Google Receives License for Microsoft's ActiveSync

Microsoft continues its ActiveSync licensing program with the newly announced licensee, Google. The Redmond software giant announced that Google was licensing ActiveSync, and the move suggests that the newly unveiled Google Sync service should see a better synchronization with Exchange.

As many of you might already know, ActiveSync is “a communication protocol that enables mobile, ‘over-the-air’ access to your e-mail messages, schedules, contacts, tasks lists, and other Exchange Server mailbox data,” as Microsoft describes the service on its website. Microsoft’s licensing ActiveSync for Google offers users a simple way to get their Gmail Contacts and Google Calendar events to their Windows Mobile handsets.

Microsoft's announcement states that the recently launched Google Sync is the result of a patent license obtained from the Redmond company, connected to Google’s implementation of the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol on Google servers.

Google's Sync service is in Beta at the moment, and it is available for Windows Mobile phones and for the iPhone, as well as for a contacts-only version for phones that support SyncML. Owners of a WinMo device will only have to set up Google Sync on their phone, and they are provided with rapid syncing with their address book and calendar.

According to a recent post on the Google Mobile blog, the service does not require for the user to perform constant syncing, as all changes will be immediately reflected on the device. Moreover, users will be able to make modifications both on their device and on their Google Account, which also backs up and securely stores all data.

Not long ago, Microsoft also announced that its had licensed its ActiveSync to a number of mobile phone vendors including Apple, Nokia, Palm, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson as well as others. The Redmond company currently charges its ActiveSync licensees a $100,000 fee, “or first-year’s royalties, whichever is higher, with a per unit royalty thereafter.”