It’s that time of year again; Google’s leading its ostensibly lonely and unloved services out to pasture. This time Google Sync, and some more obscure calender options are headed for that big cloud storage unit in the sky.
Google Sync allowed Google Mail, Calendar and Contacts access through the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol. The introduction of the new CardDAV open protocol provides the same functionality, but starting on January 30th, you won’t be able to sign up for a new Google Sync account. Existing accounts will trudge through unaffected, and Google Sync will also still be available for Google Apps for Business, Government and Education.
The other services being shut down are mostly specific features. Effective immediately you can now longer use SMS to check your calendar or create events, appointment slots are going away on January 4th, and you can also wave goodbye to Punchd — the loyalty punchcard holding app you’ve never heard of — on June 7th, 2013. For more information, you can check out the Google blog’s official list, but there are no utterly world-ending retirements, at least not this time around. [The Google Blog]
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