Cemaphore links Gmail and Outlook, previews beta at Microsoft TechEd

Cemaphore Systems Tuesday said it would ship this month the next beta for its tool that synchronizes Outlook data with Gmail and lets users straddle a locally deployed Microsoft Exchange Server and Google’s online messaging service.

The company made the announcement at Microsoft’s annual TechEd conference.

MailShadow for Google Apps, known as MailShadowG, is an add-on for Microsoft’s Outlook client. With the tool, users can synchronize their e-mail, contacts and calendars between Outlook and Gmail.

The company, a Microsoft partner, is not touting MailShadowG as a way for users to replace their Exchange Server back-end infrastructure. MailShadowG is positioned more in a back-up and convenience role.

In fact, company officials admit that the synchronization is not a 1-to-1 match for everything, such as marking calendar entries as “recurring.” Cemaphore, however, says the synchronization is a match 95% of the time.

MailShadowG synchronizes content bi-directionally and in real time. Users will retain access to the data through the traditional Gmail Web-based interface.

Cemaphore will begin its Beta 2 program at the end of June and is opening it up to anyone. Beta 1, which launched in May to strong reviews, was a private beta. General release of the software will come before the end of September, according to the vendor.

Once available, beta participants can purchase the software for $29.95 per seat for the first year. The annual license price is regularly $49.95.

The company says once MailShadowG is complete it will develop similar software for other e-mail platforms.