When Microsoft announced it would license ActiveSync it had wide-eyed plans to take over the world... and it just got one step closer.
You'd think Microsoft would downright loathe Apple and Google. And, on some fronts I'm sure they do. However they are the two highest profile licensees of Microsoft's ActiveSync protocol. If you've been living under a rock for the last few years ActiveSync is a mobile sync technology for email, calendaring, contacts and other data. ActiveSync has been available on the iPhone for awhile. However it still only sync'd to Microsoft Exchange.
Google is changing the game a bit, okay a lot, with their announcement that virtually any ActiveSync client can now sync to Gmail! This is HUGE! With Google scaling out its cloud services, the integration of Grand Central to Google Voice and now ActiveSync integration Google moves into the mobile world on multiple fronts. Android always had some integration with google services but activesync for Gmail opens the world up to a number of other devices including Windows Mobile, RIM Blackberry, Nokia and, of course, Apple's iPhone. This is disruptive to the mobile industry and may be Google's most significant blow thus far on the mobile battlefield.
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