Backup Your Cell Phone Contacts the Easy Way
ne of the most devastating technology crashes of all does not even occur on a favorite laptop or desktop. No, one of the most gut-wrenching crashes is the loss of all cell phone contacts—potentially years worth of phone numbers, email addresses, and stored birthday reminders. Many of today’s phones come with software that backs up contacts on a computer, but those stored contacts take a lifetime to retype on a new phone.
A better solution is to store contacts online. SyncFriend allows users to do just that—and much more. Better yet, SyncFriend works with most cell phones, making it extremely easy to restore lost contacts to a replacement phone.
To start using SyncFriend, enter your Facebook, Google, Windows Live, AOL, Yahoo or Flickr ID.
Once signed up, a red box appears on the welcome page asking you to set up your phone. Click Setup your phone.
iPhone users must download Synthesis from the app store to use SyncFriend. The app is free, and allows one-button contact backup after minor, one-time setup (detailed on the SyncFriend site).
Android, Blackberry and WindowsMobile users must also download a client. Synthesis is not free for these systems, but does come with a free 30-day trial.
Other phones, such as Nokia and Sony Ericson, sync through the pre-installed SyncML client. For these phones, fill out the form to send an SMS message that will set up the back up system.
Once set up, your phone will have one button sync capability—literally, click one button and your contacts are updated on the Web database. What makes SyncFriend really unique, though, is the ability for your friends to update their contact information at any time within the service. Simply invite the people you trust to SyncFriend to use this part of the service.
SyncFriend is a service we have needed since the invention of the cell phone. As the sync software improves, so will the site’s usefulness. While it works great with iPhone and even an old Nokia we had lying around, we do not like the idea of being charged to use a Blackberry or Android phone. It seems unfair to charge some phone users, but not others.
A better solution is to store contacts online. SyncFriend allows users to do just that—and much more. Better yet, SyncFriend works with most cell phones, making it extremely easy to restore lost contacts to a replacement phone.
To start using SyncFriend, enter your Facebook, Google, Windows Live, AOL, Yahoo or Flickr ID.
Once signed up, a red box appears on the welcome page asking you to set up your phone. Click Setup your phone.
iPhone users must download Synthesis from the app store to use SyncFriend. The app is free, and allows one-button contact backup after minor, one-time setup (detailed on the SyncFriend site).
Android, Blackberry and WindowsMobile users must also download a client. Synthesis is not free for these systems, but does come with a free 30-day trial.
Other phones, such as Nokia and Sony Ericson, sync through the pre-installed SyncML client. For these phones, fill out the form to send an SMS message that will set up the back up system.
Once set up, your phone will have one button sync capability—literally, click one button and your contacts are updated on the Web database. What makes SyncFriend really unique, though, is the ability for your friends to update their contact information at any time within the service. Simply invite the people you trust to SyncFriend to use this part of the service.
SyncFriend is a service we have needed since the invention of the cell phone. As the sync software improves, so will the site’s usefulness. While it works great with iPhone and even an old Nokia we had lying around, we do not like the idea of being charged to use a Blackberry or Android phone. It seems unfair to charge some phone users, but not others.
