SpiceBird is a desktop E-Mail application that combines E-Mail, Instant Messaging, Calendar, Task management and an iGoogle gadgets in one application.
Spicebird is your one platform for many collaboration needs. It provides e-mail, calendaring and instant messaging with intuitive integration and unlimited extensibility. ~ Spicebird.com
It works especially well with Google Accounts, supporting: –
- Google Calendar
- Tasks
- Contacts
- GMail
- Google Talk
- iGoogle Gadgets
And all without the need to open a browser!
Setting it up with your Google Account information takes less than 1 min – you simply enter you account information and it syncs instantly, making it such an easy application to get started with.
It also supports all IMAP/POP3 Mail accounts/services and the IM feature connects with the following protocols: –
- Google talk
- Jabber
- AIM
- Yahoo!
- ICQ
- Groupwise
- Myspace Chat
- Simple
If Spicebird looks a little bit familiar it’s because it’s source code is based on Mozilla Thunderbird’s. As such the E-Mail part of the application is very similar: –
It can support many of Thunderbirds extensions, too, including one to use Januty’s Notification system!
What’s Coming Next?
Spicebirds roadmap sets out several key features to be implemented during the next few releases. These include: –
- Facebook Chat Support
- Social Network Integration into Address book
- Microsoft Exchange Support
- Project Management features in Task View
- Document Management
- Integration with Drupal
- A “More meaningful address book” including info on last conversation/exchange with contact, etc
Download
You can download Spicebird source from the official site @ http://www.spicebird.com/download
Or use the official PPA for Ubuntu users is @ https://edge.launchpad.net/~lil.wk/+archive/ppa
The development PPA for Ubuntu users is @ https://launchpad.net/~spicebird/+archive/ppa
ITSAWESOME!!1ETC
I really, really do love Spicebird and have since its early beta’s. Unlike Evolution or Thunderbird which excel at E-Mail but fail on the rest of modern Office Applications one might need, Spicebird seamlessly and thoughtfully stitches the different apps together into one cohesive application.
The instant messaging feature is a bonus but hardly essential. I can imagine that in an office environment using LAN IM or a company Jabber account it would come into it’s own.
I’m excited about the future of Spicebird, especially from reading the roadmap. A combined E-Mail and “Social Network” address book would be so useful ” it’s a feature found in most modern Smartphone OSes already, so bringing it to the Desktop would help continue blurring the lines between different devices.
Well done Synovel ” Your Spicebird is unique and i for one love using it!