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Back in 2008, Microsoft announced Office Web Applications – the web-based version of its ever-popular productivity suite – Microsoft Office. We’ve come across more details recently, with the beta release of Office 2010: the online suite will be made up of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, will be capable of synchronizing with the desktop, will be platform and browser-independent, but will contain less features than the desktop versions of those programs. That should not be an issue, however, since most Office users use very few features in Office.
The suite will be available to everyone for free via Windows Live and to corporate users through different distribution channels. Since the announcement, such questions as “How would this affect Google Docs/Apps and the Zoho office suite?” have been widely discussed topics. Let’s take a pragmatic look at what we should really expect from Office Web Applications. Read more »
While writing a post about jailbreaking (still in progress), I came across a jailbreak app called iRealSMS. In my opinion, this is one of the few apps that makes jailbreaking not only a good idea, but also a complete necessity. I have used this app (along with its less powerful sibling, iRealQuickSMS) and I can say that once you’ve used it (and been spoiled by it), going back to the regular process of texting is a displeasure.
What it does
The concept of iRealSMS is very simple: it allows you to send and receive SMS messages without quitting a currently-running app. iRealSMS runs in the background. Whenever an SMS arrives, the app displays a pop-up screen with a text entry box and a few options. The important thing to note here is that it does not close the open app the way the default Messages app does.
From the incoming SMS pop-up, you can send a reply, call the sender, or ignore the entire thing altogether (see screenshot above). When the screen is tapped to place the cursor in the text-entry box, a keyboard pops up for a quick reply (see screenshot below). After the reply is sent, iRealSMS goes away, allowing the app that was running before receiving the SMS resume.
There is also an option to send an SMS without leaving the current app. I use the volume up button to open the quick send box (press once, more than once increases volume). Now a standard feature when it comes to messaging apps, iRealSMS operates in landscape and portrait modes. Read more »
Dropbox – the awesome storage, synchronization, and sharing application – is getting some much-requested changes. In an email to current users, the Dropbox Team announced that it will be making changes to the service’s undo history, introducing a new feature called “LAN Sync,” and making numerous performance improvements. The team also announced the forthcoming of an iPhone app. Read more »
It looks like Sony has finally realized that other mobile devices like the iPhone and iPod Touch are beating its PSP at its own game (forgive the pun). The Japanese electronics giant has hinted that it might open its PSP Go to third party applications other than games. The PSP Go is the latest addition to the PSP family, the successor to the PSP 3000.
In an interview with CNET, Sony’s Al De Leon said that while PSP content “will mostly be games, there’s an opportunity to look at non-gaming applications.” Well, Sony, it’s about time! The PSP is already an excellent device and the Go form factor – with its slide out gamepad – takes that to the next level. It’s never really been clear to me why Sony hasn’t given developers the ability to develop and publish non-gaming apps to the PSP. Perhaps it’s indicative of the company as a whole, you know – missing the iPod opportunity, missing the mark on the PS3, and having a very steel-fisted approach to any kind of modifications (read: hacks) to its devices.
Back in 2008, Microsoft announced Office Web Applications – the web-based version of its ever-popular productivity suite – Microsoft Office. We’ve come across more details recently, with the beta release of Office 2010: the online suite will be made up of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, will be capable of synchronizing with the desktop, will be platform and browser-independent, but will contain less features than the desktop versions of those programs. That should not be an issue, however, since most Office users use very few features in Office.
