Using the programs that come with OSX are very simple to use if you take some time to learn them. Today I am going to go through the steps with you and show you a program included on your Mac called iSync. iSync allows you sync your iCal datebook and Address Book contacts between your phone or PDA and your Mac. Once it is set up, it is as simple as clicking Sync Devices and it integrates seamlessly between the two devices.

For my example, I am syncing my Mac with my Phone, a Palm Treo 650. However, iSync is capable of syncing with many other phones and PDAs. To see if your phone is compatible check out the official page at http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/isync/devices.html

The first thing we are going to need to do is connect the phone with the Mac. To do this we need to click on the small Bluetooth symbol up at the top of the screen and select Set up Bluetooth Device.

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If you dont have the symbol at the top of your screen, you will need to enable Bluetooth in your status bar. To do this, click System Preferances > Bluetooth. Then click on the Enable Bluetooth status in the menu bar located at the bottom. Now you will have the symbol at the top of your screen and you can follow through with the instructions.

This will bring up the Bluetooth Set up Assistant. This will run you through setting up your Bluetooth Phone to connect to your Mac. Make sure your phone is on “Discoverable” mode and run through the simple steps to set up the phone-computer connection. It shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes as all you will have to do is input the provided passkey to your phone.

I am going to use the Bluetooth connection to sync, so we need to enable Bluetooth on both devices. If you have a Palm, you most likely already have Desktop Manager installed on your computer, which you will need to enable the settings.
-Open up iSync and choose Devices > Enable Palm OS HotSync.

Click Continue and it will enable you to sync your Palm in iSync. Now the next thing we need to do is enable it in Palm’s Desktop Manager.
-In Finder go to Applications > Palm > HotSync Manager.
-Once it is open go to HotSync > Conduit Settings.

-Double Click iSync Conduit, and then click the box to Enable iSync for this Palm Device.

Once you are done with that you will see in iSync that your PDA is now in the window.

As you can see from the picture above, we can sync our address book from our Mac, as well as any iCal calendars, all in all, much easier than putting everything in the phone by hand.

Once you are ready you can click Sync Devices and then you will need to go to the HotSync function on your Palm and make sure you computer is selected and just tap the HotSync button. It will then transfer the information and you will be good to go after just a minute or two.

Remember that this is just an example of my Palm Treo, there are countless other phones that are able to sync with iSync, remember to check and see if your phone is supported at http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/isync/devices.html

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