Related
Hi friends,
Let me put these questions as simple as it can be -
1. is it possible for android to synchronize with the desktop computer
running Win XP?, if yes how? Wm phones can do it seamlessly using
MSActivesync.
2. is it possible to use the desktop's internet connection and browse
the web from the android? (just like WM-phones do with MS Activesync)
3. Is there a way to import all the Windows mobile contacts onto the
Android phone? NOT from google mail-account because I have different
contacts in my phone and gmail. And I would like to import my Phone
contacts onto Android.
THANKS to anyone who answers all/part of the queries.
arefin
arefin said:
Hi friends,
Let me put these questions as simple as it can be -
1. is it possible for android to synchronize with the desktop computer
running Win XP?, if yes how? Wm phones can do it seamlessly using
MSActivesync.
2. is it possible to use the desktop's internet connection and browse
the web from the android? (just like WM-phones do with MS Activesync)
3. Is there a way to import all the Windows mobile contacts onto the
Android phone? NOT from google mail-account because I have different
contacts in my phone and gmail. And I would like to import my Phone
contacts onto Android.
THANKS to anyone who answers all/part of the queries.
arefin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Hopefully google would release a cloud based or an application that allows this, as it would make some lives a little easier.
2. I do not believe there is an app capable of this but it may be possible via bluetooth or use the desktop as an AP. Either way, i don't think you will get any better than you would off of wifi.
3. I found this off a quick search http://www.myhtcphone.com/import-contacts. Dont know if it works or not, but it seems to be like what you want.
1. use google calendar sync.
2. use adb port forwarding with proxy or vpn.
3. export your outlook contacts as csv and import them in gmail.
Not Really!
billc.cn said:
1. use google calendar sync.
2. use adb port forwarding with proxy or vpn.
3. export your outlook contacts as csv and import them in gmail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google calender sync is at it says "for your calender only". No contacts. No idea why they can't just add it. Our lives would be so much easier.
I've had a friend report to me that Google has licensed the ActiveSync technology, so it may be added in a future build of the Android OS.
I believe that the "Hero" version that Haykuro is toying with currently also showed ActiveSync in one of the menus, but I can't vouch for that at the moment.
Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.
TooSlo said:
I've had a friend report to me that Google has licensed the ActiveSync technology, so it may be added in a future build of the Android OS.
I believe that the "Hero" version that Haykuro is toying with currently also showed ActiveSync in one of the menus, but I can't vouch for that at the moment.
Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not ActiveSync, that's Microsoft's product. The new Hero build (as well as the stock Magic ROM) have a program called HTC Sync. I don't believe anyone has obtained a copy of the desktop software for that though.
it's two separate things.
google licensed activesync to allow ms exchange clients to sync with google calendar and gmail contacts (see http://www.google.com/mobile/winmo/sync.html). you already have this on android.
the ms exchange option appeared in the mail app can only connect to ms exchange servers (not your desktop activesync clients) and can do email only.
htc sync is the only possiblility. (m$ won't be stupid enough to allow you to use activesync on any other platform.)
Your ideas of sync are outdated on Android.
My phone address book syncs to my gmail account, and my email clients address book syncs to gmail. My phone calander syncs to Google Cal, and I find the web based interface to work just fine. But I am sure you can find something to sync whatever your cal program is to google.
All this syncing happens when the phone is in my pocket and is always up to date.
As for browsing the web from the phone, over the usb connector, why? The phone has 3G and wifi.
You can import your contacts as a group into gmail, then set the phone to only display contacts from that group.
arefin said:
Hi friends,
Let me put these questions as simple as it can be -
1. is it possible for android to synchronize with the desktop computer
running Win XP?, if yes how? Wm phones can do it seamlessly using
MSActivesync.
2. is it possible to use the desktop's internet connection and browse
the web from the android? (just like WM-phones do with MS Activesync)
3. Is there a way to import all the Windows mobile contacts onto the
Android phone? NOT from google mail-account because I have different
contacts in my phone and gmail. And I would like to import my Phone
contacts onto Android.
THANKS to anyone who answers all/part of the queries.
arefin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as everyone else is surely noticing .. google syncs better than the mickeysoft mousesync stuff other people use .. you are automatically synced to the google server and from there you can do anything .. i pull my calendar into outlook or anything else i want .. so .. what was the question again?!?
If you have no 'net connex, 'the cloud' does 2 things: jack & shizzle.
I do, however, wish I could keep my contacts synced with GMail (after my initial .cvs port-over). GCalSync works very well, though!
-bZj
PorchG1 said:
All this syncing happens when the phone is in my pocket and is always up to date.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's great, but I don't want to be beholden to a corporation, especially not to a single corp using closed protocols. If kinda defeats the purpose of having an open source phone for some of us. A mechanism to sync to my home server (not desktop), would certainly be welcomed.
PorchG1 said:
As for browsing the web from the phone, over the usb connector, why? The phone has 3G and wifi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ever heard of wireline? I guess you can't conceive of being in an environment without wifi or 3G, they do exist you know? Not to mention that it would be nice to not always have to broadcast everything you do into the ether.
Thanks to everyone who responded
PorchG1 said:
Your ideas of sync are outdated on Android.
My phone address book syncs to my gmail account, and my email clients address book syncs to gmail. My phone calander syncs to Google Cal, and I find the web based interface to work just fine. But I am sure you can find something to sync whatever your cal program is to google.
All this syncing happens when the phone is in my pocket and is always up to date.
As for browsing the web from the phone, over the usb connector, why? The phone has 3G and wifi.
You can import your contacts as a group into gmail, then set the phone to only display contacts from that group.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, many of the suggestions sounds good for me. I am guessing many of you r not on Windows anymore. My problem is there, I am still on Windows just becoz I play lot of games, install a lots of programs which are only possible on win-ground. I do streaming - didnt find lot of freedom in this area on other OSs.
btw, I will apply your ideas considering them expert opinions becoz OI am just a noob in such things.
Thanks friends,
gSyncit Sync the calander and contacts....
arefin said:
Yes, many of the suggestions sounds good for me. I am guessing many of you r not on Windows anymore. My problem is there, I am still on Windows just becoz I play lot of games, install a lots of programs which are only possible on win-ground. I do streaming - didnt find lot of freedom in this area on other OSs.
btw, I will apply your ideas considering them expert opinions becoz OI am just a noob in such things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that didn't make much sense .. "not on Windows" anymore .. my primary OS is Microsoft for the same reason that there is a lot more freedom
MartinFick said:
That's great, but I don't want to be beholden to a corporation, especially not to a single corp using closed protocols. If kinda defeats the purpose of having an open source phone for some of us. A mechanism to sync to my home server (not desktop), would certainly be welcomed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, you're not tied to Google. Android is made so that each of its apps can be replaced by a user-made app (of course, as with the lock screen, that's still in the process of being completed). There's a few calendar applications in the market that can do the same thing that the Google Calendar can. Or you could code your own/hire someone to do so.
I don't get G3. And Wifi is only at home. I am in Edge or GPRS most of the time. I was in GPRS when I typed that message. Syncing works just fine.
I can understand not wanting to trust your data to Google. Apps can read and write to the address book and cal. All somebody needs to do is make an on-line sync app.
After years of living with having to sync my palm, the "cloud" syncing Google provides is the next slice bread. But I do backup my phone, just in case.
I still don't see why you want to browse the web on your phone, wired to your laptop. Just use the laptop then. Or create an ad-hoc connection with ICS and do that over wireless.(Not tried it, but I assume it will work.)
MartinFick said:
That's great, but I don't want to be beholden to a corporation, especially not to a single corp using closed protocols. If kinda defeats the purpose of having an open source phone for some of us. A mechanism to sync to my home server (not desktop), would certainly be welcomed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When it starts working for the Android, you could use Funambol (http://www.funambol.com/) on your PC and get both a cloud sync (if you so choose) and a desktop sync. I used to use it to sync my SE P990.
The last time I checked, it wasn't working, but maybe it's fixed now.
http://code.google.com/p/funambol/
PorchG1 said:
I still don't see why you want to browse the web on your phone, wired to your laptop. Just use the laptop then.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't speak for the original poster, but I often want to download stuff to my phone, apps, data, ... This is not surfing so to speak, but it still requires a connection. Sometimes wireless is not available for this.
os2baba said:
When it starts working for the Android, you could use Funambol (http://www.funambol.com/) on your PC and get both a cloud sync (if you so choose) and a desktop sync.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, thanks, I am familiar with that project. Unfortunately I refuse to run a 500MB RAM gorilla (I tried it, it really does use 500MB) on my home server (I run at least 10 virtual servers on my one PC) just to provide a sync framework for one phone. I will not sacrifice that much from the other real server applications that I use. Funambol is really not a good (sane) solution for individuals. I will be investigating the syncevolution framework soon.
Question for those who use Microsoft My Phone.
I currently use My Phone to sync Contacts and Text Messages on my WM 6.5 phone. When I get my WP7 device will I be able to sync those Contacts and Text Messages over? Or will I need to import contacts from my SIM card?
No - Apparently MyPhone is not supported in WP7 and can't be accessed by the phone. They want everything to be done via Windows Live or Exchange
I use MyPhone too for my 6.5 more as just online backup but it's nice to have txts etc saved out, plus I use SPB backup too for which at the moment there is no WP7 alternative.
kin studio like feature will be added later on to the web portal.
powersquad said:
kin studio like feature will be added later on to the web portal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what should a user do?
When we have all the contacts and calendar synced with MyPhone,
how can we port it to WP7??
doministry said:
So what should a user do?
When we have all the contacts and calendar synced with MyPhone,
how can we port it to WP7??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sync phone with an exchange server if one has access to it otherwise install outlook with hotmail connector, sync contacts and calender from phone into hotmail on outlook which will sync the same info with hotmail on the web...
connect wp7 with hotmail via EOAS or pop and that will sync the contacts and calenders...
powersquad said:
sync phone with an exchange server if one has access to it otherwise install outlook with hotmail connector, sync contacts and calender from phone into hotmail on outlook which will sync the same info with hotmail on the web...
connect wp7 with hotmail via EOAS or pop and that will sync the contacts and calenders...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What a disaster. Instead of easy solution like MyPhone
one has to **** around with so many steps!!!!
And this is user friendly??!! This is so freaking complicated.
WP7 is NOT USER FRIENDLY.
doministry said:
What a disaster. Instead of easy solution like MyPhone
one has to **** around with so many steps!!!!
And this is user friendly??!! This is so freaking complicated.
WP7 is NOT USER FRIENDLY.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that was an alternative. like I said earlier, kin studio like features which store contacts, text messages etc on the cloud will be added later to devices.live.com website.
not everyone stores their contacts and text messages on myphone.
ps - you can always import your contacts to your sim card and then export it to wp7's internal memory too...
I'm using MyPhone too as I don't have an exchange account, it's a shame that feature isn't available on day one but hopefully it will come with the January update.
powersquad said:
that was an alternative. like I said earlier, kin studio like features which store contacts, text messages etc on the cloud will be added later to devices.live.com website.
not everyone stores their contacts and text messages on myphone.
ps - you can always import your contacts to your sim card and then export it to wp7's internal memory too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not alternative. It's the only choice.
I'm talking about transferring data from one MS device to another,
and it's simply screwed, opposed to the solution which was just available.
And don't be silly.
You know that transferring 1500 contacts with multiple data is impossible to transfer
through SIM.
Hello Microsoft, it's 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
doministry said:
It's not alternative. It's the only choice.
I'm talking about transferring data from one MS device to another,
and it's simply screwed, opposed to the solution which was just available.
And don't be silly.
You know that transferring 1500 contacts with multiple data is impossible to transfer
through SIM.
Hello Microsoft, it's 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the same boat fella. I have a possible solution to this problem but to be honest it's not something that many people will be able to do. Plus I haven't implemented it yet and won't get a chance till next week now.
For the moment, what I have done is use the Outlook connector and got the contacts and calender into my live account. I've lost some data (some pretty important) and it doesn't sync categories which I make extensive use of, but it's there for the moment. It will do for a short time when I get my phone from Wed.
Sorry but that is all I can suggest for the moment. IMO they screwed this up royally
I have an exchange account, but I purposely don't sync my personal contacts with my business contacts. This sucks because MyPhone is in the "cloud" and is a M$ product, but it doesn't work with their newest phone? What crap.
Just found this link on Microsoft website about the same issue. Straight from a MS employee, not compatible with WP7
what?
i asked that question a few weeks ago and someone mentioned myphone
now it's not compatible?
how am i going to transfer 500+ contacts and almost 10000 sms messages to the new phone???
WP7 might have My Phone connectivity after all.
Now that T-Mobile USA has posted more details about the device on their site, see this under "Features":
Microsoft My Phone Service
Connect your phone to the Web and simplify your life. With Microsoft My Phone service you can back up and access your contacts and text messages, share photos on your favorite social networking sites, and even locate your phone if it gets lost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So for you who plan to move to WP7 (I'll stick with 6.5.x personally) there may be hope .
You are all making assumptions based on mis-reported facts. Windows Phone 7 does have "My Phone," however it is now integrated into the OS. You can easily transfer your contacts, calendar, and e-mail by connecting your old Windows Mobile device to sync with Gmail or Hotmail, then connect your new Windows Phone 7 device to sync and it will download everything from one of those services. After that, you're free to disconnect Windows Phone 7 from the service if you don't want it anymore and your contacts and calendar will stay. (For obvious reasons, e-mail requires maintaining an account with somebody.)
As far as text messages, there is no migration path from 6.x to 7, as is the same when upgrading iPhone devices or just about any other platform. However, I think you will all find that Microsoft's implementation of MyPhone on Windows Phone 7 is still better than MobileMe. Not only is it free, but its feature-set (like integrating SkyDrive photos with the locally-stored photos together into the Pictures hub) is much better than the separate app silos Apple has created. Windows Phone 7 isn't perfect, but IMO it's a pretty good version 1 product considering that they've started over from scratch and the competition has had a 2-3 year head start.
steve10 said:
You are all making assumptions based on mis-reported facts. Windows Phone 7 does have "My Phone," however it is now integrated into the OS. You can easily transfer your contacts, calendar, and e-mail by connecting your old Windows Mobile device to sync with Gmail or Hotmail, then connect your new Windows Phone 7 device to sync and it will download everything from one of those services. After that, you're free to disconnect Windows Phone 7 from the service if you don't want it anymore and your contacts and calendar will stay. (For obvious reasons, e-mail requires maintaining an account with somebody.)
As far as text messages, there is no migration path from 6.x to 7, as is the same when upgrading iPhone devices or just about any other platform. However, I think you will all find that Microsoft's implementation of MyPhone on Windows Phone 7 is still better than MobileMe. Not only is it free, but its feature-set (like integrating SkyDrive photos with the locally-stored photos together into the Pictures hub) is much better than the separate app silos Apple has created. Windows Phone 7 isn't perfect, but IMO it's a pretty good version 1 product considering that they've started over from scratch and the competition has had a 2-3 year head start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, wake up.
So WP7 HAS NO MYPHONE.
MyPhone was just launched year ago to TO HELP EASILY BACKUP AND RESTORE
in the cloud all of the data you need. So I could switch my device every week and still have all I need with me with one ****ing click. It was meant to be this way.
And now MS launches new platform and instead of enjoying great solutions,
opposite to all advertised easyness and "it just works"
you have to sync everything through the crappy few steps process!!!!
Plus all the smses are gone, all tasks and notes are gone!!!
That's a DUMBASS implementation. Stupid and completely brainless.
So WP7 looks like a lie?
With this attitude I hope they will not succeed.
Or wake up soon.
No there's no excuse for such things anymore.
It's 2010. They've had 10 years for that.
And I don't care for a second how much time they've spent on it.
Crap is crap.
MyPhone was great and worked well. One of the great ideas MS had recently.
So why this great solution has not been implemented into WP7 ??????
I don't understand.
arturobandini said:
MyPhone was great and worked well. One of the great ideas MS had recently.
So why this great solution has not been implemented into WP7 ??????
I don't understand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because of their stupid policies.
steve10 said:
You are all making assumptions based on mis-reported facts. Windows Phone 7 does have "My Phone," however it is now integrated into the OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not the same "my phone" as we are talking about here. I won't be able to transfer my text messages from the my phone service. I have no issues with transferring contacts, etc as that is easy.
righto.....so from my understanding exchange 2010 supports SMS's.
Is there a way to import the SMS from Microsoft my Phone?
Or is it a case of needing to get the SMS's sync'd from my 6.5 device to my Exchange and then sync them back to the WP7 device?
Hi all!
I would discuss with you what can be the best way to use a tablet for a typical business day.
Today I'm used to use my netbook during travelling for:
- read/answer email messages (I receive at least 120 mails/day)
- look at some excel files (typically only read, sometimes also write)
- look at some pdf
- show some PPT presentation through my screen or the VGA output
I'd like to start to use a tablet (currently I have a Samsung tab 7'', in the next future the 10'').
But... how to get access to my outlook mails? Not only what I receive day by day but also to look at what I received 1 months ago or previous.
Also how to have access to my PDF db? or PPT db? Should I use some sync program to sync storage tablet space and PC's storage?
What do you think about?
- Outlook: I can't use IMAP because I organized my mails in many,many,many folders and IMAP is really slow in syncing those...
- File Folders: do you know any nice app which can work nice on wifi (at least).
Maybe I could start to think to dropbox...
Any comment?
No one answered me... and this is sympthomatic of one of:
- my question is not so interesting (maybe)
- there is currently no answer
But I think many of us have my same question because want to buy a new technology gadget but can't find the right way to use it.
I am still a newbie on Android, but will provide some inputs which I am currently using on my XT3 ( not a tablet though)
Bisis said:
But... how to get access to my outlook mails? Not only what I receive day by day but also to look at what I received 1 months ago or previous.
Also how to have access to my PDF db? or PPT db? Should I use some sync program to sync storage tablet space and PC's storage?
What do you think about?
- Outlook: I can't use IMAP because I organized my mails in many,many,many folders and IMAP is really slow in syncing those...
- File Folders: do you know any nice app which can work nice on wifi (at least).
Maybe I could start to think to dropbox...
Any comment?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Outlook: My company have Microsoft ActiveSync configured so I use native Email Client of Froyo. I have my mails synced only for 3 days. With this you can choose which folders needs to be sync'ed. Looking at the volume you are trying to use I doubt if the default mail client can handle that load. You can give a try on alternates like RoadSync or TouchDown etc.
- File Folder: I use ES File Explorer. Its a free app and works like a charm on both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Have tested only with Windows machines until now.
Hope this helps here.
Bisis said:
Hi all!
I would discuss with you what can be the best way to use a tablet for a typical business day.
Today I'm used to use my netbook during travelling for:
- read/answer email messages (I receive at least 120 mails/day)
- look at some excel files (typically only read, sometimes also write)
- look at some pdf
- show some PPT presentation through my screen or the VGA output
I'd like to start to use a tablet (currently I have a Samsung tab 7'', in the next future the 10'').
But... how to get access to my outlook mails? Not only what I receive day by day but also to look at what I received 1 months ago or previous.
Also how to have access to my PDF db? or PPT db? Should I use some sync program to sync storage tablet space and PC's storage?
What do you think about?
- Outlook: I can't use IMAP because I organized my mails in many,many,many folders and IMAP is really slow in syncing those...
- File Folders: do you know any nice app which can work nice on wifi (at least).
Maybe I could start to think to dropbox...
Any comment?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using a 10.1" Viewsonic Viewpad 10s with internal 3G.
I have no answer for your email problem. I use GMail as my company is using GoogleApps. Access to older emails is a pain from the tablet, and like you I have organized my emails in folders and subfolders (called labels in Gmail). I can access them while out of office, but its not really fast.
For the files, I use "Documents to Go" as it gives me access to my Google Docs account. I can get Word, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF files from my account, read them, change them. It can sync files with your PC as well.
I have the GTab and I use Logmein to view my outlook emails. Granted, I have a desktop PC in my office that remains 'on' at all times so that I can always remote-in to it.
Here's a short list of my business apps installed on my tab:
Citrix Receiver
LogMeIn
WebEx
Evernote
Dropbox
Thinkfree
...plus others.
K-9 mail
Never live in the past but always learn from it.
Why not set up an exchange Android's email client supports outlook exchange.
"ColorNote" "DropBox" help a lot at my work.
I have a galaxy tab, but i use the ipad for on the road business things, its really handy for showing the pdfs i make to explain things to clients and such, there's also alot of excellent business related apps that just aren't on android yet.
A excellent one is like a "minutes" app, and you record everything discussed in the meeting that you can look up on for future reference, it has like a contact lists in it for all the different clients.
As soon as Android matures ill switch to a 10inch tablet
K9 mail has outlook/exchange support (although I've not tested it).
I use IMAP with K9 mail. The beauty of it is you can select which folder to sync. You may have many many folders, but maybe you don't need to sync all of them.
For all your other problems, I guess there is a solution:
There is MSOffice for android (read and write), PDFreader for android.
You should be able to browse through your work file through 3G/Wifi using a combo of cifs manager and ES File explorer. Assuming your work IT let you access to there network from your personal mobile device (they could decide it's forbidden for security reasons... my work would not let me do that).
Another option (not so convenient) for sharing files : Dropbox
Hope this helps
there's also alot of excellent business related apps that just aren't on android yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please provide examples
Thanks all for the answers!
I think mangus7175 focused the problem.. we need full PC access (through LogMeIn or something like) especially when looking for business mail access.
A PC is compatible with all kind of environment, I mean:
- do you have Exchange? taaaac.. use Outlook synced with it or another client
- do you have POP3/IMAP access? taaaac.. use Outlook synced with it or another client
- ...
I can't understand why this is not available with a tablet with a so big storage space... it'd not be a pst storage problem and with a dual core cpu not a performance one.
I mean that for business access we can't ask our companies to change the environment only because we need that. Tablet are still seen as gadgets.. some companies are going to give to account managers tablets to be more fashion while showing catalogues, documentation, etc.. but it's quite far to be a so common business device, yet.
So in the meantime we can use a lot of PC-like apps but when necessary we still need full access to our PC in the office. In this case the bad thing is that we need a lot of bandwidth and here in my country it's not so available and stable and RDP is not so comfortabel. However also in fast access without a mouse it's quite hard to use.
I'm sorry to say I'm trying a lot of scenarious but unfortunately I still prefer my netbook when travelling, with data manually synced through LAN/USB.
Surfinette said:
Please provide examples
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The main i use is called "Mobile business" by resco, but if you have an iDevice, just have a look in the business section, you'll be amazed.
I'd like to mention "Blue": https://market.android.com/details?id=com.cfcwireless.blue
Good for checking stocks on the go. Offers more possibilities than Google Finance...
Hello,
I use a Gtab for my business since 5 months. If you use Exchange in your business I advise you to use Touchdown. This application is for Mail (Exchange), Meetings, Tasks and Contact.
You can use a lot of settings for mails and meetings.
I use Dropbox, Catch and COL Reminder.
for iPad...
I saw there is an app to see and work on a saved .pst file...
Is possible there is no equivalent for Android?? I can't believe this... but I can't find anything surfing the web!!
Hi there,
Currently, I run my own email / web server and have done so for many years. I would like to store data in the 'cloud' (really a cool name for a server in a date centre), but my users and myself certainly do not trust Google with our data.
The Question
I would like to know if there is any server side software that can offer an equivalent to the account tie-in that is with the google accounts on the Android O/S.
The details
All devices would run CyanogenMod (a bunch of Nexus Ses), and as such would be devoid of Google apps like the Market. I notice on other Android devices, these can have an account integrated into the phone, and said phone can then use this account (typically a gmail address) to hook into the Google Docs, Google Calendar, Contacts and the Google Wiki: These are the types of programmes that I wish to run on our server, and link in with the account as I described afore.
Is there any software (paid or open source) already available that could do some of this?
Many thanks in advance.
Best regards.
forgetmyname said:
Hi there,
Currently, I run my own email / web server and have done so for many years. I would like to store data in the 'cloud' (really a cool name for a server in a date centre), but my users and myself certainly do not trust Google with our data.
The Question
I would like to know if there is any server side software that can offer an equivalent to the account tie-in that is with the google accounts on the Android O/S.
The details
All devices would run CyanogenMod (a bunch of Nexus Ses), and as such would be devoid of Google apps like the Market. I notice on other Android devices, these can have an account integrated into the phone, and said phone can then use this account (typically a gmail address) to hook into the Google Docs, Google Calendar, Contacts and the Google Wiki: These are the types of programmes that I wish to run on our server, and link in with the account as I described afore.
Is there any software (paid or open source) already available that could do some of this?
Many thanks in advance.
Best regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no way to modify the google apps really (closed source), so you would need to totally write it all from scratch...
But... what would you be wanting? Exchange sync via activesync gives you a calendar and mailbox with push via stock "Email" app.
I am a bit unsure what you are trying to do, but if you rent a VPS or dedicated server in a datacenter, and pay for Windows Server 2008/R2 on it, you could then buy Microsoft Exchange, or perhaps get Server SBS, and connect the devices to the Exchange server?
That would give you email and calendar support (both very good as well). Same for contacts - it syncs them. I am not aware of a "google wiki" you refer to though...
Hi,
Thank-you for your reply, especially during the week-end.
>There is no way to modify the google apps really (closed source), so you would need to totally write it all from scratch...
Modifying GoogleApps nor re-inventing the wheel is not my goal. I only want to add an account (I notice that one can integrate Facebook and Google within Android so maybe this is something I can explore).
>I am a bit unsure what you are trying to do, but if you rent a VPS or dedicated server in a datacenter, and pay for Windows Server 2008/R2 on it, you could then buy Microsoft Exchange, or perhaps get Server SBS, and connect the devices to the Exchange server?
We already have our own server(s) in a data centre.
Regarding for your Windows suggestion
Our Debian servers run postfix/dovecot/roundcube very well and with incredibly stability. These have run for nearly 1 year without the need for a single reboot other than for kernel patches. We have upgraded all aforementioned programmes during this time. (Although we'll move to Debian Squeeze soon which'll need a rebuild somewhere). No reason to move away from something so stable to Windows, and then have to pay for it.
Alternatives
I found OpenGoo (now known as Feng) as an alternative. It provides the equivalent of Google Calendar, Google Contacts, Google Docs among other things, although I am unsure how to integrate this into Android. Using a web based front end would be annoying for people I sent an Email to the Feng offices asking if there was any proposed Android integration.
Best wishes.
I did a little more digging, and there are other possibilities. However these will allrequire some method of integrating these with Android clients:
Ubuntu One's Eucalyptus server. These is an Android client for Ubuntu One, so hopefully this'll be available for Eucalyptus at some point.
http://www.ubuntu.com/partners/eucalyptus
project-lipsync
This offers some contacts and calendar sync using rsync over SSH. A simple solution, but a client has to be written for Android, which would be no more than a one button widget that syncs the sqlite dB back to the server for contacts and calendar. Perhaps a documents dir could be added. Still work in progress.
SparkleShare
Looks like there might be quite a bit of work in progress. Uses git for access.
http://www.sparkleshare.org/
https://github.com/SparkleShare/SparkleShare-Android
A few years ago, I was on Android from Froyo to Ice Cream Sandwich and then eventually the desperate need for real MS Office integration and not QuickOffice or DeskStuffProSortaLikeOfficeButNotEvenClose apps took me back to Windows where I had been for years and years before Android. The point is that I've been on Windows Phone for about four years now and a dysfunctional buggy OS, not at all app issues, has brought me back to Android. All this is to simply say I know what to expect about the basics of the Android UI though I haven't been on Android since 2013. So my questions if anyone can help me out...you'd be surprised how many of these things aren't properly covered anywhere.
1. Being fully entrenched in MS's cloud and applications, is it possible now to bring my MS login to the Android phone and have my contacts sync? Or am I forced to use gmail for contacts? I got so used to having my phone contacts sync flawlessly with my Windows laptop, desktop, and tablets I'd hate to lose that.
2. I don't use ANY Google applications whatsoever, not even search. I have my own private email server and have no interest in Gmail. Does anyone know if the OneNote, OneDrive, and Outlook function just like on a computer now? This didn't exist when I last used Android. The Outlook app was for if you had an Outlook, Live, or Hotmail mail and not for personal IMAP servers.
Thank you!