Filed under: Software, Productivity, Internet Tools, Leopard
Why wait for Leopard? Share and edit your calendars now with SyncBridge
By now you're probably picking up on a new theme of 'Why Wait for Leopard?' If so, good eye. If not: you really need to read more TUAW. In either case, we've tracked down another Leopard-busting app in the form of SyncBridge, which brings all the features of syncing, sharing and editing iCal calendars to the table, without the wait for Leopard or price of .Mac (sidenote: I'm a .Mac member and fan, so don't be hatin').The SyncBridge software uses Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger's built-in SyncServices to share calendars over the SyncBridge servers, allowing others to subscribe to and edit calendars, sending changes up to the servers and syncing back to your own calendars. Users can even log into the site to see their calendars displayed, though it isn't possible to edit the calendars on the web; that has to be done through an iCal client. A tour is offered at the site, explaining each step of the process.
SyncBridge is charged as a yearly subscription service at £25 / $46, which probably places it outside the range of the casual calendar editing/sharing enthusiast. Nevertheless, this is a viable alternative to waiting for Mac OS X Leopard to land next spring.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DrWho said 5:08PM on 8-11-2006
If you add up the cost of all these 'Leopard Busting' apps it will probably be cheaper to just wait and buy Leopard!
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David Chartier said 5:40PM on 8-11-2006
#1: See, now DrWho, there you go ruining all our fun with the Why Wait series.
Just kidding. :)
In actuality, you have a really good point. Depending on what features Apple bakes in and how well they're implemented, Leopard could be a real 3rd party software eliminator.
Which, of course, is also a conversation in its own right.
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Tony said 6:12PM on 8-11-2006
gmail is free and does all of this from the web.
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David Chartier said 6:22PM on 8-11-2006
#3: Sure, and I really enjoy gCalendar for some specific uses, but it also doesn't do a lot of things desktop apps do.
The largest of these setbacks is integration. I use Mail.app because I *need* my email when offline. Mail integrates well with iCal for manging event invitations. Other applications, like Delicious Library and eBay seller apps, also integrate incredibly well with iCal with reminders for auctions and items users have lent to friends. Let's also not forget some serious event/todo feature drawbacks of gCalendar, namely: it can't send reminders for events that aren't in the main Personal calendar (their support dept has confirmed this), and it doesn't include a todo list - one of the most basic, fundamental and standard features of virtually every competing calendaring app in existence.
Just because something is online and free doesn't mean it solves everyone's needs.
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Kenny Ye said 9:55PM on 8-11-2006
As #3 said, GCal from google does it all, and it is free.
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alex said 10:41PM on 8-11-2006
These STUPID "Why wait for Leopard?" things are the whole reason why apple has TOP SECRET features... not just to hide to hide from Redmond with the photocopiers (but their copys are really blurry...)
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Philippe Dupont said 3:00AM on 8-12-2006
"Users can even log into the site to see their calendars displayed, though it isn't possible to edit the calendars on the web; that has to be done through an iCal client"
btw, do you know such a tool to edit my own iCal calender on the web ?
It's a true 'deficiency' of dotMac...
Phil
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Tony said 3:35PM on 8-12-2006
I use Google Calendar all the time for my personal calendar, but it in NO WAY "does it all." Either does SyncBridge. CalDav, which will be in the Leopard version of iCal (as well as Leopard Server) will finally bring Outlook/Exchange type functionality to the Mac. This has been the NUMBER ONE reason my work hasn't adopted Mac as the standard. All the programmers/developers have them, but all the administrators and assistants have PC's. Why? Because with Outlook+Exchange, users are able to pick several people to invite to a meeting, and have the system find all the available time blocks that everyone on the list has open. There are *many* other advanced group calendaring features that Google Calendar can only dream of.
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jh said 3:44PM on 8-12-2006
*yawn*
So people are realizing that real third party devels are going to be having their products cloned into Leopard.
Surprise surprise.
Why wait for Leopard is an interesting thing to call this feature.. why not call it "Applications whose authors might need to be seeking another revenue stream right about now" or "Applications whose authors woke up in a cold sweat the night after the WWDC keynote."
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