Shared Calender and Instant Chat options. Thoughts please.

[Hillskill]

I have been with Three for a year. Recently I discovered I have been charged 15quid a month for an add on I had never approved. I then discovered I was signed to an 18month contract when I only agreed to a 12month one. It appeared someone in a Three store had been creative with some contracts/paperwork and I had been stitched After much arguing and too'ing and fro'ing Three are refunding my money and I will leave my contract next month. It is now that I need some advice with what to go for next.
My Girlfriend and I are expecting a Baby in Feb. My Girlfriend is due to go on Maternity leave as of Xmas. We would like to stay in contact throughout the day using an instant messaging service that is available on both our mobiles and both our computers (my work PC and an iMac at home which she will use). We would also like to have a our own individual Calenders but also have events from the others Calender appear on both. I have been leaning towards an iPhone simply because I recently bought my first iMac and I love it, the iPhone seems an obvious choice to compliment it. Does Googlemail and Google Calender sync nicely with an iPhone or should I be looking at an Android OS phone to ensure the best compatibility ? My other concern is whether the iPhones are about to do a refresh. I will be gutted if I am tied into an 18month and the 4GS is released 2 months in ! Mobile me looks an attractive option in terms of features but I am put of by the subscription charges.
Any thoughts, opinions or experiences would be appreciated

[HSC]

specifically regarding Calendars

my wife an I have a shared Google Calendar setup as an Exchange account on both our iPhones. Anything I drop into my calendar on iPhone is automatically pushed to the online calendar and her iPhone in seconds (and vice versa etc)
We don't use multiple calendars - but I think they work too


Also we both use BeeJive on our iPhones to IM.

[Hillskill]

Originally Posted by HSC

specifically regarding Calendars

my wife an I have a shared Google Calendar setup as an Exchange account on both our iPhones. Anything I drop into my calendar on iPhone is automatically pushed to the online calendar and her iPhone in seconds (and vice versa etc)
We don't use multiple calendars - but I think they work too


Also we both use BeeJive on our iPhones to IM.

Not sure what that means in regard to the Calender (sounds perfect tho). I thought Calenders were tied to Googlemail accounts ? Is Beejive a IM client ? i.e will I be able to use any IM account with it ?