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< Esato Forum Index > Sony Ericsson / Sony > Symbian phones > Plea for better PIM Synchronisation Software Bookmark topic

Well we all know that SonyEricsson has produced great hardware in the Pxxx series, reaching greater perfection as P800->P900->P910.

The Symbian 7/UIQ operating system likewise works admirably as a smartphone.

BUT WHY OH WHY they have not written decent software for PC synchronisation with MS Outlook ?

The supplied software simply is not up to the job. At the most basic level sync and resync it is a complete failure: folders in the phone not mapped properly in to categories and back again. I know there are difficulties, but they should have found a solution. They should take a look at Microsoft's Active Sync to see how sync should be done.

Although it seems to have been held up, it looks like SonyEricsson will shortly be trying to play with the big boys like Blackberry in the email/calendar/contacts/tasks/notes sync game. Surely they have to raise their game?


I made another post about the Oygen Phone Manager (OPM) in this thread just now:
http://www.esato.com/board/viewtopic.php?topic=71416

Does anyone have any experience with it? Is it useable with Outlook for sync?
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Posted: 2004-10-10 16:30:17
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I tried OPM 2.2 but couldn't get it to work with Bluetooth.
Instructions are totally strange, cumbersome and way
too complex (~ 10 steps to be performed each time
you want to connect, missing instructions in installation -
they can be found on web, and at the end - get this: manual
says you have to try several times in order to succeed ???).
They do not support cable, for whatever reason.
In any case, I gave up and tried via IR, in which case OPM
actually worked. However, as soon as I realized they do not
support categories, I uninstalled whole thing.

On another topic: SHAREWARE DEVELOPMENT FOR PX00.
I really do not understand shareware developers.
They create all sorts of useless applications for Px00
selling them for ridiculous prices but it took almost
1.5 years for Symbian Wave to come out with Magic Profiles???

I mean, business opportunity was right there, didn't
any body see it? Take a look at discussion forums,
for Christ’s sake.

Maybe it will take another 1.5 years for someone
to write a decent Outlook sync alternative. One that
WORKS!, supports field mapping, supports categories,
synces SMSes, includes automation (regular interval
sync or active sync), gets rid of annoying "Allow access
to address book" question by properly signing plugins,
etc.

Ghhh, is it so hard???
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Posted: 2004-11-01 16:17:13
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Well, I guess it is. I can only assume that developing an "alternative" sync program is fairly difficult, if only for the reason that it has to run on hardware the developer has no documentation for. I seem to remember a few developers basically saying that "No, USB cradle isn't supported, and it will not be supported because we don't have the specifications for it". SE doesn't release it's "hardware secrets" to any would-be developer, just like any other company that has a bit of a strong-hold on a market. Same goes for the file-formats and the "magic" that may go in the background of the sync process on the phone itself.

Sure, you say, you can (or may be able to) reverse engineer it - but would you risk it? Aside to the fact that it may be illegal to (IANAL, nor read the EULA yet), it may take multiple iterations and lots of bugs (read that as "data loss") to correct until said developer gets it right.

And all this takes time. Or money. But most probably lots of both.

Mind you, I don't say it's not possible. All I'm saying is that you may still have to wait a considerable amount of time until such a beastie shows up and it's even remotely usable.
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Posted: 2004-11-01 23:34:04
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Look at AquaCalendar:
http://www.handango.com/Platf[....]&platformId=4&productId=117506
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Posted: 2004-11-02 15:26:21
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Thanx, aha. I checked out Aqua Calenda. However, I do
not need another PIM SW on my phone. Built-in is quite
good, actually, IMHO. What I need is a decent sync SW.

inorog, about sync SW and USB support being not-supported:

1) there are plenty Px00 apps that transfer over USB:
Handy Safe, Remote Px00, Desktop Message, just to
name a few.

2) even if there is no USB support, I would be more
than happy to use it over IR or BT, where there are no
limitations (at lest IR).

3) writing Outlook part of sync SW should be a breeze,
given its open interface.

4) I do not know about the rest of you, but I would be
willing to pay top $$$ for such an app, since my nerves
are priceless, and I am really loosing my mind with PC
Suite
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Posted: 2004-11-05 18:53:18
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I agree I would pay well for an alternative to PC Suite - it sucks and crashes my PC every time I use it. I have to keep an old PC synchronised with Outlook just to synch with my 910 since PC suite does not work on my XP machine. Oh for an ActiveSync type application that really worked with Outlook and Windows rather than PCSuite that works with nothing!
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Posted: 2004-11-05 19:02:40
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Here some clues:
1. Go to Windows Update and download every update that is there for the XP, including Service Pack 2.
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
2. Go to Office Update and download all the updates for your Office,
including the Service Pack.
http://office.microsoft.com/pt-pt/officeupdate/default.aspx
3. Make sure Outlook is checked for everything, in Internet Options in the Control Panel.
4. Open Outlook for a couple minutes and see if it complains something is not quite right, let it fix it. i.e. Eudora mail screws up these definitions.
5. When you are finished, cdisable the firewall, try to setup the sync monitor for Outlook, and then try to sync.

Then if still doesn't work, then come here and we will try to help you.


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Posted: 2004-11-05 23:44:44
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Another thing that is annoying is not having the option in the backup/restore software to ignore the media files (or some of them).
For example, on a half-loaded p910i, a backup takes the battery
level down to 25%. Does that imply that a fully-loaded handset can't be backed up? (And this is WITH charge input).

I would like to ignore mp3's and mp4's for example, as I can always
re-load these later after a restore.
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Posted: 2004-11-08 16:07:54
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I think we all agree that sync sw is crap.

However, I do not think things will improve.

Why?

Because software SE had to write for Px00 is:
* HW drivers for Symbian and maybe some customization
* sync sw

Not much, one might say. Everything else came with
Symbian OS.

However, at least for sync sw they outsourced
development to obviously incompetent team
at Teleca AB (at least that's what About box says)
and now they do not have control over it. They
have to stick with them and existing sync sw
no matter what.

And SE & Teleca AB have shown how much they
care for their customers with numerous releases
up to 3.1.1. THEY DON'T HAVE RELEASE HISTORY NOR
DO THEY ANNOUNCE WHAT IS NEW. WONDER WHY?
Because they do not want you to know that they
don't have a clue about sw development, that SE
doesn't have a clue what is in certain release
package and that they are fixing critical bugs all the time.

THEREFORE I HOPE AN INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPER OR A
DEVELOPMENT COMPANY WILL APPROACH SYNC SW FROM THEIR SIDE.

Believing SE will do anything is naive. You can use
induction to derive a conclusion from PCSuite 1.0 to
PCSuite 3.1.1

If PIM was at the core of my business, I would have
thrown P900 to trash bin a looong time ago Too
many lost and duplicate entries after sync for my taste.

Cheers ...

P.S. What do you think, do any of the guys (or girls?)
at SE or Teleca AB read posts here?

[ This Message was edited by: kekec on 2004-11-08 16:20 ]
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Posted: 2004-11-08 17:12:51
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