Motorola cunningly launches tool to migrate iCloud contacts and calendars to Google

Motorola iCloud migration tool (web screenshot 001)

After an appeals court last month lifted the injunction which has prevented Apple from offering push notifications for iCloud email in Germany, the handset maker Motorola (now owned by Google) wasted no time and was quick to post an interesting iCloud migration tool in the hope of appeasing to iPhone owners who may be switching to a Moto X flagship.

The handy web-based application is part of the Moto X customization tool called Moto Maker.

It’s designed to allow for easy migration of your iCloud contacts and calendars to a Google account. As Android is deeply integrated with Google’s services, authorizing an Android device to use a Google account automatically makes underlying calendars, contacts and other data readily available…

Motorola’s VP of Product Management Punit Soni announced the web tool in a post on Google+, noting “there is a long way to go, but its a start”.

“Hope folks who are transitioning from an iOS device find it useful,” reads the post.

After buying a Moto X on MotoMaker – the customization tool lets shoppers choose from 32 color combinations – owner will be greeted with a confirmation page inviting them to use the iCloud migration assistant.

The web app itself is pretty straightforward.

First, choose I have an iPhone, enter your iCloud credentials and hit Continue (see the screenshot top of post).

Next, hit Begin Transfer and  log into a desired Google account.

Motorola iCloud migration tool (web screenshot 002)

Migration will begin.

Google says it typically takes five minutes to migrate 500 iCloud calendar events and 500 contacts to a destination Google account.

Motorola iCloud migration tool (web screenshot 003)

Migration success.

Of course, those with multiple iCloud accounts can migrate data from another iCloud account into a different Google account.

Motorola iCloud migration tool (web screenshot 004)

What’s next?

After setting up a Google account on your Moto X device, your iCloud contacts can be found under the iCloud group in the Contacts app. Likewise, iCloud calendar data will be carried over to its own iCloud calendar on the Moto X (you may want to check the ‘Calendars to Sync’ section in the stock Android Calendar app).

Google even provides a handy chart detailing how certain iCloud contact and calendar field names transfer over to Google.

The tool, created by created by Mark/Space, migrates all iCloud contacts so there may be some duplicates, but Gmail has a tool to find and merge duplicates.

Samsung also has a similar app which works over a USB connection to transfer music from your iTunes library over to a Galaxy device, in addition to movies, podcasts and other media and underlying meta data.

So, what do you think of the iCloud migration tool?

That’s a smart move by Google, no?