Hasta La Gadget!

Google has introduced push email for the iPhone and Windows Mobile, and, like a petulant teenager who knows how to get his own way, Google did it behind Apple’s back.

Push Gmail works using Google Sync and Microsoft Exchange, which is why it’ll also work with WinMo. Google’s servers have allowed you to use Exchange to sync calendars and contacts for some time now, so – while we’re sure the behind the scenes work was tricky – for us it’s a simple matter to switch on the email.

Google gives easy instructions for setup, which pretty much consists of setting up and exchange account on the iPhone using your Gmail account details. If you have already got this running for calendars and/or contacts, you just have to flip the email switch in the preferences. I did it this way and it just worked, adding another mail account and pulling down the contents of my inbox.

And it works. On my iPod Touch I get no popup push notification like I do using the third-party workaround GPush, but now new mails trigger the “new mail” sound as they come in. One by one. Every. Single. Time. In fact, so good is it that I’m considering switching it off already to preserve my sanity.

There are some limitations, too. If you already have an Exchange account set up, you’re out of luck — the iPhone supports one Exchange account only. Search is limited to already downloaded messages and there are some iPhone-side limitations on the amount of e-mail addresses that can be synced per contact. Still, it’s a good start, an it’s free.

Google Sync: Set Up Your iPhone or iPod Touch [Google]