Internet World Products Help You Stay in Sync

From veterans LapLink and FranklinCovey to newcomers AmikaNow and YadaYada, here are ways to sync your devices.

Yardena Arar, PCWorld.com

NEW YORK-- Wherever you go, there you are--and so is all your digital stuff. That's the vision of several vendors with products and services on display at Internet World Fall 2000 here this week. Some focus on delivering data to mobile devices, others on synchronization between desktops, but all share the goal of providing easy access to data via the Internet, regardless of where you happen to be working.

LapLink.com's $80 PCsync, for example, makes it easy to transfer files to an online storage site such as Driveway.com or My Docs Online so you can retrieve them later from another computer. PCsync also supports file transfers directly between two computers, either via direct cable connection or over the Internet.

PCsync is a successor to LapLink, the company's flagship file-transfer and remote-access product, and is based on new code that uses Java and XML. (See "LapLink Syncs the Web.")

Sync With Your PDA or Phone

FranklinCovey, meanwhile, showed off a Flash interface to its online personal information management system, FranklinPlanner.com. Through a partnership with online synchronization pioneer FusionOne, FranklinPlanner.com also lets you synchronize up to 25MB of your PIM data between the site and your desktop, notebook, PDA, or mobile phone. It's available as a free download, and FusionOne's site offers additional synchronization capability. (See "FusionOne Puts Multiple PCs in Synch.")

AmikaNow helps you manage your e-mail when you're not at your desk by boiling it down to the essentials. Its AmikaFreedom uses proprietary technology to retrieve only the most relevant information from a message, generating a "highlight" message that it then forwards to the e-mail address on a Web-enabled PDA or phone. AmikaFreedom comes in two flavors, both free: an Outlook add-on that's a one-time download and installation, or a Web-based service. Either way, you get the summary messages on your phone or handheld.

Another new service for mobile users, YadaYada, will compete with OmniSky by delivering Internet access for $40 monthly to Palms and Handspring Visors with Novatel wireless modems. YadaYada has a Palm browser that will render all HTML pages, not just those formatted for handhelds. The company's mobile portal will also support synchronization of e-mail and PIM data.