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  • Amazing updates to the UI in 2.3

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    10.13.2007

    Tons of amazing gems found in the patch 2.3 notes (Art from our /silly comic called this "the patch that keeps on giving). Here's just a few of the UI-slimming things Blizzard is implementing in the next patch: Auction House categories have been cleaned up-- no more "Plate > Cloak" categories. "Battle Map" is now available for all zones, not just PvP battlegrounds. Does that mean you can pull up the map and see where all players are at all times? Sounds like it to me. Game objects that you can interact with now have a glow around them and their name over them. Wow! No more searching for twenty minutes just to find that little switch you have to click on. We'll be able to send 12 items in a single mail message! Bye bye, CTMailMod. Monsters that need to be looted by people in your party will now have the name of the would-be looter visible in the tooltip. Bye bye, "LOOT YOUR CORE HOUNDS!" Actually, that one I might miss. And we've heard that there are big enhancements to the minimap-- bankers, auction house tellers, repair people, and quest givers can now be optionally tracked on the minimap. Additionally, fishing anglers will be able to track fishing holes-- but only after obtaining a crate that contains a book from fishing. Wild. The whole thing about interactive items glowing? It's like we're getting "WoW for preschoolers." Don't get me wrong, it'll be a huge help to everyone doing quests, I'm sure, but at what point are we getting a big arrow you can see from halfway across the zone that says "Kill This Mob to Finish Your Quest"?Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

  • Nokia ups Mail for Exchange to version 2

    by 
    Chris Ziegler
    Chris Ziegler
    10.01.2007

    Symbian and Windows Mobile might be sworn enemies, but to play ball in the corporate space, Nokia has little option but to support the 800-pound email gorilla that is Exchange. To that end, Espoo has loosed version 2 of its Mail for Exchange client, tightening integration with Microsoft's Exchange Server 2007 (while still supporting 2003) and enabling full attachment handling and meeting management directly from Nokia's Eseries devices. Who'da thunk they'd be rocking ActiveSync from their E62? Get it now, free of charge, for the entire Eseries line along with the N73, N76, and N95.

  • RPers distraught to see saved letters soulbound

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    09.27.2007

    Here's a really interesting undocumented note from the latest patch: Angelhunter on LJ says letters (as in saved copies of mailed ingame letters) are now soulbound. And that's a huge deal, apparently, to roleplayers -- they used those little scraps of paper for everything from treasure hunts and "official" documents to invitations and tickets.Now, I'm not quite sure exactly why this change would be made -- for what possible reason would you want to keep people from trading saved copies of in-game mail? It's not like it would stop anyone's communication -- anything goldsellers could say in these sheets of paper, they could say in in-game chat just as well. And I can't think of any possible way that these saved letters could be used to do something devious like pass secret letters or communicate across factions-- there's no reason to make them soulbound by default.Of course, it may just be a bug -- that's what someone was told by a GM, so maybe Blizzard will put a fix in, and RPers can have their murder mysteries again. Unfortunately, I can't seeing it justifying a hotfix -- odds are that even if it is just a bug, RPers will be waiting quite a while until they can trade letters again.

  • MailTags 2.1.1 available now

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    09.19.2007

    Scott Morrison sends word that MailTags, the Mail plugin that lets you both tag your emails and connect them directly up to iCal, has hit 2.1.1. The 2.1 release came a few days ago, and introduced incoming reply tagging-- whenever you sent out a message with tags on it, the reply that came back automatically received the same tags-- and the 2.1.1 update improves that feature. You can now tag an outgoing message as "expect reply," and MailTags can notify you through Growl and with highlighting that the reply has arrived.The release also includes an example AppleScript that lets you use a "killed" tag to mark a message and any incoming replies to it as read-- if a thread has ceased to be important to you, you can ignore it completely. Bugfixes involving iCal interaction have also been implemented, and a column sizing interface improvement has been added.The 2.1.1 update is a maintenance update and available for free to MailTags users over at the website. If you haven't bought the plugin yet, you can get it here for $29.95.

  • What's not on the iPod touch

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    09.18.2007

    Bill Palmer sent along this list he put together of all the iPhone features you won't find on the iPod touch. When a lot of people, including myself, first saw the iPod touch, we called it the "iPhone without the phone," because it seemed to pretty much have everything the iPhone had without actually being able to call anyone-- MobileSafari was in there, as was YouTube, Gmail and Yahoo Mail (via the browser). But as Palmer notes, it's not as complete as we first thought.The EDGE network is probably the most obvious and biggest omission-- the iPhone will let you do what you want from anywhere, while an iPod touch only works where your laptop does (unless you have an EDGE hookup, obviously). The Mail application is missing, as is the Notes application (that one has raised a lot of hackles, too), and Bluetooth is gone as well. There's no camera, volume buttons, or dock. The screen isn't quite as good. And strangely enough, Google Maps, Weather, and Stocks are all missing, too. Those seem so easy to implement, and such big selling points, that you wonder what the story is there.Palmer doesn't mean to knock the iPod touch-- he says it's still the best iPod ever, and it really is. If someone did a list of features on the video iPod (or even the Classic) vs. the iPod touch, there'd be no contest. But if anyone was really worried that Apple might cannibalize their own iPhone sales by releasing the iPod touch, a feature list like this shows there's a lot less chance of that.

  • The perfect iPhone email setup

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    08.15.2007

    As you may have read previously, I haven't taken the plunge on an iPhone yet (although I heard McNulty did the other day, which means I might be the only one left at TUAW). But I have been considering it a lot (more than is healthy, probably), and one of my considerations is email. Just a few months ago, I switched completely to Gmail, because I wanted one inbox for all my addresses that I could check and send from anywhere. And with an iPhone, I worry how reading messages will work-- I know I can log right into my Gmail account, but sometimes I have hundreds of messages, and I suspect things will get lost in the mix.Catcubed had the same problem with his iPhone, and now has worked out what he calls the perfect solution. He's written up a tutorial to get Gmail, IMAP, and his iPhone all working together nicely. Basically, he's got it set up so that Gmail archives and checks everything, and then forwards messages that make it through the filter onto his iPhone via a special address that's IMAPped to Mail. Outgoing messages from the iPhone are synced back into Gmail (to be archived), and look like they're coming from the Gmail address. So while he's on the road, Cat can send and check directly from his email address via his iPhone, without having to wade through everything that comes in, and everything will still be kept in his Gmail when he gets back.It sounds darn complicated to set up. But once it gets rolling, it sounds like I won't have any problem getting my iPhone email right. Now, I just need to come up with the $500 for my cell phone budget...Thanks, SFSlim!

  • Around Azeroth: Return to sender

    by 
    Elizabeth Harper
    Elizabeth Harper
    08.15.2007

    Reader Nihil sends in this charming Orgrimmar shot, showing us the results with someone clearly dissatisfied with their postal service. Postal carriers of Azeroth, be warned -- this is the sort of thing that can happen to the bearers of bad news!Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%

  • New Parallels Desktop beta supports iPhone

    by 
    Darren Murph
    Darren Murph
    08.03.2007

    Trust us, the irony of someone needing to sync an Apple device through Windows that's running on a Mac is glaringly obvious, but hey, some folks just can't escape Outlook no matter how hard they try. Nevertheless, the new Parallels Desktop beta (which is available now) does add iPhone support in Windows XP and Vista along with a newly fortified Image Tool / Explorer and coherence windows that now work with Expose. Of course, you should recognize that this stuff is indeed still in beta, but if you're the daring (or overly trusting) type, feel free to hit the read link and get your download on.[Via AppleInsider]

  • MailSteward archiving app for just $34.95 at MacZOT today only

    by 
    David Chartier
    David Chartier
    07.27.2007

    After I realized that I needed to find a way to archive and search the healthy amount of email I deal with in Apple Mail these days, I finally decided on MailSteward. There are indeed a number of email archiving options available (and Hawk Wing's list is probably still as good as any), but MailSteward's powerful array of features and ability to search the archives it creates won me over.If you're looking for a similar solution and MailSteward just might be it, today is a great day to make the jump: software discount site MacZOT is offering the MailSteward for just $34.95. That's a savings of 30% off its normal price of $50, so it's a good opportunity to finally get into the habit of archiving all that mail that you can't entirely delete just yet.

  • Automator iPhone: controlling your Mac with Mail rules

    by 
    Mat Lu
    Mat Lu
    07.16.2007

    We've already mentioned Telekinesis, the cool app that allows you to control your Mac remotely via iPhone Safari. Now the folks over at Automator.us have put together a package of Mail scripts that gives you remote access to documents on your Mac via Mail.app. Basically, it works just by sending emails to your home computer with various commands. So for instance you can save iPhone photos to iPhoto or post them on an iWeb blog. You can get directory listings from your Mac sent back to you and even request particular files be sent back as attachments. Needless to say this raises some security questions. These rules only work on messages from one particular email address and that include a security code, though that's hardly airtight. Nonetheless, if you want a simple way of retrieving files from your Mac onto your iPhone, the iPhone Mail Rules may be worth a look.[via MacNN]

  • Mail system changes (ftw?)

    by 
    Elizabeth Harper
    Elizabeth Harper
    07.10.2007

    In a change that didn't quite make the 2.1.3 patch notes, the behavior of in-game mail has been tweaked in order to help ensure that monetary transactions made via mail are legitimate. To give Blizzard more time to check mail-based money transfers, mail sent with coins attached will now take an hour to arrive (yep, just like all other mail). Now, before you get upset about this, let me add that transfers of both money and items between characters on the same account will remain/become instant. So you can shuffle things around between alts and bank characters faster than ever -- this change only applies if you're sending coin through the mail to other players.Though I doubt this change will stop in-game gold-selling completely, it's good to see Blizzard continuing to be proactive about the issue.

  • iPhone Experience: Initial Thoughts, Mail and SMS

    by 
    Chris Ullrich
    Chris Ullrich
    07.02.2007

    As you might have heard, I ended up waiting in line for my iPhone at the Sherman Oaks, CA Apple Store. Yes, I managed to get one on Friday evening (two, in fact) and went with the 8GB variety. I was very excited to get the device and had a great experience in line with my fellow enthusiasts -- even with the long wait. All in all, a very pleasant time with some very interesting people who were just as excited to be there as I was.Once I got home from the Apple Store, I proceeded through the activation of my iPhone via iTunes. When it got to the screen allowing me to port my existing mobile number over to AT&T, I hesitated, thinking I would play it safe and test out the iPhone a little before committing 100% to AT&T. So, I opted for a new number and went on through the activation process. However, now that I've had the chance to use the device for a couple days, I will most likely port my number from T-Mobile over to AT&T. I anticipate being able to do that with a minimum of fuss but I will, of course, detail my experiences, good or bad, when I do it tomorrow via the AT&T "Porting Department."After going through the entire activation process, I received the activation text message from AT&T about ten minutes later and was good to go to make calls, access the Internet via EDGE, etc. So, unlike some others, activation was a painless process for me. Immediately, I went to work on the iPhone. First, I adjusted my settings in iTunes to sync the various information, songs, podcasts, TV shows or movies that I wanted on my iPhone.

  • iPhone Second Impressions: On activation, UI, EDGE and answering questions

    by 
    David Chartier
    David Chartier
    06.30.2007

    Another quick round of first impression stuff that covers some user problems with activation, EDGE speeds, Google Maps and Mail. We're working on some more focused, in-depth posts that explore individual features in their entirety, such as Safari, the keyboard, Mail, etc. For now, let's get started with trying to solve some of these activation pains and go from there. Activation Readers at TUAW and across the web are reporting all sorts of activation problems, and I'm truly sorry to hear about it, but I might have some tips that could help get your iPhone on its feet. As I recall, iTunes gave me an error message during the activation process, but the iPhone still kicked me back out to the home screen once it was done, and I received the standard 'your phone is activated' email a couple minutes later. I immediately was able to receive a phone call, and SMS and make an outbound call. I was also an existing AT&T customer, so all I had to do was add the $20 iPhone Data Plan during the process. I'm not trying to brag here, just provide context; by my rough calculations, existing AT&T customers seem to be having less problems than those who are first signing up or porting over service, as those operations probably entail a bit more work in the back-end on AT&T's part. There are a couple tricks that might help here: First, some owners are reporting that simply soft resetting the iPhone (hold the power button at the top of the phone for a few seconds to receive the power off slider) and then booting it back up fixes the issue. Just for the heck of it, why not wait a few seconds or even up to a minute? It couldn't hurt, and it might work some network voodoo to wake AT&T up and get your iPhone rollin'. I honestly don't know about this one as it is simply an idea I had, but: if you have a second Mac or PC lying around with the latest iTunes 7.3 installed, you could try plugging it in to see if the activation process begins again. However, remember: this is just an idea I had, and I have no idea whether that will illicit any results or get your activation process even more borked up on AT&T's books. I honestly don't believe it could do any damage, but I certainly am no AT&T activations engineer either. This is another theory that I haven't seen tested or mentioned anywhere, so take this one with a grain of salt as well: If you're an existing AT&T customer with a SIM card in your current (or - hopefully - soon to be replaced) phone, you could try swapping out the iPhone's SIM card as outlined in the iPhone User Guide (not included with the phone itself). Simply open that in Preview and search for SIM; your first result should be a guide for removing the SIM card and inserting a new one. Then plug your iPhone back into iTunes to see if a new activation process can begin. Again: this is just a theory; I haven't tested or heard anyone try this as a solution for activation problems. Update: More readers are reporting that turning off your old phone before activating the iPhone might help with activation issues. While this tip won't do you any good if you're already caught in the limbo of AT&T's activation system, it might help if my idea of re-trying activation with a different computer is worth anything. EDGE It's surprisingly fast. The best speed test I've found so far for Safari on the iPhone is dslreports.com/mspeed, offering a really scaled down page with a few download size options and no-nonsense results. I'm getting, on average, about 150 kbit/sec downloads on my phone. In light of the drawbacks of EDGE's (traditional) speed, the only reason that makes sense as to why Apple and AT&T didn't make some massive announcement of a network upgrade is that they're getting hammered this weekend with iPhone activations and people tinkering around with surfing via EDGE. If they're going to announce this at all, waiting until maybe sometime next week makes sense as the iPhone storm might be dissipating to more manageable levels where most users will see this increased speed across the country. Of course, this is just speculation on my part, but the tests don't lie: users across the nation are reporting that EDGE has upgraded from its previous 20 kbits/sec speed to anywhere from 100k - 200 kbits/sec. This is great (unofficial) news. Call me crazy, but I think YouTube is serving up different movies based on whether you are viewing via Wi-Fi or EDGE. I've watched three separate videos via both wireless methods, one of them user generated with crummy equipment to start with, and I swear I see a higher quality version over Wi-Fi than when watching with EDGE. Whether this means there are literally two separate files encoded at different qualities or if YouTube is working some streaming + compression magic I have no idea, but I would love to hear other iPhone users chime in on this one. Google Maps usually impresses me with its speed when viewing satellite images over EDGE. Simply viewing the standard map and searching for a location is almost always snappy over EDGE (sometimes there seems to be a delay, but not often), and even downloading satellite imagery is usable. Google Maps This was probably demoed and I just don't remember, but I'm talking to enough iPhone owners who didn't know this that I felt it warranted a mention: you can pinch to zoom in and out of either Google Maps views. This is fantastic. Traffic reports are usually pretty snappy, again even over EDGE. The Bookmarks feature of Google Maps (accessible by the blue book in the address bar) is a great way to save frequently used routes and quickly get at the addresses of contacts. At first I was slightly disappointed that I can't hook the iPhone's Google Maps up to my actual Google Account, but after exploring that Bookmarks feature, I deem it a non-issue, at least for me. Mail, selecting and deleting items Some readers are asking about doing operations like deleting more than one Mail message at a time. While you can slide your finger across any single message to invoke that red delete button for just that message, hitting the Edit button at the top of any message list will invoke red buttons to the left of every message in the list. While this isn't exactly the same as holding the Command key on a Mac, selecting a bunch of messages and hitting the delete key once to trash them all, this is the quickest way I can find to perform large deleting operations. This seems to be the UI for any situation where you have a list of items that can be deleted; there's no way to select a few of them at random and hit one delete key - instead, you enable a 'delete mode' which makes it easier to delete more than one message, but still one at a time. I'm slightly disappointed at the lack of the 'One Inbox to Rule Them All' like Mail in Mac OS X has; if you have more than one account synched to the iPhone, you have to drill down into each account's inbox to view any new messages, drill back out to the accounts list and then drill back into a new account and inbox to view that account's new messages. It's clunky, but it's also becoming inspiration for me to consolidate email accounts. That's about it for now. Like I said, stay tuned for those more in-depth posts on individual features, but in the meantime, I hope everyone's activation problems can get solved soon.

  • MiniMail: iTunes' mini window makes it to Mail

    by 
    David Chartier
    David Chartier
    06.25.2007

    A while ago, Derek Powazek proposed an idea for a mini Mail window based on the functionality of iTunes' mini option; hit the best fit button - the green one - in iTunes to get an idea, or simply check out Derek's post for an actual screenshot mockup of the concept. Fortunately, John Gruber just caught that OliveToast software literally ran with the concept, releasing - to my absolute delight - a MiniMail plug-in for Apple Mail.As you can see, MiniMail allows users to simply hit Mail's best fit button (or choosing Window > Zoom) to condense it to a 'just what you need' view, offering a customizable preview area and three menu buttons for performing a healthy set of operations. Fortunately, keyboard shortcuts still work fine as well, so ???-n will create a new message. Even using the arrow keys works for moving back and forth in the message list, and thankfully, the list of mailboxes is customizable for this view as well so you can see just what you need.After a few minutes of tinkering with the demo while writing this post, I'm happy to say that the receipt for my $9 license just arrived. MiniMail rocks, and I'm so glad someone brought Powazek's concept to life, as this is the perfect compromise that I've been looking for between constantly hiding and showing Mail while still making it easy to do basic things in it on the fly. Thanks, OliveToast software.

  • TUAW Tip: Names for .Mac aliases sync to Apple Mail

    by 
    David Chartier
    David Chartier
    06.24.2007

    One of my most significant gripes with .Mac has been in relation to a seemingly minor feature, but one that is (in my experience) fairly unique to Apple's struggling web service: email aliases. When I discovered .Mac a few years ago, I immediately fell in love with the ability to create alternative email addresses that still funnel into one inbox; one address for email lists I'm subscribed to, another for shopping online, etc. These .Mac aliases make it incredibly easy to filter email (for example: a rule that says "move all messages sent to [this address] to [that folder]"), and they also act as a safety net because if one gets caught by a spam bot, it can easily be deleted and replaced with a new one with barely a few clicks in the .Mac mail preferences pane. I also prefer the way .Mac aliases work to Gmail's, because they can be truly unique names: shopping@mac.com can be an alias for steve@mac.com, while Gmail is limited by a username+alias@gmail.com format, allowing any person or bot familiar with Gmail to easily scrape out one's true address.However, my gripe with this wonderful alias feature is that, at least early on, you couldn't apply actual names to any of these aliases; they would simply appear in people's inboxes as being from AliasName@mac.com. Once .Mac introduced the ability to name these aliases some time ago, they were still handicapped by the fact that the names you apply to aliases wouldn't sync down to Apple Mail, and sending email from those aliases would not take on the names you applied. Again, an admittedly minor gripe over an obscure feature, but there are a number of reasons this name + alias thing can be incredibly useful, not the least of which is a professional appearance when corresponding with clients and businesses, as well as simply allowing people to know who you are when you reply to email lists and the like.But the time for griping about minor details that make a big difference in .Mac aliases has been officially retired, for sometime since that big .Mac webmail upgrade last October that we reviewed, Apple Mail has been endowed with the magical goodness necessary to synchronize the names you apply to your aliases. Like I said, I haven't touched my .Mac email in a while for various reasons (this alias issue being one) so I didn't catch it earlier, but after tinkering with it this morning I noticed that Mail was suddenly displaying a few of the names I had given to my aliases (pulldown menu pictured above on right). This should be fantastic news to any .Mac members (or potential members) interested in leveraging the incredibly handy powers of this alias feature. It might take a synchronization or two for Apple Mail to pull down any of the names you apply in the .Mac mail preference pane, but you too can enjoy the wonders of flexible, secure and (if need be) anonymous emailing both online and - finally - with the integrated goodness of Apple's desktop email client.

  • iGTD 1.4.5: Again with the landslide of new features

    by 
    David Chartier
    David Chartier
    06.22.2007

    It's official: I am developing my own version system to keep track of iGTD updates, because this 1.x.x thing is just not right. The way I see it, this new iGTD v1.4.5 should really be called v3.5, what with yet another batch of major new features being introduced. Included in this update is F-key integration with PathFinder, Yojimbo and MacJournal (so you can send items from these apps to iGTD for task tracking), a Quick Tags feature that allows you to bind tags to shortcuts like Alt + 1 - 9 and a killer new feature that integrates with an Apple Mail rule. Once set up, this rule allows you to email yourself with a subject like "todo: @work spike the water cooler" and Mail will send it on over to iGTD automatically. For anyone who works in an office and away from their Mac at home, this is a killer way to make actual use out of all those todo emails you send yourself all day.Of course, I don't even need to tell you that there are more features in this update. By now it's become par for the course that an iGTD update brings tons of other enhancements, new tricks and bug fixes, so head on over to Bartlomiej Bargiel's announcement blog post to get the full details. To get the new version, simply start up iGTD or head up to the application menu and chose Check for Updates, or simply visit the iGTD downloads page and click the Current Release link to make sure you get the most up-to-date version.

  • What happened to .Mac?

    by 
    David Chartier
    David Chartier
    06.11.2007

    After all the fuss over the new Mac OS X Leopard features, the rest of today's announcements and the Apple.com site redesign, I finally noticed that .Mac has taken a bit of a back seat on the site, at least for now. Note that along the new minimal site navigation bar at the top of Apple's site, .Mac no longer enjoys its own tab. Apple has of course done some house cleaning and simplified that navigation menu, and .Mac is now a sub-section under the main Mac tab, along with Apple's other Mac hardware and software products, and is featured under the "Why You'll Love A Mac" section. The .Mac link at the very bottom of Apple's pages has been turned into a header, with the Learn More and Log In links broken out -- www.mac.com still works, though, redirecting to apple.com/dotmac.Keep in mind that the .Mac site was not merely used for product promotion: it also served as the gateway to the web-based .Mac services like Mail, Bookmarks, Address Book, etc. Of course, it could easily be argued that the web-based .Mac services took a major back seat to the applications and features Apple has built into Mac OS X, but still: what could this mean? Jobs recently admitted that .Mac wasn't achieving its full potential and that it was due for an overhaul, so it doesn't quite make sense to assume the service is in any serious trouble. The more likely assumption here is that .Mac is in fact (or at least hopefully) undergoing that overhaul Mr. J mentioned, and that it will regain some prominence at Apple's site once it returns for the next round.When that will be, of course, is still anyone's guess. There was no real mention of .Mac during today's keynote, nor any mention of its close companion iLife, either. As usual with Apple's quiet attitude towards development, we'll have to play the waiting game to see what becomes of Apple's polarizing web service package.

  • TUAW Tip: Address Book offers a lot of handy contact management

    by 
    David Chartier
    David Chartier
    06.07.2007

    Address Book is one of Apple's apps that might seem too basic at first glance to many a user. While this under-appreciation could largely be due to its unassuming name, Address Book offers a surprising amount of useful features, especially in the contact management department. Of course, there are the typical Apple-esque Smart Groups which you can use to automatically and dynamically round up contacts based on any criteria you want (family last names, employers or even notes you add yourself), but check out the Card menu in Address Book and note two options: Merge Selected Cards and (my personal favorite since I play with way too much synching software in the name of TUAW and Download Squad) Look for Duplicate Entries. Those are two great tools for ensuring your contacts only take up one entry each in Address Book (if you only want one entry for each, that is), and I highly recommend using Look for Duplicate Entries if things get out of hand, as it's saved me countless hours after botched synching sessions and wayward synching software had their way with my contacts. Importing new contacts cards (usually .VCF files) is nothing very special, but Address Book is pretty smart when you import a card for someone already in you contacts list. Typically, Address Book will catch the potential duplication and offer you four options for managing both the old and new cards. A window will be presented with four buttons along the bottom: Keep Old, Keep New, Keep Both and Update, allowing you to ensure that you don't blow away old data you want to keep for the contact while importing anything new you might need. Combine some of these tricks and tools with the Mail + Address Book tips Merlin Mann wrote about back in April, and you have some pretty powerful tools for managing your contacts and organizing the correspondence you have with them.

  • MailTags 2.0 leaves beta, goes official

    by 
    David Chartier
    David Chartier
    05.30.2007

    Scott Morrison's fantastic MailTags 2.0 is hands-down the best (and not because it is the only) plug-in that brings the wonders of tagging and iCal integration to Apple Mail. We've mentioned it plenty of times here on TUAW, and with good reason: Scott has put this new version of MailTags and its healthy dose of new features through a rigorous beta testing period, and tonight the plug-in makes that coveted leap from 'beta' to 'official release.' While Scott pops some well-deserved bubbly to celebrate his hard work, check out this list of tasty features designed for those who need more from an integrated desktop email client: IMAP support - sync your tags over IMAP servers and use them to keep your mail organized and synced across any Mac you have MailTags installed on A much-improved integrated interface for viewing and editing tags The ability to view tags in Mail's List view (an extra, optional column to let you know a message is tagged) Dynamic coloring of messages based on project, approaching due dates and priorities Integration with iCal, allowing you to create to dos and events right from Mail Including tags in your outbound messages for other MailTags users Better integration with Mail's search tools, allowing you to specify searching only for message tags, projects or even notes you've applied with MailTags (in addition to Mail's default criteria of Entire Message, From, To, etc.) Better integration with Mail's smart mailboxes Applescript compatibility I've been a happy user of MailTags 2.0 since it the early days of the beta, and I tip my hat to Scott for releasing such a great product. You can grab your own demo that runs for 21 days, while a license costs $29.95, with educational and volume discounts available upon requests.

  • Apple Mail plug-in roundup

    by 
    David Chartier
    David Chartier
    05.27.2007

    Since I solved a number of the issues plaguing my Mail account setup - including a workaround to kinda use Gmail over IMAP (more on that soon) - I have sunk my teeth back into Apple's excellent email client. Now I'm pretty happy with using a few plug-ins like Scott Morrison's stellar MailTags 2 and Stefan Schüßler's Mail.appetizer (which we have previously mentioned at length here and here), though I am continually surprised by the number of plug-ins that endow Mail with everything from better support for Windows Office attachments, to creating events from messages and even more fine-toothed Smart Mailboxes for your Address Book contacts. One only needs to run a search for Mail at MacUpdate to see what I'm talking about, but I figured I could round up a few of these plug-ins just to give you an idea.