Here's a new wireless sync application/service for BIS users:
StashM: Your Phone Online and In Sync

It appears currently to only sync your Address Book. I have tested it this morning, and while I did get some errors, it is working.

The process seems simple enough:

--sign up for an account (free, still in Beta testing, I don't know what plans they have to charge in the future).
--Confirm your account via a confirmation email.
--Download the applet for your BB from their website, configure your sign-on info from the BB.
--Click to sync data. My first two syncs took about 20 minutes, although the developer says it should take much less, like 20 seconds, subsequently.

So far, not all of my contacts have synced over. I am about to try again and see what happens. I can sign in to the application website from any computer and view my contacts... pretty cool if I were to lose my BB or be traveling and need quick access.

I am told the developers have further plans for additions to the sync and upgrades coming.

See what you think.

I wonder if I should concern about the privacy / security issue.

Would they (developer) be able to view my contact information in my account online?

Good question. I read a page at their site on security, I don't know if it answers all your questions.
StashM: Security

I just synced my phone book. I can see it would be useful if I don't have my blackberry and/or laptop with me and I need to get some information of my contact.

However, it seems they missed a key feature:

Delete all contacts

right now, If i need to delete all my contacts, I would have to delete them one at a time.

Additionally, I am not sure if it is a both-ways sync or one way sync; or I can set up my blackberry to overwrite the content in the website. I would want to be able to control what should be synced and what shouldn't.

Actually, I would rather like to sync my phone book to my gmail contact list.

Good feedback... I know they have a user on this Forum who should be checking in this thread... He told me they wanted feedback, so they'll be getting it.

I posted in another thread, the contacts sync is highly incomplete - it doesn't support multiple email addresses or postal information, that much I found out right away. While interesting to play with right now, it's not ready as a real backup solution unless all you do is store one email address and phone numbers (multiple numbers do work/sync).

@plchan: I had to sit here and manually delete each contact in their webUI over and over and over as well, it was a bit painful on the ol' mouse clicker. yeesh.

http://www.goosync.com/

GooSync *Premium* (not Free) can sync your GMail contacts - I haven't tried it though, unwilling to fork over the cash at this time.

Same here. I just deleted all the contact thru the web UI. However,I found out you could change the ID so it is much faster than I keep clicking the links.

http://m.stashm.com/delcontact.asp?id= xxxx

for now, I uninstalled the application from my BB. I might give it a try when it becomes a better product.

I heard about the GooSync. I do the old fashion way. I import my contacts from outlook and import it to Gmail; then I sync my bb with my outlook.

Exactly my choice as well - for me it installed and worked without any problems at all, just not quite there yet but a good start. I need of course *all* contact data backed up, but also the ability to import/export from the webUI. (i.e. CSV/vCard. etc.)

What I'd kinda like to know is if they're using SyncML under the hood, that would be slick. Pure curiosity.

Thanks for trying the service and the good feedback!

Our intention is to keep the service free and we are diligently working on a list of features while in beta, many of which you mentioned already. These include import of Outlook CSV, calendar sync, photo sync, adding more fields to the contacts, etc. Ultimately, we want the service to be google-simple and create a reliable place to keep your device synchronized and avoid becoming a burden (i.e., another place to manage content and create networks).

Currently, sync is purely bidirectional. So changes online will be reflected on the device and vice versa.

Regarding the privacy question, please review our privacy policy at StashM: Privacy.

Thanks again!

Please note that synchronization is purely bidirectional, so deleting your contacts online will delete those contacts on your device and vice versa.

Totally understood, thanks. I think the two of us have uninstalled the app for now, which in theory removes any sync anchors stored in the local device RMS database, correct? Then when a newer version is out we can sort of start over without harm. (I'm assuming you're using RMS storage instead of Persistence...?)

Great question. Yes, you can start over without harm. There are no sync anchors left behind.