I've been using the Apple iSync application for about a year now. I use it to sync my calendar and address book between my laptop and PC, which requires a subscription to the .Mac service. I'm no fan of the .Mac service. The backup software is slow and clunky, the per-MB pricing is too high and there is no customer support to speak of. Yet, despite all this, I'll likely end up renewing the service simply because of iSync. Once you get hooked on syncing, it is very hard to give up.

Which leads me to a discussion I had today with Rip Gerber, CMO of Intellisync. Intellisync has transformed itself from a company that provides basic PDA to PC syncing software for consumers to a company that provides enterprise and carrier software that can sync a myriad PDAs, smart phones and laptops.

I need to do more research on Intellisync and its competitors (Seven, RIM, Visto, etc) but my initial thoughts about the company are quite positive. The company seems to understand carriers and I expect we'll hear a number of new carrier deals in the next few months. The biggest carrier deal so far was wtih Verizon Wireless. Intellisync provides the software that powers Verizon's awkwardly named VZEMail service.

Carriers don't want the headache of making sure every new handset they sell can sync with a customer's PC. Corporate IT managers will also pay a premium to avoid those headaches, which is why companies like GE, IBM and Pfizer are now using Intellisync software.

Wireless device proliferation is a fact of life these days. Some people believe we need fewer devices that do more. But I'm not so sure converged devices make our lives simpler. Besides, with the right sync software, it doesn't really matter how many devices you have, just so long as they can all speak to one another.