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I’ll begin here with the summary and call for cooperation for the sake of OS X and BlackBerry users everywhere! I have included sync instructions at the end of this post FYI.
Mark/Space has EXCELLENT syncing software for phones and OS X users known as the “Missing Sync”. It includes an easy-to-use interface and it works easily and reliably. Currently it handles an advanced sync for platforms like: PalmOS (Treo, etc), Windows Mobile (Blackjack, Q, etc), and even the Sony PSP. The reliability and support for the product is very worth the ~$40 USD cost. If only there was a Missing Sync for BlackBerry (they have a survey for readers to fill out)…
Mark/Space Website
Mark/Space BlackBerry Survey
Research In Motion (RIM)’s BlackBerry is an excellent phone platform, working off years of refinement by the pickiest of consumers. They’ve now added multimedia functionality on the Blackberry Pearl that works pretty well and, if properly marketed, should open up their user base (it’s inexpensive for a Smartphone too!). The Pearl is available through America’s largest - Cingular, T-Mobile, and the Canadian powerhouse Rogers.
BlackBerry Main Website
BlackBerry Pearl Website
So if you own a BlackBerry and use OS X, here’s the good and the bad news…
The Good News - RIM licensed an OS X sync free to BlackBerry owners.
The Bad News - PocketMac is not an easy, reliable, or powerful solution.
MacWorld UK - PLEASE RE-REVIEW PocketMac for BlackBerry!!!
Much to my dismay and seemingly hundreds or thousands of other vocal reviews on various web pages, the sync licensed by BlackBerry for OS X known as PocketMac sucks. I try not to use that word, but there’s no politically correct way to express the unbelievable complications, problems, unreliability, and unintuitive user interface (and installer). The company that makes this software, Information Appliance Associates, also makes PocketPC sync too, but after my PocketMac experience for BlackBerry I agree with a review I read on the web -it is very much NOT worthy of the 4-1/2 of 5 “mice” it was awarded by MacWorld UK.
I look to Mark/Space to help fix this problem, even though it’s not their fault…
MAKE YOUR SOFTWARE for BLACKBERRY!!!
Now, the reason I bring Mark/Space into this is because I believe they can fix this problem by making the “Missing Sync” for BlackBerry. It is my humble opinion that RIM only licensed PocketMac for their users because there was not another solution on the market. Pardon my play on their own words, but I believe that if Mark/Space found the “Missing Sync” for BlackBerry, they could get the license with RIM for their software to be provided to the loyal and growing BlackBerry contingent.
Okay, maybe Mark/Space hasn’t done it because it does not meet the business case, or maybe RIM is too cheap to fork out the licensing fee (I doubt). I still believe that Missing Sync would be a heavily purchased product in their portfolio, even if it were offered standalone like the rest of their products. They currently compete with Information Appliance Associates PocketMac for Windows Mobile and they should be winning that race hands down. If Mark/Space is not winning that race, then a move like this could win them significant accolades (and revenue)!
Click here to fill out the Mark/Space survey to make this happen!
My survey looked like this:
What model BlackBerry is your primary device?
Pearl
Please rate the importance of the following possible features on a scale of 1 to 5:
Sync tasks - 2
Sync notes - 3
Sync calendar events - 5
Sync contacts - 5
Email sync with Apple Mail - 4
Email sync with Microsoft Entourage - 1
Call log backup and access on the Mac - 5
Encrypted password and account number storage/syncing - 2
iPhoto album import/export between Mac and BlackBerry - 5
iTunes playlist/music/podcast download to BlackBerry - 5
Install video files to Blackberry Pearl - 5
Backup and restore of the BlackBerry - 4
Installation of third-party applications from the Mac - 4
Are there any special features not mentioned above that you’d like to see in a BlackBerry sync product for the Mac?
I would like to sync “sent email” on the BlackBerry with my mail program’s Sent folder.
I miss being able to use my Cellular Data (Edge/GPRS/GSM) on my Mac when I have no Wi-Fi.
The BlackBerry has a separate directory for /ringtones from /music. Being able to dip into the /music/ folder from the ringtone menu would be VERY nice (maybe an alias?).
I look to Research In Motion to help fix this problem for BlackBerry users…
ENTICE Mark/Space to MAKE THEIR SOFTWARE for BLACKBERRY!!!
I want to give RIM kudos on the best SmartPhone on the market - BlackBerry Pearl, an inexpensive and reliable Smartphone. Honestly after handling it I almost stopped looking forward to the coming of Apple’s iPhone - that was, until I sync’d it. It is easy to see that RIM required a solution to open their loyal users into the loyal Mac contingent, but this was not the way to do it. Unfortunately the message boards and review columns are full of dissatisfied Mac/BlackBerry users, frustrated newbies and veterans alike, and words of suggestion for Windows and Palm even against their better judgment.
Do it right or don’t do it at all, measure twice and cut once. And with all due respect, which I have for RIM, the move to license PocketMac was just a bad decision among many right decisions. Whether it was haste, lack of options or a lack of thorough research by RIM, PocketMac has turned out to be one bad apple in a “Blue-Ribbon” barrel. It pains me significantly to say that if RIM does not choose to entice Mark/Space to create the Missing Sync for BlackBerry, that they might as well pull the licensed sync software off the shelf.
I apologize in advance for my Blunt on this topic, but I feel very strongly about this. I want to trade in my Treo and convert the rest of the Windows and Palm world if I can. The sales pitch is to but a Mac and a Pearl - I think it’s a match made in Heaven. Both companies have VERY loyal fans and both products work. My iPhone is BlackBerry Pearl … once it works with my computer.
Sincerely,
Scott Stevens
Following are my instructions for PocketMac sync for BlackBerry and OS X.
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) I have not heard back from Mark/Space when specifically this product is supposed to be released - their site indicates Q1 2007 which gives then only 75 more days.