microsoft better be careful before Google beats them at their game!

I’m particularly fond of Google Apps and have successfully converted several organizations over to the Google Apps platform.  One of the biggest advantages I’ve seen in my experience with Google Apps is the integration with mobile devices like iPhone, Blackberry, and the iPod Touch.

The officers within the organizations that I’ve integrated into Google Apps now spend more time on their mobile devices checking their emails, following calendars, and staying connected through Google Apps.

The University of Delaware has taken the steps to enhance their communication and collaboration practices and according to their university website, they will be “using their UDelNet IDs (udel.edu e-mail addresses) and passwords, students can now use Google’s advanced e-mail interface, Gmail, for their University e-mail — and can also use the entire Google Apps for Education software suite.

UD Information Technologies (IT) and Google have made the new service available as a pilot program since November 2009, during which time more than 200 students have taken advantage of this opportunity. IT has now opened Google Apps @UDel.edu to any UD student who would like to move.

With just a UDelNet ID and password, a UD student can instantly use the full set of Google Applications for Education:

• Gmail – udel.edu e-mail, communicating with on- and off-campus correspondents;
• Google Calendar – organizing schedules;
• Google Docs – creating and sharing documents (formatted text, spreadsheets, presentations);
• Google Sites – creating and sharing Web pages; and
• Google Talk – communicating with others via text, voice, and video messaging.

Google Docs just announced today that they are revamping their Docs system so as to allow any and all types of files to be stored in Google Docs.  Along with being able to store any types of files, the max space per Docs user has been increased as well.

You get 1 GB of storage per user, and you can upload files up to 250 MB in size at a time.

WOW – 1GB of storage and up to 250MB file sizes at a time.  This is quite impressive compared to what Google Docs was offering before.

In the coming months, Google will enable Google Apps Premier Edition customers to purchase additional storage for $3.50/GB/yr (or €3.00/gb/yr in the EU). If you’d like to be notified when additional storage can be purchased, please fill out this form and Google will contact you as soon as it’s available.

Read more about the new Google Docs storage capacity at the Official Google Enterprise Blog.

Blackberry has taken one more step to make the business traveler even more mobile by introducing the Blackberry Presenter.

The BlackBerry Presenter from RIM works with BlackBerry systems running version 4.6 or higher. As Al Sacco points out in his review of the BlackBerry Presenter, it is virtually identical to the Impatica Showmate device, which has been available for some time.  The primary differences are that the BlackBerry Presenter can deliver higher resolution images, and it works more seamlessly than presenting with the Showmate. [source: Washington Post]

The cool thing about The Blackberry Presenter is that it actually fits in your pocket!  So now you can have a projector and your Blackberry sitting comfortably in your pocket when your on your way to your next presentation.

Here’s more from The Washington Post:

You don’t need a computer to deliver a presentation with the BlackBerry Presenter, but you do need a monitor or projector to connect it to. Once it is connected and turned on, you can wirelessly present MicrosoftPowerPoint presentations stored on your BlackBerry.

The BlackBerry Presenter app for the BlackBerry device turns your BlackBerry into a Bluetooth remote for controlling the presentation as you speak. Simply navigate through the presentation by choosing Next Slide or Previous Slide from the BlackBerry Presenter app.

Your speaker notes embedded in your PowerPoint presentation will be available for you to read on your BlackBerry, and you are free to roam in a range of about 10 meters from the BlackBerry Presenter. You can also set the BlackBerry Presenter to loop through the slides at timed intervals as you speak, or as a display presentation for a product demonstration.

However, these 5 videos do not have links back to each other, so a normal viewer on YouTube wouldn’t get the full effect of being able to see all 5 videos.

That’s why I’ve listed all 5 videos here – enjoy!

5 ways Gmail makes life easier: conversation chains

5 ways Gmail makes life easier: themes

5 ways Gmail makes life easier: voice & video chat

5 ways Gmail makes life easier: offline Gmail

5 ways Gmail makes life easier: spam protection

Colleges Are “Going Google”

What’s “Going Google” mean?

A college has “Gone Google” when they’ve switched their entire email, calendaring, and collaboration system over to Google Apps.

What’s Google Apps?

Google Apps is a Google Enterprise solution for small businesses, large international corporations, universities, and pretty much anyone wanting to offer a group of people web based communication and collaboration.

The Foundation of Google Apps

The foundation of Google Apps is Gmail.  And the entire Apps application is installed on what’s called a “domain”.

Once you’ve launched Google Apps for your organization, you are now able to communicate, collaborate, etc… all via the web, and all via a secured “intranet” type environment that’s exclusive to your domain.

Learn more about Google Apps at the Google Resource Center.

The ability to upload multiple files was the most requested upgrade feature in the Google Docs support forum.  And finally Google took action and released a multiple file upload feature – again this was about 3 weeks ago.

Then, within a few days after the release, the multiple file upload feature was taken down.  Google did not give an explanation.  All that happened is when you went to article announcing the feature, all you got was a 404 error (page does not exist).

Well now – just today, I decide to check up on the status of multiple file uploading (because I’m a big time user of Google Apps, as well as a few of my clients), and low and behold, I found this:

http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=147167

That is a tutorial for how to upload multiple documents simultaneously with Google Docs – and I confirmed that is works!

Click the link above, and start uploading your docs, spreadsheets, presentations, and PDF’s to Google Docs – and leave your jump drives at home!

I’m not sure how new of a feature this is, but Google Apps now has an easy way to add cool looking icons to your desktop.  Once your icons are on your desktop, you’ll be able to just double click and be taken directly to the Apps services (Gmail, Calendar, Docs).

Here’s how you get desktop icons for your Google Apps account:

1) First, you must be the admin of your domain.  Then from any of your services (Gmail, Calendar, Docs) click the “Manage this domain” link.  This will take you into your dashboard for your Google Apps domain.

2) Next, on the heading tabs at the top of your Google Apps dashboard page, click on the one called “Advanced Tools” – this is the fourth tab to the right.

3) You should now see the “Google Apps desktop features” around the middle of the next page after clicking “Advanced Tools”.   Go ahead and click the “here” link, or the long sharable link underneath it.

4) This will now open a download file window.  Once you see the download window appear, click “Save File“.

5) After you click “Save File”, this should add an executable file to your desktop called “googleappsstandalonesetuptagged.exe” – go ahead and double click the executable file.

6) You should now see a new small window appear with the options to “Run” or “Cancel” > go ahead and click “Run“.  This will begin the install of your Google Apps icons.

7) Finally, after you click  “Run“, if everything went normally, you will be presented with a “Google Apps installed successfully” confirmation window.

And that’s it – you should now see these three icons:

Now you can go to your desktop and find the three icons – Gmail, Calendar, and Docs.  These icons will open up a Google Chrome framed window, and you will either be presented with the Google Apps login screen, or if you’re already logged in, then you’ll proceed directly to that service.

I’ve seen Google Apps at work, and without question, it is the most efficient way for people within an organization to keep up to date, communicate, collaborate on documents, and manage calendars that I’ve ever seen.

I was working with someone yesterday that used Microsoft Outlook.  The reason this person wanted my help is because they are trying to move to Google Apps for all of their email, calendaring, mobile phone integration, etc…

I’m a Google Apps convert myself.  I use Google Apps for my business, and have incorporated Google Apps at other organizations.   One of the previous organizations was very hung up with Microsoft Outlook, especially since they were having to physically come into their office to get on Outlook and check their emails.

Anyway, since I have a lot of experience now with both Google Apps and Microsoft Outlook, I thought I’d spell out some of the main differences that I see.  This of course will be an argument for Google Apps since I’m fully convinced that it is the future of enterprise email, communication, and collaboration.

Here are some main difference between Google Apps and Microsoft Outlook:

1) With Microsoft Outlook, you have to be physically at the computer that it’s loaded on to use it and check your email.  With Google Apps, you just need be at a computer that’s on the web – no matter where you are in the world.

2) With Google Apps, you can live sync your email to your mobile devices such as the iPhone, Blackberry, etc…  With Outlook, it’s not a live sync, so what you do on your phone is not reflected on your computer when you sit down again and open your email.  Basically, with Outlook, you’re managing your email twice.

3) Multiple calendar management.  With Google Apps, you’re able to have several different calendars overlay one calendar view.  And it’s easy to differentiate because you’re able to color coordinate the calendars.  Plus, with Google Apps calendar, live syncing is possible to mobile devices like the iPhone and Blackberry.  This means that your calendar, which you view on your iPhone, is instantly updated as soon as a new event is added to your calendar by the administrator.  Same with a Blackberry.  This is not possible with Outlook.

4) With Google Docs on Google Apps, you’re able to review documents, spreadsheets, and powerpoints with other people that you invite to that document.  This allows online collaboration, and instant feedback from others on documents and spreadsheets that need other people’s input.  Obviously, Outlook does not have anything like this.

5) With Google Apps, you can build an intranet for your oganization.  An internal website for an organization, upon which which information is shared, calendars are viewed and updated, etc… makes it super easy for everyone to stay up to date and in the loop.  Outlook does not have anything like this.

6) Within your Google Apps functionality, you have what’s called Google Sites.  Here you can build your own webpages, add photos, information etc… but within Sites you have a neat feature called “File Cabinet”.  This File Cabinet is a webpage where you are able to store files on the web, within your Google Apps account.  So no more having to carry around jump drives, cd’s, etc…  With File Cabinet, you can upload, store, and share as many files as you’d like – with whomever you like.  Outlook does not have anything like this.

Gmail Search

I was speaking to a friend this morning who has a lot of usernames and passwords for a lot of different online applications and software.  He needed to create a new Gmail account which added another username and password for him to create.

He got frustrated, understandably, because he said, “how in the world am I suppose to keep up with all these usernames and passwords?”  And I shared with him how I use Gmail as my own personal assistant to keep everything I ever wanted to remember, accessible in an instant!

Turn Gmail Into Your Personal Search Engine

Basically, I’ve turned my Gmail account (Google Apps email to be exact) into a personal search engine, filled with data that is only relevant to me and my busy life.

I suppose this would work for any email provider that offers search and archiving, but since I use Gmail (Google Apps to be exact), I can only speak on behalf of Gmail.

So here’s how I use Gmail as my personal assistant, always ready to help me find information that helps me be more productive in my day to day life:

1) I email myself all the time.

2) These emails that I send myself are full of links, information, usernames, passwords, pieces of information that I know I can forget right now, but that I want to be able to access quickly in the future if I need to.

3) In these email that I send to myself, not only to I put the critical information I need, but then I add “tags” – just like you’d tag a blog posting for example.  These “tags” are keyword phrases that are directly associated with the content of the email – so when I search Gmail, there is plenty of tagged phrases to bring up the right information quickly in the search results.

4) As soon as I send myself the email, I select it in my inbox, then “Archive” the email.  This basically sends it into the database, and with the proper tags (keyword phrases) in the body of the email, it is always ready to be retrieved through search.

5) Finally, since you’re now emailing and archiving a lot of the critical information related to your life, you can now go ahead and search for whatever you’re looking for through the Gmail search bar.  Just type in your query such as “gmail password”, or “my friends email”, etc… and you should be able to instantly see the information you’re looking for in your Gmail search results.

This process is equally as efficient on any mobile device as well (iPhone, Blackberry, Pre).

The Take Away

The bottom line is that all of the data in Gmail is forever retrievable through Gmail search.  And by emailing yourself critical information, and then ensuring you’ve properly tagged that email by putting related keyword phrases in the email body, then you’ll always – and at anytime – be able to search and retrieve the informatoin you need!

Don’t get too excited about it just yet because according to their blog posting, today will be the day when 100,000 invites go out to early Wave adopters, developers who have been part of the community, and select Google Apps users.

And people are already desiring an invite for Google Wave, just like it was digital crack – like @jayaldenpotter on Twitter

So that means, for the rest of the hundreds of millions of people interested in Google Wave – you just have to keep waiting.

This is, in my opinion, a great marketing strategy by Google – build anticipation, make it so that only a select few people get it, and ultimately create a “I’ve gotta have it” mentality amongst the people.

Store Files Online With Google Apps

Google Apps is a cloud based computing solution that benefits both small and large organizations.  Google claims on their Apps Site that Google Apps is now used by over 1 million businesses – quite impressive indeed.

I want to show you how you can store files in your Google Apps account.  These can be files directly from your computer, from jump drives, from external CD’s, and really from anywhere.

There are some limits as to what types of files you can store in Google Apps and I will list those below.  But Google Apps provides a fast, easy way for you to upload and store files in your Apps account for later access, sharing, or easy distribution from anywhere on the web!

Storing files in Google Apps is accomplished through Google Sites.  Google Sites is a product for both Google Apps and non Google Apps users.

You can access Google Sites by looking at the top left of your screen when logged into Google Apps:

Once you click on and open “Sites” below are the steps to follow to start adding your documents and storing them in your Google Apps account:

1) click “Create New Site”

2) Name your site whatever you want, then I would recommend to start, you name your categories “Files”.  This is going to allow you to have a page in your “Sites” called Files.

3) “Site Description” is optional – you can go ahead and describe your site whatever you’d like – this will show up as a sub description on your main site.

4) The collaboration options are described as follows:

*  Everybody – that’s everybody in your domain of Google Apps

*  Only People I Specify – you can chose exactly whom you’d like to share your site with.  This is not whom you’ll be sharing your files with.  Once you upload your files, you’ll be given the option to share with people that point.

*  Let Everyone In The World View This Site:  This basically makes your site a publically indexed website just like any other website found on the web.

5) Chose whatever theme you’d like – you can click the “More Themes” link to the right to browse all of the available themes.

6) Click “Create Site” – you will now publish and activity your new “Site” within your Google Apps domain.

7) In the next screen, find “Create Page” in the upper right hand corner and click that.

8) Next you’ll see 5 different page types from which to chose – go ahead and select the page type called “File Cabinet”

9) in the “Name” box, chose a name that you’d like to call your page.  This name will show on the tab in your site for your file cabinet page.

10) Chose either “top level” or under “home page”.  The different is in how your navigation bar will look on your site.  Do you want your file cabinet page to be a page by itself, or as a sub page to your home page.  I recommend just making a page by itself so you’d chose “top level” page.  This can be changed later if need be.

11) now click “Create Page”

12) Next click the button called “Add File”

13) The next screen you see will be the wizard that allows you to browse your computer, jump drive, CD’s, etc… to find the file you’re looking for:

14) Click the “Browse” button in the screen you see above and locate the file you desire to upload to your file cabinet.

**  Unsupported file types

The following is a list of files that are not compatible with Google Apps / Google Sites File Cabinet:

• ‘ade’
• ‘adp’
• ‘bat’
• ‘chm’
• ‘cmd’
• ‘com’
• ‘cpl’
• ‘exe’
• ‘hta’
• ‘htm’ – can be uploaded to share, but can not be used in the site.
• ‘html’ – can be uploaded to share, but can not be used in the site.
• ‘ins’
• ‘js’ – can be uploaded to share, but can not be used in the site.
• ‘isp’
• ‘jse’
• ‘lib’
• ‘mde’
• ‘msc’
• ‘msp’
• ‘mst’
• ‘pif’
• ‘scr’
• ‘sct’
• ‘shb’
• ‘sys’
• ‘vb’
• ‘vbe’
• ‘vbs’
• ‘vxd’
• ‘wsc’
• ‘wsf’
• ‘wsh’
• ‘xpi’

15) Select the file from your compute (or URL of a web page that you want to add), and then click “upload” found in the bottom left hand corner:

And that’s it!

You can now access your files from anywhere on the web and your mobile phone – anywhere that can access the Internet.

Just click on the “Sites” tab from your Google Apps account > open the site you created > click on the page you created for your file cabinet > and you will see your files.

Let me know if you have any questions by posting comments below, or feel free to call me at 706-363-0335 (Robert).

How to sync Google Apps email on your iPhone

The Google Mobile Blog just announced today the addition of Gmail to their active sync products for the iPhone.

Prior to today, the active sync / live push functionality was reserved only for Gmail Calendar and Google Contacts.

I love the new addition of Gmail active sync to the iPhone, but I hate that they don’t also provide Google Apps instructions.  With over 1 million new Google Apps users, you’d think that all releases would come with instructions for Apps uers.

Never fear though, because I’m going to show you the fast, simple, super easy way to get your Google Apps email to active sync on your iPhone.  I’ve set mine up earlier today and it works like a charm.  The updates with new email is near instantaneous.

This is, of course, only applicable to those who already have their iPhone integrated and synced with Google Apps through Microsoft Exchange.

How to sync your Google Apps email client on your iPhone:

1) Tap “settings” on the dashboard of your iPhone

2) Tap “Mail, Contacts, Calendars”

3) Tap your Google Apps account – it’s the Google Apps account you have setup for your calendar, contacts, or both.

4) On the “mail” option > tap the “on” > about 1 second after that you’ll see screen pop up that shows your email sync activating.

That’s It – you now have Google Apps email push on your iPhone.

If you have any questions, post them below or feel free to call me at 706-363-0335 (Robert).

The Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server users is now available!

Official announcement here

I have a friend that works for a law firm, and they are all assigned a BlackBerry where the content, emails, calendars, etc… all flows from a server that is assigned to all BlackBerrys.

When Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server was released on August 21st, I was wondering if this was something that would actually be able to benefit someone like my friend’s law firm.

I do know that his law firm has occasional issues with email staying up since they use Windows Server 2003, and remote access into their computers for email use.

And since they’re having to purchase, manage, and maintain a whole separate server for their BlackBerry’s, I have to believe they could benefit from switching over to Google Apps.  The switch would eliminate the need for an additional server, and the downtime / maintenance that’s currently required for their Windows server setup.

Here are some features that Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server offers:

Since our announcement in May, the Google Apps team has worked hard to prepare this feature for public release, testing it extensively with select companies and universities, including Sanmina-SCI. “With Apps Connector, our BlackBerry mobile users get to use native applications that they are already familiar with and we get to manage them using familiar tools. It’s great to combine the benefits of Google Apps like 25GB storage per user and ubiquitous accessibility with the push mail capabilities of BlackBerry,” said Manesh Patel, CIO of Sanmina-SCI.

Features include:

• Messages sent to your Gmail inbox are pushed to your BlackBerry within 60 seconds.
• Emails read/deleted on your BlackBerry are marked as read/deleted in Gmail, and vice-versa.
• Emails archived/starred on your BlackBerry are archived/starred in Gmail, and vice-versa.
• BlackBerry folders are synchronized with labels in Gmail.
• You can search for contact information of coworkers from the global address list on your BlackBerry.
• Contacts in Gmail are automatically synchronized with your BlackBerry address book.
• You can view your Google Calendar schedule with the native BlackBerry application, with one-way synchronization from Google Calendar to your BlackBerry device. Two-way calendar sync with the ability to accept, decline and schedule meetings from your BlackBerry device is not available with this release but we are working on it.

Google Apps setup, deployment, and integration just got a whole lot easier for everyone with 2 new features:

1)  The Google Apps Setup Guide:  this step, by step guide walks you through, from beginning to end, everything you need to successfully launch Google Apps for your organization.

From creating new users to syncing mobile devices, this setup guide is a great tool for your successful launch.

2)  Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook:  want to keep MS Outlook but hate your Microsoft Exchange server?  It’s just a fact of life, there are a lot of organizations that are adminant about keeping and using their MS Outlook email and calendar.

Now with Google Apps Sync for MS Outlook, you can literally have the best of both worlds.  Syncing your Outlook to Google Apps backend is now possible, giving you the benefits of getting rid of your MS Exchange server and leveraging the speed, power, and security of Google Apps – yes, for you MS Outlook lovers, this is the best of both worlds.

For Google Apps help, call me anytime at 706-363-0335!

Now I’m just assuming that the same process would be the same for all Blackberrys, but maybe not. So here it is as a step by step:

1) open the web browser on your Blackberry curve

2) go to https://about.google/products/

3) Download and install the Google Sync for Blackberry

4) Go to the main screen on your Blackberry where you see all the different apps > find your calendar > open your calendar

5) With your Calendar open, click the button that has the 7 odd shaped dots (next to the green phone “push to answer” button)

6) scroll up and click “options”

The following are my recommendations for settings:

7) for “When To Sync” select “Automatic” > this will ensure that all updates made on your calendars are automatically synced with your Blackberry

8.  CONTACTS > select “sync contacts”

9) CALENDAR > select “24 weeks” for Sync events for next: > select “Week” for

Keep Event for Previous > Select “Synchronize Reminders” > select “Sync these calendars” and select all of the calendars you want to be selected with your Blackberry.

** If your organization keeps a lot of different calendars, select the ones that are most relevant to you – your workflow – etc…

10) Click that 7 dotted weird button again along the bottom > select “Save” and select “Sync Now”

Now if you did everything right, and if your calendars are anything like my clients, then it will take quite a while (30 min – 1 hour) to complete the sync.

The easiest ways I’ve seen my clients (and show my clients) to use their Blackberry once it’s synced is to view the month, and then select the day they want to see the events for.

So MONTH > DAY – then you’ll see a list of events, from all synced calendars, for that day.

Is Google a media company or a tech company – or is it possible for them to be both?

There’s news out today that Google has sold their underperforming radio ad business to WideOrbit Inc.  The reason being is to cut costs and jettison underperforming operations.

This sounds like a something that a media (or advertising company would do).

Now look at Google Adwords revenue per year – $21 billion in 2008 (source).  I would also say that those are numbers that only a media company would post.

However, looking at the tech side of the argument, there are Google properties that have nothing to do with generating revenue.  For example:

* Google News – there are no ads being served on Google News, yet they (being Google) make every effort to serve the latest news and information from authoritative sources.  I guess Google News could be argued as being a facilitator of traffic to sites that are currently serving Google Ads – sort of a “let me help you get more traffic so more of our ads can be viewed.”

* Google Apps – the free version of Google Apps does serve ads in the Gmail portion – but what about the Enterprise versions?  They don’t serve ads, and although you have to pay for the service, is this something that a media company would be doing?  To me, Google Apps sounds a lot like a tech company.

Anyway, with the selling of the Google radio unit today, it swings the pendulum back in the direction of – Google is a media company who exists to make money from advertisers.