I'm just an average guy who was frustrated with trying to sync information accross multiple devices.

I was especially frustrated because I did not want to use Outlook and be tied to my laptop to sync my data.  To be mobile is to have your data "out there" on the Internet.  Safely and securely hosted by professionals with industry-standard backup regimines, redundent power, etc. 

I should be able to access that data from multiple devices.  I should be able to edit that data on multiple devices.  I should be able to easily set up these devices to sync with one another.

This is what the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) is trying to make happen with SyncML.  SyncML is, according to an OMA White Paper, "a new industry initiative to develop and promote a single, common data synchronization protocol that can be used industry-wide." (SyncML Whitepaper)

I first became familiar with SyncML when I came accross the GooSync service while looking for ways to synchronize my Motorola Razr V3i with my Google Calendar. (see How Sync Became Cool Again).  Just learning this term, "SyncML", makes it much easier to find other useful applications to expand the usefulness of a SyncML standards-compliant device. 

Try performing a Google search on "synchronize mobile phone with Google" and then see how many useful applications you find for your phone.  Try adding your specific phone model.  Now add "SyncML" to your search or just try "SyncML" and "Google" or "SyncML" and your mobile phone model. 

I hope this site brings awareness of SyncML to a broader, lay audience.  Just regular folks trying to live their lives, rather than just technophiles who enjoy spending entire nights fiddling with convoluted, multiple-device, multiple-application, synchronization schemes.  I hope it encourange you to buy devices that support the SyncML standard and thereby encourage its wider adoption.

Quoting again from the OMA white paper cited above:

"The popularity of mobile computing and communications devices can be traced to their ability to deliver information to users when needed. Users want ubiquitous access to information and applications from the device at hand, plus they want to access and update this information on the fly."

But this has been hard to achieve because "there is a proliferation of different, proprietary data synchronization protocols for mobile devices."

Let's stop supporting those manufacturers and service provides that want to lock us into their proprietary system  Then, someday, synchronizing your data will be as easy as browsing the Web. 

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