syncing
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HTC TyTN Music Dock charges, syncs, and delights
While we don't expect the Hong Kong-derived HTC TyTN Music Dock to produce the same level of audio fidelity as Orange's Bluetooth variety, we'll admit that getting a dock, charger, and paperweight for 28 bucks isn't such a bad deal. The device sports a charging / syncing cradle for your HTC TyTN (Hermes), i-mate JasJam, Qtek 9600, O2 XDA Trion, Dopod CHT 9000, Orange SPV M3100, or Cingular 8525, as well as touting a pair of stereo speakers, 3.5-millimeter line in jack, and that oh-so-important LED illumination. You'll even get a stereo cable to save you a trip to Radio Shack, but the lack of a headphone port (or line-out) sort of puts a damper on things. Nevertheless, the HTC TyTN Music Dock can be picked up now for HK$190 ($28), but the overseas shipping just might kill the deal.
TUAW Tip: TextExpander can subscribe to text snippets
This isn't quite so much a killer trick or hack you can perform on TextExpander - an indispensable time-saving text abbreviation and expansion utility - as much as it's a neat feature that I just recently discovered. TextExpander can export a list of all your text snippets and corresponding abbreviations, and it can subscribe to such a list if you keep it somewhere, say, like your iDisk or an FTP/WebDAV space. If you have a desktop and lappy for working on the go like me, this can more or less enable rudimentary syncing for your snippets between Macs. Of course, it would rock if SmileOnMyMac would make this an official feature, with bonus points awarded for baking in both .Mac and FTP/WebDAV syncing (like Mr. Simmons did with NetNewsWire). For now though, this might be a decent solution for keeping your snippets n'sync.
PackRat 0.94 introduces Backpack reminder editing
Rod Schmidt has released an update to PackRat, quite possibly the only offline Backpack client, that brings a major new and much-requested feature: the ability to add, edit and delete reminders. Now I've mentioned PackRat once or twice before here at TUAW, and this rockin' new feature almost completely rounds out what I think is the killer offline and syncing app for working with Backpack. About the only thing missing now is calendar editing, and in a blog post announcing this latest version (0.94 to be exact), Rod and gang offer a glimpse of PackRat's future, with a promise to take your Backpack data into a realm of Mac OS X integration that 37Signals could never accomplish (due to their service being 100% web-based). Coming down the pipeline are features like Spotlight and AppleScript support, Address Book and iCal integration, iPod syncing, and "whatever else makes sense." Sounds like this handy little app is in for quite a ride.PackRat has a fully-functioning, non-expiring demo that allows you to edit up 4 pages of your Backpack info (the free default Backpack account offers 5 pages), while a license costs a mere $24.95 which unlocks full editing of all pages in any of the paid accounts that offer more pages.
Keep Gmail and Address Book in sync with ABGMerge
It's so beautiful, I think I'm gettin' all misty eyed: the venerable Mr. Tim Gaden at Hawk Wings found an AppleScript by Benjamin Harley that can pseudo-sync - as in: not just export - your contacts between Address Book and Gmail. I use 'pseudo' because there is still a little manual work involved, and it isn't a true sync process through and through, but it's the best solution I've personally seen yet.A few words of wisdom, however, before you go all download and sync happy: the script has some catches and boundaries, so I highly urge you to read through the very thorough ReadMe file (link) Benjamin provides on how the script works, and how to prepare everything needed. Also, I can't stress this enough: back up your Address Book and, oh yea - back up your Address Book before tinkering with this script. There are definitely quirks involved when dealing with some of Google's services like this, so you *need* to be aware of how this works and the best way to proceed.With the PSA out of the way, check out ABGMerge if you've been looking for a way to sync your contacts with Gmail's, and be sure to drop Ben a donation for his hard work.
SafariDepot: who needs .Mac to sync bookmarks?
Striking another blow to .Mac's usefulness, SafariDepot allows bookmark synchronization over FTP and FTPS (secure FTP). It's actually a clever little app that also includes a couple of scripts that are ripe for automation through Quicksilver, Login Items, cron jobs, and more. It's also smart about downloading and replacing Safari's local bookmarks: once a download is run, it will automatically restart Safari (if it's running) and backup your local copy before replacing it with the version from your server.SafariDepot might not have that "it just works" aura about it that .Mac Safari syncing does (since you have to roll your own automation or *gasp* run it manually), but it's certainly yet another alternative to one of .Mac's prized features.[via MacUser]
Missing Sync for Windows Mobile syncs Yojimbo notes
Due to a SonyEricsson phone that recently passed away, I took a leap of faith and purchased a Windows Smartphone device, primarily because I want push email and I think the BlackBerry OS was beaten beyond death with a fugly stick (yes, I know it's still all the rage with the kiddies these days). Device and OS debates aside, I was pleased to discover that the most recent 3.0 version of Missing Sync for Windows Mobile supports syncing items from Yojimbo, though there is a limit - bookmarks and PDFs don't seem to sync; just text notes (to Missing Sync's credit, however, browser bookmarks can be synchronized through a separate included plugin). I'm not sure how long it's done this, since I helped test the 2.5 beta back during the summer and I don't remember Yojimbo being on the list. Regardless, it's a welcome addition and alternative to syncing mostly Apple and Microsoft apps, however I should warn you of one more catch: Smartphone devices (which I bought) don't seem to be able to edit these notes (just like they can't edit Office docs either; only view them), though full-fledged Pocket PC/Windows Mobile can edit them just fine. I've found a few 3rd party apps that might be able to overcome this hurdle, though I haven't had the chance to give any of them a run-through just yet. If anyone knows any better, you know what to do.
Interview: Keith Sugawara of Silex Technology on the wiDock
Last week we brought you details of the wiDock, a new iPod accessory from Silex Technology that answers the call of many an iPod owner: it brings wireless syncing of an iTunes library for both Mac and PC, and it contains A/V outputs to play nicely with your stereo and TV. Plugging your iPod into your entertainment center - and leaving it there - is finally looking to be a possibility.This week, we had a chance to interview Keith Sugawara, VP of Network Division for Silex Technology on some of the finer points of this highly anticipated accessory. Read on for some details on what's shaping up to be quite the cable-cutting dock, just in time for the 2006 holidays:TUAW: Considering that you're first to market with a long-requested iPod accessory, the wiDock seems to be quite a first-time splash for Silex Technology. How long have you been working on it? Keith: We have been working on wiDock for 6 months now. It utilizes the same technology that is found in our other device server products. We have leverage our core technology and have adapted it to fit the iPod market.Can you give us an overview of the wiDock's feature set?In addition to the big wireless syncing feature everyone's hearing about, here's a summary of everything else the wiDock can do: Charge your iPod battery Control your iPod using the Apple remote Connects to 802.11b/g wireless networks Wireless security includes WEP, WPA and WPA2 Connects to 10/100 networks 3.5mm audio output S-Video output
Toffa unveils GooSync: Google Calendar on your mobile
Google has done quite a swell job tunneling its variety of niceties into mobile form, but syncing your online Google Calendar with that already-crowded version on your mobile / PDA isn't happening without some help from a generous third party. Toffa has unveiled GooSync beta, which "will seamlessly synchronize almost any mobile device with your Google Calendar" without charging you a dime. The seemingly impressive system starts by logging on and initiating a sync to GooSync's website from your handheld, which channels the info on your Google Calendar directly onto your cellphone, all without plugging a single cord into your device. While the list of supported phones is entirely too lengthy to list, be sure to hit the read link to find out if you can be a lucky guinea pig, and stop fiddling with two calendars at once, yeah?[Thanks, Travis]
Full synchronization of iCal and Google Calendar coming via Spanning Sync
Spanning Sync looks to be the holy grail of true, two-way calendar synchronization between Apple's iCal and Google Calendar. Yes: by 'two-way' I mean 'you can edit the same calendar in either place and the changes will synchronize.' Nasty translation I know, so maybe you should go watch their demo video to really get your mouth watering. In it, one of Spanning Sync's creators shows off how easy it is to link iCal calendars with equivalents in Google Calendar (bonus points for the ability to chose exactly which calendars shake hands), as well as moving an event in one calendar and having the change sync to the other. If this doesn't have you excited, please excuse me while I go check my blood pressure.Spanning Sync's blog has more details, and its release is billed as 'coming soon.' Stay tuned to TUAW as well, as I was fortunate enough to get my name in on the private beta before the signup list closed, and I'll have a screencast and a review for you as soon as possible.
Apple should offer option of .Mac as separate services
Apple's .Mac service has been quite the coffee talk discussion topic throughout the Mac web since as long as I can remember. We've even covered the service's slow death, some ways it could really hit a home run and even some things .Mac gets right, just to be fair. However, as I was paying for a renewal at the Apple Store yesterday, I realized .Mac could benefit significantly if Apple were to offer the option of purchasing its three major components a la carte. Let's face it, there are a lot of users out there who would love certain components of .Mac, but don't want to pay the premium Apple is charging for the full package. Following is a summarized breakdown of where I believe Apple could separate or bundle their .Mac services to to make them much more appealing to a far wider audience.
Why wait for Leopard? Share and edit your calendars now with SyncBridge
By now you're probably picking up on a new theme of 'Why Wait for Leopard?' If so, good eye. If not: you really need to read more TUAW. In either case, we've tracked down another Leopard-busting app in the form of SyncBridge, which brings all the features of syncing, sharing and editing iCal calendars to the table, without the wait for Leopard or price of .Mac (sidenote: I'm a .Mac member and fan, so don't be hatin').The SyncBridge software uses Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger's built-in SyncServices to share calendars over the SyncBridge servers, allowing others to subscribe to and edit calendars, sending changes up to the servers and syncing back to your own calendars. Users can even log into the site to see their calendars displayed, though it isn't possible to edit the calendars on the web; that has to be done through an iCal client. A tour is offered at the site, explaining each step of the process.SyncBridge is charged as a yearly subscription service at £25 / $46, which probably places it outside the range of the casual calendar editing/sharing enthusiast. Nevertheless, this is a viable alternative to waiting for Mac OS X Leopard to land next spring.
Martian SlingShot 2.0 adds iTunes music and playlist sync
Scott blogged Martian SlingShot, a Bonjour-enabled network syncing utility for your Macs, back in January, and a recent 2.0 update has brought iTunes music and playlist syncing to the table. In addition to being able to 'publish' and 'subscribe' to folders between multiple Macs on a local network (also known as a 'live backup'), SlingShot can now keep iTunes libraries and playlists in sync, watching for changes and copying over files when new additions are found.A 30-day demo is available that allows you to publish or subscribe to one folder or playlist. Fortunately, Martian Technology LLC allows you to purchase one license for $29.99 USD on all the Macs you own, while business licensing is available upon request.
1Passwd - password/form manager lets Firefox use the Keychain
*Oh snap!* Agile Web Solutions has created a password and form manager extension for both Safari and Firefox that fixes one of my biggest gripes about Mozilla's flagship browser: it can store website passwords in Mac OS X's Keychain Access application. For those who haven't stumbled upon the wonders of the Keychain: it's a system-wide secure password manager that most other Mac OS X apps can use to store logins for things like websites and FTP access. 1Passwd is an extension that, amongst other features, lets Firefox join the Keychain party party so you can have one secure, centralized area for managing (and backing up) your logins. This also means that if you have a .Mac account, any passwords you enter into Firefox will sync between your Macs. But 1Passwd doesn't stop at handle just your login information. Check out the full feature list to see everything else it can do for both Safari and Firefox.If beer could be sent virtually through PayPal, I'd send Agile Web Solutions a twelve pack; this brings Firefox one step closer to being a true Mac OS X browser. 1Passwd is currently in a third beta release, and those who opt to test the beta and offer their email addresses will receive a discount off its (somewhat steep) $29.95 price.
Mount a Box.net account on a Mac
Box.net is an iDisk-like service that allows you to mount an 'internet hard drive' on your desktop (they offer both free and paid accounts). Great for easily and securely backing up, syncing and sharing files between computers. Previously, they apparently only offered a client for PCs, but UNEASYsilence has published a simple tip for logging in and mounting your Box.net account on your Mac OS X desktop - no extra software necessary. Using the simple power of the Go > Connect to Server menu from the Finder, you too can have your very own WebDAV online hard drive. 1 GB is free, while 5 GB is $4.99/month, and 15 go for $9.99/month. Enjoy.
Pod2Go becomes Life2Go, adds WeatherBug, other improvements
Pod2Go, the versatile information manager for your iPod, has updated to v1.6.4 with various improvements and a name change to Life2Go (Did Kevin get a call from Apple about his choice in application names?). A v1.0 is also available for Windows (traitor!), though I don't know if that is a recent development with this name change.Updates to the application itself including switching to WeatherBug for all weather information, significant changes to the Notes output and Mail storage, more specific syncing progress and more.A demo of Life2Go is available, while a full license runs for $12.99.
Connect iPod, buy music
I haven't had an occasion to resync my iPod in over a year that is until my friend needed to use it as a hard drive. After he was done with it I formatted it for Mac use and then begin resyncing my iTunes library. Imagine my surprise when I was whisked from looking at my iTunes library to looking at this iTunes Music Store page welcoming me, and asking me to buy a few songs.This is the first time I have seen this, but I think it is pretty slick even though I didn't buy a thing.
NetNewsWire 2.1b36 fixes server/network, news updating issues
As if Ranchero employed hundreds of little coder gnomes who work around the clock, the company has cranked out yet another beta release of NetNewsWire 2.1 to fix news updating issues. Turns out NNW's ability to grab news might experience some quirks if NewsGator syncing became flaky, so this release is targeted at fixing the issue.By now you probably know the drill; you can grab your copy at their beta page.
Packrat 0.8 - edit Backpack lists, display images
In mid-April, Rod Schmidt asked for feedback as to whether he should release editing features in Packrat, his Backpack syncing client, as he develops them. From what I saw, the response was largely in favor of doing so, and yesterday Rod announced on his blog that Packrat 0.8 has taken the first step in this direction. Users can now edit lists in Packrat, then sync up the changes to their Backpack account. This new version can also display inline images (but not linked images) as long as you've already downloaded them, of course. This is a pretty big deal if you're a Backpack fan, especially since I'm fairly certain Packrat is the first app that has this kind of potential to become a true, offline-capable Backpack client.Swing on by infiniteNIL Software to grab a demo of Packrat, a license will cost $24.95. If you want to get involved or offer some feedback, be sure to check out the Packrat discussion group and and Rod Schmidt's blog for development updates.
Latest NetNewsWire beta enables 2-year Newsgator subscription
The latest beta of NetNewsWire, 2.1b32, enables the two-year Newsgator Online Premium account that comes with purchasing a copy of NetNewsWire. Once you install/upgrade your copy of NetNewsWire to this latest beta, you will be prompted with a dialog about this new account, offering to create one or, if you're already syncing with a basic Newsgator account, simply notifying you that your account has now been upgraded to the Premium version, which includes all sorts of extra features such as: NewsGator Mobile HTML Reader NewsGator Email 20 Keyword search feeds 2 URL search feeds 2 Email feeds Along with this highly-anticipated premium syncing goodness is a fix that makes sure you don't receive an error message when Newsgator can't be contacted if you're offline. After all, being offline isn't really an error... or is it?
.Mac syncing UI silliness
Today's "what were you thinking, Apple?" is brought to you by the .Mac System Preference pane, iSync and that "Sync Services wants to sync more than X% of your items" popup window.In case you can't figure out the silliness that is the image I've included with this post (and I don't blame you), it's a combination of the .Mac System Preference Pane (on left), the .Mac tab of iSync (bottom right), and iSync's preferences that allow me to chose the Data Change Alert percentage threshold (top left).I recently added about 200 notes to Yojimbo on my iMac that I exported out of an old copy of StickyBrain a while ago. On my PowerBook, this obviously triggered the .Mac Sync warning of "you're about to change more than 5% of your data, are you sure you want to do this?" dialog. I then thought to myself: "hmm, since I change a lot of my .Mac stuff on a regular basis, maybe I should increase that percentage so this dialog doesn't bother me again." I haven't done this in a while, but since I came up through Jaguar and Panther I was used to tweaking .Mac stuff in iSync. So I strolled on over to the .Mac tab in iSync to - oh but wait! As you can see in the bottom right of my screenshot, it sounds like iSync is no longer used to manage .Mac information. Woops, my mistake. Maybe I should open up the .Mac System Preference pane to - wait a minute... I don't see any place in that preference pane to tweak the Data Change Alert setting!By now you probably get where I'm going with this, so I'll just leave you with a question: how on earth did this happen, Apple? With Tiger, you said that you unified and improved the .Mac user experience... by sending me to three different locations and preference systems to get this figured out?Here's hoping Leopard brings with it the Mac-daddy (haha) of updates to one of your most-pimped features of OS X.
