RIM syncs Macs with BlackBerries

Beginning this Friday, BlackBerry-using Mac owners will be able to sync their contacts, calendars, tasks, and notes - plus iTunes music - to their Research In Motion smartphones. RIM's announcement notes that the Mac-specific BlackBerry Desktop Manager software will sync with Apple iCal and Address Book, Microsoft Entourage, …

[Matthew Barker]

Why not?

"Why Palm hasn't gone the RIM route and developed their own iTunes-syncing utility remains a mystery."

No mystery. They were out to save software development costs with the stupidity of a Las Vegas-style gamble. May've been some freetardian impulses running through Palm. Utopia is always just around the corner, but it always involves leaving the other guys behind at the entrance to your gated community.

Let the commentard jousting between Fanbois and the Palm-Wanks begin!

[Brett Brennan 1]

Pre and iTunes

"Why Palm hasn't gone the RIM route and developed their own iTunes-syncing utility remains a mystery."

I don't know: why hasn't Apple licensed the ability to sync to iTunes to other music player manufacturers (since we all know it's not hard to do) and allow other devices to use iTunes?

I guess Ray Kroc said it best: "If I were to see a competitor drowning, I'd stick a hose down his throat."

[Anonymous Coward]

To answer your question

"Why Palm hasn't gone the RIM route and developed their own iTunes-syncing utility remains a mystery."

Not really a mystery here. The group at Palm are lazy Pricks.

[Antidisestablishmentarianist]

Lazy

"Why Palm hasn't gone the RIM route and developed their own iTunes-syncing utility remains a mystery."

It's probably the beancounters fault. There was a meeting with beancounters where costs were discussed. To 'to a BlackBerry' was going to cost X. Beancounters not happy. A developer recklessly throws out a "Well we could just pretend to be an iPod, which would be quick easy and super cheap to do, but Apple would..." (cutoff by beancounters) "Just do that then", "But...", "DO IT!"

Either that or they are lazy fucks

[Chris 211]

inability for you lot to stay on topic....

me, being on topic....

A bit late but good news that Blackberry support MACs. Seams strange that a major market is ignored for so long. Also a reminder of still the lack of compatibility and standards adherence and protectionism the OS/Software industry has. If networking manufacturers like Cisco, Nortel, 3com, etc etc etc didnt form forums and define standards to conform to we would not have an internet. Why cant we have some standard SYNC to a 'device' why cant ITunes sync to a standards based 'any-device'. The software industry needs to get a grip on standards.

[Ascylto]

@ Brett Brennan

I, too, can't understand why they haven't licensed it. Surely it's a revenue stream for them. Maybe they see the iPhone as a direct competitor to the 'Berry.

[Anonymous Coward]

No title

"Why Palm hasn't gone the RIM route and developed their own iTunes-syncing utility remains a mystery."

Because it's one less piece of software that the user needs to install?

[Anonymous Coward]

MACs...

I thought all networked devices are required to support Media Access Control? Pedantic I know, and i know that some of the more puerile posters will mock, but it is an important distinction. MAC =! Apple Macintosh. Thanks for reading!

On topic - they've taken their sweet time! When I had my Blackberry, I used Missing Sync from Mark/Space - a really neat utility. Interestingly, there is a Pre version of Missing Sync (http://www.markspace.com/) and if the user wants, it works with iTunes and it's available for Mac and PC! So Palm, get of your lazy arses and sort it. @Brett, why *should* they?

[Trygve]

yes, why doesn't iTunes support other devices?

Probably because Apple only spends money developing and supporting iTunes to sell its iPods?

I have a great idea - next time Sainsbury's does a buy one get one free on Persil or whatever, why don't you walk in with your packet of Persil bought at Tesco and help yourself to a free packet? Then when they complain you can sue them for abusing your freetard rights. After all, you've bought one, you are entitled to a get a free one, right?

[Bad Beaver]

Wot, no 10.4?

Nothing like a little push in the upgrading direction, eh?

Nevertheless, this is about the biggest cluestick to wiggle at Palm.

[martin burns]

Blackberries & Macs played nicely already, thanks

Funny, but when my employer issued us all with Blackberry Pearls in 2008 (thank heaven mine got nicked and was replaced with a *real* phone from Nokia), there was no problem finding and downloading RIM's Sync to Macs type utility.

OK, it didn't work via iSync, and didn't do iTunes (not that there was anything on the BB to play the choons anyway), but the business need of contact/calendar sync was done.

Do try to keep up, 007.

[Bad Beaver]

@ Chris 211

Wholeheartedly seconded.

[Bad Beaver]

@ martin burns

I had a RIM Pearl for a couple of days (what a cheap POS! Nokia E all the way), IIRC no problem playing the "choons".

[Anonymous Coward]

Mystery? Not really

"Why Palm hasn't gone the RIM route and developed their own iTunes-syncing utility remains a mystery."

No, it really doesn't. Because Palm knows that Apple can just as easily bugger up RIM's approach with updates too so it's neither here nor there. What Palm would be better off doing is writing their own media-sync software and store in cooperation with Amazon or Play.com where you can get fully DRM music cheaper than iTunes anyway. Their mistake is having anything whatsoever to do with crApple in the first place when it's the most anti-competitive company on Earth (yes, more so than Microsoft even, by a longshot).

[Anomalous Cowherd]

@ Martin

Martin, you're not talking about that godawful Pocketmac are you? One of the worst bits of software I've ever used. I was fairly neutral on the Blackberry overall but that software was the deciding factor in me dropping it - it trashed my address book one too many times.

[Bilgepipe]

@AC 11:52

"Their mistake is having anything whatsoever to do with crApple in the first place when it's the most anti-competitive company on Earth (yes, more so than Microsoft even, by a longshot)."

Yawn. You anti-Apple-tards keep wheeling this one out every time. You know, just because you keep saying something over and over again doesn't make it true. Your assertion that Apple are more anti-competitive than Microsoft proves you have no clue what you are talking about. Hey... are you Steve Ballmer?

RIM are probably using the iTunes XML database for syncing - XML, of course, being that closed, anti-competitive data file format that no-one but Apple uses.

[Anonymous Coward]

So the CUSTOMER has to use two apps instead of one?

So much for the almighty user-friendliness of Apple. Instead of using a single app to keep things synched, they have to use two.