Handhelds Syncing w/ Web-Based Calendars?

hacker asks: "I have been asked many times over the past few years to support "web-based calendaring" with pilot-link, so people can syncronize their PalmOS handheld devices directly with 'online' calendaring software. The problem is...what calendaring software? I've looked at the various alternatives (PHP iCalendar, WebCal, and about two-dozen others) free and commercial, and none of them really offer a good, powerful, flexible way to integrate the same kind of data that resides on a Palm handheld device. I would write the conduit between Palm and calendaring software. Has anyone actually used a web-based calendaring product they like, and if so, which one, and why? Would the ability to syncronize your Palm handheld with your web-based calendaring software be useful?"

Yahoo Calendars is GREAT

[bfgimpexe]

I've been using Yahoo Calendars for a couple months now and it does everything I need, as well as syncing well with Outlook and Palm Desktop. In Windows it's convenient to make it your active desktop--you have your entire month laid out in front of you.

ArcStream's Blackboard toGo!

[profet]

If you go to university you probably have dealt with the Blackboard [blackboard.com] web application and its various features.

ArcStream makes a conduit for Blackboard called Blackboard toGo! [arcstreamsolutions.com] I have never used the software but it seems to be exactly what you are looking for.

Again...this all stems on you already using the Blackboard software...(from what I understand most Universities in the states already do)...and you getting your University to use the Arcstream software.

Note: I am not affiliated with ArcStream Solutions, Inc. or Blackboard Inc.

Re:More general...

[biglig2]

Well, Exchange 2K3 springs to mind, although probably not a popular suggestion, and in your case probably way too big.
The web client is almost identical to Outlook, and every PDA syncs Calendars, ToDos etc. with Outlook.

Mobical.net

[d99-sbr]

For SyncML-devices, Mobical.net [mobical.net] offers a good service. They let you synchronize contacts and calendar for free.

I use it primarily as a backup of my contact info, in case I'd lose my cell phone. However the web interface is quite neat.

Re:Yahoo Calendars is GREAT

[samael]

Agreed. I synch my Palm with Yahoo calendar and it's incredibly easy to use.

Re:More general...

[kayen_telva]

informative ? try outrageous. $1200 dollars is not a real solution to an individuals need to sync.

Steltor CorporateTime

[stonebeat.org]

Check out Steltor CorporateTime [oracle.com] by Oracle. It has a web based Calendering Client, integrates in Outlook, and support Sync to Palms and other PDAs.

And you can sync with some handhelds

[stefanlasiewski]

In addition, you can sync your Yahoo Calendar, Addressbook, Todo list, etc with Intellisync [yahoo.com], which is a free (beer) program.

Installation is pretty straigtforward. It's Windows only.

For the first fews syncs, or if the data on either Yahoo or your Palm gets out of sync, you'll have to spend some time telling Intellisync which entry is the correct entry.

Now, if Yahoo would change their email GUI to display message threads, and let me have more then one level of subfolders, I'd be really happy.

Re:Related question...

[lanej0]

PHPiCalendar will parse iCal files server-side and display them as HTML

http://sourceforge.net/projects/phpicalendar/

Web-based Calendaring and more....

[BluEyeZ]

I currently use a little known product called InFone [infone.com]. You can access your address book and calendar on the web, and by phone. They'll even connect you out to any number you want. They have an advanced directory assistance system that will help you find the business you're looking for, even if you don't remember everything about it. The software conduit is a simple plugin that works with most of the popular PIMs (Outlook, Palm Desktop). The only drawback is for Blackberry users, as it seems to cause more than a few problems with the sync software for that device.

Also available is a service called TeleConcierge. Most restaurants in their system allow for the operator to make reservations on your behalf. Hotel reservations are also available. Flight status, movie times, horoscopes, weather, driving directions, it's all there. Just $0.89 per call for up to 15 minutes, and just $0.05/min after that. Automatic debit from most major credit cards and there's no contract. You can access the service from any phone, home, cell, or pay. Just dial 888-411-1111.

Best of all, the operators that answer will be in the area you're calling from, no matter where you are in the country, including Hawaii, so you'll always have a local to give you advice when you're away from home.

Webcalendar.sourceforge.net?

[millisa]

Webcalendar [sourceforge.net]'s features include:

# Export events to iCal, vCal or Palm

# Import from vCal or Palm

# Optional general access (no login required) to allow calendar to be viewed by people without a login (useful for event calendars)

# Users can make their calendar available publicly to anyone with an iCal-compliant calendar program (such as Apple's iCal or Mozilla Calendar)

Re:Webcalendar.sourceforge.net?

[hacker]

#Import from vCal or Palm

Unfortunately, it can't import the standard Palm data. I have 697 events in my calendar, which show up in Linux under Evolution and J-Pilot and with a Perl dump of DatebookDB.pdb. They also show up in Windows under Outlook and Palm Desktop.

Following the instructions in Webcalendar, to import the datebook/datebook.dat file from the Palm Desktop setup, only imports 53 entries, mostly holidays.

If it can't handle the format supplied, it should not advertise that it can. Clearly nobody tested this capability (and yes, I'll be reporting the bug with the Webcalendar maintainers).

That's a blocker for me, so I stopped testing it right there.

Re:OpenGroupware

[hatless]

That's funny. Then why do the OpenGroupware mailing lists have people helping each other configure the Palm syncing features? Are these poor users just imagining that they're syncing their PDAs to OpenGroupware?

It does rely on Network Hotsync if you're syncing directly to your OGo server, so unless you have a decent VPN setup, remote users aren't going to have a good time of it, but I recokon you could let those people connect with something like Outlook and have them sync locally using Intellsync or the like.

Re:Related question...

[hacker]

phpiCalendar is read-only, and does not allow modification of the iCal calendar files without significant restructuring of the back-end (i.e. adding MySQL, adding hooks to all of the PHP code to allow edits, locking, and so on).

It is great, for a static "events" calendar, but it really isn't remotely close to a solution for an interactive web-based calendaring/PIM solution.