Reader hominid.todd says that a Google rep emailed him about the long-awaited status of the Browser Sync extension for Firefox 3. Turns out they're discontinuing development on it. Here's Google's response to hominid.todd's inquiry:

Thanks for trying out Google Browser Sync and for all of your feedback. It was a tough call, but we decided to phase out support for Browser Sync. Since the team has moved on to other projects that are keeping them busy, we don't have time to update the extension to work with Firefox 3 or to continue to maintain it.

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Mac only: The newest beta release of Senuti—a utility that copies music from your iPod to your computer—now supports the iPhone and iPod touch. Just install Senuti on your Mac, hook up your iPhone or iPod touch, and the Senuti beta will list all the songs on the device and place a blue dot next to songs that already exist in your iTunes library. Select the songs you want and press the Transfer button to copy them to your Mac. The touch-friendly Senuti version is a beta, but it worked like a charm on the one iPhone I tested it on. Senuti is a free download for Mac only; be sure to hit the beta link lower on the homepage for iPhone and iPod touch support. Thanks, smackswell!

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iPhone/iPod touch only: The lamest omission in the whole of iPhone development is the lack of sync for Notes. Let's be honest—the iPhone keyboard is nice, but you don't want to have to use it for all your notes. That's where RemoteNote comes in, a donationware iPhone application available through Installer.app. Whenever you run it, you can view, edit, create, delete, back up, and even print your notes through your web browser. Similar shareware tools have been available, but RemoteNote is the first no-cost option I've seen. RemoteNote works with both the iPhone and iPod touch, requires installation of the Jiggy Runtime (also from Installer) and a jailbroken iPhone. Thanks Lee!

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FuseCal is a web app that does something so useful, yet so seemingly rare, that it's hard to believe it's both free and easy to use. The app, currently in alpha, lets you add iCal-based calendars (and a few other formats) to a master calendar, then choose whether all those events, just the ones you pick, or events filtered by keyword will be synced to Outlook, Apple iCal, Google Calendar, or another program. I've only had time to test the Google Calendar->FuseCal->Outlook setup, and it seems to work. Those with web sites can also publish their combined FuseCals on their site. FuseCal is free to use; a sign-up lets you keep your calendars in sync.

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Mac OS X only: One conspicuously yet-to-be-implemented feature of the iPhone and iPod touch is the ability to sync notes between your computer and your device. Until Apple figures out what should be a simple feature, freeware application iPhoneNotes wirelessly syncs notes between your jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch and your Mac. The set up is simple, but not obvious, and since the main site is light on documentation, hit the jump for setup details.

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Nothing sucks worse than getting to the office in the morning and realizing you left the most recent copy of an important file—whether it's your to-do list or a PowerPoint presentation—on your home computer. No matter where you are and what computer you're using, you always want the most updated set of documents and files you've got without having to carry 'em around on a thumb drive. Luckily, several free solutions can automatically sync folders between computers—even over the internet, through office firewalls—no matter what operating system you use. Whether you want work files edited at home to magically appear on your PC at the office, or the family room Mac to have a copy of the latest batch of digital photos downloaded onto the computer in the den, three free applications can help.

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Windows Mobile/Pocket PC only: Get access to all of your Windows Mobile or Pocket PC device's files with Mocha FTP Server, a (newly) free utility. Simply load and run the software on your mobile device, point a browser or FTP client on a networked computer to the address it provides, and you can do what you want with pictures, music, and other files. You can get pretty fancy if you want, setting up multiple users with different rights, time-outs, and more. Mocha FTP Server is a free download for Windows Mobile and Pocket PC devices; once you hit the registration screen, enter "freeware" for a licence name and "111425" for a code.

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If you've spent hours ripping a DVD or downloading a video just to find—when all's said and done—that the audio and video aren't matching up, reader Will suggests using video-Swiss-Army-knife VLC's desynchronisation feature to sync up the audio.

In the VLC Preferences, click on Audio and then tick the Advanced options checkbox; there is an Audio desynchronization compensation setting that allows you to set a positive or negative time delay between the video and audio tracks in milliseconds. I find unsynchronized video/audio unbearable, and have been known to delete files without watching them for it. It never occurred to me that there would be such a simple solution!

Windows and Mac OS X: Free data-syncing utility FolderShare has released an updated Windows client with better Windows Vista support and performance, as well as a redesign of the website where you can easily share and grab files from another computer, whether it's Mac or PC. As with the first time we mentioned it, FolderShare only limits individual file sizes (up to 2 GB) and the number of files per shared library (10,000)—other than that, it's whatever you want to share. If you've got a different OS at home and work, or you just want an easy synchronisation tool for an always-on box, FolderShare fits the bill, and can help you keep Firefox profiles and Greasemonkey scripts in sync. FolderShare is a free download for Windows and Mac OS X systems (with an updated Mac client in the works, according to developers).

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Windows only: Have your calendar available on the desktop as well as in the cloud with the Google Calendar Sync desktop tool, freshly released from the big G. Sync your primary calendar on your vanilla or Google Apps account... Read More »