DejaOffice 1.10.6 Now Available In The Android Marketplace

Posted on February 24, 2011 by David Z

We are happy to announce the release of DejaOffice v1.10.6 for Android. This update follows a series of beta releases and brings numerous additions, improvements, and bug fixes to DejaOffice. Major features introduced in DejaOffice v1.10 include:

Added DejaToday widgets
Added support for recurring tasks
Added Global search
Added DejaExpense mini-app
New PalmOS style date picker
Major calendar UI improvements

Of course, there are even more great features, improvements, and bug fixes included in 1.10.6. Over the next week or so, we’ll be highlighting some of these features in blog posts, explaining how to get the most out of each new feature. In the meantime, be sure to go download the latest version today!

Tech Tip: Use CompanionLink with Google’s New “2-Step Verification” Feature

Posted on February 24, 2011 by David Z

Google recently rolled out a new security feature called “2-step verification.” As Google puts it, this is designed to add an extra layer of security to your account by “requiring you to have access to your phone – as well as your username and password – when you sign in. This means that if someone steals or guesses your password, the potential hijacker still can’t sign in to your account because they don’t have your phone.”

While this feature certainly makes your Google Account more secure, it can cause applications that need access to your account, such as CompanionLink, to stop working with your usual Google/Gmail password. Google planned for this, however, and built in a solution. You simply need to set up an “application-specific password.” This is a special password that only works with the specified application. If you have taken advantage of Google’s more secure login system (or if you want to), you’ll need to be sure to create an application-specific password for CompanionLink to ensure uninterrupted syncing.

Google has posted a guide with instructions on how to create an application-specific password.

The Motorola Atrix 4G – Phone, Media Center, & Laptop

Posted on February 23, 2011 by David Z

The Motorola Atrix 4G, the phone that won widespread admiration at CES 2011, was released to the public on AT&T’s network yesterday. To say that this is just another Android phone would be an understatement. In addition to being one of the few phones to support the new 4G networks, the Atrix features the unique ability to transform itself into a powerful media center or laptop via a series of peripheral docks.

The multimedia dock is more play than work, allowing users to easily connect their Atrix to their TV and enjoy videos, music, and more. While that is likely to be a popular feature among home theater enthusiasts, I’d like to focus more on the second docking option: the laptop dock. The laptop dock allows Atrix users to connect the phone to a lightweight laptop frame. This then runs a “web-top” application, allowing users to harness the productivity of the laptop form, all from their mobile phone. In theory, this could drastically improve your productivity on the go. While you don’t save much space when compared to carrying around a phone and tablet/small laptop, you do benefit from having everything easily accessible on one device. It may sound like a small thing, but it can have a huge impact on your mobile productivity!

The laptop dock is something we have not yet seen from any other mobile phone, and it certainly has the potential to change the way we work while on the go. However, it remains to be seen just how well it works in the real world. Initial reviews generally praise the phone, but suggest skipping the laptop dock. They state that, while the concept is widely adored, the actual application is a bit clunky and too expensive. That said, this is merely version 1. The technology has a lot of room to advance, get faster, and come down in price.

With tablets already changing they way we work on the go, do you think the unique docking features of the Atrix have a chance to put a dent in the popularity of the tablet? Or will they simply manifest as marketing gimmicks that ultimately die out?

Note: Are you looking to sync the Motorola Atrix 4G with Outlook or another popular personal information manager? We have you covered: check out ComplanionLink for PC and DejaOffice for Android!

New Online Knowledge Base Makes Using CompanionLink Easier Than Ever

Posted on February 18, 2011 by David Z

CompanionLink is pleased to announce the launch of our new support knowledge base (KB). Our goal to make public the sync and configuration expertise that we have in-house. We’ll be sharing setup guides, tips & tricks, productivity tweaks, and more. Over time, the KB will grow, adding additional setup guides for existing devices, as well as guides for new devices as they are released.

Currently, the KB features easy-to-use setup guides for Apple and Android devices. Learn how to sync your new Nexus S to Outlook. Or, learn how to sync ACT! data to the Verizon iPhone. Whatever your setup is, we’ll show you how to get everything up and running. Just visit www.companionlink.com/support/kb. Then, simply choose your device and sync method and you’ll be directed through detailed steps, photos, and videos showing you exactly how to configure CompanionLink and DejaOffice.

We will be expanding the KB in the future in an effort to better serve CompanionLink and DejaOffice users!

CompanionLink and Highrise – Keeping It Simple

Posted on February 16, 2011 by David Z

Recently, CompanionLink added support for syncing with Highrise. Highrise is a popular web-based CRM from 37signals. It’s different from other CRM tools because it’s focused on simplicity and ease of use, something we’ve grown to expect from 37signals. They’ve cultured the ability to create something powerful, yet simple. This isn’t all that easy to do, especially when you’re developing productivity software. Initially, you want to pack as much functionality in as you possibly can. While this can result in a powerful program, it is all too often convoluted and difficult to use.

Highrise offers something that is as powerful as it needs to be without sacrificing simplicity. At CompanionLink, we embrace that way of thinking too. Our goal is to make syncing so simple and easy to do that you don’t even think about it.

Syncing with Highrise via CompanionLink is simple and flexible. Use CompanionLink Express to sync Highrise contacts, tasks, and cases directly to your mobile device. It works with a wide variety of devices, including Android, BlackBerry, iPhone and iPad, Palm webOS, Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile, and Nokia Symbian devices or any Google/Gmail/Google Apps account. Go pro with CompanionLink Professional and you will get real-time Highrise sync with other PC software such as ACT!, Outlook, and Lotus Notes. Get started at www.companionlink.com/highrise/.

Image credit.

HTC Inspire Brings 4G to AT&T Customers, Mobile Productivity Wins

Posted on February 14, 2011 by David Z

Yesterday, AT&T began selling the HTC Inspire 4G. The Inspire features a massive 4.3” super LED display – the largest of any phone on AT&T’s network – and runs the latest iteration of the HTC Sense UI, all for $99 (after a 2-year agreement). It also marks a number of firsts for AT&T:

It is the first 4G phone on their network
It is the first device to run Android 2.2 on AT&T
It is the first device to make use of the new Mobile Hotspot application

The HTC Inspire brings an impressive list of features that are sure to be a hit among new phone buyers. I could dedicate an entire post just to those features. However, I’d like to focus on one specific feature: 4G. With the increasing amount of work done on while the go, the speed of your mobile device’s wireless connection becomes more and more important.

As I was writing this post, I decided to run a speed test on my 3G device. The result? I got a little over 1mbps down. To put that in perspective, most home internet connections are at least 10x faster. For downloading a small document or photo, 1mbps is does just fine. However, when downloading large documents with charts and graphics or high-resolution photos for work, you’ll often find yourself waiting for as long as a few minutes, depending on your signal quality. It may not seem like much, but over time it adds up and eats away at your productivity.

The obvious question in all of this is, of course, what does 4G mean when compared to 3G? The answer depends on whom you ask. At the end of the day, “4G” is merely a label. What it really means is that mobile data connection speeds are constantly improving – and when your mobile productivity relies on the ability to access data quickly, that is what truly matters!

Note: Are you looking to sync the HTC Inspire 4G with Outlook or another popular personal information manager? We have you covered: check out ComplanionLink for PC and DejaOffice for Android!

Get Microsoft Outlook Categories On Your iOS & Android Device

Posted on February 11, 2011 by David Z

As many Outlook users will tell you, categories play an important role in keeping everything organized. Categorizing your contacts, calendars, notes, & tasks helps you to break them down into manageable groups of information. Color-coding this information further helps by giving you the ability to interpret data at a glance. For example, I use yellow to signify a business call. I use red to denote a mission critical appointment. I use blue for business meetings, and green for personal meetings. Just by glancing at the color of an appointment, I know what it’s for.

Business people rely on similar systems every day to be productive. However, another thing many Outlook users will tell you is that they have not found a great way to sync categories to the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, & Android devices.

This is a major concern for many people. The ability to categorize data efficiently becomes severely limited when it is only accessible at the computer. We are a mobile society, and we need our information available at a glance if we are to stay productive on the go. Therefore, the ability to sync Outlook categories is not just convenient for most users, it’s quite important!

That’s where DejaOffice enters the picture. DejaOffice is a free iOS and Android app that we built in response to the need for a great way to sync data from Outlook, as well as a variety of other popular Personal Information Manager programs. Using DejaOffice in conjunction with CompanionLink for Outlook allows you to sync your existing category data from Outlook to your Apple or Android device over Wi-Fi or via CompanionLink Secure Hosted Wireless. With DejaOffice and CompanionLink, you are able to take your categories with you! For more information on how to set up and sync Outlook categories, visit our support page.

Sync Salesforce CRM to Android, iPhone, and More

Posted on February 9, 2011 by David Z

I have big news for Salesforce.com users looking for a way to take their data with them on the go. CompanionLink Professional now offers two-way sync between Salesforce CRM and Android, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, webOS, and Windows Phone devices. Contacts, calendars, and tasks are all supported.

While we’re excited to offer this great feature across all our supported devices, this is especially good news for Android users. Salesforce does not currently provide a sync solution for Android. This limits mobile productivity for a growing population of the smartphone market. With CompanionLink Professional, Android users can be mobile with their Salesforce data in a matter of minutes.

In addition to supporting Salesforce sync, CompanionLink Professional also supports sync with multiple devices (think phone and tablet) and real-time sync between two databases (think Salesforce and Outlook).

CompanionLink Professional is available via CompanionLink.com or the Salesforce AppExchange. Visit these links for more information, Salesforce user reviews, and a 14-day free trial.

The Future of Mobile Computing

Posted on February 7, 2011 by David Z

Recently, DejaOffice was featured on the IT Management blog Datamation for being among the top 50 free iPad apps for business. We’re thrilled to be on this list, and I recommend you read through it as there are quite a few great apps mentioned! Reading over the article myself, I started thinking about just how far mobile computing has come and where it is heading.

The iPad, for example, offers access to thousands of apps while maintaining an ultra-portable form factor and featuring intuitive touchscreen inputs. As such, I believe that tablets are signaling a paradigm shift for mobile productivity. In my own use, I have found myself using the iPad for things I used to do on the computer or avoided doing on my smaller smartphone screen. For example, if I need to edit or review a document while I am on the go I can simply open it on the iPad, make any necessary comments or edits, and e-mail it off. I am generally able to interact with my iPad more quickly and efficiently than with my smartphone, making me more productive while mobile. I could go on, but the point is simple: I now have a device that gives me the power I need with the mobility I want.

What’s more amazing, however, is the fact that a device like the iPad has only been out for one year. Think about just how far cell phones have come in the last 5 years. If cell phone technology has advanced that far in a few years, just imagine where tablets will go! It is truly an exciting future to think about.

Welcome To The iPhone, Verizon

Posted on February 3, 2011 by David Z

Today is the day that many Verizon customers have been waiting for. The Apple iPhone officially went on sale for pre-order on the Verizon network at 3am EST today. While the iPhone has been available for a few years, today marks the first day that US customers have a service option other than AT&T.

As a happy iPhone user myself, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to the many Verizon customers who will soon be getting their first iPhone. One of the first things you’ll likely be doing is heading in to the App Store to start downloading apps. As you’ll soon discover, there are many great apps to install. I personally recommend downloading Dropbox, Dragon Dictation, and Kik Messenger, to name a few. That said, I’d like to focus on one app specifically: our very own DejaOffice. DejaOffice is designed to enhance the iPhone experience for business customers. With DejaOffice, you gain access to business-class contact, calendar, note, and task management. A detailed list of features is available at www.dejaoffice.com. These features make all the difference for business people who are looking to stay productive while on the go.

DejaOffice works great as a stand-alone app. However, many business people have spent time carefully nurturing customer databases they’ve built up over the years. They need a way to get their customer info on their new iPhone.

That’s why we built DejaOffice!

It works seamlessly with CompanionLink. When paired with the CompanionLink application for PC, DejaOffice will sync data with many of the most popular database systems available, including Microsoft Outlook, ACT!, Palm Desktop, Lotus Notes, and more.

DejaOffice [iTunes link] is currently a free app on the iTunes App Store. CompanionLink is a PC application available as a 14-day trial: https://www.companionlink.com/products/.

Switching from BlackBerry to Android

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Rushang

Thinking about making the switch? You’re not alone.

There are at least 300,000 new Android activations every day! The Nielson Company has some lovely graphs that show Android dwarfing both iPhone and RIM (BlackBerry) in terms of growth in the past 6 months.

But many BlackBerry owners are worried to make the switch.

Will I get secure email?
Will I get the same level of productivity that my BlackBerry gives me?
What happens to my beloved keyboard?
Is Android really ready for my business data?

Here’s a free reference guide that answers these and other questions. It does three things:

Walk you through the pitfalls of migrating from BlackBerry to Android
Educate you about what busiuness capablities Android devices do and don’t do well
Advise which third-party apps to download to achieve the most business productivity

CompanionLink releases DejaOffice 1.1.4 for iPhone and iPad

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Andy Sheragy

The newest release of DejaOffice for Apple devices is now available on the App Store. DejaOffice is a contact manager app suite with business-class calendar, contacts, tasks and notes apps. New features in this release include:

* Added support for multiple contact categories.
* Added support for custom contact fields.
* Added Franklin style priorities for tasks.
* Added support for synching TBYL tasks and events from Outlook (requires CompanionLink build 4029 or higher).
* Added new interface for creating/editing tasks. New interface adds fields for contact links, Start Date, Completion Percentage, Status, and Location.
* Added Title field for DejaNotes.
* Added support for syncing DejaNotes via Secure Hosted Sync (requires CompanionLink build 4029 or higher).
* Improved list views for all apps.

You can download the free update direct from the App Store. More information is available at dejaoffice.com

* Added support for multiple contact categories.

* Added support for custom contact fields.

* Added Franklin style priorities for tasks.

* Added support for synching TBYL tasks and events from Outlook (requires CompanionLink build 4029 or higher).

* Added new interface for creating/editing tasks. New interface adds fields for contact links, Start Date, Completion Percentage, Status, and Location.

* Added Title field for DejaNotes.

* Added support for syncing DejaNotes via Secure Hosted Sync (requires CompanionLink build 4029 or higher).

* Improved list views for all apps.

DejaOffice 1.9 now available on the Android Market

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Andy Sheragy

CompanionLink is excited to announce the release of DejaOffice 1.9. This new update features a setup wizard designed to configure your sync with DejaOffice quickly and painlessly. The update also includes priority styles for tasks – you can now manage your tasks with Outlook-style, Palm-style, or Franklin Covey-style priorities. In addition, there are many small usability changes throughout the app.

DejaOffice 1.9 includes:

An onboard Setup Wizard to help configure PC sync with Android in under 2 minutes
Priority styles for tasks – Outlook Style, Palm Style, Alpha (Franklin Covey) Style
Wi-Fi sync with PC using CompanionLink
Easy call and text message buttons in the contacts view
Calendar year-view
Contact pictures

To download the free update, visit www.dejaoffice.com or search for “DejaOffice” in the Android Market.

Sync Nokia Symbian S60 and Symbian S^3 devices like the Nokia N8 with your PC using CompanionLink

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Andy Sheragy

CompanionLink announces support for synchronization with Nokia Symbian devices via Google. CompanionLink installs on the PC and syncs contacts, calendar and tasks with any Google/Gmail account. Google then syncs wirelessly and automatically with Symbian devices from Nokia using Nokia’s Mail for Exchange app.Two-way sync is supported so that changes made on the phone will sync back to the PC.

CompanionLink supports a wide variety of PC software, including Microsoft Outlook, Sage ACT!, Palm Desktop, IBM Lotus Notes and more. More information and a 14-day free trial are available at www.companionlink.com/symbian

Syncing with the Palm Pre 2 and webOS 2.0

Posted on November 26, 2010 by Andy Sheragy

Update: USB sync is now live for all webOS devices! Read about it here.

The recently released Palm Pre 2 ships with the latest version of the HP/Palm webOS operating system, webOS 2.0. Due to core changes in the underlying operating system, CompanionLink’s USB sync is currently not compatible with webOS 2.0 devices like the Palm Pre 2.

CompanionLink’s current recommendation is to sync the Palm Pre 2 via Google. CompanionLink syncs your PC data with any Google or Gmail account. Google then syncs automatically with the Palm Pre 2 over a wireless data connection. Two-way sync is fully supported.

CompanionLink plans to update our USB sync software for webOS devices in the near future to support webOS 2.0. Inquiries about compatibility with the Palm Pre 2 should be directed to support@companionlink.com.

Sync Salesforce CRM with Google and Your phone – Android, iPhone & iPad, BlackBerry, Palm webOS, Windows Mobile and Windows Phone 7

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Andy Sheragy

CompanionLink now supports sync with Salesforce! Sync your Salesforce CRM contacts, calendar and tasks with any Google, Gmail, or Google Apps account. Google then provides free wireless sync to most popular smartphone platforms, including Android, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Palm webOS, Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile and Nokia Symbian.

CompanionLink gives Salesforce users an easy way to sync their crucial CRM data to their phones with no monthly fees. Because Google supports a wide range of platforms, CompanionLink can offer Salesforce sync with the most popular phones currently available, including the Motorola DROID 2 and DROID Pro, HTC EVO 4G, HTC Incredible, Samsung Galaxy S, Apple iPhone and iPad, BlackBerry Torch, and Palm Pre and Pixi. Two-way sync is fully supported so that changes made from the phone or Google account will sync back to Salesforce.

To try it out, you’ll need:

A Google, Gmail, or Google Apps account
A Salesforce Professional, Enterprise, or Unlimited account
CompanionLink Professional

You can find more info and a 14-day free trial of CompanionLink Professional at www.companionlink.com/salesforce/