Do you have just one main account? Do you have separate accounts, and/or use separate services for work and for personal use? Do you have multiple accounts for a bunch of different stuff? Do you forward most or all of them to the same place? Do you even setup all your email accounts on your iPhone or do you leave some off? Would you recommend what you’re using to a friend, or something else?

How are you handling email on your iPhone? Vote in the poll up top and then give me the details in the comments below!

Switching to an iPhone 4S from BlackBerry, webOS or Android phone and curious how to transfer your data over? We’ve already told you how to transfer data from an existing iPhone to the 4S, but crossing platforms can seem like a bigger headache. It doesn’t have to be. There’s lots of services available to help you transfer data from one device to another. Keep reading for some simple suggestions that can make the process of going from BlackBerry or Android to iPhone and iOS 5 just a little easier for you.

There are two main ways to move all your data over to iPhone: desktop sync via iTunes and cloud sync via Google, Yahoo!, Exchange, etc.

iTunes

If you want to move your music, TV shows, movies, photos, and other media over to your new iPhone and you already use iTunes on Mac or Windows PC then it’s pretty easy.

1. Just plug the dock cable into your iPhone and into your PC and your iPhone will show up in iTunes.
2. Go through the tabs and choose what information, media, and photos you want to sync.
3. Press sync

You can sync multiple iOS devices (if you already have an iPad or iPod touch) with one iTunes library or set up multiple iTunes libraries to keep things extra neat and tidy.

Google Sync

Here is a way to use Gmail or Google Sync to transfer your data. If you’re already using a Gmail or Google Account to sync your mail, contacts, and calendars, this process is dead simple. Just make sure you’ve done a sync on your current BlackBerry, webOS or Android device.

1. On your new iPhone tap Settings and go to Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

2. You’ll need to add your new account to your iPhone. Simply tap the new account and then Gmail option.
3. If you want full push, you can also set Gmail up as Exchange as well. Visit Google’s Exchange page for instructions on setting up this way.
4. After your account is verified, you can simply choose to sync what items you would like to sync by turning those options On.

5. If a message pops up asking what you’d like to do with the data, choose to replace your iPhone data or merge data. Whichever is appropriate to your situation.

After you’ve done this you can continue using Google Sync if you’d like or disable it and use iCloud going forward. Just delete the Gmail account or disable it. If asked what to do with the data on your iPhone, just choose to keep it on your device. Then sign in with iCloud and it will now sync everything up and everything new from here on out.

Note: One of our readers has pointed out that Google may have issues syncing your contacts unless they are in the “My Contacts” category in Google. He had some contacts listed in other groups and they wouldn’t come down. So make sure all your contacts are filed under the general “My Contacts” group if you’re having issues with your iPhone syncing into your Contacts app from Google. Thanks for the tip, Will!

Yahoo! Sync

To perform a sync with Yahoo!, you are essentially going to repeat the same steps you would for Google sync (see above), except you’ll choose Yahoo when you choose your new account type. All the options should be identical when it comes to syncing contacts, calendars, and email accounts. And again, when you’re done you can choose to continue using Yahoo! Sync or use iCloud.

Exchange and Hotmail

If you’re using Exchange at work, and/or Windows Live Hotmail at home, again the instructions are the same as above just choose Exchange ActiveSync as your account type, or hit the new iOS 5 Hotmail button and you’re set. (If you have problems with a work Exchange account, check with your IT department for the proper settings)

Transferring contacts and calendars from your computer with iTunes

If you don’t use any Google, Yahoo!, Exchange or any online service and you’re just looking to transfer your contacts to your iPhone, you can do that too. Whether you have Windows or Mac, you can transfer contacts from your current smartphone to your iPhone pretty easily.

1. Plug your old device into the computer and sync them with either Outlook, Exchange, or Mac Address book. This process is pretty easy but varies from device to device, so you may need to refer to your specific device instructions in order to do this. If you still have an issue doing this, head on over to the TiPb Forums for some expert switcher advice and help.
2. Once your contacts are already on your computer, you can plug your new iPhone into your computer.
3. Open iTunes and click the Info tab under your iPhone sync settings.
4. You will see a Contacts option. Select that and choose what contacts you would like to be synced to your phone.

5. Click sync and wait for iTunes to do its thing. When complete, your contacts should now be on your new iPhone.

Note: You may have noticed iTunes has native options to configure Yahoo! or Gmail sync. You are more than welcome to use these options as well. They are just as easy. You can also choose to sync calendars via iTunes as well. Use whatever process is going to be more convenient for you on an ongoing basis.

Transferring photos from your old device to your new iPhone [PC users]

1. Simply sync or transfer the photos from your old device into your photos on your Windows PC. Whether you choose to do this with your actual device, or from removable storage like an SD card is your choice.
2. Plug your new iPhone into the computer and open iTunes and navigate to the Photos tab.
3. Navigate your way to where you save your photos to your PC when choosing what photos to sync and make sure to choose the pictures you’d like on your phone.
4. Click sync and wait for iTunes to finish. Your photos should now show up in the Photos app on your iPhone.

Transferring photos from your old device to your new iPhone [Mac users]

1. Plug your old device into your Mac and open iPhoto. (If iPhoto doesn’t recognize your Android, webOS, or Blackberry phone, simply transfer the pictures from the removable storage in your device, if you have that option.)
2. Your device should show up in the left navigation pane of iPhoto.
3. Name your album and import the photos. Alternately, you could select just the photos you’d like on your new device if you want.

4. Open iTunes and go to the Photos tab. Select the albums or events you’d like to sync to your new iPhone.

5. Click sync and wait for iTunes. After the sync is complete, you should see your new Photos in your Photo app on your iPhone.

Next steps

The iPhone is a pretty easy device to transfer data to. Once you’ve gotten all your data from your other device into a cloud service or on your computer, it should be easy as pie. If you guys have any issues doing any of this, feel free to check out the TiPb Forums for answers to many questions.

For more on using your new iPhone 4S check out our iPhone Starters Guide, and then dive into our iPhone 4S Forums for help and community!

Daily Tips range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

Using both MobileMe and Gmail, or Google Accounts and Exchange, or any mix of multiple accounts on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and curious how to reduce the clutter by linking them into a single, unified entry? It’s easy to do, provided the contacts meet a few simple formatting criteria. We’ll show you how, after the break!

Let’s say you have a colleague who’s also a friend. You have his home contact information syncing with MobileMe and his business details syncing in Exchange. It’s handy to keep them separate in theory but it’s annoying to have them that way on your iPhone or iPad in practice. Here’s how you can link the contacts to unify the entry:

1. Make sure you’ve set up more than one account on your device
2. Make sure the accounts are setup to sync contact
3. Make sure both accounts have the same contact (i.e. if the contact is only in one account, even if it’s duplicated in one account, you can’t link them — you have to have the same contact in two or more different accounts)
4. Make sure the first and last name is identical names. Edit to remove minor variations if you have to (i.e. initial vs. first name).
5. Select the first of the two contacts
6. Tap edit
7. Scroll to the bottom
8. Tap Link Contact (iPhone) or the silhouette icon (iPad)
9. Select the second contact
10. Tap link
11. That’s it, they’re linked!

You now have a single, linked contact and Unified Info will be shown on the top bar to remind you when you view it.

If you want to unlink a contact:

1. Select the unified contact you want to unlink
2. Tap edit
3. Scroll to the bottom
4. Tap the red circle
5. Tap the read unlink button to confirm
6. And they’re unlinked

Bonus Tip: If you have one account set up on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, and then add another, iOS will automatically link any accounts that have identical names — so you may already have linked accounts.

If you have any other cool contact tips to share with us, drop them in the comments!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

iOS 4 on iPhone and iPad and Exchange 2003 just don’t seem to be playing nicely together, especially when it comes to Calendar events — they mysteriously disappear from ActiveSync, invitation replies refuse to send, and, well, don’t get me started.

Both problems are serious for enterprise users. In the first you create or accept and Exchange event invitation, it gets added to your Calendar, and then — poof! — it’s gone. But only from ActiveSync. If you look in Outlook or OWA (web interface) it’s still there. If you’re relying on ActiveSync on your iPhone or iPad, you could miss your meeting, call, conference sessions, etc.

The second involves receiving an Exchange invitation and trying to accept or decline it and being told your message can’t be sent:

Calendar Invitation

Your response to the invitation cannot be sent.

It may not cause you to miss events but it can cause problems for teams trying to keep track of who is attending which event.

For Mac users these problems are exacerbated by both Apple’s OS X and Microsoft’s Office not supporting Office 2003 over ActiveSync, only Exchange 2007 and later. That leaves OWA (the limited version supported outside Internet Explorer) as the sole way to look at a true representation of your Exchange system.

Since corporate users can seldom if ever force their IT departments to upgrade to Exchange 2007 or 2010, and support for 2003 is already being discontinued and likely won’t get a lot of support attention, fixes may be few and far between.

Anyone else experiencing these or other problems with iOS 4 (iOS 4.0, iOS 4.1, or iOS 4.2) and Exchange 2003? Any workaround you’ve figured out — other than copying events to Google Calendar for safe keeping?

Let me know in the comments and help us trouble shoot in the iPhone Forum.

CNET is reporting that Microsoft’s Hotmail will finally gain support for… Microsoft’s Exchange ActiveSync protocol. Sure, even Google’s had that for a while now, but better embarrassingly late than embarrassingly never, right?

So Hotmail users, very soon you’ll be able to type in your username and password as an Exchange account and enjoy full push support and client/server synchronization. On iOS 4, you’ll even be able to set it up alongside your work Exchange and Gmail ActiveSync accounts, if you have them, and really push things to the limit. (Sorry, couldn’t resist).

Will you be using it?

[CNET via PreCentral.net]

When you sync contacts from more than one source (i.e. Exchange and MobileMe, on-device and Google Sync, etc.), and there are duplicates, rather than showing the same contact twice iOS 4 will instead create a single, linked contact. This works on any iOS 4 device, including iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, recent iPod touch, etc.

When you look at a linked contact, the header will show Unified Info at the top so you know it’s linked. At the very bottom of the contact it will show you the source of the links (i.e MobileMe, Google). Tapping on the source lets you see the original, non-unfied info from just that source.

If you don’t like the idea of your contacts being linked, you can tap edit and hit Unlink. If iOS 4 missed linking a contact that ought be linked, tap edit, scroll down to the bottom, tap Link Contact and choose the contact you want linked.

[Thanks T.J!]

Apple has posted a knowledge base article support note for users whose Exchange ActiveSync mail, contacts, and calendars are no longer syncing post-iOS 4 update.

Here are the symptoms as described by Apple:

Immediately after updating to iOS 4, some users may notice that Exchange ActiveSync Mail, Contacts, or Calendars do not sync, or sync very slowly. In addition, some Exchange Server administrators may notice their servers running slowly.

And the solution:

To work around this issue, users should install a configuration profile from Apple that increases the amount of time the iOS 4 device will wait for the Exchange Server to respond to its sync requests. For best results, the profile should be installed on as many iOS 4 devices at your company as possible.

To install the profile:

1. Use Safari on your iOS 4 device to download the configuration profile. It may be easiest to read this article with your iPhone or iPod touch and tap the download link there, but you may also email the attachment to another email account on your iOS 4 device, and tap the attachment to open it.
2. Tap Install to install the profile, and enter your passcode if prompted.
3. A warning message will appear because the profile is not signed. Tap Install Now. Tap Done to complete the installation, then power off your device and power it back on.
4. Wait for your Exchange data to finish syncing.

After installation, the profile will be listed under Settings > General > Profile.

If you’ve been having Exchange sync issues under iOS 4, let us know if this does indeed resolve it for you.

[support.apple.com, thanks Doug!]

So how’s iOS 4 Active Sync working for you? iOS 4 allows multiple ActiveSync accounts, meaning iPhone users can finally have their work Exchange setup alongside Google Sync, for example.

I’ve got both Exchange (2003) and Google Sync (Google Accounts) set up on both an iPhone 4 and an iPhone 3GS, and both mail and calendar are working fine (I don’t sync Exchange contacts, never mind the mess that is Google contacts — I use MobileMe for that).

Some users over on the Apple Support forums aren’t having as much luck. Calendars in particular seem to be giving them problems where they weren’t under iOS 3.x.

I did notice that, on my iPhone 3GS, the first time I added the second ActiveSync account the phone got hot and the battery started to drain so I deleted it, rebooted, and added it back and it hasn’t happened again — battery life has been surprisingly good.

What’s your experience with ActiveSync under iOS 4?

[discussions.apple.com, thanks Sagar!]

The are several ways to use the calendar on your iPhone, including syncing with other devices (including computers) and with the cloud (via a variety of services). You can also keep just one global calendar for everything, or separate ones for work, school, hobbies, family, training, etc.

• You can just use the calendar app right on the iPhone all by itself. It’s not the fastest when it comes to data entry, but if you really want to keep your agenda in your pocket you can just hit the plus (+) key, add an event, and keep on keeping on (time that is).
• You can sync your calendar(s) over from Outlook on Windows or iCal on the Mac using iTunes and the USB-Dock cable that came with your iPhone. This makes sure both your desktop/laptop and iPhone calendar stay roughly coordinated (not instantly, but updated whenever you tether up and sync). Even if you intend to leave the desktop for the mobile, syncing over at first is a great way to start.
• You can sync from cloud services like Google Calendar, Apple’s MobileMe, or a Microsoft Exchange server via ActiveSync. All three (if you’re using GoogleSync, at least) will “push” changes back and forth between your online and on-device calendars, and if your desktop is linked to the same account, you can keep all your calendars automatically and up-to-the-minute accurate. (Pro users might even set up links between MobileMe and Google Calendar or Exchange via desktop or third party tools for cross-cloud sync). -You can subscribe to online calendars shared by others via CalDAV, which is useful for keeping track of public holidays, your favorite sports teams, special projects, or other group events on small or grand scale.

In iPhone OS 4, developers will have access to the calendar so we’ll likely see movie ticket apps that automatically add the show time for you when you buy a ticket. Until then, let us know how you’re using your iPhone calendar. On device, synced from your desktop, and/or in the cloud? If in the cloud, what service do you use? Any tips or tricks you care to share?

Continuing the long journey begun with iPhone 2.0, Apple has once again raised the bar on Enterprise support for iPhone 4.0 adding better data protection, mobile device management, wireless app distribution, multiple exchange accounts, Exchange Server 2010 support, and SSL VPN support.

More as this develops!

[Image via GDGT]

As part of the iPhone 4.0 announcement today, Apple introduced an updated Mail app that includes (as rumored) support for a unified inbox (so all your new home, work, etc. email shows up in one place). Also introduced was threaded conversation, multiple Exchange accounts (hello Exchange + Google Sync), and fast inbox switching.

Does that solve all our iPhone email woes?

More after the break!

For those with multiple email accounts whose previous iPhone experience involved tapping into and out of those boxes many, many times a day universal inbox is a hugely welcome addition. As with Calendars, Notes, etc. you can tap a button on the top left, in this case Mailboxes, to back into a selection screen where you can then go into All Inboxes, a specific account’s inbox (which is considered fast inbox switching), or into the complete folder and sub-folder system of a given account (how Mail has worked from iPhone 1.0 to iPhone 3.0).

Once inside, All Inboxes is visually indistinguishable from an account-specific inbox, it simply contains all of their messages.

What is distinguishable are the small carets (technically greater-than symbols) to the right of replies that indicate a message is part of a thread. A number, typically 2 or 3, accompanies the caret to indicate how many replies are in the thread.

Tapping on a message that’s part of a thread doesn’t take you to the message but rather to a second list-view, similar to the inbox itself, but containing only the messages from the thread. Tapping on one of them then takes you to the message. A thread view contains a small vertical bar at the top with the subject of the thread and time of the most recent reply. A button to the top left of the message that’s part of the thread also contains the subject of the thread and lets you back out and see the thread again. The button then switches to contain the name of the inbox so you can back out again, leave the thread completely, and see all your messages.

So yes, the tap, tap, tap of inbox navigation persists, albeit shifted from moving into and out of inboxes to moving into and out of threaded messages.

Although not yet implemented in the current beta, like iPhone OS 3.2 for iPad, you’ll be able to open email attachments in apps. Now there’s no iWork (Numbers, Pages, Keynote) for iPhone yet, and the app Apple used to introduce this function doesn’t exist on iPhone yet either. Interesting.

Lastly, in previous versions of the iPhone OS, when you wanted to abandon an email, you would hit Cancel and get options to Save (store the email in Drafts), Don’t Save (trash the email), and Cancel (go back to writing the email). The naming of these options was likely too confusing so in iPhone OS they’ve been replaced with a big red Delete button (to trash the email), Save as Draft, and Cancel. And yes, you can still cancel a cancel. (iPad, by contrast, still has Save and Don’t Save, but no Cancel since it’s in a popover rather than full-screen menu and you can just tap away to cancel).

iPhone 3.1 apparently fixes a bug that didn’t properly enforce Microsoft Exchange 2007 SP1 encryption policies, and that looks to be causing problems for users of the iPhone 3G and iPhone 2G (and likely first and second gen iPod touch users as well).

While the iPhone 3GS supports Exchange encryption and is thus unaffected, the previous generation devices reportedly do not, leading to the error shown above.

Outside buying an iPhone 3GS or getting your Exchange Admin to turn off the encryption requirement (good luck with that!) we’re not sure if there’s a fix for this fix yet.

If you’ve run into the problem, however, drop us a note in the comments.

[BroadbandReports.com via TUAW]

For the last few months I’ve been conducting an experiment, trying to figure out whether it better suited my needs to sync my iPhone 3G to my desktop computer, to my laptop, or to embrace the (potential) future and try to sync only over-the-air with the cloud (online services and storage).

First, a little about the contenders.

• My MacBook is purposefully kept light. Aside from whatever temporary I’m working on at the time, it has almost nothing on it, including no media unless I’m actively watching it. It’s speed on-the-go with limited capacity.
• My iMac is heavy duty and also serves as my media machine. It’s connected on one end to a Drobo and serves an Apple TV in the living room on the other. It’s pure power and content, but absolutely no portability.
• My cloud is, well, the cloud — everything I keep on my MobileMe, iDisk and Apple keeps ready for me on their massive iTunes servers.

A month with each of them (Round Robin interuptus notwithstanding) and what were my results? Which have I stuck with (for now)? Read on to find out!

Syncing the iPhone with a Laptop

The laptop is a convenient sync-solution to be sure. It goes almost everywhere I go, so it’s almost always available. If I get new content, be it a new podcast or a new iTunes movie, I can immediately plug my iPhone in and sync it over. This is one heckuva compelling argument, even more so prior to iPhone OS 2.2, when the iPhone itself couldn’t directly download new podcasts. It also makes for easy charging on-the-go. There’s always a USB port available, and I don’t have to worry about iTunes wiping out my current content to “helpful” prepare for syncing with a different machine. Have a problem? If Apple pushes out a firmware update, or — horror of horrors — I need to restore, the laptop being mother-ship, means I can handle it right away — no waiting to get home to re-load everything.

The downside? My laptop hard drive is small. My old laptop had a tiny 100GB 7200RPM drive (I went for speed over size) and my new one has a 128GB. With the OS, applications, data, etc. (sometimes virtual machines), that leaves precious little space for media files. This meant I was always in “management” mode. I could keep a small subsection of my laptop, either subscribing to a few of the same podcasts I already subscribed to on my iMac, or moving files back and forth when I was on my home network (or, in a pinch, slooooowly over iDisk). This reduced the convenience and eliminated one of the best features of the Apple ecosystem — the ability for it to keep track of what you’ve watched and how much of it you’ve watched across platforms. Duplicate files throw that out the window.

Syncing the iPhone with a Desktop

The desktop is a powerhouse. Big drives, lots of ports, and in my case it already serves up content to my Apple TV. That means what I want to watch and listen to it is already loaded up — and because it’s on most of the time, is constantly downloading new podcasts and other content. I can wake up in the morning, plug in, and get the latest stuff, maybe move over a TV show or movie if I want to go somewhere later and watch something (via the iPhone AV-out cables — like a portable Apple TV!). And then when I get home at night, I can sync up again and continue watching/listening to anything I haven’t finished yet via Apple TV or AirTunes speakers (and thanks to the iPhone Remote App, I can control it from anywhere in my home), from right where I left off.

Limitations? You betcha! Aside from not having my host machine with me while I’m away from home — meaning I can’t get new stuff when I want it — if I ever decide to rent HD content (or create my own with an HD camcorder) or subscribe to HD podcast feeds to really make use of the Apple TV’s 720p output, those won’t transfer over to the iPhone. If I subscribe to both HD and iPod feed, then I have the same content duplication problem. Granted, for most podcasts the iPod version is fine, but when we get into TV Shows and especially movies, it just won’t cut it anymore.

Syncing the iPhone with the Cloud

Since iPhone OS 2.0, with MobileMe and Exchange ActiveSync support, both my work and personal email, calendar, and contacts have been syncing with the cloud, and I’ve been able to buy wirelessly from the App Store (2G/3G for under 10MB, WiFi for over). That was step 1 in my considering living foot-loose and tether-free. iPhone OS 2.2 was step 2: over-the-air (OTA) podcast downloads (with the same 10MB cell/WiFi split). Sure, I’m skipping the iTunes music store, but I don’t buy music anywhere near are often as I get Apps or download podcasts. If I’m out and about, without desktop or even laptop, and I find out a great new podcast has just dropped, I can either hit the “get more episodes” link, or just search for it in the iTunes App and download it directly to my iPhone. With apps like MobileFiles, I can even access my iDisk to view my docs and even transfer them to my local iPhone storage.

Need more? Yeah, I’m still waiting on Apple revamp MobileMe and add push support for Task, Note, Photo, and Backup, syncing as it looks like Microsoft is about ready to do with Windows Mobile 6.5′s “My Phone” feature (cute name!) Bandwidth limitations, however, make me think I won’t be getting OTA TV show or movie downloads anytime soon. Given the size of firmware updates, they too will likely remain tether-only for now. Also, just like I can be caught away from a laptop or PC, even WiFi and cell coverage have their limits.

Conclusion

After having tried these three different sync solutions, each on their own, which one have I decided on? Which one is the clear winner?

None. Frankly, each one has advantages and disadvantages, so I’ve evolved into a hybrid model. My iPhone is setup on my iMac desktop and I sync there fairly regularly. Due to the advances in iPhone OS 2.0 and 2.2, however, I don’t sync anywhere nearly as often as I used to, and if I need new content while I’m away, I just download it directly (for podcasts) or drop it into my iDisk (for other types of small media — using Back to My Mac from my laptop).

It’s not completely elegant and seamless yet, granted, but it’s amazing how far we’ve come even just recently, and while “sync is hard”, I have every confidence future iPhone and MobileMe updates will make it easier and easier over time.

So What Do You Do?

Sync from your desktop? From your laptop? Pure cloud baby? Or, like me, do you keep a couple tools at the ready? Let me know what you’re doing, especially if you have any ninja-sync skills you wouldn’t mind sharing!

Here’s a welcome surprise for you: Google has now created Google Sync for iPhone so that you can sync up your Google Contacts and Google Calendar. They are doing it by making their data look like an Exchange server — meaning that if you’re not already using Exchange on your iPhone for work, you can point it at Google’s servers (see full instructions here) to get your contacts and calendars pushed out to you. Nice? Nice.

Of course, if you’re already using Exchange for work but still want to get your Google data on your iPhone, you’d going to need to get a solution to sync your Google data down to your desktop and then get it from your desktop to your iPhone either via USB tether or via MobileMe. You can learn more about how the two work together in Rene’s excellent article on that very subject.

Now, Google, just get Gmail to look like Exchange and we’ll be happy campers. Actually, you know what, just fix IMAP, that’ll be enough.

Quick Update: As I just noted over at WMExperts, Google licensed Exchange Active Sync (EAS) from Microsoft, which is a shot at RIM but also, maybe, a shot at Apple. Rene just pointed out to me that given all of Google’s recent moves with the CalDAV/iCal system, they might have kept on pushing to make the stuff that Mac uses the industry standard. Instead, Google and Microsoft are suddenly working together on using EAS.

For most of us today, email is a major part of our lives. Whether it be for business or personal reasons, one thing we all look for in an email service, especially if we are paying for it, is reliability. So what if you’re not having the best of luck with Apple’s MobileMe service or any other IMAP alternatives? Maybe it’s time to consider a hosted Exchange account. Not familiar with Exchange? Then be sure to check out Rene’s excellent article from a while back, Walkthrough: Exchange ActiveSync On Your iPhone 2.0. That article can give you a great understanding of exactly how Exchange works on the iPhone.

Don’t have a corporate solution or your very own Exchange server, though? No problem! I’m going to be giving you some very reliable hosted Exchange services as well as some tips on getting it up and running for the flawless email you have been seeking!

More after the jump!

Finding the right service for you

The first step in setting up a hosted Exchange account is finding the service provider that best suites your needs and that is reliable. A good place to read some reviews for all of the services available to you is www.exchangehostingreviews.com. If those service providers seem like overkill to you and you do not want to spend any money take a look at this article, Want Exchange Activesync for FREE?

Now instead of me going through that whole list, let me just jump to my personal favorite and the service that I recently started using, Sherweb. For $8.95 a month ($107.40 a year — competitive with Apple’s MobileMe pricing!) here is what Sherweb offers you:

A few main reasons I switched from a MobileMe account to Exchange is due to the fact that I could not sync all of my data with a Windows Mobile device along with my iPhone. The second reason being that a lot of my mail was never reliably pushed to my phone with MobileMe. During the past two months of using Sherweb, however, I’ve experienced nothing but top notch service. There was one one night when I had a single hour of downtime that was announced well ahead of time, and that was not a issue at all. More importantly, I get every single email sent to me on time with no issues what so ever.

So whichever provider you choose, choose wisely. You want to make sure you select the provider that can increase efficiency and productivity for your business or pleasure. For me it’s Sherweb (and no, I do not work for them or know anyone that does.)

Setting up Hosted Exchange on the iPhone

Setting up your Exchange account is relatively simple process on the iPhone. Just follow the below steps. Please note that the server information that I have filled in is for Sherweb members only. Check with your host for their specific settings.

WARNING – Before you set up your Exchange account, please know that any contacts and calendar events currently on your iPhone will be erased. They will be replaced with what is in your Exchange account. So please make sure that you transfer all of your data to Exchange before going through the setup process on your iPhone.

First, from the device’s main screen, go to: Settings ->Mail, Contacts, Calendar ->Add Account -> Microsoft Exchange.

Under account info, in the Email address box, enter your hosted Exchange email address.

Leave the Domain field blank (unless your specific hosted Exchange provider tells you otherwise).

In the Username box, type in your email address. This needs to be the main email address for your account (i.e. the one you are using when logging into Outlook Web Access).

In the Password box, type in your account password.

Tap on the Next button at the top of the screen.

NOTE: Your device may fail stating “Unable to Verify certificate.” If this is the case, tap Accept.

A box labelled Server will appear. Enter: webmail.ihostexchange.net (or the server name of your specific hosted Exchange provider)

Tap on the Next button at the top of the screen.

The device will then verify the server saying “Account has been verified.”

A new screen will appear asking you to “Select info to synchronize using Exchange.” It will display Mail, Contacts and Calendars. Turn the features ON if you desire to have them synchronized with your Exchange account. Once satisfied, select the Save button.

You will then be taken back to the default Mail, Contacts and Calendar screen. You can adjust the mail settings preferences here as you wish.

By default the iPhone will only sync the last 3 days of mail. To sync older messages, Please do the following:

Go to : Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendar.

Tap on the Exchange account. Tap on Mail days to sync and select from No Limit (which will sync all messages) to 1 Month.

Congratulations, you have just successfully setup your very own Hosted Exchange account! Enjoy the most reliable email you can have on your iPhone!

(Thanks to Cory for introducing me to Sherweb!)

It’s that time of the week where we bring some of the discussions from the forums to the main page.

Big reminder to everyone, the voting for the latest TiPb AT WORK Contest ends tomorrow! This weeks contest, to do/task apps! Time is short so go get your vote on now!

Are you one of those people who is all about security? Well we want to know how many of you actually use the passcode lock on your iPhones? Chime in on his thread! I recently switched from MobileMe to a Exchange account and was personally interested in the following thread. Pascalcheck had a good question regarding Exchange with his contacts and calendar events. Rene was super quick to jump in and help out!.

A lot has been said about jailbreaking lately, and a lot of questions are being asked… so if you have questions and need answers please check out the following two forums – Jailbreak Central (for anything related to jailbreaking) and iPhone Jailbreak Apps.

As always you need to register to join our growing community! Register here to get in on the action, only takes a quick minute!

See you on the forums!

Apple’s MobileMe News blog is back after a bit of a hiatus with some helpful info on how, exactly, MobileMe and and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync work and play together (or vice versa):

You can enter new information for each service separately as you move around, and that information is stored and synced separately. But when you check your contact or calendar information you can view the information from both jointly or separately as you choose. It’s an approach that preserves the data integrity of each service while delivering the convenience of mobile access to both of them.

I use both MobileMe (for personal) and Exchange (for work) on my iPhone, and the above holds true for my experience so far. In fact, it lets me compartmentalize things nicely.

Anyone else two-timing on the push? How’s it working for you?

Following up our Exchange Activesync for the iPhone 2.0 walkthrough, and some FREE/cheap Hosted Exchange solutions for users without Megacorps, here’s an official “welcome!” from biggest Megacorp of them all, Microsoft. More specifically, from the Microsoft Exchange Team Blog:

If you’ve not heard; Apple released iPhone 2.0 today which includes a software update to the existing iPhones in the market (yes, we mentioned it when it was announced as well). We’re thrilled to add them to the family of Exchange ActiveSync licensees that enable all sorts of devices to connect to Exchange Server. For those of you that manage Exchange Servers this means you may see some new devices connecting and we wanted to give you a few notes about what to expect.

Via

You’ve got your uber-cool new iPhone 3G or you’re rocking the new 2.0 update on your iPhone 2G or iPod Touch, and you want to try out this Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync all the kids suits are yabbering about. One problem — you don’t have an Exchange server. You’re not part of some big megacorp with a massive IT department, you’re not a developer with MSDC licenses for the “testing”, and you’re not even small-business’y enough to pick up a cheap (for Microsoft!) ActionPack with a couple of licenses (or even if you did, you don’t have the geek in you to set ‘em up and administer the high-maintenance little beasties).

What to do, what to do?

Hosted Exchange.

Yup, just like ISP’s offer regular old email, and we services offer Yahoo!, Hotmail, Gmail, etc. for POP and IMAP mail, some companies will provide you with similar email accounts hosted on Exchange, ready for to get your ActiveSync iPhone nirvana on. Ranging in price, some even do it cheaply and some… for FREE!

The inimitable Lifehacker points us towards Mail2Web, which offers a FREE Microsoft Exchange based email solution, and provides handy-dandy setup and usage tips (though it looks like you might need the $4.45 a month version if you want to use it directly with Outlook on the PC).

TiPb’s own cross-platformer-in-chief also points us towards some for-pay, but potentially better fitting solutions from some users, with Sherweb at the top of his list, 1and1 hitting okay, and 4smartphone serving up equal parts popularity and unreliability (lately).

Of course, Microsoft itself is also entering the subscription space, for anyone who might want an ActiveSync addy straight out of Redmond…

Any options we’re missing?

If MobileMe is Apple’s “Exchange for the rest of us”, then ActiveSync is Microsoft’s “Exchange for the most of them”. After Windows and Office, it’s arguably the 3rd pillar of Microsoft’s business domination. Blackberry’s can (and almost de facto do) connect to them, Windows Mobiles certainly connect to them. Even the aging Palm OS Treo’s have ActiveSync support. And with the 2.0 software, the iPhone does as well.

Caveat: Microsoft loves them some monopoly power and proprietary solutions (in this case, for example, using their own MAPI rather than the IMAP IDLE standard for “push” email). They may be becoming increasingly open in the face of Web-based competition, but their crown jewels are still closely guarded. So, while Outlook connects directly to Exchange for — according to them — the “richest experience”, and Windows Mobile probably follows a close second, iPhone like other ActiveSync licensees connects via something called Outlook Web Access, the same way a web browser might.

How does this experience stack up in richness? Read on to find out!

What is Exchange ActiveSync?

This is similar to how Blackberry’s work, though rather than every device being handled by a single central Network Operations Center (NOC), devices can connect to any Windows Server running Exchange (typically your business’ Exchange Server, or a Hosted Exchange solution).

What Kind of Data Does ActiveSync Push?

Email messages, calendar events, and contact listings.

Setting up ActiveSync

Exchange is a magical yet mysterious beast, typically requiring regular IT supervision and administration. If you’re interested in setting up Exchange for the iPhone, Apple provides a PDF overview, as well as utilities to aid in enterprise deployment.

To setup the iPhone for Exchange, start by setting up an email account by tapping Settings, then tapping Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and then Add Account…, and choose Microsoft Exchange.

What you do from there will depend on what version of Exchange you’re running. Theoretically, if you have Exchange 2007, your iPhone will be able to almost configure itself. If you have an earlier version, like the Exchange 2003 Server I was connecting to, you’ll have to enter your Exchange login info (user name, server name, password, etc.)

Using ActiveSync

Due to the problems with Apple’s iTunes activation server on launch day, July 11, I left the store with a still bricked iPhone, and while I was able to unbrick it later at home, I couldn’t connect to iTunes properly and therefore couldn’t sync my data over.

So, while I had a working iPhone 3G, it was a working iPhone 3G with nothing on it, no email, no calendars, no contacts… But a perfect opportunity to try out ActiveSync!

I went through the setup and immediately saw my mail begin to download. I tapped over to calendars and there were my appointments for the day. Contacts? All there.

It’s just that simple… which is really the point.

ActiveSync Email (and Spam!)

Email via ActiveSync works the same, with the same options, as any other mail account on the iPhone 3G, the only difference is the “push”.

Drawback? “Push” spam. If you get a lot of spam (and due to the nature of what I do, my business address has been scraped for over a decade, and I get tons and tons and tons of spam), you’ll immediately discover the annoyance of being buzzed/beeped whenever an “enhancement” or “warez” or “please help get my millions out of Africa” email comes in.

The server-based blacklists, heuristics, etc. filter some, but it’s always a balancing act to nuke the garbage while keeping customer or partner messages from getting accidentally nuked along with them. I’m experimenting with filters via Web Access, but so far this is looking like a major problem for me, given that the iPhone doesn’t seem to have any client side filtering of its own. Little help, Apple?

ActiveSync Contacts

Contacts enjoy both the standard iPhone 3G contact options — and if you use Exchange 2007 this includes picture support — and also Exchange Directory Search. Don’t have someone from the MegaCorp in your local list? Just tap on Groups, Directory, and search away:

ActiveSync Calendars

Like contacts, ActiveSync calendars support all the basic functionality of iPhone 2.0 calendars, with the immediacy of “push” updates (add or delete an event on your iPhone, and it shows up or disappears on your Outlook client or Web access right away), and something else: invitations.

If a co-worker plans a meeting and adds your name to it, you receive an invitation in your Calendar Inbox:

Invitations will display a handy number badge, same as email or SMS, to tell you how many invitations you have. You can choose to accept or decline them. Very sweet.

Bonus: Sharepoint

At its simplest, Microsoft Sharepoint is an online directory for document sharing and collaboration. MobileSafari (the iPhone 3G’s browser) can access corporate Sharepoint sites. Due to its high speed connection and its ability to open Office documents (Word, Excel, and now PowerPoint), and PDF files, the iPhone 3G becomes a good way to access your company’s shared directory from pretty much anywhere.

Again, however, because it’s not Internet Explorer and it’s not using the proprietary ActiveX plugin technology, you won’t get the “richest experience” possible. Hopefully Microsoft will continue their new push (pun intended) towards openess and provide non-IE browsers with a “richer experience” via better AJAX implementation. Maybe even SproutCore…

Using ActiveSync and MobileMe Together

Because I’d originally used ActiveSync with my old, indiscriminate Palm 680, when I hooked up my iPhone 3G, it pulled down a lot of Contact crud that was outdated, and that I’d never bothered to clean out of either Outlook (which I rarely use anymore). This also meant that I had a lot of duplicates from my prior MobileMe update. (But it did show off the awesome new color and translucency effects of the iPhone 3G’s calendar!)

However since ActiveSync is “push”, I just fired up Outlook Web Access in Safari and deleted all non-business, non-current contacts. Almost instantly, my iPhone 3G updated to reflect the changes, and the duplicates were dispatched, the crud cleansed. Likewise, I removed business events from iCal, removing them from MobileMe, which preventing duplicates on the iPhone 3G’s calendar. Now MobileMe exclusively handles personal data, ActiveSync business data, and thus far they work together seamlessly.

Conclusion

ActiveSync, due both to Microsoft’s enterprise domination and the magic of the technology, is an incredible addition to the iPhone 3G, and something that should make business users who value a large, multi-touch screen, not to mention the potential of Unix in your pocket, the polish of Apple’s interfaces, and the promise of the App Store, seriously consider the iPhone in their Enterprise.

The hits just keep on coming this morning. Next up, TUAW noticed a few new downloads on Apple.com – specifically they’re iPhone configuration utilities that look to be the perfect tool (until there’s OTA setup) for administrators in companies that have deployed iPhones. There’s a web utility for both Mac and Windows and also a more powerful Mac utility. The basic idea here is you set up a simple file (just XML) with certain settings like:

security policies, VPN configuration information, Wi-Fi settings, APN settings, Exchange account settings, mail settings, and certificates

…then you just load the file onto an iPhone and voila, the darn thing is all set up for business. You can head over to http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/enterprise/ for full instructions on how to use the tools.

Warning: We may get medium-geeky here for moment. Adjust your pocket-protectors accordingly.

Apple is using the iPhone to crack their way into the enterprise. No big surprise there. What is surprising, however, is just how Sun Tzu their being about it. How so?

Bottom line, for an end-user, the interface is the app. Sure, we recognize names like Exchange, ActiveSync, even BES, but for most typical users, firing up Outlook or switching on their Blackberry IS their email. They don’t see what’s going on programmatically behind the scenes, don’t care what protocol is hand-shaking and packetizing their data as it zips from server to server in its chaotic relay from sender to receiver. They just see their email, and they just know that it was there when they needed it.

Given that, Apple licensing Exchange ActiveSync becomes more than just interesting. Why? Because they didn’t buy Outlook. They’re making their own MobileMail app which will seamlessly handle Exchange, but, oh by the way, will also handle MobileMe (the new .Mac refresh already billed as Exchange for the rest of us), as well as the usual Gmail, Yahoo!, etc.

So, for the end user, ActiveSync disappears behind the MobileMail iPhone interface. And if they have a home account, be it MobileMe, Gmail, Yahoo!, or whatever, the differences become less and less apparent (especially as push-like technologies propagate the different services), and in the end, ActiveSync disappears and people just think of their MobileMail app.

Meanwhile, the technologies behind MobileMail, with the advent of Snow Leopard Server, get more interesting, especially with Apple offering open, standards-based protocols like IMAP IDLE, and developing and releasing to the Open Source community similar code like CalDAV for push calendar and now, CardDAV for push contacts.

All of a sudden, a business could run an Exchange-like server without any Microsoft like licensing fees (which anyone who has dealt with them can tell you are money trap unto themselves).

Most interesting of all, if a business had deployed iPhones and they decided to switch from Exchange to Snow Leopard (or any *nix server using the FOSS implementations on their own), their end users may not even notice.

Roughly Drafted has more on Snow Leopard and its possible implications for Exchange/SharePoint users.

Roughly Drafted, the passionate little partisan site that could, is back with a look at why Apple would choose to license ActiveSync from Microsoft while at the same time championing more open standards like IMAP and CalDAV with Leopard Server.

Having suffered under the anti-trust encrusted fist of Microsoft previously with both Excel (originally launched on Mac) and Internet Explorer (which at one time shipped with OS X) to name but two examples of Redmond’s penchant for partnercide, Roughly Drafted explains how licensing a technology is different than licensing an an application. Namely, if you rely on a partner to deliver an application as your solution, your customers grow accustomed to and invested in that solution, and you become dependent on and, ultimately subject to, that partner (and the brutish manipulations thereof). However, if you license a technology and build your own application, your customers see only your front end and if ever a partner attempts to surreptitiously bury twelve inches of pointy steel between your shoulder blades, you can always license a competing technology — or switch the back-end to your own, already existing, technology.

In fact, as Apple develops its own Mac OS X Server integration with the iPhone, and develops tight integration with its own .Mac services on a subscription basis, it can wean iPhone users from Exchange Server toward its own products using the powerful incentive of much lower infrastructure and per user costs. However, there won’t be any customers to entice if the iPhone doesn’t first ship support for Exchange.

Having lived and worked through the rise of Internet Explorer 6 and the amazing power, convenience, security nightmare, and proprietary market-grab it created, and the even more compelling, insidious sameness of Exchange Server, I both appreciate the concepts Microsoft brought to the business table and detest the method in which they brought them. Why?

Communication needs to be free (as in freedom from single-vendor lockdowns) and small and medium sized businesses need the ability to be able to move to and from whichever service provides the best capability at the best price to suit their needs. IMAP IDLE and CalDAV may not be the solution, but they’re part of getting away from the problems of Exchange, and if the iPhone can sneak them into more IT shops, and into the mindsets of more be-fud’ed IT departments, then sneak away!

What do you think?

During the iPhone SDK Roadmap event today, Apple strolled up to RIM, slipped out a glove, dropped a brick into it, and slapped out one “boom” of a challenge.

Blackberry is an email monster, no doubt about it. Intoxicating “push” delivery and back-end IT administration have made it the darling of the enterprise world. But it isn’t without problems: due to the centralized server-model RIM utilizes (where all mail is collected by RIM prior to being pushed out to end-users), there’s a single point of failure for all Blackberry users everywhere (as seen in two recent, service-wide outages) — and a single point of exploit as well (where an attack on RIM’s server could compromise the privacy and security of the entire user base).

Read on for more!

Apple is eager to exploit this weakness — so eager, in fact, they went right into the belly of the beast itself: they licensed Microsoft ActiveSync to provide direct Exchange support for iPhone.

Come the iPhone (and iPod Touch) 2.0 firmware update targeted for a late June release, every user will be able to enjoy instant “push” access to a wide gamut of Exchange services, including:

• Push email. Write a message, it appears instantly (web congestion notwithstanding) on another Exchange user’s client.
• Calendar integration. Add an event and, “boom”, it’s in Exchange.
• Push contacts. Create or update a contact and everyone sharing gets the update right away.
• Global address list. You get your company’s contacts, updated live all the time.
• Enterprise level security. Including Cisco IPsec VPN, authentication and certificates, 802.1x, policies, configuration tools, and remote device wipes.

Still not convinced Apple has slid up to RIM’s lunch, fork in hand? Phil Schiller, VP of Marketing, displayed a nice slide showing iPhone’s simple Exchange connection (iPhone – Exchange) compared to RIM’s more complex model (Blackberry – NOC – Message Server – Exchange).

“Microsoft has come up with a much more advanced architecture, where the iPhone can work directly with the Exchange server in a more reliable and affordable way.” (Engadget)

ZING!

“You should ask [RIM if Apple is sending them a message]… we’re not sending them a message, we’re sending customers and developers a message that we’re trying to serve their needs.” (Engadget)

POW!

“Why aren’t CIOs really worried about security? Every email message sent to or from a RIM device goes through a NOC up in Canada. Now, that provides a single point of failure, but it also provides a very interesting security situation. Where someone working up at that NOC could potentially be having a look at your email. Nobody seems to be focused on that. We certainly are.”

BOOM!

Bringing up Nike and Disney, while a little nepotistic given the relationships, as well as pointing to academic institution Stanford, put some real-world business deployment on the table. Apple sure does seem serious.

So, should RIM worry? Will legions of CrackBerry addicts give up their hardware keyboards and defect, en-masse, to Apple’s Mobile Platform? Or are they immune to the famed Reality Distortion Field, and laughing even now at Apple’s eye-candy attempts to woo IT? Is Gruber right, “This doesn’t make the iPhone a BlackBerry killer, but the iPhone can do more BlackBerry-ish things than the BlackBerry can do iPhone-ish things.” What do you think?

Again with the Apple Insider analyst tea-leaf reading, we get word from Shaw Wu of American Technology Research that Steve Jobs will spend some time during Thursday’s iPhone SDK Event announcing enhanced support for Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus corporate email “solutions” (having worked in IT, I’m entitled to add the quotes.)

Wu believes it “more likely” that iPhone’s corporate support will come as a result of internal development rather than licensing technologies like Microsoft’s ActiveSync and/or RIM’s Blackberry Connect, but only time and El Jobso will tell for sure.

Given that Apple pre-announced “enterprise” for the event, and their past job listing (no longer online) for a “motivated, highly-technical Exchange test/sync engineer with excellent problem solving and communication skills,” this could be a very safe bet.

Either way, it looks like crackberry addicts and active exchangers alike may soon have iPhone pushers joining them in desperate need of instant email fixes. (Which, of course, is seen as very necessary to increasing the iPhone’s penetration of corporate accounts.)

iPXSync is another product on the way that aims to provide Exchange compatibility for the iPhone. It looks like they’ll make creative use of IMAP to sync both email and non-email items (like tasks, contacts, and appointments) to mail folders, and that means over-the-air syncing, and if you delete one from the iPhone, it will be deleted from the server as well. They are running a free registration beta at the moment, and since this service doesn’t require extra software to be installed on the Exchange server itself, it’s an Outlook Web Access web scraper. This service is a lot like Synchronica, on which we’ve reported before. As a side note, Synchronica is still running a free trial of their service. Ah, competition. It makes things better.

I haven’t heard a peep out of Microsoft for quite some time; not really since Mossberg’s D5. Nonetheless, Microsoft is in the news today.

Babygotmac is disgruntled that the iPhone doesn’t have Exchange support and posted a response to an earlier post by John Gruber of Daring Fireball, himself repudiating cruft posted in the Wall Street Journal. What the article at babygotmac doesn’t seem that he realizes is that the iPhone does have support, from a certain point of view: you can sync iCal and Address Book (and Mail.app too, but that’s not relevant to this discussion) to an Exchange server. From there, the iTunes sync will copy over anything from Exchange you want. So really, what he’s griping about is the lack of push, not a lack of Exchange support. It’s a minor niggle, sure; but it’s an important niggle. It’s not like there’s no way to get data from Exchange on the thing. Other than that, it’s a great article, and I agree that push would be most welcome.

So what I’m getting at here is that I hope the rumors of push and Exchange support in the iPhoneare true. Apple licenced Exchange protocols (MAPI) for Mail.app, Address Book, and iCal already. Apple would just have to program the iPhone apps to understand MAPI well, and maybe get more licenses for the additional iPhone apps.

Lastly, there’s an article at eWeek’s Microsoft Watch that talks about what Microsoft should learn from Apple and the iPhone (with some frosty commentary from the iPhoneBlog, where I found it). There are some things Microsoft could learn from Apple, sure (UI, UI, and UI — I’ll hopefully be downloading that shell before the lawyers take it down), but the article doesn’t seem to address one of the larger tangles that Microsoft faces:

1. Microsoft Needs Transparency So They Don’t Freak Out Their Customers
2. We are not Microsoft’s primary customers
3. that would be OEMs and carriers and phone hardware makers, etc.
4. Man Those Guys Hate Surprises
5. We Love Them (case in point: birthday presents!)

They hate surprises because surprises tend to affect the bottom line, and not generally in a positive way. So, Microsoft, at least to a point, has to make sure they are pointed in the right direction to make sure their customers are happy. You don’t just slog off the customers that got you to 90% of the market.

Apple, of course, is a consumer-directed company, so they don’t really worry about the enterprise customers so much, which gives them a ridiculous hype advantage. But again, it’s still a great article.