Nokia PC Suite Equivalent for iPhone

Question

Hello
Anyone who has used a Nokia phone will have enjoyed the Nokia PC Suite. Not only did it sync calendars and contacts, but it also had desktop apps for sending SMS, MMS and editing contacts and calendar entries on the phone itself. (Not to mention Windows Explorer integration so you could "browse" the phone's internal and external storage.)
Now that synchronisation with Outlook seems so difficult and error prone, simple tools such as a calendar and contacts editor would really prove useful. I read somewhere that this would impose phone firmware issues, but that's nonsense. Not much more functionality would be required over that already used by iTunes to sync contacts and calendars. These apps could be built into iTunes "Manage Contacts", "Manage Calendar" - just reads/writes to the connected handset.
Is such a thing ever likely to be produced or can someone recommend a third party product that already offers similar functionality?

Answer 1

Is such a thing ever likely to be produced
Very doubtful. The iPhone is designed to be synced to existing contact/calendar applications on your computer. I would guess that most people already use desktop programs to manage their contacts and calendars (separately to iTunes) - so why would Apple want to spend time developing something that duplicates existing functionality, requiring users to use additional tools to manage their data?
Now that synchronisation with Outlook seems so difficult and error prone
In another thread, you state you are using Outlook 2002. Apple states Outlook 2003 or 2007 should be used.
On Mac OS X, the built-in Address Book and iCal applications are used, but I don't know whether Windows has standard built-in contact and calendar applications. If it does, then you're more likely to see future support for those, than get Apple developed ones.
it also had desktop apps for sending SMS, MMS
The iPhone doesn't have the required functionality for sending SMS & MMS from a computer.
Not to mention Windows Explorer integration so you could "browse" the phone's internal and external storage.
The iPhone doesn't have a browsable file system or disk mode, like some other phones. There are a few Mac & PC applications which provide limited functionality like this, but for security reasons the iPhone's file system is quite locked down, so they can't do much.