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- Quicken Essentials for Mac available for pre-order
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software
Quicken Essentials for Mac available if finally available for pre-order. Too little, too late if you ask me. Its taken three years to get this next version of Quicken for Mac out the door. In that time, worthy alternatives have risen, like iBank and Mint.com.
While I won't give it a review until I've tried it, it seems that Intuit should just give up until they want to make a financial software package that the Mac deserves. Here are just a few of my peeves from the Quicken Essentials for Mac FAQ (bold added):
Did you see that? If you want to do anything useful, you have to buy their three year-old product.1. Can I track my investments?
Yes, Quicken Essentials for Mac allows you to track the overall value of your investment accounts and the value of your specific holdings. It will not, however, track investment buys and sells, nor will it provide some advanced investment performance reports. If you need more more advanced investment features, try Quicken Mac 2007.
2. Can I export my data to TurboTax?
Quicken Essentials for Mac does not support that capability. If you'd like that functionality, we recommend trying Quicken Mac 2007.
3. Can I pay my bills within Quicken?
While you cannot pay bills within the product itself ("direct bill pay"), you can track your bills and make sure you have enough cash to pay them when they're due. A few alternatives available include using Quicken Mac 2007 or using the bill pay functionality on Quicken Bill Pay.
I ditched Quicken for Mac years ago, moved to iBank, then eventually quit that and moved entirely to Mint which has a great iPhone app [iTunes link]. How good is Mint? Good enough that Intuit has since purchased it. I can only hope they plan to leave it good enough alone.
Thanks GilbertTUAWQuicken Essentials for Mac available for pre-order originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple - IPhone - iTunes - IGG Software - Intuit
Переслать - "Cinch" your desktop windows into place
Filed under: Software, Productivity
Cinch is a new Mac utility from Irradiated Software. It helps keep your desktop windows organized by snapping them into predefined sizes and locations when you hold them near an edge of your screen. While its toolset is limited in comparison to its big sister, the keyboard-based SizeUp (which we covered a while back), Cinch is designed as a quick-and-easy window organization tool for users who prefer to stick with their mouse for such things.
When you run Cinch, it shows up in your menubar. When you drag any window to a top, left or right edge of the screen, it "snaps" (or cinches) to take up the full width or height of the screen: top half stretched horizontally if dragged to the top, and a vertical half for left or right. It's handy, and it's easy to get so used to it that you forget it isn't built into the operating system.
Cinch works with multi-monitor setups, and there's no configuration necessary. Just run it and start dragging windows where you need them. Cinch is available for download as a free trial, and a license can be had for $7US.
TUAW"Cinch" your desktop windows into place originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - iPhone controls 46% of Japanese smartphone market
Filed under: iPhone
Impress Corporation of Japan is reporting that Apple now controls almost half the smartphone market in Japan with over 3 million iPhones sold to date. Keep in mind, it has taken the iPhone little more than a year to accomplish this.
Impress reasons that the major shift towards the iPhone is because of its ease of use and the Japanese App Store. About 77 percent of iPhone 3GS owners use a half-hour's worth of data per day while Android and iPhone 3G users are neck and neck at 66 percent using data for half an hour a day.
Apple is having incredible success in other Asian markets as well. While the iPhone took a lot of slack from the press during its initial Chinese launch, it is picking up steam there, with China Unicom now saying the iPhone "Will become China's best-selling smart phone." In South Korea, where 90,000 iPhones have already been sold in less than three weeks, 700,000 are expected to be sold in 2010.
With all this success, no wonder Apple is expected to sell 10 million iPhones this quarter. The question is, where will the iPhone dominate next? And at whose expense?
TUAWiPhone controls 46% of Japanese smartphone market originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Flash beta update, Perian gets a refresh
Filed under: Multimedia, Freeware, Beta Beat, iPhone
There were two minor video plug-in related updates last night. First Adobe released a new beta of their Flash Player 10.1 beta 2 (this on the heels of a set of security patches for the stable release version last week). Flash 10.1 is introducing a host of new features, but is primarily aimed at the mobile market. Among the biggest new features in 10.1 will be the ability for developers to create multi-touch aware Flash content for a wide range of devices. Looks like Adobe is still hoping to prove Flash worthy for Apple for use on the iPhone.
Along with this beta release Adobe has reminded us that they are abandoning the G3 processor after this upcoming version of Flash. In the release notes [PDF] and in last week's security announcement, Adobe says:
I'm all for moving forward with tech, and G3 are ancient by today's standards anyway. Besides, how many people will this decision actually affect?Note: The Adobe Flash Player 10.1 release, expected in the first half of 2010, will be the last version to support Macintosh PowerPC-based G3 computers. Adobe will be discontinuing support of PowerPC- based G3 computers and will no longer provide security updates after the Flash Player 10.1 release. This unavailability is due to performance enhancements that cannot be supported on the older PowerPC architecture.
In other plugin news, Perian, which we've mentioned several times here on TUAW, has been updated to version 1.2. Perian enables QuickTime support for additional media types, including:
This is Perian's first major update since Snow Leopard has arrived. While there are no big new features, it's always nice to see an update after a big OS upgrade just to know that everything works on the new system.- AVI, FLV, and MKV file formats
- MS-MPEG4 v1 & v2, DivX, 3ivx, H.264, FLV/Sorenson Spark, FSV1, VP6, H263i, VP3, HuffYUV, FFVHuff, MPEG1 & MPEG2 Video, Fraps, Windows Media Audio v1 & v2, Flash ADPCM, Xiph Vorbis (in Matroska), and MPEG Layer II Audio
- AVI support for: AAC, AC3 Audio, H.264, MPEG4, and VBR MP3
- Subtitle support for SSA/ASS and SRT
TUAWFlash beta update, Perian gets a refresh originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Two Growl styles worth a serious look
Filed under: Software
Designer/Developer Christopher Lobay has been hard at work making some excellent Styles for the system notification app, Growl. Growl displays temporary, floating notification windows above your desktop to let you know about things like new messages, completed downloads, changes in Skype availability, etc. Many applications have Growl support built in, so if you're not using it already, you should check it out. Once you do, you'll want to customize the way it looks, and that's where Christopher, among legions of others, comes in.
Published a while back, the first Growl style I want to highlight is "Basics." Basics provides a very minimalist black background on which it animates the icon of the application responsible for the notification. If you, like me, have grown all too accustomed to notifications popping up around your desktop, this little bit of animation (just a slide across the bar) can make the popups much more eye-catching, without being distracting. It is, as its name implies, basic, but has an air of class not always seen in Growl styles.
Second -- and brand new right now -- is "Mono." This latest one is even more subdued, with a very nice bezel and it's the text that animates rather than the icon. This has much the same eye-attracting effect but is even less distracting. It's some great work by Christopher, and definitely worth a peek if you're using Growl. Both styles are available for free, so go get 'em!
TUAWTwo Growl styles worth a serious look originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Defying App Store dogma with the Kevin Smith app
Filed under: iPhone, App Review
The question is this: If an application that simulates flatulence is worth 99 cents, is it reasonable to spend the same amount on an app that delivers a full-force, stun-an-elephant dosage of information about one cult actor/director? We're about to find out: here comes the Kevin Smith app [iTunes link], for everything Kevin Smith and all your Kevin Smith needs.
If you're thinking "Who is Kevin Smith and why should I care?" you can tune out now; this app isn't for you. If you quote Chasing Amy, have dressed up as a character from Clerks for Halloween, and voluntarily chose to see Jersey Girl: it's your lucky day. The $0.99 app includes a custom feed of candid Kevin photos, a single-user Twitter client (!) so you can follow Kevin's 140-character bon mots, news feeds from Kevin's site with podcast/media downloads, a "photo with Silent Bob" tool, a Rant soundboard of Kevin quips... even a Kevin ringtone to go with your Kevin wallpaper.
I am not making any of this up.
In fairness to Kevin and his development team, I don't think they're taking themselves completely seriously here -- and if Kevin and co. come to Macworld Expo to promote the app, you can bet we will be there to get an in-person demo.
To quote the man, the myth, the legend:
I'm almost afraid to search the store to see what other single-subject apps have been officially endorsed by their celebrity co-creators. If you had to pick a person that was deserving of his or her own app (aside from Kevin Smith), who would it be and why?Yes, it may be the Pet Rock of the 21st century. But be honest: you've spent .99 cents on way dumber crap. If you're remotely into my nonsense, at the very least, this me-centric app will make you smile. At the very most, you'll put a noose around your neck, utter "It's all for you, Official Kevin Smith iPhone App!", and step off a ledge. Let's hope your reaction's somewhere betwixt the two.TUAWDefying App Store dogma with the Kevin Smith app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Dragon Search hits the app store for free
Filed under: Audio, iPhone, App Review
It looks like Nuance will have two iPhone hits in one month. Dragon Search [iTunes link] has just gone live on the App Store for the iPhone.
Using the same technology that's in Dragon Dictation for the iPhone, Dragon Search allows you to speak your search terms into the iPhone and get hits from the web including iTunes, Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube, and Google. You can also add Yahoo and Bing to the searchable universe.
I've tried it and it works well. You want to be in a fairly quiet place for the best results, but it worked fine in a noisy car and in a moderately loud restaurant.
As with Dragon Dictation, your query goes to a Nuance server and comes back to the app in a couple of seconds. If you want to search beyond Google, this is a great way to do it. Speed is very good on a 3G connection, and of course it works over Wi-Fi and the EDGE network.
The iTunes integration is quite nice. Say 'Harold Budd', for example, and click the iTunes icon and you'll see what the iTunes store has to sell. Or you can search Wikipedia or Google and learn all about him.
The app is free for now, but not free forever, so if you want it, get it ASAP. It's yet another reason to love your iPhone.
The app requires an iPhone and OS version 3.1 or better.
TUAWDragon Search hits the app store for free originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Navigon drops price but temporarily fumbles Google integration
Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, App Review
The Navigon Mobile Navigator [iTunes link] has become my favorite GPS app for the car. Great graphics, text-to-speech, auto night mode, and traffic integration.
Today, Navigon dropped the price 30 dollars to U.S. $59.99 and added Google search. That's a great idea, because the self contained GPS apps have static databases that tend to age quickly. Navigon solved that problem by integrating a Google search to their app, which gives you the advantages of on-board maps coupled with the most up to date POI information.
That's the good news. The bad news [see update note at the bottom of this post] is this first integration of Google into the app is an utter bomb. I selected POI from the menu, then Google. I then typed in 'pizza' and hit search. The query returned a 'no POI in your area' message, yet I was about 200 yards from a Pizza Hut. I tried some other categories. Nothing. Zip. There is another field to fill in with my location, so I typed the default 'current location' as prompted by the software. Still nothing. I typed in a city name and found all kinds of Google hits, but why should I have to type in my location when this is a GPS app? I tried this at several places, and with several categories. Nothing worked unless I typed in a city name, and of course cities are big places so I wasn't getting the closest hits.
Navigating from the built in POI database worked fine, but the whole point of Google integration was more data, and more up to date information. On more than one try I saw a server error, and it had to be a problem with the app because Google Maps returned good info with no problems. I'm not the only one seeing this issue, so it's not a local error. Other users of the app are reporting the same thing.
This issue may be a temporary one, or a bad bug, but either way it is a bad start for a new feature. I'm confident Navigon will fix the problem.
Competition has forced Navigon to lower the price (until January 11th) and the app is a good buy at that price. I know a lot of people were anxious to have that Google integration, but at least for me and some others, it simply doesn't work. I've contacted the Navigon folks, but haven't heard back yet about what might be going on.
One more small issue. In the past, even though the app has iTunes integration that works well, it can't seem to find any podcasts. That's still a problem with this latest version. If you select the podcast genre, it just comes up empty handed.
We'll let you know when it these issues get fixed, but if you were waiting to buy for the Google feature you might want to wait a bit longer. If you're having problems, or if it works great for you, let us know.
Update note: The Navigon Google search now seems to be working for all users that we've checked that were having problems before, including me. Navigon indicated it was caused by some server issues that interrupted the service for some.
TUAWNavigon drops price but temporarily fumbles Google integration originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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