sync

Last December Google announced its plans to discontinue support for Google Sync as of January 30, 2013. Sync allowed users to access Gmail, Google Contacts and Calendar using Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync system. What this allowed iOS users to do was set up Gmail as an Exchange account, which in turn provides push alerts for new e-mails in a real-time sync of Calendars and Contacts.

The cutoff date has long passed, but if you had an account already set up and running on your iOS device as Exchange, you had nothing to worry about; Google promised to keep the service … Read more

4Sync offers more space and just as much style as most of the popular cloud-storage apps. It is a little costly to expand, but it's hard to beat 15GB of storage right out of the box. If nothing else, it's worth having around to keep a few dozen photos or CDs from clogging up your hard drive.

This app gives you a very beefy 15GB of storage, which is three times what Dropbox, Google Drive, and other cloud apps give you. It not only works on your computer, but on your tablet and smartphone, as well, thanks to … Read more

Dropbox is almost finished wrapping up its work on version 2.1.x (the version you're probably using if you haven't upgraded). Releasing an experimental build allows it to get feedback from early adopters. This new build lets you automatically save screenshots, move files to Dropbox in an easier way, import from iPhoto, and get faster upload and download speeds.

Ready to check out the new version? To download a copy of Dropbox 2.3.12, find the link that matches your OS and install. What's excellent about this method of distribution is that you won't … Read more

SugarSync attempts to do what other services before it have done well--provide an extended storage solution for the iOS platform. However, due to limited upgrade options, it will only work for a certain group of people. While the focus on video and image backup is good on a device with a camera and far too little built-in storage, it doesn't offer more than its competitors to truly stand out.

SugarSync is very much like other cloud storage tools like Dropbox and Box.net. Sign up for a free account and you receive 5GB of storage that you can use … Read more

RadarSync PC Updater 2012 might be the easy way to keep your PC's drivers up to date, but its free trial disables its primary functionality. PC Updater scans your PC to identify its software and drivers, and then scans the Internet for updates and applies them one by one or all at once. While it's a free-to-try PC Updater, you still must register the program to apply the updates it identifies. That costs just under $25 but includes technical support (the interface even displays a toll-free, 24/7 support number).

PC Updater's user interface has controls for … Read more

For those users who have and want to share tons of images and videos, PictureSync for Mac's features, design, and instructions make it a very useful tool for batch uploading of image files.

PictureSync for Mac, available as freeware, starts with a tutorial that opened automatically to prompt the user to enter log-in information for sites where photos would be uploaded. A program menu then came up, which explicitly stated there was no technical support available. This could make less experienced users uneasy, but we didn't experience any issues that would require support in our tests. The main … Read more

If you're looking for a solid, non-Google planner, you've found it in mOffice. It has a smooth layout and most of the features you love about Google--all in a neat package.

This app is designed to sync with your Outlook desktop program. It will also sync with a client called Mobisynapse, but that costs an extra $10. This app falls under the "Getting Things Done" category, which seems to mean it's optimized to make work convenient. As such, mOffice has a very clean interface that makes it easy to find the features and menus you'… Read more

Helium App Sync & Backup saves copies of your vital data for you if you don't want to do it, yourself. It includes an app backup in addition to backing up your sensitive files, but it's a major pain to set up. It takes most of the appeal of automatic backup away.

Helium App Sync & Backup is made mostly for rooters, but it will work with some unrooted phones, too. To be sure it works with yours, check developer options in your settings menu and see if you can turn on USB debugging. If you can't, … Read more

This is an update of a deal I wrote about a couple months ago.

Until wireless charging hits the mainstream (with either Apple or Samsung leading the -- sorry -- charge), we're all slaves to cables.

For example, I'm currently traveling with an older iPhone, a newer iPad, and a Kindle. Because each one has a different power port, I have to travel with three different cables. That's just wrong.

I've seen various hybrid cables that pack multiple charging tips into a single cord, but none with the Lightning connector used by newer iDevices. Until now: … Read more