Synchronizing PDAs and phones
This article was written for Thunderbird but also applies to the Mozilla Suite.
Outlook provides support for synchronizing your contacts, tasks, calendar and messages with Windows CE or Windows Mobile based PDAs (aka PocketPCs) using ActiveSync. Thunderbird doesn't support ActiveSync. Sharing address books has links to add-ons for Thunderbird to synchronize with PIM and Calendar services. This would let you indirectly sync Thunderbird and the device.
Both phones and PDAs
Tsync is a SyncML extension to sync contacts, tasks and calendars with Funambol servers. Memotoo, Mobical, and Zyb are examples of free services running Funambol servers. ScheduleWorld runs Funambol but is no longer free. This works for phones running Symbian too.
BirdieSync is a shareware product that syncs contacts, tasks and calendars on Pocket PC 2003, Pocket PC 5.0, and Smartphone 2003 and Smartphone 5.0 based unlocked mobile phones with Thunderbird and Sunbird. It doesn't support Symbian.
NuevaSync synchronizes PIM and calendar services such as Google Contacts , Google Calendar and Plaxo with iPhone, iPod, and Windows Mobile based PDA's and smartphones. It does not require you to install any software.
The free version of GooSync synchronizes Google Calendar with many mobile devices. Unfortunately Google Calendar doesn't include contacts. If you pay for a subscription to GooSync it adds support for synchronizing Google Contacts (among other things). You could synchronize the contacts with Thunderbird if you installed either the Zindus or the Google Contacts add-on.
PalmSync (Thunderbird) is a Thunderbird (and Seamonkey) extension for Windows supporting PalmOS based phones and PDAs, but is no longer available for current versions of Thunderbird.
PDA only
FinchSync is a tool for synchronizing contacts, tasks and calendars from Mozilla email and calendar products with a Pocket PC. It uses Java based software on a PC (Windows, Mac OS X or Linux) that makes a TCP-IP connection to software written in C# using the .NET Compact Framework, on the Pocket PC. It does not use ActiveSync. The user who recommended this software used it with a PocketPC running Windows Mobile 2003 but its reasonable to assume it would work with Windows CE based PDAs since they also support the .NET Compact Framework.
If FinchSync doesn't work remember that Windows Mobile phones can frequently run SynchML (using Funambol). This web page for example has download links for it for various Samsung phones.
Phone only
The NokSync extensions synchronizes contacts between Thunderbird and a NOKIA phone. The home page states it doesn't support Symbian, and only works under Windows.
This extension synchronizes address books between Memotoo and Thunderbird.
The MyPhoneExplorer extension synchronizes address books with SonyEricsson phones or Android phones using a USB cable, WiFi, Bluetooth or infrared. It apparently uses Java/J2ME yet it only supports Windows. If you're using a SonyEricsson Symbian phone you need to install PC-Suite first and use a USB cable.
OpenSync plans on adding support for Thunderbird and Lightning in OpenSync 0.4. Its the successor to Multisync. Version 0.36 was released January 26, 2008. See this web page for a list of compatible devices and this one for what plugins it supports.
blueZync4thunderbird synchronizes BlueTooth phones with Thunderbird. Currently downloads are only available for Linux i386. The web site also has a mozilla-sync plugin for OpenSync to synchronize "anything" with Thunderbird.
iPod/iPhone only
Mozpad synchronizes a iPod and Thunderbird but currently doesn't support the iPhone.
The Funambol iPhone plug-in can be used with the Mozilla Plugin to sync contacts between the iphone and Thunderbird.
