MyPhone: they host your data on the web and sync contacts, calendar and photos with Windows Mobile devices. This is a free service offered by Microsoft.
MobileMe: they host your data on the web and sync mail, contacts, calendar and photos with iPhone devices. This is a paid service, currently $99/year.
Google Sync (Beta): syncs Google contacts and calendar (hosted on the web) with iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices. This is a free service offered by Google.
We’re excited at the introduction of these services! It gives users a reliable and affordable way to sync to their phones, over-the-air.
So do you still need CompanionLink with the introduction of the services mentioned above? The answer is Yes.
For example, if you’re using ACT!, Lotus Notes, Outlook BCM, Palm Desktop, GroupWise or any other PIM/CRM that’s not supported by the cloud services above, you’ll need CompanionLink to sync this data. The cloud services can’t access your data.
While our software can sync directly to your phone and bypass the need for the cloud services above, we’re also looking for ways to work with Microsoft, Apple and Google’s sync services. This will allow you to use CompanionLink to get data from your PIM/CRM to the services above, and then rely on their push-sync to get that data to your phones.
This is what we’re working on:
PIM/CRM <> CompanionLink <> Cloud services (above) <> your phone
Stay tuned to this blog for the lastest developments and a timetable for when we’ll support these mobile sync services. In the mean time, if you need to sync your PIM/CRM data with your phones, just use CompanionLink’s direct sync.