BitPim isn't a new app, but I've been using it for quite a while, and I thought I'd share. We write a fair amount about the iPhone here at Download Squad, but some of us are stuck with less-than-smart phones that are over a year old, on CDMA networks. Not that I'm bitter, or anything, but how are you supposed to get data like contacts and ringtones onto (and off of) these things? BitPim!

Bitpim is an an open source app that lets you access your phone's data via Bluetooth. I use it to get custom mp3 ringtones onto my junky Samsung dumbphone, and it works phenomenally well. There's a list of compatible phones on the Bitpim site, but chances are that yours will work. Be aware that Bitpim could potentially mess up your phone, although I haven't any issues with it personally.

Dropbox has gone public, opening it's file sharing and backup services to the public. The cross-platform tool makes it easy for users of multiple computers and operating systems to keep their files safely backed up and in sync.

Brad first posted about Dropbox in March, and the development team has been hard at work ever since.

Once you've uploaded a file, the software is smart enough to upload only the changes. For anyone who has an ISP with a ridiculous upload cap (30k/s for me) it's a welcome feature, since it means I won't be uploading a 75 megabyte PSD over and over. It also makes sharing work with my Mac-using partner a snap.

The web interface - "Now with lots of Ajax!" according to Dropbox - has seen a number of improvements. It handles multiple uploads nicely, and makes accessing and storing files a breeze even when you're not using the desktop client.

You can view a screencast of the service, or take the old-fashioned tour if you'd prefer.

Dropbox is feature packed, gives you 2 gigabytes of free, online storage, and is definitely one of the better services available.

While you're busy flicking and pinching and shaking your iPhone, watching apps crash and getting a white screen of death, I've been busy editing Office docs and playing Insaniquarium. What, you can't do that on your precious touch-screen of joy? Pity. And yes, Palm OS 5.whatever, aka "Garnet" is pretty old. So what? Let's change the name to "Helen Mirren." See? Infinitely sexier.

I wrote about my love of the Palm T|X a year ago today. The fact is, I never owned a Newton. I went Palm OS and never looked back. Chalk it up to the fact that my pockets wouldn't accommodate a MessagePad 2000. Since I bought my first Palm Pilot Pro many moons ago, I've owned a delectable Handspring Visor (the expansion port was too cool, but modules were also too expensive), a Palm V and a WristPDA. I'd still use the WristPDA except for the fact that it won't hold a charge.

OK, we're still waiting for the next version of Palm OS. Where are the multimedia features the Be acquisition would add? What about this Linux-based rewrite? Who cares? The fact is, Palm got it right when it came to synchronizing data: make it simple, fast and reliable. Nowadays true, ubiquitous data sync is like a unicorn with herpes -- you wish you could find it, but there's always this glaring flaw: datatypes don't match up, making mush of your info. I chalk that up to Palm losing the battle they started long ago and never opening up their tech to become a real standard. But when it worked, man it worked well. There's a lot to be said for simplicity, and using Palm OS is like sitting in a classic car. You aren't worried about all the buttons -- you just drive.

So yeah, the iPhone has advantages, like a pretty decent browser, multi-touch and video playback that isn't a battery-draining and soul-sucking experience. But I'll keep my soul and the Palm -- because nothing says love like an SD card full of memories, games and work documents. There are still lots of little touches in Palm OS worth keeping it around (how about keeping your icons organized?). As Riley and Huey's Granddad would say, "there's no school like the old school." Word. Did I mention I can edit Word docs?

In the gallery I list a few apps notably missing on the iPhone but readily available for Palm OS.

Since the dawn of time Google Calendar, we've been waiting for a free, easy way to fully synchronize our Google Calendar to desktop calendar clients like iCal. We'd love to be able to access the same calendar data across multiple computers, but it's always been a messy affair, not free, an incomplete solution, or PC only.

Well, Calgoo has been one of those paid options up until now, but the minds behind the program just announced that it is free from here on out. That's right, Calgoo is now the free option in Google Calendar and desktop caledar synchronization. Calgoo officially supports 30 Boxes, Apple iCal, Microsoft Outlook, and -- of course -- Google Calendar.

Calgoo's "Chief Owl" will not employ ads in the app in order to pay for the costs of developing the program, but the team will begin to run ads on Calgoo Hub and possibly other future products. As for the software itself, it's pretty easy to use, and it provides for two-way synchonization, which means that any changes on one calendar will apply to the other.

[via WebWorkerDaily]

Microsoft has thrown open the doors to its Live Mesh file synchronization service. Now anyone can sign into the service using a Windows Live ID. You no longer need to sign up for an account and sit on a waiting list.

Live Mesh, which launched as a technical preview in April, allows users to synchronize files across multiple computers. All of your synchronized files will also be available via the web for easy access even if you're not near one of your computers. The service is still in beta, but now it's a public beta.

The Live Mesh interface also features a nifty news category that presents you with recent updates to your folders and files. If you add music to the shared music folder on your home PC, you can read about it on your work PC or on the web.

Eventually Microsoft plans to roll out Live Mesh clients for Mac and mobile devices, but right now Live Mesh works only with Windows XP and Vista.

[via LiveSide]

Foxmarks is a Firefox plugin that syncing bookmarks between different computers. This is really handy if you're looking for a way to make sure you have the same set of bookmarks at home, at work and on the road. But what if you don't want all of your bookmarks everywhere you go? They've got that covered, too, with a new profile feature.

With profiles, you can pick and choose which bookmarks you want, and where you want them. That way, you can keep those -- ahem -- private bookmarks at home. Syncing still works like normal, so your bookmarks aren't going anywhere, and you can add them or delete them from profiles at any time. You can also keep a mobile profile, so the mobile-optimized sites you use are close at hand on my.foxmarks.com.

[via Cybernet]

Apple is launching a new service called MobileMe that will provide push mail, contacts, and calendar data. In practical terms, that means you can synchronize your personal data across multiple computers and devices. And the service works with both Windows and OS X.

In other words, you can synchronize your Mac, PC, and iPhone. The service works with Mac's Mail.app, iCal, and Address book. On Windows, the service syncs with Outlook. In addition to PIM data, you can use MobileMe to syncrhonize photos from your iPhone.

Apple's Phil Schiller demonstrated the new service at WWDC this morning, showing you email gets pushed to all devices in a matter of seconds. There are also web based versions of the applications that look like desktop apps, including a photo application that looks like iPhoto.

The service will replace .Mac, and current .Mac users will automatically be upgraded to MobileMe. For new customers, the service will cost $99 per year for 20GB of online storage. There's a 60 day free trial available as well. MobileMe isn't live yet, but will be available at Me.com soon.

Syncplicity is a new service that lets you synchronize files between two or more computers. The desktop client is extraordinarily easy to setup and configure, and it synchronizes new and changed files pretty much immediately as long as you're connected to the internet. Syncplicity also saves a copy of each file to its server so you can access your files from any computer with a web browser.

So far, it all sounds a lot like SugarSync, right? Well, there are a few differences. Syncplicity is Windows only at the moment (although a Mac client is coming later this year), and has no support for mobile devices. But Syncplicity does have one nifty trick up its sleeve: integration with online services like Google Docs and Facebook. So users can automatically synchronize Office documents or Facebook photos.

Syncplicity is free while in beta, but because the service offers users unlimited online storage, the company will eventually start charging a fee. According to WebWare, we can expect prices to be in the $20/month range.

File synchronization service SugarSync emerges from private beta on Thursday, March 20th. SugarSync lets you synchronize files between multiple computers and portable devices, with clients for Mac, PC, and Windows Mobile devices as well as a web-based interface. We gave away a few hundred invites when the service launched in private beta last month.

If you were one of the folks who signed up for the service, you can save some dough if you decide to sign up for the full service. Under SugarSync's new pricing plan, users can store up to 10GGB of data online for $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. But users who sign up now get 50% off of that price for the first year. And if you're currently a beta tester, you can get the 50% off rate for 2 years.

Users who need a bit more space can also sign up for accounts with up to 250GB of storage for introductory prices of $25 per month or $250 per year. There are also a variety of options available between the 10GB and 250GB levels.

Microsoft has released a major update to its FolderShare file synchronization tool. FolderShare essentially lets users synchronize files and directories between multiple computers. There are clients for Mac and PC, so you can even keep documents synchronized if you're in a mixed marriage.

In a blog post, the FolderShare team point out some of the highlights of the new release:

• New website for easier library and computer management
• Improved performance on Windows Vista
• Better setup and imporved system tray
• Backend improvements keep FolderShare running more reliably

If you've got more than one computer and you've never tried FolderShare, you should really check it out. While you could set up shared network folders on your computer the old fashioned way and then use a tool like SyncBackSE to synchronize files, FolderShare makes the whole process a lot simpler.

Been spending the week gearing up for SXSW and then realized that you forgot to book tickets to Austin? Worry not, Download Squad will be bringing you blow by blow coverage from SXSW Interactive over the next few days. In the meantime, sit back, relax, and check out some of the top stories from the week that was.

Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 8 beta

Microsoft released the first beta version of IE8 this week, and while it's explicitly for developers and not early adopters, we rushed out to test it, and were severely disappointed with its performance. Sure, it renders the Acid2 test properly -- sometimes, but it does a pretty poor job with many other sites, including Download Squad. And many of you told us you were having even bigger problems. Check out the IE8 reviews and comments left by Download Squad readers.

Microsoft launches Office Live Workspace beta

IE8 wasn't the only Microsoft beta to launch this week. The company also pushed the first public version of Office Live Workspace out the door. And while the service does provide users with a way to store and share Office documents online, we can't help but wonder whether people who have gotten used to actually being able to create and edit documents online with services like Zoho and Google Docs are going to care.

Linux users aren't exactly known as big fans of proprietary software, but sometimes a big commercial app comes in handy. iTunes has been up and running on Linux for a while now, but it was missing one big reason to choose it over an open source music player: iPod Touch and iPhone syncing. These two Apple gadgets need to be unlocked to work with a third-party music player.

But now iTunes on Linux is reportedly able to recognize and sync all iPod models, including the Touch and the iPhone. Maarten Lankhorst recently alerted the wine-devel mailing list that he got iPod-iTunes syncing to work on a Linux system with Wine, iTunes 7.6, and minimal patches. Good news for anyone whose 'Pod wasn't supported by the available open source apps.

There's still a little more work to be done before this will work on unpatched Wine: direct access to the device in explorer is not supported, although it should be coming soon. For now, at least there's a solution for Windows users who also want to keep their iPhones and iTouches locked - even if it's still proprietary.

[via Tombuntu]

There are plenty of services that let you synchronize files between two computers, or between a PC and a web server. But SugarSync goes one step further by letting you synchronize data on your smartphone.

SugarSync has three separate clients: one for your desktop, one for the web, and another for your mobile phone. If you have an unsupported phone or PDA you can also access a mobile version of the web client.

SugarSync is currently in private beta, but we've got about 500 invites to give away. Just visit the signup page and enter the code "DSQ."

Looking for a good way to synchronize data between your Google Calendar, iCal on your Mac at home and Outlook on your desktop? Plaxo offers an online calendar, contact solution that lets you synchronize across multiple clients. And now the company has launched a Windows Mobile synchronization client, which if you ask us is kind of the holy grail of data synchronization. Theoretically, this allows you to update your information using your phone, computer, or pretty much any internet connected device capable of accessing Plaxo, Google Calendar, or whatever site you use to enter upcoming appointments.

The only problem we've run into is that Plaxo for Windows Mobile is not compatible with older Windows Mobile 2003 devices. Windows Mobile sync is only available for Plaxo Premium customers, so it will set you back $50 a year. But there's a 30 day free trial if you just want to check the service out.

[via VentureBeat]

Microsoft has launched a new technology that will allow developers to create offline versions of web applications. Microsoft posted a download link for Microsoft Sync Framework on Sunday.

It looks like this is Microsoft's answer to Google Gears, an online/offline data synchronization platform launched by Google earlier this year.

According to the download site, Microsoft Sync Framework will enable "collaboration and offline scenarios for applications, services and devices." That includes P2P synchronization of relational databases, NTFS/FAT file systems and all sorts of data ranging from contacts to music, videos, and user settings.

[via ZDnet]