If Outlook synching isn't your thing, then a new app called ZBook is a great way to backup your phonebook effectively, easily and automatically. Your phonebook will sync to the ZBook servers manually or daily at a preset time of your choosing. ZBook also supports the importing of contacts from Outlook, MSN, Hotmail, Gmail, Plaxo, and Yahoo to your online account. Features include:
- The contacts can be edited by the owner at any time online and then sync-up with the device
- Supports Outlook import of contacts in the CSV format and restore of all contacts in case the phone is lost or switched to newer phone.
- Auto sync timer: It wakes up the ZBook, backup contacts and then smoothly exit the application on a specific set time.
- Search contacts based on full or partial name, number, email or address
It would be hard to justify purchase with Google Sync being free, but if you're a non-Google user this may interest you. The price is a little steep at $9.99, but the features may be enough to justify the price. Head over to BlackBerry App World to download.
Reader comments
ZBook Over-The-Air Phonebook Backup for BlackBerry Smartphones
You can use Skydeck which is free.
And iDrive Lite is also free....I've used that one and really like it.
Best Buy offers a service that is quite good too; http://www.miqlive.com/
This is a great idea! i hope they come up with a way to sync other BlackBerry data OTA too! Password Keeper, Calendar and Auto Texts.
at www.zyb.com with their free application :-)
Google sync doesn't work very well for contacts. It messes up the fields, adds multiple duplicate contacts, deletes addresses. I gave up on Google sync for contacts. It works well for the calendar.
yup, you said it just right. google does it for free. I even opened a gmail account just to take advantage of their phonebook backup
I bought it and found that it was very simple and the auto-scheduling feature works well. I love the piece of mind that my contacts are always backed up. I walked into a lake with my Storm in my pocket this summer and it was such a pain to get my contacts back. You get what you pay for and I believe this one is worth it.
I downloaded this app about 2 weeks ago and I have to say I'm very impressed. 9.99 seemed a bit high but for a whole year I figured I've wasted 10 bucks on worse! But this app is awesome and well worth the 10 bucks. The auto sync feature works excellent and for someone in the business world plus a wife and 4 kids I'm always adding new phone numbers. The thing is I never have my blackberry cable with me! I was just at a parent teacher conference at my son's new school today and ran into 4 people I haven't seen in years! I put their first name and number in my phone, went home, synced my contacts and entered their complete information from my laptop and synced it back to my phone. Overall this app is a 10 out of 10! Easy to use, fast and efficient. It was also great to import all my contacts from Outlook and Yahoo! As someone else said...you get what you pay for and this app is worth every penny of the $9.99!!!
I just swapped my device from Windows Mobile to Blackberry Storm 2. Backed-up all my 800+ contacts from Windows Mobile and restored all my contacts using zbook. All came thru just fine including the once I have imported from gmail, yahoo, msn, and plaxo.
I had tried those free services and support was zero to none - the app had bugs, contacts misplaced. You get what you pay for, right?
My contacts are important to me so I did not mind paying a little to ensure I get what I need.
I have tried all of these and I must say that ZBook is the best one. Its so fast and easy to use that it blows away the other applications. I have had issues with all Outlook Sync where information was missing. Idrive lite worked terrible on my Storm, whats the point of a touch screen if you cant use it and the app doesn't respond. The account setup process for Skydeck was long so was Idrive and in the end the PC interface was just ok but they both took like 5-10 min to sync. Zbook takes like 45 sec -1 min no hassle registration and everything is there. Its been said before you get what you pay for and if you want missing information and lost contacts Outlook Sync is the product for you. But if you want everything including a fast and effortless application that requires almost no time at all, is accurate that wont lose any of your information then Zbook is the application for you.