Google, FTW

It seems Google, never satisfied with owning 85.59% of the Internet, has released a product that kills one of my favorite apps - Sync In A Blink.

It's called Google Sync, and if you are an iPhone users, it basically let's you setup your Gmail account in Exchange mode, where your contacts and calendar will be automatically and wirelssly updated to your device.

It supports two way communication, so you can edit contacts from your desktop, as well. Google also supports Blackberry, different Nokia's, and all Windows Mobile devices, so get out there and sync it up, yo.

Update: I've been told NuevaSync is quite the contender to Google Sync. I have yet to check it.

Help! I'm Syncing...

I was looking through Mashable's How To Do Anything Using Social Media last night, and I settled into reading about Google synchronization on the iPhone.

The article didn't shed much light on what I already knew, but, luckily, the comments section was filled with user suggestions. One user in particular mentioned Sync In A Blink, and others quickly seconded (and thirded) the notion. Naturally, I hit the app store right away, only to see the app was $5.00. A bit perturbed, but not derailed, I visited their homepage.

After reading the feature set, I was sold. This is a complete package for anyone who wants to sync their iPhone contacts with an online database, and you get to use the best - Gmail. The features that got me excited were two-way syncing, merging contacts, and conflict resolution. What this basically means is that I can add a contact (or detail about the contact) to my iPhone while on the go, and it will be replicated into my Gmail's address book. If I am working in Gmail, I can add contacts, edit details, organize them into groups, and then take all this data with me at a push of a button. And the best part - since it is Gmail, you are not tied to one computer, operating system, or browser/application.

Taking this one step further, I noticed FriendSync. This one is a big cheaper - $.99 - and while not sporting a robust feature set like Blink, it does bring an awesome feature to your iPhone contacts. FriendSync gives you the ability to pull contact details from Facebook and update your iPhone with your friends' pictures, names, and birthdays. A birthday will show up on your calandar, and the picture displays when you are dialing that friend. I was a bit disappointed that it doesn't merge your iPhone numbers with Facebook's phone list, but I'm sure if enough people pester the dev he will add it in an update. For now, I'm loving the fact that my contact photos will be updated by my friends themselves, instead of me having to snap a new photo for them.

Notable mention: Links In A Blink lets you sync Google bookmarks or Foxmarks into the app (note: it will not sync your iPhone Safari bookmarks). Once synced, you are given a very nice list view of your book marks, and you can open them in the built-in browser, or send the link to Safari.

[App Store Links]
Sync In A Blink
Links In A Blink
FriendSync

Welcome, fellow Socialite!

Thanks for visiting the conception of my new brainchild. This site was birthed from a need to catalog the various ventures I pursue in the world of social media, Web 2.0 ,Wikis, and all things RSS related. Okay, enough with the utero references, sorry.

I became more heavily involved in Web 2.0 when I started doing IT work for Wescom Credit Union. I was already a user of various RSS readers, and while I had heard rumblings about the various uses for social media, I hadn't made the dive yet. So, armed with a little bit of spare time while answering phones, I set out to master this new frontier.

Nearly a year later, I've created a web presence for myself. I am a Twitter addict, I am participating in Project 365, all my music usage is logged on Last.Fm, and all of this and much more can be tracked through my FriendFeed. This has opened up my online world to all the people around. Instead of just going out and taking, I am sharing simultaneously with everyone in my network. This all comes back to me as my friends surf and share their findings.

Appearing in this space will be news, how-to guides, and random musings relating to social media. My first effort will be to write a nice tutorial that organizes all the sites I prefer in the social sphere and shows you how you can form your own digital posse.

If you've landed on this page and are asking yourself "What is this Web 2.0 stuff?" check out the video below. It was created by a Digital Ethnography class at Kansas State University. This Anthropology professor has established a give-and-take atmosphere by focusing on web projects that leverage the power of the Internet and various Web 2.0 sites. The following is their first effort - a project that used social media sites to research, collaborate, and eventually produce this video. Thanks for visiting and subscribe to my RSS feed if you'd like updates.