Thursday, November 2, 2006

Gmail Mobile Java Client

Google announced the release of a new Java-based Gmail client for use on cell phones. You’re supposed to point your phone to gmail.com/app*, but trying this on Windows Mobile 5.0 with Internet Explorer, all I’m getting is a “file not found” as soon as I want to start the download. I’ll update this post in case this is fixed...

Now, Gmail already is available in mobile versions, but the existing one (m.gmail.com) is browser based. The basic HTML version of Gmail actually also works fine on some mobile browsers, which means we now got 3-4 different ways to access Gmail while on the go.

Existing Google Java clients (the one for Google Maps), by the way, ’cause problems on my phone as they constantly ask for permission to connect, something I can’t disable either. (Not a problem Google caused, but a problem with Java interoperability issues in general.)

*On the desktop, this just seems to trigger a redirect to the general mobile homepage.

Update: I was now able to install the Midlet. Unfortunately, the text becomes too small to be readable with the client on this phone, the scrollbar is tiny and slow, and the problem of the Midlet constantly asking for permission to connect persists. Of course, this may work just fine on other cell phones. I’ll stick with the Gmail mobile web app though...

[Thanks Manoj Nahar, Kirby Witmer and Reto Meier!]

Gmail Mobile Java Client by Philipp Lenssen | Comments (46)

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