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Google is taking the Google Gears, which allows you to run web applications offline, act on the road. It has just made a Google Gears browser extension available for Pocket Internet Explorer in Windows Mobile 5 and 6. This means you'll be able to continue to use supported web apps and services, including data, even when you aren't wirelessly connected to the Internet.

Google Gears works the same way on Windows Mobile devices as it does on the PC. So even web applications written for the desktop that incorporate Google Gears will also work on a Windows Mobile smartphone - all else being equal. Even so, although its new, Google Gears for mobile is already a part of some Windows Mobile-specific solutions, including the personal finance service Buxfer and online applications provider Zoho.

When users first access mobile Buxfer or Zoho Writer through a Windows Mobile device and go offline, they're prompted to install the mobile version of Google Gears. Once this happens, they'll be able to access both Buxfer and Zoho and related data even when their Windows Mobile is disconnected from the Web, in a format designed with the very small screen in mind.

"Stuck on a plane? No problem — you can still read your docs on your mobile with Zoho Writer Mobile offline," Google product manager Charles Wiles explains on the Google Mobile Blog. "Want to buy that new plasma TV, but can't remember how much is in your account? Check your balance with Buxfer's mobile web application, even if there is no cell phone signal."

Fortunately, Google plans on expanding Google Gears support to other mobile operating systems, including its own new Android smartphone platform, of course, and keeping "the Gears API consistent a across all platforms for developers," according to Google software engineer Chris Prince, writing on the Google API Blog.

So as long as you account for browser differences (such as different screen sizes and DOM quirks), the rest of your application will "just work" across users' systems. You don't need to worry whether you are running on a mobile device or a desktop machine.

Developers can find out more about writing Google Gear-enabled mobile web applications, including what limitations to keep in mind when doing so, here.