Copying events into other calendars, whether they belong to you, your colleagues, or your spouse, is easily done and is the centerpiece of the WeSync system. On your handheld device, when you schedule an event, select the Event Details button. In addition to the familiar Palm options (Alarm, Repeat, Private), you see a box labeled "calendar." When you select this, a box pops up as shown in Figure C, listing each calendar you have available on your handheld device, whether it's your master calendar, your office calendar, or a co-worker or spouse's calendar.

FIGURE C


When you select "calendar" from the Event Details menu, a box pops up listing each calendar you have available on your handheld device, whether it's your master calendar, your office calendar, or a co-worker or spouse's calendar. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Just check off the ones you want, and the event becomes a "shared" event. When you or any community member modifies the event, the modifications will eventually make their way -- through the WeSync Web site when you perform a HotSync -- back to the calendars of the other users.

If "eventually" isn't soon enough, you can beam an updated calendar to another user through the infrared port on your handheld device. The update will be somewhat more limited than if it came from the Web site, but the Web site's version, with full details, will eventually get copied to the devices when both of you synchronize.

Shared address books in WeSync
Address book sharing is even easier than calendar sharing. On your handheld device, you'll see a new application called wscontacts. This is just a small utility application that runs on handheld devices. There's also a desktop version. It allows you to select which address books you wish to share. You still need to use the Palm address book to actually access your address listings, however.

Click on wscontacts and you get a list of your Palm address books. You can select any of them to send to the Web site. When you log into the site, you select a community to share the address book with, and from there anyone in your community can download it. As with the calendars, you can allow modifications to the address book or make it read-only. Changes are sent to and from the Web site during synchronization.

The family PDA
So here's how it works for my family. I set up a community named "Family" and my wife joined it. I sent our joint address books (like doctors, banks, family, etc.) and each of us sent our calendars to the Web site. We "published our resources to the community," in WeSync-speak. Then each of us logged into the Web site and clicked on the calendars and address books we wanted to view on our handheld devices. We "subscribed to the community resources" in WeSync-speak (sigh again). And, almost magically, my wife's calendar and address books appeared on my Palm, and vice-versa. Any changes we make now ultimately go through the Web site and appear on the other's handheld device.