Justin Roselt - Media and Design » Applications

Get Dropbox

JR — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:56:15 +0000

Well this changed recently when I started using Dropbox again. I had forgotten how simple and effective it is to use. Making syncing files between the Mac and PC very easy and painless. More effective then using the iPhone, making it one of my used daily apps.

Pricing goes as high as US$20 per month for 100GB but for your average user, the free Basic account with 2GB of storage would be more than enough.

Cooliris: Cool image browsing

JR — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:52:58 +0000

If you mix some RSS ideas with a nice interface and fluid interaction, you end up with Cooliris. Think of it as ‘RSS by pictures’. That’s pretty much how I got to know it. Really, it’s much more than that, particularly if you a fan of Flickr and enjoy getting your daily dose of feeds (RSS or other).

My first exposure to this was on the iPhone via the Cooliris for iPhone app. I must admit, I was a little lost as to its use and how to make the most of it. However it was not long after installing the Cooliris application on the PC that I began to see its power.

The key here is in two things:

How you navigate Cooliris, and
How you can use it from within your browser.

Imagine being able to browse all your Flickr favorites in the one window, or stumbling upon a website of photos and not having to click on every photo to browse them all. You can view them all in the same window, backwards and forwards and with one click view the image within the website it is stored on.

Now I could really go on for pages about this app but I think its best if you just try it and find out for yourself. So move on over to the Cooliris website and have some fun!

Remember The Milk now available on the App Store

JR — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:31:59 +0000

Easily accessible via a Firefox Greasemonkey script, RTM is more readily accessible via Gmail and now a part of my every day personal and professional ‘Getting To Done’ activities. I love this app and yes of course, I paid the little extra for the Pro access.

PC to iPhone to Mac

JR — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:45:53 +0000

Working on both a Mac and PC is no big deal, everything is pretty much the same. However because I have been to lazy to network them (that’s next month) I have searched for some apps I can use that can make the on the fly file sharing process a little easier.

So what are we using?

Air Sharing for iPhone

Can’t go past this for a wireless file sharing app for the iPhone. Viewable formats include: iWork, Office, Web Archive, Web Page, PDF, HTML, RTF, RTFD, Plain Text, Source Code, MPEG-4, H.264, 3GPP, all iPhone Audio formats, and Image formats including Gif, PNG, JPG, TIFF, and more. The file browser also features pinch zooming and landscape mode.
Visit iTunes for more info

IDrive

Like most, I have a few portable backup drives however I do not like carrying them with me all the time. So to keep it simple I now use IDrive on a daily and weekly basis. With scheduled backups and 2GB of free storage, you can’t go past it for a free online and backup storage service.
Visit the iDrive website

Synkron

Until recently I have been a big fan of SyncToy, now I am using Synkron on the Mac and PC. A nicer, easier to use interface and of couse, there is a Mac and PC version unlike some other Syncing apps. If you’re into it, there’s also a portable version!
Visit website

Of course, none if this would work without an Internet connection and if you’re going to use Air Sharing it will have to be a wireless one.

For an alternative to IDrive (for stoage only) you could use Box.net.

Hardware is a DELL Latitude with XP, MacBook Pro with OS X and iPhone 3G. Internet connection and iPhone data both with OPTUS.

Favorite iPhone apps

JR — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:07:50 +0000

So after playing around with the new 3G iPhone now for a few months I thought I would put together a list of my favorite apps and some footnotes to my previous iPhone entry (how the iPhone changed the world).

Firstly, a few criticisms

Not being a phone for everyone, there are a few things the iPhone cannot do which we would all be accustom to in our everyday handsets.

You cannot forward SMS messages. Not a big issue but one just the same.
Cannot send and receive MMS messages.
Cannot connect to computers via Bluetooth (other options available though)
Cannot use phone as modem.

It is worth saying though, in my opinion the pro’s far out weigh these cons. Plus there are also some sexy accessories available.

Now onto the applications.
Unless you want to jailbreak your handset, you are limited to installing applications via iTunes. Personally I do not see this as as issue at this point and there are some great applications available from the iTunes Store. Here are some that I have installed and have lasted the last few months on my iPhone and use regularly – and they’re all free!

Sodasnap: Send postcards from handset vie email.
21 Pro: Addictive Blackjack game.
Palringo: IM client.
Google Mobile App: Google apps and more.
To Do’s: To do list organiser.
GPS Tracker: Exactly that, just for the hell of it.
Speedbox: Uses GPS to estimate travel speed.
Currency: Currency converter.
MiGhtyDocs: Downloads your Google docs.
ZIPcodes: Directory of ZIP codes.
Spend Lite: Tracks spending and can email report in CSV format.
3in1 Mortgage Calc: Estimates mortgage repayments.
Digital Clock: Digital clock, surprise!
Speedtest: Measures bandwidth speed.
AirSharing: Transfer files between computers and iPhone (very handy!).
reMovem: Addictive bubble game.
Flickup: Send your pics to Flickr.
Bloomberg: Financial analysis and stock information.

The final word

If you’re after a phone/device just to make phone calls, the iPhone is not for you. If (like me) you lead an ‘always online’ life and want an all-in-one device (and are a Mac fan) then the iPhone is definitely for you. It is certainly different to the devices of old we are all used to but its ease of use and overall functionality make it a device to take us into the future of IP telecommunications.