Making Web calendars more useful

Jon Udell is trying to make Web-based calendars more useful for the average Web surfer. His efforts, like always, are bound to help.

Google Calendar Sync updated

Google just released an improved Google Calendar Sync with Microsoft Outlook.

Zimbra beefing up phone calendar

I just read that Zimbra's providing a richer calendaring experience on Java-enabled phones.

Which Outlook/Google Calendar sync is best?

Reader Catherine Adams writes me:

"I am working for a company where 50% of the people use Mac (Outlook Calendar) and the other 50% use macs. I am trying to create a common calendar that everyone can access. My initial thought was Google Calendar as this doesn't have any platform issues, however the PC users love their Outlook calendars and do not really want to have to change to a whole new calendar.

"Is there any way of syncing Google Calendar with PC Outlook, or iCal with PC Outlook.

"Basically I just want a single calendar, that everyone can edit and view but the PC users aren't going to budge from the Outlook calendars."

Here are some possibilities:

• Calgoo Connect. Trial version available. Pricing starts at $29.95 per year per user with volume discounts
• Google Calendar Sync, currently in beta. Free. I haven't tried it. Robert Scoble has some complaints about it.
• Cemaphore Systems's MailShadow for Google Apps also recently entered beta. Scoble writes (in the same post as the Gcal complaints): "When I enter a calendar item in Microsoft Outlook it instantly appeared in Google Calendar." Ultimate price is unknown. MailShadow also does more than calendar sync, possibly violating Mace's First Law of Calendar Interoperability: Never use more calendar, or more interoperability, than you absolutely need.
• Plaxo offers sync between Google Calendar and Outlook, but a Google engineer recommends against using it.
• SyncMyCal is $25 per user with price breaks starting at 5 users or more. It's been out for a while -- I first wrote about it in January 2007. More recently, SyncMyCal added full category based synchronization, which if I were still using Outlook would be a big thing for me.

Did I miss any?

I've started the first Calendar Swamp poll to let everyone vote for their favorite Outlook-to-Google Calendar sync solution. Look in the sidebar of the Calendar Swamp blog for this poll. I'll leave this poll open until the end of June, by which time, probably there will be something new.

(This list doesn't include ways to publish or subscribe between calendars. We're talking about the ability to fully sync them -- respecting added, moved, or changed events.)