[Omnitech]

this is as bad as the old auto-deleting of Calendar entries, cr@ppy Desktopm Manager updates, etc. where tons of complaints would result in ... silence ... from RIM. This is old school. Really, really old school.

Funny how you specifically mention major historical problems with Desktop Manager and syncing.... but turn around and beg to have Desktop Manager syncing...

That would likely be fine. But the silence from Blackberry is deafening.

Perhaps if you actually posted on BlackBerry's own support forum, you'd be more likely to get an official response. Do you ever go there?

Just for the record, I historically liked the idea of wired sync too. But for various reasons (well fleshed-out in 4-5 recent threads here) that is getting increasingly impractical. It doesn't help that I had tons of problems with DM syncing myself, to the point it became unusable to me.

And to the people who claim they will "abandon Blackberry" - where are you going to go to get this functionality, as well as the other Blackberry advantages? Nowhere, really. Yeah, some other platforms have more apps, sometimes some interesting features, but the thing you want - USB tethered syncing to Outlook - as far as I can tell, the ONLY smartphone vendor that offers this right now is Apple, via iTunes. Android has no native functionality, Microsoft has no native functionality. And as Berryaddictnoza pointed out - there's a good chance desktop Outlook will go the way of the Dodo Bird itself before long. Then what? Join the Cult of Jobs just as they shut down that functionality in that iTunes virus of an app too?

One thing I will say is that Blackberry should have at least clarified the issue and their roadmap better. Then again, they just fired thousands of people so they could conserve resources and survive a little longer. Not a big surprise to me that their customer service resources are spread thin these days.

[Omnitech]

Curious:

For the people who are fearful of security, services going away, and cost... those are the top 3 concerns, right?

What if Blackberry decided to offer a service, call it "BCloud", that was basically a Blackberry-sanctioned MS Exchange cloud service. Easy built-in hooks to BB10, direct link on the "add accounts" page in BB10, BB10-specific documentation, make it easy. Have them charge a nominal fee to cover costs, say $5.00 US/mo. Would you sign up?

Because Blackberry could do that sort of thing quickly/easily, just re-brand some major Exchange Hosting product, put their seal of approval on it, guarantee it will be available for X number of years, that it's fully BB10 compatible, bla bla bla.

Functionally it's no different than all the other "cloud" options people have discussed here, but maybe what people want/need is just a Blackberry version of iCloud to assuage their fear of change.

I'd wager that most people who were joined at the hip with their USB sync solution would end up raving about the advantages of such an architecture after using it for a few months.

[WES51]

And to the people who claim they will "abandon Blackberry" - where are you going to go to get this functionality, as well as the other Blackberry advantages? Nowhere, really.

You got a point there and I answered this already in another thread.

"Nowhere" is correct as you said. We stay with the old devices until someone develops another business friendly device.

Having said that, staying with the old devices, hesitation of businesses against buying OS10 devices, that of course could easily become the end of life support for Blackberry - and who want's that. So in that sense it is even in your interest that ALL customers of Blackberry get what they want.

BTW: as for the development of an entirely new business friendly device: a premium for such a gadget would be likely not even a big issue here. Business customers who's time easily exceeds $100 per hour understandably aren't too interested in finding workarounds to make consumer devices work for their needs.

[WES51]

Curious:
Would you sign up?

No.

I also feel that users should not have to justify their needs.

Some need full USB sync capabilities and some don't.

Blackberry isn't here to judge, enlighten and dictate. Blackberry is here to please and deliver.

[WES51]

Curious:
Would you sign up?

No.

I also feel that users should not have to justify their needs.

Some need full USB sync capabilities and some don't.

Blackberry isn't here to judge, enlighten and dictate. Blackberry is here to please and deliver.

[Omnitech]

No.

I also feel that users should not have to justify their needs.

Some need full USB sync capabilities and some don't.

Blackberry isn't here to judge, enlighten and dictate. Blackberry is here to please and deliver.

LOL

Ye Olde "My Way or the Highway". Yep. Go get 'em tiger.

[qbnkelt]

But don't all you bleet about the well known Security Advantages of a BlackBerry? Or was that thrown out in one of the many compromises that always get made in a new product launch. Any government or federal agencies want to comment about that?

I am just reading this thread with deep concern. We depend on Blackberry/Outlook. I told my agency to wait and not go iPhone....FOR THIS?????? Yeah the phones will be released in March, but no Outlook sync? SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?! We will not move to BB10 until this is resolved.

Meet Blackberry. Same a RIM. Same failures at execution. The devil is in the details and THIS, along with the loss of data compression, is SERIOUSLY dampening my excitement.

unbefrackinglievable

Personally.....the more I read the more convinced I am that I'm keeping the 9900, buying a replacement, and spend my money on new products from Samsung and Apple. THIS I think broke the camel's back for me.

[b320]

Meet Blackberry. Same a RIM. Same failures at execution. The devil is in the details and THIS, along with the loss of data compression, is SERIOUSLY dampening my excitement.

unbefrackinglievable

Personally.....the more I read the more convinced I am that I'm keeping the 9900, buying a replacement, and spend my money on new products from Samsung and Apple. THIS I think broke the camel's back for me.

No, are *you* serious?!?

Android does not have *any* universal syncing method with Microsoft Outlook, let alone with any traditional desktop PIM software, let ALONE any systematic way to move from one Android device to another while preserving all your data. Yes, iPhone has the latter but Apple's requirements for what versions of Outlook are supported and how often you have to update iTunes and which iOS you are required to use change with the wind.

If the pastures are really greener on the other side, maybe you should try out Samsung. BlackBerry put out a device focused on the needs of most users to compete on features that the masses care about. That's what the smartphone business is now -- for the masses. Not people who can map custom fields for Outlook syncing. Sorry. Samsung nor Apple will make their massive profits on helping you sync Outlook through a USB cable, so good luck making *them* care about that.

Hopefully, BlackBerry will improve BlackBerry Link to bring back more legacy abilities from BlackBerry Desktop. In fact, there appear to be plans for this as implied in BES 10 manuals. You *may* just have to hold your horses and hold out for a little while longer.

In the meantime, BlackBerry has done a better job implementing Mobile ActiveSync in first version of BlackBerry 10 than in version SIX of iOS and better than any stock Android OS period. Give credit where credit is due and be thankful that only BlackBerry has provided a consistent system to give you continuity thus far. Both Apple and Google (as well as Microsoft) discontinue features and products as they innovate and BlackBerry had to do the same

PS: on data compression, BlackBerry went from every carrier's #1 darling to #1 enemy when carriers figured out that people will more readily pay obscene figures for data rather than for phone calls and even text messages (See #1 iPhone, #2 any and all data-hogging Android phones). Again, this is how the market works. Carriers make money by charging for services. That's how they keep putting money into networks and paying for subsidized phones. They are not interested in minimizing the amount of data they're charging you for, only maximizing it. BlackBerry had to buck to the trend and give up on data compression as getting put out of business on a matter of principle was not worth it (see sales for iPhone and Android vs. BlackBerry over past 3 years).

[qbnkelt]

I'll follow up with BlackBerry and see if they have any plans coming on if / how they are going to address this.

Kinda feels like the world wants everybody to make the leap to the cloud at some point. Get that there's a ton of people who haven't yet and won't anytime soon.

BlackBerry Link - Where's the beef? | CrackBerry.com

Kevin, if you would, do you think that we could get some clarity for BES support of Outlook sync for secure agencies that use Exchange Active Sync? We are not on the cloud, will never be, due to security concerns.
If this is reality for my agency and agencies who will not go to the cloud due to the sensitivity of our data and to high security levels, then what solution is available for such agencies?

[berryaddictnoza]

I am just reading this thread with deep concern. We depend on Blackberry/Outlook. I told my agency to wait and not go iPhone....FOR THIS?????? Yeah the phones will be released in March, but no Outlook sync? SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?! We will not move to BB10 until this is resolved.

Meet Blackberry. Same a RIM. Same failures at execution. The devil is in the details and THIS, along with the loss of data compression, is SERIOUSLY dampening my excitement.

unbefrackinglievable

Personally.....the more I read the more convinced I am that I'm keeping the 9900, buying a replacement, and spend my money on new products from Samsung and Apple. THIS I think broke the camel's back for me.

Hey Q, If you are using BES/ corporate servers, no problem, it's just the individual users that are effected. The mods decided to lock my post that defines this issue ( I guess to minimize the mess that happened), here it is: http://forums.crackberry.com/general...-issue-768712/

[amjass12]

I can't get my outlook account for my university email to work at all. It asks for server address and I tried all of them I could think of... the computer guys at uni couldn't get it to worn either. It worked on the 9900 without any problems. But not on the PlayBook or the z10.. frustrating

Posted using CrackBerry App on BB10

[qbnkelt]

No, are *you* serious?!?

Android does not have *any* universal syncing method with Microsoft Outlook, let alone with any traditional desktop PIM software, let ALONE any systematic way to move from one Android device to another while preserving all your data. Yes, iPhone has the latter but Apple's requirements for what versions of Outlook are supported and how often you have to update iTunes and which iOS you are required to use change with the wind.

If the pastures are really greener on the other side, maybe you should try out Samsung. BlackBerry put out a device focused on the needs of most users to compete on features that the masses care about. That's what the smartphone business is now -- for the masses. Not people who can map custom fields for Outlook syncing. Sorry. Samsung nor Apple will make their massive profits on helping you sync Outlook through a USB cable, so good luck making *them* care about that.

Hopefully, BlackBerry will improve BlackBerry Link to bring back more legacy abilities from BlackBerry Desktop. In fact, there appear to be plans for this as implied in BES 10 manuals. You *may* just have to hold your horses and hold out for a little while longer.

In the meantime, BlackBerry has done a better job implementing Mobile ActiveSync in first version of BlackBerry 10 than in version SIX of iOS and better than any stock Android OS period. Give credit where credit is due and be thankful that only BlackBerry has provided a consistent system to give you continuity thus far. Both Apple and Google (as well as Microsoft) discontinue features and products as they innovate and BlackBerry had to do the same.

PLEASE kindly inform yourself about my usage before you attempt to attack me.

Let me begin by saying that I have had a BB in my hand since 2004, it was BES. My first personal BB was the 8310 in 2008. Since then I have had every flagship BB on ATT and several Curves and all Torch models. I have had every BES device my agency has offered, up to the current 9930 on the strictest BES configuration available. So I am not new to BB and I have supported BB in the manner it needs most, with my wallet. I also have used, for my personal use, Palm, Samsung Blackjacks, HTC Tilt, HP, Motorola Q, Siemens SX66, and the AudioVox PC. I have had a Motorola Atrix, a Samsung Skyrocket and currently an SGIII. I have had the iPhone 3GS and the 4S. I have an iPad. I returned a Playbook. I'm not new to platforms nor to smartphones. Now that you have THAT bit of info, let me go on.

I come from two different perspectives:

Personal - I use BB, Android and iOS. I use Hotmail, Gmail and I even have an old AOL. I do not use Outlook for my personal email. I am perfectly happy with how all three handle my email today, EVEN Android and iOS. So I've already GOT a Samsung SGIII. And when I moved from my Skyrocket to my SGIII, all the files I saved via Kies went to the SGIII. All the apps went to the SGIII through the Play Store. So you are wrong in your statement that the data does not carry over. Again, please inform yourself about other platforms before commenting on them. Thank you very much for suggesting that I do what I already do, which is use all the platforms that interest me. As far as requirements for iOS, I update as I need and as updates come, so I have no idea what you're going on about on that.

Professional - I work for a secure agency within the Federal Government. I manage the BES admin piece and contract piece of the wireless fleet. I also manage IT systems integration and therefore I am tasked with security matters within my agency. We use Outlook/Exchange Active Sync and we will not go to the cloud for our kind of data. While I am fine with my PERSONAL email solution as it stands today, my PROFESSIONAL side is extremely concerned about this issue. We will NOT migrate to the cloud in the forseeable future, if ever.

I haven't got TIME to hold my horses. I fended off a pilot to go to iPhones for segments of my agency by extolling the supposed virtues of BB10 and by reminding my agency of BES security. But now they remove the method by which we sync.

And thankful? What is this, charity? No, I am not "thankful" to a company that takes away my agency's ability to perform its tasks and renders us unable to migrate to BB10.

So yes, I am, as you put it, *serious.* And I will put this even clearer....RIM and now Blackberry have the same exact failure in execution in 2013 with this OS as they did with the Playbook as they did on BB7 with all the bricking and nuking 99xx devices. It CANNOT do a clean release to save its life.....which it needs to do. And it doesn't seem to realise it.

EDIT, PostScript: won't even address the majority of your post. Most of it is irrelevant to the discussion and makes absolutely incorrect assumptions about my BB, Android, and iOS use. You might have been much more effective if you had posted some real information, as berryaddictnoza did in sending me to other posts that cover the same issue, rather than attempt to tell me to go use Samsung, which I already do, and go on a defence of BB. Which I already do. As evidence of my support of BES at work instead of a moving to a iOS pilot, which I killed.

[qbnkelt]

Hey Q, If you are using BES/ corporate servers, no problem, it's just the individual users that are effected. The mods decided to lock my post that defines this issue ( I guess to minimize the mess that happened), here it is: http://forums.crackberry.com/general...-issue-768712/

OH COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you for the redirect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm trying to catch up to all this.....two emergency releases in two days with ten hours of sleep in over 48 hours and I'm bleary eyed. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DANG where are my fracking thank you and like buttons????? I wanted to thank you and like you.....

[WES51]

No, are *you* serious?!?
BlackBerry put out a device focused on the needs of most users to compete on features that the masses care about.

You mean YOUR NEEDS and people YOU know.

You might want to get out of your cave and look around a bit more with your eyes open. It has been explained to you:

A) There are a gazillion people who need this feature. WHY? You know what? The bottom line is: IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS why.

B) Those gazillion users who have issues with this don't need to buy neither an android nor an iPhone. They can keep their existing devices and watch Blackberry collapsing due to weak sales, while you and others keep telling them what they need and what they don't.

C) Other users don't try to convice you either to spare a feature that THEY don't use or that THEY deem unnecessary. This is NOT about building a phone with the MINIMUM features, that (in your mind) most people will use. Most phones and other devices are full of extra features that many (maybe even most) people may never use. YET THIS FEATURES ARE THERE. So let's not be stingy here with the feautes, especially not with THE one feature that so many people are asking for.

[shabbs]

OH COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you for the redirect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm trying to catch up to all this.....two emergency releases in two days with ten hours of sleep in over 48 hours and I'm bleary eyed. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DANG where are my fracking thank you and like buttons????? I wanted to thank you and like you.....

With BES connected devices, you'll get the sync that you had before. No worries there. Hopefully BlackBerry steps up to the plate and restores this functionality in BlackBerry Link.

[qbnkelt]

With BES connected devices, you'll get the sync that you had before. No worries there. Hopefully BlackBerry steps up to the plate and restores this functionality in BlackBerry Link.

Trust me, I was VERY happy with the redirect!!! We absolutely depend on BB/EAS/Outlook at work.....I can't wait until we migrate over, now that I know the sync with Outlook will work as we need.

[coldsword]

I'm on BES and all emails, memo pad, calendars are sync Wirelessly just like before. It only impacts normal end users who does not use BES. You get what you pay for. No more BIS for bb10 so not as secured as before, just like other android. You/your company don't spend extra money on BES means that you don't care much about security. I know the sentiments here is all frustrating but please be calm and patient. Or else you can jump ship.

Posted using CrackBerry App on BB10

[shabbs]

It only impacts normal end users who does not use BES. You get what you pay for.

Didn't pay for it before...

No more BIS for bb10 so not as secured as before, just like other android.

Since when was BIS ever secure? I think you're confusing BES (end-to-end encryption) with BIS (no encryption).

You/your company don't spend extra money on BES means that you don't care much about security. I know the sentiments here is all frustrating but please be calm and patient. Or else you can jump ship.

How many people do you know pay for a personal BES server for their personal PIM info/blackberry?

[1REDRUM]

I spoke to a friend in marketing today who said this was the first she heard of the problem but was sure others at BB would have. She mentioned first thing Monday that it would be looked into as this would have a significant issue for her business. I will let you know on Wednesday (next time I am likely to see her) if there is any update.

[1REDRUM]

With Outlook.com and installing the hotmail connector thingy into Outlook 2010 I have solved my synching problem!

[Pete The Penguin]

Took me three days to figure out I couldn't add my Gmail account due to having two-step verification enabled. Thanks to BlackBerry Help in twitter and Kevin, I got it sorted. Something like this could do with an in-box explanation.
If you had you Gmail account before Jan 30th, you need to do the following to enable 'push' email and calender sync:
1)go to Gmail and generate and application specific password (write it down, saves time later)
2) in account settings on BB10, look for the Exchange Activesync settings, enter your email address, application specific password and the Activesync server address (m.google.com)
3) make sure you get the calendar sync app from BlackBerry World - follow instructions.

All done, you now have push email and calendars.

[currentodysseys]

Curious:

For the people who are fearful of security, services going away, and cost... those are the top 3 concerns, right?

What if Blackberry decided to offer a service, call it "BCloud", that was basically a Blackberry-sanctioned MS Exchange cloud service. Easy built-in hooks to BB10, direct link on the "add accounts" page in BB10, BB10-specific documentation, make it easy. Have them charge a nominal fee to cover costs, say $5.00 US/mo. Would you sign up?

Because Blackberry could do that sort of thing quickly/easily, just re-brand some major Exchange Hosting product, put their seal of approval on it, guarantee it will be available for X number of years, that it's fully BB10 compatible, bla bla bla.

Functionally it's no different than all the other "cloud" options people have discussed here, but maybe what people want/need is just a Blackberry version of iCloud to assuage their fear of change.

I'd wager that most people who were joined at the hip with their USB sync solution would end up raving about the advantages of such an architecture after using it for a few months.

I see what you mean and as a private user I could consider the alternative (even though as a client I say no to anything that means taking away something simple and forcing my hand to use alternatives that I do not quite fancy and also pay for them, but this is an endless theoretical issue). None the less, as per work, I would not do that in any way. I would need an NDA from blackberry and authorisation by my clients. Even doing that I would still be even more exposed to possible leaking of data (additional to the possibility I have now which is still existent obviously).

Also, client lists are important in terms of revealing strategic planning and market penetration, just reading through a list of contacts can result in possible loss of business or damage in my case.

So no, I for one would not be able to use it in my professional capacity. (and there is no budget for BES so there is where the problem is for me).

Thanks!

[jdcloutier]

That's my understanding too, but unfortunately it is not yet certified by Blackberry, so is not yet available on Blackberry World as of Feb. 13, 2013. I have my fingers crossed it comes very soon!

[currentodysseys]

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

I just got word from @BlackBerryHelp at twitter THAT THEY ARE COMMITTED to include PIM Sync in BB Link later this year! SO, there we have it. I for one will stick to that promise!

Thank you Blackberry! Below screen shot of the message.

Hope this clarifies for many of us, I for one believe BlackBerry sticking to their word on this!
I AM A HAPPY BUNNY! Z10.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Powdah]

I see what you mean and as a private user I could consider the alternative (even though as a client I say no to anything that means taking away something simple and forcing my hand to use alternatives that I do not quite fancy and also pay for them, but this is an endless theoretical issue). None the less, as per work, I would not do that in any way. I would need an NDA from blackberry and authorisation by my clients. Even doing that I would still be even more exposed to possible leaking of data (additional to the possibility I have now which is still existent obviously).

Also, client lists are important in terms of revealing strategic planning and market penetration, just reading through a list of contacts can result in possible loss of business or damage in my case.

So no, I for one would not be able to use it in my professional capacity. (and there is no budget for BES so there is where the problem is for me).

Thanks!

A PlayBook version ago, my email, calendar., contacts quit working. BB gave me an ip address that allowed for sync with my Web mail, phone and PlayBook. I believe the system is there, just not refined or public.