- Rob Bushway

I guess Symantec didn't get the memo: it is THEIR software that is making our PCs sluggish.

Thank you, Symantec, but we don't need anymore of your help.




Technorati Tags: Symantec, crapware

- Rob Bushway

It has been a while since we've done an InkShow on Bluebeam's PDF Revu, but with their recent release of version 6.2, we thought it was a perfect time to do a refresh and take a look at what has changed from version 5 to 6.

In this InkShow, I go over many of the new features, as well as showing why PDF Revu is seen as the standard bearer in PDF annotating. Granted, I ran in to a few issues like inconsistent treatment of Vista TIP and Bluebeam's own TIP, but overall, I'd say that version 6.2 is a winner and it will continue to be my application of choice for annotating PDFs.

Bluebeam PDF Revu is available for $149.

• Download the high res version ( 85 mb, 22 minutes )
• Watch the embedded version below
• Visit Bluebeam

 

 

 

- Rob Bushway

Insightful comments from Active Ink Software, one of the early and leading ISVs in the Tablet PC space, on Tablet PCs, sales, developers, and Microsoft:

Any venture capitalists out there paying attention?

As a tablet PC software developer, I feel your pain. We created an electronic form data entry application for the tablet PC five years ago and continue to have a loyal customer base but our expectations regarding tablet PC sales have never been realized.

From a developer's perspective, it's hard to get excited about developing for this platform when there is very little marketing being done to promote this technology. We love the tablet PC and will continue to enhance our application, but wish some of the bigger players would put a little marketing behind it.

I like the idea of a venture capitalist funding some of the tablet PC developers. Maybe that will jump-start the market.

Best Regards,

Steve Hoffman
Active Ink Software

- Rob Bushway

Looks like Microsoft is listening to feedback regarding XP and ULCPCs, allowing XP Home to be installed on devices up to 14.1" and those sporting touch screens. This is a change from their previous policy of not allowing touch screens, and limiting the screens to 10.2 inches. They also increased the diskspace requirement from 80 gb to 160 gb. The June 30 XP deadline for other devices still stands, though.

Kudos to Microsoft. Now, if we can just get them to widen that new policy to screens smaller than 21" and active, touch, and normal, then we'll all be happy

via InfoWorld

Technorati Tags: XP, ULCPC

- Rob Bushway

The accolades for RitePen 3.0 keep pouring in, this time from ubber ink-blogger Sumocat. Take a read about what he has to say about RitePen and what makes it so special:

In its previous version, ritePen (http://www.ritescript.com/Products/ritePen.aspx) was a handy tool for Tablet PCs. It allowed you to write anywhere on the screen and have that writing be converted to text, as opposed to the Tablet Input Panel (TIP) which required writing in a given area. Useful, but it didn't offer much more value than the standard TIP. That has changed dramatically with version 3.0.

ritePen has upped the ante by adding macro functionality, allowing users to launch apps, open URLs, and insert pre-defined text by scribbling a command and circling it. Such functionality is not new (see: ActiveWords (http://www.activewords.com/)), but having it in conjunction with ritePen's "write anywhere" ability elevates the app to, in my opinion, "killer" status.

In addition, Sumocat is loving RitePen combined with nirCmd, calling it the killer tablet pc mashup. Check that out here.

RitePen is currently offering a GBM only special of $19.95, 33% of the normal $29.95


Technorati Tags: ritepen, tablet pc

- Craig Pringle

My last post, which was about Microsoft's lack of Tablet marketing, generated some really good comments and discussion - thanks to all those who joined in.

Tablets are constantly referred to as having failed to meet expectations. 

But as Hilton Locke pointed out:

Pen and touch digitizers have been around for a lot longer than Tablet, so the digitizer technology is relatively mature.

The hardware is there.  There is support for that hardware in the operating system - but there is a lack applications that leverage the pen and/or touch.  A tablet can run any application that will run on the Windows OS, but when it is running an application that is not "tablet-aware" it is just a laptop with a few extra tricks up its sleeve.

Hilton also pointed this out...

...it's hard to convince the ISVs to Tablet-enable their apps. Without custom app support, the $50-100 cost difference for Tablets is an unnecessary expense. So the most common usage in business is still notebook with pen as "super-mouse". Not terribly compelling.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not pointing the accusatory finger at the developer community at large here.  It is not their fault.  I don't think that Microsoft have done enough to promote developing for tablet PC to the developer community.

Microsoft should not only be heavily promoting pen and touch technologies to developers - they should be leading by example.

Personally I think this is one area where Microsoft have really failed. 

The ink support in the Operating System is not what it should be - the community wants write anywhere.  That alone would be a great step forward.  Office is Microsoft's flagship product - why does the ink support not extend beyond scribbling on documents?  Why is it left to third party developers like Loren Heiny to write a tool that lets you use a pen to review and mark-up a document in a more natural way?  Or developers like Josh Einstein to make Outlook more ink friendly with TEO?

Outside of the Office suite - when Microsoft released their XPS file format to compete with Adobe's PDF format - why did they not release a reader application that would let you write on an XPS document and re-save it ala PDF Annotator?

Will Microsoft learn from this?  Adding support for multi-touch won't fix the problem if there are still no applications that leverage the new feature set.  Natural Input won't change the way we work with computers if the applications running on them don't change a bit, too.

The fact that you can touch two points on an iPhone screen is not exciting in and of itself - it is the software running the iPhone that captures those two touch points, interprets them and translates them into an experience that is natural and intuitive that makes it exciting.  Come on Microsoft! That is the kind of software we need from you for the Tablet PC.

Or maybe LPH's take on this could be the winner - any venture capitalists out there?

A startup company, though, could blow away the market. It would take a huge burn rate for the first 12 months and plenty of blogger interactions to push the pen the right way - no hybrid keyboards, half written code for using the pen's advantage, etc. - But it is possible. The company would need software and hardware developers PLUS a team of evangelists who listened to the community and pushed to move the market quickly.

- Warner Crocker

You should know by now that I’m a big EverNote fan. I love how I’m able to grab just about anything and drop it into EverNote and then be able to refer back or use the data from any machine I’m working with including my Sprint (HTC) Mogul. Using EverNote in combination with another tool, Jott, is helping me to keep organized during this really hectic work period at the theatre.

Jott allows you to call in messages to the Jott service that are transcribed into text and then redirected to a number of different applications and services, or accessed from the Jott site. For example, you can choose to call in your Tweets to Twitter if you so desire, or use it to call Remember The Milk, a very popular to do list program. With some blogging platforms you could even create a blog entry by speaking the entry into your mobile device and sending it directly to your email. Jott’s voice transcription is very good, at least in my usage so far.

I’m using Jott with EverNote to store my thoughts and to do’s at the moment. Since I am frequently running around picking props up for the show, or items for the ongoing renovation, it makes for a great wayt to keep track of things. I’ll simply call Jott on my phone, tell it to call myself and list the items I am about to pick up. Within a few minutes the transcription is done by the Jott servers (I don’t think they have humans doing this) and then it is emailed to my EverNote account. When I make my stops, I open up EverNote mobile on my phone and have the list ready to go.

EverNote’s Windows platform allows you to merge notes (the Mac version may allow this, but I haven’t figured out if that is true or not yet) and this is also handy. With gas prices the way they are we are working very hard to minimize trips to and from the theatre these days. Let’s say throughout the day I’m preparing to make a run of errands for the next morning. I live in a town about 15 minutes away and we frequently do a lot of running to vendors there, so if we can consolidate and have me pick them up on the way to work the next morning we’ve saved a bit of gas. As we discover throughout the day that something needs to be picked up or purchased, I’ll simply call Jott with a reminder throughout the day. Before I go to bed at night as I’m doing my last email check, I’ll take a look at EverNote and merge any Jotts with items I need to pick up the following morning into one note. EverNote does the synchronizing for me and I’m all set.

This also comes in handy when I’m listening to a podcast while driving. I might here a program or service that sounds intriguing mentioned on the podcast and I’ll just call Jott, speak the name of the application or website, and when I have time to check it out later, I’ll have the info ready to access.

While Jott and EverNote don’t have a direct link at the moment the way some services do, you can easily do this through Jott’s email function. If you’re looking for a step by step guide to setting that up (it is really easy) LifeHacker published this one awhile back.

 

- Warner Crocker

Things are moving rapidly here in the final sprint to finish up our renovations and re-open the Wayside Theatre. But as we deal with electricians, sound techs, rehearsals, and the like, we’ve also got the ongoing work of keeping the theatre running to keep us on our toes. Today was one of those days where a couple of solutions I use in my daily work flow came in very handy and sort of saved the day, if not just some precious time.

As a 501–c-3 not-for-profit corporation we apply for and receive a number of grants to support the theatre (our ticket sales only cover 1/2 of our operating costs as a general rule.) One of those granting agencies holds back a portion of the funds until the end of the program and our submission of final reports. That granting agency also requires that we include a mention of their support in our programs and materials, which is only appropriate. This past season, we changed how we acknowledged that generous support, incorporating all such acknowledgments into the design of the artwork on our title page in our printed programs and our ad copy. While still mentioned prominently, it apparently wasn’t too easy for the grant agency’s staffer reviewing our final report to spot it and I got an email that wondered if we had omitted that obligation, and saying this would hold up the release of funds. Yikes!

I was not at the office when this came in, instead I was at the rehearsal hall. So, when I got the call from the office I had an employee scan the title pages of our programs as pdf files into a Windows Live Mesh folder on my desktop. Once that was done I grabbed the pdf files off of the corresponding folder on my Tablet PC and using the stylus, highlighted and marked up the acknowledgment text on each page using BlueBeam PDF Revu. I then sent the files off to the agency via email.

I got a quick reply of thanks, letting me know the funds were now in the mail.

Now, of course, there are other online file syncing solutions that would have given me access to the files, but right now the one I’m using is Windows Live Mesh. It did the job.

The real key here for a circumstance like I just described though is connectivity. Our local town government allows us to use the town council chambers as a rehearsal hall. This saves us a lot of money and aggravation and in and of itself is a very generous donation. But it has only been recently that the town office has installed a WiFi network and allowed us to access it. Lacking that solution I could have tethered up to my Sprint Mogul and connected that way and grabbed the files, but I don’t get a good enough signal in the town hall to make that a reliable method of connecting. But thanks to a WiFi connection, it took very little time to communicate back to the office and get the job done. In fact, I was done in less than the 10 minutes I had given the actors as a break.

Without that connectivity I would have probably left the rehearsal hall to take care of this back at the office. In this circumstance the email that accompanied the files was one I really needed to write rather than delegating it to someone else. So, in addition to getting the funds moving, I figure I saved about a half hour to forty minutes of rehearsal time and also a quick trip during the heat of the day.

- Sierra Modro

Sybase iAnywhere announced today that they'll provide full support for the Panasonic Toughbook U1, the new rugged ultra-low-small PC. Sybase iAnywhere Afaria a core component of the Information Anywhere suite, provides comprehensive management and security capabilities to ensure that mobile data and devices are up-to-date, reliable and secure." Fundamentally more of an IT application, but it should certainly help the deployment possibilities for the new Toughbook U1.

Read the full Press Release

- Rob Bushway

Most folks know how much we love TechSmith - not only do they sponsor our video InkShows,  but they also make some awesome software. SnagIt, their screen capturing utility, is one of those I use ALL THE TIME, and I couldn't recommend it more highly.

With SnagIt 9 being released, it might be worth going over why you might want to upgrade. Well, TechSmith just sent me an email detailing some of the reasons, so I thought I'd share them here. The upgrade is $19.95.

1. Go with the flow.
Say goodbye to the old, rigid workflow. Now you're free to work with multiple images, on your terms.

2. Combine images easily.
Recent captures are always visible in the new Open Captures Tray...just drag-and-drop them onto the canvas to create a composite image.

3. Save nothing...save everything.
SnagIt now stores every capture automatically; browse and sort them visually with the new Media Library.

4. Find your stuff.
Find captures later by date or Web site captured, using the new Visual Search Pane.

5. Get organized (if you want to).
No need to save anything in folders...just tag captures with keywords or flags!

6. Keep your tools handy.
The Editor's new menus make it quicker to get at the features you use most...and easier to discover the ones you've never used.

- Warner Crocker

One of my favorite software tools, EverNote, has now officially gone into the public and out of beta. That’s right, no more invites, the public is welcome to try out this exciting tool. EverNote has also set its pricing and storage limits. There will be a free option that gives you a montly 40MB upload limit, but if you’re looking for more there is a EverNote Premium which will cost $5 a month and give you a 500MB per month upload limit.

EverNote wants to be your brain and store the info you run across on a daiily basis and the two reasons I’m so enamoured of the program is that it allows me to access the data I collect across multiple platforms (Windows, Mac, Windows Mobile, iPod Touch). The Web Interface works great as well. It also does great Inking. I’m anxious to see EverNote keep advancing the ball here. We still don’t have Ink support to view Inked documents on the Mac side, and I still think the Windows UI could use some work, but I hope that’s coming as the public gets more involved.

I highly recommend that you give EverNote a try.

Make sure you check out the InkShows we’ve done on EverNote. Keep in mind they are from early stages of the Beta.

• The New EverNote
• EverNote on the iPod Touch.

- Warner Crocker

In the days gone by in the history of my business, the theatre, it used to be common practice for plays to post up showbills with “Limited Engagement,” then “Last Weeks,” “Final Performance,” and then “Absolute Final Peformance.” Of course if the box office was good, they’d be followed by “Extended by Popular Demand” and the cycle would start all over again.

The Life and Times Windows XP is a grand saga that seems to be returning to those days of yore. Users and OEMs just can’t seem to let go. Earlier this week, Dell had started charging extra if you wanted to downgrade to XP, now it looks like they’ve reversed course on that until at least June 26 on select configurations. 

via Gizmodo.

- Warner Crocker

I wonder if Kevin Tofel will give this a try with his ‘Computing in the Cloud’ challenge. MindJet, maker of the excellent MindManager mind mapping software, is heading into the cloud. MindJet Connect allows online collaboration for MindManager users with three different versions and price levels. (Click on the image below for a larger version.)

Via WebWorker Daily

- Rob Bushway

Most of our readers caught the news about RitePen version 3 being released.  If you missed it, check out these videos for some great demos:

• ritePen Overview
• ritePen 3.0 pen Macros
• advanced dictionary

Well, we have some great news for our readers. For the next 30 days, GBM readers can get RitePen for $19.95 - about 33% off the normal $29.95! This offer expires July 19 and you must use this link to purchase it.

Here is where the great news gets even better. If you are actively talking about and discussing ritePen in our forums, you could get picked for a FREE version. All you have to do is talk about how you are using ritePen, help other users with it, talk about problems you might be having, suggestions on new features, etc - get in there and talk, and who knows, you just might get a free license of ritePen. By the way, this offer does not expire. It is something we will be monitoring all the time.

We have a lot of free versions to give away and will be picking from the list of active ritePen forum participants. We've already picked about 10 or so lucky ritePen users, and will be notifying them.

- Rob Bushway

Active Ink Software just let us know, through their blog, that the Florida Environmental Health Department has deployed up to 2,000 Tablet PCs with Active Ink form filling software to help them ensure that the places we all eat in are up to snuff. The implementation will take 12 - 18 months, but once complete, all of the inspection data will get synchronized live with the division's master database.

Very cool! We don't often get to hear about mass deployments like that. Great work, Active Ink!

 

- Rob Bushway

With Firefox 3 set to debut later this week, I thought it would be helpful to get a list of everyone's favorite add-ons:

What do you use and why?

- Warner Crocker

Capping and/or throttling broadband by ISPs has been in the news for quite some time now and will continue to be so. After many denials Comcast eventually came clean about it’s throttling efforts, and the issue is certainly a contentious one. Comcast and other ISPs claim they need to take action to protect their service from those that abuse the pipes with excessive uploading and downloading. I see the larger issue as a major flash point with the ISPs trying to limit, and also find ways to charge for, heavy broadband usage. Content providers are rushing to push more and more media over the tubes, and ISPs are trying to get ahead of that rush and find ways to charge for it. At some point that flash point will turn into a showdown.

Google is paying attention to this as well, and apparently is developing a tool that users can put into play to determine if their ISP is throttling back service, and that, in my opinion, is a good thing, because at the least, it would allow consumers to have some knowledge of the efforts their ISP are making.

 

- Warner Crocker

Origami Experience 2.0 was released on Friday and jkkmobile has already put up a video review. He walks through the major features of the application and explains the ins and outs quite clearly. Like a lot of folks who are taking a look at this, jkk asks the big question about this software release for UMPCs. OE 2.0 requires Vista, but then so many prefer to run Windows XP on UMPCs. Why isn’t there version for Windows XP?

Check out the video review here.

 

- Warner Crocker

The new EverNote, which is still in beta, keeps rolling out the updates for both its Windows, Mac, and web versions. They just pushed out more updates today. EverNote is now a fixture in my toolbox of applications and I use it constantly to grab information, especially things that I want to share between multiple devices. Although we still don’t see Ink Support for viewing Ink documents on the Mac version, things seem to be progressing along well on that front. And curiously EverNote recently announced that the web version now supported PDFs. Well, sorta, kinda. You can view a lovely PDF icon, but you have to open up the document in an external viewer to be able to view the document. No thumbnail quick glances in the PC version, or the web version, or the iPhone version, although you can can get a thumbnail view of the document on the Mac.

I’m also still not thrilled with the PC versions UI and wish EverNote would add some of the features that it contains on the Mac version. Here’s hoping the folks at EverNote keep churning out those updates and pay a little more attention to things on the PC side the next round.

By the way, I’ve still got some EverNote beta invites available. If you’re interested leave a comment to this post and include your email in the form. We’ll see it, others won’t.

- Warner Crocker

Brandon LeBlanc on the Windows Experience Blog tells us that Origami Experience 2.0 has finally been released and is available for download.

The Origami Experience 2.0 has been released for download on the Microsoft Download Center today!

Download: Origami Experience 2.0

The Origami Experience 2.0 is designed for Ultra-Mobile PCs that run Windows Vista. To run the Origami Experience 2.0, a UMPC with the following specifications is recommended: 

• Minimum 100 MB of available hard disk space
• Minimum 1 GB of system memory
• Touch panel display (required for Origami Picture Password)

The Origami Experience 2.0 requires 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.