Gmail for Mobile 2.0: Available for J2ME and BlackBerry

Google released a new version of its GMail app for J2ME-enabled and BlackBerry phones. The main goal was to make the application faster and more reliable, hence the code has been rearchitected to push all the processing to the background. In addition, the client-side caching scheme has been improved and “every bottleneck piece of code” optimized.

So what’s the new in the version 2.0, you ask?

1. It’s faster - overall you should find the application faster, which includes smoother scrolling and no freezing.
2. Multiple accounts management - now you can manage more than a single GMail acount from a single app.
3. Multiple mobile email drafts - meaning you could prepare more emails in no-signal areas (i.e. metro).
4. Shortcuts - great for QWERTY phone owners, which for instance could hit “z” to undo, “k” to go to a newer conversation, and “j” to go to an older conversation.
5. Basic offline support - allows reading of most recent emails even when there is no signal. Additionally, outgoing messages will be saved in the Outbox and sent automatically when you’re back in coverage.

Features

• Multiple accounts.New! Quickly switch between your Google Apps email and Gmail from the same client.
• Multiple Mobile Drafts.New! Jot your thoughts down, finish and send later.
• Shortcut keys*.New! Undo, scroll up and down, archive, delete, refresh at the push of a button. See Menu/Help in the app.
• Basic offline*.New! Compose and read your most recent email even when you’re on the subway or plane.
• Language Support.New! Gmail for mobile 2.0 is available in over 35 languages.
• Message autorefresh. Gmail shows new messages in your inbox without you having to refresh the browser.
• Address autocomplete. Gmail lets you enter long email addresses using just a few keystrokes.
• View attachments. Open message attachments, including photos, Microsoft Word™ documents and PDF files.
• Gmail goodness. Spam filtering, search, labels, filters, stars - and lots of storage space.

Visit m.google.com/mail from your phone and download Gmail for mobile 2.0 now!

Google launches fully unlocked Android Dev Phone

Google today catered to Android developers either outside of T-Mobile coverage or eager to avoid restrictions with the Android Dev Phone 1. Essentially a carrier-neutral T-Mobile G1, the new model is completely unlocked for both its SIM card slot and hardware features to let users test the device on other GSM networks, including AT&T. The The change lets any owner run Google’s reference firmware as it appears. The black design also sports a unique back engraving with a fractal-like pattern and the Android logo.

The phone remains true to HTC’s stock design and carries a three-megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi and quad-band GSM with EDGE for data. It’s not known whether the Dev Phone 1 supports 3G outside of T-Mobile USA’s network.

Buying the phone requires a one-time $25 registration as an Android developer as well as the $399 price of the phone itself. Google is careful to note that it will ship the handset only to one of 18 countries (including Canada and the US), that it limits the phones to one per developer, and that regular users may not get the support they would for the T-Mobile G1. [viaEngadget]

Google launches Gmail audio, video chat

Google today launched the surprise addition of Gmail video chat to its webmail interface. The feature lets contacts use Google Talk to start a two-way video or audio-only conversation with anyone currently online and can be started in the middle of a text chat. Like dedicated desktop apps, the web version carries a picture-in-picture view and can be stretched out or made full-screen.

The feature is also potentially usable by any other software, Google says: as it uses H.264 video and standard Internet streaming protocols, third-party apps can hook into the Gmail video chat format to use the feature without tying users to a web browser or specific interface.

Using the feature requires a plugin and is currently limited to Macs and Windows PCs, which can download the update today. It should work with any standard webcam recognized by the respective operating system.

The feature signals an increasing move towards live video for Google. While YouTube and nearly all the company’s other properties hinge on prerecorded video, the company has begun to use live video for events and with Gmail is now giving users their first live video streaming feature. YouTube has floated the possibility of live video as with services like Qik and Ustream but so far is focusing only on making its existing playback business profitable.

Ballmer calls Google’s Android ‘way behind’

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer on Thursday dismissed Google’s Android operating system, saying he believed it was financially unsound.

Speaking at Telstra’s annual investment day, Ballmer said that Android was Google’s first phone operating system and that designing one wasn’t easy. “They can hire smart guys, hire a lot of people, blah dee blah dee blah, but you know they start out way behind in a certain sense,” he said.

Ballmer calls Google’s Android ‘way behind’ He questioned Google’s ability to make money with Android. “I don’t really understand their strategy. Maybe somebody else does. If I went to my shareholder meeting, my analyst meeting and said, hey, we’ve just launched a new product that has no revenue model!”

“Yeah. Cheer for me. I’m not sure that my investors would take that very well. But that’s kind of what Google’s telling their investors about Android,” he said.

He said that although the idea was that Google gave away the operating system and in return got to put its search on devices for free, he believed telecommunications operators were smart and would still ask to be paid to carry search.

The lack of certainty around money would mean that the improvement of the operating system would be neglected, according to Ballmer, who said that in the whole scheme of things, there was other competition he was more worried about.

“Google doesn’t exactly bubble to the top of the list of the top competitors we’ve got going in mobile. They might some day. But right now…” he said.

Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo also jumped in with his opinion. “My view is it’s interesting, not compelling,” he said.

The Telstra leader also wondered if Google had the expertise to follow through, saying that there are always issues in a first-generation device which had to ironed out. “Yes, first generation you make the sale. The question is when you get into the second, third and fourth generation,” he said.