Jul 03
georgeGeneral
The information world changes significantly these years. Home network and small business networks largely deployed WIFI wireless network, laptops and netbooks now cheaper and popular, new mobile smart phones not only affordable but also much powerful almost light-weight computers today. Transferring and synchronizing data between devices and computers become important for our daily life: mobile phones and devices using a wireless network, local WIFI network or mobile wireless network, to synchronize application data with local computers, private cloud or Internet cloud services.
Over-the-air synchronization used first for sync data such as contact, calendar, mail. Users can use Apple MobileMe, Microsoft Exchange, or Google cloud services, to sync these daily updated data. While as more applications emerging on mobile devices, the list is growing.
Jul 03
georgeGeneral
This topic come to me when I began to use iPhone apps since last year.I began an Internet user since 1996 as a webmaster and developer, a long time Internet addict so I only use iPod touch to avoid “connected” too much.
My top used apps is productive applications, calendars, task management, notes, book readers are most things I play on my touch. Like most of apps users, I keep comparing different kinds of apps to see which one fit my needs.
iPhone apps with over-the-air sync, wifi or USB transfer
I bought and tried different kinds of apps, and the survivors (for me) are all sorts of those with synchronization support, over-the-air, wifi, or USB transfer.
Pocket Informant by WebIS.
Pocket Informant is a calendar/task app support over-the-air sync with Google Calendar and Toodled, as well as Outlook with a desktop sync application. Before iPhone version, Pocket Informant already exist several years with Windows Mobile and Blackberry, it works quite stable for me.
But at the same time, over-the-air sync with Google Calendar is not perfect, Google changes their API from time to time, some time (rarely though) can cause synchronization failed. The most benefits on Google Calendar, like myself sometime will copy something from web into Google Calendar directly, then sync to PI which means those number of notes directly pushed into my calendar event. Only during travel I have to punch the tiny keyboard.
Awesome Note by Brid.
Awesome note has beautiful user interface. It support to sync with Google Docs. The sync speed is a little bit slow comparing to Pocket Informant, but at least it works well. Mainly it’s a good note app writing notes any time any where.
GoodReader by goodiware.
GoodReader is a great reader for PDF files. The most highlight of this app is large PDF support, convenient user interface and USB transfer. Unlike data, PDF files are usually quite large, over-the-air sync useless on this topic, instead wired transfer is much useful. Some time you can transfer large videos with this app as well, save time to sync with tortoise speed iTunes.
Bento by FileMaker.
Bento is a personal database to sync with desktop version Bento 3 on Mac. The Mac version user interface is great but iPhone version just so so. But it support sync over wifi, you can keep same data in your pocket especially something may important.
Things by Cultured Code.
Things used to be my major reason to buy an iPod touch. At that time I’m looking for a task management application and the final choices between Things and Omni Focus. Later I bought both Things for Mac and iPhone version as they can sync over wifi smoothly.
The problem with Things, you feel anything looks great in the beginning but it lacks something important for you. Lots of Things users keep waiting, waiting. But no, some Things user asking Cultured Code don’t change to be too “complicated”. Yes, they might be true, at least recently I failed to sync Things Mac with Things Touch and almost only use Mac version, more features on Things more unstable.
More computers (includes light-weight devices), more important over-the-air sync
15 years before I didn’t own any personal computer, I worked computers in office, or telecommunications clients. Couple of years later I had both desktop computers and laptop with me on travel, also a desktop computer at home. Now I have several desktops includes Mac and Windows, with BSD in virtual machine, and several iPod touch maybe Google phone soon. The need of synchronization is clear, data should sync over computers, and devices.
The big challenges on sync though, is not because of technologies, but because of closed software environment. A big example is Apple, for marketing strategy, they hold iPhone apps inside a walled garden, you cannot sync to iCal directly, you cannot do this, can not do that. Once a day app developers able to find a best solution, Apple will do it themselves.
But the needs of synchronization still there, and with the open Internet, and open source community, as well as some companies finally support open standard, in some levels more applications will emerge with better over-the-air sync solutions.
But not everything is suitable on sync, only data should be in this scope, but big files should only find a best way to be transfered as fast as possible.
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