PDA to iPhone Applications

Business people are finding that some of today's smartphones can replace PDAs.

Technology is always evolving and in recent years iPhones have replaced PDAs as a "must have" do-it-all device. If you're switching from a PDA to an iPhone you know that it's not hassle free. First there's the learning curve of getting to know your iPhone's interface and second there's the challenge of getting data from your PDA to the iPhone. Since others have been in your shoes, there are applications to solve the second problem.

IDrive Lite

If you have a BlackBerry or Android powered PDA you can easily move your data to the iPhone with IDrive Lite. IDrive Lite is a free web-based service that interacts with its own application when you download and install it on your BlackBerry, Android PDA or iPhone. You can use this application to backup your data to 5GBs of personal storage or to manage, restore and transfer data between devices. The transfer function is available through IDrive Lite's "Restore from other device(s)" button on the main screen.

Toodledo

Toodledo's web-based service was originally designed as a free way for people to manage their lives online. It has all the time and task management tools you would expect from a PIM (Personal Information Manager) but it also imports and exports data. Since it imports iCal, CSV, XML and text files, you can save your data from a Palm PDA as a CSV file and upload it to Toodledo. From there you can open Toodledo on your iPhone and download the data to it. Toodledo also has an application for your iPhone that you can run when you don't have an Internet connection.

DesktopMirror

Live PIM offers a DesktopMirror suite of ten synchronization applications that cover almost every possible file transfer need you might have. The suite sells for $49.95 and it really makes file transfers easy. If you have a Palm PDA your data is already synchronized with Palm desktop and you can use DesktopMirror to synchronize your Palm desktop data with Google and download the data from Google to your iPhone. It's an easy process that starts with one click.

CompanionLink

CompanionLink also uses Google to transfer data between PDAs and iPhones and they have an Express version for $69.95 and a Professional version for $129.95. You can synchronize tasks, calendars and contacts between your computer and your Google Apps, Gmail and standard Google accounts and CompanionLink supports a wide range of devices including Android phones and PDAs, iPhones, iPads, BlackBerrys, the Palm webOS and Windows Mobile devices. It also works with Outlook, Sage ACT!, Lotus Notes, Palm Desktop, GroupWise, Salesforce CRM, and Time & Chaos.

References

* Tech Yard: How To Backup and Restore PhoneBook In Your iPhone

* Toodledo: Product Details

* Soft Archive: LivePIM DesktopMirror for Outlook and Palm Desktop

* TechTarget: CompanionLink Announces Outlook Sync with Google

Resources

* Forever Geeks: Import Contacts from Palm Desktop to iPhone

* Contacts Palm 2 iPhone: Migrate Contacts from Palm Treo to iPhone

* AOL Inc: StyleTap Finally Brings Palm OS to Your iPhone

About the Author

Dan Eash began writing professionally in 1989, with articles in LaHabra's "Daily Star Progress" and the "Fullerton College Magazine." Since then, he's created scripts for doctor and dentist offices and published manuals, help files and a training video. His freelance efforts also include a book. Eash has a Fullerton College Associate of Arts in music/recording production and a Nova Institute multimedia production certificate.