When Google first announced the offline, beta version of its Google Sync tool in February, users were clamoring for push support for Gmail, Google’s free e-mail service. Google has now given users what they want.

The Web search giant released Tuesday its push Gmail support for Google Sync on the iPhone, iPod touch, and Windows Mobile devices. Douglas Gresham, Google Mobile’s software engineer, announced the support in an official blog posting.

Google Sync users can now get Gmail messages pushed directly to their mobile phones. Users no longer have to wait 15 or 30 minutes to pull Gmail messages. Instead, Google pushes the messages using a mobile phone’s e-mail application so the user doesn’t need any additional software.

“This is more about really giving users more choice in how they access their data. Those iPhone and Windows Mobile users who love the native applications can now get Gmail messages pushed directly to their phone,” said Google spokesperson Andrew Kovacs. “Of course, those who prefer Web apps can continue to use Web apps for a rich experience, like threaded conversations and search across the entire inbox.”

Requests Flood Forums

Mobile Gmail has supported push with iPhone and Windows Mobile devices, with the Gmail app on Android devices, and with Google Apps Premier Edition and Education Edition on BlackBerry smartphones.

The irony, however, is that Google used the Exchange ActiveSync protocol to offer consumers a free Exchange-like experience using Microsoft’s technology. “You can get a almighty Exchange server-like experience while using Google architecture,” said Interpret analyst Michael Gartenberg.

“This is big news and good news for Gmail users,” Gartenberg said. “It has been one of the biggest user requests.”

Users from France, the U.K., and the U.S. have been flooding Google’s forum pages with push Gmail requests.

“Push notification Gmail for mobile devices (iPhone),” said Andy of Libertyville, Ill. “Is there…

[Source] dhiram