Q: How do I download contacts from my email accounts to my iPod touch? I have tried Yahoo, GMail and Hotmail accounts, but I’m only getting my e-mail—none of my contacts are showing up.
– Ann
A: The iPhone and iPod touch only support wireless over-the-air transfer of contacts from either Apple’s own MobileMe service or a Microsoft Exchange server. For transferring any other type of contact information, you will need to synchronize it via iTunes on your computer.
iTunes itself supports direct transfer of contacts from your online Google or Yahoo! address books, or from your local Windows Address Book (ie, Outlook Express) or your Mac OS X Address Book application.
You can configure these sync settings by connecting your iPod touch or iPhone to your computer and selecting it from the iTunes Devices list. From the main screen which appears, simply click the “Info” tab to display the settings for synchronizing contacts, calendars, and other related information.
Mac OS X users can choose to synchronize content from their local Address Book and their Google Contracts and Yahoo! Address Book contacts—all contacts are aggregated into the OS X Address Book and onto the iPhone. Windows users are instead given a choice of synchronizing with the Windows Address Book, Google Contacts or Yahoo! Address Book contacts.
Once you have configured these contact synchronization settings, iTunes will automatically sync with the appropriate address book(s) each time you connect your iPhone or iPod touch to your computer.
