Synchronisation information for PDA Users

Windows Mobile and synchronisation

Synchronising your mobile device is the easiest way of ensuring that your data are kept up to date, both on your PC / server and you mobile device- whilst you can, of course, enter appointments, contacts etc manually on both your PC and mobile device, synchronisation allows you to focus on gaining the maximum benefit from your device, and makes sure that you have all necessary data to hand. Windows Mobile devices can be synchronised with a variety of PIM (Personal Information Management) applications (both clients and servers), and this article should help you to find a method to suit your needs.

Desktop-based synchronisation

Windows XP

Outlook / ActiveSync

The main way to synchronise your Windows Mobile device is through ActiveSync, Microsoft’s synchronisation software, with Outlook, Microsoft’s PIM software. Windows Mobile device come supplied with a full copy of Outlook XP, but, if you already have Outlook 2003 / 2007 on your PC, you can use this instead. In order to synchronise, you will need to install ActiveSync from the supplied software CD, or else download the latest version from Microsoft’s web site. ActiveSync allows you to synchronise your email, calendar appointments, contacts, notes, task, Internet Explorer favourites, media files (with Windows Media Player 10 or higher) and “files”.

ActiveSync only allows you to synchronise the top folder for any category of PIM data. As such, if, for example, your contacts are stored in sub-folders, ActiveSync will not be able to cope with these. If your PIM data is structured in a more complicated manner than the average user, you may wish to look at Chapura’s “Pocket Mirror” (http://www.chapura.com/pmp_wm.php), which, amongst other functions, allows synchronisation of sub-folders.

Whilst the media synchronisation does allow you to add music, videos etc to any storage card, rather than solely to the main memory of your mobile device, which would quickly become full, ActiveSync is not necessarily the best way of transferring large volumes of data. In particular, if you wish to fill a memory card with music, you may find it preferable to copy it from your PC using a card reader, as this is likely to be several orders of magnitude faster than copying it directly to a storage card in your device.

The last option above, “Files”, is a virtual briefcase folder, allowing you to keep certain documents on your PC and mobile device in synchronisation. However, it is limited in that you can only (a) synchronise documents stored in the automatically-created folder PC, and (b) synchronise to your mobile device, rather than to any memory card in the device. If you want to be more flexible in your document synchronisation, you might like to experiment with the shareware application “MobSync” (http://doosoft.seesaa.net/). (The latest freeware version, 0.9.4, can still be found on the web.)

Some third party applications utilise the ActiveSync connection to keep their databases synchronised- for example, SplashData’s “SplashID” communicates via ActiveSync. Other applications remain outside the ActiveSync framework, working over a direct connection to your device. Where an application does work through ActiveSync, you should be able to enable or disable it through ActiveSync’s “Tools” menu, by selecting “Options”.

Windows Mobile 2003 SE works best with ActiveSync 3.8, whilst Windows Mobile 5 devices require ActiveSync 4.0 or higher. ActiveSync 4.0 changed the way in which ActiveSync worked, so that it became a network adapter. The result of this change is that it may be necessary to experiment with any firewall settings on your PC to ensure that a connection is not being blocked. For “security reasons”, network synchronisation has been removed from ActiveSync 4.x, so it is not possible to synchronise via a WLAN, or across a VPN; this functionality remains available in ActiveSync 3.8. Both versions of ActiveSync permit wireless synchronisation via Bluetooth and IrDA.

Funambol

Funambol (http://www.funambol.com/) is a client / server synchronisation solution which is available for both Windows and Linux. It is a Java-based system, which requires server software running on the PC, and client software on the handheld device. It is available as both commercial and open source (GPL) software. There is an Outlook plug-in available, as well as support for Lotus Domino and Microsoft Exchange. Funambol implements the Open Mobile Alliance Data Synchronization and Device Management protocols (OMA DS and DM, formerly known as “SyncML”)

Lotus Notes
It is possible to synchronise a Windows Mobile device with Lotus Notes, but, it is not supported “out of the box”. For an excellent overview of the options available, please do have a look at Jaap van Ekris’ summary of Lotus Notes / Domino synchronisation, at Modern Nomads http://modernnomads.info/wiki/index.php?page=Windows Mobile devices and Lotus Notes
. (Thanks to Jaap for his kind permission in allowing us to link to his article.)

Windows Vista

Mobile Device Center

Windows Vista does not use ActiveSync; instead, it relies upon Mobile Device Center (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/devicecenter.mspx). To date, there have been mixed reports of the Mobile Device Center- some users appear to find synchronisation easy and immediate, whilst others report that they have struggled, or, in the worst cases, failed to create a connection at all. If you are planning on using Windows Vista as your host platform, you may wish to investigate Microsoft’s trouble-shooting FAQs: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/devicecenter/troubleshooting.mspx.

Mac OS

Missing Sync

Whilst Windows Mobile can synchronise with Mac OS, it will not do so out of the box – if you wish to sync your device with an Apple computer, there is really only one option: Mark|Space’s “Missing Sync” software http://www.markspace.com/missingsync_windowsmobile.php. Missing Sync provides a full range of synchronisation options, and is compatible with Mac OS Tiger or later, and Pocket PC 2002 onwards.

GNU / Linux

Whilst some users have reported success in synchronising Windows Mobile devices with GNU / Linux desktops, it is not an easy process; unless you have a solid understanding of Linux, it is unlikely that this will be a suitable option, and it is certainly not recommended for beginners. If you do intend to look into synchronisation with GNU / Linux, we would recommend searching for other users who have succeeded with your particular distro.

FinchSync

FinchSync (http://www.finchsync.com/index.html) is a freeware server written in Java, with a C# client for the handheld device (thus requiring the .NET CF). FinchSync synchronises with the Mozilla suite of applications, and supports calendar, contacts and task synchronisation. (As FinchSync is written in Java, and synchronises over HTTP, it should be capable of running on almost any operating system for which a JRE is available.)

Funambol

SynCE

SynCE in an open source synchronisation solution, and is available from http://www.synce.org/index.php/SynCE-Wiki. Currently, only contacts synchronisation is available for Windows Mobile 5, according to their website, which limits the usefulness of the software. SynCE relies on the OpenSync framework (http://www.opensync.org/).

Server-based synchronisation

In addition to the desktop-based systems above, it is also possible to synchronise Windows Mobile devices with PIM servers. Whether this is suitable for your needs will depend on your machine, and on your circumstances. For example, if you have a Phone edition device, with integrated cellular connectivity, you should be able to synchronise wherever you are. Alternatively, if you handheld device has Wi-Fi technololoy, or is configured to connect to a mobile phone, you are also able to synchronise wirelessly. Bear in mind that, if you plan on having your calendar items, emails etc pushed to your device, you may find that a Phone edition machine is most suited to your needs.

As well as a suitable device, you will also need the server-side support. For example, many businesses already use Microsoft’s Exchange server, and you may be able to synchronise directly with this, subject to your IT department’s policy. Alternatively, several mobile operators now offer customised server-based solutions, although generally entail a subscription on top of your standard mobile phone contract. Thirdly, you could get an independent server hosting account (several ISPs offer online Exchange accounts), and synchronise with this. The fourth option is to run your own server; whilst this is perfectly possible, unless you know what you are doing, or are prepared to invest the necessary time and effort, as well as providing your own support if something stops working, it likely that one of the preceding options will suit you better. (FinchSync and Funambol re both client / server solutions, but they have been included in the foregoing sections where appropriate, as running them on your everyday PC effectively turns them into desktop synchronisation solutions, even though the underlying architecture is not changed at all.)

Microsoft Exchange

The ActiveSync software supplied with Windows Mobile devices is capable of synchronising directly with Microsoft Exchange. As such, you would not need to purchase any additional software. Configuring the system, either via the PC-based ActiveSync or else via ActiveSync on your device, is relatively straight forward. You should note that, whilst you can synchronise your PIM data via Microsoft Exchange, you may still need to use ActiveSync on your desktop to synchronise files, third party applications etc.

FinchSync

Funambol

Lotus Domino

As discussed above, there is an excellent guide on synchronisation with Lotus Domino at http://modernnomads.info/wiki/index.php?page=Windows Mobile devices and Lotus Notes.

RIM’s Blackberry Enterprise Server

It is possible to synchronise a Windows Mobile device with a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, but, it requires BlackBerry Connect software on the handheld device. Currently, this is hard to come by, and is not available for many devices. If you are interested in this functionality, you will need to have access to the necessary network infrastructure; as such, the best way to obtain the software would be to speak with your network administrator, or service provider.

Visto

Windows Mobile devices can run a Visto client, which permits PIM synchronisation with a Visto server. Some mobile service providers offer Visto, usually as an additional monthly cost, and it would be worth directing compatibility questions etc to them, as the Visto client is not available for all devices. If you are interested in this functionality, you will need to have access to the necessary network infrastructure; as such, the best way to obtain the software would be to speak with your network administrator, or service provider.

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