LogMeIn, providers of the LogMeIn service for remote control of computers, has opened a public beta of LogMeIn Pro2 for Mac. The company currently provides LogMeIn Free for Mac, as well as LogMeIn Ignition for iPhone [US$29.99, iTunes Link], allowing Mac and iPhone users the ability to securely control remote Macs and PCs from their Apple devices.
LogMeIn Pro2 will be similar in functionality to the existing Windows version. Through the service and software, people can connect to a Mac from a Mac or Windows machine, control it, print documents, and share and transfer files.
Now that the Peregrine gaming glove is finalized and taking pre-orders, we had a chance to sit down with creator and company CEO Brent Baier, who guided us through the use of the military-spec’d mitt and gave us our first glimpse at the calibration / key-mapping software (PC only for now, Mac coming later). We’re still fiddling with our review unit, and while the gaming aspect is intriguing, we’re actually pretty interested in how it could be applied to production and design software. The one issue with that is a conscience decision to limit each finger press to activating only one key at a time — macros are theoretically possible, but according to Baier that would disqualify the glove from being used in professional gaming competitions. Maybe down the line, perhaps? Video after the break.
Gallery: Peregrine gaming glove press photos
?I just emailed you a video. You have to watch it now,? I said to Paul Carr, my resident TechCrunch partner-in-crime.
?Why are you sending me a video about?.farm equipment??
Ford has already shown it can tie the controls of Sync-enabled vehicles to the music and contacts databases of drivers phones and PMPs and though it may take time before our emotions can be detected, the next step is extending that connectivity to downloadable apps on those devices. Since Sync first debuted, the explosion of the App Store concept has meant nearly every smartphone owner is packing plenty of ways to access and use information from the internet, but without an easy way to interact with it while driving. Extending access to vehicle controls could lead to programs like Pandora or Google’s turn by turn navigation letting users change stations with their existing stereo knobs, or listen to directions via the in-car system by simply updating their existing software. The first ones to get a crack at it? A few university students, check after the break to see what they came up with given just a few weeks to test system out.
Gallery: Ford Sync API Demo
With just three months left before the expected launch of the as-yet unannounced Apple Tablet, what can application developers do to prepare their products for this likely new platform?
Today, TUAW chats with Craig Hockenberry of Furbo.org and Daniel Jalkut of Red Sweater Software. Hockenberry is the senior software engineer for Iconfactory, a software and design house that ships both Macintosh and iPhone products. Jalkut, formerly of Apple, is the founder of Red Sweater Software (aka the “MarsEdit” people). Both Hockenberry and Jalkut bring multi-platform Apple development expertise to table as we discuss possible hardware directions and how developers can proactively prepare their place in a new market.
Quicken Essentials for Mac available if finally available for pre-order. Too little, too late if you ask me. Its taken three years to get this next version of Quicken for Mac out the door. In that time, worthy alternatives have risen, like iBank and Mint.com.
While I won’t give it a review until I’ve tried it, it seems that Intuit should just give up until they want to make a financial software package that the Mac deserves. Here are just a few of my peeves from the Quicken Essentials for Mac FAQ (bold added):
Cinch is a new Mac utility from Irradiated Software. It helps keep your desktop windows organized by snapping them into predefined sizes and locations when you hold them near an edge of your screen. While its toolset is limited in comparison to its big sister, the keyboard-based SizeUp (which we covered a while back), Cinch is designed as a quick-and-easy window organization tool for users who prefer to stick with their mouse for such things.
When you run Cinch, it shows up in your menubar. When you drag any window to a top, left or right edge of the screen, it “snaps” (or cinches) to take up the full width or height of the screen: top half stretched horizontally if dragged to the top, and a vertical half for left or right. It’s handy, and it’s easy to get so used to it that you forget it isn’t built into the operating system.
We hate to harsh on a new phone platform — what could be more exciting, after all, than a whole new take on handset software? — but we’re pretty confused by Samsung’s Bada. Still, these leaked screenshots fill us with some hope: it looks fairly pretty, and quite a bit more intuitive than the standard Samsung UI. It also seems to be an odd visual mashup of Android and Symbian, but in a good sort of way, and we look forward to the sort of democratization of touchphones it seems to represent. There, that wasn’t very harsh-ey at all! Now check out the developer-oriented video after the break to let a new wave of confusion wash over you.
Continue reading Samsung Bada UI unveiled in beautiful stills, reason for existing still blurry
Autodesk, the developer of software design applications, has acquired PlanPlatform, a competing company. According to reports, Autodesk shelled out between $20-$30 million for the Israeli startup. Autodesk, a publicly traded company, provides software design applications for a variety of industries, including Architecture, Engineering, Media and Entertainment.
PlanPlatform, formerly known as Visual Tao, develops SaaS that provides engineers with two-dimensional and three-dimensional software drafting tools. The startup recently $4.3 million, with Sequoia Capital leading the round. Autodesk has acquired a number of companies, including Algor, SoftImage and 3D Geo.