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Tips and tricks: Putting Things in your Dropbox makes syncing simple
Filed under: Software, Tips and tricks, Odds and ends
After several years of trying to figure out what task manager for Mac and iPhone worked best with my peculiar style of organization, I finally settled on Things from Cultured Code. The Mac application is easy to use, uncluttered, and can take advantage of many keyboard shortcuts, while the iPhone app [iTunes Link] gives me a portable version of the Things database to take on the road. While the iPhone app can do a local sync to a Mac, it still doesn't do over-the-air syncing, which I hope Cultured Code will add in a future release.

When I made Things my task manager, I needed to make sure that I could use the same database on both my desktop Mac and my MacBook Air, since the Mac version doesn't do syncing either. It turns out that one of the easiest ways to do this is to use the wonderful cloud storage application Dropbox to hold my Things database, and then point Things on both Macs to use the shared database.

Fortunately, a Brit by the name of Bradley Wright had already done all of the hard work and had written up some command-line instructions on how to do this. Brad does all the work in the Terminal; here, I'll describe how to do most of the work in the Finder with the exception of creating a symbolic link at one point.
Continue reading Tips and tricks: Putting Things in your Dropbox makes syncing simple
TUAW Tips and tricks: Putting Things in your Dropbox makes syncing simple originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - Apple - MacBook Air - TUAW - iTunes
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iPhone's Google Maps app now shows ads
Filed under: Software, iPhone, iPod touch
Have you noticed the new "Sponsored Link" search results showing up when you search in Google Maps on your iPhone? These new search results are ads. They're easy to pick out, because they use a customized icon instead of the typical push pin icon. While it's not surprising that Google is going to want to find every way possible to monetize its mapping service, it's still a little disconcerting to see these results popping up.

Given this obvious new revenue stream, it makes us wonder whether Apple wants to get in on the lucrative mapping action. Their recent purchase of the mapping service company Placebase certainly suggests the possibility.

Do you mind seeing ads intermingled with your map search results on a mobile device? Why or why not?
TUAW iPhone's Google Maps app now shows ads originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - Google Map - Google - Apple - Placebase
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Sportacular updated for (fantasy) football
Filed under: Software, Freeware, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
I only follow a few sports teams, but for the teams I do follow, Sportacular (that's the iTunes link for the free version, and here's the paid version, sans ads) is definitely my app of choice. For nearly every professional sport you can think of, the app will track scores, plays, schedules, standings, and anything else you need to know about everything from NFL to college football to the English Premier League and the PGA.

Right after iPhone OS 3.0 came out, the developer added in push notifications, and now I've got push updates coming whenever the Cubs have a game starting and ending (or at least, when they did -- there's always next year) and whenever a Bears quarter ends. Sportacular even has a few social features happening -- you can make picks and discuss each game with other fans using your Facebook login, as well as read news and updates about each team in the games you check out.

The app was updated to version 1.6 last night, and the new features include better game pages for NFL and NCAA football, and option to manage and track your fantasy football team in conjunction with their fantasy football app on Facebook. The one bummer I have is that they don't have actual media of the games -- for that, you'll probably have to go for an official app. But especially as a free download (the ads are definitely non-intrusive), Sportacular is really impressive with everything it does to help you track your favorite sports and teams.
TUAW Sportacular updated for (fantasy) football originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: AppStore - NFL - College football - National Football League - sport
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AccuWeather Widget provides a rich alternative to Apple's Weather widget
Filed under: Widget Watch

When I recently wrote about hacking Apple's Weather Widget, a common question was: "Can you tell me how to change Apple's Weather widget to use Accuweather.com again?"

Now you might think this is just coming from some people who don't like any form of change, but several people said that the new weather widget simply did not work for them, showing no results or incorrect information for their location.

Well, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that no, I don't know how to hack Apple's weather widget to use Accuweather.com. I'm not even sure that it can be done.

The good news is that there is no real need to hack the Apple weather widget, because Accuweather.com provides their own widget which works really well, offering an animated weather map and a 15-day forecast (when expanded, 4 days when collapsed).This should come as good news to those who found that the new weather widget simply just did not work as well, but I would encourage you to check it out even if you like the Apple weather widget.

One minor usage note: I found that when I had expanded the widget I could not figure out how to make it collapse again. There are actually four separate views available which you toggle through by clicking on the "Accuweather.com" banner at the top of the widget (try it yourself and you'll see what I mean).

If you find that you get a blank section of the widget, which also happened to me, remember that command+R will always "refresh/reload" whatever widget you have selected.

iPhone users may be happy to know there is also an iPhone compatible page available.
TUAW AccuWeather Widget provides a rich alternative to Apple's Weather widget originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: IPhone - Apple - TUAW - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Handhelds
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Robotvision: A decent early stab at augmented reality
Filed under: Video, iPhone, App Review
Ever since I first saw heads-up-displays in science fiction movies like The Terminator, I knew that I had to get my hands on one. How neat it would be to get instant information on anything about anything in my field of vision?

Well, just as the iTablet won't be the Knowledge Navigator, the new buzz-phrase of the year, augmented reality, won't give me Terminator eyes. Such is life.

I tested out a pretty decent augmented reality app called Robotvision [iTunes Link], and for US $0.99 what you get, if you have an iPhone 3GS running OS 3.1 or better, is quite cool. Will it solve your problems, cure the common cold, or tell you anything that more established apps won't? Not really. But tossing a buck on a neat novelty is not unheard of in the iPhone 3GS world.

This one does more than most. First you tell it how widely to search and then, if you're in a highly populated area, you can set up a category ranging from ATMs to Travel Destinations. For the most part, I didn't fool with this since being in the suburbs, I can't be too picky.

Run it and the camera shutter opens. Moving the iPhone around, I found Cousin's Pizza, only 8432.1 miles away. Hmmm. The setting was for 5 miles. Wait, I guess it needed to be calibrated by doing the calibration figure eight wave of the phone. It seems that a lot of GPS apps require this.

OK, much better. It found a bunch of places but they were all stacked on top of one another. No big deal, since when you touch one, you get a screen like the one in the picture. The closest place is displayed first and the right and left arrows take you back and forth through the stack. While an item is in the front pane, you can call them, see them on a map (by cleverly pointing the iPhone to the floor, which invokes Google Maps, but all the stick pins aren't really any clearer than the AR view... maybe less so). You can also hit the Bing button where there might be a review or more information.

The problem is that the direction it puts you in is not quite accurate. It might get you to a nearby corner, but not to the butcher shop itself. I don't think we can slight Robotvision on this, since the not quite pin-point accuracy of the iPhone 3GS GPS has already been talked to death.

What else can this bad-boy do? You can see who is sending tweets in the area you specified, read the tweets and see how far the tweeter is from you. Not enough? Wait, there's more. You can find people in your area who use Flickr, and view their gallery. This doesn't work too well. I set the default for 50 miles and found no one. Then I set it for 25 miles and found one person with a gallery of 10 pictures. I live 30 miles from NYC, so I can't blame it on the boonies. You still want Ginsu knives? Okay, hit the Wikipedia button and see if anything in your range is listed. If so you'll get a bit of text and the option to go to Wikipedia to read more.

I don't know if AR will change the world, or be as successful as either New Coke or the iPod. But I'd suggest tossing a buck at this one. You are guaranteed 20 minutes of awe and then maybe some time to reflect on what you have, once the novelty wears off.

Check out this video for a tour and let us know what you think about this or the idea of augmented reality in general.

TUAW Robotvision: A decent early stab at augmented reality originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - Apple - Google Maps - Google - TUAW
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