Google's decision to drop Exchange ActiveSync support, a protocol used to sync Gmail calendar, contacts, and mail items on mobile devices, left Microsoft surprised and disappointed. The change means new Windows Phone users after January 30th with personal Gmail accounts will be unable to sync calendar and contact items. The Verge has learned that Microsoft is planning to support CardDAV and CalDAV in Windows Phone, Google's new preferred route to sync contacts and calendars. The software giant has not yet issued a public statement on its plans, but sources at Microsoft have detailed an eyeopening path that has led to the decision. In exchanges that underline the tensions between Microsoft and Google, we understand that Microsoft was fully anticipating Google's announcement.
Sources say Google privately informed Microsoft late last summer that it planned to drop support for Exchange ActiveSync, during a time that Microsoft was finalizing its Windows Phone 8 software with operator trials for devices due in October. Windows Phone 8 does not include support the CalDAV or CardDAV protocols and an engineering change would have delayed the release of devices for the holiday season. We understand that Google didn't provide a timeframe for its plans to kill the Sync service which utilizes Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync protocol.
Google publicly announced its plans in mid-December to discontinue support for Exchange ActiveSync with free Gmail accounts on January 30th. The announcement provided Microsoft with around 45 days to implement the necessary CalDAV and CardDAV support to ensure future Windows Phone Gmail users wouldn't experience difficulties syncing calendar and contacts. Google's timing was just ahead of the holidays at a time when Redmond's engineering teams typically start to leave to spend time with their families over the festive period, leaving Microsoft to scramble for a solution.
Curious timing aside, we're told that Microsoft has been attempting to convince Google to extend its cutoff date by six months to allow the company to push an update out for CalDAV and CardDAV support and to ensure mutual Windows Phone users who use Gmail remain unaffected. We understand that Google has been largely unresponsive to Microsoft's requests for information on how the changes will affect users and a possible extension. The situation means Microsoft is unsure exactly how Gmail accounts will operate after the cutoff.
Google will remove the support on January 30th, leaving new Windows Phone users with only IMAP email support natively for Gmail, with the calendar and contact sync options non-functional. We have reached out to Google to comment on whether it plans to accept Microsoft's request for an extension and we'll update you accordingly.
Comments
Verge titles are almost always different from the URLs; your argument is invalid.
By challengeaccepted on 01.21.13 3:47pm
They’re always different. SEO doncha know
By jrnay on 01.21.13 4:12pm
They are nearly always the same.
By RoboTone on 01.21.13 4:20pm
Begging for extensions. Sad…. Now they are reeling trying to conform to the standard.
Microsoft used to be the elephant in the room, able to swing their weight around and everyone was forced to pivot off of them. Now they get pushed around. For this particular case though, I’m glad about it, they need to get DAV support going.
Screw EAS.
By Gameoholik on 01.21.13 6:50pm
Developers do. While open standards are great you also need to support what is the industry standard application. They may be trying to break the whole MS has here but I don’t think Google has that clout. We will see.
By Lomifeh on 01.21.13 7:04pm
“Developers do”
Developers of what exactly? This seems like a totally nonsensical reply.
By tomflack on 01.21.13 7:36pm
im dyslexic, so i often make massive spelling mistakes. im glad its hilarious to you. im sorry if it cause you offense to look at.
an oxymoron does not indicate falsehood. it simply indicates a loop in logic, grammar or language and meaning.
all conclusions are biased on incomplete information. science is most defiantly biased solely on incomplete information. we don’t have all the facts about the big bang. but we have enough to make educated guesses.
i don’t think the words mean what you think they mean.
i went through and spell checked all my words for you. i hope its ok.
By Kellzea on 01.21.13 8:53pm
That’s all right. It seems a moderator didn’t like my rebuttal.
By Bob1976 on 01.21.13 8:54pm
probably because it was a baseline attack upon my use of a keyboard and not the contents of my post.
but hey, whats new?
By Kellzea on 01.21.13 8:56pm
Yes, now MS is getting pushed around, which is more than can be said for Gmail on IMAP. EAS is the push standard.
By Daleksnare on 01.21.13 8:56pm
My point was that conjecture isn’t valid, but that’s all right. You seem to think it is.
By Bob1976 on 01.21.13 9:12pm
i do yeah. its sometimes wrong. but that doesnt make it invalid. guesses are often wrong, but they are a valid, and well, evolutionarily essential part of logic.
you cant always know all the facts, and although there would be less arguing and people would generally get on better if they only acted when they knew all the facts. the world would grind to a halt pretty quickly.
By Kellzea on 01.21.13 9:56pm
You know you’ve won an argument when the other party attempts an ad hominem attack based on your grammar.
By Firefly7475 on 01.21.13 9:58pm
Im wondering why your comment is hidden by the moderator.
By peterson90210 on 01.21.13 10:05pm
Except the irony was partly in his grammar. And that was not my entire point.
By Bob1976 on 01.21.13 10:21pm
I believe the idiom you’re looking for is “800 lb. gorilla”. I do agree with your sentiments however.
By davidcadams on 01.21.13 11:03pm
‘The’ standard? Who’s standard is that? I’m really curious as to know what body apparently deigned that DAV is the standard.
By Juice1986 on 01.22.13 1:02am
The IETF
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Engineering_Task_Force
By kraytex on 01.22.13 2:03am
GMail supports push over IMAP.
My GMail account in Thunderbird often picks up messages before my phone notifies me there is one.
By Rusty! on 01.22.13 3:47am
yes, your point was that any statement based on conjecture is wrong and false.
which is ironic as that statement is in itself both wrong and false. i do notice that you haven’t argued against my reasoning yet though.
By Kellzea on 01.22.13 7:53am
lololololololol
By p4gs on 01.22.13 9:04am
Ah right the same folks behind HTML 5… not sure that helps your argument.
By mentalmidgets on 01.22.13 3:19pm
No. HTML5 is by the W3C.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W3C
By kraytex on 01.22.13 5:34pm
Love the title haha
By TheSebianoti on 01.21.13 3:29pm
Apple makes Google sweat over Map cutoff, but iPhone will get Map support….Yeah, Funny! haha
By Roach_779 on 01.21.13 7:25pm