The good news is that with the help our of first batch of private beta testers, we're making tremendous progress on improving the quality of Spanning Sync. We've identified and fixed a number of serious bugs.
The bad news is that the Google Calendar API is having some reliability issues of its own, which in turn is causing fatal errors in Spanning Sync.
We're in touch with the team at Google and look forward to a speedy resolution of the problems. Once that happens, we'll add the next batch of users from the private beta registration list. Remember, if you didn't register for the private beta you'll still be able to participate in the public beta, which will immediately follow.
Update: This presents a perfect opportunity to talk about what to do when you encounter an error while using Spanning Sync. This video shows how you can help us track down problems by using the Report feature.
Man, I really wish I could have gotten to sign up for the private beta! Arrgh!
Well, when does the public beta begin? Any ETA date?
Posted by: Ben | November 10, 2006 at 10:33 AM
We don't have an ETA, but the public beta will start as soon as we've fixed all of the serious bugs we discover during the private beta. We're finding and fixing bugs a lot more quickly than I had anticipated, so it shouldn't be too long.
The X factor here is the stability of the GData API. Hopefully they'll be able to get those bugs nailed down very quickly. If so, I'm hoping we can start the public beta within two or three weeks.
Posted by: Charlie Wood | November 10, 2006 at 10:45 AM
Any truth to the rumour that this will be a subscription service instead of a flat fee?
Posted by: Cameron Williams | November 10, 2006 at 04:07 PM
Yes, we'll be offering Spanning Sync as a subscription service, but pricing has yet to be determined.
Regards,
Charlie
Posted by: Charlie Wood | November 10, 2006 at 04:14 PM
So we'll have to pay per mnth for this? That seems very strange to me.
Posted by: Brian Polensky | November 11, 2006 at 07:51 AM
The price per month would be so low that it probably wouldn't make sense to do it that way. We'll offer a free 30-day trial and then a yearly subscription. We're also considering offering a "lifetime subscription" option for people who prefer to pay only once.
Regards,
Charlie
Posted by: Charlie Wood | November 11, 2006 at 08:23 AM
I don't think you'll find many people that will be excited about a subscription-based pricing model for software. Unless this application uses your server for something (and from what I can tell, it doesn't), there's no real logic in charging a yearly fee for software.
Posted by: Lee | November 11, 2006 at 06:16 PM
Subscription, eh?
Well, that was bad news. I would for sure have used this if there was a one time cost, and I really would have recommended it to my friends as well. Now I am more skeptic to the whole idea.
What amount are we talking about?
Posted by: Kristoffer | November 12, 2006 at 05:16 AM
I invite anyone who's interested to join the discussion about pricing on the Spanning Sync Google Group at
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/spanningsync
Thanks!
Charlie
Posted by: Charlie Wood | November 12, 2006 at 07:00 AM