Hintonblogger

In a post back in December, I compared Google and Microsoft's offerings for the Web 2.0/mobile phone realm and how they were stacking up for me.. At least two significant things have changed since that ranking. The first was the release of Google's Gdata API for Contacts. While I'm excited about it's potential, it still has very few any real products using it and the one that I tried (which I like for Google Calendar sync), I was less than impressed. Also, Microsoft released Windows Live for Windows Mobile for all Windows Mobile users (minus Live Messenger as a feature). That now allows any Windows Mobile user to benefit from Hotmail and contact sync.

Now some commentary...In the intervening 4 months I have experienced nothing but headache in trying to sync my contacts with the cloud. The only provider that seemed to be able to do this reliably was Plaxo. The new release of Windows Live for mobile has changed that (at least it appears so) and the contact sync is working properly on both Windows Mobile 5 and WM6 devices. And I'm happy again. Now my contacts truly can live on my mobile device, in Outlook, and on the Web - all seemlessly. Hotmail is fast becoming my hub for email, with contact sync working properly and Windows Live for mobile offering push email access without requiring a Blackberry - it seems like maybe, just maybe Windows Mobile might be living up to is potential.

Of course flash videos on Youtube still aren't working so I guess life isn't perfect yet....