Synergy (webOS)

[#1]

Will a Palm Pre "synergize" several google calendars (from a single account)?

I have six calendars set up in my google account. Inbox (my main calendar), Meetings, Travel, Training, etc. Will all of these calendars sync to Palm Pre's calendar app?

Post relates to: None

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Yes, they will each show up on the Pre.

[#3]

I currently use a personal PC running Windows XP Media Center.  Unfortunately when I switched to this current PC, I learned that my $400+ Palm LifeDrive would no longer sync because of some glitch, with no support to fix.  I am now in the market for a device to combine my basic cell phone and outdated (and un-sync-able) LifeDrive, and the Pre is at the top of my list.  Doing some research to understand if I will be able to sync to my PC, I find out there is no Palm Desktop type of sync'ing, and that users are supposed to sync with calendars in Google, and contacts in Facebook.  Forgive me, but I must be the only 30 year old that is not playing on Facebook, and not even my lovely wife can convince me to do so.  I only use Hotmail, and have since about 1996...so I'm not interested in creating a Google Gmail account either.  Is there a calendar function in Google that I can access without having to change to their email address?  Does their online calendar also include some function of Notes, Memos, or Tasks?  Even if there are some work-around programs (apps) to perform a hard sync with my PC, I still have the problem of running on XP Media Center...which I don't believe can be overcome.

What to do? 

[#4]

You do not need to use facebook for contacts. You can set up a google account and it will do both calendars, and contacts. Same with Yahoo. You can access both via the pc as well. There is another option, the Palm Profile that you create when you get your Pre. Only down side with this is you have no access to the Calendar data or Contact Data other than on the Pre. It is backed up, just you can not access it like you can google. You can create a google calendar account without signing up for gmail. But you do need a gmail account for the contact options in google. You can always create a gmail account and only add the contact and calendar profiles to the pre and remove the email one if you really dont want it on there. Myself I keep the gmail on the pre, just dont ever use it for much. There are Memo and Task Apps built into the Pre. But they do not sync with google at this time. They only save to the Palm Profile I mentioned above. Again this data is backed up daily Automatically, just you can not access the Palm Profile data anywhere else but the device.

I use google for all my stuff. It really does work great. I have multiple calendars on mine and my wifes Pre's. We each share one calendar so she can add items and I can see them on my cal. And vice versa.  

[#5]

I switched to using Gmail as my primary email account about two years ago. It's a good service, the price is right (free), and their spam filter is the best I've seen. As I understand it, when you start using any Google service, a Gmail account is automatically created for you. You can use it or not, it's up to you. The Gmail account credentials are used to login to any other Google services you decide to use.

I used Gmail for well over a year before trying Google Calendar. Only since deciding to buy a Pre, have I started using Google Contacts. My point is that you can pick and choose the Google services you want to use or not use. The thing I like about using cloud-based services like Gmail, Contacts and Calendars is that your PIM data is not only available on your phone but, the exact same data, is also available through any (modern) web browser on any computer. (I also have offline copies of my data in Apple Mail, Address Book, and iCal on my Mac.) I don't know if the Pre syncs with Hotmail but, if it does, you could use Hotmail for email and Google for calendars.

Google Calendar has a to-do list module but, as of right now, Google Tasks do not sync with the Pre, or any offline client, as far as I can tell. Google Notebook, for memos/notes, is pretty useless to me since it doesn't sync to anything (that I know of) either.

As for Facebook...you can use it for contacts on the Pre but it's not required. 

[#6]

So I basically have to ignore my gut feeling that sharing personal contact and calendar information with several giant companies (Google & Palm) is wrong.  It also sounds like I have no say in the matter when it come to the Palm Profile.  If I like it or not, Palm will regularly back up my data in case my device is lost, stolen, or upgraded.  That sounds good in theory, but I'm responsible enough to handle that service myself.  For the typical iPhone-type consumer that uses these things as toys to check email and look up stupid things on Google that might be great.  Not so much for true business users who require some level of security.

[#7]

you can turn off the palm backup.

[#8]

If you're dead set against using a cloud-based service for contacts and calendars all is not lost. You can still use a Pre with third-party software to sync your PIM data directly to your computer (without using an online service).

Here is a link to an official Palm webpage that showcases third-party solutions for directly syncing your data: http://www.palm.com/us/products/software/sync.html

In your Palm Profile, backup is turned on by default. Your data is encrypted when it is backed up but, you can turn off backups if you want to. Your Palm Profile also includes a security feature that allows you to remote wipe your device in case it is lost or stolen.

The thing is, the new Palm operating system is called "webOS". It's designed, from the ground up, to play nicely with web-based services like Google, Microsoft Exchange and Yahoo.  That's why there is such an emphasis on the "cloud". I still have trust issues when working with online applications and services but they offer many compelling time-saving, information-sharing and convenience features that outweigh the risks in my opinion.

[#9]

Folks - there is another scenario which quite a few people are interested in, including myself.  I would like to be able to sync multiple google calendars to one, so that I can share just that one calendar with others.  I am looking into building a tool like that, and I would appreciate if those interested could fill out a very quick, 5-question survey - http://questionpro.com/s/1-877187-1661573.  Thanks!