What Happens When a Windows Mobile/Mac OS X Gal Gets Her First Blackberry
March 27th, 2007 (1:00pm) Judi Sohn 17 Comments
Since starting a fulltime webworking job in August 2005, I’ve found that 90% of my non-talk time on my smartphone is spent in email, and too much of that time is spent struggling with the email application. I’ve been a Windows Mobile user on my phones/PDAs since 2004, and have gotten quite comfortable getting around the operation system. Being able to check email on my handheld affords me flexibility in my day that I wouldn’t have otherwise. I’d be chained to my desk for longer stretches of time, since the primary way I interact with co-workers and colleagues is through email.
I recently became eligible for a Cingular/AT&T phone upgrade, and used that opportunity to replace my Cingular 8125 (running Windows Mobile 5.0 Phone Edition) with a Blackberry 8800 for better messaging. Of course all the cubicle slaves carry a Blackberry, but what about the independent web worker who doesn’t need to sync to a corporate Exchange account?
To complicate matters further, my current computer is an Apple MacBook Pro which runs Windows XP through Parallels, and my primary email application is Outlook 2003. I thought syncing my new Blackberry to my desktop would be as simple as installing the desktop software into Windows XP in Parallels. Guess again.
First of all, the ease of setting up and using email on a Blackberry compared to the same on Windows Mobile cannot be overstated. I have two email accounts, one for work (not an Exchange server) and one for personal email, through two different shared hosting providers. It couldn’t be easier to create a Blackberry Internet Service account and configure the two addresses so my POP3 email could be pushed to my Blackberry. It’s not quite true push email, since the Blackberry service checks the email at set intervals and pushes it to my device in batches. But it works far more reliably than the email client that comes with Windows Mobile. Even better, Cingular/AT&T’s Blackberry unlimited data plans are priced better than their data plans for non-Blackberry devices at $29 per month with voice plan, instead of $39 per month.
While Windows Mobile functions very much like a desktop operation system, the Blackberry operating system does take some getting used to when making the switch. I keep reminding myself not to tap the screen to navigate, for starters. I appreciate the little magnet in the included case that puts the phone in stand-by mode automatically when you slide the device in.
But how do you sync calendar and contact data to a Blackberry if your primary desktop isn’t running Windows XP/Vista or your primary organizer isn’t Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes or one of the other PIMs the desktop software supports? It can be done! It just takes a little hoop jumping. Sometimes, you just have to take the winding path when you can’t get from A to B in a straight line.
I tried the Blackberry Desktop software. Did not work in Parallels. I am not the only one. Luckily, the good folks at Mark/Space have a solution in their Missing Sync Blackberry software for Mac OS X. It was just released and costs $40. It syncs the later model Blackberry devices to iCal for calendar events, Address Book for contacts and their own Notebook application for notes. It also does iTunes for music, iPhoto for photos and iCal for tasks. But since I use Outlook as my organizer, due to required syncing with colleagues and our organization’s CRM, I have to take the extra step of getting my data in and out of Outlook first. I am unable to use a different desktop email client.
I didn’t want to import/export calendars and contacts, since they are updated often. I wanted a solution that worked in the background as items changed. Here’s how I did it:
1. Sync Outlook calendar to Google Calendar using SyncMyCal ($25 for unattended syncing)
2. Sync Google Calendar to iCal using Spanning Sync ($25 per year or one-time purchase of $65)
3. Sync Outlook contacts to Plaxo, which syncs to Mac OS X Address Book (Premium Edition is $50 per year to manage more than 1,000 contacts)
Now everything is where it needs to be so MissingSync can do its thing. It works quite nicely for my $100 in software fees, giving me all the benefits of Google Calendar while still having the compatibility of Outlook for working with my colleagues. Eventually, I need to figure out how to sync tasks and transfer applications, but for now I am enjoying hassle-free mobile messaging.
Any other tips & tricks to get the most out of a Blackberry in a non-Windows/non-Outlook environment? What hoops do you have to jump through to get your technology to work in ways it wasn’t originally intended?
17 Comments Post your own comment
Chris says: March 27th, 2007 2:25pm
The Mac Address Book app is able to sync directly with Exchange.
For syncing calendar info directly between Exchange and iCal, you should look at .
I’d also have waited 2 more months to get the Apple iPhone - as I’m sure the syncing experience will be much better than anything else we currently have.
Chris says: March 27th, 2007 2:28pm
Doh - sorry about the messed-up link folks. I was suggesting Snerdware’s GroupCal for ExchangeiCal syncing.
Boris says: March 27th, 2007 2:57pm
Yep, GroupCal, Plaxo and a .Mac account coupled with a hosted Exchange account syncs everything back and forth. Works for me…
Judi Sohn says: March 27th, 2007 2:58pm
Chris, I *don’t* use Exchange. I needed to sync Outlook data that is stored in Personal Folders with iCal. As far as I could tell, there is no direct link that doesn’t involve importing/exporting databases. Also, while the Apple iPhone will have a lot of very cool features…syncing with Outlook through Parallels or Boot Camp likely won’t be one of them. ;-)
Judi Sohn says: March 27th, 2007 3:01pm
Boris, thanks for the input…still a bit of a windy road.
I feel like we’re playing a game…”I can sync that Blackberry in 3 step, Bob!”
Mrinal says: March 27th, 2007 5:04pm
So why didn’t you choose the BlackJack?
Om Malik says: March 27th, 2007 5:22pm
Judi,
couple of things. i can send you a couple of hacks to sync gcal directly with blackberry.
in addition, you can simply use the free software from blackberry and pocketmac.net to sync apple os-x with blackberry, without spending money on mark/space solution.
lastly, you can sync exchange to entourage and use pocketmac to sync with your blackberry.
frankly, for me blackberry is just a reminder of a big company i used to be part off.
Chris says: March 27th, 2007 5:46pm
Judi,
Apple would be crazy to make the iPhone Mac-only. Its very likely that the iPhone will sync Outlook contacts via iTunes on Windows - this is already happening for iPods:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302268
Daniel Burns says: March 27th, 2007 9:41pm
Ugh… Groupcal is *annoying* to use.
Lefty says: March 27th, 2007 10:29pm
Jeez la beeze…a lot of points of failure between Outlook 2003 for Windows and your mashup on a Blackberry connecting to a Mac. But if you’re up to geeking it when need be (translation: more time, energy, fees, & continuous maintainence & monitoring), in order to keep you Crackberry & Mac addiction, well then have fun!
But perhaps a WinXP laptop would have made life easier….
Judi Sohn says: March 28th, 2007 12:36am
PocketMac for Blackberry doesn’t have the best reputation. Typical review here.
I would be interested in a way of getting directly from Google Calendar to Blackberry without having to go through iCal. I know I can sync to Entourage, but that’s just another application to throw into the mix that I don’t use. I’m stuck in Outlook and the reasons why don’t work in Entourage.
I know it seems crazy, but my little hack-up *does* work and it lets me get out of the house more during business hours without having to worry about taking the laptop.
kristin says: March 28th, 2007 1:06am
As a mac user I’ve used the mark/space and pocketmac. Both are if anything… meteokre. mark/space software is definitely the more consistent of the two, but paying $40 for something like sync software is a ripoff. I’m actually a bit peeved at mark/space that they didn’t give the private beta testers a discount since we did… beta test it and help them develop it by posting bugs and suggestions.
Having to plug your phone in to sync every day is very irritating, especially when syncs error and you loose data. Ideally blackberries are meant to work with BES/domino servers….
even with the goods & bads. i couldn’t go even 1 day without my BB @ my fingertips.
kristin says: March 28th, 2007 1:12am
Whoops. Sorry Judi, Forgot to include the links.
I use this semi-often: http://murphymac.com/sleep-your-mac-by-email
Heres another blog post I wrote on BB/Mac when I first got mine, just has some links & tips: http://wiphey.com/2006/12/10/the-sunday-slice-crackberry-pie/
and if you’re seriously bored or need any help pinstack.com is great, or you can pin me 204d1693
paramvir singh says: March 28th, 2007 11:18pm
hello Judy. I am an independent worker, a Cinematographer, and my phone book and phone is my office. AND I use a Mac, very happily. I use a Nokia E61, sync ith perfectly with MAc OSX 10.4.9 (used Novamedia plugins before that) and also keep a backup on Mobical.net, scheduleworld.com and zyb.com, all for FREE.
If you need Push email, you could use http://www.morange.com (FREE push email) and mail2web.com. There are some other free push email solutions listed at macandmobile.com
If you really MUST use a BB, MissingSync is a great solution, so is scheduleworld.com and morange.
The Law of Mobility » Blog Archive » Managing the Danger: Week of 4/01/07 says: April 3rd, 2007 4:18am
[...] Syncing [...]
wayne says: April 9th, 2007 7:19am
Hey, this is a great solution for Mac/Parallels/Outlook/ users, the main problem is really with Parallels usb not working with our blackberry handhelds. I’m going to give this a try.
VentureFiles » Blog Archive » links for 2007-03-28 says: April 29th, 2007 9:12pm
[...] Blackberry Sync with Exchange on Mac (tags: blackberry) [...]