Cloud-sync and push email provider, Funambol, t released a mobile cloud sync index study evaluating solutions from 12 top device makers, portals, carriers and specialists in the mobile industry, including Apple MobileMe, AT&T Mobile Backup, BlackBerry IS, Funambol, Google Sync, Microsoft My Phone, Nokia Ovi Sync, Palm Synergy, T-Mobile Mobile Backup, Verizon Wireless Backup Assistant, Vodafone Zyb and Yahoo! Mobile.
The study performed by a team of Funambol researchers, compares the syncing of mobile data and content, such as contacts, calendars, email, photos and files, against 10 different categories, including cost, usability and performance, global readiness, wireless desktop integration and social network sync.
Mobile cloud sync consists of syncing data and content on a mobile phone with a server and portal in the Internet cloud. Data and content can also be synced with email systems, desktop apps, social networks and more. While a variety of companies offer basic mobile cloud sync services, the ease of use, cost and variety of features differs widely from service to service.
The mobile cloud sync evaluation showed that solutions from mobile operators are often more limited than sync solutions from device manufacturers and portals. It also found that major areas of opportunity include wireless desktop integration, social network sync and solution openness.
Additional findings of the mobile cloud sync index include:
- 75% of solutions are free.
- 17% of solutions support one or two devices.
- 42% support a single family or small number of devices.
- 41% of solutions only sync a single type of data (e.g. contacts, email, photos).
- 75% of solutions do not support wireless desktop integration.
- 33% of solutions sync data with multiple social networks, such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn; 16% sync with one social network and 50% do not sync with social networks
- 58% of solutions support four or more languages.
Previously we named Funambol our BlackBerry Storm App of the Day and of the Month.
"Mobile cloud sync is a major new category of mobile services for mobile operators, portals and device makers," said Fabrizio Capobianco, CEO of Funambol. "Consumers expect to seamlessly sync their content from their mobile phones to the cloud to the desktop. When we compared the industry's top solutions side by side, we were able to see how they actually stack up."
Funambol's mobile cloud sync index white paper, "Evaluating Mobile Cloud Sync Solutions: From Apple MobileMe to Vodafone Zyb," is available for download with free, instant registration, at http://www.funambol.com/solutions/requestpublication.php.