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Add tasks to productivity apps using Siri and CalDAV
Last month, Remember the Milk published a quick tutorial showing their customers how to use Siri's voice control with the Reminders app and CalDAV to send tasks to RTM. A slightly different Siri workaround can be used by iOS owners to send their tasks to other third-party to-do apps. All you need is an app that syncs with iCal and an iPhone 4S with an active iCloud account. This method requires you to sync your to-do list with your reminders list in iCal. These iCal lists are then synced with iCloud which shares them with your iOS device. It's bi-directional so any task you create using Siri will be sent to the Reminders app then to iCloud, iCal and finally your to-do app. Pretty handy, isn't it? It works with Things and The Hit List says Oliver Collet who posted this little trick after his friend Antoine mentioned it on Twitter. It will likely work with other to-do apps like OmniFocus that also sync with iCal. If you get it to work with other To-Do apps, let us know in the comments. [Via Daring Fireball]
MyFord Touch Upgrade inbound, brings 'faster, simpler, easier' infotainment to your late-model whip
For better or worse, Ford owners have been basking in the overzealous infotainment ways of MyFord Touch for over a year now. Since then, the service's been updated with amenities such as integrated Nuance voice recognition for SYNC, but now the Dearborn-based automobile monolith is taking things a few steps forward. Penned for release "early next year," the MyFord Touch Upgrade will usher in a massive revamp across every nook and cranny of the system as a whole. Starting with the 2013 model year Flex, Taurus and Escape, drivers will be greeted by over 1,000 revised screens implementing an "improved look," with an up to 40 percent increase in font sizes, a simpler -- and more cohesive -- GUI focused displaying only important info (for less clutter) and notably, doubly fast response times for touch and voice-based inputs. And oh yes, it gets even better. Those with tablets will be pleased to know that multimedia playback will be supported via USB, while mobile phones will benefit from quicker automatic Bluetooth pairing and better echo and noise-cancellation. Ford has also baked-in voice support for sports buffs with Sirius Game Finder, as well as bibliophiles with Audible.com integration (which can also be touch controlled, should you desire it). Best of all, you'll no longer need to recite any parenthetical or bracketed album info your music tracks may have, or the direction of street names when inputting addresses for directions. Speaking of, the TeleNav-enabled nav system will have further map detail courtesy of Navteq, with enhancements like more 3D imaging, "photorealistic" signage and better route planning thanks to "a database of historical traffic patterns." If you've already got some miles on an existing MyFord Touch-enabled ride, no worries -- Ford will give your system the upgrade pro bono when it's available, taking all but a (hopefully) quick visit to your local dealer. Potential and current Ford owners will find more visuals in the gallery below and full details in the press release past break. Update: Ford has let us know that existing owners will not be required to visit their dealer for the upgrade, and will be receiving a USB drive allowing for a self-install in the mail. That said, you can still drop by your dealer after getting it to have the install done there. %Gallery-138462%
OS X Lion has a hidden 'drop box' for easy file syncing between Macs
Mac OS X Hints has discovered that Macs running OS X Lion and registered with iCloud have a hidden "drop box" in the user's Library folder that allows for easy document and file syncing between Macs. A folder within ~/Library (which Lion hides by default) called "Mobile Documents" contains iWork documents synced with iOS devices via iCloud (something our own Erica Sadun discovered quite a while ago.) "What is of use is that any files put into the ~/Library/Mobile Documents folder will automatically upload to iCloud and push to any other Mac you have that is signed in to the same iCloud account and has the 'Document & Data' iCloud preference checked," says Mac OS X Hints member CHM. "Lion even notifies you of version conflicts and allows you to resolve them when you open the document." This functionality is broadly similar to the third-party file syncing service Dropbox, but having the service buried within a hidden user folder makes it far less useful. Files manually added to the Mobile Documents folder also apparently don't sync to iOS devices, which is another feature Dropbox does provide via its iOS app. What's interesting about this hidden folder is that it shows that iCloud and OS X Lion have already laid the groundwork for an easy-to-use and official method for syncing files between Macs (and possibly iOS devices). This discovery makes it seem as though a very simple software update could enable the current Mac versions of iWork's applications to sync with iCloud quite easily. iCloud is still a relatively new service, having been in public release for less than a month as of this writing. Hidden features like the Mobile Documents folder seem to indicate that Apple has broader aspirations in mind than the relatively simplistic iOS-only, iWork-only document syncing the service supports thus far.
Dropbox for Teams offers businesses copious amounts of sharable storage
Dropbox is an indispensable part of many a computer users' arsenal, including several here at Engadget. But, the company hasn't had a viable option for businesses who would have an obvious use for a tool that allows you to easily sync files between PCs, share them amongst users and always have backups in the cloud. The boys and girls at the Y Combinator startup know that there's lots of money to be made in the enterprise space and that's why they've unveiled Dropbox for Teams. The general experience is the same, but rather than individually managed chunks of storage, teams share one large repository, starting at 1TB for five users. The base plan costs $795 a year and additional users, which also includes 200GB of storage, can be tacked on for $125 annually. The business offering also includes special tools for administrators to add or delete users and dedicated phone support. Check out the full PR after the break.
How to use PhoneView to fix your iPhoto camera roll woes
If the Camera app and Photos app on your iPhone disagree about the contents of your camera roll, you may find yourself needing to get "under the hood" of your iPhone to fix the issue. Fortunately, you can do this without having to jailbreak and hopefully without losing any pictures. You may know the name Ethan Marcotte from the world of web design, particularly the idea of responsive web design. This week Ethan posted on Twitter that he was having a problem with his iPhone. The Camera app saw pictures in his Camera Roll, but the Photos app claimed the Camera Roll was empty. This was preventing iPhoto from synchronizing his pictures. The first problem was figuring out how to get all the pictures off his iPhone. The second problem was figuring out how to getting the Camera and Photos apps to agree about the contents of his camera roll. A few years ago, when I had a similar problem with my iPhone camera, I was able to solve the problem using Ecamm's $20 Mac utility PhoneView. I've written about PhoneView before, and two years ago Dave Caolo even wrote about fixing a bug in iPhone's camera roll, but obviously this is still an issue. PhoneView gives you access to the data on your phone, regardless of whether it is jailbroken or 'vanilla.' Obviously there are some limitations to what it can access, but for things like pictures and music it can be invaluable. The first step is to enable the "Show Entire Disk (Advanced Disk Mode)" preference in PhoneView. Turning on that feature will pop up a disclaimer that if you aren't careful you can cause data loss. Let's proceed with caution, but without undue fear. Once you have Advanced Disk Mode enabled, click on the "Disk" folder under "Data" and look for the two folders highlighted here: DCIM and PhotoData. Select both of those folders (as shown here), and then click "Copy From iPhone" from the toolbar. This makes sure that you have a local copy of the information, including your pictures and videos. You must confirm that you have all your pictures and videos before continuing. Aside: there may be another folder called "Photos" which I believe contains the pictures which are synchronized to your iPhone from your Mac via iPhoto or Aperture. Leave that alone. Once you are sure that you have copied all of your pictures and videos from your iPhone to your Mac, click the "Delete" button. Now, unlock your iPhone and take a new picture, and you should find that the iPhone has re-created the necessary folders and started a new fresh Camera Roll. Problem solved. PhoneView costs $19.95, however a free demo is available. Check out the website for a fuller description of all the various features that PhoneView offers. It's definitely worth the cost if you want to backup lots of various pieces of information such as SMSes, phone call lists, even voicemails.
Verizon's My FiOS app puts your entire living room under one Android roof
Leaving home is hard, especially when you've got a backlog of on-demand movies and TV shows staring at you with big puppy dog eyes. Fortunately, however, Verizon has now come out with My FiOS -- a new app for Android users that promises to keep you constantly connected to all your home entertainment systems, and more. Released yesterday, this app allows users to remotely access movies, Flex View TV shows and home automation and monitoring systems directly from their handsets, while managing their accounts and billing via the provider's built-in customer service tools. Verizon clients can also use My FiOS to control their TVs, DVR players or home phones, and can even access some content straight from their devices. For now, the app is only available on Android 2.1 or above, though Verizon says an iOS version should hit the market "before year-end." Skim past the break for more information in the full PR, or hit up the source link below to download My FiOS for yourself.
Verizon looking at November 10th launch for Galaxy Nexus, Droid RAZR and HTC Rezound?
Could it be that a trio of LTE-powered Superfriends are ready for a throwdown on the same exact day at your local Verizon outlet? According to a leaked internal doc courtesy of Droid-Life, signs point to November 10th as a probable launch date for what could be this year's top three holiday gadget gifts: the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Motorola Droid RAZR and HTC Rezound (formerly known as the Vigor). We're a tad confused, however, because Motorola's hero device is referred to as the Droid HD -- which, as we've recently discovered, is certainly not the phone's real name. Also interesting to note is the introduction of a "SMS Sync for Tablets" feature on November 13th, which may refer to some type of cloud backup service or a bridge between your tablet and phone. Either way, color us intrigued. Let's cross our fingers that we'll have a few more details to lean on tonight.
Doxie Go portable scanner creates searchable PDFs without a PC, syncs to almost anything
As far as scanners go, Doxie makes some of the more interesting products on the market. There's one problem though... the bright trail of hot pint hearts splashed across the front. Thankfully, the upcoming Doxie Go dons a more conservative shell that will look just as at home in a CEO's office as it would in a 16-year-old girl's bedroom. The Go is a portable scanner with built-in memory for up to 6,000 pages, and you can even add on more storage through the USB port or SD slot. All scans are automatically fed through OCR software and turned into searchable PDFs. To get the scans on your PC you actually sync the Doxie Go to your Mac or Windows machine. You can also sync with your iPhone, iPad or send your documents straight to Dropbox, Evernote or Google Docs from the Doxie 2.0 desktop app. You can pre-order the Go now for $199 and it'll start shipping in late November. Check out the gallery below and PR after the break. %Gallery-136890%
Ford brings Bluetooth text message readouts to more SYNC vehicles
Got a SYNC-tastic Ford from 2011 onwards? Then you'll find that the latest update (G1 V3.2.2) to the dash software will let you listen to your smartphone's incoming emails and SMS messages via the car's audio system, thanks to the inclusion of Bluetooth MAP (Message Access Profile). We've already seen the tech running in BMW's iDrive dash system and in MyFord Touch-equipped cars too, so the news here is just a wider roll-out to a bigger range of vehicles -- but we'll welcome anything that keeps more eyes on the prize. Read the full PR after the break and then enter your VIN at the More Coverage link below to see if you're eligible.
Fiddy Cent gets into the headphone game with SYNC by 50, countdown to Ford lawsuit begins... now
Well, after the termination of 50 Cent's alignment with Sleek, it was only a matter time before the rapper's SMS Audio company filled the void. (After all, how do you know your cans are quality if they haven't been endorsed by a man who was shot nine times and survived.) We don't know when the wireless SYNC by 50 headphones will arrive or how much they'll cost, but you can bet the part-time actor and entrepreneur will be making the rounds, trying to sell us on the 40mm driver, 50-foot range, "professionally tuned digital EQ" and passive noise isolation. While the integrated music controls are nice, our favorite feature might be the ability to connect four sets of SYNCs to the same source. Check out the gallery below and a few choice specs from the data sheet after the break.%Gallery-135320%
Griffin's Multidock system charges and syncs up to 30 iPads at once
Don't you hate it when all of your iPads collectively run out of juice? Well, praise Griffin for announcing its first business centric iOS "accessory" in the shape of the Multidock. It has its own power connection for simultaneous charging of ten iPads, but it can be chain-linked to two other docks for syncing of up to 30 tablets with a single Mac. With each server-esque tower measuring up at 18.6 inches (47.2 cm) tall and priced even higher at $700, this one's for IT pros and Scrabble aficionados only. %Gallery-135272%
Google Drive could finally be ready for launch, may just be rebranded Docs
GDrive, GDisk, Google Drive - whatever they're calling it these days - is coming. At least according to our friends over at TechCrunch. The service has not just been a rumor, but an actual product since 2007. Sadly though, it never made it past the dogfooding stage. The internal cloud storage tool for Googlers has been highly anticipated, but in 2010 it seemed like the final nail was put in its coffin when Docs was turned into a makeshift replacement with the ability to store any file. Well, Google Drive still exists, and speculation is that Google Docs will eventually be rebranded as Drive and relaunched with non-Docs file storage moved to the forefront. What's more, it's rumored that there will be a desktop syncing component, similar to Dropbox. Of course, the image above (from a Google-sponsored presentation) and recently discovered mentions of Drive.Google.com in Chromium don't necessarily mean anything. But, if Google actually plans on taking this Chrome OS thing seriously, Drive seems like a natural companion service. For now though, we're just going to have wait patiently to see what, if anything, comes of these latest rumblings.
Apple allegedly 'open' to restoring discontinued MobileMe features
As part of the MobileMe transition to iCloud, several of MobileMe's features are being discontinued, including iWeb hosting, Gallery, iDisk, and a handful of syncing services. An AppleInsider reader emailed Apple CEO Tim Cook to complain about the deprecation of iDisk and syncing services for application preferences and keychains. Instead of receiving an email response, the reader allegedly received a phone call from Cook's office saying that while those services aren't currently planned to be making the transition to iCloud, "Apple is open to it if there's enough feedback on the subject." There's no way to verify the legitimacy of this phone call, but it does align nicely with a trend we've been noticing since Tim Cook took over as CEO -- Apple seems a bit more open to serious consideration of user suggestions and criticisms than it's been in the past.
Windows Phone 7 Mango will play nicer with Macs, update your Connector app now
Windows Phone 7.5 will be wearing more Mac-friendly pajamas when it comes. Microsoft's Connector app just got updated to Version 2.0 and it enables both Marketplace support and ringtone transfers for Mango-equipped handsets. It also packs some other improvements which already work with WP 7.0, including drag-and-drop file importing from the Browse Device window, better backup and restore operations, and full sync and import support for Apple Aperture software. Connector 2.0 is ready and waiting at the App Store and Mango should poke its head around the mountain any day.
Contact sync between Google Apps, Gmail, and Mac
I am trying to find a way to keep my address book in sync across my: iPad MacBook Air MacBook Pro iMac Google Apps account Gmail account as well as my wife's iPhone MacBook Google Apps account Gmail account (Aside: by "Gmail account" I mean a regular Google account, as opposed to a "Google Apps" account. Most people interact with it through their Gmail so I'll use "Gmail account" to differentiate between "Google Apps" and "Regular Google" contacts.) Would you believe that the hardest part is syncing between Google Apps and Gmail accounts? Even if the accounts are linked via multiple sign-in, I can't find any way to keep their address books in sync. You might think Google would make this easy, considering that I am trying to sync between their own products. First up: Plaxo My first concerted effort to keep these in sync was to try the most expensive solution: Plaxo. Plaxo started several years ago as an online address book. They went through a dark period where they were best known for auto-spamming everyone in your address book, and then they tried to become a social network. Recently they have renewed their focus on address book syncing, and have amended their previously "overzealous" notification system. For $60/year, Plaxo offers a Platinum Sync option which is supposed to be able to keep just about anything in sync: Outlook, Gmail (including multiple accounts), Google Apps (including multiple accounts), iPhones, BlackBerry, Mac Address Book, and Windows Mobile. Platinum sync is described as: True, real-time sync means your address book is always consistent and current at any sync endpoint. Full read & write access from any supported service or device... Although Plaxo is expensive, I decided to use the free trial period. If it worked and saved me the time that I would have spent hunting down another solution, perhaps it would be worth the price. I set it last week, starting with the Google Apps and Gmail accounts with the premise that those were "always on" and the part of my previous sync setup that I had not been able to solve otherwise. I added 4 accounts (two Google Apps and two Gmail) accounts, and just one Mac. I let everything sync, and then went through and fixed problems, merged duplicate contacts, and so forth. Then I just let it run for a couple of days to see how it would work. I checked this morning and it showed that my Google and Gmail accounts all sync'd several hours ago (I had been asleep all night, so nothing had changed). It had been more than seven hours since the last change. So how did Plaxo do? The good news is that my Gmail account and my wife's Gmail account appear to be in perfect sync, both showing 1,851 people listed in "My Contacts." Unfortunately that is the end of the good news. Her Google Apps account has 1,853 people listed in "My Contacts." My Google Apps account has 2,759 people listed in "My Contacts." And my MacBook Air has 2,110 contacts. My Plaxo account shows I have 1,853 contacts. That means that Plaxo has only kept one out of five accounts in sync with itself. That is a drastic failure. If you think that it's not that bad because two of the other accounts were only off by two (1,851 vs 1,853) let me ask you this: which two contacts are missing? The answer is: I don't have any idea. But if it can't manage to keep 4 Google/Gmail accounts in sync and failed to even raise an alarm that something went drastically wrong with one of them (2,759 vs 1,853?!?!) how am I supposed to trust it? If Plaxo had sent me a message saying "We noticed that your accounts [X] and [Y] were not in sync, even though no errors were reported during sync" I would have at least trusted that if something went wrong in the future I could count on Plaxo letting me know. Failing to sync is bad, but failing quietly is much worse. No solution, still looking. I haven't found a solution yet, and am hoping that perhaps one of TUAW's readers might have an idea. The crux of the problem is being able to sync one Mac to two Google accounts (one "Google Apps" and one "Gmail"). If I can find a reliable way to do that I will replicate the setup on all of my Macs, and sync my iPad and my wife's iPhone using Google's implementation of ActiveSync. Has anyone else cracked this nut? If so, let me know in the comments! Meanwhile, I'm already trying out another solution. I'll let you know how that one goes.
Papers 2 and Papers for the iPad: the ultimate journal reading combination
It's that time of year again: time to head back to college, grab those books and kickstart the academic term. This year, why not cut out paper from your scientific journal research workflow with the ultimate in journal management and reading for the Mac and iPad? Management Papers 2 takes journal management to the max on your Mac. Across academia and industry, Endnote is pretty much the gold standard as far as referencing goes. Yes, there are apps like Bookends, Refworks and BibTex, as well as a plethora of others including the new cross-platform offering from Mendeley, but none of them, including Thomson Reuters' offering, come close to Papers 2 when it comes to actually managing those hundreds of PDF files, importing them, sorting them, reading them, and most importantly, searching them. Papers 2 creates a database of references, grabbing their metadata from Pubmed, Google Scholar and directly from science repositories like Science Direct, and attaching the PDF files. If you have a PDF, but no citation to import, you can just import the PDF into Papers 2 by simple drag and drop. From there Papers 2 can scan your file for a match, but if it can't find it automatically, it's just a case of manually editing the reference and hitting "Match." That'll kick you into a search form where you can just drag to select text and search for the reference with it, whether it's the title, author or journal, it'll scan the science directories for the matching reference and bind all the metadata accordingly.
Fossil's Meta Watch delayed once again, clearly has trouble keeping time
If you were planning on outfitting your arm with a new Meta Watch this month, you're out of luck, because Fossil has just announced that the wristpieces won't start shipping until September. The watches, which use Texas Instruments' CC2560 Bluetooth controller to sync with smartphones, tablets or desktops, were originally scheduled for a July launch, but that timeline was eventually pushed back to August, due to part delays. Now, manufacturers have discovered a new batch of issues with the devices' programming clips (used for micro USB connections) and the analog-digital version's steel case, meaning that the pair won't reach Hong Kong distributors until the beginning of next month, after which they may take another one to two weeks before shipping to consumers. The countdown clock continues to tick away, but you can still pre-order a Meta Watch for $200, at the links below. [Thanks, Glen]
Ford partners with Toyota to share technology, create new hybrid system for trucks and SUVs
Ford of course knows a lot about trucks, and Toyota has a couple decades of hybrid knowledge in its back pocket. So, if you were looking to make a hybrid truck, wouldn't you want to bring these corporate titans together? Shockingly that's actually coming to pass, with the two companies announcing a "memorandum of understanding" today that will see them acting as "equal partners" to create a new rear-wheel drive hybrid platform intended for light trucks and SUVs -- but sadly not sports cars. That platform is expected to be completed by sometime next year, but the two will also be sharing data to advance infotainment and in-car technology systems, meaning someday your Entune might talk to your Sync and the whole telematics world could be a better place.
Daily Mac App: Xmarks
Need to sync bookmarks across multiple platforms and/or different browsers? You need Xmarks. The service that was on its way out, then bought by LastPass, allows you to sync bookmarks to the cloud, between machines and between different browsers. Xmarks has extensions or plugins for Safari (installed as a preference pane), Chrome, Firefox and even Internet Explorer, so it's got most mainstream browsers covered. Xmarks will sync your bookmarks to the cloud and give you access to them through the my.xmarks.com if you're somewhere without the Xmarks plugin installed. You can keep different profiles, one for work and one for home perhaps, and you can share your bookmarks with friends via RSS or the Xmarks site, all for the fantastic price of free. It's true that Safari, Firefox and Chrome will all sync your bookmarks from one computer to another, but not between different browsers. Xmarks lets you use Chrome on one machine and Safari on another. It'll even let you sync your Chrome bookmarks to your iDevice through iTunes courtesy of a little Safari syncing intermediary. Speaking of iOS, if you want access to your bookmarks through the Xmarks app on iOS, Android or Blackberry, Xmarks Premium at a yearly charge of $12 nets you that plus backup and restore for your bookmarks. Xmarks Premium also comes with open tab sync, so you can take your browsing sessions from machine to machine, browser to browser. If you've ever wanted to sync your bookmarks between different browsers, the free Xmarks makes it quick and easy. Download Xmarks for your browser from here to get started.
Ford bringing SYNC systems to base trim levels, drops from $395 to $295
Ford's been pushing SYNC in its autos since 2007, but you wouldn't have known it had you opted for the base trim level on your ride. Thankfully for those who appreciate the basics, that's a-changing. The automaker is aiming to entice more potential owners by offering the voice-activated infotainment systems across all levels for $295 (down from $395, where optional), starting with its 2012 Edge and Explorer models. To sweeten the deal even further, it'll also become standard on SEL variants for the first time -- before, it was a luxury previously reserved for Limited and Sport. Ford plans to roll out the system across its entire lineup in three years time, bringing the 2013 Ford Taurus, Focus, Escape and Flex into the fold. You know, options for all of you who aren't hip on the all-American, gas-guzzling SUV. Full PR past the break.