Database Info

Good (WiFi/3G) Outlook Sync APP, does it exist?

I don't use Outlook but my dad does. As his android tech advisor I am at a loss trying to find a good solution for syncing his Outlook to his phone.
It seems like there would be a good solution for this but everything I've found is either a half-baked email-and-contacts-only job and requires paying for Exchange service (paying for apps or Exchange service is not a problem if it works well, but the reviews are not favorable)
If a good reliable Outlook sync option does not currently exist what would be involved in making one?

I don't understand the need to sync with outlook when one can sync with Google automatically.

The htc sync software syncs with outlook. It comes with new phones on the sd card or can be downloaded from the htc site.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

[email protected] said:
I don't understand the need to sync with outlook when one can sync with Google automatically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand your point. It sounds like you're suggesting he stop using outlook and switch to google for email, contacts, calendar, notes, tasks, etc.
He uses Outlook (as many people do) and does not see google as a comparable alternative.
While it works fine as the account he uses to manage the phone he has no intention of migrating away from Outlook, at least not to Google, not for such business critical purposes.
johncjenc said:
The htc sync software syncs with outlook. It comes with new phones on the sd card or can be downloaded from the htc site.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I edited the thread title..

nebenezer said:
I don't understand your point. It sounds like you're suggesting he stop using outlook and switch to google for email, contacts, calendar, notes, tasks, etc.
He uses Outlook (as many people do) and does not see google as a comparable alternative.
While it works fine as the account he uses to manage the phone he has no intention of migrating away from Outlook, at least not to Google, not for such business critical purposes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think what he was trying to say is that you can use Google Sync to sync between Outlook & your android phone via Google's cloud. Something that I do as well. But it may not be as in depth as you're seeking.
Here is an article from PC World. http://www.pcworld.com/article/200654/sync_outlook_with_your_google_calendar.html
For a paid app that does it all, here's a review of an app in the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/15/AR2010071504701.html

Hey Nebenezer,
I realize this may be a bit late for you but maybe better late than never.
I'm in the same boat as you (advisor to my brother).
I found and tested Deja Office by Companionlink (Companionlink USB @ $39.99 - did not see need for pro @$99.99.)
After testing it a bit it looked like it fit the bill. I put my brother on it and he's used it thru the trial well enough and so bought it. I think it's about 3 weeks now. He's happy with it.
I didn't have the same need to stay with outlook but since I tested these are the main points I noted:
Requires using their own suite of apps on the phone
Does not use the stock phone's DBs
DOES sync contacts [optionally] with the phones contacts
NOT SURE if it syncs CALENDAR to phone's calendar (I suspect it does but I didn't test and my brother does not need/want it)
It's up to the user to make sure contacts/calendar dont get sucked into the google cloud (if you don't wan't that as in my brother's case) as a result of syncing with the phone's contacts/calendar
USB cable sync (not wifi as you asked for)
The using of their own apps (which are really a suite in one app so has it's own "launcher" screen) turns out to be less of a pain in the ass than I thought it would be (I found shortcuts to each individual 'app' so no need to deal w/ their 'launcher' screen). My brother does not find it bothersome at all.
The apps also hove a bit more of an Outlook-centric feel and fields mapping so he liked it (you can see the android apps, btw, for free from the Market - search Deja Office - you only pay for the PC Sync side)
I should note that my brother spends most of his time in Outlook on the the desktop rather than on the phone (my usage pattern is the inverse) so let your dad use it and decide if he likes it. As always, ymmv.
Hope that helps you and your dad. It's at least worth giving a look.
Btw, I forgot to mention, it does NOT deal w/ email. Only Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes. I liked that model because email can be easily handled using IMAP or Gmail (which my brother uses) and so no requirement for Exchange.
Conversely, it does not support Exchange iirc, so Exchange users my need a different solution.
hth someone,
J.

Android without Google Cloud (or only for Market) - How to?

Hi All,
I did some researches but could not find any detailed answer so I decided to create a new topic.
As mentioned in some other threads, I have been using WinMo for years but since WM6.5 is dead, I am looking for other alternatives. I don't see any future in WM7 and I think that Android OS is the most promising
Unfortunately, I am not very comfortable with the "Google Cloud" for some privacy reasons. I do not want to upload all my contacts and calendar to Google and thus, I would like to keep my private data between my Outlook (both personal and professional) and my Phone (as for WM6).
I know that using Android without Google Cloud will remove a lot of convenient functions but I still prefer going for a longer and slightly less convenient process to sync my contacts and calendar.
I understood from some readings that we can disable the synchronization for Google contacts and Calendar, which sounds good to me! The only function I would keep is Google Market as it seems to be compulsory for a good use of Android.
I am now wondering how I could synchronize my Outlook with Android. I am used to organize my personal and professional data on Outlook with the Contacts, the Calendar, Notes and by using Categories. Do you know any solution that would help me to sync my data from Outlook with an Android phone?
I heard about Android-Sync, is it good? Does it sync the data properly? Does it keep the Categories?
Do you know any other solution to sync Android with Outlook without the use of Google Contacts/Calendar?
Thanks a lot for your expert advices

I agree with you 100%
That is my total turn-off in using android phones.
I do not want and I do not like the "cloud". Firstly for privacy issues and also for roaming charges and/or low internet coverage. I do travel a lot and when I travel my android has 50% functonality working, the other half I cannot use: ridiculous
With android it has to go on the cloud too many of my infos (contacts, calendar, tasks etc) and it seems that almost all good apps want to do the same.
I doubt you will find a good solution with android since all their revenue comes from the cloud, they will sabotage any attempt to put good offline use.
Solution?
Will see what nokia/microsoft are going to do with windows mobile 7. Hope is not cloud based , or at least it has decent offline use

Welcome to life in the clouds! LOL
If you are a VZW customer you can use Backup Assistant to copy all your contacts (not sure if it will copy Facebook or other SocNet sources).
Once you do that go into Settings-Accounts and shut off sync with google.
Now go to GMail, delete all the contacts and then restore from backup assistant.
At that point pretty much all of your information will be on the phone only.
This will allow you to use the Marketplace without issue but by turning off Google Sync none of the phone info will go to Google servers.
You might have to go into Google Cal and delete info there too if you want but do not do that before you shut off the google sync in accounts.
If you are not on verizon, most carriers have another tool that will do the work of backup Assistant. They (and VZW) use those when you ask them to transfer contacts from one phone to another system (that may not be android!) so it is a good way to clear the cloud.
EDIT: I forgot to say that you should then shut off syncing with Background assistant and then go to your verizon account tools and export the contacts to a CSV file. Then delete from there as well.
But I don't consider VZW's server to be as cloud as GMail.

[Q] WP7 and your Google account

I just bricked my captivate, and now im thinking about trying out a wp7 phone.
What im wondering is, how good is wp7 at syncing and integrating google accounts into the os.
Just basic stuff like contacts, calendar, reader, GMAIL, docs..
any opinions on the matter?

SteveCheeseman said:
I just bricked my captivate, and now im thinking about trying out a wp7 phone.
What im wondering is, how good is wp7 at syncing and integrating google accounts into the os.
Just basic stuff like contacts, calendar, reader, GMAIL, docs..
any opinions on the matter?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a Microsoft phone so you aren't gonna see much here. Aside from general syncing with your Gmail account through Exchange (email, calendar, contacts), you don't have much else. Google has yet to throw any real app support at Windows Phone 7 as well, with a very poor search app and that's it. There are some nice 3rd party apps that do some Google stuff (like apps with Google Reader support, and a bunch of really crappy Google Voice apps), but nothing like what you will see on Google's very own operating system.
Windows Phone is very much well built for people who mostly live in the Windows/Microsoft ecosystem (Xbox, Windows Live, Zune, Office, etc.).

Gmail account syncs emails, contacts and calendar just fine... haven't had any use for any other stuff.

I think windows phone handles my google accounts just fine. You can multiple google account which will sync your emails, contacts and calendar. The sync is both ways. There is no need for google docs on this phone as the built in office offers 25gb of free storage in skydrive (mango) thats pretty awesome.
You will need a windows live id (hotmail) but the only thing you might miss really is navigation. Mango has voice turn by turn but its no gmaps!

One thing that I thought I would throw in is that it doesn't support multiple calendar sync if you have more than one on your gmail account. I've been reading that Mango is going to allow this with the Microsoft emails like live & hotmail but I haven't heard anything with gmail

collins521 said:
One thing that I thought I would throw in is that it doesn't support multiple calendar sync if you have more than one on your gmail account. I've been reading that Mango is going to allow this with the Microsoft emails like live & hotmail but I haven't heard anything with gmail
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do this with Gmail. Their calendars are EAS and that's supported, but Google is actively blocking WP7 phones from syncing more calendars. It's been said that it's a bug on Google's side but I kind of doubt that.

Xylias said:
You can do this with Gmail. Their calendars are EAS and that's supported, but Google is actively blocking WP7 phones from syncing more calendars. It's been said that it's a bug on Google's side but I kind of doubt that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya I don't think it's on Google's end...thanks for the input though, least we know that it's possible but not yet

collins521 said:
Ya I don't think it's on Google's end...thanks for the input though, least we know that it's possible but not yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It most certainly is possible as I have multiple Google Calendars sync'ing on my Mango device at the moment. There is a trick to get Google to give your Windows Phone those additional calendars, search the web and you should be able to find it too.
Unfortunately, it is Google actively blocking Windows Phone 7 devices from using multiple calendars (of course as I mentioned, you can get around it). I don't know why, but Google is just being a ***** to WP7.
Note: Only Mango can sync multiple calendars. NoDo and below are not capable of sync'ing multiple calendars (from a single account).

prjkthack said:
I don't know why, but Google is just being a ***** to WP7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Obviously because they want to try to make Android phones seem more capable.

SteveCheeseman said:
I just bricked my captivate, and now im thinking about trying out a wp7 phone.
What im wondering is, how good is wp7 at syncing and integrating google accounts into the os.
Just basic stuff like contacts, calendar, reader, GMAIL, docs..
any opinions on the matter?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EVERYTHING. I was very impressed. You'll want to export your docs though. (trust me, it's worth it)

MrNetrix said:
Obviously because they want to try to make Android phones seem more capable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well yes, of course they'd love to promote Android as much as possible, but they didn't seem to have an issue creating apps for Windows Mobile, or now with iOS. So I kinda wonder what has changed over at Google to make them ignore Windows Phone 7. Maybe they see WP7 as a viable competitor? Therefore throwing more weight behind it would not help Android at all.

[Q]Google integration in WP7

I've recently begun my multiple-month long researching for my next device, and where I was once set on getting my third Android set, I've recently developed a crush on WP7.
Of all the reviews I've read, the main issues I think that I would have would be the integration of Google apps; Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Email, Music, Maps, and Navigation are the biggies that would break my interest should they not work. Music isn't too big of a deal, but everything else is.
So, onto my question: How do Google's service integrate with WP7? Good, bad, ugly, etc.

There is no integration of Google apps on WP7. There is built-in support for Gmail, calendar, and contacts, a (very basic) Google search app, and a couple of third party apps that use some level of Google maps, but that's it. Official Google maps/navigation apps are not present, and likely never will be.

doubleojon said:
Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Email, Music, Maps, and Navigation are the biggies that would break my interest should they not work. Music isn't too big of a deal, but everything else is.
So, onto my question: How do Google's service integrate with WP7? Good, bad, ugly, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Contacts: sync is no problem
Calendar: sync yes, BUT only your main calendar, no shared or additional calenders... and if you create an entry it will be an invitation
Tasks: ?
Email: works fine trough imap
Music: ?
Maps: just some third party apps, but no way to sync favourites
Navigation: nothing from google, but bing has some simple navigation and in the future there will be navigon

Mail, calendar and contacts work practically the same as your Live ID.
There is an app for the google tasks: gTask
Music can be streamed from skydrive instead of google music (don't know if it's possible on nodo, you might need mango)
For now I think Google won't show much support towards WP7, but I suppose they can't keep ignoring it; that will only push people towards Bing.

... but, import contacts from gmail account not imports birthday date, you must manually enter.

hmm, didn't notice that since I imported my google contacts from facebook, and both were automatically combined in the people hub.

doubleojon said:
I've recently begun my multiple-month long researching for my next device, and where I was once set on getting my third Android set, I've recently developed a crush on WP7.
Of all the reviews I've read, the main issues I think that I would have would be the integration of Google apps; Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Email, Music, Maps, and Navigation are the biggies that would break my interest should they not work. Music isn't too big of a deal, but everything else is.
So, onto my question: How do Google's service integrate with WP7? Good, bad, ugly, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
music: music.google.com works okay in the browser in mango, personally i think zune > google music, so while i have a music account, i rarely use it on my phone.
contacts, email: sync fine through exchange, as stated, some information might not come through (birthdays etc) personally i sync my contacts via my live account and only sync my calendar and mail from google as gmail was constantly doing something screwy with my contacts (numbers and contacts would vanish for no reason randomly)
mail works fine, no label support though (mail.google.com viewed through the browser works if you need more of the extra features from gmail)
calendar: works, with some extra work you can make it sync multiple calendars over the active sync connection (through another browser with iphone UA settings)
tasks: no sync afaik
maps & nav: there are some gmaps apps in the market, and they work okay, personaly bing does essentially the same thing for me, so i don't see the need to use google maps specifically. (plus google gets my street name wrong and bing doesn't)
nav in mango isn't bad, not as well done as android's navigation (really the best thing android has going for it) but it does work, and i do enjoy some of the humanistic directions bing gives (ie, mobile on the right, if you reach street x you've gone too far, etc)
all in all, i haven't nearly missed my google apps as much as i feared i might when i dumped android, but your situation will really depend on how much you need google's services specifically.

Getting setup with Windows Phone

I have just got my Windows phone and I really like the interface I'm very impressed I must say.
I want to get it setup and everything integrated but don't really know what's the best way to start.
I plan on getting Windows 8 and using that as my main OS so would like to keep everything as in sync as possible.
Currently I have everything with Google. That's calendar, contacts and email (Through Google Apps).
I want my email instantaneously on my phone and for the calendar/contacts/email to sync wirelessly and effortlessness across my PC and phone. I will be using the Metro interface on Windows 8 for email/calendar/contacts most likely.
What's the best way to go about this? Do I need to move my services to Microsoft? Can I even get my own email domain with Windows Live?
Thanks for any replies.

WP7 and Win8 will both have the ability to sync with Google services, including Gmail and Google Calendar and such (for WP7, use the built-in Google account template; for Win8 you'll need to enable IMAP access to your Gmail account). However, to get the full value out of WP7, you'll need to have a Windows Live account too, as that's what it'll tie app purchases and such to.
Also, some features of WP7 will only sync properly with Microsoft (Windows Live) services. For example, "cloud" syncing of documents is done over SkyDrive. The phone's browser is moderately capable of handling Google Docs, but there's no built-in support for that service and while you could download the docs to read or edit on the phone, the browser doesn't support file uploading so you couldn't send them back.
I believe it's possible to get your own domain through Windows Live services, but you'll probably have to pay a little for it. I don't think Google gives away domain names for free either though, right?

I only seem to be getting about 12 hours battery life (light use), is there anyway to increase this? (I know I can't physically get more battery life - I was thinking more tips and tricks). My Phone is the Nokia Lumia 710.
It's probably best that I stick with Windows Live if I can then, for the best integration possible.
GoodDayToDie said:
I believe it's possible to get your own domain through Windows Live services, but you'll probably have to pay a little for it. I don't think Google gives away domain names for free either though, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I had to pay for my domain, but Google have Google Apps for free (so they manage my calendar, email, contacts, etc...)

Trust me. you definitely want to get a Windows Live account. They do have the option of making a windows live account out of your existing email, or you can just go ahead and make a new email. Google Docs is good, and all, but its not really supported on Windows phone, so you might want to check out your office hub and skydrive.
As far as your batter goes, if you are not using wifi/bluetooth/etc turn it off. Depending on what phone you have and the screen it has in it, having your background black or white can make a difference. Also set your screen brightness to automatic.