14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this year, Google announced that it will be enabling Google Apps users to register for regular Google services, using their Apps email addresses. Now it is announcing that it has begun to transition some users to the new infrastructure necessary to support this.
There are several criteria for those that are allowed to transition at this point, partially because there is still some work to be done, partially because there are some inherent limitations.
"Back in May we shared details about a big change so Google Apps accounts can start accessing dozens of Google services beyond the core suite of messaging and collaboration apps," Denis Sosnovtsev, Product Manager at Google Apps, explained.
"This change will let users access many new services such as Blogger, Reader, Google Voice and calling-in-Gmail (US only), Picasa Web Albums, AdWords and iGoogle from their Google Apps accounts," he added.
"This big improvement addresses 9 of the top 20 requests from customers in one fell swoop, so we’re thrilled that the new infrastructure is now open for early adopters!," he announced.
Google is only allowing "early adopters" for now. This means that the companies or organizations have to be located in the US and use English for the interface. They must also have no users with conflicting accounts.
Because users have always been sign up for a Google account with any email address, including one provided by Apps, some have already done so. Unfortunately, Google won't merge those accounts, rather the older accounts will be renamed.
The new feature can be considered in beta for now since some settings haven't been implemented yet, notably the possibility to block particular Google products. Also, several Google services don't yet support the new infrastructure, Google Health, PowerMeter, YouTube, Web History, Buzz and Profiles.
Once Google resolves these issues and the infrastructure is more mature, it will roll it out to more users and eventually to all Apps accounts.