23 Nov
2008
I've been looking for a free solution to move my Contacts in my mobile phone (Windows Mobile 5) to my MacBook (Address Book.app). Why? I don't know why, maybe just for precaution, just in case I have to replace my phone or I lost it. I'm fully aware of software like Missing Sync and SyncMate. I don't want to pay for Missing Sync, and from SyncMate's website, they say that it doesn't support my phone (HP iPAQ rw6828).
I am also aware of
Dashwire, a very good web application that lets you sync your phone (contacts, SMSs, call logs, pictures, videos) to the web. And I have done that as well. But they don't provide a way to synchronize those data back to the computer, only mobile phones.
One day, I bumped up to this web application called
Soocial. It says that it lets synchronize your contacts in PC, Mac, Gmail, and mobile phones, even Blackberry, for free. Wow, what a promise. Apparently, they haven't implemented all of those features. The only available features are synchronization from PC (MS Outlook), Macintosh, Gmail, and some Nokia, LG, and Sony Ericsson phones (but not Windows Mobiles and Blackberries).
I finally managed to copy my phone's contacts to my mac, for free. Here's how, and I assume you already have a copy of Windows (XP or Vista) and Outlook, or able to get access to it somehow.
- Install windows, and Microsoft Outlook (2003 or 2007) on it. Lucky me I have a (legal) copy of MS Outlook, I got it from a door prize.
- Download either Activesync (if you use Windows XP) or Windows Mobile Device Center (if you use Vista). Search for it in Google or Microsoft site. I downloaded and installed WMDC. It's free but it require a valid (i.e licensed) copy of Windows.
- Plug your phone to the Windows. If you're like me, running Windows in virtual machine, make sure that Windows detects your phone. It should automagically detected by the WMDC (or Activesync).
- Tell the software to sync your contacts, and whatever else you want to sync. When it's done, check your Outlook contacts whether it contains the contacts from your phone.
- Now go to Soocial, register (if you haven't had an account), log in, and go to Connection, and pick Outlook. It should provide a link to download a software to let you sync your Outlook contacts to the web.
- After you installed the software, run in, set your user name and password in it, and start the sync. You might find out that the Windows sync software for Soocial isn't that good (i.e. crappy), but it should do what the label said.
- Check your Soocial contacts page when you done with that, it should shows your contacts.
- Go to your Mac, go to Soocial website, and download the sync software for Mac. Install it like the instruction says, and you could find it in System Preferences. Input your log in information to the software and start syncing. Note that if you already have some contacts in your Address Book, you should back it up (File->Export in Address Book.app), just in case.
- You're done, and your Address Book should contains whatever contacts in your phone.
As a final note, it will be great if Soocial could provide a
better sync software for Windows, and for Windows Mobile as well. Even better if
Missing Sync provide a
free version, or
SyncMate support my phone.
