Remember a few years back when Apple introduced us to the vision of the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), then known as the Newton? That was a great idea, unfortunately several years before its time, and way too expensive for the masses. But what a concept! I jumped on that technology, and went through all the different versions Apple produced, culminating with the great Newton 2100 with its superb handwriting recognition engine. At the time Steve Jobs killed it off, it was the best hand-held computer available anywhere. I used it everywhere I went, keeping track of all my contacts, phone numbers, notes (the endless paper roll metaphor was perfect), even my finances (when Pocket Quicken connected flawlessly to my Mac's version of Quicken). I could even send/receive email and browse the Internet via its built-in modem. And here's a concept...I could even print wirelessly by pointing it at a printer with an infrared port, click on print, and get a hard copy of my document whenever I needed it (that was especially useful after taking a meeting full of notes). Sigh...

Well, however great the idea, the world wasn't ready. But, the concept did start to catch on, and Palm came along and started providing a cheaper, albeit much less functional, device that people actually started buying in droves.

Guess what happened then? Yep, Microsoft had this wonderful epiphany of a hand-held computer that would provide most of the functionality of your desktop computer, but one that you could carry around with you! So, along came Windows CE, and the eventual birth of the Microsoft Pocket PC. With the loss of the Newton, and the inadequate functionality of the Palm devices, I turned to this new technology with the hope of regaining my mobile computing experience. My first Pocket PC was from Hewlett-Packard, and it actually worked pretty well. However, there was a problem.

All Pocket PCs, being driven by a Microsoft operating system, came with a built-in connectivity solution called ActiveSync. This allowed you to pop the device into a USB cradle, which would both recharge the unit's battery, and automatically synchronize your selected data with your desktop PC. Of course, this wouldn't work with a Mac, so I was pretty much forced to use a Windows computer if I wanted to directly save any of my personal data. I know... I could have used a Palm device, but I had no intention of going backwards in mobile functionality, if I could help it, and I had a Windows 2000 server on my home network, so I used it.

This was pretty sad, but I had most of my Newton's old functionality, now with a color screen as well, although with no built-in ability to print directly from the Pocket PC. And with today's improved networking infrastructure, I could also connect to my home network via the new 802.11 wireless technology, in addition to standard Ethernet, and of course, USB via a cradle. I could also pop in a modem card to connect directly to the Internet. So, most of what I needed was available...except synchronization. ...enter PocketMac.net

These folks recognized this critical missing piece, one that Microsoft had little interest in addressing (yes, this need was addressed repeatedly to contacts in the Mac BU at Microsoft, who consistently blamed the omission on limited resources). From the many emails I've received from PocketMac, as a beta tester, this appears to be a small family enterprise, albeit one with strong programming skills and considerable experience with how ActiveSync works.

Many Mac Pocket PC users were thrilled that someone was developing a synchronization product that would now sync with their Macs. I know I was, so I early on jumped on the bandwagon and purchased their product. It worked, sort of, but not consistently, which was disappointing. Also, when it did work, it was excruciatingly slow. And, when Apple upgraded the OS to Jaguar, much of it broke completely. This upset a lot of users who had paid their $70 for what they hoped was a solution, but was clearly a rough first effort, and many countered with complaints about paying a commercial price for a clearly beta product. To their credit, the folks at PocketMac jumped on the new problems, even as they attempted to iron out a stable final solution.

I'm happy to report that they've now successfully released their first stable version, which they've tagged as PocketMac Pro 2.0, and it appears to work just fine.

While that might seem to be faint praise, it's not meant to be. They've done a remarkable job, considering they reverse engineered a connectivity solution using Microsoft's ActiveSync on the Pocket PC side, apparently without Microsoft's help. I'm overjoyed to be able to finally use my Newton replacement with my Mac again. (I'd be even more pleased if Intuit would come out with a verson of Pocket Quicken for the Pocket PC that would sync with Quicken in MacOS X, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards, so I'll continue to use my Keep Track solution for importing financial data via a compact flash card.)

So, how does it work? PocketMac Pro is a modular application that uses plug-ins to connect to your Mac's destination applications. So, when you first start up PocketMac Pro 2.0, you open the Preferences file and select the save files location on your Mac and plug-ins you want to use for files, contacts, calendar, and tasks. The current choices are Microsoft Entourage and the new Mac iApps...Address Book and iCal. No, you cannot currently import your emails, but I get so much junk, I didn't really want to swamp my Pocket PC with email anyway. It WAS very important to me, however, to be able to keep my contacts and appointments current, and PocketMac Pro does this just fine.

PocketMac Pro will also synchronize personal documents created on the Pocket PC (Word, Excel, Notes, graphics, etc.) to a folder on your Mac. Similarly, files you save to this folder on your Mac will be copied to your Pocket PC, which is also very convenient. You can also browse the Pocket PC's documents folders from your Mac when you're connected, and even take a screen shot if you so desire.

Since I use an AirPort base station plugged into my home network as the wireless access point for my iBook, it was important that I be able to connect via TCP/IP over this connection. With the earlier version of PocketMac Pro, it was necessary to select the connection method for synchronizing. However, with version 2.0 this is no longer necessary, although your FIRST connection MUST be via USB, so that the application can establish a partnership with ActiveSync on the Pocket PC. After that, you merely start up the application on the Mac, start up ActiveSync on the Pocket PC (be sure you've selected the PocketMac partnership on the Pocket PC, accessed via the Options menu), select Sync on the Pocket PC to make the connection, and select Synchronize on the Mac to start the synchronization. From then on, everything proceeds automatically. Initially, I was connecting, then immediately disconnecting with an error message, but it turns out that you MUST temporarily disable the password on the Pocket PC for the connection to remain stable. After the synchronization, I reactivate the password security on the Pocket PC.

Synchronization also works just fine with a hard-wired Ethernet connection, but again the FIRST connection MUST be via USB.

Overall, I'd have to say I'm really quite pleased that the PocketMac folks have come out with this product, and that it now works reliably on my HP Jornada 568. It also works with other Pocket PCs, but you should check their site for specifics before you buy since not all Pocket PCs are alike.

It's taken a while for them to get it almost right, but now it basically works and I love having this functionality again. If you use a Pocket PC, you should definitely give this connectivity solution a look.

February 12, 2003 update: It might be wise to wait a bit on purchasing this software. Since the Macworld Expo in January, the PocketMac folks have been pretty uncommunicative. I still have some issues with the software, including how it handles all-day events during a synchronization (it duplicates the event and stretches it over several days, albeit not always). While it appeared prior to Macworld that these folks were really into getting this product properly polished, I've been unable to get any feedback from them in weeks. Frankly, I'm not comfortable at this time with the future of this product. However, for Pocket PC users, this product does mostly work for me, so I'm continuing to use it as is, and then going in and fixing the events it mishandles. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they are actually working on fixing these items, but it's a bit alarming that they're not replying to emails, forum postings, or phone calls, all things they were quick to do last fall. It's a bit like ordering that perfect gift for someone special at Christmas, then waiting for it to arrive, only it never does. You keeping making excuses to yourself, until you finally realize that you've been taken. I'm hoping my rising concern will be dispelled with a newly rewritten version in the near future. But, the queasiness continues in the meantime...

-Dave Marsh

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