Cloud Synching With My S60 Smartphone – Problem Solved!!!

November 21st, 2009 | Posted by asri | View Comments

1. For years, I tried many different solutions to solve this eternal problem. From SyncML to MS Exchange server to manual solutions, I tried most of them. All these years, I have never satisfied with how my Contacts, Calendar and Email were synched to the cloud.

2. For SyncML solution, I previously used O-Sync.com (Which in my opinion, is the best SyncML solution for contacts synching, not even Nokia’s Ovi Sync can match it), tried MobiCal, and also ScheduleWorld (but they turned to be a profitmaking company), tried GooSync (but the free version supports calendar synching only), Google Sync (SyncML – Contacts only – but this is a HUGE failure IMHO, my contacts were all messed up), tried Nokia’s Ovi Sync but again, messed up my contacts database, I also tried ZYB but finally gave up.

3. For Exchange Server, I tried Mail2Web, NeuvaSync and 4Smarttphone but all are still far away from being satisfactory. If one part works, there’s always something else that doesnt work properly. Duplicates, wrong fields and all sorts of headache pouring in.

4. I also tried different middle-man solution like System Seven which in my opinion, would be my choice had Google did not introduce it’s own MS Exchange powered Google Sync. System Seven’s Email and Calendar synching work wonderful without problem except for it’s contacts which will populate my S60 contacts database with “unnamed” contacts taken from my Google Contacts list. I am very satisfied with System Seven actually but it didnt solve my problem especially when I change devices.

5. Now, what do I want? Simple. I want a unified free solution to synchronise my online Gmail, Google Contacts and Google Calendar to my Symbian smartphones without fuss. It must be a 2-way synchronization where I can easily edit, delete, update, or do whatever I want with my data anytime I want, and the changes will be reflected in both, i.e. my Symbian devices and my online Google Account. I dont use multiple calendars, I dont have thousands of contacts in my database, I dont sync with MS Outlook (I use Ubuntu), or any other offline desktop solution.. Is it too much to ask? ;-)

gmail1

S60-gmail1

6. I want to have a piece of mind where everytime I get my hands on new Symbian smartphone, I can load my important data with one click. I dont want different solutions for different data. An all in one solution will save me a lot of time from digging here and there to get my data.

gmail2

S60-gmail2

7. I can say now my problem is SOLVED! Using a solution I embrace a few month ago after frustrated with all other solutions I tried. I am now in sync nirvana… sort of… ;-)

gmail3 S60-gmail3

8. Using a solution from DataViz called RoadSync and Google Sync (this happen after Google implemented it’s own MS Exchange Protocol support), I can now leave everything in order and let it to my Symbian smartphone to deal with the data.

gcontacts1

S60-contacts1

9. Maybe I am a bit picky, some people may say there’s a free solution from Nokia called Mail For Exchange. It’s true but it did not gave a complete solution like RoadSync has. Of note, the subfolder synching (important for me), the thumbnail in contacts, and the HTML view in email content.

gcontacts2

S60-contacts2

10. Thank you Google for implementing this great technology. Thank you DataViz for such an excellent product called RoadSync. Thank you Symbian for the greatest mobile smartphone operating system and thank you Nokia for great Eseries lineup!

gcalendar1

S60-calendar1

11. More information about Google Sync can be found here :
- http://www.google.com/mobile/products/sync.html#p=nokia_smart
- http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2009/09/google-sync-now-with-push-gmail-support.html

gcalendar2

S60-calendar2

12. How do you sync your Google data to your S60 smartphones? Are you satisfied with your solution?

- Asri al-Baker

Related Posts :

Posted in : Applications, Real Life

  • http://topsy.com/tb/bit.ly/7FQy0W Tweets that mention Cloud Synching With My S60 Smartphone – Problem Solved!!! | The Independent Symbian Blog — Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by asrialbaker and asrialbaker, asrialbaker. asrialbaker said: Cloud Synching With My S60 Smartphone – Problem Solved!!! : http://bit.ly/7FQy0W [...]

  • http://www.davidgilson.co.uk/ David Gilson

    Hi there,
    Really interesting article and good recommendation for Roadsync.

    There is a SyncML PIM site that I use which you didn’t mention in your article. I used it with my old Palm PDA, and subsequently with both of my Nokia E-Series phones. It’s called Memotoo.

    I also noticed you’re an Ubuntu user; me too! So you might find this article I wrote for AllAboutSymbian of interest – A survival guide to Linux and S60. If you have any tips to add to what I wrote, would be good to read them in the comments.

    Regards,
    David :)

  • http://www.davidgilson.co.uk David Gilson

    Hi there,
    Really interesting article and good recommendation for Roadsync.

    There is a SyncML PIM site that I use which you didn’t mention in your article. I used it with my old Palm PDA, and subsequently with both of my Nokia E-Series phones. It’s called Memotoo.

    I also noticed you’re an Ubuntu user; me too! So you might find this article I wrote for AllAboutSymbian of interest – A survival guide to Linux and S60. If you have any tips to add to what I wrote, would be good to read them in the comments.

    Regards,
    David :)

  • http://www.i-symbian.com Asri al-Baker

    @David,

    1. Thanks for your comments, appreciate it very much.

    2. I read your piece on AAS when it was published and I agree with what you said. Synching to the cloud will probably solve many problems and making one more independent.

    3. I am using Karmic Koala on my EeePC 1000HE now and it totally rocks! Here are my 3rd party applications on Karmic :-
    - Gnome-do
    - Gloobus Preview
    - gThumb Image Viewer
    - Thunar File manager
    - Phatch batch photo resizer
    - Eee-Control
    - Wine
    - Ubuntu Tweak
    - Bleachbit
    - Cheese Webcam
    - SMPlayer
    - VLC
    - Localepurge
    - Opera!!!
    - Geany text editor
    - Komposer HTML designer
    - gFTP

    4. Thanks for mentioning Memotoo. If I didnt already using RoadSync, maybe I would try it you know ;-)

    5. Hey, maybe we can work something out on Ubuntu + Symbian writeup thingy… You know… Exchanging user experience, and post them on our blogs ;-)

    Cheers!

    -sri al-Baker

  • http://www.i-symbian.com asri

    @David,

    1. Thanks for your comments, appreciate it very much.

    2. I read your piece on AAS when it was published and I agree with what you said. Synching to the cloud will probably solve many problems and making one more independent.

    3. I am using Karmic Koala on my EeePC 1000HE now and it totally rocks! Here are my 3rd party applications on Karmic :-
    - Gnome-do
    - Gloobus Preview
    - gThumb Image Viewer
    - Thunar File manager
    - Phatch batch photo resizer
    - Eee-Control
    - Wine
    - Ubuntu Tweak
    - Bleachbit
    - Cheese Webcam
    - SMPlayer
    - VLC
    - Localepurge
    - Opera!!!
    - Geany text editor
    - Komposer HTML designer
    - gFTP

    4. Thanks for mentioning Memotoo. If I didnt already using RoadSync, maybe I would try it you know ;-)

    5. Hey, maybe we can work something out on Ubuntu + Symbian writeup thingy… You know… Exchanging user experience, and post them on our blogs ;-)

    Cheers!

    -sri al-Baker

  • http://twitter.com/tanya25m/status/7225758720 Tanya Mascarenhas

    Reading: Cloud Synching With My S60 Smartphone – Problem Solved!!! | Independent Symbian Blog http://bit.ly/4HxR0Q

  • http://twitter.com/mobileyog mobileyog

    @Asri, I am also S60+Ubuntu user, are you on launchpad? We need to make case with more support for Linux with regards to using smartphone functions with Ubuntu.
    I think right now we can do many things with some changes , tips n tricks but if we can shout out there will be more things which make things easy in ubuntu for smartphone users.

  • http://www.i-symbian.com Asri al-Baker

    @mobileyog,

    1. Thanks for your comment. Much appreciated ;-)

    2. I am using LinuxMint8 Helena on my EeePC 1000HE at the moment. I found it to be more complete out of the box than Karmic and it looks more elegant ;-)

    3. I have some articles coming up with regards to using a Symbian smartphone with a Linux computer. Need some time to finish them ;-)

    4. Hmmm… Maybe we could work together on some stuff?

    5. No. I'm not on launchpad.

    Thanks again

    Cheers!!!

    Asri al-Baker

  • Brunitou

    Hey!

    Thanks for your great article! I'm reading it carefully later…
    Well, I'm quite happy with registered Goosync for multiple Google calendars: added with SBSH Calendar (ex-Papyrus), this is just great!

    BUT… for contacts… what a mess with Goosync!!
    There are 2 contacts with most of problems: their email adresses got “+1″ added at each synchro (with tag “other” for work or private) Those 2 contacts are in my Picasa; maybe that's the problem (too many services with Google :s)

    Please note that I'm using the Google contacts, not the Goosync contacts; maybe Goosync is trying to promote his own solution by providing a “so-so” sync with Google contacts !?

    The thing is I love cloud synchro (no need to synchro mac with mobile 1 + pc with mobile 2 + …)
    It is almost perfect for calendar (using web cal when on laptop/desktop machine); people just add meetings and I got them automatically on my Smartphone (I set on sync every 1 hour). I don't use the Exchange calendar.

    For contacts, 1 sync a day is enough.
    I would like Adress book of my 2 Macs to sync as well on the cloud, but it is not that easy either.
    + I would like to sync my Exchange contacts as well but I'm afraid of the possible mess (there are 2 possibilities: switch on calendar on Exchange sync on the Nokia, OR use a funambol plugin for outlook)

  • Brunitou

    PS: I don't know if you're using automatic PIM sync; this is just great when using the proper tools :

    - Smartconnect: to be able to use wifi when available, so it safe some of your 3G package
    - Swim: allows you to automatically enable syncs (you can set to pre-programmed fields, like 1 hour or 4 hours, not every xx minutes but still ok + there's no “working hours” option, so it's 24/7)
    - for email I'm using Gmail account and Profimail client (far the best for me!), set on every 15min from 7:30am to 8:30pm, everyday but Sunday.

blog comments powered by Disqus

Popular Post

Latest Post

Downloads

More at DOWNLOADS page.

Latest Comments (Disqus)

Powered by Disqus

Switch to our mobile site