Whitepaper – Desktop Sync Options for Android

Posted on by Andy Sheragy
Reply

CompanionLink has published a whitepaper that explores the options for syncing Android to the desktop. Compare features and benefits between Google Calendar Sync, the Microsoft Outlook plug-in for Google Apps Premier, HTC Sync and CompanionLink’s wired and wireless sync options. This can be extremely helpful when looking for a solution to sync contacts, calendar, tasks and notes to an Android device. Feel free to download the whitepaper for your own reference or to distribute to friends and clients.

You can download the whitepaper here.

Trouble Mounting the Samsung Moment via USB?

Posted on by Andy Sheragy
Reply

From what we here at CompanionLink can tell, some of the Samsung Moment phones are being shipped with ‘USB Developer Mode’ enabled which prevents the phone from being connected via USB. This prevents many software applications, including CompanionLink, from operating correctly.

Fix: On the handset, open Settings->Applications->Development. Make sure all boxes are unchecked. Restart the phone, then connect the USB cable. The phone should now mount when connected to the PC.

Tada!

CompanionLink supports Motorola DEVOUR

Posted on by Andy Sheragy
Reply

CompanionLink Software is proud to support the new Motorola DEVOUR with MOTOBLUR. The Motorola DEVOUR builds on the great features of the popular DROID phone. The DEVOUR runs the Android operating system, allowing users access to the thousands of apps currently available.

With CompanionLink, users can synchronize contacts, calendar, tasks, and notes from popular information management software such as Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, ACT! by Sage, Novell GroupWise, Palm Desktop and GoldMine to the Google account set up with the DEVOUR. Once data is synchronized to the Google account, the integration between Google and the DEVOUR will ensure data is transferred to the phone. CompanionLink is a cost-effective answer to people asking how they can get their desktop data on their DEVOUR in either a wireless via Google or wired USB fashion.

A 14-day evaluation version of the software is available at www.companionlink.com/android.

Free webinar on how to sync data from ACT! to your smartphone

Posted on by Andy Sheragy
Reply

The ACT! AddOn Store is hosting a series of free webinars through their training center. There is a free training session on March 11 that will give you a clear understanding of the sync options you have between ACT! and the latest smartphones:

  • BlackBerry
  • iPhone
  • Palm webOS
  • Android
  • Windows Mobile
  • Palm OS
  • Symbian S60

Session Details:

Thursday, Mar 11, 2010
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Add to my Outlook Calendar

To register, visit crmtrainingcenter.com and click on ‘Sessions’ up at the top. Explore more sync options at companionlink.com.

Leverage the power of Notes on Android

Posted on by Andy Sheragy
Reply

Sort your Notes and Memos by category.Many phones in the market today, specifically those running the Android operating system, do not have support for the ‘Notes’ feature that so many business professionals find essential. CompanionLink is proud to offer a solution to this problem.

CompanionLink’s software for Android allows people using  Outlook, Lotus Notes, ACT! by Sage, Novell GroupWise, Goldmine and Palm Desktop to sync all their notes/memos to an Android phone via a secure USB connection.

CompanionLink works through the CL USB Sync app users download to their Android phone. This app has advanced Notes functionality to handle thousands of records. Power users who use categories to manage their Notes on the desktop will be pleased to find that these categories sync across to the phone. Users can sort their notes by categories, and find the data they need with the powerful built-in search feature.

For more information and to download a free trial, visit www.companionlink.com.

CompanionLink offers ACT! to iPhone wireless sync service

Posted on by Andy Sheragy
Reply

Sync ACT! to iPhoneACT! by Sage users who also own an iPhone can use both technologies as part of their business workflow.  CompanionLink offers ACT! to iPhone synchronization that allows for two-way wireless transfer of ACT! contacts, activities, to-dos, notes, histories and opportunities.  CompanionLink also allows ACT! users to  link activities and notes to contacts for optimal organization of business data between ACT! and iPhone.

CompanionLink offers two ways to synchronize data between ACT! and iPhone – wired USB sync and wireless sync.  Wired USB sync transfers contacts and calendar data between ACT! and iPhone using Outlook and iTunes.  Wireless sync between ACT! and iPhone can be configured in one of two methods – sync via Google or sync via CompanionLink’s wireless sync service.  Sync via Google requires a Google account to hold ACT! data, and the Google Sync service to transfer data over-the-air.  Sync via CompanionLink’s wireless service transfers data directly between ACT! and iPhone.

A 14-day evaluation version of the ACT! to iPhone wireless sync software is available at www.companionlink.com/iphone.

Tech Tip – How to see all calendar entries in Outlook 2007 when synchronizing with Google

Posted on by Andy Sheragy
Reply

CompanionLink allows you to easily sync your Outlook calendar with Google.  A common problem Outlook 2007 users have is that after synchronizing, they are unable to see any calendar entries in the month view in Outlook.  To remedy this, all you have to do is select “Detail: High” in your calendar view option and your appointments will magically appear! Click on the images below to view full-size.

Month view in Outlook 2007. Where are all my appointments?
*Clicks on High Detail* There they are!

For more information about syncing your Outlook calendar, visit www.companionlink.com

CompanionLink set to Introduce Business Apps for iPad

Posted on by Andy Sheragy
Reply

With the introduction of the Apple iPad, business professionals have another option to be productive while away from their office or desks.  Apple announced that the iPad is compatible with the thousands of apps that are currently available for the iPhone.

CompanionLink plans to fully utilize the tablet-friendly format of the iPad by launching a suite of business apps to manage large volumes of contacts, calendar events, tasks and notes. Managing this wealth of data will be even easier with voice commands and dictation features that CompanionLink will integrate into their apps.

A sign-up form for updates and announcements about CompanionLink’s new business apps for iPad is available at www.companionlink.com/ipad.

Read CompanionLink’s press release on business apps for iPad here.

Sync Microsoft Exchange Calendar with your Nexus One

Posted on by Andy Sheragy
Reply

Sync Nexus One with Exchange

The new Nexus One from Google is a powerful device; however, multiple reports indicate that the Nexus One does not have built-in support for synchronizing Microsoft Exchange calendar.  This lack of Exchange calendar sync support has been verified by CNET.com in their reviews as well.

CompanionLink solves this problem by synchronizing not only Outlook/Exchange calendar with Nexus One, but also contacts, tasks and notes.  CompanionLink offers two methods to synchronize – secure USB sync and wireless sync via Google.

“CompanionLink supplies a key missing link that ensures calendar information flows accurately from the corporate database to the phone,” says Wayland Bruns, CEO of CompanionLink Software.

Visit www.companionlink.com/android for more info.

USB sync of Contacts between iPhone and Google

Posted on by Rushang
Reply

USB sync Google contacts with iPhone using iTunes

If you’re looking to sync only contacts between iPhone and Google, and don’t want to use the free Google Sync wireless service, use the built-in sync feature in iTunes.  The latest versions of iTunes have the option to do a USB sync of Google contacts with iPhone.

If you’re looking to do a USB sync of Google calendar with iPhone, CompanionLink can help.

Tech Tip: Contacts automatically merging on Android phones

Posted on by Rushang
Reply

Some users report  that not all PC contacts sync to their Android device.  Or, contacts with similar names are not synchronizing at all.

Here’s what one user reported:

For instance, in Outlook contacts, I have a Jon Lewis, a Jonathan Lewis, and a John Lewis — all with different organizations and different contact info. But CompanionLink only sends the “Jonathan Lewis” info to my Droid.

This might be due to one of the “features” of Android.  The device automatically merges similar contacts with the goal of merging potential duplicates.

Here’s how to fix for contacts you feel are missing or automatically merged by Android:

1. Go to the contact in question on the device.
2. Select the “Menu” option.
3. Select the “Separate contacts” option.

This will separate each contact as its own entity.  In the John Lewis example above, you will now have three contacts: 1) Jon Lewis, 2) Jonathan Lewis, and 3) John Lewis.

Sort order for names on Android phones

Posted on by Rushang
Reply

Name sort options for Google and Android phones

Google combines the the first and last names into one “Name” field.  For example, if you had a contact record with a first name of “Bob” and last name of “Smith”, Google will combine that into Bob Smith.

Android phones (like Droid, Nexus One, CLIQ, etc.) also do this.  But what if you need to sort by “last name, first name” format?

CompanionLink has a new Name Order feature that addresses this with Google and Android-based phones.  Users can choose which format they’d like contacts to appear on their Android phone.

Ford SYNC for contact and calendar management

Posted on by Rushang
Reply

Ford SYNC contact and calendar management in vehicles

Credit: Ford Motor and CNet.com

Ford announced widespread availability of their Ford SYNC technology in vehicles in 2010 and beyond.  The innovation puts contact management, multimedia, and apps on the dashboard of vehicles.  Voice-activated commands ensure your hands aren’t distracted while driving.

Included in the Ford SYNC suite of software is a phone book.  At the moment, it’s not clear if other productivity apps like calendar, tasks and notes will be included.  However, Ford is giving access to their API to 3rd-party developers to create custom apps in vehicles that have Ford SYNC.  For example, CompanionLink could use the APIs to build a business-like suite of office productivity tools that includes custom calendar, tasks, and notes modules.  Using the voice-activated features of Ford SYNC, users could then dictate calendar events, tasks and notes.

Another neat feature of Ford SYNC is its built in Wi-Fi and hot-spot capabilities.  Passengers can use Wi-Fi to access the internet when the car is parked.

Using this built-in Wi-Fi capability, CompanionLink will be able to synchronize data between office PC software (like Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, etc.) and the in-vehicle dashboard.  For example, if a new contact or calendar event is created on the office PC, CompanionLink could transfer that data to the phone book or calendar app in the vehicle.  And vice-versa.

CompanionLink will sync PC with Nexus One

Posted on by Rushang
Reply

CompanionLink announces two-way PC sync with Nexus One on the same day Google unveils the device to customers.  PC users who need to get their contacts, calendar, tasks and notes onto the device have two options – wired USB sync and wireless sync.

Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, GroupWise, ACT!, GoldMine, and Palm Desktop are support.

Visit companionlink.com/android for full details on the sync options available.

Android’s growth

Posted on by Rushang
Reply

AdMob recently published a chart that shows the rapid  of Android-based phones.  The data is based on their advertising network (which serves ads to mobile devices).

Source: AdMob

CompanionLink has supported two-way sync with Android-based phones since day one.  More recently, CompanionLink released USB synchronization with Android devices.  This method of sync does not required data to be hosted in the cloud (such as Google).

Droid user tip to show all contacts

Posted on by Rushang
Reply

Droid 2.0 users who use CompanionLink USB to sync data may notice that some, or perhaps all, of their contacts do not display on the device after synchronizing. The problem is that the display options on the Droid will typically hide the user’s contacts based on group/category membership. Here is how to fix this problem:

1. On the Droid, open Contacts, then go to Menu -> Display Options.
2. Tap the name of the primary contacts account. This will cause the account group list to display.

– To display categorized contacts, select “System group: My Contacts”.

– To display uncategorized contacts, select “All other contacts”.

NOTE: To filter the display so that it only show certain groups (categories), uncheck “System group: My Contacts”, then check the name(s) of the specific groups you want to display.