Google Calendar to get Gears support?

Google Calendar could be the latest Google service to get the much-hallowed Gears treatment--Google's offline site viewing extension for Firefox and Internet Explorer. Earlier this morning, a post by Andy Beal on the Marketing Pilgrim caused a stir when he noted that he got a Google Gears security access request while logging into Google Calendar. Despite the pop-up, there was no offline functionality added to the service, or screenshots for proof.

Since publishing the post, Google has officially responded to Beal, stating that there are no specific announcements for any services that will end up with Gears functionality or support.

Despite the appeal of more offline Gears goodness, it got me thinking about how useful the prospect of an offline version of Google Calendar could be without integration with Gmail and your Google contact list. While it would be nice to make new calendar events while away from an Internet connection, inviting or notifying others (one of the big draws for any social calendaring service) is a whole lot easier with your list of contacts, which is largely managed inside of Gmail. As it stands, trying to use the "e-mail this" feature in Google Reader while in offline mode results in a grayed-out box, something that would cut the usefulness of making new calendar events in half.

The addition of Gears to Calendar would have come biting at the heels of IMAP support in Gmail, which we got our hands on last night.

[found on Mashable]

See also:
Zoho Writer goes offline with Google Gears
Offline version of Gmail in the works?
Is a Gmail update coming down the pipe?