Google Mail Goes Mobile

"It looks and feels like Gmail on the desktop."

That's the proclamation made by Google product manager Tony Hsieh on the company's new Gmail mobile phone application.

Hsieh compares the new mobile Gmail so favorably to its desktop cousin because it's a standalone application that doesn't operate through a browser. It can run on any cell phone with Java service. As a result, the new service "promises computer-like response times for viewing email," according to Reuters. (Source: pcmag.com)

Google lists the following features for its mobile service on Gmail's login page:

• It has the same Gmail interface you know and love.
   
• Your account stays synchronized whether you access it from your computer or the phone.
   
• You can easily view attachments such as photos, documents and .pdf files. (Source: gmail.com)

Attachments can be viewed immediately and are automatically resized to fit the screen of your cell phone. (Source: pcmag.com)

However, there is one change that users will embrace in the mobile incarnation: no ads! Unfortunately, there's no Google Talk instant messaging, either. (Source: pcworld.com)

While email -- including Gmail and Yahoo Mail -- has been available on mobile phones for a while now, it has only been accessible through a browser. That made for a very slow, burdensome experience. As mentioned above, this new Gmail mobile software doesn't require a browser, only Java capabilities.

Other high end mobile email options may have been too expensive for most consumers to consider, but Gmail's new app is free to download. Phone carrier charges may apply when retrieving emails, though. Still, with the quality and speed being promised by Google, possible local fees seem like a small price to pay. (Source: pcmag.com)

You can download Gmail's new mobile service by directing your Java phone to:

http://gmail.com/app

Click here for an image of Gmail on a mobile phone:

http://www.google.com/accounts/mail/mobile_j2me_small.gif