This makes sense because - although it has mobile phone aspirations of its own - there are simply too many Blackberry devices and users for Google to ignore. So it continues to develop and maintain software applications that make access to its key services easier for Blackberry users.
We like Google's Blackberry applications for many reasons. They respond to the specific needs of users; Google only invests time in the most useful applications; they are easy to use; they incorporate most, if not ail, of the desktop or online features; and, best of all, the Google applications we showcase here are free.
GOOGLE MAPS
Easily the most useful application Google makes available for the BlackBerry, Google Maps is a must-have companion to any BlackBerry device, even if you have BlackBerry Maps pre-installed on your device.
The application's website is one of the most visited on the net and there is a mobile version compatible with the BlackBerry browser. Google Maps sits on your BlackBerry, so you can view maps offline and use it in conjunction with a built-in or external Bluetooth GPS receiver for accurate positioning and basic satellite navigation.
To get Google Maps For BlackBerry, use your handset to go to http:/m.google.com and choose the Maps link.
If you don't have built-in GPS or an external receiver, you can still use Google Maps to get a rough idea of your location. The application can use triangulation data from your carrier to work out where you are, usually within 300-500 metres, based on the perceived distance of your handset from the nearest mobile phone masts.
With Google Maps installed on your handset, you can work out where you are, find a given location and get a visual map of how to get you where you need to be.
The application can also give yo? turn-by-turn, written directions, but these are not suitable for when you are driving, unless you have someone acting as a navigator. There are no spoken directions - it is free, after all - but directions can be tailored for walking and public transport.
You can get a satellite photography view and traffic information (where supported), and you can save favourite locations to speed up route planning. The application works anywhere for which the normal Google Maps website offers maps.
gmail MOBILE
If you use a BlackBerry service to get email onto
your device, talking to one or more Gmail accounts is a doddle because Google's service supports the P0P3 and IMAP email protocols. However, Gmail also offers the user a range of proprietary features that are not accessible via standard BlackBerry push-email accounts.
Gmail Mobile is a fully featured email application for BlackBerry devices, designed specifically for the Gmail service. Although Gmail is most commonly used via the Gmail website, this application installs on to your BlackBerry handset - you can download it to your device by visiting http:/m.google.com/ and clicking on the Google Mail link.
With Gmail Mobile, checking and composing messages is as easy as with the standard Gmail web interface. Many of the same features are available via the application, including the Gmail labelling and archiving feature, which you can't access in its true form via the email client on a BlackBerry handset.
You can also use the 'Star' feature to flag-up important emails you want to find later, report messages as spam, access your Gmail or Google Apps address book and use the Gmail search facility to find messages and content.
in addition, you can manage multiple accounts from the one application, logging into all of them at once and switching between them.
If you use Gmail or the complete Google Apps web-based office suite, Google Sync is a must-have application. It will allow you to keep your Blackberry calendar and address book synchronised with the information in Google Apps, providing Microsoft Exchange-like synchronisation for Google's suite. Simply put in your Google Apps username and password, and choose whether you want calendar, contact information or both pushed to your device. To get Google Sync, go to http://www.google.com/mobile/ using your Blackberry and choose the Sync link.
The Google Mobile App is a very basic tool that gives you a dedicated Google web-search box on your BlackBerry. The application can be moved to anywhere in your icons list, so you could have Google search just a click away on your Blackberry home screen. If you have installed the Gmail and Google Maps applications on to your BlackBerry, these will show up within the Google Mobile App, giving you one-click access to both, directly above th? search box. To get the Google Mobile App, go to http://rn.google.com on your Blackberry and choose the Mobile App link.
Google search is one of the Google applications that does come preloaded on most BlackBerrys, Although it's not the most exciting application in Google's collection of Blackberry applications, it does allow you head straight to the Google search engine as soon as you tap on the icon.
When it finds results, it will take you to the normal Google results page in your BlackBerry's default browser where you can view individual web pages as if you were using the Google Search engine.
Google Latitude allows you to view your friends' locations and also share your location with your friends, in addition to messages on your Latitude network.
You can either invite friends from your Gmail contacts, or you'll receive invitations from them which you can accept. When your friend accepts you can view them on your phone using Google Maps.
Once you have a network of friends on Latitude, you can also contact them via text, call or IM,
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