Blackberry to get Google Talk and Google Local

By Alun Williams

Posted on 13 Jan 2006 at 12:51

Google's instant-messaging and mapping client for mobile will soon be supported on the BlackBerry wireless platform. The popular handheld device is to get the Google Talk and Google Local services.

'Instant messaging and local content are two increasingly important areas of focus for mobile applications and we are very pleased to work with Google in extending these two popular Google services to BlackBerry users,' said Mark Guibert, VP of Corporate Marketing at Research In Motion, the makers of the Blackberry. 'Google Talk for BlackBerry and Google Local for mobile will offer additional flexibility to BlackBerry customers in terms of how, when and where they stay in touch.'

With Google Talk for BlackBerry, users will have to download the Google client and sign in through their Gmail username and password in order to access their Google Talk contact lists.

The BlackBerry integration includes home-screen notifications of new messages, integration of Google Talk instant messages in the BlackBerry Email inbox and access to the BlackBerry Calendar from Google Talk for meeting scheduling.

Google Local for mobile will enable BlackBerry users to view maps, get directions and search for businesses, and will include the 'click to call' feature. Note, however, that this feature is only available in the US, but Google has said it is looking to extend it elsewhere 'as soon as possible'.

Google migrated its Local service to mobile phones back in November 2005. Its Google Talk service was introduced in August 2005.