Push email services from Google’s Gmail accounts are now available to iPhone and iPod Touch users.
The new features will be available via Google Sync, which allows users to push contacts and calendars to smartphones such as the iPhone or Windows Mobile-powered devices.
When email is sent to a Gmail account, it will also be pushed through to the relevant iPhone, meaning that emails are always up-to-date.
Previously this feature, which had been promised by Apple, was only available when using a third party application.
Google Sync also allows users to synchronise their online contacts and calendars to their mobile phone, meaning that alerts will occur when a calendar reminder is reached and users’ contacts can also be retrieved from cyber space.
The new facility, which will be useful for businessmen who need to be connected with their email accounts at all times, draws the iPhone ever closer to the corporate capabilities that the Blackberry offers.