LogMeIn
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LogMeIn Ignition half-price sale -- and a TUAW giveaway
LogMeIn's iOS app -- LogMeIn Ignition -- is a sweet way to connect your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad to a Mac or PC running the LogMeIn desktop client. As part of a Back To School promotion, LogMeIn has put Ignition on sale at 50 percent off. With the normal price of $29.99 being cut in half, you're saving a whopping $15 on your purchase. At that price, LogMeIn Ignition is perfectly priced for students who may need to have mobile access to a Mac or PC back in the dorm room or lab. With Ignition's recently added ability to transfer files to, from, or between computers, it's the next best thing to sitting behind the keyboard of your computer. Be sure to check out our long history of posts about both LogMeIn and its mobile companion, and keep an eye on our Facebook page today. We'll be giving away four LogMeIn Ignition promo codes, so four lucky TUAW readers will have a chance to get the app for free.
Wyse PocketCloud aims to get your desktop anywhere you are
If the name Wyse sounds familiar, it's probably because the company has been doing remote access since the days of acoustic couplers and 300-baud modems. Founded in 1981, it has evolved from its early days of creating 'dumb terminals' to become an industry leader in virtual desktops, giving users access to servers or virtualized PCs through protocols like VNC, RDP or VMware View. Expanding the Wyse offerings to the smartphone and tablet space wasn't that big a leap, and it's been pretty successful. Last week the company announced that its PocketCloud products for iOS and Android have been downloaded over a million times. The current version of PocketCloud Pro for iPhone and iPad (US$14.99) delivers both local connectivity and a handy Google App Engine locator service for remote machines. You can install the desktop client on your Mac or PC, authenticate with your Google account, and immediately operate all your active computers as though you were sitting in front of them. With a $0.99 monthly in-app purchase, you can also get file browser/file transfer access to your PCs, AirPrint printing, video streaming from the remote RDP server or VMware View service, slimmed-down browser mode (including Flash and audio) and more. (Compare to the $29.99 LogMeIn Ignition app, which I'm also quite fond of.) PocketCloud also comes in an ad-supported free version, which only allows you to keep one computer in your destinations list among other limitations; for everything except VMware View, however, it's a good way to test out the app and see if it suits you. The PocketCloud UI is about as friendly as I've seen in remote access apps, with a clever 'smart pointer' tool that gives you precise mouse positioning, left/right click and rapid keyboard access. Like all the apps in this category, it takes a while to configure it and get comfortable with operating the remote machine, but once you get your legs (or fingers) under you, it becomes second nature. Obviously, remote access tools are vital to system administrators or IT support folk -- even for supporting family and friends -- but Wyse is interested in expanding that audience. I spoke to David Nagy last week, Wyse's mobile unit director of product marketing, and he pointed out that mobile businesspeople and small business owners don't really want to bring their laptops everywhere when they can manage with an iPad. Still, there are moments when they need access to specific desktop apps or files, and tools like PocketCloud (combined with file storage options like Dropbox) can make that happen. There's also a growing market for virtual desktops provisioned for business, student or home users; Nagy suggested that the long-anticipated rental market for desktop applications ("Need Excel for the day? That'll be $2, thanks!") could be kickstarted by ubiquitous, inexpensive remote access on devices like the iPad. That'd certainly bring new meaning to the term 'thin client.' There's a brief PocketCloud overview video below.
LogMeIn goes disk -- and saves my weekend
Ages ago, we posted about LogMeIn's new file management and transfer capability. It wasn't until this weekend that it sunk in how utterly brilliant this feature is. Look at me. I'm a parent to a teenager. (Yes, there's proof.) When visiting Fort Collins over the weekend, disaster struck. I'd copied over the new "9 Lives of Chloe Whatsherface" to the iPad, but I'd forgotten to transfer that all-essential "Teen Wolf." Horrors. LogMeIn to the rescue. With its remote disk features, it gave me total access to my home computer, including the Teen Wolf episode that my EyeTV 250 had recorded for us, which I easily copied to the iPad. You can browse your entire computer. In my case, that included the external drive I use for EyeTV recordings. Just select the file you need and tell LogMeIn where to transfer it to. There's a complete local file hierarchy you can use within the application, and it works far better than it sounds. Once there, iOS 4's app-to-app document sharing let me move it over to VLC (yes, I am lucky enough to have downloaded it before bad things happened) so that my child could revel in, well, whatever there is to revel in with regards to Teen Wolf. LogMeIn Ignition for iPad retails at a hefty thirty bucks, which may put you off from buying it. But if you can swing the cash, between its excellent "give me my home computer on my iPad" features and now its file transfer update, it can really deliver some power-hitting performance. As for the Cat-versus-Dog smackdown? My teenager far preferred Chloe, even with her risible fake claws[1]. Update: Commenters ask: "Why didn't you use Air Video". I adore Air Video and recommend it highly. We needed her to watch in the car while on the go, on a Wi-Fi only iPad. For the record, as a quick google will show, I have been using LogMeIn on my iPad for well over a year. TUAW is commonly provided with not-for-resale licenses or promo codes to permit product evaluations and reviews. For more details, see our policy page. Promo code requests are not guarantees of reviews. [1] It's never too early to start SAT prep
join.me introduces mobile viewer for iPad
Today, join.me introduced their free iOS viewer, allowing users to participate in online meetings and screen sharing from their iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. A bunch of us TUAWians spent time yesterday afternoon exploring join.me in its browser-based form. join.me is a new conferencing/screen-sharing website from the makers of LogMeIn, a popular remote screen solution. What makes join.me so compelling for us is that it takes about 5 seconds to set up, and it doesn't require registration for casual use. If you need more, it costs US$29/month or $299/year for pro-level support. With join.me, you don't have to plan out a conference. When you decide that you need to meet, the tools are all there and ready for you. Just send around the connection URL, and you're good to go. We were able to move our normal back-channel discussions from IRC to join.me in just a couple of minutes, including the step where it downloaded a small app to our Macs.
iPad apps to the rescue
"Whenever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Whenever they's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there... I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad an'-I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry an' they know supper's ready. An' when our folks eat the stuff they raise an' live in the houses they build-why, I'll be there." -- John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath The iPad is an overlooked hero. When you need it, the iPad will be there. It will be there to access data or connect back home. It will be there to let others reach out to you, or to let you reach out to others. With the right software, and the right ingenuity, the iPad can metaphorically leap tall buildings and save the day. These are everyday rescues, not life-or-death scenarios. This post isn't about how the iPhone saved one guy's life after the Haiti Earthquakes. Here's how iPad applications can fix your workday with simple, helpful solutions that will free you from the laptop and live "la vida tablet." We've got five real world scenarios, including the iPad apps that will be there for you.
Sharing screens with TeamViewer for iPad and Mac
Here at TUAW, we love enthusiastic readers. They tell us what they like and what they don't like, and nothing could be more passionate than the recommendations for TeamViewer that appeared in the comments on a post I recently wrote about using iTeleport and LogMeIn to provide remote support. Given the enthusiasm, I decided to give TeamViewer a try. Like most other remote computing solutions, TeamViewer is made up of two parts. There's a computer-based server, available for both Windows and Macintosh, and clients including an iPad application. How much you spend on your setup depends on how you plan to use the application.
Dear Aunt TUAW: From Earth to Romania
Dear Aunt TUAW, I have a late 2008 MacBook Pro and a 4 year old MacBook Pro that I will be taking to Romania next month to give to my in-laws so we can video conference with them. Seeing as they are not very computer literate, I want to be able to perform remote control / screen sharing in case the need should arise. I know that OSX has built-in screen sharing capabilities on a local network, but over the Internet is something else altogether. I know that there are several services, such as LogMeIn, that provide this service for a fee, but I was wondering if I could do this without paying for a service. Can you direct me to some documentation as to how to set this up? ssh configuration, port forwarding on the firewall, etc.... that might be able to get me started? Or make a recommendation that would be how you would do this. Love, Your Nephew Chris M.
Hands-on with iPad VNC clients
iTeleport lets you connect to your computer remotely using free software provided by iTeleport LLC When you look at VNC clients for the iPad, there are really two uses you have to take into account. First, can the software connect locally, allowing you to screen share your desktop computer? Second, can it connect remotely, providing off-site access to your computer? With these two issues in mind, TUAW recently took a look at several iPad VNC clients. Read on to discover how they stood up to real world testing.
Ask TUAW: DVD Sharing on an iMac, menubar calendar, network scanning, and more
Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we have questions about using DVD Sharing on an iMac (instead of a MacBook Air), ignoring Software Updates, getting a drop-down calendar in the menubar, seeing Wi-Fi network channels, using iChat with other services, and more. As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Leave your questions for next week in the comments section at the end of this post. When asking a question, please include which machine you're using and what version of Mac OS X is installed on it (we'll assume that you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify), or if it's an iPhone-related question, which iPhone version and OS version you have.
Beta Beat: LogMeIn Pro2 for Macintosh now in free public beta
LogMeIn, providers of the LogMeIn service for remote control of computers, has opened a public beta of LogMeIn Pro2 for Mac. The company currently provides LogMeIn Free for Mac, as well as LogMeIn Ignition for iPhone [US$29.99, iTunes Link], allowing Mac and iPhone users the ability to securely control remote Macs and PCs from their Apple devices. LogMeIn Pro2 will be similar in functionality to the existing Windows version. Through the service and software, people can connect to a Mac from a Mac or Windows machine, control it, print documents, and share and transfer files. Registration is required in order to download the software and set up a remote session on the service, and the developer would like feedback from beta participants. Several beta releases are expected, and registered users will be notified of code updates. At this time, no pricing is available for the service. The Windows version currently costs US$65 per year, and the Mac beta version is available for free. [via macnn]
Ask TUAW: Silencing iPhone notifications, remote control a PC, printing over the internet, and more
Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about controlling a PC over the internet, silencing iPhone email notifications at night, replacing a MacBook Pro SuperDrive with a hard drive, printing over the internet, setting iCal as the default calendar, and more. As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Leave your questions for next week in the comments section at the end of this post. When asking a question, please include which machine you're using and what version of Mac OS X is installed on it (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.
Ask TUAW: Joystick as mouse, remote access, PC friendly zip files, and more
Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about using a joystick as a mouse, remotely accessing a Mac from a PC, creating zip files without the Mac-specific metadata, replicating certain Windows features, and more. As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine and which version of Mac OS X you're running (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.
Ask TUAW: Lotus Notes to iPhone, Time Capsule storage, uninstalling Haxies, and more
Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column! This time we've got questions on syncing an iPhone with Lotus Notes, expanding storage on a Time Capsule, preventing iCal event invitation emails, uninstalling Haxies, and more As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.
LogMeIn Rescue+Mobile to provide remote IT access on Android
Among oodles of new phones, we're also expecting some nice surprises on the software front at Mobile World Congress this week. One particular app that has our attention is LogMeIn Rescue+Mobile, which should enable IT support groups to tap into one's Android-based phone remotely and "see an exact visual replica of the smartphone on their computer screens." From there, the techs can mash buttons, tweak code and do whatever needs to be done to solve any lingering issues. Call it remote virtualization, with a pinch of "help!" We're told that the software will be available immediately for carriers kosher with having it loaded on, and for any CSR who has attempted to understand a problem via spoken word alone, we're sure they're undoubtedly on board with this alternative.[Image courtesy of interpunct]
First Look: LogMeIn Ignition
This post is a first for me in that I'm typing (or tapping) it in on an iPhone using our Blogsmith CMS. No, there's not a Blogsmith iPhone app that I'm aware of, and I'm not using Safari on the iPhone to pull up our web portal. Instead, I'm controlling my office iMac from about 16 miles away using my iPhone and LogMeIn Ignition.LogMeIn is a remote access and control application for Macs and PCs that creates a secure connection between two computers by having each logged into a secure server. LogMeIn Ignition adds the ability to control a Mac or PC from your iPhone. To test Ignition, I set up a LogMeIn Free for Mac account and then loaded the app onto my iPhone 3G. How did it work? Read on for more details.
LogMeIn Ignition promises remote screen sharing from iPhone
If you've got a far-flung assortment of computers to manage, there are some great zero-config paid and install-a-client-first free options out there -- including the cross-platform hosted approach of LogMeIn. The LogMeIn Free client runs fine on Mac OS X, and the web-based control UI is capable; but how delightful would it be to take that same capability and stick it in your pocket? Very delightful.LogMeIn has begun accepting applications for the private beta of LogMeIn Ignition for iPhone/iPod touch, the mobile client version of the remote control platform. With a final release planned for the end of the year, the client will allow full remote control of any computer in your list, including screen blanking and zoom/pan options.While there are great IT admin tools for other mobile platforms (and some promising but never-completed iPhone tools), the iPhone admin explosion hasn't quite arrived yet. LogMeIn is definitely an industrial-strength player and the presence of the client will help to legitimize the iPhone and iPod touch as an enterprise device.Thanks Shannon[via MacTech]
LogMeIn for Mac reaches 1.0
With Back to My Mac and iChat screen sharing, remote control options feature heavily on the Sparta List of Leopard features. Now, the remote control tool LogMeIn Free, in beta for the Mac since June, has reached release status. With the free client you can initiate or accept remote control sessions, cross-platform and through most firewalls. It's great for family support or switcher hand-holding. The 5.5 MB client can be downloaded now, and you can use it once you register with LogMeIn.LogMeIn has a heavy following among IT pros, who may subscribe to the industrial-strength IT Reach version of the product for additional features. Having a Mac client as a full peer helps remind those systems managers that there's a different-thinkin' crowd out there in the market.[via TidBITS]
LogMeIn Free for Mac
LogMeIn looks like a great way to support those remote Mac users in your life that depend on you. In my circle of friends I am known as the computer guy (both Macs and PCs, I'm just that good) so I know the pain of trying to get someone to launch System Preferences over the phone. 'Ok, just click on the little icon in the Dock that looks like an Apple with a switch next to it. Sure is taking you awhile to find it.. Oh, you decided to click a bunch of stuff I didn't tell you to click. Yeah, that's great. Now, do you have a recent backup handy?'Suffice to say, tech support over the phone isn't fun when you're supporting people who aren't especially technically savvy. Enter LogMeIn, which offers up a simple and free way to remotely administer someone else's Mac from a web browser (sadly, Safari only for now). The product is in beta at the moment (what isn't in beta in this day and age) but it looks promising and you can't beat the price.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
