Syncing cell phone with the Mac

Maybe the issue isn't so much with phones as it is with service providers. Our family uses cell phones heavily, and all use Sprint. Believe me, Sprint has no time for Macintosh users. The family is fairly evenly split between PC and Mac users, yet I'm the only one interested in syncing a phone to any computer.

Depending on how high I ranked syncing, I would take a hard look at providers before the actual hardware. The aforementioned Sprint is very bad regarding Mac support, but others are right with them. Further, if you are in the USA, you are in the land of crippled cell phones. They are purposely crippled by the service providers trying to wring the last dime from their customers (victims?). Buyer beware.

Stuck with Sprint, my syncing solution has been the open source program "BitPim." This PIM program covers many phones. Read about it at: http://www.bitpim.org/ My old Sanyo is nearly four years old now, but I can still sync like a champ to my Mac using BitPim. Perhaps if you find a phone/provider that interests you, but doesn't directly offer Mac support you might find the phone in the list of phones supported by BitPim. Note that BitPim is its own PIM (personal information manager), not a go-between allowing syncing with Apple Mail or Address Book.

On 12/5/2006 9:28 AM, "younkint" wrote:
> Maybe the issue isn't so much with phones as it is with service providers.

A little of both -- different phones have different levels of Mac
compatibility, but if you ever have problems with the phones, it helps to
have a provider that has at least some Mac expertise in their support
department. Of the U.S. providers with which I've had experience, T-Mobile
and Cingular are the most Mac-friendly. Verizon after that, with Sprint at
the bottom. (Although Verizon's habit of crippling phones' built-in
functionality places them at the bottom of the list for me.)

Looking at the list of devices supported by iSync, there are a number of brands missing. For instance, LG, Samsung, and Kyocera are all missing from the list. http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/isync/devices.html

On the other hand, phones such as the Motorola V360, which is listed, is not fully supported on the Mac. I queried Motorola on how to transfer photos between Mac and phone (which is possible on Windows) and was told:

"Regarding your concern, unfortunately at this time, due to licensing issues, our pagers, cellular products and accessories do not support Macintosh because we have not tested our phones with their accessories. You can trust that Motorola is diligently working on future products which will hopefully include Macintosh compatibility, but we do not have an estimated time frame. "

On Dec 5, 2006, at 6:24 PM, Dan Frakes wrote:

> On 12/5/2006 9:28 AM, "younkint" wrote:
>> Maybe the issue isn't so much with phones as it is with service
>> providers.
>
> A little of both -- different phones have different levels of Mac
> compatibility, but if you ever have problems with the phones, it
> helps to
> have a provider that has at least some Mac expertise in their support
> department. Of the U.S. providers with which I've had experience, T-
> Mobile
> and Cingular are the most Mac-friendly. Verizon after that, with
> Sprint at
> the bottom. (Although Verizon's habit of crippling phones' built-in
> functionality places them at the bottom of the list for me.)

We use Verizon, which I really like for its coverage and reliability
in our area. However, I've found them to be extremely non-supportive
in regards to making their phones work with Macs. Do any of you use
Verizon, and if so, what phone do you have and how do you sync it
with your Mac? Our 2-year contract is over in January, and this will
be a factor in whether or not we will decide to renew with them or
move to another provider.

Thanks!

Bill
---
http://billbauer.net

On Dec 8, 2006, at 8:36 AM, William Bauer wrote:
> On Dec 5, 2006, at 6:24 PM, Dan Frakes wrote:
>> On 12/5/2006 9:28 AM, "younkint" wrote:
>>> Maybe the issue isn't so much with phones as it is with service
>>> providers.
>>
>> A little of both -- different phones have different levels of Mac
>> compatibility, but if you ever have problems with the phones, it
>> helps to
>> have a provider that has at least some Mac expertise in their support
>> department. Of the U.S. providers with which I've had experience, T-
>> Mobile
>> and Cingular are the most Mac-friendly. Verizon after that, with
>> Sprint at
>> the bottom. (Although Verizon's habit of crippling phones' built-in
>> functionality places them at the bottom of the list for me.)
>
> We use Verizon, which I really like for its coverage and reliability
> in our area. However, I've found them to be extremely non-supportive
> in regards to making their phones work with Macs. Do any of you use
> Verizon, and if so, what phone do you have and how do you sync it
> with your Mac? Our 2-year contract is over in January, and this will
> be a factor in whether or not we will decide to renew with them or
> move to another provider.

We also use Verizon as our mobile phone provider, and we recently re-
upped for another two year contract because we've also found its
coverage and reliability the best in the area. Unfortunately, we
agree with you that they are not the most Mac friendly, but we
decided to sacrifice compatibility for fewer dropped calls, more
coverage in and out of area, etc. We both synch our Macs with iPods
as it's effortless and a no-brainer.

With our new plan, we got two free LG VX5200 camera phones, and for
our very basic purposes, they are fine. The speakerphone and the
"hands free" driving feature works very well. The phones are light
weight and easy to use for our very basic needs. The voice navigation
can be a PITA, though, when compared to the older, less featured
phones we used to use. The built in camera lacks a flash, but when we
want to take pictures, we use a digital camera. Our needs are basic.

In the NYC metro area, and I think other areas as well, Verizon has
been aggressively upgrading to replace its old copper wire networks
to totally fiber optic to improve its phone service and to prepare
for cable TV offerings. We're guessing that the service will only get
better in the near term.

Marilyn

am 09.12.2006 11:03 Uhr schrieb tidbits-talktidbits.com unter
tidbits-talktidbits.com:
>>> Maybe the issue isn't so much with phones as it is with service
>>> providers.

Well, isn't it the responsibility of the phone's manufacturer to make sure
its phones can be synced with the different computer / operating systems??
It's Sony, Motorola, Ericson, Nokia, you name it, who is responsilbe for
making the drivers available to make their phones compatible with a given
computer. The provide only sells the phone to the customer, it doesn't
manufacture them...

Udo

For what it's worth, I've had a Kyocera 7135 through Verizon since May 2003 and have been able to sync with my Mac using Palm Desktop. Palm worked in OS 9.2.2 and now in 10.3.9. I don't use any other contact, calendar or sync'ing software other than Palm.

The only problem is the headset jack on the 7135 doesn't seem to work with all 2.5 mm connectors so I'm considering the Treo 700p.

On 12 Dec 2006, at 19:57, Udo Huth wrote:

> Well, isn't it the responsibility of the phone's manufacturer to
> make sure
> its phones can be synced with the different computer / operating
> systems??
> It's Sony, Motorola, Ericson, Nokia, you name it, who is
> responsilbe for
> making the drivers available to make their phones compatible with a
> given
> computer. The provide only sells the phone to the customer, it doesn't
> manufacture them...

That would be true if they didn't fiddle with the software in the
phones to add their own telco branding, preferred feature set and
removed features that users might want to use but might impact
revenue streams...

Unlocked phones that ship with the manufacturer's firmware tend to be
better behaved than most telco subsidised handsets, especially in the
US.

        f

On 12-Dec-2006, at 12:57, Marilyn Matty wrote:
> Unfortunately, we agree with you that they are not the most Mac
> friendly,

It's just not Mac-friendly, they are actively hostile to their
customers in general, and specifically hostile to Macs.

Remember, Veriscum is the company that decided a couple of years ago
to simply delete all email coming to their customers from outside the
US. No warning, no appeal, no recovery, just all email from overseas
silently dropped, so your great-aunt back in <insert country here>
wouldn't even know you never got the email.

They are also the company that cannot do simple multiplication, and
believes that $0.002 is exactly the same as ".002 cents".

They are also a famous spam haven, and have routinely refused to do
anything about one of their customers spamming, as long as they are
spamming non-Verizon accounts.

Of the major cellphone companies, they are easily the worst.

Here's a recent tale of woe for you: <http://www.complaints.com/
directory/2006/march/30/26.htm>

This matches my limited experience with Verizon, where on average I
get hung-up on about a third of the time when I'm told to hold or I'm
being 'transfered'.

I've stopped dealing with then at all. If someone has a problem and
it turns out Verizon is involved in anyway, I tell my customer that
they will have to either deal with Verizon themselves, or call me
back when they've switched providers.

Remember, Verizon is just NYNEX renamed, and we all remember what a
charming company NYNEX was, right?


--
"I used to hate the sun, because it'd shone on everything I'd done.
Made me feel that all that I had done was overfill the ashtray of my
life."

On 12/12/06 13:57, "Lauren Hutton" <LChuttonaol.com> wrote:

> For what it's worth, I've had a Kyocera 7135 through Verizon since May 2003
> and have been able to sync with my Mac using Palm Desktop. Palm worked in OS
> 9.2.2 and now in 10.3.9. I don't use any other contact, calendar or sync'ing
> software other than Palm.

Palm Desktop? Ugh. Missing Sync, it's worth every penny

--
John C. Welch Writer/Analyst
Bynkii.com Mac and other opinions
jwelchbynkii.com

On 12-Dec-2006, at 12:57, Udo Huth wrote:
> am 09.12.2006 11:03 Uhr schrieb tidbits-talktidbits.com unter
> tidbits-talktidbits.com:
>>>> Maybe the issue isn't so much with phones as it is with service
>>>> providers.
>
> Well, isn't it the responsibility of the phone's manufacturer to
> make sure
> its phones can be synced with the different computer / operating
> systems??
> It's Sony, Motorola, Ericson, Nokia, you name it, who is
> responsilbe for
> making the drivers available to make their phones compatible with a
> given
> computer. The provide only sells the phone to the customer, it doesn't
> manufacture them...

Ah, if only that were true. the actaul truth is that the providers
cripple the phones and put their OWN SOFTWARE on them.


--
But just because you've seen me on your TV
Doesn't mean I'm any more enlightened than you

At 11:57 AM -0800 12/12/06, Udo Huth wrote:
>am 09.12.2006 11:03 Uhr schrieb tidbits-talktidbits.com unter
>tidbits-talktidbits.com:
>>>> Maybe the issue isn't so much with phones as it is with service
>>>> providers.
>
>Well, isn't it the responsibility of the phone's manufacturer to make sure
>its phones can be synced with the different computer / operating systems??
>It's Sony, Motorola, Ericson, Nokia, you name it, who is responsilbe for
>making the drivers available to make their phones compatible with a given
>computer. The provide only sells the phone to the customer, it doesn't
>manufacture them...

That's not exactly true. The manufacturers create the hardware, yes.
But the interface and features are joint products between the
manufacturers and the service providers.

That is another why a RAZR from Cingular and a RAZR from Verizon are
not the same. (The first being that their usability in large part
comes from the networks they access).

So, if Verizon wants a software feature added or removed, they give
their requirements to the manufacturer, who in turn customizes the
OS, software and interface as requested.

It's not a question of the phone itself (the hardware) being
compatible. It's a question of their being some way for the computer
and phone to communicate meaningfully, and that is a product of the
software on each. Because service providers demand customization in
that area, manufacturers cannot simply have one RAZR driver.

And if the service providers specs do not include (or even allow for)
certain drivers, what should the manufacturers do? They do what their
customers (the service providers) ask them to do.

--

=Alex Hoffman
Leadership Policy & Politics
Teachers College, Columbia University

On 12/13/06 17:33, "Google Kreme" <gkremegmail.com> wrote:

> On 12-Dec-2006, at 12:57, Marilyn Matty wrote:
>> Unfortunately, we agree with you that they are not the most Mac
>> friendly,
>
> It's just not Mac-friendly, they are actively hostile to their
> customers in general, and specifically hostile to Macs.

Currently, they're the only cell network with EV-DO ExpressCards AND Mac
setup software. By that standard, they're 100% more mac - friendly than any
other cell network provider in the US.

--
John C. Welch Writer/Analyst
Bynkii.com Mac and other opinions
jwelchbynkii.com

> Palm Desktop? Ugh. Missing Sync, it's worth every penny…

Having just acquired a Treo 700p, I've been very interested in
Missing Sync. I'm using the trial version right now, and pretty happy
with it.

While it may be "worth every penny", does anyone know of an
occasional (or otherwise) opportunity to get a discount? After
looking at all the stuff I'd like to get in the way of software for
the Treo, it could really add up!

Thanks,
John

>While it may be "worth every penny", does anyone know of an
>occasional (or otherwise) opportunity to get a discount?

We're not talking MS Office or Photoshop pricing here.

Missing Synch is less than $40!

That said, shop around, or maybe look for "show specials" during
Macworld Expo, etc. Really though, throwing thirty-some bucks at a
phone you paid several hundred dollars to buy, not to mention
probably around a hundred bucks a month to use, seems like a trivial
expense in the larger scheme of things.

Put off buying the second car charger or something. =P


--chuck
   ^^^^^
"happy to give Mark|Space money for making sure I never have to see
Palm Desktop EVER AGAIN!"

I have a RAZR and have become increasingly frustrated by the useless phone book, so I succumbed to Onsync. I love the way it works, but there is a problem. On the phone, for people with several numbers, I now have separate entries with a middle initial that indicates the type of number, thus:

John M Smith mobile number John W Smith work number

I've tried all the suggestions at the OnSync site, with no success.

Any ideas?

Jeremy

On Apr 24, 2007, at 8:23 AM, j.cherfas wrote:

> I have a RAZR and have become increasingly frustrated by the
> useless phone book, so I succumbed to Onsync. I love the way it
> works, but there is a problem. On the phone, for people with
> several numbers, I now have separate entries with a middle initial
> that indicates the type of number, thus:
>
> John M Smith mobile number John W Smith work number
>
> I've tried all the suggestions at the OnSync site, with no success.

I have a RAZR phone with TMobile and simply use iSync over Bluetooth
with no problems. There is a setting on the Motorola phones to
combine all the phone numbers for a particular person into a single
entry.

Go into the phonebook, select the menu, and scroll to the 3rd to the
last entry, "Setup". Press "Select", and go down to the "View" field.
Change this from "View All Contacts" to "View Primary Contacts".


--
David Weintraub
davidweintraubworld.net
davidweintraub.name

On 25-Apr-2007, at 07:09, David Weintraub wrote:
> On Apr 24, 2007, at 8:23 AM, j.cherfas wrote:
>> John M Smith mobile number John W Smith work number
>
> There is a setting on the Motorola phones to combine all the phone
> numbers for a particular person into a single entry.

Which will not work if Onsync is putting in middle initials in the
names. the Motorola will not see "John M Smith" and "John W Smith"
as the same person.

--
Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains.

On 4/26/07, Google Kreme <gkremegmail.com> wrote:
> On 25-Apr-2007, at 07:09, David Weintraub wrote:
> >
> > There is a setting on the Motorola phones to combine all the phone
> > numbers for a particular person into a single entry.
>
> Which will not work if Onsync is putting in middle initials in the
> names. the Motorola will not see "John M Smith" and "John W Smith"
> as the same person.

 what is the setting?

On Apr 26, 2007, at 11:21 AM, Nicky Y. Schleider wrote:

> On 4/26/07, Google Kreme <gkremegmail.com> wrote:
>> On 25-Apr-2007, at 07:09, David Weintraub wrote:
>> >
>> > There is a setting on the Motorola phones to combine all the phone
>> > numbers for a particular person into a single entry.
>>
>> Which will not work if Onsync is putting in middle initials in the
>> names. the Motorola will not see "John M Smith" and "John W Smith"
>> as the same person.
>
> what is the setting?

I downloaded OnSync, just so I can answer this question:

Go to OnSync->Preferences. Select the "Description Format" section on
top of the preference pane. There you'll see four drop down lists.
The first is set to "first". The second is set to "type (initial)
upper case", the third drop down fields is set to "last", and the
final one is set to "none".

Just below it should see: 'Example: "Jane W Smith"'.

This is the format that phone numbers from your addressbook will be
sync'd to your phone's address book. What you should do is change the
drop down fields on top to store the name on the phone in the format
you want. What you really should do is change the second one to be
something other than "type". Changing it to "none" will do the job.

--
David Weintraub
davidweintraubworld.net
davidweintraub.name