There has been a whole lot of buzz about Funambol since the WWDC keynote, mostly touting the open-source offering as a wonderful free alternative to MobileMe. MobileMe, in case you’ve just awoken from a coma, is Apple’s sync everything everywhere solution. Syncing with MobileMe is seamless, instant and always active. You know, kind of like Exchange. So is this free Funambol offering really going to be a viable alternative to Apple’s new suite? There is an expression that almost always holds true, people: You get what you pay for. There’s a comment in the post on the other side of the read link that pretty much sums up our thoughts and experiences with Funambol quite nicely:
I played with funambol a while ago, and seriously was it rough… You pay for services like MobileMe because they’re seamless, intuitive and easy to use, not because they’re a ‘cheaper option’. Imagine what would happen if your mobile phone’s sms had the performance of Twitter.
The bright side, as mentioned above, is that Funambol is indeed open-source. While Funambol’s shaky free portal – which will only support contacts sync initially – is a possible option for those with low expectations, perhaps some developer will come along and put the Funambol sync engine to use in a more competitive and reliable offering. We shall see…
