Microsoft is rolling out a new technology called the Microsoft Sync Framework, which looks to be the company’s answer to Google Gears.
It will let developers create web services and databases as offline applications. The Framework will offer P2P synchronization of any file type, including contacts, music, videos, images and settings, and provides built-in support for synchronizing relational databases, NTFS/FAT file systems an RSS feeds. According to Microsoft,
"The advantage of a synchronization-based solution is that users are no longer required to have a constant network connection to access their information. Since their data is stored locally they are given constant access to their data while offloading processing requirements from the central database. Furthermore, the user is no longer limited by the network speed and can now access the data at the speed of the device. "
With so many services, including Yahoo Pipes and Google Gears, we’ll see what type of incentives Microsoft offers to entice developers to use their plaform over others. Currently Microsoft’s Sync Framework is in test mode, and may be Microsoft’s response to the development of a support framework for occasionally connected applications for its ADO.net technology.
[via ZDNet]
User comment: By: The Universal Desktop mobile edition[...] Jo Foley is reporting that Microsoft's Sync Framework is now available for download. Some others are calling it a competitor to Google Gears but it's not a good comparison. For one [...]
[...] saw Microsoft's Answer to Google Gears popup in my news feed, along with Mary Jo's piece itself: Microsoft delivers first test build [...]
User comment: By: Dion AlmaerHi, I work with the Google Gears team at Google and was excited to see what Microsoft has come up with here. However, when I look at the documentation I see a client-side sync framework which is interesting indeed, but is a completely different use case to Gears! I guess people love to put 2 and 2 together and put X vs. Y ;) Cheers, Dion
Visit here to subscribe to these commentsUser comment: By: Microsoft's Answer to Google Gears »TechAddress[...] Source:Mashable! Microsoft is rolling out a new technology called the Microsoft Sync Framework, which looks to be the company's answer to Google Gears. It will let developers create web services and databases as offline applications. The Framework will offer P2P synchronization of any file type, including contacts, music, videos, images and settings, and provides […] Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
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