Notices

I started developing a data viewer for DejaDesktop's DejaPIM. I'm developing this for my personal use, but I figured that it can be helpfull to other people. Details here: http://ralcocer.googlepages.com/home

-R

DejaDesktop looked promising when it first came out, but I've given up on them considering that there hasn't been a new version of it since mid-February. It was a great idea, and I still support the single-app-pim approach (as opposed to GPE's multiple-apps approach), but JPilot also uses the single-app-pim approach and seems more mature (although less Nokia770-optimized).

I have talked to them, and there are updates planned. However, the way I see it, is that they are a company with a strong portfolio of apps that provide direct synchronization with portable devices. The 770 cannot provide (as far as I know) this capability, unless it is through the memory card, and it has to be done in 2 steps, since the memory card cannot be used by the 770 and the desktop at the same time. Maybe this "design flaw" has made them lose interest..but that's just a speculation on my part.

My take on GPE is exactly what you say: different applications. J-Pilot, well, too Palm Pilot-ish.

-R

It's trivial to imagine a variety of ways of solving that problem - after all, a Palm can only have one *application* running at a time, so multiple concurrent access isn't a problem there.

Well, I could be wrong but the real issue here I think is synchronization. Everybody agrees they want some basic PIM functionality on the 770. That is not too hard. But once you start using a PIM and realizing how handy it is, you discover that you really need synchronization with some kind of desktop app. It is just too much work to do manual syncing with file transfers, I'd really like to see some kind of sync solution that uses bluetooth or TCP/IP to keep stuff in line.

Why doesn't Nokia have some of their excellent SyncML technology ported to the 770?

David

Yeah, but file transfers doesn't mean manual syncing.

For example:

1. Plug in 770, it becomes available as mass storage.
2. Desktop sync application updates some file on MMC.
3. User disconnects 770.
4. Sync daemon on 770 detects new file on MMC and updates DB.

In fact, with an SQLite database on the MMC card, this could be updated directly by the desktop sync application.

The advantage of this approach over a custom protocol is that it's easier to make it available cross-platform, e.g. Windows, Linux, Mac OS X etc.

Obviously a more custom approach is necessary for the Bluetooth or wifi transfer (and harder for the user to setup, TBH).

Nokia can't do much in the way to support this (e.g. SyncML) until they've got a framework to store the information. EDS is coming along for the Contacts app, but currently there's concern it doesn't contain many fields.

Cheers,

Andrew

My approach is pretty much what Andrew describes. Only difference is that I'm using (so far) the files in the exact same format as DejaPIM. Also, instead of a daemon noticing the changes, I do that through a cp command.

Again, this is a personal project, so I can make it to myself as easy (or hard) as I want it to be.

However, your comments may shed some light on different ways of approaching the problem.

-R

I agree with almost everything you say except I think a TCP/IP solution would be superior for a couple of reasons.

First TCP/IP is what provides the cross platform capability. Anything that can speak TCP can synchronize with the 770 PIM. With USB you are limited to only devices with USB host capability. If you wanted to sync your calendar with your phone, desktop, and 770 it becomes a multi step headache and conflict resolution becomes nearly impossible.

Next TCP/IP frees you from physical location. If you have a PIM server somewhere on the network you can pull / push changes to your info from anywhere in the world.

That is why I find SyncML attractive. I'm no expert in this stuff but I am pretty passionate about PIM stuff. I wish palm had not gone to hell in a handbasket with their platform.

David

Agreed. And this is effectively what DejaPIM are selling, admittedly they're not using SyncML, but they want some lock-in to capture a relatively niche market.

Until there are client apps to import the data, there's not much Nokia can do for SyncML for the 770, although the Contacts app is a start in 2006 OS.