[vrvince]

This looks like what I need for my wife and I, but I have a couple questions:

a) To have a single set of family events (any shared events, or events the other needs to know about), is it best/possible to have one Google account/calendar that we both enter items on? Or have two, and view each other's calendars?

b) Do the Google calendar events sync into the BB calendar, then out to our Outlook instances at work when we do desktop syncs? Any weird loops with this?

c) I suspect the answer is no, but can this be used without Blackberry Internet service? That is, can it just sync over the desktop to Google calendar? We really don't need any wireless web access nor email access, and don't want to pay for it, as we are at computers all day long anyway.
Otherwise, we may have to forgo this cool software and just have to email Outlook appointments to each other, and sync them via desktop.

Thanks much,
Vincent

[saraiya]

Originally Posted by vrvince

This looks like what I need for my wife and I, but I have a couple questions:

a) To have a single set of family events (any shared events, or events the other needs to know about), is it best/possible to have one Google account/calendar that we both enter items on? Or have two, and view each other's calendars?

b) Do the Google calendar events sync into the BB calendar, then out to our Outlook instances at work when we do desktop syncs? Any weird loops with this?

c) I suspect the answer is no, but can this be used without Blackberry Internet service? That is, can it just sync over the desktop to Google calendar? We really don't need any wireless web access nor email access, and don't want to pay for it, as we are at computers all day long anyway.
Otherwise, we may have to forgo this cool software and just have to email Outlook appointments to each other, and sync them via desktop.

Thanks much,
Vincent

If you both want to create/delete/modify events on the other's calendar, sync to the same one.

If you want to modify only your own calendar and read the other's, sync to different ones.

This sync knows nothing about Outlook. If you import events into your BlackBerry calendar, they will be synced to your Outlook just as all other events are synced to your Outlook. Note that read-only events are re-created every time, since the software needs to be able to show and hide them. That might affect Outlook depending on your Outlook settings. Please let us know at support at xxxxxxx dot com if you have problems with this.

This is an over-the-air sync. It doesn't know anything about desktops.

[jbischke]

Originally Posted by xxxxxxx

The help file that is referenced from the home page tells you how.

I'm not sure I see this. I'm doing what is listed at the following URL:

Using xxxxxxxxxxxxx

I'm not getting a sync to happen and don't really know what steps to take next.

[saraiya]

Originally Posted by jbischke

I'm not sure I see this. I'm doing what is listed at the following URL:

Using xxxxxxxxxxxxx

I'm not getting a sync to happen and don't really know what steps to take next.

Here's the line from the first section:
`` However, you can force a sync within 1 minute by going into Settings and choosing the Save menu item (even if you didn't change anything).''

What this does is queue the request up for fulfillment by the background thread that does the sync.

[jbischke]

I've done this. But nothing seems to happen. Is there any way to check status or see any error reporting if the sync is not taking?

Also, I'm running Apps for Domains in case that matters.

[saraiya]

Originally Posted by jbischke

I've done this. But nothing seems to happen. Is there any way to check status or see any error reporting if the sync is not taking?

Also, I'm running Apps for Domains in case that matters.

Hi, can we take this offline so that we don't spam others? Please send email to support at xxxxxxx dot com and we will take care of this for you. Thanks.

[jbischke]

I have e-mailed you. Thanks!

[saraiya]

May we please request that people try the application for 7 days before buying it? It's in the help file, Using xxxxxxxxxxxxx and it is also in the Help section of the software.

We will do our best at support in either case, but it doesn't make sense to buy software that you don't know works for you.


Thanks.

[fkjr2]

I am assuming this software is for BES users right?

[saraiya]

Originally Posted by fkjr2

I am assuming this software is for BES users right?

No, it is agnostic on BES.

[metsfan]

This is now I think at the point where I'm going to buy it. A few comments...

1. It seems to turn on my Pearl's screen whenever it syncs in the background. Not a huge issue, just a little wasted battery. When I had it plugged in, it didn't seem to turn back off, but on battery I think it did.

2. The "Last run" doesn't seem to be updating right. It looks like it's syncing, but that just says "Last run less than 81 hours ago", and that number increases. It would be useful if it showed when the last sync that actually made any changes was, instead of just what it did in the last sync.

3. A manual sync, or at least a manual settings test to see if it can communicate with Google, would be useful. I know you can sync by saving from the settings page, but it would be helpful to have a screen with some sort of debug information on it for when things aren't working.

Overall, it seems to be successfully syncing my calendar in the background, so now that it's setup, I'm very happy with it.

[saraiya]

Originally Posted by metsfan

This is now I think at the point where I'm going to buy it. A few comments...

1. It seems to turn on my Pearl's screen whenever it syncs in the background. Not a huge issue, just a little wasted battery. When I had it plugged in, it didn't seem to turn back off, but on battery I think it did.

2. The "Last run" doesn't seem to be updating right. It looks like it's syncing, but that just says "Last run less than 81 hours ago", and that number increases. It would be useful if it showed when the last sync that actually made any changes was, instead of just what it did in the last sync.

3. A manual sync, or at least a manual settings test to see if it can communicate with Google, would be useful. I know you can sync by saving from the settings page, but it would be helpful to have a screen with some sort of debug information on it for when things aren't working.

Overall, it seems to be successfully syncing my calendar in the background, so now that it's setup, I'm very happy with it.

Thanks!

To respond to your questions: the latest version (7.0.6) does not have the problems that you state. It does not do anything with backlights (but BlackBerry might); the "last run" means the last run when something actually changed; and the Settings page tells you details of the last sync just as the previous versions did.

[mr_kitty]

I downloaded xxxxxxxxxxxxx for my blackberry 8100 a couple of weeks ago but it failed to ever sync with my google calendar. in frustration & disappointment i removed the app after 48 hours (it never did sync).

tonight i decided to give it another go - now i have gotten my google calendars sorted out, and one of my "bosses" (im a freelance consultant) is updating one of my calendars, and i'd really like to have his additions synced OTA - but i can't set it up to try it out again... when I do it says "Invalid Key"

I'm guessing that is referring to the license key and not the URL keys of my 2nd & 3rd calendar (rather ambiguous message), and that the application knows about my previous (failed) attempt at setup and has expired the trial. I'd really like this to work, but obviously don't want to pay for the program before I see it work, since it didn't the first time.

Also, completely unrelated, my blackberry is set to turn off the backlight after 30 seconds of inactivity. With the application installed, it doesn't ever do that. As soon as I remove the app, the backlight functionality returns to normal.

The app (and their website) could really use a designer's touch. the dramatic switches between huge fonts and small fonts make it very hard to read. The phrasing of the prompts are ambiguous and the help files are difficult to interpret; they repeat the same steps over and over again.

And what's with the butterfly pic? that's not an icon, it's a photo. not even a relevant photo. why isn't the whole shibang installed inside of Options, anyway. It's just a configuration, right? There's no real application to see, is there?


As far as i can tell, there's one two-way sync, based on the email address you use, and it loads the "primary" calendar on that account. The rest are one-way syncs based on the xml address of either the private or public xml links in the calendar (assumedly, the private xml would allow me to read details i don't publish).

Why the developer feels the need to have me load this as a spouse, boss, partner or whatever calendar over and over again, i can't say. It seems like it would be much easier to understand if there was a primary, and secondary section of the setup. the primary is your two-way sync, and the secondary was just the standard input of xml, calendar name, enable/disable with a plus (+) to add an additional secondary account. I'm a grownup, I can add the name "Spouse" to my calendar, if that's what I want.

Also a clearer statement to the number of calendars supported would be helpful.

I'd love to see it work, but really I think it should be beyond beta quality before they charge for it.

[saraiya]

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

I downloaded xxxxxxxxxxxxx for my blackberry 8100 a couple of weeks ago but it failed to ever sync with my google calendar. in frustration & disappointment i removed the app after 48 hours (it never did sync).

We have a large number of 8100 customers and they routinely inform us of how well the software works for them. I use it personally on my 8100. If you had problems, then you should have emailed support at xxxxxxx dot com and we would have helped you set it up correctly.

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

tonight i decided to give it another go - now i have gotten my google calendars sorted out, and one of my "bosses" (im a freelance consultant) is updating one of my calendars, and i'd really like to have his additions synced OTA - but i can't set it up to try it out again... when I do it says "Invalid Key"

I'm guessing that is referring to the license key and not the URL keys of my 2nd & 3rd calendar (rather ambiguous message), and that the application knows about my previous (failed) attempt at setup and has expired the trial. I'd really like this to work, but obviously don't want to pay for the program before I see it work, since it didn't the first time.

We will create a version for you that will allow you another trial. Please email support at xxxxxxx dot com.

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

Also, completely unrelated, my blackberry is set to turn off the backlight after 30 seconds of inactivity. With the application installed, it doesn't ever do that. As soon as I remove the app, the backlight functionality returns to normal.

Version 7.0.6, available from www dot xxxxxxx dot com, does nothing with backlights. It doesn't affect the backlight when it runs on my personal Pearl.

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

The app (and their website) could really use a designer's touch. the dramatic switches between huge fonts and small fonts make it very hard to read. The phrasing of the prompts are ambiguous and the help files are difficult to interpret; they repeat the same steps over and over again.

We are sorry if you don't like the design or the help file.

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

And what's with the butterfly pic? that's not an icon, it's a photo. not even a relevant photo. why isn't the whole shibang installed inside of Options, anyway. It's just a configuration, right? There's no real application to see, is there?

Again, sorry if you don't like the way we have done things.

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

As far as i can tell, there's one two-way sync, based on the email address you use, and it loads the "primary" calendar on that account. The rest are one-way syncs based on the xml address of either the private or public xml links in the calendar (assumedly, the private xml would allow me to read details i don't publish).

Why the developer feels the need to have me load this as a spouse, boss, partner or whatever calendar over and over again, i can't say. It seems like it would be much easier to understand if there was a primary, and secondary section of the setup. the primary is your two-way sync, and the secondary was just the standard input of xml, calendar name, enable/disable with a plus (+) to add an additional secondary account. I'm a grownup, I can add the name "Spouse" to my calendar, if that's what I want.

Also a clearer statement to the number of calendars supported would be helpful.

Thanks for your design tips. We will keep them in mind as we move forward.

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

I'd love to see it work, but really I think it should be beyond beta quality before they charge for it.

We have a large number of very happy customers. We daily get email thanking us for the quality of our software. If you don't like the way we do things, then we suggest you exercise your right to choice and choose something else. However, characterising our software as beta quality is simply wrong.

[mr_kitty]

Originally Posted by xxxxxxx

We have a large number of very happy customers. We daily get email thanking us for the quality of our software. If you don't like the way we do things, then we suggest you exercise your right to choice and choose something else. However, characterising our software as beta quality is simply wrong.

You misunderstand me. I come from a commercial software development background. "Fit & Finish" is the final step before gold release.

[saraiya]

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

You misunderstand me. I come from a commercial software development background. "Fit & Finish" is the final step before gold release.

You misunderstand us. Every person who works here has written software that if you have ever been on the Web, you have (perhaps indirectly) used. Let us please continue our conversation about xxxxxxxxxxxxx via email to support at xxxxxxx dot com. Thanks.

[mr_kitty]

Originally Posted by xxxxxxx

You misunderstand us. Every person who works here has written software that if you have ever been on the Web, you have (perhaps indirectly) used. Let us please continue our conversation about xxxxxxxxxxxxx via email to support at xxxxxxx dot com. Thanks.

Alright then, I apologize for trying to offer constructive feedback. Offense was not my intent.

I emailed your support before ever posting here. Still haven't gotten a response, tho. I'm patiently waiting.

[mr_kitty]

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

Alright then, I apologize for trying to offer constructive feedback. Offense was not my intent.

I emailed your support before ever posting here. Still haven't gotten a response, tho. I'm patiently waiting.

Oh. now i realize the problem. I used the contact form on the website ( http://www.xxxxxxx.com/documents/36.html ) rather than emailing directly.

[saraiya]

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

Alright then, I apologize for trying to offer constructive feedback. Offense was not my intent.

I emailed your support before ever posting here. Still haven't gotten a response, tho. I'm patiently waiting.

Re: Constructive feedback. Is this constructive?

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

I'd love to see it work, but really I think it should be beyond beta quality before they charge for it.

Re: emailing support before posting: You emailed us using another link, that's fine, but you emailed us after business hours and then posted your flame the same night before giving us a chance to respond.

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

I emailed your support before ever posting here. Still haven't gotten a response, tho. I'm patiently waiting.

Please email support at xxxxxxx dot com and with your cooperation we will try to get this working for you. Thanks.

[mr_kitty]

Originally Posted by xxxxxxx

Re: Constructive feedback. Is this constructive?


Re: emailing support before posting: You emailed us using another link, that's fine, but you emailed us after business hours and then posted your flame the same night before giving us a chance to respond.


Please email support at xxxxxxx dot com and with your cooperation we will try to get this working for you. Thanks.

I'm sorry but I don't consider saying the interface needed work (and offering detailed suggestions on how to improve it) before I'd consider it ready for gold release a flame.

The font sizes are all over the place, making the text all but unreadable. The prompts are repetitive and ambiguous. The error messages are ambiguous. This isn't a flame, this is a very specific list of what I feel needs to be fixed before I'd consider it a professional quality release.

I respect the focus on functionality first, but before you take money for a product, I feel you should do the fit & finish on the interface, error messages and documentation. Form is a function, too. This is only my opinion, and quite frankly I think you're taking the whole thing way too personally.

You've received my message, and opt'd not to respond to me directly. Given your attitude here, I haven't a lot of faith in how helpful you'd be by me emailing directly. So I'm not going to bother.