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Handhelds Syncing w/ Web-Based Calendars?

Posted by Cliff on from the using-the-same-data dept.

hacker asks: "I have been asked many times over the past few years to support "web-based calendaring" with pilot-link, so people can syncronize their PalmOS handheld devices directly with 'online' calendaring software. The problem is...what calendaring software? I've looked at the various alternatives (PHP iCalendar, WebCal, and about two-dozen others) free and commercial, and none of them really offer a good, powerful, flexible way to integrate the same kind of data that resides on a Palm handheld device. I would write the conduit between Palm and calendaring software. Has anyone actually used a web-based calendaring product they like, and if so, which one, and why? Would the ability to syncronize your Palm handheld with your web-based calendaring software be useful?"

25 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. Yahoo Calendars is GREAT by bfgimpexe · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've been using Yahoo Calendars for a couple months now and it does everything I need, as well as syncing well with Outlook and Palm Desktop. In Windows it's convenient to make it your active desktop--you have your entire month laid out in front of you.

    1. Re:Yahoo Calendars is GREAT by samael · · Score: 3, Informative

      Agreed. I synch my Palm with Yahoo calendar and it's incredibly easy to use.

      --
      My Journal
    2. Re:Yahoo Calendars is GREAT by way2trivial · · Score: 2, Interesting

      indeed great, my boss- out of town, killed a palm.. I went to the computer, backed the palm up to yahoo, and the new palm synched it immediately

      --
      every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
  2. ArcStream's Blackboard toGo! by profet · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you go to university you probably have dealt with the Blackboard web application and its various features.

    ArcStream makes a conduit for Blackboard called Blackboard toGo! I have never used the software but it seems to be exactly what you are looking for.

    Again...this all stems on you already using the Blackboard software...(from what I understand most Universities in the states already do)...and you getting your University to use the Arcstream software.

    Note: I am not affiliated with ArcStream Solutions, Inc. or Blackboard Inc.

  3. More general... by chrisvdb · · Score: 2

    I was actually asking myself a similar, but more genral question. How can you have ubiquitous, but comfortable access to *all* your data? Email, calendar, 2do, ...

    One possibility would be to always use some sort of groupware suite (e.g. phpGroupWare), but:
    - they are focused on groups, not individuals
    - it's more comfortable to use a real mail/calendar/... client when you have it available than always using a webclient

    So, I was wondering if there is some sort of 'personalware', as compared to 'groupware' that allows you to have access to your data on multiple platforms (incl. pda's) both through a full client as through a webclient?

    Cheers,
    Chris/

    1. Re:More general... by biglig2 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Well, Exchange 2K3 springs to mind, although probably not a popular suggestion, and in your case probably way too big.
      The web client is almost identical to Outlook, and every PDA syncs Calendars, ToDos etc. with Outlook.

      --
      ~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
    2. Re:More general... by kayen_telva · · Score: 3, Informative

      informative ? try outrageous. $1200 dollars is not a real solution to an individuals need to sync.

    3. Re:More general... by benjamindees · · Score: 3, Interesting

      - they are focused on groups, not individuals

      There is no 'focusing' on groups. An individual is just a group of one. Designing for groups is the more generalized solution.

      I am much more aghast at the number of solutions that *don't* include support for groups.

      --
      "I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
    4. Re:More general... by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 3, Interesting

      One possibility would be to always use some sort of groupware suite (e.g. phpGroupWare), but:
      - they are focused on groups, not individuals

      On the backend, it probably doesn't make much difference if the product is focused on groups or individuals.

      In the Web UI, you could probably clean up the interface a bit to remove some of the more group-based features (We don't really need "Discussion Groups", etc.

      However, it doesn't seem that there is a simple way to sync your handhelds with PHPGroupWare or eGroupWare (It still lack a complete implementation.

      --
      "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
  4. Mobical.net by d99-sbr · · Score: 3, Informative

    For SyncML-devices, Mobical.net offers a good service. They let you synchronize contacts and calendar for free.

    I use it primarily as a backup of my contact info, in case I'd lose my cell phone. However the web interface is quite neat.

    1. Re:Mobical.net by gouldtj · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Anyone tried this with MultiSync? It seems to provide the Palm to SyncML translation (and it will do Evolution). That would be a really cool solution if it'd work (I may have to try it now) -- but if anyone has experience that'd be great.

  5. Web-Basec? by Bob+Cat+-+NYMPHS · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is that some kind of new technology?

    Screw it, it's too early in the morning to make fun of /. editors.

    --
    The latest Slashdot meme.
  6. Steltor CorporateTime by stonebeat.org · · Score: 5, Informative

    Check out Steltor CorporateTime by Oracle. It has a web based Calendering Client, integrates in Outlook, and support Sync to Palms and other PDAs.

    --


    Consensus is good, but informed dictatorship is better
  7. And you can sync with some handhelds by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 4, Informative

    In addition, you can sync your Yahoo Calendar, Addressbook, Todo list, etc with Intellisync, which is a free (beer) program.

    Installation is pretty straigtforward. It's Windows only.

    For the first fews syncs, or if the data on either Yahoo or your Palm gets out of sync, you'll have to spend some time telling Intellisync which entry is the correct entry.

    Now, if Yahoo would change their email GUI to display message threads, and let me have more then one level of subfolders, I'd be really happy.

    --
    "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
    1. Re:And you can sync with some handhelds by hacker · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Unfortunately, this does not work with tasks. I've emailed the primary Yahoo! contact within the Calendar project group, and will see what his take on it is.

      As you can see in this Outlook task entry, everything looks kosher. That hash in the Note field is for DateBk5's icons.

      When I sync to Yahoo!'s Calendar, I see something that looks like this. Opening the Tasks form, I see this output. No titles for any tasks.

      Let's focus in on the 9/18 task. Opening that one, shows this form, where you can see the Note field is in the Title field of the Task. That's a problem. It showed an empty title in the main Tasks screen, but now shows the Note field instead of the Title.

      It works fine in Outlook. It works fine in J-Pilot. Why does Yahoo!'s Calendar screw it up? (I await the reply from their maintainer).

      If they had an API that was public, I could write a conduit to sync directly to it, from Linux. Judging by the fact that Intellisync is a Pumasoft product, and Pumasoft holds many patents on SyncML technologies (some of which have recently been rejected by the USPTO), I can assume that this is SyncML + authentication.

      I'd rather write the conduit using a documented API, than a sniffer, however.

      So you see, all is not as easy as it seems.

  8. Re:Related question... by lanej0 · · Score: 3, Informative

    PHPiCalendar will parse iCal files server-side and display them as HTML

    http://sourceforge.net/projects/phpicalendar/

  9. Web-based Calendaring and more.... by BluEyeZ · · Score: 4, Informative

    I currently use a little known product called InFone. You can access your address book and calendar on the web, and by phone. They'll even connect you out to any number you want. They have an advanced directory assistance system that will help you find the business you're looking for, even if you don't remember everything about it. The software conduit is a simple plugin that works with most of the popular PIMs (Outlook, Palm Desktop). The only drawback is for Blackberry users, as it seems to cause more than a few problems with the sync software for that device.

    Also available is a service called TeleConcierge. Most restaurants in their system allow for the operator to make reservations on your behalf. Hotel reservations are also available. Flight status, movie times, horoscopes, weather, driving directions, it's all there. Just $0.89 per call for up to 15 minutes, and just $0.05/min after that. Automatic debit from most major credit cards and there's no contract. You can access the service from any phone, home, cell, or pay. Just dial 888-411-1111.

    Best of all, the operators that answer will be in the area you're calling from, no matter where you are in the country, including Hawaii, so you'll always have a local to give you advice when you're away from home.

  10. Webcalendar.sourceforge.net? by millisa · · Score: 5, Informative

    Webcalendar's features include:

    # Export events to iCal, vCal or Palm

    # Import from vCal or Palm

    # Optional general access (no login required) to allow calendar to be viewed by people without a login (useful for event calendars)

    # Users can make their calendar available publicly to anyone with an iCal-compliant calendar program (such as Apple's iCal or Mozilla Calendar)

    1. Re:Webcalendar.sourceforge.net? by hacker · · Score: 5, Informative
      #Import from vCal or Palm

      Unfortunately, it can't import the standard Palm data. I have 697 events in my calendar, which show up in Linux under Evolution and J-Pilot and with a Perl dump of DatebookDB.pdb. They also show up in Windows under Outlook and Palm Desktop.

      Following the instructions in Webcalendar, to import the datebook/datebook.dat file from the Palm Desktop setup, only imports 53 entries, mostly holidays.

      If it can't handle the format supplied, it should not advertise that it can. Clearly nobody tested this capability (and yes, I'll be reporting the bug with the Webcalendar maintainers).

      That's a blocker for me, so I stopped testing it right there.

  11. Re:OpenGroupware by hatless · · Score: 2, Informative

    That's funny. Then why do the OpenGroupware mailing lists have people helping each other configure the Palm syncing features? Are these poor users just imagining that they're syncing their PDAs to OpenGroupware?

    It does rely on Network Hotsync if you're syncing directly to your OGo server, so unless you have a decent VPN setup, remote users aren't going to have a good time of it, but I recokon you could let those people connect with something like Outlook and have them sync locally using Intellsync or the like.

  12. SUSE OpenExchange Server by invisik · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Hey,

    You can sync from Windows with Palm Desktop and the help of the SUSE OpenExchange palm conduits to their OpenExchange server. Works great. There also is a Linux client available, haven't tried it yet.

    OpenExchange is getting there, people!

    -m

    --
    http://www.invisik.com
  13. php/oracle/java based pc/mac palm conduit by elvisior · · Score: 3, Interesting

    We wrote a php/oracle calendar for our university and migrated all users (30 thousand plus) to it (previously we were using netscape calendar).

    We also wrote a palm conduit for it for pc and mac..

    It has been in production for over a year now with many thousands of users using it every day.

    We were going to open source it but havent because of how oracle centric it is .. we really should have used pear to not be oracle centric.

    1. Re:php/oracle/java based pc/mac palm conduit by Admiral+Lazzurs · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I would suggest open sourcing it anyhoo. From this two things will happen,

      - Only personal users will use it, oracle is free for them

      - People will convert it to the SQL backend of their choice

      Either way you will get all of the advantages of opening the code base to the community.

  14. Re:Related question... by hacker · · Score: 2, Informative
    phpiCalendar is read-only, and does not allow modification of the iCal calendar files without significant restructuring of the back-end (i.e. adding MySQL, adding hooks to all of the PHP code to allow edits, locking, and so on).

    It is great, for a static "events" calendar, but it really isn't remotely close to a solution for an interactive web-based calendaring/PIM solution.

  15. Pocket PC + PHPiCalendar + Mozilla Calendar by n3xu5 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My current PDA is a Pocket PC (Dell Axim for those interested). The only builtin way to manage calendar information with the Pocket PC seemed to be through syncing with Outlook (no big surprise...it is all MS after all). I wanted to have my calendar available on the web, and use something other than Outlook on my desktop to manage my calendar. Plus, I wanted this all available on my Axim. So I decided to use the iCal format. This lead me to Mozilla calendar, which could sync with ical files on a web site using WebDAV. I then found PHPiCalendar which does a decent job of using an ical file to generate a web-based calendar. Since there appears to be no mechanism with the calendaring software on Pocket PC for exporting to ical format, I wrote a little application to export the contents of my Axim's calendar and upload it to my website via WebDAV. Since I use WiFi at home on my PDA from time to time, I update my calendar on my PDA and upload the changes to my website. My web-based calendar is instantly updated, and Mozilla calendar can simply refresh and grab the latest copy of the ical file from the web site. So far I've been pleased with the results. The Pocket PC app is currently limited to exporting only. I plan on adding the ability to import and resolve any conflicts, but so far that has not been a priority. Don't know if that helps any of the Palm folks much, but maybe some of the Pocket PC users out there may be interested.