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Sony Ericsson to shut down Sync service, recommends Google Sync instead
Like bubbles casually floating on the horizon, Sony Ericsson's Sync service is about to fade into obscurity. Last week, the company formerly known as Sony Ericsson confirmed that Sync will be shut down on December 29th, in favor of similar offerings from Google and other companies. In a statement posted to its site, the manufacturer explained that the service had to be cut, "since it was meant for old generation phones and our aim is to create a more enhanced and integrated smartphone experience for you." Sony Ericsson suggests using Google Sync as an alternative, though Plaxo and UNYK are also viable. Check out the source link below for detailed instructions on how to make the transition.
Contact sync between Google Apps, Gmail, and Mac
I am trying to find a way to keep my address book in sync across my: iPad MacBook Air MacBook Pro iMac Google Apps account Gmail account as well as my wife's iPhone MacBook Google Apps account Gmail account (Aside: by "Gmail account" I mean a regular Google account, as opposed to a "Google Apps" account. Most people interact with it through their Gmail so I'll use "Gmail account" to differentiate between "Google Apps" and "Regular Google" contacts.) Would you believe that the hardest part is syncing between Google Apps and Gmail accounts? Even if the accounts are linked via multiple sign-in, I can't find any way to keep their address books in sync. You might think Google would make this easy, considering that I am trying to sync between their own products. First up: Plaxo My first concerted effort to keep these in sync was to try the most expensive solution: Plaxo. Plaxo started several years ago as an online address book. They went through a dark period where they were best known for auto-spamming everyone in your address book, and then they tried to become a social network. Recently they have renewed their focus on address book syncing, and have amended their previously "overzealous" notification system. For $60/year, Plaxo offers a Platinum Sync option which is supposed to be able to keep just about anything in sync: Outlook, Gmail (including multiple accounts), Google Apps (including multiple accounts), iPhones, BlackBerry, Mac Address Book, and Windows Mobile. Platinum sync is described as: True, real-time sync means your address book is always consistent and current at any sync endpoint. Full read & write access from any supported service or device... Although Plaxo is expensive, I decided to use the free trial period. If it worked and saved me the time that I would have spent hunting down another solution, perhaps it would be worth the price. I set it last week, starting with the Google Apps and Gmail accounts with the premise that those were "always on" and the part of my previous sync setup that I had not been able to solve otherwise. I added 4 accounts (two Google Apps and two Gmail) accounts, and just one Mac. I let everything sync, and then went through and fixed problems, merged duplicate contacts, and so forth. Then I just let it run for a couple of days to see how it would work. I checked this morning and it showed that my Google and Gmail accounts all sync'd several hours ago (I had been asleep all night, so nothing had changed). It had been more than seven hours since the last change. So how did Plaxo do? The good news is that my Gmail account and my wife's Gmail account appear to be in perfect sync, both showing 1,851 people listed in "My Contacts." Unfortunately that is the end of the good news. Her Google Apps account has 1,853 people listed in "My Contacts." My Google Apps account has 2,759 people listed in "My Contacts." And my MacBook Air has 2,110 contacts. My Plaxo account shows I have 1,853 contacts. That means that Plaxo has only kept one out of five accounts in sync with itself. That is a drastic failure. If you think that it's not that bad because two of the other accounts were only off by two (1,851 vs 1,853) let me ask you this: which two contacts are missing? The answer is: I don't have any idea. But if it can't manage to keep 4 Google/Gmail accounts in sync and failed to even raise an alarm that something went drastically wrong with one of them (2,759 vs 1,853?!?!) how am I supposed to trust it? If Plaxo had sent me a message saying "We noticed that your accounts [X] and [Y] were not in sync, even though no errors were reported during sync" I would have at least trusted that if something went wrong in the future I could count on Plaxo letting me know. Failing to sync is bad, but failing quietly is much worse. No solution, still looking. I haven't found a solution yet, and am hoping that perhaps one of TUAW's readers might have an idea. The crux of the problem is being able to sync one Mac to two Google accounts (one "Google Apps" and one "Gmail"). If I can find a reliable way to do that I will replicate the setup on all of my Macs, and sync my iPad and my wife's iPhone using Google's implementation of ActiveSync. Has anyone else cracked this nut? If so, let me know in the comments! Meanwhile, I'm already trying out another solution. I'll let you know how that one goes.
Comcast's Tunerfish adds social media check-ins to your TV watching
Comcast's Plaxo acquisition has borne fruit beyond its social media address book roots with Tunerfish, aimed at pulling social networking features and TV into one website. Currently in closed alpha, it lets TV watchers note what they're watching and share with others, Foursquare style. No word on what being "mayor" of Chuck gets you (if it's not a discount at Subway we'll be disappointed) but the idea is to be able to keep an eye on what's trending amongst the larger pool of viewers or just your friends (who, presumably, have similar tastes. Of course there's Facebook and Twitter integration, and an iPhone app will be available when the beta launches in the next few weeks. Notably absent at this time is any Comcast branding, so it should be wide open no matter where you get your TV broadcasts from, but given the company's interests in bringing together internet and TV we wouldn't be surprised to see some Xfinity labeling work its way in sooner or later. Check out an epic 35-minute video interview with Robert Scoble (embedded after the break, demo starts about 10 minutes in) for more info, or just go ahead and sign up for the latest updates on the official site. It's like we always say -- if your followers & friends didn't want to know what you were doing every second of every day, then why did they add you in the first place?
Comcast acquires Plaxo, your set-top box wants to meet your friends
Assuming you're not Twitter, Facebook and Pownce'd to death already, Comcast is bringing the social network universe straight to your set-top box. This morning it announced the purchase of Plaxo, the company already behind Comcast's universal address book due later this year. By tying together TV plus online parts like Fandango and Fancast, it aims to ease sharing media between your various devices, family and friends. Add in tru2way app possibilities, and the future of our DVR looks increasingly networked (and a bit complicated.)[Via News.com]
Plaxo improves Address Book sync and adds iPhone UI
One-time contact manager, now full-blown social networking site Plaxo has its share of fans and detractors; despite the privacy concerns of its address management techniques, you can't deny that its Mac support has been good and getting better, with a new build of the Address Book plugin released on January 16. Now the Plaxo Pulse service has joined the touchable generation by releasing an iPhone-optimized UI for Pulse.If you haven't seen Pulse, it provides a social superfeed of the actions and updates your friends and contacts have posted to their various info outlets (kind of like Flock in the cloud). It may seem Big Brotherish, but if you're already using Plaxo, an iPhone version could be icing on the cake.The Plaxonians have posted a video demo of the new features (with a very handsome collie!), embedded after the break.
Plaxo 3.0 is available
Plaxo is an online address book and calendar manager that can synchronize your information between Outlook, Google, Yahoo!, AIM, your Apple apps and more. Today they released version 3.0 which includes a number of improvements, like: Google Calendar synchronization Calender "countdowns" to important events Improved reminders Best of all, Plaxo is free. It's still in beta, so take that into consideration before you try it out.
Verizon Wireless customers to get automatic contact list updates
There's nothing like keying 300+ contacts to your cellphone, only to have something catastrophic happen and lose them all. Sure, providers offer certain forms of backup, but a new service from Plaxo will make all your worries over losing that oh-so-precious contact list disappear. The firm is hooking up with Verizon Wireless (with Alltel and US Cellular to follow suit) to offer automatic list updates from "commonly used e-mail systems" (such as Outlook, Yahoo Mail, OS X Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird, etc.) wirelessly via its Plaxo Mobile Plus system. Customers will still have to choose which names receive the honor of being placed in their always-available contact roster, but the service "eliminates the need for manual reentry or copying directly from a computer." While specifics weren't given, this convenience is slated to work with "30 Verizon Wireless handsets" initially, and run customers $4.49 per month, which seems like a lot to ask unless you're notorious for destroying phones.[Via DigitalTrends]
