Adobe AIR apps are some of the best designed, most useful applications you can have on your desktop. Last month, I highlighted 10 applications to try out, if you're thinking about using AIR apps. This time around, I want to take a look at 10 apps that will make you more productive. Trust me, they will help you save some time.
Be more productive
Agile Agenda Agile Agenda is a project management tool that helps project managers keep their team on track.
Agile Agenda is quite impressive. You can add your team and input information about the tasks you need to perform. You can set priority, dependencies, when a task should be completed, and more. You can also edit milestones so you can track how the project is coming along. Most importantly, the app's fantastic design makes it easy to use.
Agile Agenda gives you the option of trying it for 3 days or 30 days, or buying a license. If you're buying one license, the software will set you back $70. More licenses reduce the price.
Agile Agenda makes it much easier to manage projects.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)Doomi Doomi is an extremely simple to-do-list app that lets you quickly add items you need to complete. That list is displayed under the input box. You can set how long it should take to complete the task and mark the box next to it when it's complete. It's a simple app, but it's far more effective than writing your to-do list down.
Doomi keeps you on track with a to-do list.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)File Furnace File Furnace is a unique app. Instead of impressing you with a nice design and several menus, the app displays a simple image of a fire. Over that, the app displays a message that reads, "Drop unwanted files here." It also features the sound of a crackling fire. As long as you follow the directions of File Furnace, and drag and drop unwanted files or directories into the fire, it permanently removes them from your computer. It's a slightly unusual app, but it's much easier to delete files with File Furnace than waste time with the Recycle Bin.
File Furnace is unique--and quite useful.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Since Adobe Systems relaunched its AIR marketplace, I've been spending some considerable time there. There are so many great apps, it's hard to pick just a handful worth talking about. But after taking some time to sift through all my apps, I've selected my favorites.
Adobe AIR aps
Adobe Media Player If you're a Photoshop, Premiere, or Dreamweaver user, the Adobe Media Player will come in handy. The app lets you watch a slew of videos that train you how to use Adobe's applications.
Although there are videos for advanced users, there are quite a few videos that help Photoshop novices find their way around the sophisticated program. You can also save your favorite videos and go step-by-step during instruction. It's a great app for anyone who wants to be creative.
Adobe Media Player teaches you how to use Adobe programs.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)AOL Top 100 Videos If you're a music lover, you'll love the AOL Top 100 Videos app. Instead of forcing you to go to YouTube to find videos or search through Google, AOL Top 100 Videos lets you watch them all right from the app. Besides having an outstanding design, the app lets you share clips with friends, create a "favorite videos" playlist, and pick the genre of music you like. The videos load quickly, and the quality is stellar.
AOL Top 100 Videos is perfect for music lovers.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)Desktop iPhone Desktop iPhone is one of the coolest apps in this roundup. You can experience the iPhone user interface, check the weather, and record voice messages. But the Desktop iPhone app's best feature is the ability to make phone calls from the app with an account from online phone company Ribbit. More features, including Google Maps, Calculator, and other options haven't been enabled.
Desktop iPhone lets you use the iPhone UI.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Popular desktop Twitter client Twhirl has a new sibling. Seesmic CEO Loic Le Meur, who acquired the Adobe AIR-based application about a year ago, has dubbed the new service "Seesmic Desktop," which is being launched in preview as a separate product from Twhirl.
Some of the new features include the capability to monitor multiple feeds side-by-side in a similar fashion to TweetDeck, create custom user lists, and post from multiple accounts while the application keeps track of which ones are which to keep duplicates at bay. You can also drag and drop photos from your computer to post straight to Twitter, making use of the fact that it's running off of Adobe's AIR platform.
However, not all of this functionality will be available from the get-go. The service is being launched in "preview" and will support only Twitter, however Le Meur said his team is on track to release support for other services in about a month. He also said that there's a pro version on the way that should fill in the company's business model, since this version--just like Twhirl, will not contain advertising.
One thing is clear though--Twhirl's life cycle may be at an end. While Le Meur said that development will continue on it, that could simply mean bug fixes. Considering Seesmic Desktop is launching as a Twitter client from the get-go should tell you something.
Seesmic Desktop preview is available for download right now, although you've got to sign up to be a member of "Team Seesmic," the company's new community site.
You can catch the whole live blog after the break.
The new Seesmic Desktop is kind of like the old Twhirl, meets Tweetdeck--with a dash of iTunes.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
FriendFeed has a new way for users to keep track of conversations in real time, and it may be the first thing the company has done that I just plain don't like. It runs in Adobe AIR and pops up with small notifications every time there's activity on your home feed or a selected friends list. If you can catch the notification window in time, it even lets you post a response without having to fire up your browser.
The company introduced a similar system that does the same thing through instant messaging back in November of last year. However, this new version is not nearly as advanced, nor is it set up to handle the avalanche of information most of its users are bound to face.
Pop-up notifications come up wherever you put the window. In this case it's above my Windows Start button.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Its major shortcoming is that it doesn't let you pick the types of activity you want to see notifications for. In my case, I use the IM notifier tool to see activity around items I've just posted. This lets me respond to questions, or comments about something I've just posted to my home feed either directly, or from one of my feeds from another service.
With this tool you get the entire fire hose of information which, if you've ever viewed in real time you know, can be too fast to keep up with. On the desktop, that amounts to a never-ending parade of pop-up notifications, something I could only put up with for about 15 minutes before turning the application off.
On the other hand, some users may love this. The tool lets you stay abreast of new content without having your browser window up, or opening yourself up to conversing with people in your IM contact list. For some that may be a good reason to keep it installed. Me? Not until I can whittle down the information stream to something a little more reasonable.
If you checked into Oscar night this year, you may have caught host Hugh Jackman's brief but hilarious quip about finding the backup dancers for his opening number on Craigslist--dubbed 'Craigslist Dancers' in his ditty. Though Jackman's dance troupe was likely anything but discount, the utility of Craigslist listings is, for many, no ruse. And the more important a service is, the more developers will create companion services to enhance the basics (take Twitter, to wit).
CL Desktop has nice black themes and good navigation, but why is the listing cut off?
(Credit: CNET)CL Desktop is a new Adobe AIR application (for Windows, Mac, and Linux) that pulls Craigslist.com listings into to a skinnable desktop wrapper. CL Desktop has some nice perks overall, with a couple more baubles than you'd find online. However, a few other features are absent or could be improved.
CL Desktop mostly mirrors Craigslist's searching filters, down to posting records with photos only. However, local-level neighborhood search hasn't been implemented in the U.S., which put a hamper on my house-hunting. Likewise, the text in some of the returned results cut off instead of wrapping to the next line, which made the interface look a little sloppy.
Being able to name and save searches was CL Desktop's single biggest benefit. Choosing the number of records to show on a page is another win, as is being able to quickly save a posting as a favorite, read the full post from the app or online, and answer a classified post from the app. The listings displayed in CL Desktop, however, were never perfectly in sync with Craigslist.com. Although the results matched up after a few refreshes, we'd like to see them in lock step.
CL Desktop told us in an e-mail that the application, which houses a browser, gets its goods straight from Craigslist. Since the application only stores search queries and links to your favorite posts instead of actual Craigslist data, it appears to avoid violating Craigslist's terms of use, which govern the ways in which a Web site or other service can reproduce Craigslist listings.
While some will prefer to stick with Craigslist's slightly faster, sparer-looking original, the visually minded will appreciate the enhanced CL Desktop, especially the features that save search queries and bookmark favorite posts.
(Credit:
CNET)
Just in time for Groundhog Day, I pulled together a small collection of desktop weather applications for checking everything from current weather conditions to 15-day forecasts and detailed readings on wind and clouds. For those with modest forecast needs, Yahoo and Google both offer a small, attractive widget that shows the temperature at a glance. The only problem is, you have to have already installed a much larger desktop application in order to get the tiny widget.
On Friday, AccuWeather released an even simpler solution--a small weather-checker for Windows, Mac, and Linux that runs on the free Adobe AIR platform (Windows|Mac). AccuWeather's widget is about as basic as they come, with just enough information for the daily or five-day forecaster. There are daytime and nighttime readings, icons that communicate clear, cloudy, or rainy conditions at a glance, and the ability to change locations. Click a button and a five-day forecast pops out. Click another to switch between Fahrenheit and Celsius, between light and dark text, and to get a read on one of your saved locations. If you click a temperature itself, AccuWeather takes you to its Web site, where more information abounds.
The new AIR application isn't quite as polished looking as Yahoo and Google's widgets, but it makes for a convenient download that supplies desktop meteorologists the weather-watching essentials.
GeeMail (download for Windows|Mac) is a standalone Gmail client that runs on Adobe AIR. It looks and feels exactly like Google's Gmail, or at least how it did before the introduction of labs last year. It's big feature is that it lets you view and reply to Gmail messages while offline. Messages are then sent the next time the application detects you have a connection.
Unlike Google's official offline solution that uses Gears, GeeMail is quite a bit faster. It grabbed 1,500 of my most recent messages in just a couple of minutes. This speed, while nice, comes at the expense of downloading a much smaller portion of your inbox than Gmail does. For instance, the app won't pull down Gmail's labeling structure unless you're online. This means that if offline, attempting to sort messages by label after the initial download simply won't work--even if you've downloaded a portion of messages with that same label.
The app will eventually pull in the entirety of your inbox (except for attachments and photos), but it does this in chunks. When you've left it idle for a little while it starts downloading additional segments.
GeeMail looks a lot like Gmail used to look (click to enlarge)
(Credit: CNET Networks)Search--one of Gmail's most important features--is missing in GeeMail. It's simply not there, which if you're like me and have an unruly inbox with a lot of e-mails, can make the tool relatively useless. I assume later versions will have something that at least lets you dig through the mail it's downloaded. In the meantime you're left sorting by label or trying to remember when you received a message.
Is there any benefit to using this instead of simply linking up your Gmail account to a piece of dedicated software like Outlook Express, Apple Mail, or Thunderbird? I'm not so sure. Those solutions work offline, and grab things like attachments, as well as having their own search and workflow tools.
One thing this app really has going for it though is the feel of the old Gmail, and a faster, leaner way to pull down mail for reading offline. And, if for some reason you can't use Chrome and take advantage of its special application view--which lets you run Gmail as if it was a separate program--this is one of the easier ways to give it that same feeling.
On Tuesday, Adobe Systems relaunched its directory of AIR applications, calling it a "marketplace." There are, however, no premium applications that cost money--at least not yet.
Adobe Integrated Runtime is the company's desktop runtime for rich Internet applications. Beyond the namesake, users can finally search for applications by both name and developer. There are also four new RSS feeds that post the most recently added, most popular, staff-chosen, and recently updated applications.
On the back end of all of this, developers can now manage the various versions of their hosted applications and keep track of downloads and user reviews. Users can also view a company's profile and all its AIR applications in one place, which makes it a little simpler to download more applications from a developer you like.
This new system should be able to scale a little better than the old one as that number grows larger. There are still just under 400 applications in the directory, with the most popular one being an AIR front-end for Adobe's own Acrobat.com service.
The new marketplace is a little tighter and includes many under-the-hood upgrades for developers who want to post their AIR applications.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Not sure how useful this will be for most folks, but if you're a fan of browser-based chat service Meebo and would like to use it right on your desktop an Adobe AIR application called Meebone will do just that with some elegance.
Like Gabtastik, which does the same thing with Facebook Chat and Google Talk, Meebone will effectively trick the Web app into thinking it's running in your browser. The big difference is that you'll be able to move chat windows around and minimize them to your taskbar like you would any other desktop chat app.
Speaking of which, the key differentiation between this and something like Pidgin, Digsby, or Trillian is that you'll get access to Meebo Rooms and the integrated applications platform, letting you shoot tank shells at your buddy while catching up with them in the text chat.
(Via Lifehacker and Appaholic)
Want to use Meebo on your desktop? Check out Meebone, an Adobe AIR application that fools Meebo into thinking it's running on your desktop.
A look at the Mac version of Pandora's new desktop software.
(Credit: Pandora)Streaming-music service Pandora announced on Tuesday that it is testing out a beta version of a downloadable desktop application for Windows and Mac.
Until this point, Pandora had offered only Web-based music. A desktop application has been on the start-up's to-do list for some time, the blog post explained, and was also a common request from members.
The application is built using Adobe Integrated Runtime, or AIR, the Web-meets-desktop software that debuted in February and now powers a number of popular light applications like Twitter client Twhirl.
Pandora is ad-supported to handle the licensing fees that inevitably come from dealing with the copyrights on most music, but the company will use image-based ads for Pandora Desktop rather than the audio ads that its Web counterpart uses.
