Hello
Forgive me if you’ve read this post in other forums…I’m going to keep posting it in the hopes of getting a solution to an ongoing problem.
I’m not a software designer, IT person or expert. Just a business professional that has a few simple needs in order to be personally and professionally successful. Successful management of personal information on our PC and our mobile phones plays a critical role in our success. With the advent of the smartphone, many of us thought our needs had been met, only to discover serious gaps in ability and performance. For example..trying to connect Outlook or Thunderbird/Lightning with an Android Phone (my personal issue) is either difficult, expensive or limited in ability.
Many of us choose Thunderbird/Lightning and other PIMs (such as Outlook) because of the excellent functionality they provide. Some of us are required to by our workplaces. Most of us DO NOT want to use Google products or have our data synced through Google for personal, security or other reasons. Many of us are restricted from using Google by our workplaces for similar reasons.
Then why do we use Android phones? Simple…for smartphones the operating system choices are limited and Android has one of the biggest market presences. These issues exist for other phone platforms as well…connecting Outlook to an iPhone for example. Android is also an excellent phone overall…with many other features we are looking for.
So…what are we looking for? What are these “needs?”
Personal Information Management software in one package (such as Outlook and Thunderbird/Lightning) on our PCs and laptops. Obviously these already exist and don’t need development per se. Corresponding apps for our Android phones…and most importantly: the ability to sync between the two…using wifi, other “cloud” providers, even USB. The components include:
Email client that can access and send from multiple accounts (already fairly available..although many widget and app designers ignore the alternative email apps and only connect Gmail to their products…a serious omission).
Contact/Address lists that include birthday information, other personal details, and can be grouped or categorized. Somewhat available, but can be troublesome, and data can get duplicated or missed. Thunderbird can only sync contacts through Google currently…as mentioned above, and issue for many.
Calendar that can handle reoccurring events, reminders and alarms, categorize/tag events, meeting planning and invitations (through email client), management of multiple calendars and ability to attach documents to events to name some of the most important. Somewhat available now, except most connections require Google calendar (again an issue).
Task Management (the one critical item that has few solutions/options). Needs to handle reoccurring tasks, reminders/alarms, categorizing/tagging, sub-tasks, delegation of tasks, start and due dates, and proper handling of overdue tasks (items not marked complete move to next day with alerts for example). While Outlook and TB/Lightning have excellent task managers...there are very few options for the phones and in the case of Lightning…no phone app that can sync with it.
Notes, not critical but a “nice-to-have” function
All of the above also need to be connectable. For example…connecting a calendar event with related tasks. A task to a contact.
Aren’t there already solutions available?? The answer, after weeks and months of searching and putting products through a test, is “yes and no.” There are a few “connection and sync” products available for Outlook, but the proprietary or available phone apps that can use it don’t have all the functionality needed, or simple aren’t adequate. There are also complications based on the Outlook set-up…stand alone versus exchange server. Currently, I cannot find a product that can sync and use Thunderbird/Lightning directly and adequately.
So, after telling you all of this…what am I trying to say?
To all you enterprising software and Android phone app developers…there is a HUGE gap that you can fill. If you spend any time on forums for Thunderbird, Outlook and Android, you will see that there are literally thousands of people looking for a solution…something to fill this gap. Most of us would pay handsomely for such a product…I personally would pay “serious money” just to get my Lightning tasks in my phone. In addition…both Mozilla and Android are open-source (if I understand the term correctly) and thus available for development.
To the developer or software engineer that can connect Thunderbird/Lightning email, calendar, address book and tasks to an Android phone…go the spoils and riches. Don’t make me beg….or worse, dump my Android for a Windows phone or back to a PDA <shiver>.
To Google and Mozilla leaders, executives and software engineers…we are asking…have been asking for at least two years…for solutions. We are frustrated, disappointed and completely baffled that this has not been addressed. The perception is that both organizations either simple “don’t care”, are oblivious to our plight or unable to respond. Your reputations are at stake ladies and gentlemen.
Thanks for taking the time to read through this. If you’re like me…searching for the answer as well…cross your fingers and spread the word as much as you can. Maybe SOMEBODY will listen.
Presently if you wish to synchronize Thunderbird contacts and Lightning/Sunbird events with your Android device, you may try BirdieSync. BirdieSync has been successfully synchronizing Windows Mobile devices with Thunderbird/Sunbird for several years and now supports Android devices.
You can connect your mobile device over USB or with a Wi-Fi or cellular connection.
BirdieSync runs in background on your mobile device and can automatically synchronize your contacts and events if you are connected.
You'll find more information on BirdieSync web site (sorry I cannot post the link: it is forbidden to avoid spam. Look for BirdieSync on Google).
Presently BirdieSync doesn't support task synchronization. The main reason is that for some reason, Android doesn't provide a native task application with a shared local storage that other developers could access. Note that it is also the case for the iPhone contrary to Windows Mobile devices. I think that this lack is a bit weird. I would have thought that a task application would have been used by a lot of users... So it would be necessary to provide a synchronization solution with other opened third party task applications, but it would force users to use a particular task application.
Although Android is an opened platform, some technologies (official APIs) are still missing to developers. I hope that with time, more features will be available and that the Android platform will easy the implementation of these functionalities.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the reply....and the suggestion. Unfortunately I have already tried Birdiesync. It made quite a mess out of my contacts I'm sorry to say.
Additionally, the one part of Lightning (and Outlook) that I can't live without also happens to be the part that even Birdisync doesn't work with...and you guessed it...TASKS. My life would crumble (okay, being a bit melodramatic) without my task lists. Google tasks is a bit of a joke, as far as I'm concerned, and I can't function with it. Lightning has a really great task manager...almost as good as Outlooks and yet nobody has made anything to sync with it. You are correct...the IT professionals I know have said , that unlike calendars and contacts (which have some standards that all software companies work within)...everybody treats tasks and task software differently.
I'm with you...I'm stunned that this has been ignored and people aren't more vocal about it. I think most people figure "why say anything, it won't help" and just make do.
Thanks again...
my task solution
I like ASTRID as my task list in Android. I sync that with google tasks which I know you cannot use and does not natively go into thunderbird / lighting calendar (though I have a thunderbrowse tab that goes right to google tasks, again clunky at best). I share your desire for a seamless solution. However, ASTRID also syncs with Producteev, which has just roled out more robust Task sharing and more functionality. I'm going to look at that to try and fill the gap and invite you to look with me.
Once again, smart people, I could have written this original post, though maybe not so clearly... HELP!
Related
I hate to sound like a 13 year old girl, but I want to start writing a diary. Here are some features I am looking for in diary software:
Access from both PC and PPC
Text entry and voice recording
Data saved on the memory card
It would be nice if it integrated with Outlook Calendar
Any of you power-users out there know of any software that can be used to accomplished this? I have tried TodayNotez and though it seems to have what I need, it is slow and buggy.
Good Mobile Diary??
larsuck said:
I hate to sound like a 13 year old girl, but I want to start writing a diary. Here are some features I am looking for in diary software:
Access from both PC and PPC
Text entry and voice recording
Data saved on the memory card
It would be nice if it integrated with Outlook Calendar
Any of you power-users out there know of any software that can be used to accomplished this? I have tried TodayNotez and though it seems to have what I need, it is slow and buggy.
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Man, I have been looking for this same thing, haven't found anything I like - same experience with TodayNotez.
On my PC I use iDailyDiary Professional (there is a free basic version) which is awesome. AFAIK they don't have a Windows Mobile version.
For voice notes on my Tilt, I use Vito AudioNotes - like it a lot. Basically now I use it to make notes to myself, then play them back while I'm at my PC and put personal thoughts into iDailyDiary.
Noticed your signature line "Is it just me, or do we all spend so much time flashing and tweaking the perfect phone that, once we finish, we have no one left willing to call us." - yeah, seems like many of us spend a lot of time tweaking and flashing - would like to see more interest and attention devoted to actually using the phone - good basic useful apps - how to use them to their max potential, ways to use the pocket pc to improve our daily lives, etc.
Check this
http://www.pocketkai.net/asp/
Multimedia Tagebuch
The only thing is I don´t know if it will support english. I am german and it does everything you´ve been looking for.
Good Mobile Diary??
mannheimguitar said:
http://www.pocketkai.net/asp/
Multimedia Tagebuch
The only thing is I don´t know if it will support english. I am german and it does everything you´ve been looking for.
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Lot of cool stuff at that site. I don't see any program that is actually a diary, however. Maybe I overlooked it. Seems like a very friendly site - takes requests/suggestions so I put one in.
Did you consdier maybe some sort of Online Program like Twitter?
What about Microsoft Onenote. PC and PPC side, have a button in Outlook on pc and also on IE, can take recordings, pictures, etc...
Thanks for the great suggestions everybody! But keep 'em coming'!
BTW, that Kai fellow really makes a lot of software, doesn't he? He must have a hundred programs for sale on that site of his. His diary software looks good, but it doesn't seem to be able to record directly from the program itself. A picky thing I know.
Twitter and blogs of all sorts are unfortunately blocked by my school's proxy.
One Note sounds promising, but US$99 is a bit more than I was willing to part with. Perhaps my school has a copy somewhere...
Has anyone out there tried Alpha Journal and Alpha Pocket Journal? Seems a bit old, but sometimes that isn't such a bad thing.
Confidential Notes and Private Notes
I just found 2 programs, Confidential Notes and Private Notes, here
They both have password protection, and both allow combo notes with audio and pictures. Haven't purchased either yet; trial available for Confidential Notes but not for Private Notes.
Found these by searching for "password protected notes for windows mobile" which took me to this review of Confidential Notes at clintonfitch.com. Following that I found that the developer says it has been discontinued, but as you can see above, it is still for sale at PocketGear.
I think it might work well as kind of a free-form diary. I can insert time and date with Resco keyboard for any new entry.
Check out evernote. They have a tech preview of the winmobile version that just rocks!
I use my sd card in my pda and then use the same database from my pda for my desktop installer version. It is by far the best journaling program I have ever found.
www.evernote.com
As the OP, I felt a responsibility to follow up with my thoughts about all the different great suggestions everyone made.
TodayNotez: As mentioned before, this has everything I was looking for, but was sloooow to open even when the database was in the main memory. I have a feeling .NET is to blame here, and if the makers could program this in another language to improve speed then they would have a real winner on their hands.
Kai's multimedia diary: Interesting software. Instead of allowing one to take pictures or record memos as part of a diary, this software allows pre-recorded media to be attached to diary entries.
Online programs like Twitter (or any blog/social software): Would work great if my situation allowed access to social websites. Also, for the most part these sites require a active connection to the internet to add and edit posts, which could get expensive if using a mobile data connection.
OneNote: This would probably work great if I could get my hands on a copy of the PC software for a reasonable price. Ahem.
Confiential Notes and Private Notes (et.al.): These kinds of software were good for what they were, but their strengths were in encryption and password protection. Confidential Notes didn't even have an option to turn off password protection. It had two settings: Secure and Paranoid. Neither of these had desktop sync as far as I could tell.
What I finally settled on was a Outlook Journal editing/syncronizing software called Retroactive. It is a little slow, is kind of touchy, isn't free, but has a lot going for it. If you are familiary with the Journal aspect of Outlook then you know that it is like the blank sheet of paper in a DayPlanner. You can write about how the events of that day went.
Journal entries created in Outlook or Retroactive can be linked to other Outlook items such as appointments, tasks, contacts or notes. Also, it is possible to record and add voice notes and pictures directly from the app. Lastly, the best part is the sync capabilities. Everything is synced with the PCs version of Outlook, including linked Outlook items, voice memos and pictures. Attached files that exceed a user-defined size can be automatically removed from the PPC after syncronization to keep memory space free. Lastly, there is an option to have all content uploaded to your Blogger account using your PC's internet connection. This is what I settled on.
I hope this thread helps someone else out someday.
Thanks for good info. but i need help
larsuck said:
As the OP, I felt a responsibility to follow up with my thoughts about all the different great suggestions everyone made.
TodayNotez: As mentioned before, this has everything I was looking for, but was sloooow to open even when the database was in the main memory. I have a feeling .NET is to blame here, and if the makers could program this in another language to improve speed then they would have a real winner on their hands.
Kai's multimedia diary: Interesting software. Instead of allowing one to take pictures or record memos as part of a diary, this software allows pre-recorded media to be attached to diary entries.
Online programs like Twitter (or any blog/social software): Would work great if my situation allowed access to social websites. Also, for the most part these sites require a active connection to the internet to add and edit posts, which could get expensive if using a mobile data connection.
OneNote: This would probably work great if I could get my hands on a copy of the PC software for a reasonable price. Ahem.
Confiential Notes and Private Notes (et.al.): These kinds of software were good for what they were, but their strengths were in encryption and password protection. Confidential Notes didn't even have an option to turn off password protection. It had two settings: Secure and Paranoid. Neither of these had desktop sync as far as I could tell.
What I finally settled on was a Outlook Journal editing/syncronizing software called Retroactive. It is a little slow, is kind of touchy, isn't free, but has a lot going for it. If you are familiary with the Journal aspect of Outlook then you know that it is like the blank sheet of paper in a DayPlanner. You can write about how the events of that day went.
Journal entries created in Outlook or Retroactive can be linked to other Outlook items such as appointments, tasks, contacts or notes. Also, it is possible to record and add voice notes and pictures directly from the app. Lastly, the best part is the sync capabilities. Everything is synced with the PCs version of Outlook, including linked Outlook items, voice memos and pictures. Attached files that exceed a user-defined size can be automatically removed from the PPC after syncronization to keep memory space free. Lastly, there is an option to have all content uploaded to your Blogger account using your PC's internet connection. This is what I settled on.
I hope this thread helps someone else out someday.
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Why is not retroactive free?
HOEROFOREVERINTHESUN said:
Why is not retroactive free?
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Probably because that software is the only one that can do what it does. It is good software, and probably wasn't too easy to make.
Thanks Kururu that was a great find, I've been looking for a decent journal software program, I just needed something that could take entries and sort them properly by date without having a ton of text files lying around my docs folder. I.e. -- something like Outlook's journal function.
I tried everything and screwed up a lot but Retroactive fit the bill almost perfectly. The only drawback is it takes forever to loadup.
Guys, guys... Unless you want to be seen as a 12 year old girl, it's a memoire, not a diary.
I generally try not to post notifications about my software in other forums, but if anyone is interested, I've created a new todo/project manager for Android 1.5 and later.
If you're interested, please look here:
http://forum.lakeridgesoftware.com/showthread.php?t=16270
Thanks!
looks very nice and GTDish.
but if it doesn't sync to an online service it is pretty worthless for a lot of people.
I for example use toodledo, because I can access it from my Mac at home and from my PC at work...
good luck, anyways, it looks promising.
What if it syncs to a desktop client? Is that worth anything?
of course that helps, but it would still not solve the problem if you can not install apps on your office PC. Thats a problem a lot of folks have due to managed workplaces
So, I've been thinking about this. If I were to set up a ToodleDo sync, some of the extra fields would have to go into the task's notes. Would that be an acceptable alternative?
Very beautiful and promising. I second the need for Toodledo sync, or it will be unusable to a lot of people.
I really liked the looks of it.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
chmckay said:
So, I've been thinking about this. If I were to set up a ToodleDo sync, some of the extra fields would have to go into the task's notes. Would that be an acceptable alternative?
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sure. use Toodledoo fields as far as possible, everything else goes into notes.
but what would you save in the notesfield, for example?
I think about developing a GTD app for webOS and am wondering how to do it well myself
Well, after the data is pulled out of the notes field, the remaining text would just be notes. So, those would be placed appropriately (this is when pulling from ToodleDo). When adding to ToodleDo, I would just place the notes after the extra data.
This gets to be a little complex as I have a few options for contexts which have not been added yet (though the fields exist in my database) and ToodleDo doesn't support contexts as anything other than a text string.
Then there's projects vs goals. I would probably go that route as I don't want to make anyone purchase a pro account on ToodleDo.
After doing all this research, I'm still considering using a WebDAV server sync method with a desktop client as I could guarantee that everything would sync properly.
chmckay said:
Well, after the data is pulled out of the notes field, the remaining text would just be notes. So, those would be placed appropriately (this is when pulling from ToodleDo). When adding to ToodleDo, I would just place the notes after the extra data.
This gets to be a little complex as I have a few options for contexts which have not been added yet (though the fields exist in my database) and ToodleDo doesn't support contexts as anything other than a text string.
Then there's projects vs goals. I would probably go that route as I don't want to make anyone purchase a pro account on ToodleDo.
After doing all this research, I'm still considering using a WebDAV server sync method with a desktop client as I could guarantee that everything would sync properly.
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The software expires today right? Any news on the paid version?
arg! I want to try it.
The biggest thing for me in an app like this is,
Hierarchy: ability to make sub-projects/subtasks (why I love todoist.com)
Widget/cal sync: needs to sync to Pure Calendar or Google Cal
Personally I would not want it to sync to ToodleDo unless the sub-project functionality this seems to have (again can't try it, beta's up) is maintained without needing a pro account of ToodleDo (which supports subtasks)
The beta expired at midnight this morning, so I'm quickly finishing a few things.
What I'm doing right now is adding a few things that make sense with the ToodleDo sync. And, I'm making a few underlying database changes that you shouldn't see if you were using a previous version. Again, this is in anticipation of the ToodleDo sync. The sync won't be available until I release it for the market.
@Hepæstus:
TaskIt has projects and subprojects. Each project and subproject can have an unlimited number of tasks. In the Today view, though, you will only see the tasks. So, when a project comes due, all of its tasks will be added to the Today view (including any subproject's tasks). When you complete the last task, it will mark the project as complete.
As for the syncing, I don't want to make people get a ToodleDo pro account, so I'm setting things up a little differently. The ToodleDo sync will be more of a hack in that the tasks will sync, but any fields unsupported by ToodleDo will be added to the notes field. Projects will be synced with ToodleDo's goals. I know it's not perfect, but I originally designed this app to be synced with a forthcoming desktop client, not an existing web service, so I have a few features that are not supported by either Remember the Milk or ToodleDo.
I forgot to mention that yes, there is a widget. Also, the update will be available later today.
Version 0.9.5 is now up. You can check it out here:
http://forum.lakeridgesoftware.com/showthread.php?t=16286
Hey chmckay, can you see the possibility of syncing with http://my.gtdify.com/ as well? I like the idea of a desktop client, but if I can access my stuff anywhere, that would be even more awesome. I'm eagerly anticipating a paid version.
I'll take a look at that site and see if they have any syncing capabilities.
Instead of using one of those thausands of webservice that offer a gtd-like project/todo-management I would really prefer a sync to my own webspace.
Combined with a simple webinterface, like the one from "Tracks" (which is the base for my.gtdify.com) or MonkeyGTD/mGSD (Tiddlywiki, a dynamic html-File mgsd.tiddlyspot.com).
That would really be great!
@spaboleo:
That was the basis of my wanting to sync to a desktop client: so that you own your data.
However, because very few people are interested in that, I'm looking into ToodleDo and Tracks. Tracks is interesting because you can host it yourself, so that's a plus.
When the desktop client is ready, TaskIt will also have WebDAV syncing so you can sync to your own server and be in full control of your own data.
Ah, ok
I thought that by "desktop client" you ment something like an installable piece of software...which in case would be okay if there is a webclient/webserver-version.
Maybe the installation could be obsolete too by using a portable client.
anyway...thank you for your effort!
sounds really promising!
Actually, I do intend to create an installable desktop client. The WebDAV sync is so that your data doesn't sync via someone else's servers.
The Tracks/GTDify and ToodleDo sync are for those who want web only.
Of course I can only speak for myself, but 70% the software I use is portable and placed on my thumbdrive (even browsers, mail-clients, IM-Tools etc.).
The other 30% include exclusivly larger suites like Office, Graphic-Programs or CAD-Tools.
Mostly an installtion is not really required if you include saved userfiles directly into the programmfolder.
For the less experienced users you could offer a installable version.
But, I would appreciate a ziped version that I can carry around on my thumbdrive, without the need to "make it portable by myself" ;D
I think I'm not the only that prefers portable software.
Best wishes
After living with my first Android phone (SE X10a) for about a month I have developed a love/hate relationship with it.
I love the speed of the phone (compared to my old Fuze and Kaiser) and the large display.
What I miss is the ability of the device to work effectively as a phone/PIM.
The phone dialer is not predictive.
Any sync method I try butchers my contacts, creating duplicates and cross-linking entries. Android OS just hates Outlook data.
Simply put, the phone is pretty but not something that I would count on in a mission critical situation that depended on synchronization with a computer. Until someone comes up with a true synchronization program and a way to use the synchronized data effectively on the phone, this platform will fail to gain the foothold its lightweight OS deserves.
If I could program beyond "Hello World" I would tackle this project and create what I need. We have some very talented programmers on these forums. Is this not a problem that they face as well? Or am I all alone in my Quixotic quest for a simplified dialer and common databases for contacts and calendar items?
I have literally tried as many sync configurations as I could find. I don't want a cloud option: many of us cannot use it for security issues and many of us just don't trust Google or SE or whoever offers clouds for intermediate storage/transfer. Now if I could set up my OWN cloud server app on my web account, I would consider that an alternative.
So...I lay down this challenge...for a Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa present, someone PLEASE come up with a working bi-directional sync solution for Outlook and Android. It is 1/2 of the missing link (no pun intended) to making Android a dominant business tool. Add to that a great dialer and calendar app and you have a(n iPhone) killer piece of hardware.
One of the sorely (and inexplicably) missing features of Android is the ability to seamlessly integrate Contacts w/ Calendar and vice versa. What I mean is to be able to create a Calendar Event and automatically add People to it, creating a link which may be accessed at a future date.
So far, I am aware of only two Market Apps which provide this functionality, although neither is perfect:
DejaOffice
Contact Event
Is anyone aware of others? I don't mind paid apps if they actually work.
P.S., Windows Mobile 7 does this seamlessly. Have no idea why Google refuses to. I say "refuses" because the integration would be so simple they MUST be leaving it out on purpose for reasons known only to them.
Hi,
just to be sure I got it right, does WP7 puts every contact on my phone to Live as soon as I add my Live account details to my phone? And there is no way preventing my phone from uploading every of my contact to a Microsoft cloud? Do I get it right, or am I missing something?
Regards,
m00h
Under People, Settings, Filter My Contacts you can choose to hide contacts from a certain account or all of them. I believe you have to have at least one selected or you can't save contacts.
Sent from my HTC Arrive using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Filtering contacts does not stop them from being saved to Live. Contacts must have a source, be it Windows Live, Exchange, Google, etc but they can't just reside on the phone.
Entegy is (mostly) correct. However, the important point here is that contacts which are already *from* another source - such as Facebook friends or Gmail contacts - will not get copied to Windows Live. However, if you import SIM contacts, those will get synced to your primary Windows Live account (assuming you've set one up, since it's necessary for much of the phone's functionality).
Yeah, that's a good distinction to make. While contacts require a source, they won't get merged into one account (say, everything auto-copied to your Windows Live account)
GoodDayToDie said:
However, if you import SIM contacts, those will get synced to your primary Windows Live account (assuming you've set one up, since it's necessary for much of the phone's functionality).
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That's the answer I needed, in that case, my Omnia 7 is as good as sold. That's a horrifying thing if your phone forces you to sync all the sensitive, confidential data with an american cloud. How can you people be ok with that?
Before I bought a WP7 phone, I read a lot of stuff about it, either on forums or on reviews, and not a single review mentioned that I will be forced to give my data away, that's even more horrifying.
Either way, thanks for the answers.
Regards,
m00h
Well, an awfully large number of millions of people use Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo mail, or any of a handful of other webmail providers, many of which are hosted in America (or <other place you dislike goes here>) and all of which contain far more private info than just contacts.
For that matter, a truly stupendous number of people use Facebook, which not only stores vastly more "private" info than simply contacts, it also has somewhat poor security and a terrible privacy record. Oh, it's based in the USA too.
Next to all that, a list of contacts names and email addresses being stored in a Microsoft-controlled server that generally has quite good security and is not accessible to anybody except yourself, not even MS employees, unless those employees want to face immediate loss of their jobs, truly massive lawsuits, and quite possibly criminal charges... this is "a horrifying thing"?? I mean I don't care for this "cloud" BS either, but contact info is way, way down on the list of things I'm worried about getting out - I'm pretty sure I'd be more annoyed to lose access to my contacts than to have them leak.
You're welcome to your own opinion, of course. If you either run your own mail server or use a different mail account for each contact (so no corporation can build a contact list for you by checking their email logs), and have no information on any social networks, it's even consistent with the way you live your life. Or is it just the "American" aspect that is so uncomfortable to you? If so, I must in good conscience warn you that XDA-Developers is registered through a US company and WHOIS gives a registrant address in Arizona.
m00h said:
That's the answer I needed, in that case, my Omnia 7 is as good as sold. That's a horrifying thing if your phone forces you to sync all the sensitive, confidential data with an american cloud. How can you people be ok with that?
Before I bought a WP7 phone, I read a lot of stuff about it, either on forums or on reviews, and not a single review mentioned that I will be forced to give my data away, that's even more horrifying.
Either way, thanks for the answers.
Regards,
m00h
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Most modern smartphones sync your contacts now......
GoodDayToDie said:
Well, an awfully large number of millions of people use Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo mail, or any of a handful of other webmail providers, many of which are hosted in America (or <other place you dislike goes here>) and all of which contain far more private info than just contacts.
For that matter, a truly stupendous number of people use Facebook, which not only stores vastly more "private" info than simply contacts, it also has somewhat poor security and a terrible privacy record. Oh, it's based in the USA too.
Next to all that, a list of contacts names and email addresses being stored in a Microsoft-controlled server that generally has quite good security and is not accessible to anybody except yourself, not even MS employees, unless those employees want to face immediate loss of their jobs, truly massive lawsuits, and quite possibly criminal charges... this is "a horrifying thing"?? I mean I don't care for this "cloud" BS either, but contact info is way, way down on the list of things I'm worried about getting out - I'm pretty sure I'd be more annoyed to lose access to my contacts than to have them leak.
You're welcome to your own opinion, of course. If you either run your own mail server or use a different mail account for each contact (so no corporation can build a contact list for you by checking their email logs), and have no information on any social networks, it's even consistent with the way you live your life. Or is it just the "American" aspect that is so uncomfortable to you? If so, I must in good conscience warn you that XDA-Developers is registered through a US company and WHOIS gives a registrant address in Arizona.
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Don't get me wrong, it's in no way about the USA or any other country, I'm just not comfortable with the idea, that one big corporation, in one big country is to decide for me how to store my data.
It's like Microsoft would say, that every document on my PC has to be stored on their Live cloud, and you, as a functional member of the tech-society are dependant on their OS. Even Apple is not that barefaced to force me to store my mothers cell phone number on their sync service. It's all about the choise, you know?
Btw., for those who use Android, is it the same way there? Am I forced to sync my contacts with something? I want to go safe this time
Regards,
m00h
m00h said:
Don't get me wrong, it's in no way about the USA or any other country, I'm just not comfortable with the idea, that one big corporation, in one big country is to decide for me how to store my data.
It's like Microsoft would say, that every document on my PC has to be stored on their Live cloud, and you, as a functional member of the tech-society are dependant on their OS. Even Apple is not that barefaced to force me to store my mothers cell phone number on their sync service. It's all about the choise, you know?
Btw., for those who use Android, is it the same way there? Am I forced to sync my contacts with something? I want to go safe this time
Regards,
m00h
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Click to collapse
android syncs your contacts with your google account, unless you turn off auto sync.
I don't see the issue though, you're just being overly paranoid now. If you have an email account I'm sure there is much more personal things in it
scoobysnacks said:
android syncs your contacts with your google account, unless you turn off auto sync.
I don't see the issue though, you're just being overly paranoid now. If you have an email account I'm sure there is much more personal things in it
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I don't think I'm paranoid, I'm just not in common with the idea. But thanks for the answer with the Android, good to know that I can turn the auto-sync off.
Regards
Eh, all of my contacts from all of my accounts put together still constitute less private info than some single documents on my PC (tax returns come to mind, or letters to certain people). That said, so long as I can keep local copies of my docs too, I *am* generally OK with storing them on SkyDrive. If there was anything particularly sensitive I'd encrypt it first, but short of the aforementioned tax records I can't think of any such thing.
Of course, I'm still not sure how your attitude works with email. I mean, you obviously ahve an email account, or you couldn't be on this site. That account goes to a server somewhere. 99% chance that server is owned by a corporation. That corporation is possibly logging the server's Internet traffic. They're almost certainly making backups of your mailbox automatically all the time, so that if something goes wrong they can restore your mail. They have admins who can access your mailbox whenever they feel like it, with nothing stopping them except employment contracts and/or local laws.
That mailbox is a treasure trove of personal info. It hs your contacts (in the form of people who you've exchanged mail with), it has your purchase history (at least, for things bought online or shipped by freight services that send email), it probably has a list of every site that you visit which requires an email address to log in, it has the full transcriptions of any privte conversations you've had with friends or loved ones via email, it quite possibly has pictures of you and/or your family, it probably has your home address and phone number (because you sent them to somebody at least once), it even contains informtion on the hours you keep from the timestamps. If it's Gmail, they (Google) probably also have your IM conversations and possibly your calendar too.
Next to all that, you're worried about a huge corproration, one which is under constant surveillance and would be subject to immense lawsuits if it ever misused customer data, posessing a copy of your contacts list. Honestly, I'm just confused.
GoodDayToDie said:
Eh, all of my contacts from all of my accounts put together still constitute less private info than some single documents on my PC (tax returns come to mind, or letters to certain people). That said, so long as I can keep local copies of my docs too, I *am* generally OK with storing them on SkyDrive. If there was anything particularly sensitive I'd encrypt it first, but short of the aforementioned tax records I can't think of any such thing.
Of course, I'm still not sure how your attitude works with email. I mean, you obviously ahve an email account, or you couldn't be on this site. That account goes to a server somewhere. 99% chance that server is owned by a corporation. That corporation is possibly logging the server's Internet traffic. They're almost certainly making backups of your mailbox automatically all the time, so that if something goes wrong they can restore your mail. They have admins who can access your mailbox whenever they feel like it, with nothing stopping them except employment contracts and/or local laws.
That mailbox is a treasure trove of personal info. It hs your contacts (in the form of people who you've exchanged mail with), it has your purchase history (at least, for things bought online or shipped by freight services that send email), it probably has a list of every site that you visit which requires an email address to log in, it has the full transcriptions of any privte conversations you've had with friends or loved ones via email, it quite possibly has pictures of you and/or your family, it probably has your home address and phone number (because you sent them to somebody at least once), it even contains informtion on the hours you keep from the timestamps. If it's Gmail, they (Google) probably also have your IM conversations and possibly your calendar too.
Next to all that, you're worried about a huge corproration, one which is under constant surveillance and would be subject to immense lawsuits if it ever misused customer data, posessing a copy of your contacts list. Honestly, I'm just confused.
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Click to collapse
Yea, confused is the right word, I'm very confused about your attitude having your privat stuff somewhere, on someones server without even having a choise not to store it there.
As for the part with the mail-server, no, I host my own mail-server because I take privacy a little bit more serious, and I surely wouldn't like to be on the list of your contacts if you deal so careless with your privacy. I'm in high dudgeon because I'm not given the choise here, that's what it is all about.
If you mention that you would encrypt your documents first, in case they would include some sensitive information, then you are talking about the choise even to encypt them, or not. The choise which I as a WP7 user obviously don't have, that's the point.
Maybe I'm a little bit old-fashioned, but for me it's very frightening that everyone around seems to be OK with that.
Anyway, since my question is answered, the is no point to continue this discussion, so, thanks for the answer.
Best regards,
m00h