Google changes mind - Android does support Google Apps push

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Earlier this week, we wrote that the upcoming T-Mobile G1 didn't fully support Google Apps customers who have their own domains. At the time, the statement we received from Google confirming this omission raised a few questions – after all, the Apps version of Gmail runs on the same underlying framework as the consumer one.

Now it seems that information provided by Google wasn't quite correct. In fact, the T-Mobile G1 does support Google's enterprise customers using Google Apps on their own domains. Confused? You won't be – after the cut...

In a fresh statement, Google told us:

Android also supports customers of Google Apps for Your Domain, including Premium customers, with the same features: you can get push Gmail for your custom domain, and your custom-domain Contacts and Calendar will sync. Unfortunately you may pick only a single Gmail or custom-domain login; you cannot switch between two accounts in Android 1.0.

This, of course, changes the conclusions we made, too. Far from the G1 being a phone focused solely on consumers, it could easily be a smartphone Trojan horse which opens doors to corporate clients.

One thing that corporations have traditionally hated is single sources for products. IT managers always want to avoid buying into technologies which are only available from one vendor, unless there's a compelling reason to do so.

Take, for example, the Mac. One of the most often-cited reasons for its failure to make a dent in the enterprise market was that there was only one supplier for the hardware: Apple. This meant a lack of competition for hardware contracts, something which procurement people in big companies always frown upon. And this is a key advantage of Android: there be multiple suppliers for Android-based phones (unlike both Apple and RIM), making the platform potentially more attractive for corporate customers. The next year or two promises to be very interesting.