You don’t need to sync Android. Ever.
There’s an interesting post on the Google Mobile Blog explaining Android’s Gmail-based email and contacts system. It’s pretty long and detailed but the basic gist of it is that you don’t need to sync your contacts. Ever.
The moment you use Android Gmail or Contacts, everything gets synced automatically to the Gmail server. Everything you send and receive, as well as everyone you know is automatically saved and accessible from anywhere you can access Gmail.com. This simple idea instantly makes traditional USB connection kits, driver installs, backup programs and PC syncing software look rather archaic.
The downside to all this is that it currently only works with Gmail. Hotmail, Yahoo and Exchange users will have to wait till someone else adds it in.
Funny how a feature that has been available for years on other platforms is covered as being new and innovative. Convienent? Yes; new & newsworth? hardly
Who said it was new? Nobody is claiming that at all. But what is new, perhaps, is that all of this sync is done with a free online service that is in wide use. No Exchange servers or BES servers required. No monthly service fees.
On top of that, the intent of the post was to be informative. Android is a new system, and most people out there aren’t going to be familiar with how it works.
The title of this article is “You don’t need to sync Android. Ever”, referring to lack of PC synchronization – which is hardly noteworthy. You don’t need to sync windows mobiles, symbianOS or 99.9% of cell phones either.
But the lack of server synchronization, ie push email, on a 2008 phone is just pathetic. Yet this is just brushed off in the last sentence !
Stefan, I think you miss the point. In the same way that windows is the dominant operating system. Exchange is pretty much the standard for corporate email.
I think you are missing the point. The title doesn’t say it is new, it is simply explaining what the case is. The piece is meant to be informative, as I said before. It isn’t meant for people like you who know all about this stuff.
As to Windows Mobile, Symbian, and other smartphone platforms, there is still a difference. They require some sort of corporate email solution, in general, to do the same kind of sync that Android offers consumers at no cost. If you don’t have Exchange or other enterprise type access, then they do require a manual sync on a personal computer. I’d wager that most such devices are not used with a corporate back end. Certainly the case with S60, which is mostly a consumer targeted platform.
Trust me, I know what this stuff is. I use a Windows Mobile phone as my day to day device. I use a hosted Exchange account for my mail, contacts, and calendar. But I also pay $15/month for that service.
Do I personally wish Android had Exchange support now? Certainly.
Will everybody have access to Exchange or be willing to pay a monthly fee to get it? Not a chance. Will the average consumer care that they don’t have Exchange? Nope. Will they like some sort of free service that keeps everything in sync? I’m guessing they will.
Exchange may well be the standard for Corporate Email, as you say, but the vast majority of consumers do not use corporate email.
The G1 is a consumer device. Think Sidekick on steroids. It isn’t supposed to, and can’t, compete with other devices as a business smartphone. Maybe in a year, but certainly not now.
So just because it doesn’t suit you, and you already know how everything works, doesn’t mean that there aren’t other people that might benefit from a bit of an explanation.
That is what this post was.
wow. it’s so easy to spot the right-brained people in the responses to these types of posts.
talk about missing the forest for the trees.
what’s new is that it should be super easy for anyone in a first world country to have their contacts, calendar, and communications at their finger tips wherever they might go, and share it with others using the same system for dirt cheap.
that’s not microsoft.
that’s not lotus.
that’s not an army of IT staff waiting to help you.
it’s google.
With apologies to Blackberry users, I have no knowledge of that platform.
I’ve been a windows mobile user from the start, and now have a touch pro and a G1.
I find this to be a useful article for beginners, but I also believe it is a unique feature among smart phones.
Whether you can set something similar up on WM is irrelevant. Reason being, this is a complete ready to go system out of the box. To me, plugging in a cable to sync is archaic. I have never synced a WM device over the air because a) I can’t be bothered to set it up and b) I don’t have any central, free place to sync to.
Stephan is correct. Windows Mobile is total crap. You have to own outlook (full version) to sync anything. My G-1 does all that for free without a connection to my computer. There is almost no reason to bother connecting a G-1 to a computer.
With WM you have very few options, and those that you do have are very pricey. Andriod is the complete opposite.
What about your privacy?
“What about your privacy?”—-you should not use any wireless device, internet connection or wifi service……wait for it………EVER!
to stay on subject, i have been a pda user for a long time, syncing is something i am use to. i was waiting till i could get a smart phone for nearly free, that had turn by turn gps without cost or subscript fees. after searching and fumbling over which phone to get i chose the G1, an android/google phone. since i use it for personal, i dont have the convenience of a corporation to pay for a email service. FREE is great and to think i dont need to edit my calendar at my desktop then sync it to my pda is awesome! and yes, new to me…..
Who uses Google mail, It Sucks.
I use outlook on a P.C. and I need it to Sync.
also I am using Roadrunner.com and it wont connect.
I used to have my phone auto sync with verizon but the droid wont do that ?
I sure hope it gets better !!!!!
Kurt
I use Gmail. It’s great. Specially for us who travel and are on the go. The best thing is that you can access it from anywhere, on any computer. I’m rarely at home or on a site often enough to have access to my own PC. And searching for wifi is a hassle in many countries. Most of the time it’s more convenient just to access your Gmail from a nearby PC or from a phone if you have access.
For us who want to access our stuff on multiple computers Outlook just doesn’t cut it.
@kurt do you know who hosts your emails? Syncing with outlook from a droid isn’t very difficult if you have an exchange server as the android 2.0 os supports ms exchange.
And I beg to differ as to google mail: it offers for free what most companies would charge an insane amount for (including ssl!). If you love outlook the google apps premier account offers an outlook sync tool that mimics (and is faster than) an exchange server.
Now if google would just tidy up their contacts and make tasks a standard feature….
Giving Googly all my contact and business details in Contacts or Calender apps? NEVER! I do not want all this (partly sensitive) data “in the cloud”.
I need working sync via bluetooth or WiFi, thats all, thanks.
Imagine the $$$ worth of all the contact details google gets from users all over the world that sync their contacts via google.
And other critical data from calendar events? “Meeting with HTC CEO to discuss Google Nexus One killer”.