Without Funambol, iPhone users either have to manually enter and update contacts on their iPhone or use a cable to sync contacts from Outlook, Yahoo!, etc. Neither is convenient for migrating contacts from an older phone or for ongoing updates, especially for data such as email addresses that change frequently.
Funambol enables iPhone users to:
As myFUNAMBOL contacts are continuously synced with other sources, users can always access and use up-to-date contacts on their iPhones. To do this, you have two options.
If you do not know what the term "jailbreak" means in relation to an iPhone, this option is for you. It works with a standard out-of-the-box iPhone. After you have established a free account on the myFUNAMBOL portal, just enter http://my.funambol.com/iphone in the Safari web browser on your iPhone. This displays a login page that allows you to enter your username and password to log in to myFUNAMBOL. Once logged in, a page displays a sorted list of myFUNAMBOL contacts. The page looks and operates virtually identically to the native address book on the iPhone e.g. you can tap the touch screen to scroll the list and select an entry. A selected entry shows a page that looks virtually identically to the iPhone's native address book, with the contact's phone #s, email addresses and location. The phone number can be tapped to call the person, the email address can be tapped to compose an email with their email address and the location can be tapped to view it on Google Maps.
If you have decided to "jailbreak" your iPhone and allow external native applications to be installed on the device*, this option is for you. It allows you to sync your iPhone's native address book with myFUNAMBOL.
To get the application on the iPhone, you need the following application: Installer.app. Open Installer and install Community Sources under Sources, then select Productivity and install Funambol. It includes SyncEvolution, the tool which executes the synchronization, as well (but you need the BSD subsystem to be installed on the iPhone already). Change the settings and you have over-the-air address book sync.
*IMPORTANT NOTE: installing external applications on an iPhone may void one or more warranties and should only be performed by experienced, knowledgeable users. Funambol does not support this application nor is responsible for anything that happens to your iPhone as a result of this application i.e. proceed at your own risk.
