Google Suite for Mobile Review

Jul 5, 2010 by Shivendu Madhava

No Android? No problem! All of Google’s mobile-based programs are available for your phone…

Sometimes, it’s a bit frightening to realise how just big Google is. It is the biggest search engine in the world by a factor of at least five, it has got one of the most popular email services in the world, it has the largest video-sharing site ever made, it owns one of the most widely-used social networking sites (especially in India), it has the largest blogging space available on the Internet, and it has the best geological mapping tool released to the public. And all of this is without even counting a lot of the Silicon Valley company’s other applications, such as its foray into browsers, instant messaging, photo-sharing services, RSS readers, news aggregation services, etc.

Predicting the trend that Internet access was slowly shifting towards mobile phones, Google developed a lot of tools that work on almost every cell phone out there. The biggest leap, of course, was the development of a new open-source operating system, dubbed Android.

The OS has received rave reviews from all quarters thus far, and it’s only a matter of time before it is ported to run on computers. Reports are already coming in about how netbook manufacturers (especially Acer) are testing the system on the popular Aspire One line of laptop devices. More on these issues can be found later; for now, let’s focus on Google’s applications for cell phones.

Going over to the official web site for all Google-related downloads, you are first prompted to choose your device type. All the major brands and platforms are listed there, making the task a lot easier.

Once you select your phone/platform, you will be taken to a page that lists all the Google applications available for your perusal.

Google Search: The backbone that the entire company was built on is available in an easy-to-use search bar. With the help of the Google Mobile App suite, this can be put on your Today screen, letting you conduct a search query without having to open any application. Of course, once you do search, the program will open your default browser to display the results.

Gmail: This email service is now available on your mobile phone. If you do use the service with the Google Gears for mobile tool, some operating systems will allow you offline access of your Gmail inbox. However, this takes up a huge part of your disk space, so tread carefully.

YouTube: The amazing video-sharing service that changed the world is not right at your fingertips. Sure, the company had fiddled around with Google Video earlier, but once they realised they could not compete with YouTube, they resorted to the old adage: ‘If you can’t beat them, buy them out’. The YouTube for Mobile application is quite a well-rounded player and serves its purpose. However, given a choice, we would still go with emTube as it allows one to save videos if need be and has, in our opinion, a better interface.

Google Maps: For those seeking global positioning services, there is not a better application out there. With the launch of Google Earth, the company brought GPS and geo-mapping to computers everywhere. Now, they have taken it up a notch with Google Maps for mobile. The software works mainly through A-GPS (using cell phone towers) to pinpoint your location and provide directions. The maps for India have been updated to a large extent, given the thriving community of users; a few niggles still remain, but they are not significant enough to dismiss this wonderful tool.

Google Latitude: Launched recently, Latitude latches on to Google Maps and makes it more awesome than you ever thought possible. In layman’s terms, Latitude tracks your location at all points and shows it on another user’s Google Maps. You can set how accurately the software pinpoints you by letting it show a 200-metre circle around where you are; show the city you are in; or, for privacy concerns, not track you at all. Tracking a person with their cell phone isn’t always a Big Brother scenario. If your kids have a phone, you would be quite glad to know where they are. “Whr r u?” is the most common SMS we send anyway, so why not find out without the hassle of back-and-forth messages.

Google Calendar: Most phones these days come with a built-in calendar that lets you set birthdays, appointments, etc. But wouldn’t you rather have a single calendar database that is always in sync and can be accessed from any device? Having used Google Calendar for ages, we can vouch for its feature-rich interface and awesome performance. And now, you can carry this wonderful utility with you, ensuring you never miss an important date again. The Calendar on your phone and online account can by synced automatically by using Google Sync; although we recommend you try out the GCalSync (www.gcalsync.com) and GooSync (www.goosync.com) tools. GCalSync has versions for two platforms: Blackberry and Java, ensuring it works on almost any phone. We prefer GooSync while running a Windows Mobile phone, although the software is compatible with all Java-based phones as well.

Google News: To always be updated about what’s happening in the world, there are few services that match the aggregation abilities of Google News. The mobile version is just a resized output of the original service, and is just as customizable.

Google Reader: RSS feeds are all the rage, and Google has come out with a Reader to help you streamline the different feeds you follow. If you use RSS minimally, it makes sense to use the built-in reader that comes with the Google Mobile App suite instead of installing additional software that take up precious memory. However, for power users, a dedicated RSS reader would be a better idea as Google Reader is limited in many ways.

Orkut: The popular social networking service — owned by Google — has got quite a following in India. Here’s a simple application to post your scraps and find out what your friends are up to.

Picasa: If you don’t already have an account at a photo-sharing service, Picasa is a great option to go for. One of the biggest reasons is that it is integrated with most of Google’s offerings, taking away registration and other such worries while providing easy cross-platform access. And if you do have an account on Flickr or some other service, here’s some food for thought: Picasa’s online account can easily import those settings and data as well. Time for a switch?

Google Sync: As the name suggests, this is an easy tool that syncs up your mobile phone’s content with your online Google profile. Primarily, the application works only with your Google Calendar and Outlook or email address book. However, the developers have stated that they are adding more features to make it such that your personalised Google ‘suite’ will be available to you from any device.

Google Mobile App: The aforementioned applications are all available in one easy-to-use package for some platforms – Windows Mobile, Blackberry and iPhone. In Windows Mobile, the program puts a Google toolbar on your Today screen, with launchers for all the Google applications. As for the other two platforms, it waits to be launched via an icon. The cool part is that the program is voice-activated, allowing users to conduct searches and perform basic tasks by just talking into the phone! Support for Symbian and other platforms is coming soon.

Our more tech-savvy readers will know we skipped quite a few of Google’s mobile products, such as Gtalk, Docs, iGoogle, Blogger, SMS, etc. While these are all available, their interface isn’t good enough to warrant a recommendation. In fact, there are various other applications that can do their job a lot better, such as the Java-based GoTalkMobile (www.gotalkmobile.com), which beats any official Google Talk client.

Still, most of Google’s offerings are not to be ignored. If you are a Google power-user on your PC or Mac but thought that the experience just wouldn’t translate well on cell phones, then we highly recommend you check out the mobile applications suite. You are in for a pleasant surprise…

Platforms: Android, Windows Mobile, iPhone, Blackberry, Symbian S60, Java

Price: Free

Download: www.google.com/mobile