Apple's iSync gets it all together
The poor reception in my office using my current cell provider coupled with several other problems caused me to purchase a T68i via Cingular and enjoy the benefits of synchronizing contacts and calendars and making data calls from a single phone.
The T68i is one of the phones Apple Computer supports in its beta release of its iSync synchronization software. iSync was originally expected to ship in September, but Apple only has a beta version, which has not been updated.
The company also released the 1.0 release of iCal, its disappointing appointments software. Although promising in demonstrations, it lacks many necessary calendar features and is slow.
The goal of iSync is to take several devices, including the iPod, a few cellphones and Palm handhelds and allow events and people to be synchronized not just among them but also with an optional .Mac account ($99/year) and with one or more computers.
Even in my initial setup, I find that having entries in my address book easily updated across every device I use to be an absolute boon.
The .Mac account part of iSync lets me connect the three Macs I use regularly to this pool of information, ensuring that I don't lose details or have the wrong appointment in the wrong device no matter what network I'm on.
It's clear iSync and iCal are critical to its vision of a digital hub in which the Mac and a .Mac account help organize one's life. I rarely make predictions, but I expect to see a major revision of iCal into a workable software product and at least a 1.0 version of iSync at January's Macworld conference in San Francisco.
Slow but steady: The T68i has another feature up its sleeve: You can make data calls from a Macintosh just as easily as you would use a modem to dial up a service provider.
Cingular offers GSM (general system for mobile communications) and GPRS (general packet radio service) data services via this phone.
GSM is slower but cheaper, costing about $4 a month, with usage counted against the minutes in your overall plan. GPRS costs $7 per month for up to 40 kilobits per second or higher download speeds but is charged by the kilobyte: 3 cents each after the first megabyte. That's right: $30 per megabyte, which can add up fast, even at 40 kilobits per second.
Before you ridicule the 10 kilobit-per-second speed of GSM, the option I chose, remember that the Wi-Fi service available at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport costs $6.95 per 24-hour period and two recent trips to California reminded me that hotels charge $1 to $2 per call for local or even toll-free numbers. For checking e-mail, 10 kilobits per second doesn't sound half bad.
Using GSM/GPRS or iSync with the T68i requires a $50 Bluetooth adapter available from the Apple store. Configuration with iSync is simple: Just pair or associate the phone with your Mac, and iSync knows all about the phone the next time it runs.
Setting up a dial-up connection is slightly more complicated. Add the phone in the Bluetooth System Preferences as a serial port, selecting dial-up networking as a service, and then use the Network preference to provide account and phone-number information just as you would with a dial-up modem. With GSM, you provide the Internet service provider, but GPRS turns Cingular into your dial-up provider.
I may be regressing to the old slow days, but I'm saving money with every byte I transfer, while adding a remarkable amount of flexibility.
Memory stick: Connecting to another computer to exchange one or two files is never a breeze, even though it seems it should be. There are always the details to sort out, especially for a single transfer: account information, searching for a computer's name and dealing with dynamic network numbering that renders aliases useless.
I've more recently found a shortcut well-known to more technical types and prevalent at any geek conference: a stubby USB memory stick. The sticks are often small enough to fit on a key chain but can carry from 8 megabytes to 512 megabytes or more of flash RAM and sport a standard USB connector.
These USB memory sticks look just like a hard drive to a computer, and the necessary software is stored on the memory stick. You don't need to install special software on virtually any Windows or Mac computers.
Memory sticks are also a fantastic way to handle backups on the road if you don't have a CD burner or an external drive or just don't want to fuss.
Glenn Fleishman writes the Practical Mac column for Personal Technology and about technology in general for The Seattle Times and other publications. Send questions to gfleishman@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists.