AvantGo, the once ubiquitous application for all PDAs, is shutting down its web sync service. Users of the service have just begun to see banners stating, “Starting June 30, Avantgo will no longer offer mobile web content.” With modern wireless networks and browsers built in to new smartphones, the on device browser just couldn’t meet the demands of modern consumers. While there are no direct competitors to this service (in the consumer market) there are a few companies that meet the needs of some consumers. AvantGo is suggesting mysnacs.com as an alternative. Some users have received this message:
After June 30, 2009, AvantGo will no longer be providing mobile Web content for sync or online access, and you will not be able to access or update your AvantGo content or account. Your account information will continue to be protected by our privacy policy, and we plan to delete any personally identifiable information you’ve provided (e.g., your e-mail address) as soon as reasonably possible.
If you are an 8MB account subscriber you may be entitled to a refund for a portion of your subscription fees that are unused. To request a refund, please click here and submit the refund request form. You will need to reference your AvantGo User ID (included in this email).
To continue receiving news and information from your favorite content providers, you should visit that content provider’s channel before June 30 for details on how to obtain their content other than through AvantGo. Also, AvantGo recommends the Snac mobile widget application – a new, fun way to get your favorite content on your mobile device. You can find out more about Snac at: http://www.mysnacs.com/landing?token=avantgo0609
Best wishes,
The AvantGo Team
The original AvantGo sync service was a pioneering effort. It brought the web to your handheld device and allowed users to take any piece of the web they wished along for the ride. Web applications were supported with an offline form submission system and advanced javascript hooks allowed mobile web developers to interact with their users in a useful way while they were offline. The “HandheldFriendly” meta tag was originally developed by AvantGo to differentiate websites designed for desktop or mobile view and is now used by many browsers including Opera Mini, Opera Mobile and some BlackBerry devices.
AvantGo taught its approximately 10 million recorded users what to expect of the mobile web and defined a market for the mobile device browsers followed. Aspects of the service’s design are sure to remain in the mobile computing field. Many former AvantGo engineers went on to help develop Yahoo! Go, Google Gears, and other mobile content services.
If HTML 5 ever gets adopted, most of the offline browsing features will be available on a large number of browsers. Safari 4 beta already supports the site manifest file aspects of HTML 5 for pre-downloading content (a feature that has caused some controversy over wasted bandwidth) which allows offline view of pages.
According to parent company Sybase, AvantGo will transition from a mobile web service, to an SMS advertising and content delivery system.
[...] This week, AvantGo announced that it was shutting down the service June 30th and repositioning itself as an “SMS advertising and content delivery system.” For those of you who are still using the service, AvantGo recomends Snac, a similar channel based product that offers clients for BlackBerry, Java and Windows Mobile Phones. Snac doesn’t support Palm or Pocket PC devices and looks like it synchronizes over the air rather than via the desktop. If you are looking for a sideloading alternative or have a Palm or Pocket PC, Plucker is still available and the open Plucker document format is alive and well with desktop clients forMicrosoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. The Plucker device client is Palm OS only but the Plucker format is supported by the Vade Mecum reader on Pocket PCs and by FBReader for Linux handhelds including Nokia Maemo tablets, Zaurus, Archos, Simpad, PepperPad, iRex iLiad and Motorola Linux based phones like the A1200. Source: CodeBudo [...]
Left by End of An Era: AvantGo Shutting Down | Wap Review on June 4th, 2009
[...] This week, AvantGo announced that it was shutting down the service June 30th and repositioning itself as an “SMS advertising and content delivery system.” For those of you who are still using the service, AvantGo recomends Snac, a similar channel based product that offers clients for BlackBerry, Java and Windows Mobile Phones. Snac doesn’t support Palm or Pocket PC devices and looks like it synchronizes over the air rather than via the desktop. If you are looking for a sideloading alternative or have a Palm or Pocket PC, Plucker is still available and the open Plucker document format is alive and well with desktop clients forMicrosoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. The Plucker device client is Palm OS only but the Plucker format is supported by the Vade Mecum reader on Pocket PCs and by FBReader for Linux handhelds including Nokia Maemo tablets, Zaurus, Archos, Simpad, PepperPad, iRex iLiad and Motorola Linux based phones like the A1200. Source: CodeBudo [...]
Left by Mobile News - Mobile Industry Buzz!! » End of An Era: AvantGo Shutting Down on June 4th, 2009
[...] CodeBudo has a nostalgic and informative article on AvantGo, and reports that it will transition to a SMS advertising and content delivery system. yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = “AvantGo no more”; http://www.makapalm.com/avantgo-no-more/ Random PostsPalm Centro rated as most appealing devicePalm is not a “dying platform”Scrap foreign junkets in lieu of text tax — TXTPowerDownload Firefox todayComing Soon: GDrivePalm cancels Foleo!Mapalad June 2008 meet [...]
Left by AvantGo no more | MakaPalm on June 5th, 2009