OStatic

I am always tickled when I can write about (and introduce others to) open source applications that solve, quickly and easily, the very real problems that frequently arise when technology manufacturers (or providers) assume that customers use their devices in completely homogenous settings.

So today, it seems, is my lucky day -- today Funambol unleashes version 8 of its nifty open source mobile cloud push and sync software that enables a wide variety of mobile phones (including iPhones, Blackberry, Android, Symbian and Windows Mobile devices) to share and sync information with a number of email clients, POP and IMAP mail servers, PIMs, and social networks. And while it's great to wax poetic about the subtle joy that can be had just by syncing your smartphone that wasn't designed to communicate with another software company's email and calendaring application, I'm fortunate enough to be able to share the experience with ten readers in the form of membership invites.

First, though, the important part: What's new in Funambol v8?

When I heard that Funambol was rolling out an open source mobile cloud sync service for mobile VoIP users, I'll be honest -- I wasn't thinking about the open code, or about how much easier it would make contacting people worldwide over a diverse array of devices. I immediately thought of my dad.

He could very well be just like your dad, or mom, or you. He likes gadgets, and if the gadgets beep, flash, or vibrate at a random enough interval to make my mom grind her teeth or clutch her ears, he likes them even more. However, he's got two things working against him -- he's not blessed in the patience department (like my mom, it would seem) and he's got arthritic hands to the point of immobility. As such, his work-issued Blackberry wasn't nearly as useful as his old Palm Pilot when it came to being an electronic memory. It was merely a phone he couldn't dial all that easily.

He was delighted when I showed him Skype, and was flattered when all these young women he didn't know kept calling. The novelty gave way to annoyance when he realized he must know some people on Skype, but finding and connecting with them took patience.

New mVoIP users start with a blank address book, and many mVoIP services can't sync existing contact information from cell phones or other address books. Funambol's mVoIP enables service providers to allow syncing from address books and social networks -- so that an address change made anywhere (say, a contact's Facebook profile or the Funambol web portal) updates all associated devices.

Ah, the open source business model, and the inevitable question that always accompanies its mention -- How can you make money if you give the product away? Then come the raised eyebrows when you mention support and training services. It does work, of course. Any business, whether it makes open or proprietary software products, or noise makers and party hats, needs to diligently think of ways to make its products more useful and appealing to its current -- and potential -- markets.

One of the best ways to do this is to just listen. What are current users (or those who'd like to, but...) asking for? Funambol is no stranger to asking its users how they feel about the business and its services, and seriously considering the feedback that is received. Customer demand is in large part why Funambol now offers hosting services for its commercial Carrier Edition software.

In my inbox yesterday, along with the notes from my mom, forwards from relatives and friends who never really write, and a wide variety of great deals on fake watches, I discovered a press release from Funambol. That in and of itself isn't unusual, but what the open source mobile sync and push solution company was reporting is remarkable on several levels.

Many open source software companies are seeing increases in revenue, stronger migration rates and a general upswing in business thanks to the rather anemic economy. You don't need to write about open source to see this -- it's readily apparent to anyone skimming tech-related headlines. Funambol's announcement certainly mentioned the economy, and gave some truly impressive figures surrounding the project's growth -- but they weren't in relation to undeniably important financial gains. The jaw-dropping growth is happening somewhere that's even more critical in the long-term: the community.

Those of us with mixed systems and quirky smartphones here at OStatic (which works out to just about everyone) have been impressed by Funambol's open source push and sync services. Admittedly, though, with the pervasiveness of smartphones and sync tools, Funambol's various applications, open as they are, still feel pedestrian.

Today, Funambol announced its new mobile product, designed to push you, your phone, and the information loaded on you both anywhere (well, almost anywhere -- your mileage may vary in water, swamp land, and quicksand). The iCar has been called a major transportation breakthrough by Funambol CEO Fabrizio Capobianco, but don't just take his word for it.

Today, Funambol, a provider of open source push and mobile sync software, officially introduced the next generation of its MobileWe platform. Funambol's v8 MobileWe software looks a bit different from its predecessors, and with good reason. This release sports a new AJAX web portal and integrates some very visual features.

The new portal was designed to better facilitate syncing PIM (contact and calendar) data, email and multimedia files between mobile devices, the internet, and desktop computers. Those who are familiar with Funambol's software likely picked up on the other new feature from that last sentence: The v8 MobileWe software supports image syncing between devices.

Stefano Maffulli, the community manager at Funambol's repository/forge portal recently announced the latest Code Sniper challenge.

The Code Sniper Program offers bounties (yes, real bounties, in the form of cash awards) for client and connector code submitted by community members. The chosen application and code is opened and given back to the community. There are a number of projects on the hit list, and the latest target was named yesterday.

In early October, Lisa wrote about open source mobile push and sync provider Funambol, and its decision to try supporting its services with ad revenue. Lisa felt (and OStatic commenters seemed to agree) that as long as the service was good, and the ads weren't intrusive, it wasn't a bad trade.

Today, Funambol released the results of its user survey regarding its ad funded mobile email service. The survey results echo some of the comments here -- ads that are non-intrusive, relevant, and respect user privacy are acceptable when subsidizing the cost of useful, free applications. It seems targeted ads, paired with the right services, could prove to be a solid market model.

With the economy as volatile as it has been, there has been a good deal of speculation (both positive and downright pessimistic) about how open source companies will negotiate the ups and downs to come.

Today, Open-Xchange must be feeling quite optimistic, as it announced it's just closed a round of venture funding totaling $9 million and has four times the number of paid mailboxes now than it did last year. The company is focusing on a decidedly rosy looking future.

Earlier, Lisa talked about Funambol's addition of non-intrusive advertisements to their myFUNAMBOL portal, at least for a few phone models.Being the somewhat reluctant owner of a new Blackberry, and a Linux user, I had heard of Funambol. I knew it was open source software, and I knew that Funambol was one of a few applications that had reasonable success syncing BlackberryOS, and a few other platforms, with Linux.

MyFUNAMBOL portal has a few hiccups to iron out (it is still in beta), but it seems to be truly useful. The operating system used on the desktop could become a non-issue for most.