Need app to sync OUTLOOK contacts (no Exchange) via USB directly to Droid
If there were a way to sync all of the fields of my Outlook contacts that are in my local PST directly into a Motorola Driod phone, I would make the switch from my Palm Treo 700p immediately. This is the only thing holding me back.
There are some great threads in this posting and I would like to know where we stand today.
While researching Android in this forum, I came across MV10’s April 2009 post “Dev wants opinions: Outlook contact sync (non Exchange)”. His comparison of the differences in contact data fields between Outlook and Gmail is spot on and I would love to put in my two cents on how these edge cases could be handled. But in reality, I don’t want my Outlook data getting anywhere near Gmail. I just want to get my Contact data from my PC to by synchronized with the Contacts in my Driod smart-phone. This should require software that can sync from my PC’s PST file directly to my Droid phone via USB (Taxbuster June 2009).
DAE51D‘s December 2009 post hit the nail on the head: the lack of a dedicated Outlook (2003/07) sync to Android is one of the main reasons keeping (us) from this platform from my (our) PalmOS (Treo 650(s)). It is ridiculous and it my ONLY reason. We would gladly pay a reasonable amount for this direct USB sync utility. Outlook Contacts (with most/all fields) are mandatory for my life. Outlook's Calendar, Tasks, and Notes would be nice too, but we definitely need the Contacts. The sync must take our data from the PST file on our PC and sync it directly with the data on the Driod phone (and vise versa). It cannot go through Gmail as the middle man.
Personally, I do like Gmail for emailing, but I only want Gmail to know my contact names and email addresses. I do not want Gmail to mine through my contacts' notes which contain confidential information.
If need be, make two versions of the sync utility:
1) Outlook-to-Droid
2) Outlook-to-Gmail-to-Driod
I use Outlook 2007 on my PC without Exchange. I have over 1500 contacts, each with extensive contact notes that are in many cases thousands of characters in length. In these contact notes I keep confidential information which I DO NOT want stored in my Gmail contacts where they will be truncated AND mined. The only places that I trust my contact information are on my PC and on my phone/PDA (which I have been doing successfully for years with Palm devices). I want to have the sync happen only when I want it to occur over a USB cable between my PC and Android OS phone – no cloud (AKA potential security breach) in the middle. This is exactly what I am looking for.
Can anyone assist? I am quite sure that Motorola and Google do not like this idea – how about Verizon? Thanks for reading! I am reaching out to all of those Android Software Developers. Come to our rescue and you’ll directly impact Droid phone sales and most of those people will want/need your Contact sync program. The first guy to market gets the most usr share by default!
Please let me know the status of this issue because Verizon and Palm may not have any referb Treo 700p’s to save me if needed!!! I need to upgrade to s Driod soon! Take note that there are a lot of people out there who have kept their Palm Treo smart-phones a long time because none of the fancy phone could meet our need (like this Outlook Contact issue). Now there is no reason why technology can't step in and make this happen.
MV10, we are praying for you to hear us!
This is a great developer opportunity. You can build both of your apps because some people may want that Outlook/Gmail/Driod sync and the rest of us want the Outlook directly to Droid sync so that we can keep our data to ourselves. You will cover all sides of the market.
Thanks, billd2
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