During Macworld Expo’s we normally get a lot of requests from companies exhibiting to check out their products and services, even though they often appear to not have an understanding of our readership and publication focus. We politely decline to all those iPod vendors and the like; however usually there are a small group of companies that do pique our interest. In our final report we’ll cover some of these plus some of the miscellaneous items from Macworld Expo SF 2009.
ExtremeZ-IP by GroupLogic
GroupLogic contacted us prior to Macworld and we booked a time to meet them. Meeting GroupLogic president, T. Reid Lewis, he explained that the company wanted to show us ExtremeZ-IP. So what is this ExtremeZ-IP anyway?
The purpose of ExtremeZ-IP is to run it on your Windows Servers and run it in lieu of Windows Services for Macintosh (aka: SFM). ExtremeZ-IP is an application for Windows server operating systems and supports up to the very latest Windows Server 2008.
So why it rather than SFM? The answer is because Services for Macintosh (SFM) is no longer built into the latest Windows server software (Windows Server 2008) and SFM only supports version 2.2 of AFP (Apple Filing Protocol) — which is four versions behind what is shipping today in Macs.
ExtremeZ-IP 5.3 is the industry’s first and only Windows-based server solution to fully support Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X 10.5, including the latest Apple File Sharing Protocol, AFP 3.2 for complete platform and application compatibility between Macs and Windows in a mixed computing environment. The features of ExtremeZ-IP are very extensive but here are some highlights:
Supports Windows Server 2008, including AppleTalk printing support (for legacy needs)
Only Windows solution for Apple’s innovative Time Machine backup
Fully Integrated File and Print Sharing Solution (built in Print Server)
Innovative Zidget tool for discovery and setup of printers, including PPDs
Print Tracking and Accounting for Cost Tracking and Chargeback
A Multi-Platform Plotter Tracking and Chargeback System
In fact one of the more interesting features is the ability to use this product for tracking and accounting for client chargebacks. In AEC (architecture/engineering/construction) firms in particular a multi-platform solution that is simplified (as compared to the complex database driven solutions out in the industry) is not truly in existence yet.
This was discussed with Reid Lewis, President of GroupLogic, and he was interested and curious about this particular problem facing mixed and/or Mac-only AEC firms. Most plotter accounting for large-format printers is often done manually in smaller and even mid-sized firms. HP itself — the leading large color plotter provider to AEC — doesn’t provide the simplified, cross-platform solution in software form that one might expect.
We had a chance to stop by and see this new application called VectorDesigner by TweakerSoft, a small Mac-focused developer from Italy. We were not surprised at all to learn that the product won a Best of Show 2008 from Macworld. For those of you who find larger illustration software tools frustrating and complex, this may be your best answer yet.
VectorDesigner wins Best of Show 2008 Macworld.
We were impressed by VectorDesigner’s beautiful use of modern Mac OS X programming technologies such as Quartz Composer and Core Image. The product is a substitute for Adobe Illustrator and similar apps. Yet it costs just $69.USD. The beauty in this app is its simplicity. Yet is can produce powerful results. We were impressed with its ability to place texts on complex paths, to do complex layering, opacity and color image effects. And we were also impressed with its live hook-up with Flickr using its built-in Flickr Browser to grab images and textures.
Also interesting was its Bezier creation and editing tools, iSight integration on Macs, iLife photo browser and QuickLook support. It can import vector formats such as PDF, EPS and SVG. It can also export PDF of course and EPS. Raster format import/export includes most of the essentials (eg: JPEG, TGA, SGI, PSD, etc.).
There are numerous great new iPhone applications at Macworld Expo this year, not surprisingly. We already covered a winner from the show the new Daylite touch application by Marketcircle. Another hot product at the show was one called Fuze…online meetings made mobile. With FUZE on your iPhone you can break free of the conference room and take your meetings with you — the company says.
FUZE for the iPhone provides a high-definition visual meeting interface on your iPhone in real-time. Instantly and securely you can “host” meetings on your iPhone with chat for coworkers, clients and friends and the ability to manage your IM contacts. The visual interface lets you see who is in the meeting and you can establish meetings using leading public IM networks such as AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, Google Talk and Cisco’s Jabber. To learn more click here.
Another great new iPhone application was Mariner Calc for iPhone. Mariner Software is a stalwart in the Mac software development world so it was not surprising at all to see them introduce a top-notch iPhone app.
While Mariner Calc for iPhone is still in beta the product, the company claims, is breaking new ground in an iPhone application. View and edit native Excel files, support for multiple spreadsheets, charts and object support and 1 million by 32k row and column support. It will feature split planes, vertical and horizontal and show selection support in the user-interface (UI).
Another top-notch business and personal computing application now available in iPhone and iPod touch form is Omnigroup’s OmniFocus for iPhone. With OmniFocus you get professional-grade personal task management that can be synced with multiple Macs and an iPhone or iPod touch or both using MobileMe syncing services from Apple or a WebDav server of your choice.
OmniFocus for iPhone and iPod touch.
Alternatively you can run OmniFocus for iPhone or iPod touch just on that device alone as an independent app with its own database. Other great apps from this developer include OmniPlan for project management (an alternative for Microsoft Project) and OmniWeb, OmniOutliner and OmniDiskSweeper.
If you are thinking that all these 15,000+ iPhone apps are great and all but you still don’t see the iPhone application you really want — perhaps it’s time you build it yourself. And for that Macworld Expo introduced ModelBaker, by WidgetPress.
ModelBaker by WidgetPress. Easy iPhone and Web 2.0 App development made very very simple. The Apple way!
ModelBaker sounds like an OpenGL or rendering tool but it’s not! It’s a new tool for software development geared towards complete novices to programming. Experience with HTML, FileMaker databases or Flash driven Web sites will likely help you but even if you don’t have that experience ModelBaker can still be approachable.
ModelBaker is a modern rapid application development tool (RAD tool). With it create Web apps (Web 2.0), iPhone apps, and AJAX apps. It has built-in MySQL database support. It even supports Google Android mobiles. There is a free 30-day trial version available.
