Hi I have a HTC Mozart, this is my 1st phone that is more than a phone.
I have come from using a Psion 3a and a standard phone.
What I miss on all the new generations of phones is the database feature of the Psion
I know that in my Win 7 Phone I have contacts but in my Psion I have a database which was for personal contacts, but I have other database for useful stuff, like Plumbers, Shops, Tyre Centres etc.
I also had a database for keeping track of things I bought, i.e. Name, Model No, Serial No, Date of purchase, warranty period etc
.
Does anything like this exist for these new so called smart phones?
I am sure ex Psion users will know what I am referring too.
Re Dave
DaveTiffTaylor said:
Hi I have a HTC Mozart, this is my 1st phone that is more than a phone.
I have come from using a Psion 3a and a standard phone.
What I miss on all the new generations of phones is the database feature of the Psion
I know that in my Win 7 Phone I have contacts but in my Psion I have a database which was for personal contacts, but I have other database for useful stuff, like Plumbers, Shops, Tyre Centres etc.
I also had a database for keeping track of things I bought, i.e. Name, Model No, Serial No, Date of purchase, warranty period etc
.
Does anything like this exist for these new so called smart phones?
I am sure ex Psion users will know what I am referring too.
Re Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aren't Psions like portable computers? WP isn't a portable computer. It's obviously a smart phone. A phone that does more than a phone.
It comes with Office in built. So if you wanted you could create the required databases in Excel.
You could use the 'search' button on the bottom right to find plumbers, shops and tyre centres around you.
For barcode scanning - you can use bing vision or bar code scanner apps.
EDIT: If you had Psion with WinMo OS on it then this might be a step forward, but if you used any other Psions portable computer or those PDA like devices then you might not find your answers to be straight forward.
Hi Dave,
Welcome to Windows Phone! I don’t know what a Psion is, but the new WP devices all come with an “MS Office Suite”. Included in this is a program called “Notes”.
What you can do with Notes is completely up to you, and is limited only by your imagination. I have a file for all of my expensive stuff like vehicles. The first item in each file (one per vehicle) is always the VIN. This saves a trip or a call at the parts window. Other entries include mileage on 01 Jan. This helps with taxes. I travel. I have a file for all of my cities by airport code. If I find a restaurant I like, it’s in there.
Obviously there is no such word a “tyre” (International jab) but for plumbers or tires, you have a couple of different options. If you have multiple plumbers and tire shops, I would again recommend Notes. If you have only one of each, you can add them into contacts and make their name “plumber” or “tires”.
Additionally, like your contacts, you can get your notes to sync to the cloud so they are always automatically backed-up, and can be shared so they are useable from other computers.
Hint: Don’t forget to give your notes a title (First line).
I think you’ll find these devices do everything you need except talk on Skype, and it looks like this will be fixed soon.
Good luck,
Dave
For contacts in windows phone you can create groups. Like one for companies and put plummers, electricians, ect in it
Hit plus when you are in the people hub. Choose new group instead of new contact. I have one also for family so i can have all my familys facebook in front of me at once. There is a limit however. 20 contacts to each group. For my coworkers i had to make 2 cuz they wouldn't all fit. Cool stuff though. Is that what you meant?
Thanks for the replies
For those that don’t know, a PSION was a PDA (not a computer as such) with 1M of memory and ran off 2AA batteries for 5 months
It had a Diary (WP Calendar)
Could sync diary with Outlook via cable (WP only via Live)
Alarm Clock (WP Alarms),
Word Processor (WP Word in Office)
Spreadsheet (WP Excel in Office)
A few games (WP Apps)
World Clock (WP Apps)
Voice Recorder (WP Apps)
Spellchecker (WP Apps or Word)
Programming language called OPL (maybe Apollo with C++)
Database (WP nothing)
The database was very simple you could create your own labels for fields and each record would have those fields
You could have many databases on for Contacts, one for CD collection etc.
One of the biggest advantages of the Psion database, contacts or calendar was that you could search on any field.
Excel would be the only thing to use but its not really that practical, you only need 5 to 10 fields per record.
I would write one for myself but I believe you can’t install your own apps? You could with the PSION
I bought my PSION 16 Years ago and keep it going just for the database function I would love to junk it and keep my data in my phone, I am just amazed that there is nothing around, I think Android & iPhone are the same.
Picture here
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesion_Series_3a.jpg
The 2nd Icon from the left are the databases
DaveTiffTaylor said:
Thanks for the replies
For those that don’t know, a PSION was a PDA (not a computer as such) with 1M of memory and ran off 2AA batteries for 5 months
It had a Diary (WP Calendar)
Could sync diary with Outlook via cable (WP only via Live)
Alarm Clock (WP Alarms),
Word Processor (WP Word in Office)
Spreadsheet (WP Excel in Office)
A few games (WP Apps)
World Clock (WP Apps)
Voice Recorder (WP Apps)
Spellchecker (WP Apps or Word)
Programming language called OPL (maybe Apollo with C++)
Database (WP nothing)
The database was very simple you could create your own labels for fields and each record would have those fields
You could have many databases on for Contacts, one for CD collection etc.
One of the biggest advantages of the Psion database, contacts or calendar was that you could search on any field.
Excel would be the only thing to use but its not really that practical, you only need 5 to 10 fields per record.
I would write one for myself but I believe you can’t install your own apps? You could with the PSION
I bought my PSION 16 Years ago and keep it going just for the database function I would love to junk it and keep my data in my phone, I am just amazed that there is nothing around, I think Android & iPhone are the same.
Picture here
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesion_Series_3a.jpg
The 2nd Icon from the left are the databases
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, you need MS Access then? That's the closest match to a database and I don't think they have in mobile office.
http://mobile.dzone.com/articles/how-windows-phone-and-sql
SQL lite is built in, but you have to create an app.
Access seems so over the top, the APP from the marketplace called "Database" looks interesting but no import
Re Dave
I have come from using a Psion 3a and a standard phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Greetings stranger and welcome. How was your time travel?
PS. I had a Casiopea 12 yrs ago. The darn 2AAA never got me for more than 3 days.
DaveTiffTaylor said:
Access seems so over the top, the APP from the marketplace called "Database" looks interesting but no import
Re Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unclear fi you receive this years after your post, but with the Psion emulator, the Psion lives forever And you can, of course, work with it!
Related
Hello PocketPC guys !!
I was wondering how I could get my life more efficient using my Pocket PC. A Pocket PC is a great way to organize one's life, isn't it ?
How to use your Pocket PC to help you in daily work ? What tool do you use ? What tool would you like to use ?
Personally, I am using my PocketPC for this:
- As a task manager: I use Pocket Informant. I like the fact that you can have it sync with Outlook, but I am not happy with the fact that you can not make hierarchical tasks.
- As a diary: I use Pocket Informant
- to track my personal finance: with Cash Organizer. I have used Spb Finance for a long time, but I had lots of problem with it, so I moved to Cash Organizer, and I am pretty happy with it. I have seen that there is a new Spb Finance version, which works with Windows Vista, but I wonder if this version is stable because the previous one was not stable.
I do not use it for reading my emails, I think I should subscribe for a MS Exchange 2007 account, but I haven't found which one.
Chris
pretty much just pr0n jk
use it as music player
phone of cause
surf
reading books
keeping track on peoples birthdays
a bit of tasks and calander too
Interesting question. Let's see:
1. As a journal for projects (Outlook Tasks, project = category)
2. Password / account info / etc. storage: (Outlook Notes, easy to lookup any info on desktop version)
3. Music Player (Pocket Player + HT820 or Monster's FM transmitter on car)
4. Financial manager (also Cash Organizer)
5. Internet Sharing at home.
6. Email / Chat (Outlook / Yahoo! but will try Fring...)
7. Agenda (Outlook Calendar Today plugin)
8. Camera
9. Gaming (mainly chess and FinalBurn)
10. Astronomy Map on observation nights (Pocket Stars)
11. Some Web Surfing (Opera and PIE+PLUS)
12. Alarm clock (Gentimer)(Yes, I actually threw out my old clock!)
13. Calculator (HP48 Emulator)
.... AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST....
14. Phone!
dgaud007 said:
Interesting question. Let's see:
1. As a journal for projects (Outlook Tasks, project = category)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't yet found a good hierarchical task manager. Although I would love to manage my tasks via Outlook, I find it too much limited: I need a way to organize them in a hierarchy. Are your project organized in a hierarchical order ? or is it a list of flat tasks linked to a project ?
dgaud007 said:
I
2. Password / account info / etc. storage: (Outlook Notes, easy to lookup any info on desktop version)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are like me, you probably haven't be satisfied with the password managers (flexwallet, Spb Wallet, eWallet, ...). I hate the way they are organized: I don't need to have a screen displaying a credit card to understand that this is my credit card number ! just having nice fields that I could customize the way I want would be better.
Anyway take care that no one as access to it.
dgaud007 said:
12. Alarm clock (Gentimer)(Yes, I actually threw out my old clock!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried Spb Time but wasn't happy with at all: the way to set an alarm is such a crap. I just had a look on the Web about Gentimer, seems to be nice. I will have a look at it. Currently I use the default Windows Mobile clock (!)
dgaud007 said:
13. Calculator (HP48 Emulator)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool ! a HP48 guy !! I had a HP48GX, I still things it was a great calculator.
chris
Rudegar said:
reading books
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What application do you use to read books ? I would love to read pdf on my PocketPC, but the pdf readers I have tried so slow and so badly done (often no fullscreen mode, so when you have a QVGA screen it could useful).
Chris
Hello Chris247,
1. You are right, my tasks are just listed under a particular category which is the project. The only other classification is the status of the task. However, I just need to able to search for keywords to find tasks and info, and see which ones are due (red color) in my calendar view.
2. The other problem for me using those password managers is that I need a separate desktop program tp lookup stuff, yet, using notes I can just use the search function in Outlook and get my info FAST! And yes, sometimes I worry about the security of the information...
So the bottom line for me is being able to input the information fast and easy on the ppc, and then be able to search for it fast and easy with the desktop computer and/or the ppc. I use to love my Palm IIIxe from years ago, but at some point I was handling more than 15 projects at a time, which exceeded the maximum categories supported by the palm OS. I even called them once to complaint about it. Back then they said they didn't have plans to change it. LOL! I wonder if they ever did fix that...
i too use hp48 emulator both on my pda and my pc
i just read ebooks with ms's reader it got bookmarks which bothered me that old adope 2 dident
when books are in pdf i got a pc tool to convert it to lit
About the away you manage tasks, maybe you could benefit from PlanPlus for Outlook, I read that they do support hierarchical, I haven't tested it yet.
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why is not retroactive free?
HOEROFOREVERINTHESUN said:
Why is not retroactive free?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Is there a way under WinMo 6.1 to setup multiple contact list's..
Reason being is that my wife will have her Excalibur & I Will have a Wizard & Depending on the day & What each of us have going on that day it would be nice to be able to trade phones.. It would also be nice to be able to assign which list to both list's they go to using my PC So they can be simply sync'd with WMDC so that we can keep both list's consistent between both phones & Only need to change the list we use on the phone itself when we trade phones.. This may be really simple & Just not have me knowing about it as my most recent WinMo device is a Q with WinMo 5.0 but I Will be acquiring both the Excalibur & Wizard today (one arriving via FedEx & The other is a local sale)
bastage said:
Is there a way under WinMo 6.1 to setup multiple contact list's..
Reason being is that my wife will have her Excalibur & I Will have a Wizard & Depending on the day & What each of us have going on that day it would be nice to be able to trade phones.. It would also be nice to be able to assign which list to both list's they go to using my PC So they can be simply sync'd with WMDC so that we can keep both list's consistent between both phones & Only need to change the list we use on the phone itself when we trade phones.. This may be really simple & Just not have me knowing about it as my most recent WinMo device is a Q with WinMo 5.0 but I Will be acquiring both the Excalibur & Wizard today (one arriving via FedEx & The other is a local sale)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To easy, pocket mirror professional will do the trick. I have two WM devices and I have seperate contacts on each due to the program. Google it and check it out. There is a trialware also for download.
Just about right said:
To easy, pocket mirror professional will do the trick. I have two WM devices and I have seperate contacts on each due to the program. Google it and check it out. There is a trialware also for download.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Googled it & it doesnt seem to fit the bill.. What I am looking for is a way to have all the contacts on each device all the time & be able to choose which contacts would be displayed depending on who was using it..
& Then on top of that be able to manage the list's from the computer, but its unlikely that a sync will be possible all the times when we switch devices, & From what I Gathered about Pocket Mirror that would be required.
bastage said:
Googled it & it doesnt seem to fit the bill.. What I am looking for is a way to have all the contacts on each device all the time & be able to choose which contacts would be displayed depending on who was using it..
& Then on top of that be able to manage the list's from the computer, but its unlikely that a sync will be possible all the times when we switch devices, & From what I Gathered about Pocket Mirror that would be required.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simply organize your contacts by adding more information. Just like in Outlook for desktop, you can 'abuse' for example the COMPANY fiels to virtually have different contact lists. Set the COMPANY for each contact of CONTACT LIST 1 to LIST 1, then do the same for your second list by adding as COMPANY LIST 2. After you are done, you can view contacts by business rather than name, so, virtually by LIST 1 or LIST 2 ...
I was going to suggest the use of categories to separate the two lists, this like the previous suggestion assumes you dont mind having all your contacts visible at the change of a filter. Having re-read the OP i see that this wouldn't be an issue.
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.
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!