Funambol, or "The Poor Man's Exchange"

[Expanded from an early post on this blog, last updated on 9/29/2009]

This is a slightly edited/updated version of a blog post I made a while ago, but seeing the number of posts here from folks having trouble synching I thought it might be of use, especially if helps someone save a sale by preventing a return from an unhappy customer having synching problems.


They say a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and Windows Mobile's is its sync software- Activesync (for XP PCs) or Windows Mobile Device Center (for Vista.)

From trouble connecting, to data that mysteriously refuses to sync from the PC to device or vice versa, Windows mobile users have struggled with Activesync for many years. Adding insult to injury, the new WMDC for Vista refuses to sync with older (pre-WinMo 2003) devices or older versions of Outlook (again, pre-2003), and the latest incarnations of the sync software no longer allow syncing over the Internet or WiFi, unless you use an Exchange server, which is overkill for those of us with one or two PCs and a mobile device.

Worse yet, Activesync/WMDC only syncs with Outlook, which wasn't much of a hardship a couple of years ago when all WM devices included a licensed copy of Outlook, but today they do not, so after plunking a few hundred bucks on a shiny new WM device, you discover you need to pony up another $100+ on a copy of Outlook if you want to sync.
Unfortunately, Activesync and WMDC, being free, have not motivated third-party developers to exert a lot of effort creating replacements.

However, there are a couple of options available to sync your PIM (Personal Information Manager- contacts, calendar, etc.) data with a PC without Activesync, by using server-based PIM storage. One option, of course, is Hosted Exchange, where you pay a provider to manage an Exchange mailbox for you. Hosted Exchange includes a copy of Outlook, the license for which is good as long as you subscribe to the service. At $7/month, you could buy hosted Exchange service from 1&1 (http://order.1and1.com/xml/order/MailExchange) for over a year for less than a boxed retail copy of Outlook at the local office supply store.

However, I'm a big fan of "free" so let's take a brief look at a good free alternative to hosted Exchange.
I've been using Funambol from www.funambol.com, since the summer of 2008. It's an open source sync system designed for a variety of cellular phones- not just smartphones like WinMo, Blackberry or Palm, but most "dumbphones" as well. You install their client software on the devices (and PCs) you intend to sync, and they all sync with a "Funambol" server- either one you can find online, like http://my.funambol.com, or, if it offends your security sensibilities to store your data on somebody else's server, you can install the Funambol server software on your own PC and sync with your own PC acting as the server. An advantage of using your own PC as the server (besides the warm fuzzy feeling of security!) is that you can direct Funambol to sync a "Briefcase folder" between device and PC, thereby duplicating the "Files" sync function of desktop Activesync, which even Exchange doesn't do.

Funambol syncs with Outlook via a plug-in you install on the PC. I run Outlook on three PCs, my desktop and two laptops, so Funambol keeps them, as well as my WinMo devices, all in sync without the monthly fees of an Exchange service. For those who don't already use or want to buy Outlook, Funambol also has plug-ins for other PIM programs/services, like Yahoo contacts and Calendar, GMail contacts, Mozilla suite (Thunderbird, etc.).

If you want to give it a spin, I suggest trying Funambol out with Funambol's free "test" server, my.funambol.com, that they offer to users, then "graduating" to installing the Funambol server software on your PC if/when you're comfortable with it. But, as a warning, to avoid duplicate contacts and calendar items if you sync with Outlook on your PC, make a good "last" sync with your PC, if possible, then uncheck your PIM data in the Activesync partnership (deleting all such items from the device) then sync first the PC, then the device, with the Funambol server, otherwise the server might not recognize the PC's and device's data as identical, and will combine them, possibly creating a duplicate of each item.

Even after switching to Funambol, I still used Activesync once in a blue moon to sync files, like Word and Excel documents with my device, but now with Microsoft's Live Mesh to handly file sync, I'm finally free of the shackles of Activesync. My last PIM sync with Activesync was in August 2008- since then it's all going through Funambol, which, since it syncs over the Internet, is very convenient- I can stay up to date without having to plug the device into a PC, all without any monthly fees from a hosted Exchange provider!

[Update, 9/29/2009:
Funambol is upgrading their server software, and have decided to make their my.funambol.com test server a real test server. Existing users can still use it indefinately, but new users only get 90 days to try it out, then have to find an alternative server, or set up their own Funambol server.

Two alternatives to the my.funambol.com server that I've used, are AOL's free Funambol-based sync service, which requires a free AOL account, and ScheduleWorld, a $25(US)/year commercial service with absolutely excellent support.]