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BitTorrent Sync coming to iOS this week (update: available now!)
BitTorrent promised that its Sync Beta service would get an iOS client, and the company is making good on its word with plans to launch the app this week. As with the Android release, iOS users will get to sync files of any size, send content to other mobile devices and back up photos. And if you're not carrying an Apple device, BitTorrent still has a small treat in store: it's rolling out a localization update that supports 10 major Asian and European languages. Whatever your platform of choice, you'll find more details at the source link. Update: And it's live. The download resides at second source link!
BusyCal adds long-anticipated Exchange compatibility
It's a big day for Exchange users; one of the best Mac calendar applications, BusyCal, has just been updated to support Microsoft's enterprise collaboration technology. Version 2.5 is available in the Mac App Store now, as a free upgrade for existing users or US$29.99 for new licensees. The new version supports Office 365, full sharing privileges, public calendars, free / busy time, tasks and more. Of course, the new build is still compatible with both iCloud and Google Calendar hosted scheduling. Mac users who work with Microsoft Exchange calendars may sometimes feel like they just have to make the best of a challenging situation. Microsoft's own Office client, Outlook 2011, works well, but doesn't necessarily deliver that "born on Mac" experience we crave; Apple's Calendar (formerly iCal) may feel right, but compatibility hiccups can drag down your calendar productivity. Even the popular Fantastical app relies on one of those full-featured calendars for syncing. Back in the day, the original BusyCal application (up through version 1.6) worked with Sync Services and iCal / Calendar to deliver Exchange functionality to happy users. Unfortunately, as Apple's underlying synchronization technology was deprecated (not to mention being creaky and buggy for quite a while), BusyMac founders John Chaffee and Dave Riggle made the tough choice in BusyCal 2 to abandon Sync Services and restructure the app around the supportable cloud calendaring technologies. A number of features had to be left on the editing floor in that change, including publishing calendars local-to-Google and crossover LAN sync with cloud calendars. (I was personally irked about that shift, as I was apparently one of a small number of BusyCal 1.x customers successfully using the product to replicate my work Exchange calendar to a Google calendar so that my spouse would be able to track my comings and goings.) Chaffee and Riggle have been working on Mac calendar apps for a long time; they were behind the remarkably capable Now Up-to-Date networked scheduling app that debuted on Mac OS 7 in the early 1990s. It's great to see their current product still evolving and responding to the needs of the Mac community. You can read more about BusyCal, and get a full rundown of using the app for sharing and collaboration, in the free BusyCal Take Control e-book by Joe Kissel.
Evernote starts rate-limiting third-party apps, hopes for minimal impact
With over 50 million note-taking users, Evernote has a lot of traffic on its hands -- enough so that the company is now rate-limiting third-party software that relies on its API. As of today, new apps can only sync a certain amount of information with Evernote in a given hour. While the caps aren't clearly defined and are likely to change, Evernote will start throttling all existing apps on November 1st. This isn't necessarily the prelude to a Twitter-style crackdown on third-party clients, however. As many apps sync their data sparingly, Evernote doesn't foresee many companies running into the API limit. It primarily anticipates problems with apps that sync everything, and it's offering to chat with affected developers to minimize trouble. Evernote's promises aren't guaranteed to reassure app designers, but they suggest that end users might not notice the difference.
SYNC by 50 wireless speaker hits SMS Audio's store with $200 price tag
SMS Audio, the brainchild of Curtis "50 cent" Jackson, may be known for its pricey headphones, but the company is broadening its horizons with its first portable speaker, which you can now purchase for the not-so-humble price of $200. The SYNC by 50 wireless speaker boasts Bluetooth functionality, NFC capability and omni-directional sound due to its rounded design. Additionally, the SYNC comes equipped with 50mm tuned drivers, a 3.5mm headphone jack and five EQ settings to fiddle with. If you've always had your heart set on a Fiddy-branded speaker, you can find it in "shadow black" (as opposed to plain ol' black) on SMS Audio's website, linked below. For more info, check out the full press release after the break.
Google Sync support for Windows Phone to be kept alive until December 31st
As it turns out, yesterday wasn't the last opportunity to get your Windows Phone chatting with Google Sync. At the final hour, El Goog decided it wasn't the right time to block new connections for contact and calendar syncing -- the end date has been postponed again, this time to December 31st. That should leave plenty of time for all handsets to receive the GDR 2 update, letting CalDAV and CardDAV take over syncing duties so that Google Sync can finally retire with a clear conscience.
Google Calendar for Android gets cross-device notification sync
The simplest updates are sometimes the best. See the latest update to Google Calendar for Android as an example: the release adds notification syncing between Android devices, saving the trouble of clearing multiple alerts while hopping from tablet to phone and back. That's the only major addition, but it could represent a big time saver for anyone with a busy schedule. If you're in that camp, you can grab the new Calendar now through Google Play.
PSA: Windows Phones to lose Google Sync activation on August 1st
Windows Phone users who want to use Google Sync for contact and calendar integration had better act quickly: today is the last day that they can link their handsets to the service before Google pulls the plug. From August 1st onwards, Google Sync will only work on a given Windows Phone if it's already configured. The GDR 2 upgrade keeps syncing alive through CalDAV and CardDAV support, although many users could go without that support for some time -- to date, Americans can only see the OS refresh on the HTC 8XT, Lumia 520, Lumia 925 and Lumia 1020. If you're not in that group and miss the Google Sync deadline, you'll just have to sit tight while Microsoft finishes rolling out the GDR 2 update this summer.
SwiftKey Cloud syncs your keyboard profile, includes trending phrases (video)
Here's something we've all been wanting for some time. SwiftKey Cloud is launching today with a bunch of new functionality including -- you guessed it -- cloud backup and synchronization across multiple devices. By keeping your keyboard profile and settings online, you no longer have to re-teach Swiftkey your typing habits if you upgrade to a new tablet or lose your phone. Trending phrases is another new feature which analyzes relevant and localized phrases that are trending on social networks and other media and adds them daily to the keyboard's vocabulary. It supports US / UK English and eleven other languages at launch, with more coming in the future. Finally, SwiftKey Cloud makes its easier than before to personalize your keyboard by connecting it with your GMail, Facebook, Twitter and now Yahoo! mail accounts. We've been using the beta for about a day now and everything's working as advertised. Check out the gallery below, then hit the break for the promo video and PR. %Gallery-194389%
BitTorrent Sync Beta launches with Android app, file versioning
BitTorrent Sync Alpha isn't ready to equal rivals like Dropbox or Google Drive without a mobile component. It's a good thing that BitTorrent just launched Sync Beta, then -- the more polished release includes an Android app that syncs with computers and shares files with fellow Android users. The update also brings versioning through SyncArchive, which stores previous file iterations in a folder. Sync Beta is available on both Android and the desktop today, and BitTorrent promises that an iOS equivalent is coming in the near future.
CrowdFlik enables ad-hoc video collaboration at events
A couple of years ago, I attended a school concert where one of my children was performing. As I looked around the gymnasium, it was immediately obvious when a particular set of parents had their children taking the stage; the phones and cameras all appeared suddenly, like gophers peeping out of their holes. "What a shame," I thought, "that there's not a good collaboration tool for all of us to securely share our photos and videos from this event. Imagine the edited version of the video, using all the different shots from around the room!" I didn't notice him hanging around, but apparently Chris Hamer was standing nearby with his mind-reading ray. The former advertising and marketing exec is now the CEO of CrowdFlik, and his company has created an event-centric video app that's aimed squarely at those soccer game and school concert videographers (plus bigger public events). Hamer's brainwave is all about synchronization. It would be prohibitively tough to sync up all the video shot at an event, unless the devices had lined up their time codes in advance. That's the CrowdFlik trick: when you open the app and create or join an event (tied into your phone's location), the app checks with the US Naval Observatory's master atomic clock to make sure it's microsecond-accurate. From that point forward, the recorded clips (in 10-second chunks) will line up perfectly with the recordings of other participants. You can watch other CrowdFlikers' videos in the app, and upload and share your own. The real fun comes in remixing, though: once the videos are processed in the cloud, you can pick an event to slice and dice at will. Each 10-second segment "stack" shows you all the available clips covering that moment, and you simply tap the one you want to move it into the video timeline. Your finished "Flik" can be synced back to the CrowdFlik cloud, and since the app is only moving the EDL (edit decision list -- the information about which clips are used when, not the clips themselves) the transfer is speedy compared to a full video upload. CrowdFlik requires Facebook authentication to log in (other services are coming), and the app's rough edges show that it's still very much a 1.0 -- although the relatively flat UI should work out nicely on iOS 7. There's no privacy option for events, for instance, although that feature is on the roadmap. Hamer has big plans for the service, though, and he anticipates some interesting use cases for big concerts, sporting events and other mass-scale crowd situations. Imagine a promoter or band offering loyalty points or other perks for CrowdFlik users who volunteer their video to be used on the band's tour site -- that sort of thing is a possibility. The CrowdFlik app is free for iPhone 4, 4S and 5 and is on the App Store now (note that the App Store description says it's compatible with the 3GS and iPod touch, but that's not recommended). An iPad-optimized version is in the works. Here's a video demo from Hamer at TechCrunch Disrupt, showing how an early beta of the CrowdFlik app works.
Future Ford cars to balance MyFord Touch with old-fashioned buttons
While Ford's MyFord Touch is a popular option for tech-savvy drivers, it's not always the most intuitive -- some complain that basic tasks, like radio tuning, are relatively awkward. The company is very aware of the feedback, as it's now supplementing the touch controls with "traditional" buttons and knobs. Both the latest F-150 and future vehicles will reflect the hybrid approach. Ford is still giving touchscreens some love with a MyFord Touch update due this summer, but it's clear that the company will keep one foot in the analog world for a while longer.
SugarSync adds remote wipe, scrubs cloud data from Macs and PCs
These days, the danger of a stolen PC resides less in local files and more in cloud access -- presumably, no one wants to share their online storage with a thief. SugarSync's paid subscribers won't have to worry, as the company just rolled out a remote wipe option. Customers now just have to sign in through the web to purge a Mac or Windows system of both its shared files and any active logins. A wipe target doesn't have to be online when the purge starts, either. The new failsafe won't help if an evildoer moves data elsewhere, but we'll gladly take what extra security we can get.
Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 desktop sync app now out of beta
A preview build of the Windows Phone 8 app for desktop has been around, but today Microsoft has released a full-fledged version and thrown in some new features to boot. In addition to bug fixes, the stable build comes with the capability to sync files from any folder in your computer (even if it's an external hard drive), sync non-iTunes podcasts and install updates within the app. Of course, it can still be used to sync media between mobile devices and Windows 7 or 8 PCs, import playlists and monitor how much storage space each type of content is eating up on your phone. You can visit the source for a download link if you own a WP8 device, but check out the sync wizard first if you're unsure what software to use to sync your files -- trust us, it's much more useful than Clippy ever was.
Productivity Tip: Synchronizing tasks for the individual
This week's Productivity Tip... As a kid I used little Day Timer notebooks to keep track of my schedules and projects. Of course my duties in high school were minimal compared to today, but those pocket-able sprial-bound notepads were great for capturing and tracking all my "stuff." In film school I met a videographer who kept track of his schedule using a PalmPilot. I loved how, for years, my PalmPilot kept perfect sync with my Mac -- provided I put it in the cradle every day and hit the Sync button. Today, we don't have that sync button. The "cloud" has removed the need for it, right? Well, that depends. Brain sync There's a famous story of Charles Schwab, at the time the president of Bethlehem Steel, who advised Ivy Lee (his generation's Covey or Allen) that he could increase Lee's team's efficiency with one simple tip. That tip was to write down the six most important things you have to do the next day before going to bed. At the end of the next day, anything still on that list went onto the next day's six things, and so on. Inspired by this, and by Federico Vittici's use of Drafts and Day One, I've started a similar ritual. Instead of one daily pass, however, I've started journaling in the morning (using Day One) and reviewing my tasks at night (using OmniFocus). You can do both of these using Drafts, in fact. Lists can be sent to Clear as tasks -- which I do if the day has only single-task items needed -- or OmniFocus, or Due, etc. The reason I call this "brain sync" is that I now have, via Day One, a running list of my personal and professional thoughts and goals every day. Coupled with a focused task list, I can reflect on where I am at any point. Making the simple list at the end of the night helps me sleep better, knowing exactly what my priorities are for the next day. Waking up and jotting down thoughts often yields solutions to problems, but also keeps a running log of what my mushy brain thinks is important contrasted with the hard reality of my task list. The goal is to align them over time, as much as possible. When to sync The Cloud: Syncs all the time, in theory. If you use iCloud, your iOS or Mac device will sync more or less seamlessly in the background at intervals regularly enough to cause few issues for an individual user. With iCloud, the system monitors a specific folder outside of the app itself, so changes made on your iPhone to, say, a Byword document, will appear on your Mac when you open up the document there. There are some issues with cloud sync, however. Depending on the mechanism, you might run into version conflicts. Services like Dropbox allow you to roll back, but iCloud really doesn't. Also, if you force quit an app while a sync is in progress and the app isn't using iCloud, you could end that sync session and wind up with problems. This is a rare one, but it's something to consider if you're the type of person who routinely "cleans up" their list of open apps on iOS. Apps: If an app is using iCloud, sync "just happens." Dropbox also has a sort of background sync, and apps that are in the process of uploading data can continue to "stay live" when closed for up to 10 minutes. Provided you don't lose your network connection, that should be ample time for Evernote and other such apps to sync their data. There are times when you will want to manually sync, however. In OmniFocus, for example, the default is to sync when opened. I also like to click the sync button if I've just gone through entering a bunch of data (after a review on my iPad, or if I've just powered through some errands). Then there are some apps which allow you to see when a sync happens, or force a sync when you wish or maybe even require you to manually initiate a sync. Again, I recommend doing this before closing the app. When I move a timer to the next day using Due, for example, I like to pull to refresh the timer so my Mac isn't sitting there chiming for a couple of minutes before sync happens. Paper: If you're using a mix of apps and paper, for best results sync at least once daily, then do a top-down check once a week to make sure everything is on track. It's sort of like reconciling your bank accounts. How to sync Cloud: I highly recommend using the sync service preferred by the application you use. iCloud is Apple's effort to push a ubiquitous sync solution in iOS. Unfortunately, as of this writing there are some serious problems with iCloud. Gus Mueller goes into the gory details, but I have hope that with WWDC looming, Apple is going to fix this. OmniFocus uses Omni's own sync service, and I have almost never had issues with it. Omni's sync is now available to other apps from the company as well, which makes for a delightful experience. Apps like Drafts and Simplenote use Simperium. There are tons of apps out there with Dropbox integration (I use Byword with Dropbox), and of course Google's products are all starting to get connected and sync up. Most of the time, all of this stuff "just works," and it works much better than it used to! Paper: How you sync if you blend paper and digital will, of course, depend upon the mix of the two. If you're lucky enough to be able to easily transcribe your paper stuff into digital stuff, you're way ahead of the game. Things like the Livescribe pen are expensive, but you can also use Evernote to scan your handwriting and do its best to find your words (it does pretty well, in fact). Personally I'm not afraid to spend some time scribbling notes in my project books or notepads, then spend about 10 minutes a day transferring what I need to OmniFocus. Perhaps the best of all worlds is this fancy Evernote Moleskine, which I haven't tried yet. What I do, now, is keep a collection of 3-ring binders. Each binder is a particular context, more or less. There's one notebook for home, comprising my DIY projects (repairs and improvements), tasks like checking on insurance and so on. There's another for work, which contains projects and plans for TUAW. Like Behance's Action Method, anything that needs to be done beyond a single-step is a project, and gets a sheet in the notebook. One sheet, that's all, for every single project I cook up. I wind up using leftover ruled paper I buy every school year for this. I use dividers, emergent task planning sheets and the like in these notebooks, but ultimately those are all for my mush-brain to write out and try to analyze. Once I have a specific path organized and ready to go, I put in the relevant project tasks into OmniFocus or my calendar (or sometimes Clear). This setup gives me the flexibility of being able to plan with sheets of paper -- and that's how my mind works best -- but digitize and distill the action steps needed to get there. Each week I sync up tasks completed and marked in my digital tools with the notebooks on the shelf, ensuring I can see progress towards the goals. Each project has a page, with a goal. Each project has a set of tasks. Those tasks go digital, then are scratched off digitally, then on paper. If reshuffling and more planning are needed, I find it's easier to manage this in paper form, with notes in margins, arrows pointing to milestones, etc. There's a benefit to me to having all of this on paper and having to double-check things. This is actually a rather new system for me, so I'll be detailing progress and usage in posts to come. For now, I wanted to give a concrete example to anyone out there with so much as a simple notepad they use to track tasks. My recommendation is that you try to sync at least once a week, and consider tools to help transcribe your notes. Conclusion We're currently enjoying the best way to sync so far right now, but cloud services have their caveats. Network problems, data collisions and more can turn sync into stink. I find myself doing more work on paper first, then transmuting it into digital forms for dispersal and action. That way I have some form of backup for my thought processes. No matter what you do, consider a "brain sync" twice a day to help keep you focused on those most important tasks, whether you keep them digitally or on paper -- and never forget to back up your critical data!
Verizon Cloud spreads to iOS devices, Droid DNA and Galaxy S 4
When Verizon Cloud launched last month, it would only back up a few Android devices -- not quite the cross-platform utopia that the carrier had in mind. Today's launch of the Verizon Cloud iOS app should get the company (and subscribers) closer to the original vision. Like its mobile counterpart, the iPhone-focused release syncs or streams documents and media from every platform that Verizon supports, including PCs. Just don't expect a wide safety net, though, as the iOS app won't back up call logs, contacts or messages. Still prefer Android? You're covered as well -- Verizon has expanded the compatibility list to include more Google-powered hardware, such as the Droid DNA and the Galaxy S 4. As long as you're inclined toward Verizon Cloud in the first place, the source links should get all your devices working in harmony.
Chrome 27 goes stable with small speed boost, Chromium nabs app launcher on Mac
After sitting in a beta phase since early April, Chrome 27 is finally seeing a wide release with its arrival on the stable track. Headlining the fresh desktop version is a 5 percent speed boost to web page load times and a new API for saving and syncing data to Google Drive. Refined spell correction, "numerous fundamental improvements" to the Omnibox, improved prediction rankings and an assortment of security fixes have also been baked in. Back in developer territory, Google's François Beaufort announced that the latest Chromium build for Mac has been outfitted with the anticipated app launcher. Check your browser for the update or jab the source links below to grab the apps manually.
Google Play spruced up in new release, Services app nabs new syncing options
On the eve of Google I/O, Page and Co. have seen fit to polish the Google Play app with a fresh release. Version 4.1.6 of the mobile OS market brings colorful section buttons and improved spacing for "open" and "install" on application pages, along with a new layout for the wishlist feature that displays apps in rows of three. As for Google Play Services, it's received new syncing options for "App Data" and "People Details." Presumably they could relate to contacts, Google+ or even Mountain View's incoming gaming service, but something tells us we'll find out exactly what they do tomorrow. If your handset hasn't received the updated storefront just yet, follow the adjacent source link to install it by hand.
Samsung SideSync functionality gets detailed on video
For many iOS users, the concept of backing up their iPhones and iPads to ones PC is a familiar one -- just plug it into iTunes, hit a button, and wait around for an undetermined amount of time. For Android users, however, the idea of syncing one's phone to a PC may be a bit more foreign. Back in April, Samsung quietly launched SideSync software in order to both back up a user's phone while also allowing a laptop's mouse to dictate actions on the mobile. Things like copy / paste and drag / drop can be accessed while connected, and users can even pull a virtual copy of their phone up while mousing around on their laptop. For those needing a few visuals to get their noodle wrapped around it all, just click through the break.
Rovio launches syncable accounts for Angry Birds Classic and others, stores your progress across devices
No more repeating those first stages. Again. No more attempts to glean three stars on Level 4-14. Again. Rovio is finally offering sync functions for its new Croods game, globally, and its original hit, Angry Birds -- although that's only for Poland and Finland. Frustratingly, it's also only on iOS for now, although Rovio promises more areas (both device-wise and geographically, we assume) are coming soon. You'll need an email account to get yourself set up, but once that's sorted, all scores and stars can be transferred over, unified in a single account.
Verizon Cloud backup service rolling out for Android, comes soon to iOS
Smartphone owners have no shortage of cloud-based safety nets, whether it's Google's services, iCloud or any number of file sync providers. Few of these come from the carrier, however, and Verizon is gambling that its now-deploying Verizon Cloud service will serve as a crutch for anyone replacing a phone on its network. The currently Android- and web-only release offers daily backups of the usual media libraries as well as call logs, contacts and messages. While that isn't special in itself, Verizon is also promising cross-platform safeguards: both an iOS app (available "soon") and future OS support should let customers fetch some of their data if they switch platforms. Just don't count on Verizon Cloud as an alternative to established rivals unless you're both loyal to Verizon and willing to spend. Users get a thin 500MB of space for free, and meaningful storage ranges from $3 per month for 25GB through to $10 for 125GB. Should there be little danger of leaving Big Red, though, Verizon's service and a matching Android app update are available today.
