sync

I just spotted DataSync's news that it now offers full Blackberry BES sync support for Zimbra and SugarCRM. I no longer use a Blackberry, but for those enterprises (like mine) that use SugarCRM and Zimbra, this will no doubt be a big benefit.

For those who have been frustrated by NotifyLink (Hear! Hear!), the product is still in beta but promises to be better than the mostly lame NotifyLink service:

Zimbra is currently in "beta" BlackBerry support mode, however we have had a very solid response over the past 30 days in our test environment. We've decided to offer this service commercially because of the overall stability of the system.… Read more

Microsoft is announcing Live Mesh today in conjunction with the Web 2.0 Expo. It's an ambitious technology platform for sharing data among people, apps, and devices. Consumers will first be exposed to the technology in a personal data synchronization and device-sharing product of the same name, competing directly with products like LogMeIn, GoToMyPC, SugarSync (review), Syncplicity (review), and Microsoft's own FolderShare, and SyncToy.

We tried the technology preview version of the app. As a sync tool for PCs, it's got good potential. It is easy to perform the basic operations of adding PCs to your sync … Read more

The 2008 Ford Edge presents a more urban design than a typical SUV, fulfilling part of the crossover credo, yet its all-wheel-drive and towing capability let it take on standard SUV tasks. The Edge's engine pulls reasonably well, but fuel economy isn't great. And while not designed for seven passengers like some larger crossovers and SUVs, the Edge handles five with luggage easily enough.

Ford's raft of tech options is available in the Edge, and our test car came loaded with a navigation system as well as Sync, this last a standard feature at the Limited trim … Read more

Today, Syncplicity launches its PC sync tool. Like the old-school FolderShare and the newer SugarSync (review), this product will keep the data on two machines (PCs only) in lockstep with each other. Syncplicity is in the hub-and-spoke camp (like SugarSync), not in the peer-to-peer world (FolderShare). This means that all the data that Syncplicity keeps track of for you is also stored on the company's servers.

There are advantages to this. Since the data is stored on an off-site server, the service becomes a passable backup and remote data access application. Also, the server-based architecture means your PCs don'… Read more

After years of trying to figure out how to keep track of an ever-growing array of events and to-dos, my wife and I finally settled on iCal, Apple's calendaring program. iCal syncs seamlessly with my Zimbra (work) calendar, and easily syncs with my wife's iPhone, where she inputs most of her appointment data.

The result? Pure bliss. No more, "But you didn't tell me you'd be out of town on that day!" Gone are the days of (blame-free) accusations like, "Why did you schedule soccer practice right in the middle of Greta's … Read more

I'm nearly a week into my Zimbra conversion and I am very, very happy. I'm still having some issues with Zimbra Desktop (sometimes it syncs (email), and sometimes it doesn't - this may be because I've yet to do a full sync because I've been on a narrowband connection while on holiday this week), but the web client is amazing. I used to say I'd never use it. Now I'm having a hard time figuring out why I need to use fat-client email at all.

The thing that has me happiest, though, is … Read more

A few weeks ago I said I was dumping Microsoft Entourage for the open-source Zimbra email offering. I did, but not quite. I started using the Zimbra server to pump mail to my Entourage client, but couldn't quite give up on the comfort of a suite I'd been using for years.

But then Entourage 2008 happened and everything broke.

Well, not everything. Microsoft's Entourage 2008 is a fantastic island of productivity. It's fast and I love things like My Day. But Entourage 2008 abandoned my Blackberry, wouldn't sync with iCal (for me), and otherwise left me stranded.

So on Sunday I dumped it. Completely. I haven't opened it since.

All of which makes me realize just how fundamental sync is to my life, and why Zimbra makes sense. Let me explain.… Read more

Although we saw the Lincoln MKS at its debut at the 2007 Los Angeles auto show, and again at the 2008 Detroit show, we got our first chance to get up close and personal with the navigation system during the 2008 New York auto show. Lincoln's new, big luxury cruiser not only includes Ford Sync, the system that lets you voice command your phone and MP3 player, it also has Sirius Travel Link, which gives useful information such as traffic, gas prices, weather, and movie listings.

Click here for photos of the Lincoln MKS.

Click here for more 2008 New York auto show coverage. … Read more

Today, Sharpcast is launching the public beta of its new file synchronization product, SugarSync (download it from Download.com). Like other sync tools (FolderShare [recently updated] and BeInSync), it performs the useful service of automatically keeping the data on one PC the same as on another. This is a great service for people who use more than one PC -- a laptop and a desktop, for example. It can also be used as a crude workgroup file system (see Groove). I got a tour of the product recently from Sharpcast CEO Gibu Thomas and took some time to experiment with … Read more