Saturday, February 13th, 2010
Macworld 2010 took place this past week, and I was fortunate to have been able to attend.
No Apple?!?!
For the last year, there’s been a lot of hand wringing and speculation about the health and future of Macworld. The 2010 event would be its 26th year, but for the first time, Apple would not be attending. Macworld has been the cornerstone event for the Macintosh, and now Apple, -centric business ecosystem. Up until this year, it’s the only event where Apple, vendors, and consumers could meet, congregate, exchange ideas, share news, announce new products, all face-to-face. For anyone doing business involving the Mac and Apple products, be it software, hardware, or accessories, this was the show to attend.
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Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
I just finished following the Apple announcement of the iPad tablet device. As always, Steve Jobs and Apple pulled of a very slick presentation. The goal of this device was to bridge the tricky gap between an smartphone and a laptop. Apple has dismissed the idea of the “Netbook” as merely being an underpowered laptop, and from the experiences of people who bought into netbooks, I’d have to agree. Everyone I know who’s bought one has stopped using them, complaining they don’t do much.
With the iPad, Apple seems to have figured out the right combo. More like a grown up iPhone than a scaled down MacBook, its interface is very similar to the iPhone’s, but with changes that take advantage of the size and more powerful capabilities. I’m not going to do a full review here, but I will return to link to reviews and comments by people who’ve had a chance to test and look at the device first hand. In the meantime, learn about it on Apple’s site.
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
Daylite is ready for Snow Leopard… almost. Marketcircle, the makers of Daylite, ran into one little bug several days before Snow Leopard’s release (Friday, August 28th). They have a beta version (3.9.4beta) that addresses this bug, and have made the beta available to the public. It is, of course, a beat, and that means they haven’t stamped it with a final seal of approval, but they wouldn’t have posted it if they weren’t confident in it. They have information and downloads at the link.
I’ll be downloading and testing the beta with Snow Leopard on release day, and I’ll let you know how it goes.
Thursday, April 9th, 2009
Daylite 3.9 is out!
The much anticipated Daylite 3.9 was released last week by Marketcircle. DL 3.9 is a major upgrade, with an under-the-hood database engine change (out with OpenBase, in with PostgreSQL), a new Daylite Server component, and support for the new iPhone companion application Daylite Touch. One week in, the transition has gone smoothly for most, with just a few hiccups (mostly from early adopters not reading the instructions!). I have been busy upgrading clients all week. With so many changes, it would take a lot of space to summarize them all here. However, here’s a GREAT write up — very readable — with nice screenshots, that explain the whole thing in good detail. It will answer most of your “what’s new” and “why should I care” questions. Give it a read.
The bottom line, however, is that Daylite 3.9 is faster, more robust, and modern under the hood than were previous versions of Daylite. For you, this means faster searches, faster online/offline syncing, and more reliable communication with iSync/Address Book/iCal/MobileMe. It means a better Daylite experience for users with larger numbers of contacts and items. And it means that Daylite has a very, very powerful architechture that will allow it to grow, adapt, and add new features going forward. Marketcircle is so focused on getting Daylite users to this new version, that they are announcing they are ending support for DL 3.8 and earlier as of June 2009! Did I mention that for all current Daylite users, upgrading to Daylite 3.9 is free? And that Daylite Server is free?
Daylite Touch
The part of the release that is getting the most attention, of course, is Daylite Touch. DLT is a companion application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that connects directly to your Daylite Server. It will display your Daylite contacts, calendars, projects, opportunities, appointments, notes, tasks, etc etc, and allow to add/edit/delete these items in a powerful, flexible way, right on your iPhone. No more will you need to rely on chain of interconnected parts of 1) Daylite syncing to Mac OS, 2) then to Address Book/iCal, 3) then to MobileMe, 4) then to your iPhone. DLT talks directly to your Daylite Server, all in one step. You can download Daylite Touch right now from the iTunes App store for free, and try it out with the sample database. However, to run it with your database, the cost is $49/device/year. This is the first time Marketcircle has offered a “subscription” type of license, thus the “per year”.
With the arrival of DLT, Daylite and iPhone users can finally feel secure about leaving that laptop at the office, and still being in control and informed about their business while on the go.
Also, if you’re thinking of purchasing licenses from Marketcircle for Dayliet, Daylite Touch, or Billings, please don’ forget to do so through my Marketcircle affiliate link. Doing so will help me get a small “recommenders fee” — thanks!
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
Getting really close to the “paperless office”
I’ve been on a personal battle against piles of paper, as have most of my clients. Using the Mac to run your business has made that easier, but most people, aren’t aware of the free, already built in tools in Mac OS X that help you do that easily. Also, there are a few great 3rd party hardware and software tools that I use and recommend to help take things further. Here are a few of the things I do and recommend to help keep paper to a minimum…
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Saturday, January 17th, 2009
As many of you know, I recently returned from the Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco. I’ve attended pretty much every year. This year’s event was preceded by the announcement that it would be Apple’s last year at the show, after 25 years, and that Apple CEO Steve Jobs would not be delivering the keynote (which was due to his ill health). While much was made in the press about this, it didn’t hamper the enthusiasm at the show. It was still the ultimate gathering place for hardware and software developers, and professionals in the Macintosh community to meet, network, and learn. For UGUtech, it is all those things, as well as a place for the Apple Consultants Network to hold their annual business meeting, training events and networking. It’s an extremely productive trip for my business, as it gives me the chance to meet developers and engineers face to face, see their new and updated offering, and learn about new developments for my clients. This year was no exception, and I learned a lot for both myself and my clients. I even volunteered to staffMarketCircle’s booth for an afternoon, where they were showing Daylite, Daylite Touch, and Billings. It was a great experience where I had the chance to test my knowledge and skills of MarketCircle’s applications, what they do, and how they work, all to a steady stream of interested attendees.
While the future of Macworld 2010 is up in the air, due to both industry trends away from trade shows and Apple’s pull-out, I feel strongly that there is a chance of a good Macworld 2010 without Apple, or that some other meeting ground for the Apple and Mac community will take its place. If there’s another one, I’ll likely be there.
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douglas@ugutech.com
773-309-4839
2842 N Springfield Ave
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