[jhpdk]

Hi guys,

I have been rocking a WP7 device (Omnia 7) since about launch, so yeah I am long overdue of an upgrade.

I have two questions for the experts here.
First, how is the gmail support going to be affected in WP8 now that Google is shutting down EAS. I have to use Google Apps for work email, which is becoming my main email, so the suggestions of moving to another platform does not comply to my case. I would like to still receive notifications and so forth, is there an update scheduled for WP8 that will enable Google's gmail WebDAV protocols?

Second, I buy phones outright (no contract) because I do not want to be in the arms of carriers for 24 months. I have been looking at the cheaper WP8 models, like HTC 8S and Nokia 820 and 620. Some of these devices have only 4Gb of storage, but have a SD slot. Will I be able to install applications onto the SD card? If not, they will not be phones that will suit my needs.

Thank you in advance

[Vheissu]

For paid Google Apps users EAS is not going away that will still work so you won't have any issues that way. Apps cannot be installed on external memory, so a device with little storage would be I'll advised if you plan on having a lot of apps or even a few games.

[jhpdk]

Okay. Thank you for the clarification. I later found the blog post at Google "explaining" the reason why a service that has been served the past 5+ years all of sudden will be discontinued in a matter of months. They're such dicks...

Unfortunately I'll have to go to Android until MS confirms an update to WP8 on the matter :'-( I have a free Google Apps account, that I just moved off of Office365 to save money. Now I can do the reverse again...

[Ruined]

Okay. Thank you for the clarification. I later found the blog post at Google "explaining" the reason why a service that has been served the past 5+ years all of sudden will be discontinued in a matter of months. They're such dicks...

Unfortunately I'll have to go to Android until MS confirms an update to WP8 on the matter :'-( I have a free Google Apps account, that I just moved off of Office365 to save money. Now I can do the reverse again...

Why let google's selfish decisions dictate your smartphone purchase choice? Instead of going android, dump Gmail for outlook. Maybe it enough people dump Gmail Google will learn to play nice.

[WP7_Genius]

I thought if you have an account made by a deadline or something you would be grandfathered in? Or something along those lines

[vedichymn]

I thought if you have an account made by a deadline or something you would be grandfathered in? Or something along those lines

It's not for accounts, but devices using EAS before the deadline. So if your phone dies, etc and you need to setup your new phone to use EAS, you're out of luck.

[jhguth]

Existing devices and apps users are supported

[Blkacesvf41]

I thought if you have an account made by a deadline or something you would be grandfathered in? Or something along those lines

That was my understanding regarding this issue, from what I read, so I wasn't worried.

[Mosov]

Like this person here, I'm deeply embedded in the Google Ecosystem (and it's not really convenient to get out). However this Google/microsoft war is really making user experience **** for people that need Google for some things.

[arrowrand]

Why let google's selfish decisions dictate your smartphone purchase choice? Instead of going android, dump Gmail for outlook. Maybe it enough people dump Gmail Google will learn to play nice.

See, on the flip side of the coin, I'm really not happy that my only sync option on my Lumia is EAS. Every other mobile OS supports CardDAV and CalDAV. iOS, Android and BlackBerry all work with it just fine.

You can point the finger at Google all you want, but the argument can be turned back to Microsoft pretty quickly.

Just support CardDAV and CalDAV like everyone else already does. Easy.

[jhpdk]

See, on the flip side of the coin, I'm really not happy that my only sync option on my Lumia is EAS. Every other mobile OS supports CardDAV and CalDAV. iOS, Android and BlackBerry all work with it just fine.

You can point the finger at Google all you want, but the argument can be turned back to Microsoft pretty quickly.

Just support CardDAV and CalDAV like everyone else already does. Easy.

Yeah that's kind of the thinking I have been doing. Even though EAS is much neater and easier for end users it would be good to have an alternative, there are after all several millions of users on gmail.

I went to the shops yesterday and had a look at the HTC 8X. That is such a nice device, I really want it. Seems like I will have to get off the Gmail with my free Apps account, unless MS announces an update to fix that. Fingers crossed.