Guide to the TechWeb Network


The InformationWeek -- Blogs
Over The Air

Mobility Breifing Center -- Sponsored by Windows Mobile
Topics:   Mobile

  • Email this page E-mail this page
  • |  Print this page Print this page
  • |   Bookmark and Share

Now Google Gears Takes Smartphone Apps Offline


Posted by Eric Zeman, Mar 4, 2008 10:41 AM

Google recently announced that Gears is available for the Windows Mobile platform. This will allow you to continue using your Web-based applications even when you lose your data connection or are in an offline mode. Now you have one less excuse for not getting your projects done on time.

Any mobile professional knows how frustrating it is to be using a mobile Web-based application on your smartphone and lose your connection. Unless you have some great software controlling your packet session, you can lose where you were and have to start all over again. Or simply lose the ability to use the app. Either way, it's no fun. Well, for certain Windows Mobile 5 and 6 applications, that will no longer be a problem.

Google has made its Gears software available for pocket Internet Explorer on WinMo 5 and 6, and is working on developing a mobile version of Gears for other browsers and other platforms, including Android. In order for Gears to work, though, the applications you're using need to be Gears-enabled. To that end, Google is making it easier to develop Gears-enabled mobile Web apps. Developers can grab more info here.

Google Mobile product manager Charles Wiles walks us through an example of how it works:

Take Zoho and Buxfer, for example: Zoho is a powerful suite of Web-based productivity applications, while Buxfer is an innovative personal finance Web application that helps you track your money. With Google Gears for mobile integrated into mobile Zoho and Buxfer, you can now access these Web applications even when your phone is disconnected from the mobile Web. Stuck on a plane? No problem -- you can still read your docs on your mobile with Zoho Writer Mobile offline. Want to buy that new plasma TV, but can't remember how much is in your account? Check your balance with Buxfer's mobile Web application, even if there is no cell phone signal. Try them out on your Windows Mobile 6 device by going to m.buxfer.com or mobile.zoho.com.

Now there's no excuse to for not working on airplanes. With Gears, your boss knows you can get at your apps and still be productive, even when you might not want to be.

« Google's Iowa Data Center Emerges | Main | October In London? »



Tomorrow's CIO: Do you have what it takes?
Find out at the 2008 InformationWeek 500 Conference
Sept. 14-16, St. Regis Resort, Monarch Beach, Calif.


Sign up now for the weekly InformationWeek Blog Newsletter.


This is a public forum. United Business Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. United Business Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers.

Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of United Business Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in United Business Media's Terms of Service.

Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.




Mobile Video



  1. Sarah Palin's Babygate And The Future Of Journalism
  2. Apple Nixes 'Pull My Finger' App, Even Though It's A Gas
  3. Windows Vista: The OS About Nothing
  4. One Unlikely Browser Controls The Market
  5. NYC Store Sells BlackBerry Bolds For $1,300 Each


  1. Radical Desktops Deliver Power To The People. But What About IT?
  2. Need Disaster Recovery On The Cheap? Think Virtualization
  3. No Virtualizing Without A License
  4. Smart Stuff: The State Of Business Intelligence 2008
  5. Down To Business: Are Technology Leaders Focusing Too Much On The Small Stuff?
  6. With Chrome, Google's Not Fighting The Last Browser War

 
 

  Ars Technica
Boing Boing
Channel 9 Forums
CRN Blogs
Dr.Dobb's Portal: Blogs
Engadget
Gizmodo
GrokLaw
  Lifehacker
Schneier on Security
Slashdot
TechCrunch
Techdirt
Techmeme
Valleywag

  FEBRUARY 2008
JANUARY 2008
DECEMBER 2007
NOVEMBER 2007
OCTOBER 2007
SEPTEMBER 2007
AUGUST 2007
JULY 2007
  JUNE 2007
MAY 2007
APRIL 2007
MARCH 2007
FEBRUARY 2007
JANUARY 2007
DECEMBER 2006
NOVEMBER 2006