Google Sync just got really useful

Google Sync now offers calendar and contact sync using the Microsoft ActiveSync protocol. Although the Google Sync application for BlackBerry has been around for a while, Google Sync over ActiveSync opens up 2-way syncing for other phones supporting that protocol, namely Windows Mobile devices and Apple iPhones. Previously if you wanted some amount of sync on your iPhone with Google, you had to use a product like NuevaSync, which only provided one-way calendar sync and gave a third party access to your Google account.

A few notes of caution:

• Contacts from OS X Address Book and Outlook don't always import into Google perfectly -- I have experienced problems with imports of names, companies, titles, and phone numbers.
• Read the list of known issues here.
• Follow the instructions to back up your data.

Just cross your fingers that Google will enable PushIMAP for its mail services -- we know they support it on the phone for Yahoo. If you combined PushIMAP with the sync services described above, you'd have a free platform that would challenge BlackBerry core functionality. Take it a step further and imagine administrative controls for all this in Google Apps.

Link (this links to the iPhone page because that's what I use)