The One PIM To Rule Them All

Written by Adam Gosling

Tuesday, 26 June 2007

The latest release of a "smart address book" service from Plaxo claims to be the first contact and calendar solution to synchronise between Microsoft, Google, Yahoo!, AOL, Mac OSX, Thunderbird, and your mobile phone. The new beta version aims to make it simple to bridge between disparate tools and services with automated, multi-way synchronization - without cables, cradles, or complicated software set-up. Available for free in seven languages, Plaxo 3.0 is much more than just another product release, says the company. "We're really introducing an all-new Plaxo," said Todd Masonis, Founder and VP of Products. "Plaxo 3.0 is the platform upon which we can build out our 'sync and share' vision, giving people access to all their data wherever they need it, and enabling ever richer ways to stay connected with the people who matter in their lives." "The all-new Plaxo seamlessly integrates with my digital life," said Marc Baizman, Project Manager for NPower, a national network of nonprofit organizations. "I have a PC at work, a Mac at home, and I use Outlook, Google Calendar, and iCal and Address Book to keep contacts and appointments. Plaxo just works! I don't have to do anything special; it runs in the background, keeping everything in sync!" Plaxo 3.0 gives people universal access to all of their contacts and calendars - at work, at home, or on the road. Plaxo 3.0 offers a wide range of access options, including: a new web interface; native client software for Windows and Mac OSX; and several mobile options, including a new WAP 2.0 version for mobile browsers, available at m.plaxo.com. The service, which until now has only been available in English, is now also localized in French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish, expanding the company's addressable market. The online interface uses AJAX and features a Sync Dashboard for taking the complexity and effort out of setting up and monitoring multiple "Sync Endpoints". The smart address book has Find-as-You-Type Search, One-Click Directions (via mashup with Yahoo!), and Click-to-Call (via mashup with Jajah). The calendar features Upcoming View, Countdowns, Weather (via mashup with Weather Underground), Photos (via mashup with Flickr), and calendar sharing. The Available Sync Endpoints, include: Google (starting with Calendar, with Gmail coming soon) Microsoft (Outlook, Outlook Express, Vista Mail, and Hotmail) Yahoo! (Mail and Calendar) Mac OSX Sync Services (for Address Book, iCal, iPhone, and more) AOL (AIM) Mozilla Thunderbird LinkedIn (available as part of Plaxo Premium) Mobile phones Plaxo 3.0 also includes Plaxo Pulse, a revolutionary automated content sharing system, with all of the power of RSS feeds, but none of the complexity. As people you know post content online, it just shows up automatically in your Pulse tab, based on their sharing settings. Initial feeds include Flickr photos, blogposts, Amazon.com Wish Lists, and Plaxo contact info changes. SInce 2003 Plaxo has ammassed more than 15 million members around the world. The privately held company is funded by Sequoia Capital and Cisco Systems among others. www.plaxo.com Related news items Garmin Does Phone Nav -04/10/2007 Next-Gen 3G RAZR DownUnder -24/09/2007 New Flash Memeory Card Standard Coming -16/09/2007 Vodafone UK Promises All-You-Can-Hear Music -12/09/2007 HP Goes iPaq Mad -06/09/2007 Newer news items Apple Lifts iPhone Skirts -06/03/2008 N95 Update Adds Three Hours Playback -03/12/2007 Opera Makes Mobile Surfing Easier -30/10/2007 BlackBerry Gets A New Browser -03/09/2007 iPhone Gets Enterprise Credibility -16/07/2007 Older news items Windows Mobile Takes Over As RIM Shifts To Smartphones -23/05/2007 BlackBerry For Windows Mobile -23/04/2007 Yahoo!, Outlook the Easiest For Mobile Users -13/03/2007 Motorola Takes On RIM: Hurts Palm -13/11/2006 Sony Ericsson Takes Control Of Symbian Interface -07/11/2006 Tag This Now: