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Installing Windows 7 RC1 on your Mac... for free
Sometimes you have to use Windows. Supporting clients in multiple-OS environments makes this a necessity for some Mac users, while others want to run applications that are available in Windows only. You can get a preview of the latest flavor of Windows, Windows 7, by running Release Candidate 1 of the new OS either in a virtual environment such as VMWare Fusion, Parallels, or VirtualBox, or in Apple's own Boot Camp. Christina did a thorough rundown of the options for running Win 7 on Mac back in January.Of course, you may not own Fusion or Parallels, and perhaps you don't want to have to boot into Windows separately. In that case, you can download a copy of Sun's VirtualBox application (it's free) and then download a copy of Windows 7 RC1 from the Microsoft website (it's free, too!). Follow these detailed instructions or watch the video, and you'll have a free way to test Windows 7 until at least June 1, 2010. Windows 7 will shut down after every two hours of use after March 1, 2010, which is Microsoft's subtle way of telling you to buy the OS or update to a later build. If you're a VMWare Fusion user, the VMWare team has instructions and a video available here. Want to try out Win7 RC1 with Boot Camp? There are instructions here. For Parallels 4 users, I was unable to find a good set of instructions, so if any TUAW readers can provide me with a link, I'll update this post.How is Windows 7 RC1 as an operating system? It's faster than Windows Vista on my 3 year old iMac, and some features look surprisingly Mac-like. I'll leave it to you as an exercise to see how much you like or dislike it.
Postcards from the EDGE network
Two new apps both provide the same service to iPhone users -- sending postcards to U.S. addresses from your iPhone. I'm not talking about virtual electronic postcards; instead, these are real postcards that are printed at a location near your recipient's address, then delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. All you need to provide is a photo taken by your iPhone, the address(es) of the recipient(s), a personalized message, and a credit card number.The two programs are both free, although there is a cost to send those postcards. Continue reading this post to learn more about Go Postal and TapTap Cards.
Twitter and Skype and FileMaker, oh my! FMWebSchool integrates them
FileMaker Pro fans can now tweet and make Skype calls directly from databases, thanks to a pair of free files from FMWebSchool. There are a couple of movies that demonstrate how these files work, which you can view by clicking the links below. The FMSkype file allows you to import your Skype address book into a FileMaker Pro database (Windows only; Mac FileMaker users must manually import their Skype info), and then click to call a contact using their Skype name or phone number.FMTweet lets you send messages to Twitter from a FileMaker Pro database. This is not a plug-in; it's a database with associated scripting that can be customized by the user. FMTweet could be useful if you want a database to provide notification of a specific situation through Twitter -- for instance, send a tweet when someone enters information into a web-enabled Filemaker database.To get the two files and other FileMaker goodies that may come out in the future, you do need to subscribe to the free FMWebSchool newsletter.
OmniGroup makes several apps freeware
OmniGroup has announced that they have decided to release several of their previously shareware applications as freeware. These are: OmniWeb, one of the first Mac web browsers with roots going back beyond even OS X; OmniDazzle, a fun screen effects application, potentially useful for presentations and screencasts; OmniDiskSweeper, a very useful utility for getting a handle on large files taking up disk space; and OmniObjectMeter, a developer tool for optimizing memory usage in OS X application development.Apparently the reason behind the decision is simply that Omni wants to focus more on their other applications and these four were not worthy of as much attention. They don't rule out future updates, but it doesn't really look that likely. For my own part, I can't help but think that OmniWeb's day has passed, but OmniDazzle and OmniDiskSweeper are still useful tools (not being a developer I don't have much to say about OmniObjectMeter). In any case, it's a nice gesture to the Mac community from one of its older members.All four applications are free downloads from their respective pages: OmniWeb, OmniDazzle, OmniDiskSweeper, OmniObjectMeter.[via Daring Fireball]
HearPlanet is one clever travel app
My colleague Robert Palmer has reported that HearPlanet [app store link] is free for this week, so I downloaded and gave it a try. It is a nice surprise. HearPlanet for the iPhone and iPod touch is a pretty cool mash-up of detailed local information so you can search for a city, for example, and HearPlanet will tell you about all the things that are around you. There is detailed text, or better yet it will read the information to you. Those with a 3G iPhone can use location services. HearPlanet will figure out where you are, and what things of interest are around you. The app finds items like museums, stadiums, zoos, and other landmarks or popular attractions. You click on one of the destinations, and the app starts reading about it. Some of the entries are short, others are quite detailed. When you tap the play button HearPlanet switches you to speaker mode so you can share the information you're getting. It also makes it nice for car travel. I wondered where all the information was coming from, and quickly found that most of the entries match the information in Wikipedia. In fact, if you scroll to the bottom of each text entry, the source of the information is identified. This has apparently confused some users of the app who thought the information from Wikipedia was stolen, but it is all properly identified and sourced. Happily, HearPlanet is not U.S. only. There is plenty of information on destinations all over the world. HearPlanet is not a complete travel app. There are no phone numbers and no links to Google Maps for directions to destinations. But it has lots of details on things around you that are worth visiting, and you'll certainly learn something in the process.
iMacworld App Update
Now that I'm firmly situated in my hotel suite in San Francisco, it's time to get ready for Macworld Expo 2009. A couple of weeks ago iMacworld (click opens iTunes) was announced by IDG and Zami.com as an iPhone helper for Expo-goers.Version 1.1 of this free app is much improved, with a finalized list of exhibitors, products, and sessions. There are also small banner ads at the bottom of each page that load quickly and give booth numbers for the products advertised. The update also features "stability improvements", although it locked up my iPhone 3G once when I tapped on the link to find a vendor location on a map.iMacworld is definitely going to be a help as your TUAW team navigates around the Expo to find new and exciting items for you. Be sure to stay tuned all week as we provide coverage of everything happening here in SF...and more!
Print photos from your iPhone with HP iPrint Photo
How would you like to be able to shoot photos on your iPhone, and then immediately print them on your HP printer? HP has a new product called iPrint Photo (click opens iTunes) available in the App Store that makes it very simple to print your iPhone pictures. The free download opens to a list of photo albums that looks very similar to the list in the Photos app on the iPhone. Tapping on a photo brings up a Print Photo page with a large Print button on it (see photo at right). If you only have one networked printer available, just tapping the Print button sends a 4x6 inch (10x15 cm) print job to that printer. If more than one HP inkjet printer is on your local Wi-Fi network, tapping on a printer search icon brings up a Chooser-like list of printers that you can select one from. This is an excellent free app -- it took no setup and I was able to print a picture immediately after downloading the software from the app store.Between this software and HP's announcement of their Mac-compatible media server, it looks like HP is starting to play nice with Apple!Check out the gallery below for a few more photos of this app in use. %Gallery-40276%
AroundMe shows what's around you
There is no shortage of iPhone/touch apps that allow you to use the navigation capabilities of your device to figure out where you are or where you need to go. Google Maps, already built in, does a great job all by itself.Increasingly, there are many paid and free apps that can do the job in a simpler, more specialized, or more efficient way. One of the highly praised and heavily downloaded apps is AroundMe, which can show you nearby restaurants, hotels, theaters, parking, hospitals and much more.If you have GPS, or wi-fi location ability activated, AroundMe will take it from there. Click on a category, and you'll get a list of destinations arranged by distance. Click on a destination, and you can get an address, the distance, a link to Google Maps to show you the route, a button to add the destination to contacts, and if there is one, an email address for the place you're headed.There is also a category of searches called 'nearby' that can identify nearby cities, parks, geographical locations, airports and attractions. Those destinations link to appropriate Wikipedia entries. Cool.All in all this is a terrific, free app. While it has many competitors, some free, some paid, I think this is a very powerful way to use your iPhone when you are on a trip, or even in your home town to locate things you might never have known were there.AroundMe is localized in English, French, German, Portuguese, Swedish and Japanese.Things that would be nice to add would be some form of filtering, such as type of cuisine rather than just restaurants, or animal hospitals instead of all hospitals. I use AroundMe several times a week because like all good apps, 'it just works'.
First Look: Mobile Banking on AT&T
While a lot of us have had internet banking for years, who would have thought that AT&T would have come up with a mobile banking app that lets you check accounts and pay bills for a number of banks through a single iPhone app?Mobile Banking on AT&T (click opens iTunes) from Firethorn Holdings, LLC is exactly that -- an iPhone app that gives you full control over your money at 50 different banks nationwide. While the majority of the banks listed appear to be in the southeast USA, several nationwide banks including Wachovia, SunTrust, and USAA are participating in the program.I was pleased to see that my business bank, FirstBank, with brick and mortar banks in Colorado, Arizona, and California, was one of the companies on the AT&T list. You need to sign up through your bank's secure website, enter your iPhone number, pick a six-digit PIN, then perform an authorization from the device using a code displayed on the website. Once activated, you can see balances, make transfers, and pay ebills.What's your favorite iPhone banking app? Or have you moved all of your funds to a coffee can buried in the back yard? Leave a comment!
Social networking for iPhone: Fliq your friends
Longtime Mac developer Mark/Space, Inc. has just announced their first app for iPhone, and it's free.Fliq (click opens iTunes) runs on the iPhone and iPod touch and is billed as a "real-time social networking app between friends in close proximity." If you and your friends are on the same Wi-Fi network, and if the free Fliq app is running on all of your iPhone or iPod touch devices, you can send contacts and photos to each other. Upon launching Fliq, a list of nearby devices also running Fliq is displayed (see screenshot). After selecting who to Fliq information to, a screen prompts you to send your pre-selected "business card", another contact, or a photo to the other iPhone.In practice, Fliq works very well. My wife and I were able to send photos and contact information back and forth with no issues. I'd like to see Bluetooth transfer capabilities built in for those situations where there's no nearby Wi-Fi network.The Fliq Web page notes that Fliq will soon have the ability to transfer contacts and photos to a Mac or Windows PC.In the interest of full disclosure, blogger Steve Sande has done consulting work for Mark/Space in the past, although not for this product.
The admin's freeware friend: DeployStudio
For individual Mac users or small businesses, it's usually not a problem deploying new Macs with a standard image -- as a Mac support specialist, you might just load each machine manually. But imagine if you need to deploy hundreds or thousands of Macs, PCs, or XServes. You'd need a small army of techs or a way to do the job automatically.That's where DeployStudio comes in handy. This freeware tool can be used to create deployment files using Netboot, external USB or FireWire drives, or any AFP, SMB, or NFS sharepoint on the network. DeployStudio works with Mac OS X 10.4.11 to 10.5.3 at this point, and is updated regularly to include new OS versions. The package consists of DeployStudio Server, DeployStudio Assistant, DeployStudio Admin, and diffPackageMaker.DeployStudio Server creates a network based deployment server containing the images. Assistant is used to configure the server and to create the NetInstall sets, while Admin is used to monitor deployments, manage disk images and scripts, enter configurations, and more. diffPackageMaker can look at the difference between two file system snapshots and create installation packages based on what has been changed or added.Detailed documentation PDFs and screencasts are available on the DeployStudio site.
RunKeeper's new low price: free
In early September, TUAW published an article about iPhone exercise-tracking apps that use the built-in GPS of the iPhone 3G to track walks, hikes, runs, and bike rides. One of the apps, RunKeeper, provided instantaneous feedback of speed through a bar chart display and had a $9.99 price point. Jason Jacobs of Fitness Keeper, the developers of RunKeeper, announced yesterday that the company is going to make the application available for free in the App Store (click opens iTunes). As noted in Jason's email, "Although we have been featured recently in TechCrunch and NY Times (and TUAW, of course!), and we have several thousand paying customers and a vibrant community, we are making a bold move and making the app free. We are doing so in order to forgo short-term revenues with the hope that our community will get to massive scale."Fitness Keeper definitely listens to user feedback -- our September post mentioned that RunKeeper didn't track total rise or elevation vs. speed, and now both of these items are available on the tracking Web site. Please note that Apple must approve Fitness Keeper's price change request before the new pricing goes into effect.
Windows Mobile users get in on the mobile Armory fun
Hey Windows Mobile folks? Feeling a little left out of the mobile Armory app game? We've got just the thing for you: the WoW Player for Windows Mobile will pull up all the character information you want on a Windows Mobile Pocket PC device.Unfortunately, unlike the iPhone app we posted, we haven't actually tried this one, and there's a few comments up about it not finding characters correctly (it looks like it requires PocketPC 5-6.1 and .NET Compact Framework 3.5, whatever that all is). But on the other hand, it's a free download, so if you're stuck with a Windows Mobile device and really want to see your characters on a mobile screen, it's worth a try.Doesn't look as good as the iPhone app (whoops, sorry that's our Mac snobbery showing through), but there's definitely a nice installed base of Windows Mobile users out there, and they could use a little WoW love, too.
Freeware Find: Bean
Departing TUAW blogger Giles Turnbull caught my attention in his recent list of favorite Mac apps. At the top of his list was an application called Bean, which had the unfortunate effect of causing me to think about Rowan Atkinson's comedy character (at right). As soon as the nausea wore off, I took a look at the app and found a lot to like.It's a rich text editor from developer James Hoover that is surprisingly powerful, very lean, and open source. It's the perfect in-between text editor, nestled somewhere east of Microsoft Word and west of TextEdit. It's small, fast, and easy to use.Features of Bean (the app, not the Mr.) include live word count, in-depth statistics, autosaves and dated backups, page layout mode, dictionary, word completion, and in-line graphics. If you feel a need to add some functionality to Bean, the Objective-C source code is readily available. Bean reads and writes .rtf, .rtfd, .txt, .html, and .webarchive formats, and can transparently import and export to and from .doc, .docx, .odt, and .xml formats. It can also export to .html, .pdf, .doc, and .rtf formats (the latter two with images intact).All I can say is that I can see why Giles likes Bean. It rocks!
Knytt Stories to see a DS port
Celebrating the one-year anniversary of Knytt Stories's release for PCs, homebrew programmer rrc2soft has released a video for his DS port prototype of the freeware game. in case you've never had the pleasure of playing the original game, it's a neat 2D platformer from Nicklas "Nifflas" Nygren with a heavy emphasis on atmosphere and exploration. instead of graphics and combat.As with the PC release, Knytt Stories DS looks to be a collection of short adventures starring Juni, an agile character that can learn several abilities, such as a double jumping and wall climbing. Rrc2soft also hopes to eventually allow you to download and play through user-created levels, a feature we've already seen implemented wonderfully in StillAliveDS.The clip only shows the tutorial level, but expect to see more as development continues! Wacky Japanese games, emulation, DS Fanboy's recommendations, naughty homebrew: our recent week of homebrew coverage had it all. Don't be put off if you're a beginner, either -- we have guides and a glossary for the newest of newbs.
Freeware Find: Karelia iMedia Browser 1.1.1
It's easy to get spoiled using Apple's Media Browser, that little tool that pops up in many of the iLife and iWork applications and provides access to photos, music, graphics, and movies. But what about those cases where you want to use Media Browser and the application you're in doesn't support it?Karelia Software, makers of the popular website creation tool Sandvox, has just shipped an update to iMedia Browser. iMedia Browser 1.1.1 works with Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and 10.5 (Leopard). It provides all of the functionality of Media Browser, but for just about any application on your Mac. This update adds international support and new media sources.iMedia Browser now supports the following media (information from Karelia's website): Browse Photos: iPhoto / Aperture / Lightroom library, Pictures folder, and other predefined folders. Browse Music: iTunes library, GarageBand songs, Music folder, etc. Browse Movies: iTunes and iPhoto libraries, Movies folder, etc. Browse Links: Bookmarks from Safari, Camino, OmniWeb, etc. Drag and drop any folder into the source list to add to your library. As the really old song says, "the best things in life are free", and iMedia Browser is no exception. Download it and start enjoying your media in almost every application you use.
Diamond, the rich text editor that thinks different
Diamond is a free rich text editor with a difference. Lots of differences, actually, which combine to make it quite appealing. Developer Geoffrey Alexander has recently released Diamond 3, which makes this an excellent time for you to download and give it a try. How is Diamond different? Diamond windows look different. Sometimes they're hardly there. They may or may not have title bars. They may or may not hover above a background (flat color, or photographic, it's up to you) that in turn hovers over everything else on your desktop. Text inside Diamond documents flows in columns. Word and character counts float unobtrusively below the windows, as if hanging in space. If you want them to. Aspects of Diamond's differentness are yours to tweak in the prefs, of course, so you can de-weird things if you feel the need. But that takes all the fun out of it. If I'm not making much sense here, I encourage you to take a look at the Diamond gallery or download the app to try it for yourselves. As Geoffrey himself once said: "Diamond isn't for everyone, and may not even be for anyone." But I rather like it, if only because it takes the mundanity of editing text and adds a bit of life that you don't find in other rich text editors.
Free Stuff: Keynote Objects
iPresentee, a small company providing themes and objects for Apple's iLife and iWeb software suites, is offering a free download of Keynote Objects. Keynote Objects is a package of 100 attractive icon-like objects that can be used not only with Keynote, but also with Microsoft PowerPoint and Word. All of the objects have a transparent background, and are easily resized, rotated, made more or less transparent, or shadowed.I'm actually going to use several of the objects as icons for a new web site that I'm designing, simply because they offer an attractive and cohesive set of art objects. What will you use your free Keynote Objects for?
What's Keeping Me? 1.0.5
Have you ever tried to empty the Trash on your Mac only to receive a dreaded message that said the trash couldn't be emptied because a file was in use? Well, "What's Keeping Me" hopes to solve this problem with it's advanced trash-error detection technology (we kid, it's really just magic). If you encounter the message that the trash cannot be emptied, just click on What's Keeping Me to see what application or process is keeping the trash from being emptied. You can have What's Keeping Me quit the application or if need be kill (force-quit) the application. You can download What's Keeping Me from HAMSoft Engineering; this application is freeware, however, donations are accepted.
Growl updated to 1.1.4, fixes "Install Failed" message in Leopard
It was only a couple weeks ago that Growl version 1.1.3 was released, but as some commenters noted on the 1.1.3 post, there was a bug that caused some the inability to install Growl under Leopard. Well, the Growl team has heard your cries and issued an update to Growl that hopes to solve the problem. Some of the bug fixes include: "Install Failed" message on Leopard is now fixed Fixed the problem of Growl thinking it was 1.1.2 even after installing 1.1.3 Fixed Growl updater to stop showing updates after you've already installed them Growl Safari actually works now You can see all of the improvements before installing by visiting the Growl Version History page. You can also download the new update by visiting Growl's homepage. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
