Google Contacts: names and numbers without Gmail

Looking to get prepared for the Palm Pre but not interested in signing up for a Gmail account just to get your Synergy on?

We’ve known since day one that webOS would support synchronization of mail and contacts and calendars with Google, but up until now the first two were inextricably tied to Google’s popular Gmail webmail service. While you still can’t sync non-Google mail through Google, those who are interested and not willing to pony up for their own Exchange server have an option (Facebook aside): Google Contacts. Essentially, it’s the same contact management interface that Gmail users are used to, but without the Gmail. It is tied to other Google services, like attendees/guests in Google Calendar and email contacts in Gmail. Even Google Apps users can get into the Contacts action, simply get your administrator to go to the control panel and click on the “add more services” button. Of course, you will still need register a Google Account...