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Posts Tagged ‘Desktop Version’

Social Aggregator Sobees Adds LinkedIn Support

One of the first social networking aggregators to take advantage of LinkedIn’s brand-new API is Sobees, whose two client applications both now offer LinkedIn integration in addition to the other supported networks. A challenger to similar services like TweetDeck, Seesmic, and PeopleBrowser, Sobees is a social networking aggregation tool originally launched as a desktop app back in 2008 with a web app version added earlier this year. Like its competitors, Sobees’ clients use a columnar interface to display real-time updates from sites like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace.

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Sobees essentially functions as a social networking client for the sites it supports, each site with its own column and separate set of functions and tabs. For example, in the Twitter column, you can switch through tabs to see replies and direct messages and you can use buttons on the side to create groups or view your favorites. Meanwhile, the Facebook column offers Facebook-specific features like the ability to view photo albums and status updates or check out profiles, friend lists, and your inbox.

Sobees Adds LinkedIn

Similarly, the newly-launched LinkedIn functionality will include features specific to LinkedIn. At launch time, those are as follows:

• Update your status
• View connections
• View profiles
• Get updates (connections updates, status updates, application updates, jobs posted, groups joined, recommendations and profile changes)
• Search or search with advanced functionality

While the desktop version of the program is Windows-only, the web-based application is built using Microsoft’s Silverlight technology which works on any operating system, even Linux.

When you go to set up the web version for the first time, you’ll be presented with the four supported services and a button reading “connect.” At first, clicking the connect button seemed to have no effect but that was because the browser’s pop-up blocker was turned on and Sobees launches the authorization screens in a separate window. After navigating past this small obstacle, the rest of the set up process was completed in a matter of minutes.

At this point, you’re now presented with multiple columns containing the services you authorized during setup. You can also choose to add a real-time search column if desired and you can re-arrange the columns into a number of different layouts using the “change layout” button at the top.

FactFinder API Integration Lets You Know if a Link is Worth Clicking

Besides simply displaying the most recent updates from the various services, Sobees also offers a unique feature other social networking applications don’t have – Factery’s FactFinder API integration. (Read more about Factery’s API here). In short, this API allows the Sobees client to instantly and automatically parse the URLs posted in Twitter links to help you determine whether or not the link is worth clicking. Using the FactFinder toggle button to the left of the column, your Twitter stream is filtered to show only links with Factery data.

Once switched on, tweets with links are appended with the source URL and various “facts” snipped from the article being shared. Depending on the amount of info the API pulls, a “more…” link may appear at the bottom of the facts displayed. Click this link to see more facts – aka snippets – from the article in question and then click “less” to once again collapse the window. Anyone who has switched to Twitter as their primary source of news will love this sort of feature as you can get the gist of an article without ever leaving Twitter.

If you’re interested in trying the updated Sobees clients, you can download the desktop version here or load the web version at sobees.com/web.

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MacUpdate Desktop version 5.0.2 released, win a membership from TUAW

Filed under: Software, Cool tools

MacUpdate announced today the release of version 5.0.2 of the MacUpdate Desktop utility, which allows users to manage application and widget software updates on their Mac OS X machines. The new version of the application adds some features and bug fixes as well as support for more languages.

MacUpdate Desktop can track software updates for 30,000 Mac applications, and it also provides update support for applications on the iPhone, although iTunes handles that pretty well. Updates can be triggered manually and individually, or set to install automatically when MacUpdate Desktop is open. It also provides support for updating screen savers and allows users to sort applications into “watch lists,” so they can keep track of programs that are more important to keep current than others.

The update includes improved handling of the software it tracks, such as version and application matching, as well as French, German, and Italian localization. Some of the bugs it fixes are community preferences, registration problems, and issues with extracting tar bzip2 and dmg.zip downloads.

There are several update managers out there for Mac OS X (including AppFresh, LogicielMac, VersionTracker Pro, etc.) with fans and detractors of their own. If you’ve had great or not-so-great experiences with any of the updater tools, let us know in the comments.

Want to win one of two subscriptions to MacUpdate Desktop, courtesy of MU and TUAW? Read on for details!

Continue reading MacUpdate Desktop version 5.0.2 released, win a membership from TUAW

TUAWMacUpdate Desktop version 5.0.2 released, win a membership from TUAW originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google revamps mobile Google News format

Filed under: Internet, iPhone, iPod touch

Like most “mobile versions” of websites, Google News was simplified for use on devices featuring what Steve Jobs once called “the baby Internet.” Sadly, this simplified version also showed up by default on the iPhone, leading to an experience that was, to put it charitably, subpar.

That’s all changed now that Google has redesigned the mobile version of Google News for iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre users. The new mobile version is far more feature-rich than the old one and is more consistent in its appearance (i.e., it’s almost indistinguishable from the desktop version) compared to the old “mobile-optimized” Google News.

It also includes a handy “Jump to” link which brings up a window that allows you to skip to the news section of your choice, saving your thumbs from severe scroll fatigue.

There’s no need to download anything. Simply go to Google News on your iPhone and check out the changes.

[Via MacRumors]

TUAWGoogle revamps mobile Google News format originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Win a copy of Things for Mac

Filed under: Software, Productivity

The productivity wars are heating up on the Mac, aren’t they? iGTD is no more, but Cultured Code acquired some brains from that operation and now there’s a shiny new version of Things (and another update today). If you’ve never tried Things, there’s never been a better time. Plus, we’re giving away two copies of the Mac desktop version to two lucky winners! Just leave us a comment about how you currently stay productive (and meet the other criteria, below).

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, and residents of Canada (excluding Quebec), who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment telling us how you stay productive on your Mac.
• The comment must be left before Friday, September 4, 2009, 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Two winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: One copy of Things for Mac (Value: US$49.95)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

TUAWWin a copy of Things for Mac originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OmniFocus for iPhone finally has reminders, but implementation is awful

Filed under: Software, Features, iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

[Update] Ken Case comments below, addressing some of the concerns listed here. It looks like a future version of OmniFocus on the Mac will be able to directly update the OmniFocus reminders on the server, removing at least one of my complaints.

Ken Case from The Omni Group has been twittering for awhile about the impending inclusion of alarm reminders for OmniFocus. The task management app’s iPhone users have been pestering The Omni Group to implement reminders as push notifications, but OmniFocus refuses to do so. They say that reminders that rely on connectivity are not good enough, and they have instead chosen to implement reminders by exporting due dates and times into iCal. Once the time comes for a reminder, it pops up like a normal iCal appointment reminder.

Well, OmniFocus 1.5.2 for iPhone was released, and now we get to see how this alternative reminder system works. If I had to choose a word to describe this implementation, that word would be “awful.” Here’s why:

• The Omni Group has taken great pains to point out that you do not need to be using the desktop version of OmniFocus to get use out of the iPhone version. But for users that only have the iPhone version and are not synchronizing it to either MobileMe (which has a yearly fee) or a WebDAV server (complicated for non-techies), they can’t use this implementation of reminders. That’s right; the way it works is that OmniFocus on the iPhone exports your reminders to your synchronization server, then points iCal on the iPhone to the server to import your reminders. That means that if you enter new due dates in OmniFocus for iPhone but don’t happen to have connectivity, you won’t get reminders. Wait, I thought it was implemented this way in the first place to guard against a lack of connectivity?

• Your OmniFocus reminders unnecessarily pollute your iPhone calendar with reminders. This is a visual problem when you need to glance at your calendars and see what actual appointments are coming up. On the iPhone you can either look at one specific calendar, or all calendars, so if like me you need to regularly stay on top of more than one calendar, you’re forced to look at your OmniFocus reminders as well. Oh, and even when you complete them in OmniFocus and resync, they don’t go away in your calendar. [Update] Stephen points out in the comments that this works as expected, and upon further testing I have to agree. Maybe I was being a bit too impatient.

• Since your OmniFocus reminders are actually just fake appointments, there is no way to audibly differentiate them from appointment reminders. They sound and look exactly the same. Remember the Milk, for example, uses push notifications on its iPhone app, and you can set the notification sound to a number of different options. That way you know that you’re being reminded of a task rather than an appointment.

• Reminders are set based on Due time, rather than Available time, and in terms of flexibility you can set the reminder to be 5 to 60 minutes before the task is due. By the time a task is actually due, isn’t it too late to be reminded about it?

• Finally, if you’re a user of OmniFocus for the Mac, your reminders are not created on your iPhone until you think to launch OmniFocus on the iPhone and synchronize it. That means that if you work all day in OmniFocus on your Mac (like I do), then drive home and start doing other stuff and don’t happen to open OmniFocus on your iPhone, you won’t receive any reminders for tasks that you might have set for that night, or until you actually open and sync OmniFocus on your iPhone.

So, what would I rather see? Push notifications, like the many other OmniFocus for iPhone users out there that have been providing their feedback to The Omni Group.

As mentioned, Remember the Milk has implemented push notifications, and the ability to change the notification sound isn’t the only trick it has up its sleeve. The Remember the Milk icon on my iPhone’s screen shows how many due tasks I have that day, and the number changes almost instantly when I make changes on the web version. To see how many currently available and due tasks I have in OmniFocus, I again have to launch the app and wait for it to synchronize.

While I love OmniFocus and I think The Omni Group does amazing work, this implementation of reminders for the iPhone version of OmniFocus is just full of an amazing amount of fail. It’s a hacky workaround that still doesn’t ensure that a lack of connectivity won’t adversely affect the user’s ability to receive reminder notifications. Omni folks, this is just meant to be tough love — I wouldn’t be saying all of this if I didn’t truly care about OmniFocus.

TUAWOmniFocus for iPhone finally has reminders, but implementation is awful originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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