Database Users

NNTP NewsReader

Hey. I've been searching for a good NTTP newsreader for my t-mobile mda, and I've only found crap programs. the closest i came was some software that began qith a "Q," but setting it up just to read one newsgroup was near impossible. has anyone found a quality app? Thanks.

If you use Newsgator online, there is a new mobile version that will sync all of your PC's Newsgator Online feeds with your device.
If not, try the brand new offering by Spb called Spb Insight. Let's you read feeds online and offline. And if the feed is just a headline - it also downloads the link the feed refers to so that you can still read it offline.
Finally there is Newsbreak by Resco, which is a nice reader, but the feeds are limited.

Also, if you already use Qmail or just want a great mailer client, give a try to the free Qmail - it also has excellent NNTP newsreading capabilities. Please see http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=557&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 for more info.

J-Mac: I don't think he was talking about RSS feeds, but Usenet Newsgroups.
I too tried Quesnetsoft and found it hard to use

thanks for the suggestions.. i'll try qmail first. since it's free..

adam79 said:
thanks for the suggestions.. i'll try qmail first. since it's free..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice idea; you'll love it, I'm sure. Also, don't forget to check out the Mailer Bible if you want to use it as a mailer client too.

SyncMyCal & Google Calendar

I've been trying for months to reliably sync my Wizard to Google's Calendar, and I must have tried every app out there for the purpose. Today I stumbled on SyncMyCal, and I think I've found a winner.
I did have trouble with an annually recurring event, but this seems to be an issue with how Outlook formats things. At least SyncMyCal gave a useful error message, and I was able to also resolve the problem. This issue may have also been the cause of some problems I had with other applications, but none of them gave enough info to find the root cause.
The free version is limited to only three days forward and back, and doesn't autosync, but that's fair. If you want more, there is a paid version.
I don't have any connection with these guys, I just posted this to save others some of the wasted time I invested looking for a solution.
***** UPDATE: Having used this program for six weeks, I'm withdrawing my endorsement, and have deleted it from my Wizard. Although it is somewhat better than others, it is still to flaky to be reliable, deleting some events, duplicating others, and changing the times on still others.
Back to searching

I've been using GooSync for a couple of months. I don't update my events on Google--just on the PPC then sync. It was spotty with recurring events, but has gotten better lately. I also use the contacts sync one way as well. Either I or Goosync has duplicated all the entries once. There was also one time where ALL the contacts and calendar entries were wiped out! I never figured out who was at fault then. I've been using various sync software for a decade and there never seems to be a solution that works right and then keeps on working right.
I think I paid around 20 bucks for a years service. I have to say, they are getting better rapidly. I would try SyncMyCal, but the contacts sync is REALLY what I want....
What is killing my Wing is the size of the pim.vol file, 4.72 mb's and growing. I have deleted all the voice tags and only have ~10 contact photos (resized for the web with CS3, ~7-11kb each.) I pisses me off that I can't move that file to a storage card. What the hell is the use a PPC that limits how many peeps you know or do business with. That makes voice commands and photo contacts useless! I know, I know-- I should get a Tilt-- but that's just a temporary solution. Anyone know of a contacts program that stores it's data on a card?

Google Calendar Sync
5 March 2008 Google Calendar Sync allows you to sync events between Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar.
http://www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?answer=89955&
You can now access your Google Calendar account from your mobile phone! Just visit mobile.google.com/calendar/ with your phone's web browser and once you're logged in, you'll see your list of upcoming events with date and time information in an easy-to-browse format.
Cheers
Tom

Not Helpful
Several major problems with the last post. First, the URL listed for sync info is garbled.
Second, it only works if you have a Widoze desktop. I'm running Linux.
Finally, using the mobile web interface doesn't allow you to edit or delete events, so it's of very limited use.

klausner said:
First, the URL listed for sync info is garbled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
URL link fixed - thanks for pointing this out. Note the Bboard truncates the display but now the link works. If not, try a search:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Google+Calendar+Sync
klausner said:
Second, it only works if you have a Widoze desktop. I'm running Linux.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree but none of the posts mention Linux. In fact the first post mentions "issue with how Outlook formats things"
klausner said:
Finally, using the mobile web interface doesn't allow you to edit or delete events, so it's of very limited use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The mobile web interface does allow you to ADD events and has a bandwith friendly view of the next few appointments. Nobody in xda-developers forum had mentioned either mobile.google.com/calendar or indeed the new Google Calendar Sync before me.
klausner said:
Several major problems with the last post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think these are "major" problems or warrant a rating of "Not Helpful". I shared the pain of the first two posters who "must have tried every app out there" that "duplicated" or "wiped out!" all the entries . Like them, I "just posted this to save others some of the wasted time I invested looking for a solution."
Cheers
Tom

The missing integration between Google and google phone.

The missing integration between Google and google phone.
Being an android phone for seveal months. I feel that there's some missing integration between Google and google phone.
for example:
1. Why can't we sync outlook's memo with Google doc?
2. Why can't we sync outlook's todo list with Google task?(Currently,gTask can do this)
3. Google checkout: Google already got this payment mechanism,but should be integrated with google phone and market.
4. Google books: why can we browse and buy those books on google phone?
5. Youtube: Why can't we pay for TV drama or movie?

matika said:
The missing integration between Google and google phone.
Being an android phone for seveal months. I feel that there's some missing integration between Google and google phone.
for example:
1. Why can't we sync outlook's memo with Google doc?
2. Why can't we sync outlook's todo list with Google task?(Currently,gTask can do this)
3. Google checkout: Google already got this payment mechanism,but should be integrated with google phone and market.
4. Google books: why can we browse and buy those books on google phone?
5. Youtube: Why can't we pay for TV drama or movie?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. why is it phone related if you can't sync between outlook and google?
2. see 1.
3. how do you think paid apps are paid for in the market?
4. can't you browse google books via the website? besides that, there are apps for that on the market...
5. please enlighten me: is it possible at all (i.e. in webbrowser on pc)? tbh, who wants to pay for something and then watch it in youtube quality on a 3" screen?

1. Since PalmOS and WM phone can sync with outlook. Why not google? Many people still rely on outlook for daily work and personal life.
2. See 1.
3. For payment of the market. Please note that there still is still some country without payment mechanism. Like where I come from. I'm not able to buy any AP directly from market.
4. Of course I can browse google books on my PC. But I wish I had a dedicate program to view those book,just like those ebook reader on PalmOS and WM.
5. The movie and TV show on iTunes store would be a good example. Wish we can use it on Android phones.

matika said:
1. Since PalmOS and WM phone can sync with outlook. Why not google? Many people still rely on outlook for daily work and personal life.
2. See 1.
3. For payment of the market. Please note that there still is still some country without payment mechanism. Like where I come from. I'm not able to buy any AP directly from market.
4. Of course I can browse google books on my PC. But I wish I had a dedicate program to view those book,just like those ebook reader on PalmOS and WM.
5. The movie and TV show on iTunes store would be a good example. Wish we can use it on Android phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. i'we sync with outlook without any problem, mail, contacts and appointment with HTC sync are always ok.. and when i'm away i use an exchange server and all is fine
2 se 1
3 for payment is not a problem of the phone but is a legislation/country problem, in my country google as discussed with cell operators (safe data transfer with CC an so on) and when as recived the ok google as opened the market to paid apps...
4 there are many ebook reader for adroid...just search!
5 no idea about that, i don't use this...
and at the end why i love so much the iphone or a WM palmOS and u have buyed an android platform?

if you want itunes go get an iphone. the other points are not google's fault.

Lets not get too blinded by our like of our Heros. I am a great fan of this phone and it does most of what I want it to do very well. But the one disapointment is the syncing.
I use the phone for business and leisure and I use Outlook to manage lots of things - it is the industry standard. I need to see those things when on the move - like waiting at an airport or sitting in a train, and my phone is a convenient way of doing that without having to get the laptop out every time. On my previous WM TD using Activsync I could sync across my emails, tasks, contacts and diary. In addition I could choose other Office docs like excel and word files to sync across too.
Now all I can sync across is my contacts and diary. And an additional frustration is that the Quickoffice app for reading word and excel files can't read Office 2007 docs! Sorting that out is not rocket science is it? And it SHOULD be google's responsibility

@peterc10, With 2.1 you can sync exchange accounts. There are several apps on the Market that will allow you to view & even edit any file types that can be create by Office. Last time I checked MICROSOFT made office & Windows Mobile was create by MICROSOFT, so I fail to see Google's requirement to support a none standardized forum like Office 2007 creates.

gu1dry said:
@peterc10, With 2.1 you can sync exchange accounts. There are several apps on the Market that will allow you to view & even edit any file types that can be create by Office. Last time I checked MICROSOFT made office & Windows Mobile was create by MICROSOFT, so I fail to see Google's requirement to support a none standardized forum like Office 2007 creates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I Don't use MS exchange, as I said I use Outlook. If there are several apps available perhaps you could point me to them, if it is not too much bother.
I am not sure what your definition of "non-standardised" is but it certainly aint the same as mine if it includes a 3 year old version of the most commonly used office software in the world - i.e. Microsoft Office
Oh and by the way I thought Windows Mobile and Windows may have had some sort of connection, but thanks for letting me know they are both made by the same company - I would never have guessed. But then I guess it must be all my fault . after all Google can do no wrong

peterc10 said:
Now all I can sync across is my contacts and diary. And an additional frustration is that the Quickoffice app for reading word and excel files can't read Office 2007 docs! Sorting that out is not rocket science is it? And it SHOULD be google's responsibility
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can - just get Documents2Go.
Note Quickoffice is not a Google product in the first place - it just so happens that HTC decided to bundle it with the Hero. At present, there is no Premier version of Quickoffice (required for Office 2007 compatibility) for Android.
Regards,
Dave

foxmeister said:
You can - just get Documents2Go.
Note Quickoffice is not a Google product in the first place - it just so happens that HTC decided to bundle it with the Hero. At present, there is no Premier version of Quickoffice (required for Office 2007 compatibility) for Android.
Regards,
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Dave. Others have pointed me to Documents to go so i will investigate that. Any other suggestions on the syncing front would be gratefully received.

quick way to view email (office) attachment?

searched and didn't get any results. my friend owns this phone so I have no idea how to work it through.
basically she is asking how she could directly open email attachments (mostly office documents and pdf files), I find it only offers option to save to sd and then open it with documents to go or pdf viewer, etc.. I don't understand why there is no pre-installed document viewer? but hopefully you guys can prove me wrong or some better solutions.

[APPS][SYNC] 11 Apps to keep your Computers and Android synced

I have lately been playing around with my SGS2, trying to setup a nice sync between my Home PC, Laptop & Phone with the use of some battery-hogging sync apps. I said f* it to trying to keep my battery going for as long as possible - this phone is a smart-phone and I sure am going to use it as such. With the programs (+ normal daily usage) I will list below my SGS2 will easily run for 24+ hours without a charge and that's all you really need, charging it every night is not that much of a hassle.
Here are some of the programs I have used to get the job done. If you know any better solutions or other programs you use, please do share!
Firefox Sync (built-in to the browser)
For keeping all my bookmarks, sessions & browser history stored online for easy access. Everything is still synced locally so no need to worry in case you can not connect to the Mozilla servers. And I must say I like having the browser history with me on the SGS2 it saves tons of time when visiting certain familiar sites that you don’t have bookmarked! Firefox Beta on the SGS2 works well enough with the exception of no flash support.
Alternatives: Xmarks & Opera has a similar solution as “Firefox Sync”
Lastpass (Browser extension)
For keeping all your passwords saved online “securly” and then automatically logging you into your favorite sites. It can also save user registration info to make it easier/faster to register on new sites. If you are using Firefox own built in way of doing this - then stop it right now! The way Firefox does this is not secure enough and can quite easily be cracked with some basic knowledge. Lastpass is a lot more secure in the way it stores your passwords.
Read It Later (Browser extension & App on android)
A way to keep “temporary” bookmarks synced. Easily put it’s a secondary place to keep bookmarks that can easily be added and just as easily be removed (1click). Perfect for saving a bookmark in a long forum thread or other small items that you want to read later and remove after that.
Evernote
A way to keep all your notes synced & organized. There is many other ways to do this but Evernote does a good job. I personally use it to up-keep a ToDo List, save important notes & having a own sections for Android, PC, Work, School, Shopping etc. The interface makes it better then having a .txt in Dropbox and the program really starts to shine when you have it with you on multiply devices and always have access to all your notes quickly and easily
Dropbox / SugarSync
For saving files online and getting them synced locally on all your PCs. A good way for backing up your files as well! These programs should be familiar to most people by now. I personally use Dropbox it seems a bit more stable and the download speeds are faster. But SugarSync gives more free space (5GB) and the android app has more functions. I would like to use SugarSync but I have read about people having so much problem with it so I have stuck with the Basic & Stable Dropbox. These services are the easiest way to move files between your Computer and Android - perfect for getting your photos moved from the phone to the PC! I also recommend putting some portable apps in the Dropbox folder, quite handy to have. Check portableapps.com/apps for some free software that have been made portable.
Also take a look at “15 Hacks Every Dropbox User Should Know” maximumpc.com/article/features/15_things_you_have_know_about_dropbox?page=0,0
Thunderbird & Google Calender
How To: Integrate Google Calendar Into Thunderbird
makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-integrate-google-calendar-into-thunderbird/
Thunderbird for keeping all my e-mail accounts in one place + Google Calendar setup into it. If you add something to the calender on the phone it gets updated in Thunderbird and vice versa. It feels more natural to use the calender in Thunderbird then doing it from the Google Calender homepage. And I really enjoy reading all my e-mails in one place!
Google Reader
Keep your RSS feeds in one place and “synced”. A really awesome way of making sure you don't have to read new items multiple times. I have really been enjoying the time saved after taking this in use. Going from Home PC-to-Latop-to-Phone and always being able to check if there is any new news-items is really handy and time saving. The android app is also quite clean and a simple icon on your homescreen keeps you up-to-date on new items.
Alternatives: NewsRob
Google Docs
An easy way to be able to work with documents from anywhere. Also nice not worrying about having Office installed everywhere. The collaboration and share functions are also good features.
Alternatives: Portable Open Office & documents in Dropbox
Spotify
Music, music, music. This will cost you some money but in my opinion this is money well spent. For 9,99€ per month you get access to all the music you need on all your devices and you can even save them locally with the payed subscription. After I started using spotify ~2years ago I have not looked back and I have added almost 2000 tracks to my playlist soon. To be able to have that library with me on the phone is priceless. The tracks that can not be found on spotify can be added manually and then synced over WI-FI to the phone easily + you are able to have offline music saved on the phone so you dont have to worry if you are in a place with bad 3G/4G coverage!
uTorrent 3.0 & uTorrent Remote
Not a sync app really, but a way to keep track of your torrents remotely. You can also add torrents to your homepc remotely, so when you get home everything is there ready and waiting for you. And with the android app you can download stuff to the phone from the uTorrent at home!
TeamViewer
Free commercial remote-desktop. Very light, very easy to setup and very easy to use. And the android app works really well, so you got access to your computers from everywhere. In my case this is a last way out, if I need to drop something into Dropbox or do something on my computers it’s nice to have this setup and ready to use. Just in case something pops up!
________
Thats about it. I also use a sBNC to stay connected to IRC from multiple device at the same time, but that does not really belong in this thread. I hope you found something useful & if you got any better alternatives or other programs that you use - then please do share!

Excellent post! bound to help new and old users alike, well done!
Cheers

Missing Google Music Beta.
Admitted it is a invite only beta atm but for people seeking just music syncing it works perfectly.

Music Beta sure looks nice, looking forward to try it. Too bad invites is currently only available in the United States. Although Spotify is also able to sync your Music locally for offline play on the phone (but it's not free)

Thank you for this good summary of useful apps.
I personally only use Dropbox and Google docs.
Gdocs is able to store all kind of file, I use it to share .zip, .tgz or any other souce files (i find it easier to share files than dropbox).

Useful list, thanks!

thanks for the list

If you use Dropbox then you'd like Dropsync. It's more like the real desktop sync. I don't know why Dropbox doesn't make their Android software work like Dropsync.

Thanks for Dropsync, will definitely check it out! Can also name DropSnap an App that automatically uploads pictures to Dropbox after they are taken. In the SugarSync andoird app both these features are present. I just don't feel comfortable using SugarSync. The latest version of my school/work file is more important any day of the week!

Midair said:
Music Beta sure looks nice, looking forward to try it. Too bad invites is currently only available in the United States. Although Spotify is also able to sync your Music locally for offline play on the phone (but it's not free)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an account and I don't live in the Us. The magic weird is proxy. For me it's just the ability to have an online backup of my music library. It's free and it works, that's what does it for me.
For people looking for automatic picture uploading, the google+ app is able to automatically upload your pics to picasa.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

One thing is for sure, all the services that google provides are incredible. Just google alone will make your phone a sync-fest! Google Docs, Reader, Contacts, Gmail & Calendar you can get most your stuff done with these apps.