Filed under: Software
Palm Pre owners: Mark/Space has a Missing Sync for you
The Missing Sync line of software from Mark/Space has been around long enough that just about every handheld operating system made can now sync data with a Mac. As a result, it's not surprising that Mark/Space has announced Missing Sync for Palm Pre.The $39.95 Mac application (also available in a two-license Business Edition for US$89.95) starts with the usual tasks of syncing contacts and calendars whenever you're in Wi-Fi range of your Mac, but then adds syncing of music, videos, podcasts, and photos to the mix. There's a built-in ringtone editor for creating your own ringtones from your music, and syncing PDF, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents is a snap.
If the screenshots of the application are any indication, Missing Sync for Palm Pre uses the tried and true user interface found on its siblings. Mark/Space has also announced that they are developing a Fliq app for Palm Pre (four Fliq apps are currently available for iPhone) to provide syncing of Safari bookmarks.
I'm sure there are a few Palm Pre owners out there who read TUAW; if you're one of them, could you let others know how this product works by leaving a comment?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jeff Wheeler said 7:07PM on 7-08-2009
This has been out for weeks.
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Darwin Smith said 7:23PM on 7-08-2009
I would say it's pretty obvious the author knows that which is why he asks at the end how it works....
jmacapanpan said 8:25PM on 7-08-2009
The Missing Sync for Palm Pre had been available as a free public beta download for a few weeks. The beta period is over and we shipped Release 1.0 yesterday! :)
Jackie (from Mark/Space)
Joseph said 5:12PM on 7-09-2009
Missing sync is pretty much garbage if you are using MS Office. It is like a 3 way sync that requires apple apps as a go between.
this is from a corporate IT perspective. Our phones are on sprint and our clients are on macs. Most people have forgone smart phones for ipod touch and some people just got their own plans and have iphones.
WhyMe said 7:17PM on 7-08-2009
Is that comment the equivalent of "FIRST!". In which case I should say " 'shopped! "
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Jeff Wheeler said 7:25PM on 7-08-2009
I apologize, and I did not intend for it to be as such. The author described how the software had been "announced," which suggested to me that it had been just recently that this had occurred.
Joey said 7:30PM on 7-08-2009
Having used Mark/Space products in the past I'd probably avoid this like the plague if I were a Pre user.
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Duncan said 7:36PM on 7-08-2009
why exactly?
Joey said 8:01PM on 7-08-2009
I owned missing sync for PocketPC and Missing Sync for Windows Mobile and neither product worked even close to as advertised. M/S for PocketPC was buggy and would often duplicate records and panic my Mac. It felt really rough around the edges.
When I switched to Windows Mobile a few years later, against my better judgement I purchased M/S for Windows Mobile. This time however I made sure that my device was explicitly stated as being supported. Sadly that did very little to help, really. Somewhere during a point release my device was suddenly no longer able to sync and we could never seem to downgrade to a working version.
After many, many messages the final recommendation was to turn off synchronization of my contacts and calendar (seriously) before attempting to sync. In short as long as I wasn't synchronizing anything, the phone should sync just fine.
Perhaps things have gotten much better since then. I honestly can't say. But my experience with them was far from good.
mitch said 9:48PM on 7-08-2009
I had the unfortunate experience of using missing sync for the blackberry. What a nightmare!
It would work fine but in the end it always stopped working - sync'ing calendar and contacts. When it stopped working the last time, we upgraded to v2.x. What else are you gonna do?
bikeham said 11:04PM on 7-08-2009
I have used Mark-Sync before and decided the poor experience and upgrade costs weren't worth it. Buy Apple compatible stuff and save yourself grief.
Kelmon said 2:53AM on 7-09-2009
It's been about 5-years since I attempted to use MissingSync for Windows Mobile with an old Toshiba Windows Mobile PDA (remember them?). It is entirely possible that the situation is much better now but back then the the whole thing failed to work reliably such that I ended up selling the PDA on eBay. The new software might work great but based on my own past experiences I wouldn't try it again.
I'm trying to remember what the precise problem was and honestly cannot but I think it may have been that the PDA often would not mount and a reboot was necessary.
weatherman said 7:45PM on 7-08-2009
I used Missing Sync for my Centro and I didn't have any problems with it. I just got a Pre and bought the Missing Sync for it. Its working fine. The ringtone creator/editor is nice. And being able to choose which contacts get synced is nice too.
One thing, it would be nice if you could choose songs for ringtones from playlists. I can find the songs I want in the iTunes library listing but it would be easier to choose songs from my playlists.
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Jim Hummel said 8:12PM on 7-08-2009
Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy 2 individual licenses?
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Greg said 11:29PM on 7-08-2009
Was thinking the same thing... seems the 'business edition' has some sort of enhanced functionality.
Although just from reading these comments, it's definitely not worth it.
jmacapanpan said 11:05AM on 7-09-2009
The Missing Sync for Palm Pre Business Edition is a bundle of The Missing Sync for Palm Pre and two premium support subscriptions for one year:
- Software Upgrade Subscription - free updates and upgrades, both major and minor
- Priority Email Support - 4-hour max. response and priority queuing
Our customers really value these services, so we offer them together in a bundle, too.
Jackie (from Mark/Space)
macjonny said 1:57AM on 7-09-2009
I purchased missing sync for blackberry storm and it was terrible. Very buggy....never did sync the calendars reliably. I ended up giving my work back the blackberry and got an iphone. I then had to fight with Mark/Space to get a comp. copy of the Missing Sync for iphone as I had basically wasted my money. I don't even use it for the iphone but that's what I got as they certainly weren't going to give my $ back...
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Adam said 2:10AM on 7-09-2009
I have always sworn by my iphone. but last month I switched to the Palm Pre for the MUCH cheaper monthly plan. I love it. This Missing Sync is AWESOME. I have never used this software on older phones but it was so easy to use for the Pre it pretty much synced itself. As a mac user it really makes it easy to sink all my ical calendars, my address book, and anything else I want to sync. Whats great is if I add contacts or calendar events through out the day, the moment I walk in my house I wirelessly sync the phone to my comp and its updated on my macbook pro.
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sam said 3:17AM on 7-09-2009
One license for $40, two licenses for $90. My brain is about to explode!
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Ben Poole said 4:07AM on 7-09-2009
I have Missing/Sync for the BlackBerry and it's plop (not as bad as PocketMac though). Not to mention that for new features you have to buy the software all over again; no upgrade pricing.
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