Astra Sync is a new application which lets you synchronise your email, calendar and contacts over the air without using Blackberry Enterprise Server. It implements the Microsoft Activesync and Directpush protocols to do so.
It is a software application for BlackBerry Smartphones that performs two-way over-the-air synchronization of email, calendar and contact data with an ActiveSync server such as Microsoft Exchange 2007, Exchange 2003, MailSite Fusion or Kerio Mail Server 6. It only needs to be installed on the BlackBerry device. It can be downloaded over the air and runs silently in the background.
To install it, you just need to visit the Astra Sync site from your device browser. You can either opt for a 7 day trial or directly purchase it for $49 per year. After the installation is complete, you can edit the configuration settings of Astra Sync. You can enter your Server Configuration details like - Email Address, Server, Domain, Username, Password. You can optionally use SSL and set the application to use the mobile network or Wi-Fi. After the setup is done, just select whatever data items you want to synchronize - Email, Contacts and Calendar and save the settings.
You can also edit the application options to edit specific settings like Server configuration, network settings, Sync settings and schedule, Email settings, calendar settings, alert and disgnostic settings.
You can then set a synchronizing schedule to automatically sync after a defined interval. You can also set alerts and edit email related settings. The user interface is very intuitive and easy to understand.
Since you can use Astra Sync via Wi-Fi, you can also save up on your data plan. There is only one small issue with Astrasync, it uses up your battery rather quickly, because it has to maintain an open connection with the server. Other than that, it's a great substitute for Blackberry Enterprise Server to sync your data over the air.
Here's the official site - http://www.astrasync.com/