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CONTACT SCBJ Kurt Batdorf, Editor kbatdorf@scbj.com

How ‘smart' do you really need to be to do your work?

By Sven Mogolgaard
for Tech Talk

We have talked about everything from smart phones to high-tech laptops in our columns over the years.
Now Apple has announced what some are calling a breakthrough in its new iPad tablet computer. This adds one more gadget to the crowded market of devices that are supposedly designed to make our lives easier.

Many of the people we talk to are starting to get overwhelmed with the technology. These folks are finding that some technologies overlap and some may cause loss or corruption of data.

For example, if you set up your phone to check email it may prevent you from getting email on your home or office PC. Your contacts may or may not update on all devices. The same is true with your calendar. For someone on the go, not having all your information current where and when you need it can make for a very bad day. The key to avoiding these problems is in determining your needs and how your devices will meet those needs.

Most of us need a fairly basic cell phone in order to stay in touch while out and about, perhaps with the capability to send text messages. Email is handled by a home and/or work computer. Contact lists are kept separately on the phone and the computer. Synchronizing email and contact lists isn't critical. The risk of losing or corrupting data is minimal. Any bells and whistles are pretty much for fun.

On the other end of the spectrum is the mobile user who spends more time out of the office than in.

Imagine a Realtor who needs to be able to exchange data with clients and have access to contacts, calendars, email and the Internet whether in the office or on the road. This person needs to choose the device or devices that provide the best coverage between the road and the office with a minimum of confusion.

A smart phone is great for quick access to data. However its small screen can be difficult to read and Internet links can be difficult to follow. Internet service can be slow and unreliable, and synchronizing data with some devices is a challenge.

Smart phones have a variety of operating systems such as Windows Mobile, BlackBerry (RIM), Apple (iPhone, iPad) and Android (Google). As a rule it's best to compare Apples to Apples and Windows to Windows when it comes to synchronizing data.

Both Android and BlackBerry do a pretty good job of synchronizing across platforms, but users need to watch for glitches. Some systems will require users to install third-party software that can mitigate the challenges.

Companies like TechSmith and Mark/Space offer some great products, but synchronization can be slow. If you want to sync Windows Mobile with an Apple computer or (to a certain degree) an iPhone with a PC you will need to shop carefully.

If you are going to use a netbook, tablet or laptop computer when you're on the road synchronizing data becomes an issue. Most people want to be able to send and receive email and use the same address book whether on their desktop PC or their mobile.

Unlike smart phones, PCs are not set up to synchronize data with each other. (Apple offers a $99/year service called MobileMe that will sync your contacts, calendar and email across multiple Macs, but there are restrictions).

There are programs that will help you sync information, such as OsaSync (vaita.com) and PSTSync (outlooksync.com) to name just a couple, but be aware that they can be complex to set up and use. Our advice is to look for free trials before you buy.

Another option for accessing your data from multiple computers is what's called Hosted Exchange. It essentially allows you to set up your Outlook on a Web-based server. With Hosted Exchange you have access to all your Outlook information — contacts, calendars and email — from any properly configured computer. Like synchronization software, the devil is in the details. Setup and configuration can be challenging and generally requires specialized support.

Let's talk about email. This is where most road warriors get tripped up. Without getting too technical, there are two common ways you get your mail. The first is Web-based where users go to a Web site, log in and then read mail (this includes AOL and MSN).

Web-based mail doesn't require synchronization because the mail resides on the Internet, not your phone or your computer. The most common way to get email what's called client-based. Users have a program such as Outlook that manages the sending and receiving of email. Most smart phones have similar programs that perform the same function.

In general there are two ways to receive client-based email: POP3 and IMAP. POP3 is the most commonly used and most mail clients use it by default. And this is why people run into problems.

POP3 is just like the post office: it hands you your mail and has nothing more to do with it. In general, if you access your mail from your laptop using POP3, the message lands in your inbox and disappears from the server. If you check your mail at home, none of the messages you received on your laptop will show up there. This can be frustrating if you are prone to lengthy email exchanges.

On the other hand is IMAP. This protocol keeps messages on the mail server until they are deleted. You can even sort the messages into folders which can appear on multiple computers.

This is the preferred email option for anyone needing to access email from multiple locations and/or devices. It is trickier to set up, and not all mail clients or providers support it, but if you want to use client-based email this is going to be your best bet. — Sven Mogolgaard

Sven Mogelgaard is the owner of Mill Creek-based Byte Slaves Inc. (www.byteslaves.com) and can be reached by calling 425-482-9529. Will Rutherford is the owner of Bothell-based Computer Concepts (www.conceptsnet.com) and can be reached by calling 425-481-3666.