iLounge

Panic Software has released Diet Coda, an iPad adaptation of its popular web code editor and development app for Mac OS X. Designed to allow users to make quick edits and adjustments to their websites on the go, Diet Coda provides an advanced web editor with an intuitive touch interface that includes remote editing with syntax highlighting, FTP/SFTP file management and a built-in SSH terminal. A new Super-Loupe feature makes positioning the iOS cursor more seamless, particularly when working in more complex blocks of code and a contextual keyboard provides access to the appropriate special characters based on whatever the user is currently working on. Users can also store chunks of code as clips to be easily inserted in a single tap and an advanced find-and-replace feature is available including a wildcard token for easily searching out and replacing blocks of text or code. Diet Coda can also be used as a companion application for Coda 2.0 via its AirPreview feature, which allows the iPad to be used as a dedicated preview screen while developing on Coda 2 on the Mac. Diet Coda requires iOS 5.0 or later and is available from the App Store for $10 as a special 50% launch discount.

Popular third-party CloudApp client DropCloud has received a major update adding several new features and a new name. Now known as ClouDrop, the universal app allows users of the CloudApp online sharing service to upload, share and view files and links directly from their iOS devices. ClouDrop includes several advanced features such as background uploading from the iOS clipboard, automatic archive creation during upload and a built-in music player. Version 2.3 adds support for live real-time updating of the CloudApp item list including the view count alongside inline previews for photos and bookmarks and a corresponding redesign of the main page. A new option is also now available to automatically upload iOS screenshots while ClouDrop is running in the background. ClouDrop is a universal app and is available from the App Store for $1.

Moredays has released Moredays HD, a unique new graphical time management tool for iPad users that focuses on images rather than text. Combining the features of a digital planner and a scrapbook, Moredays uses pictures, doodles and sketches to help users organize information in the style of a traditional paper planner. Users can record events, tasks, notes and contacts within the app or simply save an item to the inbox and decide on its type later; a quick entry mode also allows new items to be easily added from any screen. Pictures can be inserted from the iPad photo library or the user can choose from over 60 included sketches to enhance and distinguish items; in addition to a photo or sketch, stamps can also be applied to help categorize items visually. Users can also add notes and location to any item and Moredays automatically synchronizes with its own web application for access from a computer. Moredays HD requires iOS 5.0 or later and is available from the App Store as a free download; an iPhone/iPod version is also currently under development.

Evernote has released an update to its iOS application with major enhancements to the note editing features. Evernote 4.2 now provides iPhone users with some of the editing improvements recently added for the iPad in the last udpate, including an upgrade and redesign of the note editor   and improvements to checkbox functionality. Users can now more easily access attachment features, text styling and formatting options when editing notes; a redesigned note information screen and more advanced note editing capabilities have also been added. Checkboxes can now be indented in the editor and continued simply by adding new lines after the first box.

The new version also adds support for importing images from the iOS Photo Stream and a redesigned audio recorder. New options are also available to disable automatic saving of new photos to the Camera Roll and the automatic note titling feature that was introduced in the prior update. Evernote 4.2 is a universal app requiring iOS 3.0 or later and is available from the App Store as a free download; some of the newer features and editing enhancements require iOS 5.0 or later.

Evernote announced today that it has acquired Cocoa Box, developer of Penultimate, the highly acclaimed digital ink notebook app for the iPad. In a post on the company’s blog, Evernote CEO Phil Libin noted that the handwriting app has been one of the company’s favourites since it was first released two years ago and goes on to announce that Penultimate creator Ben Zotto will be joining Evernote to head up future development on the app; Penultimate is expected to remain a separate application but will gain new Evernote integration features such as full search and synchronization. Zotto will also work with Evernote to bring handwriting and digital ink functionality into the company’s other products and platforms. Penultimate remains available on the App Store for $1.

Spring Partners has released a major update to its Springpad online notebook service and companion iOS app introducing a complete redesign with new sharing, collaboration and discovery features. Springpad allows users to create online smart notebooks that are automatically synchronized between the web and their iOS devices; items entered into a Springpad notebook are automatically enhanced with relevant information such as price comparisons and availability alerts for products, links to reservations for restaurants, reviews for movies and more.

The new Springpad also introduces the ability for users to share individual notebooks between friends, family and colleagues for team collaboration on a project, activity or to simply put together a group-sourced collection of information. Additionally, users can now explore Springpad to discover and follow public notebooks created by other Springpad community members on a variety of topics. Notebooks have been redesigned and simplified with enhanced customizability and the ability to personalize designs with a collection of themes and accents. Users can also now sort, filter and organize notebooks with category and tag information and getting information into Springpad is also now much faster with a new Smart Bar for quickly adding new information and new bookmarklet and browser extensions on the desktop side. Springpad 3.0 is a universal app and is available from the App Store as a free download.

LogMeIn has updated its free LogMeIn and paid Ignition apps for iOS adding support for the new iPad Retina Display along with additional in-app Pro subscription options for users of the free version. Following a recent update to the Mac OS X LogMeIn app, the iOS version now also provides Mac users with access to high-definition video streaming capabilities and sound directly from their iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.

HD support was added to the LogMeIn iOS apps in December, however the feature requires an accompanying update to the computer-side component which was initially only available for Windows users. With the latest Mac update, LogMeIn Pro subscribers can now stream HD-quality video with sound from their remote Mac, allowing users to view movies and TV shows and even play games over a remote desktop connection. For users of the free LogMeIn iOS app, a Pro subscription is required to access the new HD features for each remote computer; in-app subscriptions have been updated in the latest release with three-month and six-month options in addition to the $40/year annual subscription. Users of LogMeIn’s paid Ignition app can access the HD video streaming and other iOS-related Pro features such as My Cloud Bank for multiple remote computers with no additional subscription required. LogMeIn for iOS is available from the App Store as a free download; Ignition is priced at $100 and is a free update for users of prior versions. Both apps are universal with support for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

FiftyThree has released Paper, a new sketching and drawing app for the iPad. Focused on a providing a minimalist design, Paper acts as a simple notebook or journal effectively turning the entire iPad screen into a freeform drawing canvas with no additional buttons, controls or other distractions. The app instead relies heavily on a gesture-based control interface: users open and close journals and journal pages with pinch gestures, flip pages by swiping in from the bezel at the sides and access the drawing tools by swiping up from the bottom; users can “Rewind” (undo) by rotating with two fingers in a counter-clockwise direction while other one-finger gestures are used simply to draw on the page with the currently selected tool. The free app includes an eraser and single fountain pen drawing tool with 9 colours; additional tools are available via in-app purchase for $2 each or $8 for the full set of four. Paper is available from the App Store as a free download.

Google has made a background update to its Gmail mobile app for iOS devices adding support for sending from alternate addresses. Users of both the native Gmail iOS app and HTML5 web app can now choose to use any of their configured From addresses when sending a new e-mail message or replying to an existing message. As before, Gmail will still select the appropriate sender address automatically when replying to a message, however the new feature now allows users to visually confirm which address will be used when composing a reply. Alternate address support has been added on Google’s end and does not require an update to the native Gmail iOS app; users of the native app should see the option appear over the next few days. The native Gmail app is a universal iOS app and is available from the App Store as a free download.

Following an extended period of App Store submissions and rejections, Zanther has released Taposé, a new iPad productivity app that provides an integrated collection of tools including a collaborative multimedia journal, fully featured web browser, interactive maps, calculator and more. Designed with a focus on collaboration, Taposé is tied into a cloud-based service with a unified virtual workspace, allowing multiple users to share and edit journals in real-time. In addition to text editing and formatting features, the journal also supports rich content such as drawings, media elements, contact cards, web clippings and maps. Users can also share either complete journals or individual pages as static PDF documents via e-mail, Evernote, and Dropbox, or print them via AirPrint. Taposé is available from the App Store for $3. Collaborative sharing requires registration for a Taposé account; 400MB of storage is provided for free with unlimited storage available for a $30/year subscription.

Our initial impressions of Taposé show evidence of a great concept in need of significant user interface improvements. The UI relies on many gesture-based actions that are not immediately apparent to the user, and the included tutorial journal does not provide enough information in this regard. Further,  the decision to mimic a real-world journal design in the app contributes to this confusion, forcing the user to endure a disorienting left/right “sliding pages” interface when working in portrait view. Turning pages requires corner swipes that are confusing at first, and worsened when you change orientations. The app appears to be considerably less confusing and more usable and responsive in landscape orientation. It is also worth noting that the button to log into or register for a Taposé account only appears in the control hub in landscape orientation.

SugarSync has released a major update to its universal iOS client adding a completely redesigned interface for iPad users. SugarSync is a cloud-based storage and synchronization service that allows users to easily sync their files and folders across multiple computers and mobile devices including the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with the free, universal iOS app. With SugarSync 3.0 the iPad interface has been completely redesigned to provide better use of the larger screen both for the display of information as well as new drag-and-swipe navigation for commonly used features.

With version 3.0 on the iPad, devices and shared folders are now displayed in a permanent sidebar at the left of the screen along with mobile photos and videos, web archives, recent documents, the Magic Briefcase and more. A sliding and stacking panels interface allows users to more effectively navigate into their folder structures while viewing multiple folders at once, providing quick access to other folders and the persistent top-level sidebar at the left; users can use drag and swipe gestures to move the stacked panels in order keep track of current and related folders as they navigate the file system and view individual files. SugarSync 3.0 is a universal app and is available from the App Store as a free download.

Apple updated a handful of its iOS apps today alongside the introduction of the new iPad. The iWork suite—Pages, Numbers, and Keynote—have received unspecified updates while GarageBand now features Smart Strings, Note Editor, iCloud syncing, and sharing over multiple devices. The new iMovie adds outlining and storyboarding features, along with the ability to record video with the new iPad’s 1080p rear camera. All of the updates are free, and available today.

Alongside the new iPad’s introduction, Autodesk announced its newest app, SketchBook Ink. The company started by noting that it’s reached tens of millions of iOS users in just two years, compared to the 29 years it took to reach that number on the desktop. SketchBook Ink focuses on line art, and takes advantage of the iPad’s new A5X processor. The app is capable of exporting images greater than 100 megapixels. It’ll be available in April, exclusively for iOS.

Realmac Software has released Clear, a new list-keeping app designed to be fast and simple to use. Aimed at delivering a “next-generation take on lists,” Clear provides an appealing, gesture-rich user interface that allows users to quickly and easily manage lists of tasks and other items, relying almost entirely on multitouch gestures rather than traditional buttons and menus. Clear can be used for a variety of list-based applications, providing support for multiple lists and the ability to easily mark items as completed, however the app emphasizes a focus on simplicity, omitting more sophisticated task management features such as due dates, reminders or any kind of online or desktop synchronization. Clear requires iOS 5.0 or later and is available from the App Store for an introductory price of $1.

Appigo has released a major update to its Notebook application for the iPhone and iPod touch, reintroducing it as a simple, universal note taking app. Designed to provide the ability to quickly and easily take notes and access them from anywhere, Notebook 2.0 uses a plain text format and stores notes in Dropbox for access from multiple iOS devices or any desktop computer. Notes are now organized into collections; users can continue to access their Toodledo notes from the previous version in the “Toodledo” collection and a local collection is available for notes that the user wishes to store only on a single iOS device. Users can create additional Dropbox collections based on Dropbox folders and share collections with other Dropbox and Notebook users simply by using the Dropbox folder sharing feature. Notebook 2.0 is a universal app requiring iOS 4.2 or later and is available from the App Store for $5.

Byte² has released a major update to Office² designed to bring the advanced document editing features of Office² HD to the iPhone and iPod touch. The latest update to Office² provides a variety of new layout tools for working with Microsoft Word documents including multi-column layouts, text boxes, page rulers, file versioning and the ability to insert shapes and section breaks. Images can now be set to float above text and support for headers, footers, footnotes and endnotes has also been added in the update. Saved documents now preserve existing content and formatting for proper collaborative sharing between Office² on the iPhone and Microsoft Office on the desktop. Office² is available from the App Store for $6.

SmileOnMyMac has released an iPad version of PDFpen, its popular PDF annotation and editing software for Mac OS X. The iPad version of PDFpen brings an advanced set of PDF editing features to iOS such as the ability to add text, images, signatures, comments and annotations to PDF documents, make changes to existing editable text blocks and images and fill out PDF forms. Advanced annotation features include highlighting, underscoring and strikethrough along with a collection of pre-defined proofreading symbols that can be applied to a PDF document along with drawing support for freehand scribbles and standard shapes. PDFpen also allows users to e-mail documents out directly from the device or save them to Dropbox, Evernote or Google Docs; iCloud integration allows documents to be automatically synchronized between multiple iPads and PDFpen for Mac OS X. PDFpen for iPad is available from the App Store for an introductory price of $10.

Readdle has released an update to PDF Expert, its iPad app for viewing, annotating and editing PDF files adding full text search across the app’s entire PDF library and several other enhancements. With PDF Expert 3.2 the built-in Document Search feature now goes beyond just the file name allowing a full search of text-based PDFs to make locating documents faster and easier. Users can also now sort files based on name and date by using options found when scrolling past the top of a document list. Additional features include a new eraser tool for handwritten annotations, support of the tab and arrow keys for filling in PDF forms when using external Bluetooth keyboards and improvements to handwriting and wrist protection. The latest update also implements the iOS Data Protection API automatically encrypting all documents in PDF Expert on password-protected iOS devices. PDF Expert 3.2 is available from the App Store for $10.

Xobni has released Smartr Contacts for iPhone, an iOS adaptation of its popular contact and relationship management solution for other mobile and web platforms. Smartr Contacts is a free app that allows users to extract information from their e-mail data and social network connections to easily create integrated profiles for their contacts, combining details from different sources such as phone numbers, photos, e-mail history and social network status updates. Contacts are further ranked within the app by importance rather than alphabetically, placing the most commonly referenced contacts nearer to the top of the list and also provides linked contextual e-mail and calendar information for each contact. Smartr Contacts for iPhone and related platforms leverage Xobni’s Smartr Cloud solution, using an online service to aggregated contact information across multiple networks; a Xobni account is therefore required to use the app, and e-mail integration requires a Gmail account or Xobni for Outlook to be installed on the user’s PC. Smartr Contacts for iPhone requires iOS 4.0 or later and is available from the App Store as a free download.

Epson has released iProjection, a universal iOS app designed to stream presentations, documents and photos wirelessly from an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad to a compatible networked Epson projector. The iProjection app allows users to load in supported file formats such as word processing documents, presentation files, PDFs and images and output them for display on the projector. Users can also select images directly from the iOS device’s photo library or open files from e-mail or other cloud storage apps directly in the iProjection app. A built-in project remote control feature also allows the app to control projector features such as input sources, mute, freeze, audio settings and more. Supported file formats include Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint 2003 or later, Apple Keynote, and PDF, JPG and PNG files, although video playback and animations are not currently supported in presentation files. Epson iProjection requires an iPad, iPhone or third- or fourth-generation iPod touch running iOS 4.2 or later and a supported Epson projector; the app is available from the App Store as a free download.