Google Contacts updated, Tasks added to Calendar

Nary a week ago we were introduced to Google Contacts, which will let you manage your contacts via Google without having to deal with Gmail. But it was rather simple, no websites, no birthdays, etc. As it turns out, Contacts (like many Google products) carries a ‘beta’ tag, making it fodder for Google’s random upgrades. In this case, Contacts has gained the ability to catalog websites, birthdays, nicknames, and more. You can also add in a custom entry with labels and values, as well as the all important notes. Looks like Google Contacts could end up being useful after all.  And heck -- you will soon be able to import contacts from Yahoo, Hotmail, and AOL too.

But wait, there’s more! A while back, Google started building a Tasks web application. Initially it integrated with Gmail and also had a standalone page for that other phone. Integration with Gmail was, for lack of a better word, kludgy. Very un-Google. But that’s starting to change, with Tasks integration coming seamlessly to Google Calendar (which has continued to ape the interface of Apple’s desktop iCal) - and it uses the same database as the Gmail and iPhone Tasks lists, so you can keep your to-do lists synchronized across multiple Google webapps. While Tasks in Gmail is a Labs add-on, in Google Calendar it's as easy to enable as clicking the Tasks button on the left just above the month. But... will it synchronize with webOS?

In other words, the webOS and Synergy might be favoring Google over Yahoo and MSN right now, but Google is looking more and more like the best of the bunch.

Thanks to Randy and TurboTiger for the tips!