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- Official MobileMe Gallery iPhone App Released by Apple
Apple released a dedicated MobileMe iDisk app not too long ago for those of us who stubbornly continue to pay good money for a subscription, but iDisk, as the app is called, is really just a file manager and nothing more. Today, Apple unveiled another MobileMe specific iPhone application, this one called Gallery (iTunes link). You can probably guess what it does.Gallery allows you to browse your MobileMe photo galleries, something you aren’t able to access using iDisk. The app has all the polish and intuitive UI design you’d expect from Apple, and it keeps things simple and to the point. Even if you’re an avid MobileMe Gallery user with many albums, you should have no trouble browsing through albums and finding specific photos.
My problem is, as you may notice from the screenshots, I’m not really an avid user of the Gallery feature of MobileMe. In fact, I had to upload a new album (“Dogs”) for the purpose of this post, having only had my Random one from before, with a grand total of four photos. Even using established platforms like Facebook and Flickr, I tend not to have or share too many pictures.
That said, I like the way the MobileMe Gallery app works on my iPhone, and can see how it would be great in conjunction with iPhoto for both backing up and making it easy to share photos from events like family get-togethers and birthdays, etc. That way, I could store a lot less photos on my iPhone’s camera reel, and basically carry around my entire library in my pocket for showing off to friends and relatives anywhere I have Internet access.A feature that’s very promising is the ability to configure Safari to open MobileMe Gallery links directly in the app, sort of the way the new Facebook uses “fb://” links to open its own application. I say promising because although it seems terribly convenient, especially if you do a lot of mobile browsing, which I do, I’ve never actually visited another person’s MobileMe gallery in my entire year and a bit of being a subscriber.
It wouldn’t be the first time an iPhone app has resulted in me actually using a service I never thought I would, and it likely won’t be the last, either. Plus it’s free, though you have to have a MobileMe subscription to use it, but it does help justify the cost of that by another couple of degrees. Good news for suckers like me.
Переслать - New Year's Resolutions iPhone Apps: Get in Better Shape
With the new year now a few weeks old, it’s time to stop and remember those resolutions you made at the dawn of 2010. New Year’s Resolutions are perhaps best known for the likelihood that they will fall by the wayside. If you’re serious, however, one of the best tools for making sure you achieve your new year’s resolutions is your iPhone.
With the vast array of applications available for the iPhone it might be hard to pick the right ones if you want to get in better shape, save money or get a date this year, so we’re going to pick out some of the best for you . First up we’re going to start with applications that will help you get in better shape.
The most popular new year’s resolution of all time, likely due to the expanding waistline that over one month of feast and drink bestows upon us, getting in better shape can be a frustrating challenge. Thankfully there are plenty of good iPhone applications available to help you keep this resolution. Just be warned, none of these apps will actually burn calories for you, they’ll just help you get the feedback and build the routines you’ll need to make that happen.
Note: All links point to the iTunes store.
Lose It!
Price: Free
Rating: 3.5 stars
This free applications has sat near the top of Apple’s Healthcare & Fitness category for a long time. Attractive and easy to use, Lose It! is basically a calorie counter. Tell it a bit about yourself, how much weight you want to lose and it will give you a daily calorie allowance. You can then track what you eat and how you exercise, all with simple charts to see how you’re doing. The newest version also includes the ability to sync your information with a website and even tweet your progress.
iFitness
Price: $1.99
Rating: 4.5 stars
If you want to start building some muscle mass, then iFitness is a great companion app. The application allows you how to track a large number of different weight-lifting exercises. It includes photos, videos and written instructions for how to properly do each exercise and lets you set up custom workouts.
Weightbot
Price: $1.99
Rating: 4 stars
If you want to eschew the bother of tracking every calorie and just want to keep an eye on your weight, then Weightbot is for you. The interface is gorgeous and it’s extremely easy to use. You can chart your progress over time and immediately get your BMI when you enter your weight.
Nike+
Price: Free (for 3GS owners) + $29 for sensor
Rating: N/A
Apple and Nike’s partnership to track your jogging finally arrived on the iPhone with the 3GS. If you have a 3GS, all you’ll need to do is jump into the settings to activate the Nike+ app, and then go out and buy the $29 sensor for your shoe. The app let’s you synchronize your progress to Nike’s website, choose a playlist while jogging, including the famous power song to get your over that hump, and gives you feedback when you’ve reached a milestone. Unfortunately if you have an older iPhone, you’re out of luck.
RunKeeper
Price: $9.99 (free version also available)
Rating: 5 stars
If you don’t have an iPhone 3GS, or just don’t want to use the Nike+ system, RunKeeper Pro is a great alternative, although we should note it doesn’t work on the iPhone 2G. Using your iPhone’s GPS to track your runs, RunKeeper let’s you track your progress, view your routes and control your music directly from the app. Information can also be backed up and viewed on the RunKeeper website. If the $9.99 price for the Pro version of RunKeeper is a bit too rich for your blood, there’s also a free ad-supported version with the same basic functionality.
iCan
Price: 99 cents
Rating: 3.5 stars
Not specifically related to getting in better shape, but a good app for any resolution, iCan is basically a goal tracker with an inspirational bent. Simply enter in any goal and you’ll immediately get an inspirational quote. If at any point you find yourself lagging, simply press a button for more inspirational text. An attractive and simple way to keep track of your resolutions so you don’t forget them and remember what you’ve achieved.
Переслать - How-To: Remotely Support Your Parents with Screen Sharing
We’ve all been in the situation. Your mother calls you with a computer problem and you know it’s going to take at least an hour to walk her through the steps over the phone. Then she yells at you when you sigh out of frustration.
If you have parents who use Macs then these calls happen less often but they still happen and usually at the worst time. This is how I use iChat and Snow Leopard’s Screen Sharing app to remotely control my parents computer and quickly solve their dilemmas.
Apple’s Screen Sharing is based on VNC and it is very powerful. Generally to remotely control a machine, you need to configure the host machine and open ports on the firewall. The genius behind Apple’s solution is that they use iChat to initiate the session and no other configuration is necessary. If you can talk them through setting up iChat for their account, you’re home free.
Of course you’re going to need a compatible iChat account such as a .mac, AIM or Gmail account. I use Gmail since it’s free and my parents raised a frugal son. They also have a Gmail account so we’re on the same page as far as chat providers go. If you’ve never used iChat with them before you need to help them setup their account. Apple has made this pretty simple but if you can do it in person it’ll be easier on everybody. Next time you’re over, quickly setup iChat with their info so in the future you can get right into it.
The bonus of using audio and video to help them makes this a rather pleasant experience. If you have the hardware, get a video chat going and start the magic. When you’re in iChat, make sure you see them in your Buddy List. If not, do the following.
- In iChat logged in under your Gmail account, add them as a buddy.
- If you both have a video icon, start up a video chat. You can also do an audio chat or just talk to them over the phone.
- Now request to take control of their screen by going to either the Buddies menu or the Start Screen Sharing icon in iChat.
- They will see a request dialog similar to this where they can Accept or Deny your offer.
- After they accept your Screen Sharing request, you now have control of their machine. Fix their issues and they will think you’re a god.
- When you’re finished you can end the Screen Sharing session by clicking the iChat icon in the menu bar and selecting End Screen Sharing.
This is such a great tool that you have try it out to see how slick it is. I thank Apple for making such a perfect solution. No opening ports on their router or third-party software to install. Just a clean simple solution utilizing something you probably already use with them. Give this a try the next time you get that dreaded phone call and I promise you’ll be thankful.
Переслать - Despite Growth, Apple Slips a Spot in U.S. Computer Sales Rankings
Two separate studies have been released ranking sales of computers in the U.S., and both agree that Apple has fallen one place compared to results from the same quarter last year. In both studies, one of which comes from research firm IDC and one of which comes from Gartner, Apple placed fourth in Q4 2008 results, and had dropped to fifth during the Q4 2009 period.
IDC found that Mac sales in the U.S. had climbed by 31 percent compared to last year, but that despite that strong growth, sales hadn’t kept up with increases in the industry at large. Cheap Windows machines helped create a banner year for the PC side of things. Gartner came up with slightly less impressive numbers for Apple during the quarter, with a growth rate of 23 percent.
That’s quite a difference, and represents a 40,000 machine gap between the figures found by the two companies. It’s a large enough gap to affect whether Apple falls under or above the average gain among all companies listed in the rankings. By comparison, PC makers HP and Toshiba had incredibly strong years, growing sales by 45 percent and 71 percent respectively.
In a quote from Computerworld, Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa explains what Apple’s doing wrong to miss out on the promising industry numbers, and its a tune we’ve all heard before:
The U.S. market last quarter continued to be very price driven. If a company is not in the low-priced market, it’s absolutely difficult for it to increase market share. And Apple did not do as well as others in share because of its prices.
Netbooks and cheap laptops are flying off the shelves, in other words. That being the case, the growth numbers might not mean as much to Apple as they might otherwise. If companies like Toshiba and HP are making their gains on the backs of underpowered machines of questionable build quality, and ones that might also have lower profit margins than Apple’s line, then it might not be growth that Cupertino is interested in. I maintain that we’ve yet to see the fallout of selling so many cheap machines so quickly. Wait a couple years till they start showing significant failure rates, then we’ll see how long-term growth is affected.
The general recovery of the PC industry is good news for Apple, though, even if it didn’t reap as many of the direct benefits as some of its rivals. The bottom line is that people are once again willing to spend money on consumer electronics, and computing devices specifically. The climate is a much better one in which to introduce a tablet than it has been in recent memory.
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