When I got my iPhone, one of the few disadvantages was wireless or Bluetooth sync for my Outlook calendar items. Unlike my previous N95, I have to physically connect my iPhone via cable to get iTunes to sync with Outlook – what a pain!

But now, Google has solved this problem. You will need a Google Calendar account for this to work and my below instructions are for PC only. The setup will look like so:

First you need to download Google Calendar Sync – go here http://www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?answer=98563 and click on the ‘download’ link.

Install the application (you will have to close Microsoft Outlook) and then follow the setup prompts. Enter your username and password to your Google Calendar account and setup a interval period for when the sync runs again – mine is set to 30 mins. You will also need to choose the Sync method i.e. 2 way (updates both Google & Outlook), or 1 way to update either Outlook only or Google only. I currently have mine as 1 way (Outlook to Google). 

On installation the Sync will run once – so all your calendar items should get transferred over to Google Calendar in a few minutes.

Now, plug your iPhone into your computer and make a backup on iTunes. I repeat – MAKE A BACKUP!! Don’t email me back saying you lost all your stuff, tough! The next process will delete all your calendar items on your iPhone. So I suggest doing a sync to copy all your iPhone calendar items into Outlook (via iTunes).

Once the back up is complete, take your iPhone off the laptop and click on Settings. Then open “Mail, Contact, Calendars”. Then click “Add Account” and select Microsoft Exchange as the option. Leave the Domain blank and in the Email field, enter your Google Calendar username followed by the password. Click ‘Next’ on the top right corner. It will attempt to connect to a server, but won’t find one. So the next screen will ask you to enter the Server information. Put in “m.google.com” (without quotes) and click “Next” again. Currently this setup only supports Calendar and Contacts (NOT EMAIL – yet). I only use calendars, so I selected Calendar ‘On’ and the rest ‘Off’.

You will get two pop confirmation requests, stating that your calendar will be wiped out – click Sync on both requests and wait a few minutes. Open up Calendar on your iPhone, and you will start see your Outlook items (after Outlook’s first sync to Google Calendar).

So now if a meeting is cancelled or moved around on my Outlook, within a few minutes it is pushed to my iPhone. And note I use the word “Push” – that’s because Google has used Microsoft’s ActiveSync technology to enable this set up. So your iPhone only connects to get new Calendar data when one is available – saving data transfer. 

*UPDATE* – I changed my setting to use FETCH instead of PUSH, as PUSH drained a lot battery on my iPhone. Fetch works just as good and I don’t need to charge my iPhone twice a day.

I am yet to see what happens when a new meeting request is sent – and how it will affect my calendar if I accept the invitation via the iPhone (probably won’t work, as I have a 1 way sync set up).

Going forward, I hope Google allows emails to start working in this fashion, as at the moment you have to Fetch it on a periodic basis.

So, has this worked for you as it has for me? Share your experience below.

A survey held by Morgan Stanley shows that in the US during Q4, 300,000 Android phones were sold while Apple sold 1.75 million iPhones. That’s about 6 iPhones to 1 Android.

Now while Google still has to play catch up, the above figures are only based on two of its mobile manufacturing partners – HTC & T-Mobile. Soon enough we should see Motorola, LG, Sony Ericsson et al.

Surprising figures? Not really. iPhone always had an edge over Google’s acquired Android. Best network operator (AT&T rated 1, while T-Mobile rated at 4), better user experience, better multimedia and even better software.

And software is the key point here – the infamous App Store. That’s Apple’s additional revenue model. For Google? It’s not about selling their Android platform – no no no, it’s about making it easier to get it’s users to use Google services to then see (and hopefully click) on their ads.

Does that mean once we have more manufacturers using Android, we may see a sizable increase in revenue for Google? Unknown…

Don’t forget Google can still be accessed on the iPhone. I mean, I use them when I do a web search on my phone, but do I click on their ads? Well, not really.

So where does Microsoft fit in all this? Recently, they have announced that along with the next version of Windows Mobile, they will also release – guess what – an app store!

It’s called the “SkyMarket”. And along with SkyMarket, Microsoft will also launch “SkyBox” (similar to MobileMe to sync emails, contacts, and other data) and “SkyLine” – similar to SkyBox, but for small businesses.

Now, I’m assuming that the SkyBox will be free (or peanuts) unless they plan to make it work for non Windows devices – like a Nokia N95, iPhone or Android for that matter.

However, all this has been done – it’s not cutting edge. What we’re seeing is a company following the footpaths of the successful ones.

Still, Apple is holding it’s ground pretty well.

Now this is cool -

Social Gaming Network (SGN) has been around for a while making games for Facebook. Recently however, they have extended it’s development to the iPhone.

SGN made an app called iFun, that can be downloaded from the Apple App Store for free. Once installed, the app makes your iPhone behave like a Wii remote control.

So how does it work?

You load up the game on your PC from the SGN website (at this stage, golf is the only game available).

Once you’ve logged in on both your PC and your iPhone, you then swing your iPhone like a golf club (not too hard – unless you have insurance).

The app then sends data (via a wi-fi or cellular network) to the server and your ball moves as per your movement. This can be played in a social environment with other people as well.

While this currently works on the iPhone, SGN is looking to expand this to the Android-powered G1 as both phones have built in accelerometers.

SGN is looking to expand this further, by eventually allowing third party developers to build more games on their platform.

I guess we won’t need a Wii after all eh?