Developer: Dropbox
App Name: Dropbox
Category: Productivity
iTunes Preview
Version Reviewed: 1.2.5
App Price: FREE
Date Reviewed: 7/30/2010
If you have more thane one computer (including a smartphone) keeping track of all files can be a hassle with having to copy files across from one computer to another using any combination of USB flash drives, portable backup drives, burning data DVDs, iTunes, etc. Dropbox is a single secure place for all of your files to be organized, managed, shared, and synchronized.
With Dropbox anything you put in your “Dropbox” folder (including folder and file names) gets copied over to all computers. In addition you can go online from any computer’s website browser to access files using your email address and password for your Dropbox account.
Instead of having to email a bunch of photos of a property or multiple properties, you can create a folder for someone to view. You can email out the link and once they click on it they can view all of the images in a nice full screen viewer.
Sharing of documents is very easy to do. From your computer’s Dropbox folder you can right click on a particular folder and go to the Dropbox menu and click “Share this folder.” That will launch the specific sharing options for that folder in a browser where you can enter in recipient email addresses and optionally send a message. When the person receives the email it will contain a link and your message and will open up their web browser. Viewing the folder contents of private documents (non-public documents) does require them to create a Dropbox account (if they don’t have one already).
Once they have logged in or created their account they can view and download the documents in the folder. You can revoke anyone’s permission to view the contents of the folder by going to your Dropbox account online and clicking into the desired folder and click on “Shared folder options” where you will be displayed who has access and you will have the option to remove their access.
An optional way to share files with people who do not wish to create a Dropbox account is to add the files into your “Public” folder. Your “Public” folder is exactly like other folders only it will not require users to have or create a Dropbox account but it’s open to the world to view the contents so be careful what you put in there.
From within the iPad Dropbox app you can mark documents with a star which makes the document quickly accessible from the “Favorites” section of the iPad app. This is very convenient in times when you go often to certain documents.
Dropbox is only a document management solution so when desiring to open your document and make changes to it, Dropbox enables you to select the “Open in…” option where any compatible application that can open the document is displayed. From there you can make edits and changes to the document. However, something to note is that once you have made changes to a document and emailed it out (from that app) you will at some point need to move that newly edited document back into your Dropbox account and override the existing document with the newly edited one. More on this process will be evaluated and brought to you in the coming weeks.
If you are interested in signing up for a Dropbox account Click Here and you and I will both receive a 250MB bonus of space, on top of the already free 2GB that comes free with a standard Dropbox account. Larger storage size is available at monthly fees.
Apple released the Magic Trackpad which is utilizing a very similar design, shape, styling and technology as the new MacBook Pro trackpad. It uses the same Multi-Touch technology which supports a full set of gestures allowing more flexibility with interaction with of what is on your screen and swiping across the trackpad for picture, page, and browser control. The fluid, consistent, and ease of control for scrolling is one of the best features in my mind with the new trackpad.
The surface of the Magic Trackpad is 80% larger than the built-in trackpad on the MacBook Pro, which is already very large for a trackpad, giving a very smooth user experience. The surface is made with a smooth, wear-resistant glass that feels great to the touch. Because the entire surface of the Magic Trackpad is a button, you can click on objects just as you would using a traditional mouse.
For those of you out there that have the Apple Wireless Keyboard (click here for the review) the Apple Magic Trackpad is designed at the same height and angle so you can go from the keyboard to trackpad in one seamless motion.
Connectivity to the Apple Magic Trackpad is done using Bluetooth technology providing a cable-free and uncluttered environment. The Bluetooth connection provides a secure connection from your computer to the trackpad to upwards of 30 feet which is a huge plus, especially when in use during a presentation.
The Apple Magic Trackpad is designed for use with a Mac. A software update was released for a driver update to enable inertia scrolling and three-finger dragging. This three-finger dragging is a unique gesture which enables users to drag windows around quickly. Two-finger gestures are supported including two-finger scrolling, pinch to zoom, and rotate. Invoking of Expose and switching between applications as in the notebook multi-touch trackpads are also available.
When connecting the Apple Magic Trackpad to a Windows 7 laptop with Bluetooth, Windows 7 recognized the Apple Magic Trackpad as a mouse device instead of a trackpad so movement and button action of the trackpad was recognized. However, two-finger scrolling was not available.
Developer: Flipboard Inc.
App Name: Flipboard
Category: News
iTunes Preview
Version Reviewed: 1.0.1
App Price: FREE
Date Reviewed: 7/26/2010
Flipboard is your personal magazine with content that you care about because it has content that is connected to your social networks. Articles, images, photo albums, and videos come to you and you can always go through Flipbook’s own content selection as well.
Flipbook is really great because of it’s fast and fluid feeling it provides like “flipping” through a magazine custom tailored with content that you want to see and from your social networks. You can share, like, and reply on your social networks as well catch up on recent news.
Flipping to more content is done by swiping your finger across the screen. You can pinch zoom on practically everything from images, videos, and text and are provided corresponding options like replying or commenting. Rotating the screen from landscape to portrait changes the layout. You can pinch zoom into articles.
First impression is the interface is not only amazing, it is also very intriguing. Basically everything from the interface standpoint does everything you think it should do which never leaves you with trying some motion or tapping leaving the app non-responsive.
The only negatives that I have come across was the lack of options for the app including the lack of ability to remove either Twitter or Facebook (for those users who do not wish to have one or both shown). Another negative that came to mind regarding the Facebook content was the lack of options and flexibility to customization of what content from Facebook is displayed as well as in what specific type of layout or theme.
Maybe these items will be future upgrades to the app. Overall a very well done app that I enjoy going to on a daily basis.
In a ruling yesterday by the U.S. Library of Congress, as a part of a periodic review by its copyright office, authorized several new exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 including allowing mobile phone users to “jailbreak” or unlock their devices to install and utilize apps that are not authorized by the device manufacturer.
Jailbreaking is the process that allows iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users to run non-Apple approved, third-party apps. Some third party apps allow the changing of themes including background images, screen lock images, keyboard images, and sounds. Other apps will allow for use of the iPhone 3G connection for use with other devices.
Apple’s stance on jailbreaking their iPhones was that they felt it would severely degrade the experience of the iPhone user as well as violate the warranty of the device. Examples of issues caused by jailbreaking include device and application instability, unreliable voice and data service, shortened battery life, compromised security leaving the device open for malicious attacks and inability to apply future software updates.
Apple responded today confirming their stance that jailbreaking iPhones was not in the best interest of users, for all of the aforementioned reasons. In addition, Apple mentioned any unauthorized modification of the iOS is a violation of the iPhone end-user license agreement which would enable Apple to to deny service for an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch that has installed any unauthorized software.
It will be interesting to see how many additional users decide to jailbreak their devices. It is currently estimated that there are over 1 million jailbroken iPhones and possibly as high as 10 millions total jailbroken devices.
Apple released iOS 4.0.1 for the iPhone and released iOS 3.2.1 for the iPad yesterday. The iOS 4.0.1 update for the iPhone appears to be solely focussed on updating the formula for how many bars of signal strength display on iPhones.
The main item that iOS 3.2.1 for the iPad addressed was focussed on improving Wi-Fi connectivity issues. I have noticed with my Wi-Fi iPad that sometimes the last network I had connected to stays selected as my network connection even after leaving the location of that network, requiring a reboot of the iPad to connect to a different network.
Several small iOS 3.2.1 updates for the iPad include:
- Fixed an issue that could prevent copy and paste of single-page PDF attachments in Mail
- Addressed an issue that could cause video playback to freeze
- Improved reliability of video-out when using iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter
- Added Bing as an option for Safari’s search field
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