The Glif: We Need This iPhone Stand & Tripod Mount

I’m not exactly an accessory guy: I’m not into cases and skins, I like my iPhone naked. I purchased a Just Mobile Xtand, though: it’s a great way to keep the iPhone at a good visible angle on my desk and, frankly, it looks great next to the iMac.

But the Glif could be a lot better: a stand/tripod mount hybrid that doesn’t suck, doesn’t look bad and, most of all, could finally help you get things done. It could be a great way to use your iPhone as a digital clock, a great camera tripod…just watch the video below. Why am I saying “could”? Because the guys behind the Glif need our help. They have created a prototype, but the manufacturing process will cost around $10.000 to be completed.

Here’s the official Kickstarter campaign for Glif. Go donate right now, we need this. [via DF] Read more

How To Easily Send Files From Your Mac to Gmail

As you may know, I moved my primary work mail to Gmail using the Google Apps engine. I’ve always been a huge fan of Gmail’s web UI, but when Google announced Priority Inbox and the new accounts for Google Apps users (they’re basically just like personal accounts now, but they run on Apps) I thought it was the right time to switch. I haven’t looked back: Gmail is powerful and the Priority Inbox makes navigating through hundreds of messages a day a better experience.

Gmail comes with free online storage space. You can basically store as many emails as you want and forget about deleting attachments because the email provider requires so. So I thought: wouldn’t be great to be able to store files on Gmail and easily retrieve them from any device? It’s still normal email, with my files in it. Follow the instructions below to see how you can upload files from your Mac’s Finder to Gmail with just one click. Read more

Using TextExpander for Markdown Reference Links→

I use Markdown’s reference links. The advantage of using referenced links is that the text is much easier to read. You can also use the same reference more than once. Reference links can be set anywhere in the document. Some folks do it at the end of the paragraph. I do them all at the bottom.

Excellent follow-up to Patrick Rhone’s screencast about Markdown and TextExpander.

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You Are Not Your App

Last week I told you it was the right time to take a step back and reconsider the way we use our mobile devices. The right time to re-think our setups, and free us from the need of installing new apps every day while missing the real point of iOS: the “built-in factor”. See, Apple always provided a great set of tools to get things done on a new OS without the need of going out there searching for software. With Mac OS X, most users can do stuff without ever opening Safari and browse to some developer website. With iOS it’s just the same, but the App Store and its flowing stream of new applications made us forget about the built-in factor. We often don’t remember that we can enjoy an iPhone as it comes out of the box. Read more

The OS Doesn’t Matter→

The OS Doesn’t Matter

For the developer, what we now call the OS must supply ever-growing expressive power—think a fife versus a twelve-keyboard organ. To wield that expressive power, the programmer needs software tools. The industry uses acronyms such as API (Application Programming Interface), IDE (Integrated Development Environment) or phrases such as Application Frameworks. They define the rules and conventions—which ideas are allowed and how to express them—and the software tools that programmers need to develop an application.

This is today’s OS. User experience. Development tools.

The fact that Apple provides one of the best development suites says a lot.

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Apple Approves BitTorrent App?

With all the new/revised rules for App Store approvals, who knows what will show up in the Store? First it was Google Voice apps and now a BitTorrent app? Could this one have slipped through the Apple cracks? Remember Handy Light and MiTube?

IS Drive by Derek Kepner is an app that works with ImageShack‘s BitTorrent service, which allows users to manage their downloads. While BitTorrent is not illegal as a file sharing protocol; it is the preferred method to copy the unauthorized exchange of music and video - and that’s a reason for Apple to reject applications that allow users to manage their downloads. Read more

Sparrow: New Email Client for Mac That’s Just Like Tweetie

I’ve been a Mail.app user for a long time, but a few weeks ago I decided to move my primary work mail account to Gmail under Google Apps. I love Gmail’s web UI, and even though I’m also a huge Mailplane fan I had to keep all my other Gmail / Google Apps-based accounts in Mail.app, mainly for the better integration with Applescripts, Automator workflows and plugins. Mail.app works fine, but it’s not revolutionary, breathtaking at the way it allows you to interact with messages or geared towards people who need to play with multiple accounts on a daily basis. As a matter of fact, if you put too many accounts in Apple Mail and activate too many plugins - it will explode. But then again, that’s not my main concern.

I’ve been wondering whether it’d be possible to developer a better Mail client for Mac. The Letters.app project seems to be dead or something, and I haven’t heard of other devs finding their way through IMAP and Cocoa. Not until this morning, when I got an email about - yes - an entirely new email application specifically built with Mac users in mind.

Meet Sparrow. Read more