Google Calendar Loses Ground as Market Situation Changes

Google Calendar has for a long time been a primary tool that many people used to manage their appointments, to-do lists and time in general. However as the possibilities of mobile and cloud services for time management are getting more diverse, new players enter this market and not just some generic calendar apps, but international giants. It seems that Google Calendar will have to make some room for newcomers.

It was recently reported by The Inquisitr that such an unlikely contender as Amazon, the largest Internet-based retailer in the United States, is going to take a part of corporate email and calendaring software market with their Amazon WorkMail, powered by Amazon Web Services, its own cloud-based computing unit.

“WorkMail can be integrated into already existing email clients, such as Mozilla Thunderbird and Microsoft Outlook. The communications are encrypted as they travel through Amazon’s network”.

However, Amazon is not the only company that embraces innovation and looks to expand into new areas. Microsoft is willing to claim a piece of the pie as well, although in a less straightforward fashion.

According to Pocket-Lint, right now Microsoft is in process of negotiating the purchase of Sunrise, an app well-known for its versatility:

“Sunrise has apps for iOS, Mac, Android, Chrome, Web, and even Amazon devices, but its standout feature is the ability to pull in calendar data from Google Calendar, Microsoft Exchange, and Apple iCloud. It also connects to a wide variety of third-party apps, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, Github, and more.”

Combined with the recently purchased mail app, Accompli, it can be used to create a new service that would be above and beyond all the others, effectively turning competitors into dumb pipes without actively opposing them.

In recent years, Microsoft showed considerable ability to adapt to changing market situations and do things that would have been considered to be completely out of the question just five to eight years ago (like Office for Android and iOS). If Microsoft is going to enter the fray, we are likely to see great changes in the calendar app market in the years to come. And the amount of interest Microsoft expresses towards this prospect is clearly seen in the fact that they are willing to pay $100 million for Sunrise.

All this means that those who are used to Google Calendar may want to change their habits in near future as there will be a lot more alternatives to choose from.