Remember The Milk Becomes First To-Do App With Push Notifications
Slowly but surely, push notification apps are trickling into the App Store, as you can see from this handy little list by AppAdvice.com. Some of them are less than impressive, since they offer strange niche functions that I could never picture myself actually using. Beejive IM came out last week, though, which has become by far my most-used app since, and now Remember The Milk (Free with RTM Pro account, iTunes link) is available, as of today, with push features.
A to-do app with push might just be the thing I need to get me to buckle down and actually use a to-do app with some kind of consistency. Sure, RTM for the iPhone requires that you have a Pro account with their service, which is a $25-a-year subscription, but I actually already have one from when the app was first released. Yes, I signed up many months ago and haven’t exactly taken great advantage of that subscription since, but version 1.1.0 gives me reason to believe I may actually begin to get my money’s worth.
The problem, for me, with to-do apps (whether they be desktop, web-based, or iPhone apps), is that for them to actually work, you kind of have to check them consistently. Sure, most allow you to send email alerts when a task’s due date is approaching, but my email comes in with such frequency that it’s very easy for a task reminder or two to slip through the cracks as I tackle more urgent messages. Now, RTM for iPhone will send me push notifications in the form of text alerts whenever a task’s due date is approaching, at a time determined by me that I set up via the web through my account settings. Audio alerts are oddly omitted from this version, but developers say that the addition is included in the next update.
Is it worth the $25 price of admission, when there are probably one-time purchase apps with similar features on the way as we speak? That depends on your to-do tasking practices. If, like me, you like the added convenience of having your list accessible from any Internet-connected platform (and offline, too, via Google Gears), then RTM, with its attendant free iPhone app, might be what you’re looking for. You could also hold out for Appigo ToDo’s push features, which are included in an update that’s already been submitted to Apple. Either way, if you’re looking for some way to get things done more efficiently, this implementation of Apple’s push could be the most practical yet.
Market research you can use:Keep informed about Cloud Computing and IT Infrastructure. Learn more »
Kyte’s iPhone App Now Supports Video Record and Upload
Now that the new iPhone does video, we’re likely to see a smattering of apps push out updates to support video upload to the web.
Twitterlator Pro (iTunes link) was the first Twitter app to support video record and upload to Twitter, via yFrog, and just yesterday we learned that Posterous will process 3GS videos via email (regardless of whether they’re shot in landscape mode or not) and post them to your favorite social sites. Now, Kyte is announcing that their mobile app can publish video to the web too.
Kyte’s Mobile Producer (iTunes link), which was previously free, now comes with a $4.99 price tag — the same price as Twitterlator Pro — and supports video recording and upload to your Kyte Channel from the iPhone 3GS. It’s important to note, however, that the app doesn’t support live streaming to the web.
To use Mobile Producer, simply open the app and select to take a video or choose one from your library. If you record video from inside the app, you can also trim or retake as needed. As usual, you can add a show name and append photos and links to the episode. Once you’re done, you can click to broadcast, and the app will upload the video to your Kyte channel. Plus, if you have Twitter enabled in your account settings, the mobile upload will be automatically tweeted to your Twitter network.
On the issue of live streaming to the web, Kyte’s CMO Gannon Hall says that there are currently no plans to support that feature in the iPhone app. According to him, Apple’s SDK has yet to make that feature available, so it’s technically impossible. And unlike Qik, they’re not open to creating a video streaming app that requires an iPhone jailbreak.
Even though live streaming isn’t supported, we do think this is an important development for iPhone video producers already using Kyte, or ones in search of a mobile video provider with support for the iPhone. We’re not sure if it’s going to lure people away from the competition, but it certainly does give Kyte a slight advantage over the other video broadcast services who have yet to create apps that support easy mobile upload.
Reviews: Twitter
Tags: iphone 3g s, iphone app, kyte, video, video recorder
