iLounge

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.

iLounge Senior Editor Charles Starrett has released his first iOS application, Scribe. An advanced text editor for the iPhone and iPad, Scribe is designed for users who write content for the web, with easy HTML markup features accessible directly from the iOS context menus. The application provides a clutter-free user interface with an iPhone/iPad-optimized version of the font Anonymous Pro; users can save files locally, or take advantage of iCloud and Dropbox support for syncing files between multiple iOS devices. Scribe also offers full Markdown support for users who prefer that syntax to HTML, while providing the same menu options as HTML markup. Additional features include integrated support for TextExpander, AirPrint, sending of documents via e-mail, and word/character/line counts. Scribe is a universal app requiring iOS 5.0 or later and is available from the App Store for $3.

Popular remote desktop service LogMeIn has released a new free version of its remote control app for iOS devices. LogMeIn is a free service that allows users to easily access their PC or Mac remotely from another computer via a web browser without requiring advanced configuration of proxies and firewalls. Although the basic computer-to-computer service has always been free, the company’s original iOS application, LogMeIn Ignition provided more advanced features from the iOS platform and sold on the App Store for $30

LogMeIn has now released a new, free version of the iOS app providing basic remote desktop access for any computer configured in the user’s LogMeIn account; a $40/year subscription to LogMeIn Pro can be purchased directly within the app which basically unlocks the features of the paid LogMeIn Ignition app. Pro features include the ability to transfer files between the remote computer and the iOS device and online storage services such as Dropbox as well as printing from the remote computer to any AirPrint compatible printer and streaming HD video and sound from the remote computer. These features are also available at no additional charge from the free app when connecting to a remote computer for which the user has already purchased a LogMeIn Pro subscription. LogMeIn is available from the App Store as a free download.

The original LogMeIn Ignition app has now been renamed to “Ignition” and has been updated with HD video and sound streaming and My Cloud Bank. The App Store price of Ignition has also been increased to $100, however Ignition provides access to Pro features from the iOS device for remote computers on LogMeIn Free plans and does not require an annual subscription fee.

Evernote has released Skitch for iPad, an iOS adaptation of the popular annotation and drawing app, Evernote Skitch for Mac. Skitch for iPad allows users to import photos from the iOS photo library or capture them with the iPad 2 camera and then annotate and markup the photos with integrated drawing tools. Skitch also recognizes recently-captured screenshots from the photo library and places them in a separate category for quick access and provides an integrated web browser and map view to allow users to easily take snapshots of web pages and maps that can then be marked up and saved in the same manner as any other stored image. Skitch includes a variety of touchscreen-optimized drawing tools including a finger tool for manipulating drawn objects, a freehand pencil tool, arrow and shape tools as well as text annotation and cropping options. Drawings and annotations are automatically saved within the Skitch for iPad app but can also be saved directly into Evernote or shared via Twitter or e-mail; AirPlay mirroring is also fully supported on the iPad 2 allowing drawings to be displayed on a larger screen via an Apple TV. Skitch for iPad requires iOS 5.0 or later and is available from the App Store as a free download. AirPlay and camera features require an iPad 2. An iPhone version is currently under development.

Google has released an update to its native Google Voice app for the iPhone adding support for multi-recipient texting and integration for Sprint iPhone users. The latest update now allows users to send text messages to multiple recipients via the Google Voice service along with autocompletion when entering contact names. For Sprint iPhone users who have integrated their Sprint service with Google Voice the app also now sends all calls through to the native iOS dialer allowing calls to be more quickly and easily completed. The update also adds a multi-line text entry field with character count and one-touch copy and paste on the dial pad screen. Google Voice is available from the App Store as a free download.

Google has released an update to its native Gmail app for iOS adding several new features including support for nested labels, mobile signatures and vacation messages, and a new “scribbles” feature. With Gmail 1.1 nested labels now appear laid out properly in the left-hand labels view and users can configure Mobile Signature and Vacation Responder settings directly from their device by clicking on a small gear settings icon at the top of the menu view. The update also adds a new notification sound for iOS 5 devices to help users distinguish Gmail notifications from other iOS notifications. The update also adds a new feature dubbed “scribbles” that allows users to open up a canvas to draw a message using the touchscreen that will be attached to an e-mail. Scribbles provides multiple colours, brush sizes, lines, erasers and spray paint and can also be accessed from the HTML5 Gmail web app. Gmail 1.1 is available from the App Store as a free download.

Microsoft has released a native iPhone and iPod touch application for its SkyDrive cloud storage service, allowing users to access files from SkyDrive while on the go as well as uploading photos and videos from the iOS device. The app provides access to all of a user’s personal as well as shared SkyDrive files along with a section for quick access to recently-used documents. Users can also share a link to any file via e-mail, create new folders and delete files and folders from directly within the app. SkyDrive is available from the App Store as a free download. Hotmail, Messenger and Xbox Live accounts each include SkyDrive as well, or users can sign up for a free account directly at SkyDrive.com.

Microsoft has released a native iPad version of OneNote, its note-taking application for iOS devices. Microsoft OneNote allows users to capture ideas and tasks while on-the-go complete with text, pictures, bullets and checkboxes. Notes can be synchronized online via Windows Live SkyDrive and can be edited and managed from a web browser using the OneNote Web App or Microsoft OneNote 2010 for Windows. A free Windows Live ID is required to use the OneNote Mobile app; new users can signup for an ID directly from within OneNote. OneNote for iPad is available from the App Store as a free download and allows users to access, create and edit up to 500 notes after which a $5 in-app purchase is required to continue using the application. The separate iPhone version of Microsoft OneNote has also been updated to add support for viewing tables in notebooks and performance and reliability improvements.