Google Pulls the Plug On BlackBerry Gmail App 122
hypnosec writes "From later this month, Google has decided to stop providing its popular Gmail app for BlackBerry. This can be viewed as a shock for RIM as they are putting in strong efforts to prevent customer defections to handsets that run on Android and iOS. Thus, from 22nd November, BlackBerry owners will not be able to reach Gmail on their devices; only those users who already have Gmail installed will be able to access and use the Google app. On Tuesday, Google on its official apps update blog stated that the company will now be focusing on 'building a great Gmail experience in the mobile browser.'"
It's dead jim... (Score:5, Interesting)
Honestly they failed to evolve. It's their own fault for not moving foreward.
The last couple of blackberry's were great, but it was too little too late. Many many corporations are switching to Android phones and iphones that do a lot more WITHOUT the horribly overpriced special blackberry server and service fees.
They not only missed the boat, they priced themselves out of the market.
Re:Bad sumary much? (Score:4, Interesting)
If Google wants to build a "great email experience", they've got a few basic things to do yet where gmail falls down hard. For instance, gmail supports multiple reply addresses for those who manage more than one domain or have more than one email home, but the filters don't let you set the reply field based on the to: field, you have to do it manually every time, so errors in reply addresses are quite common; They don't properly support mono-spaced fonts, so server reports and other data that depend on field alignment come out trashed; the "themes" they offer are so basic they're almost useless, you can't control font or backdrop colors, so calling it a "theme" is pushing the envelope a bit. You can't delete attachments in order to manage the amount of space you use (obviously they're just trying to get you to go over the "free" amount so you have to pay, but it's a PITA no matter why it's done -- many emails I have have binaries attached that are one-time or throwaway, but keeping the email itself is very important to me (development issues, etc.)) I should also note that all of these issues were handled properly by Eudora over a decade ago -- these capabilities aren't exactly brand new ideas, or for that matter, difficult in any way.
I like web-mail, the convenience is very high, but Google's implementation is strictly amateur. Reminiscent of of Google base, although that is even worse -- adding broadly unpredictable unreliability and no usable support to a minimalist (read, amateur) feature set.