Mobile Me for a blackberry? Or something similar....

[sadelb]

Hello, I am wondering if there is something for blackberry similar to mobile me which apple just announced. I am not on an exchange server and personally love the Mobile Me application. Do blackberries have anything similar to this for the people that dont use exchange? This will be huge in making my decision of buying a bb. Thanks in advance.

[Bla1ze]

As of now...no, the only option at this point would be to use a BES, and even then it does not offer the functionality that MobileMe would offer you.

As much as I love my BlackBerry, Apple has hit the consumer market HARD with MobileMe..it pains me to say this but if those functions are what you need...

Get an iPhone..

The only way at present time you will get the exact functionality on a BlackBerry would be to combine 3-4 or more 3rd party applications.

[sadelb]

Originally Posted by Bla1ze

As of now...no, the only option at this point would be to use a BES, and even then it does not offer the functionality that MobileMe would offer you.

As much as I love my BlackBerry, Apple has hit the consumer market HARD with MobileMe..it pains me to say this but if those functions are what you need...

Get an iPhone..

The only way at present time you will get the exact functionality on a BlackBerry would be to combine 3-4 or more 3rd party applications.

I am hoping that by the time the Bold comes out RIM will already have something to compete with Mobile Me. They must be working on something. At least I hope they are.

[CardinalRule]

With the MobileMe stuff do you have to use a .me e-mail address in order to take advantage of all the syncing? I think it actually sounds really cool, but only if you could use your existing hotmail/gmail/yahoo e-mail addresses. I wouldn't want some stupid childish sounding xxxx@me.com. That's just plain weird. Anyone know for sure (for the record I know NOTHING about this, so maybe someone that's done some more research can clarify).

[JRSCCivic98]

Am I missing something? BIS is similar to MobileMe.... isn't it? What does MobileMe do that BIS doesn't?

[CrazEtooN]

Originally Posted by CardinalRule

With the MobileMe stuff do you have to use a .me e-mail address in order to take advantage of all the syncing? I think it actually sounds really cool, but only if you could use your existing hotmail/gmail/yahoo e-mail addresses. I wouldn't want some stupid childish sounding xxxx@me.com. That's just plain weird. Anyone know for sure (for the record I know NOTHING about this, so maybe someone that's done some more research can clarify).

You have to use the .Me address. Much like the xxx.blackberry.net address though, you can still use your normal GMail address, or whatever else you use, and just forward your mail to the MobileMe address.

The only thorn in the side of this idea is that I don't think MobileMe offers the "reply as" function, so it would essentially only be helpful for received mail.

The thing that makes MobileMe so attractive isn't just its features, but its price. To answer the OP's question, yes this can be done on a BlackBerry, it is just far more expensive.

First, you would need to increase to a BES data plan.
Second, you would need to utilize the services of a hosted BES.

For At&t, a BES plan is $45 a month. The cheapest hosted BES I have ever found is $10/mo per user, plus other fees that aren't openly disclosed. That said, the least it will cost you as of right now to get MobileMe-like functionality on your Berry is $55 a month in addition to your minute plan. (A little cheaper on T-Mobile, more expensive on Verizon. Neither of those carriers offer the iPhone though, so the are kind of outside the comparison anyway)

[CrazEtooN]

Originally Posted by JRSCCivic98

Am I missing something? BIS is similar to MobileMe.... isn't it? What does MobileMe do that BIS doesn't?

MobileMe offers the following to iPhone users:

Push Calendar
Push Contacts
Push Mail
Photo Syncing
20 gigs of online storage

It also includes the following for desktop web access:

Blogging
Website publishing
Backup services for computer files
Photo gallery sharing
File sharing

It is essentially an Exchange service for non-corporate users.

[CrackdBanker]

Originally Posted by CrazEtooN

MobileMe offers the following to iPhone users:

Push Calendar
Push Contacts
Push Mail
Photo Syncing
20 gigs of online storage

It also includes the following for desktop web access:

Blogging
Website publishing
Backup services for computer files
Photo gallery sharing
File sharing

It is essentially an Exchange service for non-corporate users.

I would imagine that, as more people flock to BlackBerry type devices, consumer BES solutions will become more prevalent and affordable.

Given that, I won't be giving up my BB!

[CrazEtooN]

Originally Posted by CrackdBanker

I would imagine that, as more people flock to BlackBerry type devices, consumer BES solutions will become more prevalent and affordable.

Given that, I won't be giving up my BB!

I wouldn't hold your breath on that one. It has been asked about for years and ignored. I hope I am wrong though.

[dilipc]

Would mail get pushed to your iPhone with Mobileme, as smoothly as it happens on a BIS?

[itou]

yes it would.
and not only would it get pushed to your iphone, it'll be pushed to every other computer synced to your mobileme account. the last time i checked, i couldn't get webmail from my BIS. would've loved to but can't.

[scorpiodsu]

The mobile me service will cost and extra 99 bucks a year and you already have to pay a 10 buck increase in your data plan with ATT. The phone may be cheaper than the 1st but they will get you in the end.

Apple WWDC: iPhone 3G, New Software, Mobile Me Announced | PhoneNews.com

[CrazEtooN]

Originally Posted by scorpiodsu

The mobile me service will cost and extra 99 bucks a year and you already have to pay a 10 buck increase in your data plan with ATT. The phone may be cheaper than the 1st but they will get you in the end.

Apple WWDC: iPhone 3G, New Software, Mobile Me Announced | PhoneNews.com

The $10 more a month you mention would make it $30. Guess how much it costs for a data plan for a BlackBerry on At&t? Yeah, $30...

MobileMe on top of the iPhone data plan will cost you $38.25 a month.

You will get:

-Push Mail (all synced devices, and guess what, REAL IMAP...)
-Push Contacts (all synced devices)
-Push Calendar (all synced devices)
-Photo Syncing (iPhone -> web and then web -> desktop)
-20 Gigs of online storage
-Website publishing tools (desktop access only)
-Blogging tools (desktop access only I believe)
-Photo gallery creation and sharing (desktop access to make, can be viewed from any internet accessing device)
-File sharing (desktop access)
-File backup (desktop access)

By the way, this MobileMe service is completely optional. If you can't see what a good value it is though, you are blind.

To get nothing more than push mail, push contacts, and push calendar to your BlackBerry as a single, personal user, would cost you over $55 a month on At&t.

-BES plan is mandatory for BES use, so that would mean you have to upgrade to a $45 BES data plan.
-Use a hosted BES service. Cheapest I have seen is $10/mo per device + a $40 start up fee

$38.25/mo on the iPhone for data+MobileMe and I get a ****-load of features for my iPhone and for use from my desktop.

Or $55/mo on BlackBerry for BES data+hosted BES access + a $40 start up fee to only have access to push mail, push calendar, push contacts.

Which is the better deal? Seriously.

MobileMe is a bang up offer no matter how you look at it. You can hate the iPhone all day long, I don't care; denying the value of MobileMe is just plain silly though.

[latina berry]

Originally Posted by CrackdBanker

I would imagine that, as more people flock to BlackBerry type devices, consumer BES solutions will become more prevalent and affordable.

Given that, I won't be giving up my BB!

I agree!!!!!

[JRSCCivic98]

Ummm, don't you have to have software running on your PC to do the push for all those features? Kind of defeats the purpose... that's no different then using Desktop Redirector on the BB, which blows the ***. I'd rather just setup my email accounts on the iPhone and then plug in to sync my contacts and calendar as needed. That's what I do with a non-BES BB now... works fine and painless.