Google Sync

Go screw yourself MobileMe. Google's running this neighborhood now.

Google just unveiled a new over-the-air sync service for contacts and calendars that works with the iPhone and iPod Touch. Granted, this new feature is still in beta, but so far, it's working for me, and it's only going to get better.

So this is my setup... I've got all of my calendars and contacts loaded onto Google. However, I still like to use iCal and Address Book on my Mac. Fortunately, there's a solution. 

Address book has native support for syncing contacts with Google--just look to the General tab of the Preference pane.

Using iCal is a slightly more involved process, but still relatively easy. Although you don't need any additional software, this free utility from Google streamlines the process. It allows you to add your Google calendars to iCal using a protocol known as CalDav. As a sidenote, I'll add one additional tip for those who already have iCal set up for your calendars, but not Gmail: you can easily export your iCal calendars using the file menu, then import them into Gmail through "Settings."

So now, all of my Address Book contacts on my Mac are synced with Google whenever I open the application. From Google, the contacts are pushed to (and from--yes, it's a two-way street) my iPhone. I tested this out; it took about 20 twenty seconds for a contact to show up in Google after I added it to my iPhone. The same is true for my Calendars. In fact, during one trial, I added an event to my iPhone, and seven seconds later, it had appeared in my Google Calendar.

Unfortunately, we can't forget that this service is still in beta, so there are a few things that have not yet been worked out.

1. To my knowledge, Groups are not yet supported in Contacts, which means you have to sync ALL of your contacts from Google, and you have no way to categorize them.
2. You are limited to syncing FIVE calendars from Google. On the upside, you can sync shared calendars, so if you wanted to be able to display the "PowerHouse Crew" schedule on your iPhone, you could. To modify which calendars are synced, point your mobile device to https://m.google.com/sync.
3. iPhones and iPod touches are limited to ONE Exchange account. Since Google Sync is set up as an Exchange account, it means you wouldn't be able to maintain your Ball State Exchange account on your phone or iPod.

If Google Sync sounds like something you'd like to try out, you can find more details on setup here.