Category Archives: Mobile

Goodbye Google Reader, Hello RSS

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Posted in Apps, Business Information, RSS and tagged , , , , ,

Google has announced the sunset of Google Reader.  It has been my primary news reader for years and I’ve continued to stick with it, even when it lost some functionality with the shift to Google+.  The decision to get rid of it means finding a decent replacement but I’m probably going to have to change my reading habits.

There are loads of very good RSS clients.  Unfortunately, many of them are mobile – see Flipboard and Pulse, for example – and shift away from the universal access I enjoyed with Reader.  Some services, like Feedly, offer RSS support over the Web and a mobile app.  I took a quick look at Feedly but can’t figure out how to access feeds without a Google Reader linkage.

Some of them also lack the ability to import your current RSS subscriptions, which you’ll be able to export from Google Reader as an OPML file.  Feedly allows importing OPML through a work around – which requires Google Reader!  The ubiquity of Google Reader meant that a number of the other RSS feed readers relied on it.  If you read an RSS news item in one reader, it won’t necessarily be marked as read in another one.  These other readers would synchronize your activity with Google Reader.

Alternatives to Google Reader:  Desktop, E-mail, Browser

There are plenty of desktop RSS readers for Windows users.  Of the ones I’ve reviewed recently, I really like JetBrain’s Omea Reader, which has a variety of extra features for managing RSS.  Newsgator got rid of Feed Demon, but the developer has kept it going and it’s worth a look. Update:  Nevermind:  the developer’s decided to stop supporting it.

Mac users can try NetNewsWire, which also works with iOS devices.  Ubuntu users might look at Liferea for a straightforward desktop RSS reader.  Your e-mail software can also sometimes act as an RSS reader.  Microsoft Outlook can track your feeds and you can add feeds to Mozilla’s Thunderbird, although it’s reaching the end of its life as well.

Your Web browser may also have a good RSS extension.  It won’t provide you universal access but it can enable you to re-use your current technology.  For those of us in organizations where we may not be able to install new software, this may be a good option.  Mozilla Firefox users should take a look at Sage or Brief.

Another option may be to use a portable RSS reader.  Portable Apps has a packaged version of the QuiteRSS reader.  It will import your RSS reader and you can take it with you and run it on your current computer.

Next Steps

I’ve already downloaded my OPML file from Google Takeout and am moving on.  I’m probably going to go with Omea Reader.  It will change my work habits – I’ll probably read my RSS less often away from work – but it has a lot of powerful features that should help me to manage the information that I come across better.

Update:  No, I’m not.  Something’s not quite right with Omea and it’s not updating properly [I decided to go cold turkey this morning, so totally flipped off Google Reader].  I’m liking using Brief + Firefox at the moment, and am wondering if I can use Firefox’s sync feature to keep my unread information updated across machines.

ZeroPC Makes Cloud Information Management Easier

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Posted in Android, Document management, Evernote, File Management, iPad, Mobile and tagged , , , , ,

I am starting to see more about cloud desktops: virtual operating systems that you access through your browser that look like your normal desktop computer.  ZeroPC caught my eye because it offers some of the information management tools that I think are important for lawyers managing information with cloud-based services.  It has the added benefit of additional tools although it is not rich enough a desktop OS for a lawyer to rely on.

ZeroPC does an excellent job of relying on your pre-existing accounts and passwords.  When I signed up to ZeroPC, it used my Google account – which has a very strong password – rather than creating a separate username and password.  I prefer cloud services that employ this method because I trust mature cloud providers over more recent ones.

The service uses your Web browser and I was able to use it with Chrome on both my desktop and tablet.  You are presented with a Windows-like desktop when you access your account.  Unlike remote connection resources like GotoMyPC, where you are accessing your own computer, this is a virtual desktop running on a cloud server.  There is a button where the Windows Start button would be and icons on the desktop.  This is a cloud service, though and it enables you to manage your information across multiple services.

One feature that I like is the storage management.  You can connect your ZeroPC account to cloud file synchronization services like Dropbox, Box, Sugarsync, and Google Drive.  Once connected, you can move files from one account to another from within the ZeroPC interface.  I recently looked at another site that does the same thing.

Storage Dashboard in ZeroPC shows all of your accounts. It aggregates information to show you available space over all of your linked accounts, as well as used/unused space in each individual service.

ZeroPC does a good job treating multiple resources as one.  You can attach multiple e-mail accounts in the same way., creating a unified inbox.  It will auto-configure Google and Yahoo! mail accounts but you can add other IMAP mail servers as well.

It also provides another feature that I think can be powerful:  cloud search.  There is a search box at the bottom of the screen, on your virtual task bar.  When you search for files with the box, it searches across all of your connected cloud services for results.  This is not new – I’ve discussed both Cue Up and CloudMagic before – but ZeroPC has done a good job of providing it as part of a much more functional environment.

Search results from Evernote, Google Drive, and other cloud storage using an Android tablet and Chrome Web browser

This approach to a cloud desktop would seem to be useful for someone who had a variety of cloud-based resources that could be connected using ZeroPC.  It is distinctive because they not only provide the connections but a familiar interface in which to use them.  It appears to be based on a Linux operating system, and comes with a simple text editor, image tools, and other applications, like the tablet-familiar ThinkOffice productivity suite.  If you want to view a document, you can open it using the Google Docs viewer, for example.  There is even a Web browser on the desktop so that you do not need to open a second window or tab.

There is a free version so you would have to watch how much information you were transferring or storing in the extra space ZeroPC offers.  Paid versions offer additional benefits and features, mostly in the areas of bandwidth and storage space.

LogMeIn Adds File Storage Sync Called Cubby

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Posted in Apps, File Management and tagged ,

Techcrunch has an interesting review of LogMeIn’s new file sync service, Cubby.  I haven’t seen the service yet but it looks like most of the others, right down to the free 5 GB starter storage.   One big difference is that, while you can sync from your computer to the cloud, you can also synchronize just between your own computers.  This cloudless option is reminiscent of Crashplan’s backup, where you can either use the cloud or rely on your own hardware.

Cubby is still in beta but it would definitely be worth taking a look.  There is an iOS and an Android app for mobile access.

Microsoft Outlook.com Android App

Outlook.com Android App Updated

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Posted in Android, Apps, E-mail Management, Outlook and tagged , ,

Microsoft updated its e-mail app for Android, allowing users of Outlook.com (Live.com and Hotmail.com addresses too) to manage their accounts.  The interface is clean – the theme is dark and not much in the way of options – and it’s nice to have the option between a unified inbox or tabs for each of your accounts.  Unlike K-9, though, you can only connect to Microsoft accounts.  The search function will retrieve matching contacts.  All in all, it’s a nice looking app if you only use Microsoft’s e-mail and don’t have Exchange.

Microsoft Outlook.com Android App

Canadian Legal Apps

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Posted in Android, Apps, Canada, Canada Law Book, CanLII, Case Law, HeinOnline, iPad, Irwin Law, Law Journals, LexisNexis, Mobile, Social Science Research Network, U.S., Westlaw and tagged , , , , , , , ,

Canada-specific legal apps are still quite thin on the ground, although the publishers are now more active in releasing updates.  This is still primarily for iPad users.  Here’s a rundown:

  • Case Law.  First to market was LexisNexis Quicklaw (iOS) and that’s pretty much all there is.  No Westlaw Canada app, nor one from CanLII.  Garry Wise has created an iOS app called WiseLII that will search CanLII.  The Law Society of Upper Canada and LexisNexis have an Ontario Reports app which gives access to back issues as well as a handful of cases each week (iOS or Android).
  • E-books.  Thomson Reuters Carswell is delivering e-books through its Thomson Reuters Proview tool (iOS or Android).  LexisNexis sells its books for any e-book reader (iOS, Blackberry, Android).  Kindle isn’t listed but you might try using Calibre to convert the LexisNexis epub format to a mobi file, which is Kindle friendly.  Irwin Law has an online e-book library (Web-based) but you can also download a free app (iOS) for any books you own.
  • Law Journals.  If you aren’t getting your law journals as PDFs (like the free content on SSRN’s Legal Scholarship Network), you can try the HeinOnline app for everything else (iOS).  Law Society members in Ontario and British Columbia have free access through their dues (Canada), as do lawyers in a variety of U.S. jurisdictions through their local law library or bar (Social Law, Jenkins, Hamilton County (OH), NY City Bar, etc.).

There are a variety of e-books, law-related podcasts, and magazines available from the iTunes store.  Other publishers, like Emond Montgomery, also have e-books (iOS or Kobo).

All of which assumes you need an app.  If you are on a tablet, you can probably just surf to the site to do your research.  Sites like CanLII in particular are sufficiently simple in design that they work fine on Safari on the iPad or Firefox on an Android tablet. Irwin’s Canadian Online Legal Dictionary, a free Web site, is also tablet accessible – I wouldn’t say friendly, since the navigation requires a smaller finger or a stylus – as a Web site.

[Disclaimers:  my employer is one of the major funders of CanLII, since Ontario's lawyer dues are used, in part, to pay for the free resource.  The book that started this blog is a Thomson Reuters Canada Law Book product.  But you already knew that!]

Mozilla Clips Thunderbird E-mail’s Wings

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Posted in E-mail Management, Mobile, Postbox, Thunderbird and tagged , ,

Mozilla Thunderbird has been an interesting, free alternative to Microsoft Outlook and an important replacement for those people who were using Microsoft Outlook Express.  The Mozilla Foundation has announced that they are no longer going to develop the project.

I’ve struggled to like Thunderbird.  In part, it’s because it’s interface has never really appealed to me.  It has many powerful features.  For example, you can create a search and save it as a perpetual folder, so that it will auto update with matching e-mails anywhere in your folders.  You can theme it extensively too, to make it look however you like.  For me, it was often just easier to go to the specific e-mail account I was going to use than to open up Thunderbird.  When I needed to manage e-mail or switch e-mail servers or ensure I had a backup, Thunderbird was my go to program.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Thunderbird going forward, and with any other e-mail related endeavors from the Mozilla Foundation.  Google is obviously looking at mobile mail with its acquisition of the Sparrow team.  Postbox continues going from strength to strength, although I believe it is built on the Thunderbird code.  While not free, it has some very compelling features.  But as they indicate, there may be some trouble in the desktop e-mail client world.

Unless you’re using Microsoft Outlook.

Get Law Journals with HeinOnline 2012 Mobile

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Posted in Apps, Canada, HeinOnline, iPad, iPhone, Law Journals, U.S. and tagged ,

HeinOnline has released an updated mobile app for iPhone and iPad users who access their fee-based law journal and legal commentary databases.  Many law libraries are providing access to HeinOnline for free if you’re in their space.  The Massachusetts trial libraries have a great post on how to set up to use their subscription.  If you’ve got your own access or remote access through your library – like members of the Law Society of Upper Canada or the Social Law Library or lawyers in British Columbia – you can use the app to login remotely for access to journals from your tablet or phone as well as from your PC.

HeinOnline 2012 Mobile iPhone and iPad app screenshot