Currently I have Palm Desktop 6.2 on one PC and PD 4.?? on two other PCs – one at work, two at home. I use the Palm to sync my data between all three – this has worked flawlessly for years. The Palm also provides access to my data on the road – work, shopping, travelling, whatever – and anything I add whilst I’m out is quickly updated into the host machines. One of the PCs only gets updated infrequently – and that has never caused any problems.

Here’s the path I am trying:

Maintain the Palm Desktop. There maybe a better PIM out there – but there’d certainly be a learning curve – and this is where I do most of my work. This is feasible because CompanionLink can sync all the data on the Palm Desktop to the Android – so:

Install CompanionLink on the PC. It has variants for other databases, other devices, other OSs, etc. It’s not cheap – but there are no monthly fees. 14-day trial is available. Note that the Android version syncs directly with the Android – avoiding the cloud. There is a Google version – but I think that I’ll sync my data to Google from the Android.

Install DejaOffice on the Android. DejaOffice includes calendar, contacts, memos, todo – and more functions that don’t exist on the Palm. In contrast to most Android apps, all its routines use categories just like the Palm does – this is one of my “must-haves”.

I’ve run a sync – and ASFAIK everything is there. The first sync can be set-up to “wipe” all the Android data – so I’ve already eliminated all the experimental syncs from other apps that I’ve tested! The data is visible to the native Android apps – and so the Android’s powerful search capabilities are functional. I’ve already installed the Android version of TAKEphONE which I’ve used for years – it’s almost easier to search using its telephone keypad than using a QWERTY layout.

Hopefully more good news will follow – I’ve been working up to this for the entire Christmas / New Year break….

I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH, the 3 most important features of any PIM device is:

1. UNIVERSAL SEARCH
Search of the entire phone (not the internet), search through all your personal data, thru the contacts, notes, calendar, spreadsheets, memos, to-do lists, word processing files, SMS/MMS, thru every native apps, thru every 3rd party app data, anything and everything on your phone (not the internet) quickly and completely the way Palm OS did. Fast information retrieval of your personal data and databases is the most important and single most useful thing on this planet as far as PIM’s are concerned. Not links to twitter, not cool little icon creation tools, not fun cutesy little play things, but real world useful things.

2. UNIVERSAL CUT/COPY & PASTE
The ability to copy an address or sentence out of a text message or email, (not the entire message, only the portion you need) and paste it into a contact, or paste it into a memo or task field, or it into Google maps. Or Copy part of a to-do list item and paste it into a spreadsheet, or copy a value out of a spreadsheet cell and paste it into an email etc.

3. DESKTOP APPLICATION to sync with.
A desktop application to sync with, to back up all your PIM information (contacts, calendar, to-do lists, memos, wordprocessing files, spreadsheet files etc, to your PC and vice/versa (without being forced to use Outlook). Not syncing to “the cloud”, I don’t want all my personal info spread out all over the internet for who knows who to snoop through. I want my personal info on my phone and my desktop PC only. A Desktop application to be able to do the bulk of your data entry from your PC then syncing it to your phone instead of having to type out and tons of personal data, such as useful formulas, extensive notes about people, long letters or ebooks you want to cut and paste into your desktop app so you can sync it to your phone so you can read it on the road at your leasure without trying to type all that data into your little touch screen pad. To be able to look up information and data stored on my phone without not having to wait on a slow connection as it stores and retrieves from the cloud. And to be able to look up the same information on my desktop app when I can’t find my phone. To backup my data or retrieve it without being dependant an internet connection. When I lose my old phone, I want to be able to sync the new phone to my Desktop application had have all my personal info and data files loaded on to my new phone putting me right back in business without skipping a beat.

Primary PIM Apps to be fully intergreated with each other on the phone and on the Desktop are:
* Calendar/Scheduler/with very flexible alarms (i.e. repeat every third Thursday etc.). Should have Day/Week/Month/Year views.
* Contacts/Addresses/People that will show the long names on the screen when you select it.
* To Do List (KISS applies here, just need to easily slide line items up and down on the priority list and/or give it a changeable priority level, and to be able to attach longer notes if need be)
* Memo/Notes/Flash Cards to store anything and everything you think to write down to take note down, any thought, idea, note, comment, list of items, what someone said – Any and all inputs instantly retrievable by the “Universal Search”.
* Media/Pictures/Video/Music sync between desktop and device.
* Third party attachment handler (to automatically sync spreadsheet files for instance).

Store, Retrieve, and Manage/Manipulate Personal Information, that’s what Personal Information Managers (PIMs) are for. Not for doing animated gifs or other cutesy time wasters.

This is something the Twit(ers) writing software today don’t understand, not everyone has the luxury of laying around drinking soda pop and twittering each other all day, most of us need to actually get some work done in the real world. To manage and access personal information as well as internet info.

I would have switched from Palm OS to iPhone a couple years ago but the iPhone had no universal search or universal copy/paste at the time which made the iPhone worthless game machine to me. So I stayed with Palm. Now that Palm OS is being replaced with WebOS, I see now that the “new blood” writing the new Palm WebOS software left out the 3 most important things, the very things that made Palm great to begin with. So I bought a Droid Incredible, it falls flat on it’s face as a PIM, now I am back to carrying two devices a Palm OS for an actual working PIM, and a Droid for all the other “cool” stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Droid but it would be nice to get them back into one device again. The industry sometimes goes backwards instead of forwards. Now I see that Apple finally caught up to Palm by including a universal search and copy/paste into the iPhone finally, Android needs to catch up to Palm OS also, in a hurry, otherwise I may have to sidestep to an iphone when my one year contract is up.

PalmOS had a much more precise touch screen, all you had to do to select text was touch your fingernail, pen, or stylist to the letter you wanted to start with and drag to the end point to highlight the text you want, and then hit Menu/Copy. The new Johnny-come-lately touch screen phones do not have a precise way to select text directly, though the iPhone has come up with a good workaround for this, it’s not quite as fast and easy as the PalmOS but just as accurate at selecting only what you want, and it is universal just like the Palm.

If and when iambic ports Agendus to the Android OS it will be a great day for Android users, but the MOST IMPORTANT thing is we still need universal search & copy/paste across all 3-party applications. When I was a palm user I didn’t see the need for Agendus (a very robust PIM) because it seemed redundant on the Palm, but I could see the need for it on other platforms such as Windows devices, iPhone, BlackBerry etc. Now that I am a Droid user I see the need for Agendus for the Android. Agendus is starting to sound like a great Idea, a robust PIM application that can be ported to any new phone platform that comes out, that way you learn one app and keep it with you across platforms as the phone market keeps changing.

@Jeff: Software publishers just leave cash on the table.

@gary ruder: I tried CompanionLink early on and had problems, so I’ve settled for Google calendar, contacts, and mail (with the same Google world domination worries) and SpringPad for notes and such.

LastPass is just quirky enough that now I use both it and Splash ID. The demise of Palm continues to complicate my life. The dopes at HP snatched away my best hope of re-simplifying it. Bah.

I’ve given up on Splash ID and have adopted LastPass (lastpass.com) instead. For notes and memos, I use Catch (catch.com).

Gmail and Google calendar are working out, though I do have reservations about too much dependence on Google.

@dentonit: I’m intrigued by tablets. iPad is a non-starter, so the alternative is Android – except for HP (formerly Palm) WebOS 2. The upcoming pair of Pre 3 and TouchPad may lure me back to the 3Com/Palm/HP family tree.

Steve