Free OmniFocus for Mac from Now Till End of Jan 2013

 

OmniFocus for Mac is now free at Omni’s website till end of January, right when the OmniFocus 2 will debut. This is extracted from the recent post on the Omni Blog,

“I also want to make sure everyone understands that the OmniFocus 2 debut on January 31st is not when OmniFocus 2 will be shipping! That’s just the first time the app will be shown in public. Following the debut, we’re planning a limited private test period (which you can sign up for), followed by a wide open public test—and then (finally!) when we’ve evaluated everyone’s testing feedback and think it’s ready, we’ll ship the app. If this sounds like it might take a while… yes, it probably will!

So, if you’re looking to purchase OmniFocus today, what should you do? Should you wait for OmniFocus 2?

Well, first of all, there’s no reason to wait on purchasing the iPad and iPhone apps—as I’ve noted above, they’re not the editions which are getting a major upgrade this year.

But if you’re looking at purchasing the Mac app, it would be quite reasonable to wait until after the OmniFocus 2 debut so you know what’s coming before you make a decision. To make that wait easier for everyone, we’ve decided to post a temporary license key so you can all use the app between now and then without having to make a purchase:

License Owner: Waiting for OmniFocus 2
License Key: KXKN-ZJDB-EJCX-LZHW-CFBF-QFC 

(Just copy and paste both the License Owner and License Key into the appropriate fields.)

I hope you’re all looking forward to OmniFocus 2 as much as I am! And that this temporary license key makes the wait a little easier.”

Source – Omni

The Ultimate iCloud Guide

When you call a guide an ULTIMATE guide, it usually means serious business and that’s what the guys over at iMore did with their Ultimate iCloud Guide.  Warning: there’s a lot to digest in the article but nonetheless, very useful information answering just about any questions you might have with the whole iCloud mess. Hop over for the read, link here.

Source – iMore

Video Review on New TweetDeck v.1.3

This week TweetDeck released version 1.3.  The new version features all new list management, interactive columns, activity column, media previews and the new editing and retweet function which replaced the quote retweet function.

Source – TweetDeck

Scrivener – 20% Discount Code

Always wanted to get a decent writing tool for my mac and Scrivener (US$44.99) been on my shopping radar for quite some time.  Tonight as I was writing up my blog post for CNET Asia, this urge came back and I googled it to see if there’s any discount code out there.  Thank God I found a 20% off coupon off S. M. Worth’s site.  So, if you’re like me, in for a really nice writing app, check out Scrivener.

Source – Literature and Latte

First Look Video on Awesome Calendar for iPhone/iPad

First Look Video on Transcend StoreJet Cloud

Great App to Help Switch Between iTunes Accounts Fast

For those of you who uses multiple iTunes accounts and get fed up going through the tedious steps switching between accounts, this app, the iTunes Account Switcher (FREE) is just for you.  Macstories ran a story yesterday on this app which sits on top of your Menubar and with it, you can select which account you want to log into right there, instead of doing so in iTunes.

Basically the app is just a series of script. The only minor problem I noticed is that if I have my Chrome browser opened, it would not show up on the Menubar, could it be because my Menubar is all jammed with other apps, not sure.  Ways to work around it is to minimize whatever program I have and voila, there it is.  Another thing I also did is to drag the icon down to the dock to have fast access.

You can download iTunes Account Switcher here.

Source – iTunes Account Swticher via macstories

Finger – Turning Your iPhone/iPod into a Chinese Writing Tablet

My buddy Belle Liu over at Beansbox just teamed up with Headnix and Zendesk this past week by launching one exciting application for both your iPhone/iPod and Mac (PC Support coming soon).  Finger is a great application that automatically pairs up your iPhone and your Mac over WiFi and then turning your iPhone as an input tablet.  Just like using your Chinese input method on your iPhone while composing email or SMS.

The app currently cost US$7.99 and is available via http://thisfinger.com.

Check it out, sure you’re gonna love it.

Microsoft Origami Experience 2.0 Ready for Download

Pic from Gizmodo

[15 June] The Microsoft Origami Experience 2.0 for UMPC is finally here for you to download.

Microsoft Origami Experience 2.0 contains these four programs for an ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) running Windows Vista:

• Origami Central
  Central gives you instant access to all your media, programs, and the Internet, with the touch of a finger.
• Origami Now
  Now gives you one-touch access to the most important information at any given time and place.
• Origami Picture Password
  With a Picture Password, you can log on to Windows and unlock your computer by tapping a sequence of targets on a picture, instead of typing a password.
• Touch Settings
  Touch Settings combines several settings in Windows Vista into one place to make it easier to customize a touch screen.

Requirements -

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows Vista Business; Windows Vista Enterprise; Windows Vista Home Premium; Windows Vista Ultimate
• Minimum 100 MB of available hard disk space
• Minimum 1 GB of system memory
• Touch panel display (required for Origami Picture Password)

The UMPC must have the following software installed: -

• Windows Internet Explorer 7. Origami Experience 2.0 requires Internet Explorer 7 for its RSS platform.
• Windows Media Player 11. Origami Central requires Windows Media Player 11 in order to manage and play media.
• Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. The calendar tile in Origami Now works only with Office Outlook 2007 Calendar. The mail tile in Origami Now works with Office Outlook 2007 Mail and Windows Mail.
• The Windows update available here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932406 . This update is highly recommended if you use the mail tile in Origami Now with Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.

Microsoft Origami Experience 2.0 is distributed in nine languages. Each language version can be installed only on the corresponding language version of Windows Vista. For example, the French language version of Origami Experience 2.0 must be installed on the French language version of Windows Vista. However, any language version of Origami Experience 2.0 can be installed on the English language version of Windows Vista.

For detail download instruction, head over to Microsoft download page here.

[Updated - 17 June 2008] jkkmobile have the video review out on the Microsoft Origami Experience 2.0, enjoy.

Source – jkkmobile

CNET Asia Community Blog Entry – Killer applications for Windows Mobile PocketPC Phones

My new entry over at CNET Asia Community Blog is up. This week’s entry, “Killer applications for Windows Mobile PocketPC Phones”. Click here for the read.

iPhone Gets Push Email – From Yahoo That Is

Also from IntoMobile,
“Well, it seems that Yahoo! has made some server-side changes to their iPhone push email system, and we’re hearing reports that many iPhone users are getting their precious email pushed to their iPhone. Go try it out, your mileage may vary.

If push emails aren’t working for you right away, try:

• logging into your Yahoo! mobile email account and logging out
• delete and recreate Yahoo! email account on iPhone
• create a new Yahoo! email account
• restore your iPhone (if you dare)”

Link here.

Microsoft Office Live Workspace (Beta) is Released

Santa came early this year for those who uses Microsoft Office and been praying for online storage and sharing of documents. Microsoft just launched the Office Live Workspace which let users store, access, and share documents and files online and the workspace can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection and a Web browser and it’s FREE!!!

Features includes -

Anywhere Access

• Store 1000+ Microsoft Office documents in one place
• Access them from almost any computer with a Web browser
• No more flash drives or sending yourself documents via e-mail

Share With Others

• Invite people to your workspace
• You control who can view, comment, and edit your documents
• Stop manually merging versions from multiple people

Works With Microsoft Office

• Open and save files directly from Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Synchronize contact, task, and event lists with Outlook
• No need to learn a new program

Sign up now for the beta over at Office Live, link here. For the quick movie link, click here.

Outlook 2007 Gadgets for Windows Sidebar

Check out the Outlook 2007 sidebar gadget for Vista at Microsoft Outlook Team Blog, link here. I installed them and really loving it.

Google Map 2.0 with My Location

Excerpt from Google press release -

“Google today announced the release of version 2.0 of Google Maps for mobile, its innovative and widely used mobile mapping and local search application. New in v2.0 is a beta version of Google’s “My Location” technology, which uses cell tower ID information to provide users with their approximate location, helping them determine where they are, what’s around them, and how to get there.

Google is committed to providing users with quick and easy access to the information they need, no matter when or where they need it. Location information makes mobile mapping and search faster and more convenient, but the most common source of location information to date — GPS technology — is supported on fewer than 15 percent of the mobile phones expected to be sold in 2007. With Google’s new My Location technology, users who don’t have GPS-enabled mobile phones will now be able to take advantage of the added speed and convenience afforded by location information. The My Location technology also complements GPS-enabled devices, as it delivers a location estimate faster than GPS, provides coverage inside buildings (where GPS signals can be unreliable), and doesn’t drain phone batteries as quickly as GPS. Whether users are trying to locate a restaurant in an unfamiliar neighborhood, get directions to the nearest hotel while traveling, or just find a place to grab some coffee while shopping for the holidays, Google Maps for mobile with My Location can help them get what they need quickly and easily.

The My Location technology takes information broadcast from cell towers and sifts it through Google-developed algorithms to approximate a user’s current location on the map. This approximation is anonymous, as Google does not gather any personally identifiable information or associate any location data with personally identifiable information as part of the My Location feature. The feature can also be easily disabled by anyone who prefers not to use it. The My Location technology is available on most smartphones, including all color BlackBerry devices, all Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition devices, most Windows Mobile devices, newer Sony Ericsson devices, and some Motorola devices.”

Press here for full press release.

While on the topic, in regarding cell tower ID information, I still remember back in 2002 while I was in Bangkok, the cell phone can reveal my location (thanks to the Thai operators) and to an extent tells me what Soi (street) I’m on. That was a great function especially for tourist who cannot position themselves on the map. But meanwhile back at the farm, the local Hong Kong telecom operators just can’t do jack. Let’s hope it works this time around with the new Google maps.