If you have a Gmail account and an S60 handset, chances are you have already asked yourself a few times how to combine both of these in an efficient manner. Well, I have too, and I searched for different ways to integrate my Gmail with my N82. I will list here all the apps I found that I can take advantage of:
From Basics – Checking Email
There are probably a 100 ways you can check your email on S60. Personally, I use the web-based interface of Gmail (m.gmail.com) which I’ve added as a Bookmark in my S60 Browser, but you can also use Google’s own JAVA application (download here) as well as the build-in email client in the Messaging application of your S60 handset (setup tutorial). Ricky has previously compared these 3 free methods stating the pros and cons of each one, and coming up with the conclusion that web-based and built-in email create a nice mix that should help you get through the day without really needing to access a computer.
If you have multiple inboxes or if you like push email, you might want to also look at Emoze, LCG Profimail and System Seven as well as Nokia’s new beta email client which Pseudofinn dissected earlier for you.
Going Deeper – Synchronizing Contacts
Not only does it handle Contacts, but also Google Calendar: yes it’s GooSync, Ricky’s new-found gem. The application is free if you want to sync one calendar without contacts, or else you have to pay a yearly or lifetime subscription. But it is worth it, since it allows you to keep everything organised and synchronised across your Google account, your handset and MS Outlook.
As a free but *to me* more complicated solution, Tom commented on Ricky’s GooSync article by pointing us out to Schedule World. There are a lot of steps, but fortunately everything is well explained and documented on their Wiki. Sigh. If only all companies took this as an example and bothered to explain to you in detail what you need to do!
Exploring New Grounds – SMS & MMS Archiving
If you receive a lot of SMS and MMS messages that are necessary for you to keep and archive, there are different solutions, but none as simple and effective as Psiloc’s XSync (previously known as GSync). What does it do? Well you basically feed it your Gmail login information (or Yahoo, Hotmail,…), setup the access point and click Synchronize. XSync will then send all of your new SMS/MMS to your email account, mark them as read, label them with SMS or MMS, insert the MMS multimedia as attachments, and organize everything in threads which are extremely comfortable if you have sent/received a lot of messages from one contact. In other words, all your messages are now archived as emails on your account, which will free your device’s memory and help you never lose that important address or phone number, or the to-do list that your boss sent you a week ago, or even your love messages from months ago.
I have been playing with this application for a while, and it works really well. You can either synchronize your new SMS/MMS or do a full sync of everything you have on your handset, with a limit of 200 messages per 24hrs. Love it.
Exploiting Those 7GB – Cloud Storage
Of all apps mentioned here, I believe this is the real gem.
Currently, Gmail offers you an inbox with over 7GB of storage. If you’re like me, and delete everything that you don’t want to keep, then you sure find yourself under 1GB of usage. So how do you use the remaining space? Well, a few days ago, Gregory Taieb pointed out a new application: GSpaceMobile which you can get for free at their official site. GSpaceMobile allows you to send and receive files from your handset to your Gmail account, and hence use Gmail as a cloud storage disk. You set it up once with your Gmail credentials, access points, as well as storage preferences and the likes. Then, you can simply Log In, access your Local and Remote files, send the locals (which will appear as emails with attachments in your inbox) or download the remote (which will be stored on your handset).
Personally, I have found this (coupled with the Gspace addon for Firefox) to be the most simple way to remotely share files between my handset, my computer, and any other computer I use. It’s ridiculously simple, easily accessible and allows me to have 6GB of online storage for free. Talking about free, the application is free for one Gmail account and single files under 10MB 1MB. If you want to upload bigger files or to multiple accounts, you may want to get the Licensed version for 15$.
Have you used any of these software before or found any other ones that allow you to perform these 4 actions easily or in a less expensive manner? Also, have you come accross other interesting ways to synchronize information between your Gmail and your S60 handset? We’re Gmail fans, and we’re eager to know.
