Google brings remote wipe, other security features to Android through Google Apps dashboard

Google yesterday announced a major step towards making the combination of Android and Google Apps Premier more appealing to businesses by enabling a host of remote control features for IT administrators that it had previously rolled out for the iOS, Blackberry, Symbian and other mobile platforms – basically every major platform except for Android.

Now, however, companies that use Google Apps now have the options to:

Remotely wipe all data from lost or stolen mobile devices

Lock idle devices after a period of inactivity

Require a device password on each phone

Set minimum lengths for more secure passwords

Require passwords to include letters and numbers

When the employee leaves the company, the administrator can withdraw access to corporate info, which allows the employee to continue to use their device if it’s their own.

To enable this on Android phones, the phone will have to have the “Google Apps Device Policy” app installed, which Google says should be available through the Android Market “in the next few days,” and will be free to all Google Apps Premier and Education Edition customers.

Google will be running a live webinar on November 10 at 12pm EDT to discuss these changes. You can sign up here if you’re interested.