SyncML allows you to synchronize a Nokia phone with almost any PIM database on computers and servers.The Nokia PC Suite and Apple iSync both initiate the synchronization session from the computer over a local network connection (e.g., a Bluetooth connection). But many times those are not sufficient. Here are some examples:
The client-based solutions do not allow mobile phones to directly synchronize with popular workgroup servers, such as the Microsoft Exchange server.
Few Nokia-compatible synchronization programs are available for different flavors of Linux and Unix desktop computers.
Apple iSync does not synchronize any Series 40 device with a Mac computer. It also does not support all popular Series 60 devices.
The Nokia PC Suite does not always work properly for all PCs and all phones.
SyncML, a generic XML-based language for expressing data exchange in a synchronization session, provides the answer. Many Nokia devices are capable of initiating synchronization sessions to SyncML servers via general Internet connections (e.g., TCP/IP over GPRS). A SyncML server communicates with several synchronization endpoints over TCP/IP connections using SyncML. Most commercial PIM databases support SyncML. Check your Nokia phone's manual to see if it supports SyncML.
If your Series 60 phone does not have built-in support for SyncML (e.g., Nokia 3650), it is still possible to add SyncML support by installing new native software on the phone. Nokia provides Symbian-based SyncML software for the Nokia 3650 free of charge (see http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,8764,5371,00.html).
The SyncML servers enable the device to synchronize with a large variety of backend data sources that do not have native Nokia support. Here are three examples:
Run a personal SyncML bridge
The open source MultiSync program synchronizes a Nokia device with the Ximian Evolution (or Evolution 2) PIM software on any GNOME-based Linux system. You can download MultiSync from http://multisync.sourceforge.net/. Then you need to run MultiSync on your personal Linux computer, together with GNOME Evolution. The mobile phone connects to MultiSync via GPRS Internet and synchronizes with Evolution through MultiSync. A tutorial on how to configure Multi-Sync with a Nokia 6600 is available in the wiki knowledge base at http://multisync.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php?Nokia6600Instructions.
Run a dedicated SyncML gateway server
The open source Sync4j Project (http://www.sync4j.org/) and Synchronica (http://www.synchronica.com/) provide software for dedicated SyncML gateway servers. They synchronize Nokia devices with work-group-based PIM servers, such as the Microsoft Exchange server. You can run the gateway SyncML server to provide synchronization services to many mobile users. Data in the Microsoft Exchange servers can then be synchronized to almost any Windows or Mac computer using native synchronization software.
Hosted SyncML services
FusionOne's MightyPhone service (http://www.mightyphone.com/)is a hosted SyncML server that synchronizes mobile phones with Outlook or Lotus software on a Windows PC. To use the service, you need to open an account on the FusionOne web site for $3 per month (a free trial is available). Both the mobile device and the PC synchronize with the hosted account. Hence, the account always stores the updated PIM data and acts as the middleman to propagate changes from the phone to the PC or vice versa. For instance, if you make a change on the phone and synchronize it to your MightyPhone account, the change is propagated to the PC the next time the PC software synchronizes with MightyPhone. When you make changes on the PC and synchronize them to your MightyPhone account, the service sends an SMS message to the phone to alert you to initiate synchronization to keep the phone up-to-date.
On a Nokia Series 60 device, the synchronization process is handled by the Sync application (accessible from the Connect Sync menu). The Sync application holds one or multiple synchronization profiles. Each profile contains the settings for the SyncML server, the data set to be synchronized, the target databases, and the synchronization policy. You can create a new profile for your SyncML server or edit existing profiles via the Options menu. It also shows that contacts and calendar data are to be synchronized. The Remote Database values are specific to the SyncML server. In this case, the "address-book" and "calendar" values refer to the GNOME Evolution address book and calendar programs managed by a MultiSync instance.
To start the synchronization process for the selected profile, you can use the Options Synchronise menu item.
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