Hotmail users will finally be able to get e-mail push notifications and sync their contacts and calendars on smart phones, according to reports.

Microsoft is adding Exchange ActiveSync support to Hotmail next week. All Hotmail users will be able to use ActiveSync with mobile devices that support it, including the Apple iPhone, Google Android phones and — soon — Windows Mobile 7 devices.

iPhone users, for instance, can currently connect to their Hotmail accounts via the e-mail app, but they aren’t fully synchronized. Through ActiveSync, Hotmail users will soon be able to get enhanced syncing capabilities: when they delete an e-mail, it will be deleted from their Web-based Hotmail; when they reply to an e-mail, that message also will be available online; when they create a calendar event, that appoint also will show up on their Windows Live calendar.

These features are already available to Gmail subscribers, for instance, through IMAP and to people who use a company e-mail system through Microsoft Exchange.

Now, Microsoft is opening up that ability to users of its free e-mail service.