Sync vcalendar to phone?

July 6, 2005 11:12 AM

How do I sync my calendar and address book to my cellphone?

I have a Motorola V330 phone. It has bluetooth. I don't have a usb bluetooth adaptor for my computers yet, but will probably get one soon. (today)

I have a calendar in vCalendar format and a bunch of vCards with my contacts.

I have, in other of preference, Linux, Windows 2k, Windows XP and iMac (OSX) boxes available. I don't use, and don't want to use outlook or exchange.

I'd like to sync my cellphone with my calendar and contacts, but without spending much money. Most of the solutions I've seen involve paying the service provider some amount of money on a monthly basis to link your phone with your exchange server at work, or buying a bluetooth < -> usb dongle or cellphone < -> usb cable with some software (costing around $60 to $70.) I find it hard to believe that nobody has come up with an open source, freeware, or cheap shareware bit of software that will do this using your existing bluetooth adaptor or cable.

Does anyone have any ideas?

posted by darkness to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Your phonr comes with a CD that contains the software you need to do so, if not just go to Motorola's site and get it. Although if your phone is branded you might find that your carrier has crippled Bluetooth.
posted by riffola at 11:28 AM on July 6, 2005

The office software riffola's talking about doesn't always come with the phone. Verizon chose to charge $40 for its solution. Fortunately, I found bitpim and the appropriate cable from Phones Plus.
posted by boo_radley at 11:49 AM on July 6, 2005

From the Mac, use iCal and Address Book to import your existing calendar and contacts. They you should be able to us iSync (now called SyncServices) to sync to your phone via Bluetooth.
posted by cptnrandy at 12:06 PM on July 6, 2005

I use a bluetooth adapter with my Mac to sync my Sony Ericsson with iCal and Address Book in OSX. The iSync program makes it quick and easy. You first need to associate the phone with the computer (a simple two-step process), and then you click Sync in the iSync program.

Here's a pic of the interface.
posted by pmbuko at 12:11 PM on July 6, 2005

cptnrandy: it's still iSync for cellphones; the app is still there in Tiger, though .Mac and iPod syncing are now elsewhere.

I don't see the v330 on the iSync compatible devices page, but if it's a newer version of an older, listed model, it may well still work. Note that some Motorola phones, even if they have Bluetooth, support iSync via USB only.
posted by mcwetboy at 12:34 PM on July 6, 2005

How to add the v330 to iSync. It worked swimmingly here.
posted by pedantic at 2:06 PM on July 6, 2005

riffola: No CD was included with the phone.

Various iSync people: I've heard the v330 is really a v551 that looks like a v300. The v551 is listed as supported by isync, as well as the v300, so my v330 might work.
posted by darkness at 2:35 PM on July 6, 2005