A while back I got a free license for Nova Media's FoneLink. This software allows you to connect your phone to your Mac running MacOS X and it allows you to transfer files, perform backups of your phone, and synchronize PIM and SMS data.

The software is quite admirable in terms of its compatibility list. The phones include phones running Symbian S60, UIQ, Nokia S40 and whatever OS regular samsung and SonyEricsson phones run. Click here to see for yourself!

My phone, with which I have been testing this software, is a Nokia N80 purchased two years ago, with firmware version 4.0623.0.42. In general I like the software, however it does have some features missing which I would love to see in a future version.

I was planning on doing a looooonger review - but I decided to keep it short and sweet. Essentially the application does what it advertises which is pretty cool!

One of the features of FoneLink is Mobile Finder. This feature does what you think it does. It provides a finder interface to your phone's memory and to the attached SD card (if your phone supports removable memory). The mobile finder allows you to look at your music, photos, video and other multimedia, and transfer files between your computer and the phone.

One of the features that I really liked was the ringtone creator that is part of this media center interface. You can drag and drop any MP3 file, and cut it down to create a ringtone for your phone. I should mention that the MP3 file you are trying to cut down should be of reasonable size. I tried cutting a 64MB podcast down to get a small clip as a ringtone and the program crashed.

Another feature is called the Organizer and it allows you to view the notes, calendar events, tasks, the contacts and the SMS on your phone. It also allows you to send SMS messages and add notes in your phone's notes app right from the desktop - pretty convenient if you ask me. The application supports Growl (awesome, awesome app!), so when new SMS messages come in, you get to see them on your desktop.

Contacts and calendar events can't be changed from the app, but you can sync to make changes between your addressbook/ical and your phone - which brings me to the next feature - synchronization. The application is a replacement for iSync and it allows you to sync your phone's PIM data with your computer's. Personally I did not use the sync functionality because quite honestly iSync works perfectly fine for me.

Finally, there is a feature called Time Tunnel and obviously it is a play on Apple's Time machine. It allows you to go back to a previous backed up version of the phone's software to collect data. I used this a few times. As a matter of fact the default behavior of the app was to try to create a backup as soon as you connect your phone to it. I didn't use this feature a lot.

The backup seemed to take quite some time (although I think it's a differential backup so it should get shorter as you use it more), and it made my phone reboot. The backups seemed to be there when I checked them out, but I did not like having my phone reboot and the app being unresponsive - maybe it had crashed.

The one last thing about this app is that updates to the app seem to be fairly regular, so if you do end up buying it, you will probably get good support!


Now, here are some things I would like to have in future version of this app:

MMS import - Just like there is an SMS app, I would like to be able to see my MMS messages on the desktop, and I would like to send MMS messages right from the desktop.


Phone log - I would love to be able to see my phone log on the desktop, like I see who's SMSd me, who I SMSd and when.

Called ID flash on screen when someone calls - This is a feature of BluePhoneElite and I think that FoneLink would really benefit from the implementation. When someone calls, their name and number show on my desktop. Often at the office (and at home) my phone is on silent - I just don't like to have the ringer on - it annoys me - but I would like to know if someone is calling. Implementing this functionality would be great. It can be a growl message for all I care.


Growl for voicemails - A growl notification when you have a new voicemail would be nice.




All things considered, this isn't a bad app!