GooSync's Blog

GooSync free account back by popular demand

WOLVERHAMPTON, England, April 14, 2010 — Since discontinuing its free GooSync service back in October 2009, Toffa International has received overwhelming demand to bring it back. Finally conceding to the masses, Toffa is re-releasing the ever-popular GooSync free subscription. As of Wednesday, April 14, 2010, users will once again be able to sign up to the basic GooSync account free of charge – and that’s not all. Existing Lite subscribers will now have even more great features, including an extended calendar sync range and multiple device support.

“While the GooSync Lite and Premium subscriptions continue to be very popular, it’s true that today’s financial climate means many users are just not in a position to pay for a Google sync service,” says Chris Jukes, Toffa’s CEO. “We are very excited about the re-launch of the free GooSync subscription. We want to continue to ensure all users have a reliable Google sync service during these harder financial times.”

GooSync ties in with personal management systems that are a natural component of today’s mobile phones and PDAs, extending Google Calendar to mobile devices. GooSync is designed to deliver a seamless service, regardless of whether someone chooses the basic, free option or the Premium account’s more expanded features.

“With GooSync, Toffa International’s goal is to provide everyone with something that is free and simple to use, and we’ve also set up a Premium option that delivers access to many more features,” says Chris Jukes, CEO of Toffa and GooSync. “So while GooSync’s basic service enables you to sync the default Google Calendar, our Premium account lets you sync multiple calendars, contacts directly with Gmail, and tasks to the GooSync inbuilt tasks application. Autosync and multiple device support are just some of the numerous features supported through GooSync.”

GooSync’s website provides a list of all supported phones, plus details on both the basic and Premium services. For more information, go to http://www.goosync.com/.

A few people have asked us what our future plans are for both GooSync and the rest of our business…

As you are well aware, we have been providing GooSync now for over 3 years and have gained a lot of loyal customers during this time.  Our innovation has allowed us to continually develop GooSync from a simple Beta idea to a fully pledged, feature rich Synchronization service allowing us to capture a niche market in the process.

We released the last update to GooSync back in October.  This update was well received and was the first phase of 4 planned releases over the next 18 months.  As our customer base grows this allows us to continue to develop new features for GooSync which is exactly what we are doing.  Google may have many sync features native to their Android OS based devices but this still leaves little support for none Google devices (Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, Samsung Etc) which are left with many Syncing limitations, therefore allowing us to gain customers who fall into that category.

As of yet, Google have not released their Tasks API so we cannot fully integrate GooSync with Google task manager but we do offer our own task manager which is available for all Premium members.  As soon as Google do release the API we will prioritise the development of this into GooSync.

Unlike Google, we offer priority first class support with our products allowing our users to contact a human directly and get help with any problems they might encounter; this again is a huge USP for GooSync as Google do not currently provide this type of service with their Synchronization product.

To conclude this point, we have a comprehensive product roadmap for GooSync which details new features suggested by our user base and internal staff, we haven’t published this roadmap because factors change and we constantly have to adapt, re-schedule and prioritise developments, software development is a fluid environment as I’m sure you will appreciate.

As far as the future of our business is concerned we are working around the clock on new products that complement and integrate with GooSync.  Our latest offering, AddressBookONE is currently due for release this quarter as a Beta.  Here is a quick overview from our internal literature

“AddressBookONE is a contact cloud-based service bringing together the people in your day-to-day life all in one place…

Technology solves many problems but can sometimes create others in the process.  In today’s environment we have contact with many friends, business, personal & family… Accessing all this information can sometimes be a daunting task.  We have a mixture of people in our phones and PDA’s, friends on social networking sites, friends we chat to via instant messaging and our business contacts in our mail clients; demonstrating how spread out our information really is.

AddressBookONE attempts to solve this problem using a single point of contact, which amalgamates this scattered information into one, easy to use, simple interface.”

We hope this gives you an idea of what we have coming up.  AddressBookONE also integrates with Gmail – using Goosync, Exchange, Outlook, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo etc and our valued customer base will be able to get a sneak preview when we have our Beta ready.  You can register for our Beta testing program now by visiting www.addressbookone.com.

We have also been working on some great collaborations over the last few months including MotionApps with Classic, A great new tool for Explorers & Travelers and soon to be announced a product that directly integrates with network carriers providing the user with some amazing features directly accessible from your handset.

We hope we have addressed any concerns you might have but if we’ve missed anything then please let us know, we are always here to help and support our customers.

The GooSync Team.

Our 2010 calendar is now available! Click the image below to download it.

Classic from MotionApps, the Palm OS emulator for the new Web OS, will now include the GooSync Palm OS client as standard, providing the best over-the-air synchronization solution for Google calendars, contacts and tasks.

With the successful release of the Palm Pre supporting the new Web OS, there was only one thing missing, all of the vital Palm OS applications people have grown to love and rely on. Classic is a Palm OS emulator that runs on the Web OS, allowing you to run all Palm OS applications, now including GooSync.

GooSync ties in with original Palm OS personal management applications that are a component of the classic emulator from MotionApps, extending Google calendar to the new Palm Pre. GooSync is designed to deliver a seamless service, regardless of whether someone chooses the basic, Lite option or the Premium account’s extended features.

“It’s great news for users of Classic, being able to Sync with Google straight out of the box is an invaluable business service,” says Chris Jukes, CEO of Toffa and GooSync. “So while GooSync’s Lite service enables you to sync the default Google Calendar, the Premium service lets you sync multiple calendars up to 365 days in advance, contacts directly with Gmail, and tasks to the GooSync inbuilt tasks application. Autosync and multiple device support are just some of the numerous features supported through GooSync.” Also included are GooSync’s new features from the latest release, version 2.1, such as Google contact group synchronization.

Setting up a GooSync account is easy through the official GooSync website: http://www.goosync.com/. GooSync works on any device that is SyncML compliant, including the most recent Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Motorola phones. It is also compatible with Windows Pocket PC, Windows SmartPhone, Palm OS, Treo, BlackBerry and Apple iPhone by installing a SyncML client.

“A secure, hassle-free experience is key to the success of GooSync, plus the fact that it’s applicable to everyone, from the casual user to power user,” Jukes says. “With the service based on the SyncML data protocol, most phones will have no problem running either the Lite or Premium service.”

GooSync’s website provides a list of all supported phones, plus details on both the Lite and Premium services. For more information, go to http://www.goosync.com/.

For more information on MotionApps or to Download Classic visit http://www.motionapps.com/

About Toffa International

For 13 years, Toffa has been a leading developer of synchronization software for mobile devices. Its GooSync, released in February 2007, is now the market leader for Google synchronization. Toffa is a proud partner of Novell®, which certified Toffa’s SyncWise and SyncWisePro under its respected YES, Tested and Approved program. Toffa’s software provides comprehensive synchronization facilities between Novell® GroupWise® and any Palm OS® connected organizers. Products now in the design stage at Toffa include further iPhone and Android applications.

Despite the company’s quick, steady growth, Toffa continually provides highly personal, direct service to customers, representing countless sectors and industries but sharing the common need for efficient, reliable communications. To learn more about Toffa International, visit http://www.toffa.com.

Contact:

Jay Lloyd
Marketing Executive
Toffa International/GooSync
T: +44 1902 650025
sales@toffa.com
Twitter: @goosync
Skype: jaylloyd

http://blog.goosync.com

Goosync v2.1 – Released

Fresh from the Goosync development team is GooSync v2.1.
We have continued to invest in the development of GooSync and added new features based on user feedback ensuring that GooSync stays the best-of-breed sync product on the market.
The latest release of GooSync contains several new features and changes that make syncing easier and more flexible.

Google Contact Groups:
GooSync now has the ability to sync contact groups from within Google.  Multiple groups can be synced and groups can be omitted from the sync process allowing full flexibility as to what contact information is synced with your device.
Google’s ‘Unfiled’ group can be ignored when syncing so as not to copy unnecessary contact information to your device.
The new Group Sync feature can be found in the GooSync control panel under “Sync by Categories”

Google Tasks:
The GooSync task list that is displayed in the GooSync control panel is now printer friendly with a new style sheet and a print button.
The task-list search box now has an auto-search feature similar to the contact search.
Tasks can now be imported and exported as VCard files (i.e. backed-up/restored).  This can be found by clicking ‘import’ or ‘export’ above your tasks list.

For GooSync Contacts and Tasks:
Tasks and Contacts lists now display the category for each item.
The Tasks and Contacts igoogle gadgets now display notes.

The Goosync Control Panel:
If you have multiple devices, you can now rename each device to make it easier to distinguish them from each other. Just click ‘rename’ next to your device.GooSync version 2.1

Since the first release of GooSync back in early 2007 GooSync has gone from strength to strength.

Both the Premium and Free versions of GooSync have become market leaders in the over-the-air synchronization market.

We have shown our continued commitment to our users over the years with a new infrastructure, further product development and enhanced support services.

We are also now happy to report that version 2.1 is now ready for release. Features from this new version will soon be rolled into the Premium version of GooSync. We also have 3 further updates planned for release over the next 9 months.

It has always been our goal to provide a professional service to all Free and Premium users. Given the exponential demand for GooSync over the last 12 months, it has become increasingly more difficult to continue this high level of service to both Premium and Free users.

It is therefore, with regret, that we are now discontinuing our Free service. For all of you that have come to love and rely on our free offering, we will be migrating the Free GooSync service into a new product “GooSync Lite”.  This new lite version of GooSync will have all the same features as the existing free version.

The Free version will become unavailable and synchronization will be suspended on Monday 19th October. To continue benefiting from all the great features of GooSync you will be able to purchase GooSync Lite for a yearly fee of just £5.99 (approx $10). We are confident that this is priced very competitively and will allow us to continue to offer the professional level of service and support you have come to expect.

Alternatively you can upgrade to our GooSync Premium service. This allows full contact syncing with contact backup, multiple Google calendars with appointments up to 365 days in advance, appointment attendees, task synchronization, multiple device support, AutoSync and iGoogle gadgets. Also included will be GooSync’s new features from version 2.1, such as Google contact group synchronization.

GooSync Premium is available for as little as £19.95 per year, £29.95 for a two year subscription or a lifetime option for £39.95.

We hope you continue to use GooSync and we look forward to working with you in the future.

Thanks,

The GooSync Team.

Head of sales, Jay, and his wife Nicola have become proud parents of Isla born 12:46, Monday Sept 21st, weighing 7lb 9oz, a little sister for Mia.

Well done Jay & Nicola!

Recently updated GooSync offers simplest way to sync Google Calendar, contacts and tasks on mobile devices

WOLVERHAMPTON, England, July 28, 2009 — The popularity of cloud storage is anything but up in the air, as more and more businesses and consumers ground themselves in this data accessing, management and editing strategy. Toffa International’s (http://www.toffa.com) cloud storage application, GooSync, provides synchronization between Google’s widely used Google Calendar and mobile devices such as mobile phones and PDAs. Recent updates to the market-leading software include upgraded infrastructure, a new helpdesk feature and enhanced scalability.

GooSync ties in with personal management systems that are a natural component of today’s mobile phones and PDAs, extending Google calendar to your mobile device, which is only accessible via a mobile phone’s Web browser. GooSync is designed to deliver a seamless service, regardless of whether someone chooses the basic, free option or the premium account’s more expanded features.

“With GooSync, Toffa International’s goal is to provide everyone with something that is free and simple to use, and we’ve also set up a premium option that delivers access to many more features,” says Chris Jukes, CEO of Toffa and GooSync. “So while GooSync’s basic service enables you to sync the default Google Calendar, our premium account lets you sync multiple calendars, contacts directly with Gmail, and tasks to the GooSync inbuilt tasks application. Autosync and multiple device support are just some of the numerous features supported through GooSync.”

Setting up a GooSync account is easy through the official GooSync website: http://www.goosync.com/. GooSync works on any device that is SyncML compliant, including the most recent Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Motorola phones. It is also compatible with Windows Pocket PC, Windows SmartPhone, Palm OS, Treo, BlackBerry and Apple iPhone by installing a SyncML client. With a commitment to ensuring privacy and making the GooSync experience as safe as possible, Toffa International protects all personal information by incorporating industry standard, data encryption and secure storage. In the event of losing or damaging a device, all data can be restored.

“A secure, hassle-free experience is key to the success of GooSync, plus the fact that it’s applicable to everyone, from the casual user to power user,” Jukes says. “With the service based on the SyncML data protocol, most phones will have no problem incorporating either the basic or premium account.”

GooSync’s website provides a list of all supported phones, plus details on both the basic and premium services. For more information, go to http://www.goosync.com/.

The GooSync competition has now closed!

At the beginning of June we launched our GooSync giveaway, offering you a chance to win one of our great prizes. We have had an overwhelming response, with iPods, Nintendo DSi’s, PSP’s and GooSync subscriptions up for grabs.

There are 26 prizes to be won and winners will be picked at random no later than 17th August 2009. Please read the full details here.

I’m replacing my Windows Vista laptop with a MacBookPro, and for your insight and amusement I’m going to detail the process here.

It’s on order and should arrive around July 15th, I won’t get much done til my return from vacation on Aug 2.

Here’s the spec I went for:-

I’m reading “Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition” recommended by Danita

Love to hear of your experiences of switching too, Do’s and Dont’s would be great….

Update: August 4th

Still getting to grips with this shiny new world of Mac, I just about worked out the basics and loving the speed, I have a few “won’t work on Mac issues”; legacy M$ access db, websites needing ActiveX (thanks LloydsTSB); I have added M$ Office 2008, most of my docs are word or excel and I’m to use to it to change.

I did struggle to add a ip address to the hosts file (where is the hosts file); good job I cut my teeth oh Unix, I found a shell (Terminal), and cd /etc and wow the mac has a vi editor, so I was well sorted.

Getting to grips with Safari, I love Chrome and its ability to startup with loads of open tabs, no Chrome for Mac yet!

Update: August 6th

I cracked, can’t do without some windows stuff, I installed VMWare, now I can run IE and Access in a Windows XP VM.

Also installed IShowUHD, a great screen recording app, and the iPhone SDK (that’s the delveloper in me)

Update: Sept 7th

Another month of MacBook usage, it’s been a Joy, it just works, I needed to print some stuff out at a friends house, I just plugged the printer in and it was available to use, wow! that was easy, no drivers to load, nought.

I was on site doing a presentation, under windows I always needed to set the resolution to fit the display device I was attaching, again the Mac magic was great, just plugged in this huge 52in sony display and it worked like a charm, my customer commented on how slick the setup was, all credit to the Mac.

I also discovered “Spaces” – for the uninitiated its more to do with screen layout and control that green fields, in short it allows you to configure up to four views of your desktop; again great for customer visits, switch views in a whiz.

Wow! I’m sounding like a Mac geek now

Update: Sept 30th

I missed Photoshop, so purchased an upgrade form my windows version, I also purchased a Time Capsule (a 1Tb wifi backup device), this backups up all my data daily without a thought from me.

As you can tell I’m a complete Mac geek and would encourage anyone to switch, the Mac Book is a tad more expensive than its windows equivalent but hey! “you get what you pay for”

CONCLUSION – buy a Mac today

Chris.