Category Archives: Cloud Computing
Review: Microsoft OneNote for iPhone
Well, this review is long overdue, but I’ve been putting Microsoft’s latest addition to the OneNote family through its paces. Overall, I’m fairly pleased with how well I was able to reorganize my notebooks, including some older ones from when I had a Windows smartphone but never had the incentive to do anything with until the iPhone app came out.
However, I should make sure to stress the word "fairly".
Google Drive Is Out–How Does It Stack Up?
Well, the word is that Google Drive is now out in the wild. So, how does it fare? Well, if Lifehacker’s article “File Syncing Faceoff: Dropbox vs. Google Drive” is any indication, I’ll keep on using Dropbox.
Apparently, Google went to great lengths to make it even look similar to Dropbox and not just make it functionally equivalent. However, not everything really is functionally equivalent, it seems:
Once it downloads all your files, you’ll see them in your Google Drive folder, just like Dropbox. Each has a green checkmark if it’s synced, or a blue refresh icon if it’s currently syncing. Items created in Google Docs have their own special icons, and can only be opened in Google Docs….
Say what? I went to a lot of trouble installing Docs To Go on my iPhone (review pending) in order to be able to open items on my iPhone and not in Google Docs! This is a deal breaker already, if you ask me. While Google Docs does a decent job at many of its apps, they really do look and behave differently than in MS Office.
There are some other more minor (IMO) items that Lifehacker points out as well, so don’t consider this a rehash and skip their article, please. Not all of them are downers, either, as Google Drive will come with 5GB already free, and disk space is always an attraction for those who need it.
Google Empire Expands to Take on Cloud Storage
Microsoft used to be euphemistically called “the evil empire”, but these days it is Google that wants to dominate the world. There are always new territories to take over, so Google keeps busy. They are now moving into the cloud storage realm with Google Drive.
I’ve been using Dropbox a lot lately, and it is a nice and handy cross platform tool. It sounds like Google Drive plans on working in a similar fashion. However, Dropbox currently only offers 2GB free. Google Drive plans on rolling out with 5GB free. You’ll be able to upgrade for more space, but prices are not yet available.
Competition is always a good thing, but I wonder if Google is going to provide a polished product or if it will, like too many of their products, offer a half-baked solution. I guess we will see next week.
Mobile Invoicing Disappointments & Solution, Part 3
So far, I covered some of the most disappointing parts of getting a mobile invoicing and payment solution working in conjunction with Quicken and one workaround to get beyond Intuit’s lack of openness. Using PayPal and a Perl script to import in the data is a reasonable solution in the interim.
However, using the regular PayPal site on an iPhone is less than ideal. It’s not impossible by any means (and there are websites where it’s pretty laughable trying to use on an iPhone), but it can be a bit of a struggle to zoom in, zoom out and pan around, etc. At least, it is more error prone, and that’s always a concern.
Well, maybe, just maybe, it will one day be available as an app on the iPhone. I stumbled across “Mobile Invoice” on the PayPal Labs website. There is no guarantee when, or even if, it will see the light of day, but it is hopeful. I’m just hoping that it doesn’t get sidelined with the PayPal Here and similar initiatives.
If they push out Mobile Invoice, then the only thing I would be missing would be a service ticket system. At very least, this is a system that will work for now, at least until Quicken Home and Business gets some real competition.
Review of GCal Duplicate Deleter
It is inevitable when sync’ing calendars between devices that something will get duplicated. ActiveSync was especially bad for that, it seems, which was really annoying as it was pushed out by MS themselves as the solution for sync’ing between Windows Mobile and Outlook. Well, changing to an iPhone and a Google calendar but still sync’ing with Outlook has actually worked quite well, but the inevitable has happened.
Anyone Else Hear of Trello?
I actually was looking at the new Microsoft OneNote mobile application and trying to get more information on it when I stumbled across something really neat: Trello. What is Trello? Well, what do you want it to be? If something needs organizing, then this is the place to look.
Look Out, Dropbox, Microsoft 360 and iCloud, Google Drive Is on the Way
I wrote not long ago about using Dropbox in “Backup Considerations 2: Using Dropbox (and Comparisons to Other File Sharing Services)”. I did not include iCloud in the mix, but it has become quite popular because of its integration into iTunes. I’m not convinced that it is yet really something I’d want to use for mundane types of files, however, nor have I tried.
However, even as immature as iCloud is, it may already be facing its worst competitor. The Telegraph recently posted the article “Google Drive cloud storage coming ‘soon’”. It will synchronize content with Android devices. This means Apple and Google will both have services that sort of tie the users into them through the devices they use. Will this strategy work for either? Only time will tell.
Backup Considerations 2: Using Dropbox (and Comparisons to Other File Sharing Services)
There are many file sharing applications out there, and there can be just as many reasons to use them. The major reasons seem to be:
- A way to share files with other people without using email. This is vital if the information is of a sensitive nature. For example, you should never send an email with your social security number (SSN) on it! Email is not secure by nature, and it may travel through dozens of servers before it gets to its destination.
- In a similar vein, a way to share files between different devices. If you have a desktop at home and a laptop you take on the road with you, then getting to that updated presentation to show your client becomes a must.
- A way to backup files. While online backup systems are nothing new, within certain limits they are often free. Backing up your most important files online ensures that if anything happens to the computer itself (fire, flood, theft, etc.), then at least your most important documents will be safe. A backup drive at your home or office is a good idea, but if both the backup drive and the computer are in the house during a house fire, then you have still lost your data!
iOS 5 First Impressions
I jailbroke my iPhone 3GS originally because of my frustration with the push notifications doing stupid things like covering up the controls on a phone call to prevent me from hanging up (imagine trying to make a phone call on the thing, after all!). However, there were problems with doing it that way, not the least of which was Apple plugging up the security hole that allowed an untethered jailbreak in the first place. Downgrading the iOS seemed to make it more unstable (for reasons I never figured out). The last straw, though, was the inability to answer Skype calls while the phone was locked and Notified was running.
So, improved notifications was the major feature I desired when I learned iOS 5 was finally released. And, it turns out to be a major improvement in this area. Alerts happen up in the status area unless the phone is locked, and even then they aren’t modal dialogs. The one strange exception seemed to be the location service which wanted me to turn on wi-fi after I had turned it off because I was going to be on the road. I don’t understand why it would want wi-fi turned on, as IP addresses have very little to do with location (a proxy or VPN server would mangle it even if it were).
Windows 8 Buzz
[Note: This was supposed to publish last week, but for some reason did not.]
There has been a lot of buzz surrounding Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8.
For one thing, the How-To Geek seems to think Windows 8 will boot faster. Perhaps it will, but will it boot better? Will there be a choice to whether or not there will be a clean boot? Don’t most people already know how to use hibernate anyhow?
Of course, the changes are particularly targeting mobile users. MSNBC.com’s Technolog seems to think “Windows 8 does what Apple doesn’t”.
