Not So Relevant

Contact Management with Plaxo 3.0

Although I am using some web applications like calendars and to-do lists to manage my daily life I still haven’t found an online address book that fits my needs. So I am constantly switching between my Moleskine address book (yep, the pen and paper way and actually the most regularly used one here), Thunderbird, Plaxo, and Videntity. Not a very productive and satisfactory way managing my contacts. So you can guess, that I had high hopes when Plaxo 3.0 was released this week. Can it replace all the other apps?

AJAX

The old version of Plaxo - well, actually it’s still the current one because Plaxo 3.0 is just a beta at the moment - is looking rather boring: all my contacts in a virtual cardbox and when clicking on one entry an equally virtual looking index card is popping up in a new browser window. No, it doesn’t look just boring, it looks absolutely stale.

The new Plaxo has an AJAX interface and is looking more modern now, but don’t expect any fancy colours. It’s aiming at business users and is respectable. Speed was one of the biggest gripes I always had with Plaxo and it still isn’t the fastest application you will find on the web. I guess this can and should be improved.

Syncing

Plaxo is offering various syncing options which should meet most people’s needs. It can be synced with Google Calendar, Outlook and Outlook Express, Hotmail/Windows Live, Windows Mail, AIM, Mac OS X, and Yahoo; it’s also possible to sync Plaxo with LinkedIN but that’s just possible with the premium version which will set you back $49.95/year. Synchronisation with Thunderbird is mentioned as well but it isn’t there, at least I can’t see any option. Maybe that is scheduled for the final release but I could be wrong.

Syncing with Google Calendar? Yep, Plaxo doesn’t sync just contacts but also events. You can add events and tasks to Plaxo now, thanks to HipCal, a calendar application which was acquired by Plaxo about a year ago. It’s not the best calendar apps I have seen so far - e.g. 30 Boxes and Google Calendar are more advanced and also offer a lot more features -, but it is sufficient to manage some basic data.

More Features

Pulse seems to be a first, yet tentative step towards life streams it seems. Users can add their Amazon wish lists, Flickr photos and blog feeds; also other feeds work - I have tried Twitter and Upcoming -, so don’t feel limited by the options Plaxo is offering. Flickr photos can be used for calendar backgrounds as well, by the way. Pulse is a nice idea but could be improved. I want more options and a better graphical presentation. If you know the life streaming options of 30 Boxes or other more specialised services you probably won’t resort to Pulse.

Users can make low priced, direct calls to their contacts by using JaJah, provided they have an account there, of course. I have not tested this feature yet but it is really interesting because it makes calls as easy as clicking on a link. Well, actually this is what you have to do. Very simple.

Conclusion

The new version of Plaxo is definitely an improvement to the old one and worth checking out. It is offering more features, it is modern and intuitive to work with. However I am not sure if I will use it regularly now. It is still aiming for business users which is clearly documented by its premium service which doesn’t include just synchronisation with LinkedIn but is also offering automated backups and the option for storing more than 1,000 contacts.

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