Sugarsync, a pricey but excellent file-syncing and backup solution has a new iPhone application that's downright cool. It gives you access to all the files stored on computers linked up to your Sugarsync account. Better yet, it provides instant--and I do mean instant--updates when a file has been touched by you or another user by utilizing some spiffy push technology.
I got a demo of it in action a few weeks back, and it's one of the better looking applications I've seen. Like the desktop version each linked up machine has its own special icon, and all you have to do to access your files is to pick one from a neat spinning wheel. You'll then get a similar view of the file structure, with folders, icons, and more.
One of the application's greatest assets is that it can be synced up to several computers, and then pass over that data between them in the background. In the mobile world, something that makes this system useful is trying to send someone a large file (say 500MB) that you can't just pull down on your phone and send through e-mail. Sugarsync's solution is to simply send your recipient the link and they'll be able to download the file through their browser's download manager.
The application is also set up to let you move, rename, and delete files remotely. Since everything is linked up to the live sync server those changes will go out immediately. In the demo we saw these changes from desktop to phone and back again getting pushed out in about a second, even over EDGE.
For now, one of the only drawbacks is file compatibility. It handles everything the iPhone can just fine (like MS office documents, PDFs, Quicktime Movie files, etc.), but it has had problems with certain movie codecs and audio files. I'm told all supported audio files will play just fine, it's just an issue of trying to let you do other things while the music is playing, as it currently kicks the file onto the full-screen Quicktime player. Future versions should hopefully be able to let you multitask.
The application is free, but Sugarsync's service is not. Users can grab a 45-day free trial of the 10GB service, which normally costs about three bucks a month.
Sugarsync's iPhone app lets you access and manage your files on multiple devices, right on your phone. You can even open and access compatible file types while out and about.
(Credit: Sharpcast Inc. / CBS Interactive)
If you're too cheap to pay for a personal trainer after dropping two or three hundred bucks on a new iPhone or iPod Touch, Fitsync might be just what you're looking for. This Web application will track and organize exercises, help you put together a solid workout, and log results with a tap or two.
Included are a slew of exercises you can browse through and stack together. There are also recommended workouts you can borrow from others. The application makes use of the iPhone's video-playing capabilities to provide demos of each exercise so you'll know what to do. Most of these are only a few seconds, so they'll load pretty fast, even on first-generation iPhones on a weak signal (which can be typical in most concrete-laden gyms).
As the name would suggest, Fitsync's iPhone app will sync up workout data from your phone to your Fitsync.com account. You can the see how far you're progressing with each muscle group or particular exercise, and even get recommendations for other exercises based on what you've done in the past.
Fitsync is free to try out for 15 days. After that, you've got to upgrade to the $4.95 monthly plan to retain access to the mobile version, though you'll still be able to enter your workout data through the less iPhone-friendly desktop iteration.
Fitsync lets you organize a workout, track it while you're excerising, and even check out demos of excerises--all in one place.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
One of the things I've noticed in the emerging wave of iPhone applications is that many of the highest rated applications could be found on the App Store's illegitimate precursor--Nullriver's application installer. Several of these applications have been under almost constant development for the greater part of a year, long before Apple made the SDK available. In the case of newcomer Twinkle, that extra time really shows.
You might remember our hands-on with Twinkle back in April. Its claim to fame is that it mixes in location-based services with Twitter, not only letting you tweet with your location to show to others, but also see what users around you are up to within various location radii. Other Twitter apps on the iPhone have location as well, but none add this extra level of exploration. One of the perks of legitimacy is that there are more people using this than before, making it beneficial as long as you live in a place with high iPhone saturation.
Location isn't the only improvement though, the application now has far more user-friendly error handling. Whether you've got a bad connection or Twitter is down, it'll let you know with grace (this weekend's S3 outages and Twitter downtime didn't help). It's even got an amusing whale tail in reference to Twitter's now infamous icon of service failure.
The legitimate iPhone version also adds in a new profile feature that is quite cunning. Tapulous, the creators of Twinkle as well as Tap Tap Revolution (also formerly a jailbroken iPhone app), have created a universal profile system that goes across all of its applications. This means if you've registered in one program, it will port over your credentials to the other.
In the case of Twinkle, this new profile system ends up being a little confusing because sorting through tweets from those around you presents your Tapulous account information, while regular Tweets just link off to your Twitter account with that specific profile picture.
All in all, Twinkle has retained much of its original spirit with this new iteration. Over the weekend Tapulous sponsored a scavenger hunt to take advantage of the application's photo-sharing feature. More things like that are likely to attract newbies of both Twitter and the iPhone. Below is a quick demo of it in action.
Twinkle Demo from Josh Lowensohn on Vimeo.
- prev
- 1
- next
