CNET Editors' review
The free Outlook add-on Xobni beats the pants off Outlook's built-in e-mail search. While Xobni's core talent lays in rapidly finding e-mails and contacts based on any keyword search, it also excels at surfacing meetings and file attachments, hyperlinks, and even personal information extracted from social networks, like photos and phone numbers.
Visually, Xobni displays a sidebar that slides in an out from the right and over the reading pane. From there, you'll be able to search for contacts and messages, and interact with the profile, message, or files from there. When at rest, Xobni displays the profile it's collected on the contact in question--from a hyperlinked e-mail address and phone number to a Skype plug-in, Facebook picture, and LinkedIn profile, assuming the contact has enabled third-party sharing in his or her social network settings. You'll likewise be able to get at the contact's network, and past conversations from here.
Xobni also makes an appearance in the navigation ribbon of Outlook 2010, with a search bar and a shortcut key for hiding and revealing the side bar.
Activate the premium version, Xobni Plus, for $30 (and a free, 14-day trial) and you'll open the door to broader search data (appointments and tasks), more powerful search terms (phrases and Boolean), and an advanced search builder. Xobni Plus also includes full text and direct e-mail filters. Best yet, Xobni Plus adds its index of e-mail addresses to the "To" field of every message you compose, sometimes replicating, but nevertheless vastly expanding, your address book.
Unlike many other Outlook add-ons, both free and upgraded versions of Xobni add functionality without greatly dragging down Outlook's performance. The interface doesn't get in the way, and, in fact, makes communication easier. We recommend Xobni for any Outlook user.
Watch the CNET video review of Xobni:
Publisher's Description
From Xobni:
Xobni finds all the people you know through your emails, SMS messages and phone calls, and automatically creates a rich profile for them. Each profile includes their photo, signature info and the messages you've exchanged, as well as their updates from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Xobni makes all this information available to you wherever you are (Outlook, Gmail and BlackBerry for now with iPhone and Android coming soon).
Compatible with Xobni Pro. With Pro, you also get:
Contact Export- Add Xobni Contacts to your Outlook address book. Xobni Cloud- Connect Xobni Contacts across Outlook and BlackBerry for now, but Gmail, Android and iPhone are coming soon. Xobni-Ranked AutoSuggest- Access your Xobni Contacts when composing messages. Advanced Search- Search all your contacts and email. Daily Spam Rescue alerts and automatic rescue. Multiple PC support. Xobni Pro for BlackBerry.
What's new in this version:
- Fresh clean design.
- Spam Rescue. Identifies messages that may have been incorrectly filtered into the Junk Mail folder.
- Xobni Gadget Store with more than 20 gadgets for you to add to Outlook including Evernote, Dropbox and WebEx.
More Popular E-mail Utilities downloads
- POP Peeper
3,070 downloads
- Winmail Opener
1,697 downloads
- Gmail Notifier
571 downloads
- Winmail Reader
510 downloads
- ePrompter
508 downloads
-
All versions:
3.4 starsout of 131 votes
-
Current version:
1.6 starsout of 8 votes
-
My rating:
Write review
Results 1-8 of 8
-
"Xobni in the business of bait & switch"
Version: Xobni 2.0.1
Pros
None that I can find after a year of usage.
Cons
I downloaded Xobni at the recommendation of a coworker last year for Outlook. It was much faster than Outlook search but I was slightly irritated that contacts I know I have in Outlook were ones I couldn't access any longer unless I upgraded to Pro. For the most part, I was able to use the search function to at least find the email and Reply to the email to get the contact I needed which added yet another step to my daily emailing functionality.
This week I was prompted to upgrade my Xobni software. Now, emails that I sent last week are no longer accessible to me unless I purchase Pro. My old tactic of search and find no longer works either.Summary
SKIP IT, this product is a total scam.
-
"Licensing scam"
Version: Xobni 2.0.1
Pros
Great product.
Cons
License scam.
Summary
Got a license for Xobni Plus, got discontinued. Needed to re-format computer. Couldn't get Xobni Plus to work again, neither my license worked on the Pro version. And now it's a monthly payment! I will never use this product again.
-
"Ignores Mac Users, Windows version barely passable"
Version: Xobni 2.0.1
Pros
Okay but not intuitive
Cons
No Mac Support. Supporting iphone but not ipad or Mac OS is just plain silly.
Summary
If you are targeting business users you have to support Macs and PCs. Microsoft finally wised up and made a real Outlook product for Mac but Xobni is behind.
-
"Useful, but confusing"
Version: Xobni 2.0.1
Pros
Some useful features
Cons
too many distracting features, UI is confusing.
Summary
I used it for a while, the most useful feature to me is the search. others are just simply distractions. I have switched to InboxEx, which is free and does what I want.
-
"Originally thought this product was good, big mistake!"
Version: Xobni 2.0.1
Pros
Would be great if the software worked some of the time.
Cons
I originally bought the "plus" account, the product worked for about a year. Now the product no longer works and they want me to upgrade monthly plan. I cant stand bait and switch scams, this company is clearly in the business of bait and switch.
Summary
Buyer beware, Xobni is a bait and switch scam.
-
"Concept is great, but it's become crippling bloatware."
Version: Xobni 2.0.1
Pros
Data mining is cool, and the origins of this software were good. New data relationships spark innovation and opportunity for the user.
Cons
Freeware Version 2promises lots but delivers such bloat that my 64-bit 2.7-GHz AMD dual-core processor with 8 GB of RAM became unusable with Outlook open.
Summary
Back to the drawing board, Xobni coders. It's unusable bloatware now. My computer became a nightmare to operate whenever I'd open Outlook 2010 - if I could open Outlook at all, which I mostly couldn't the last three weeks of trying. I tried resetting the search cache and repairing the installation to no avail. I finally uninstalled the software three days ago and finally can use Outlook 2010 again. Admittedly, I have four or five very heavily trafficked IMAP accounts with thousands of messages and a dozen or fifteen POP identities. In other words, I'm a very heavy email user. But still, it all worked before version 2.0. Moreover, the promised improvements to data relationships are not offered so much to the freeware user. I believe, but am not certain on this part, that some things I used to be able to do for free in version 1.x are now unavailable as a freebie.
-
"Dumped Xobni 2.0"
Version: Xobni 2.0.1
Pros
None so far. Of course the tool works good but the mandatory logging to your account destroyes the need for this tool.
Cons
It requires you to logon to your Xobni account before you can use it. The guys really think i want my email connected to them? What for? So they can follow me and track my emailbehavior? DEINSTALLED.
Summary
I deinstalled 2.0 and installed 1.9.5 and will never use a newer version. Suggested this to my collegues and friends also. Wasnt really needed because no one wanted to log in to a Xobni account or create one.
-
"Fast way to serach"
Version: Xobni 2.0.1
Pros
Great way to search
Cons
I can not think of any cons at this time
Results 1-8 of 8
Add Your Review
Submit your reply
E-mail this review
Report offensive content
See more CNET content tagged:
Previous Versions:
