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Google introduced a beta version of Google Sync today. This allows Google users to sync their Gmail contacts and Google Calendar events to their iPhones or Windows Mobile devices (with Google's own Android, all the data is automatically synced).

"With Google Sync, whether users make changes to calendar events and contacts from their browsers or mobile devices, changes will be reflected in both places automatically, within minutes," explains Debbie Light with the Google Apps Team. "And because Google Sync ties directly into devices' pre-installed calendar and contacts applications, employees don't need to learn a new interface."

Known limitations for Sync in general include:

- Attendee status for calendar
- Limited to 5 calendars
- Modified instances of recurring events not always deleted
- Modified instances of recurring events not removed when declined
- Limited contact information

Each of these limitations is elaborated on here. Google Sync is available for most mobile phones. Known issues with BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile, Nokia/Symbian, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson versions can be found here. Beware: Before you use Google Sync, you should know that it can remove all the existing contacts and calendar events from your phone, so you'll want to make sure this info is backed up before proceeding with Sync.

Microsoft wants everyone to know that Google Sync is "made possible by a patent license they obtained from Microsoft covering Google’s implementation of the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol on Google servers."