Tuesday, April 19, 2005

How To: Synchronize OS X's Address Book and a Motorola v710 Using Bluetooth via onSync ($10)

Apple's iSync devices page contains a foreboding footnote next to Motorola that says "Bluetooth and/or USB syncing except for Motorola v710" and then next to the v710 another footnote that says "USB syncing only." As that seems to be the only phone, or at the very least one of the only phones, that both work on Verizon and sync with your Mac, it's quite a bummer that Bluetooth can't be used.

However, with Antonio Ferraioli's onSync ($10), you can partially overcome this lack of Bluetooth support. onSync will let you sync your OS X Address Book with the v710's address book. While onSync is a little quirky and crashes from time to time, it gets the job done.

However, this still leaves you wanting more. You can't sync Address Book pictures, iCal calendars, or iCal to do items, as other phones are able to do. So I propose the following suggestion...

Fix the syncing deficiencies of iSync
In addition to syncing Address Book pictures, iCal calendars, and iCal to do items, I would like to also see iPhoto integration (being able to choose the phone's background image directly from iPhoto) and iTunes integration (using to pick a ring tone).

I suppose this is a bit much to ask of a program that does one thing (sync contacts) and does it well across a range of cellular phones, but if any program is going to do it besides iSync, this is the one.