Why think about adding tasks, managing lists, and getting drowned in contexts and tags when you could just have a Dropbox enabled whiteboard for everything you need to get done? TaskAgent is the minimal to-do manager that you’ll want if you’d like the ability to easily share tasks in a readable format via text files (it’s that simple), and you’ll never be outta sync across your iOS devices or Mac.
TaskAgent Syncs ToDos Over Dropbox As Editable Text Files
Apple’s Succession Proposal? Rejected
At Apple’s shareholders meeting today in the company’s Town Hall auditorium, a proposal to reveal Apple’s succession plan was rejected. For many months now, speculation has arisen that Apple should reveal its succession plans for Steve Jobs’ retirement (which, you know, is going to happen eventually) – but the company always refused to give out details, that are likely already in place, fearing repercussions in the management sphere with names of executives to succeed Jobs going public.
Apple COO Tim Cook took the stage today to introduce the board of directors, whose seven members – including Jobs – were reelected.
The most controversial shareholder proposal – that Apple adopt a detailed succession plan – was introduced about 20 minutes later. According to the representative of the Central Laborers’ Pension Fund who introduced it, Proposal No. 5 did not require the company to name names, she said, so management’s fears about the proposal were unfounded.
Apple has a succession plan for when Steve Jobs will leave, but they don’t want anyone to know just yet.
You Can Now Control Your Apple TV and XBMC with Rowmote
Rowmote is an excellent virtual trackpad for iPhone and iPad we reviewed a while ago that lets you control the mouse cursor and media playback on your Mac. In my review I wrote:
Rowmote is one of the most solid virtual touchpad apps I’ve tested recently: the touchpad is large, buttons for media control have been placed at both sides of the iPad so you can quickly tap on them with your thumbs. That’s a great idea. A smaller surface in the Trackpad tab also allows you to adjust the Mac’s volume by sliding your fingers. A series of modifier keys placed in the same toolbar let you easily perform keyboard shortcuts assigned to certain OS X applications.
With a blog post published last night, the developers of Rowmote have confirmed that the app now works with an Apple TV – as long as you’re willing to jailbreak it, which shouldn’t be a problem using the latest Seas0nPass. Rowmote’s compatibility with the Apple TV software doesn’t just stop at menus and tabs, it also lets you easily control applications like XBMC installed on the Apple TV. That’s pretty cool.
Rowmote is the only app which will control both the standard Apple menus as well as third party applications such as XBMC on your Apple TV. Rowmote Pro’s keyboard is fully supported. Please look at the instructions below before purchasing to ensure you’re comfortable with the requirements!
Installation requires jailbreaking your Apple TV. This process is not supported by Apple. While these instructions have worked well for me and for many others, I can not guarantee they will work for you. If for some reason the installation fails, you can always ‘factory restore’ your Apple TV.
Instructions are available here. Go download Rowmote from the App Store at $4.99.
iPhone App with Face Tracking Technology Lets You Try Virtual Glasses
The Total Immersion developers released a free iPhone app in the App Store a few days ago that uses augmented reality face-tracking technologies to let you try virtual glasses and see how they fit. The app – Atol les opticiens – was commissioned by French optician and eyeglasses retailer Atol and, apparently, it’s the first of its kind to land in the App Store that relies on this kind of face recognition to allow you to try various models of glasses. Unfortunately, the app is in French so if you want to try it prepare to see a lot of “telecharger” and “Oui”.
The developers write:
This is the most fully realized mobile commerce application ever to use augmented reality, and the first AR app in the m-commerce space featuring face- tracking technology, newly available on mobile,” said Bruno Uzzan, co-founder and CEO, Total Immersion. “Face tracking is ideally suited to purchases like eyeglass frames, where it’s essential to try before you buy. In this environment, the m-commerce experience is both more convenient and more satisfying for consumers and merchants alike. Product selection is virtually unlimited – and those with corrective lenses can keep them on through the AR fitting.
I tried the app and, after a few calibrations, it works pretty well. Check out the video below, and go download here. Read more
Desire: An App To Track The Things You Want
In the next few weeks, I think I’m going to buy an iPad 2 and a new MacBook Pro. Not to mention a pair of new headphones, some cool gloves compatible with the iPhone and a bunch of other things I’ve found online. To track these items and the money required to buy them, I might just use this neat new iPhone app by Michal Grossmann and Maros Holly called Desire that’s aimed at letting you keep track “and manage your savings for the things you always wanted so much”.
In the main screen of Desire, you can enter the items you want to keep track of. From the “new desire” screen you can choose a name, and set a price. Once you’ve got some desires added in the database, you can deposit and withdraw money to visualize your savings for a specific item. The interface and animations in the single item view are simply beautiful, with a progress bar that display how much money you’ve saved and two buttons to add or remove cash. A “show history” button lets you see your log of withdrawals and deposits in the past weeks. It’s a very simple approach that’s also great to look at.
Desire is available at $0.99 in the App Store. Give it a try if you’re looking for a gorgeous app to manage the things you’re dreaming of.
#MacStoriesDeals - Wednesday
MyGreatFest - The World’s First Jailbreak Convention
The MyGreatFest event is going to be “the worlds first iCommunity and Jailbreak convention ever held.” It’s being organized by Craig Fox, founder of MyGreatFest, and he has assembled a diverse, dedicated, and knowledgeable group. Not to name drop but Jay Freeman, aka saurik, will be in attendance along with many other popular names in the jailbreak community. The event on September 17, 2011 at The Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, in London, UK. Ticket information is below.
MyGreatFest team video after the break. Read more
Duplifinder Gets Update, Highlights Duplicates & Better iPhoto Deletion
Duplifinder is growing up fast! We checked out the iPhoto duplicate remover last week, and the developer has already launched a big update. Not only are duplicates now highlighted with the grew squares you see above, but you can double click a photo to immediately reveal it in iPhoto, and pressing the delete key will now delete those duplicates from iPhoto effortlessly. As you can see, our product review pictures get duplicated quite a bit between camera imports, and it’s become an essential tool to help clean out my Mac after an afternoon of product shoots. Ready to jump on board with Duplifinder 2? Download it here!
Tweeple Tap: iPhone Game to Recognize People By Their Tweets
Here’s a neat iPhone game for today while you’re waiting for more Apple news to come in and get you all excited about the event on March 2: Tweeple Tap, a free app by Puntrix, is all about the people you follow on Twitter, and how well you think you know them. In this game, in fact, you’ll have to recognize people by their tweets, which are displayed one after another as you select the correct Twitter user and keep on accumulating points.
There’s nothing else to do, just prove your skills in knowing the people you follow. You can get hints by tapping on a link on a tweet, or just go ahead and try to guess who tweeted what without even looking. Ok, maybe not that one.
Still: go download, it’s free.