Saturday, August 22, 2009


Google Apps Blog update (including Gmail & GApp's)

Email a task list

Posted: 21 Aug 2009 10:00 AM PDT

Posted by Michael Bolin, Software Engineer

Sometimes you need to get your tasks out of Tasks. Although you already know how I feel about paper, we decided to add support for printing with Tasks's graduation from Gmail Labs. Today we're offering another export solution which doesn't kill trees: emailing a task list.

Like most Tasks features, "Email task list" can be found in the Actions menu.
Clicking on it will open a new compose window with the contents of your current task list. This works in all views (my order, sort by date, completed), so to email your mom to explain why you've been so busy and haven't been able to return her calls, just choose "View completed tasks" from the Actions menu, then "Email task list" and send away. (Note: this may not be very convincing if you haven't actually checked anything off your list recently.)

If you want to let us know how Tasks is working for you, we're now available on Twitter at http://twitter.com/googletasks. Like most Google accounts on Twitter, we won't be able to respond to every question or feature request, but sometimes you might get lucky and we'll have an answer for you. Oh and @sayanghosh, today is your lucky day.

Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server now available

Posted: 21 Aug 2009 04:34 PM PDT

In May, we announced our plans to integrate Google Apps with BlackBerry Enterprise Server, a popular feature request from many of our enterprise customers. Today, our team is excited to let you know that this integration is complete. Now, customers of Google Apps Premier and Education Editions can give their users access to Google Apps email, calendar, and contacts from the built-in BlackBerry applications that many users are already accustomed to. The tight integration between our connector and the BlackBerry Enterprise Server lets administrators manage BlackBerry access using the tools and policies they're already familiar with.

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.
  • Administrators can use the management and security tools that are part of BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

Google Apps Premier and Education Edition customers worldwide can get started with this feature at no charge by downloading Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server. If you have any questions, please visit the Help Page. Both of these links are also available through the Google Apps control panel.

Learn about all of the mobile options available to Google Apps users at www.google.com/apps/mobile.

Posted by Anthony Lee, Google Apps Engineer

Find customer stories and product information on our resource sites for current users of Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes/Domino.