Garmin is using Macworld to introduce new social search and check-in capabilities for its StreetPilot onDemand navigation app, as well as a new function for the Tracker app that allows users to share links to a live tracking map. Dan Bartel of the company said the new features help users to stay connected and share location-based information with their friends and families. Navigon introduced StreetPilot; Garmin acquired the German navigation provider in 2011.

The new social media capabilities for StreetPilot onDemand integrate Wikipedia, Facebook and foursquare. Users can display locations from these networks on the map and check in upon arrival at their destination. Clicking on one of the Wikipedia icons on the map will reveal detailed information about a location, such as the identity of an interesting building or landmark. Also new for the are visually refined 3D renderings of buildings to provide a better overview.

Garmin’s Tracker app works in conjunction with the GTU 10 tracking device to display its location on a map “to virtually follow anything from your loved-ones to valuables or the family dog. Users can set up a geo-fence to get alerts when the device crosses in or out of a defined area. The latest version of this app now also allows a continuous tracking mode, and enables users to send out map links to others.”

PowerPoint slides in SlideShark

Brainshark will use Macworld to introduce a new workgroup version of its SlideShark app for the iPad. The company says the software has begun to solve the problem of PowerPoint’s incompatibility on the iPad. There’s 30 million PowerPoint decks created every day, according to the company.

SlideShark has been selling since October, and the company says its been downloaded twice a minute since then. A version that will launch in early February adds functionality to support teams and groups within organizations. The current version is geared more toward individuals.

“Prior to SlideShark’s launch last October, millions of iPad users who wanted to view and show PowerPoint slide decks on their device had only spotty, unreliable options,” the company said in a release. The existing software on the iPad market flattens presentations into PDFs at worst. Or the competition’s conversion techniques render animations inactive, sometimes distorting fonts, colors, images and more. We can attest to the last outcome. While we don’t animate with PowerPoint, those slides check into iPad apps of today and don’t check out the same.

SmartPlans

Left Coast Logic is unveiling new apps and a cloud service at Macworld this week. The SmartDay organizer integrates tasks, events, notes, and projects into one app. The company’s SmartTime logic is behind the organizer. It schedules tasks directly into free time between calendar appointments. SmartDay Mac is the company’s first Mac app, but it includes a feature-set similar to its iPad organizer, SmartPad. The company is also unveiling a web version, mySmartDay.com, that synchronizes with both.

A new version of the SmartPlans app uses Smart logic at a higher level to manage multiple projects within the context of a weekly work balance. Version 3 adds business-oriented features such as milestones and dependencies, but the most significant new feature may be the way it integrates projects into the native iPhone and iPad calendars.

Doxie Go, a new cordless scanner that scans without a computer, has been upgraded with Doxie 2.1, delivering ABBYY FineReader Optical Character Recognition.

With the latest software, Doxie Go users can sync scans then create searchable PDFs in black and white or color, all without leaving the Doxie software. Searchable PDFs can be searched or used locally, or pushed into the cloud for instant sharing.

The $199 product works with Windows as well as Macs. Doxie 2.1 is a free software upgrade to all existing Doxie Go owners. With an optional sync accessory, it can work with the iPhone & iPad.

Small business users can employ the new FiledRight Document Management system for Mac from Mindwrap, announced at Macworld this week. The company says the software is designed specifically for Macintosh-based small business users. After 24 years of experience in the imaging and document management marketplace Mindwrap is bringing integrated scanning and batch processing capabilities to the product offered in user license bundles of 5, 10, and 25 users including a FiledRight server, a client workstation, indexing and query screens for common business needs, administration tools, and a scanner driver

FiledRight is being sold this week at a starting special price of $1,999. It employs the popular open source FireBird database for indexing, searching, and management of all types of scanned and desktop office documents. Like a lot of larger-company solutions, an annual support contract is being offered as an extra expense.

Jim Small, Mindwrap’s president, said the Mac’s support for PDF and images makes it a natural platform choice for document management.  FiledRight is an integrated, turnkey solution, a package that’s usually faster to deploy than toolkits that can require extensive development.

Installation and configuration are quick and easy with the included server administration tools, allowing managers to select and deploy application-specific indexing screens and assign role-based permissions to all users. Scanning can be enabled for any FiledRight native Mac workstation with the addition of a scanner driver. Clients can quickly convert paper to multipage PDF and TIFF using Fujitsu scanners. They can also perform page-level editing and redaction of sensitive documents. FiledRight maintains historical versions of all edited documents.

The CoPilot Live Team is making Macworld passes available for free. Apple fans just need to visit the CoPilot Live USA Facebook page and Like the company. To show their appreciation for its giveaway, they’re offering a few free CoPilot Live HD apps for the iPad. We’ve got their free iTunes store codes for the first couple of readers who contact us or send a comment. This is a $24.99 app, so go visit the Facebook page and come back for your codes. First come, first served.

Review by Steve Hardwick

No Starch Press, November 2011, 320 pp., $49.95

In a recent survey by Veracode in December 2011 found that more than 80 percent of approximately 10,000 web applications examined failed security testing. This data shows that web applications provide a fertile ground for hackers to launch their malware. Obviously web developers still have some work to do to make their applications secure. The Tangled Web by Michal Zalewski is targeted toward web application developers and security professionals that have a solid understanding of the web and browser operations at an operational level. The author will go into fairly technical details assuming that the reader has the necessary skills to understand the technology discussed.

After an introductory chapter outlining some security fundamentals, the book is split into three parts. The first part covers browser and web technologies. Specific attention is paid to vulnerabilities and how they became to be part of the infrastructure. The second part covers browser security and highlights some of the ways to mitigate the inherent holes in the current technology. The final portion covers some of the new vulnerabilities that are expected to come in the near future. With a couple of exceptions, most chapters are concluded with a security engineering cheat sheet. This gives a summary of the topics covered in the chapter and serves as a guide to implementing some of the technology discussed. It provides a useful quick reference to the books contents after the reader has completed their read through and can be used as a design aid on future projects.

Part One goes into some depth on the various technologies used by browsers, both their inherent operating infrastructure and the services used over the web. Attention is paid to areas of the technology that are open to exploitation. In many cases the author outlines how some of the weaknesses came into being and provides a good view into the difficulty of building this technology. Part One is broken down into chapters that cover the different pieces of the browser function. Both internal processes, HTML and CSS parsing for example, are covered plus external processes, HTML and URL parsing, are reviewed. Two chapters cover additional programming capabilities of the browser i.e. JavaScript and plug-ins.  Throughout this section many examples are given on how the vulnerabilities can be exploited. This gives the reader a better understanding on how a hacker would go about using these weaknesses. In some cases a chapter has a limited discussion of the topic due its wide complexity. The author does include references to other works that cover the topic in greater detail and then focuses on key areas that are relevant to web security.

Read the rest of this entry »

Printronix has announced a unique solution for the office that’s using iPads and iPhones and requires print capability. The xPrintServer, sold for $149.99, connects to networked printers via a cable and then presents these printers in the iPad and iPhone device menu.

The product fills a gap for the mobile device market. Apple’s AirPrint is available to iOS users, but the list of supported wireless printers is small indeed. At least compared to the 63 pages of printers supplied by Printronix at this month’s announcement. Neither of our office printers are on the list, but they’re fairly antique or not networkable.

The xPrintServer can be connected anywhere on your LAN (on the subnet on which your printers are located). Simply use the RJ45 cable and plug it directly into the LAN, router, etc. Your iOS device users should then connect to your corporate WiFi network – at which point the xPrintServer will auto discover and auto populate your available printer list on the iOS device. It supports any iOS device running version 4.2 or later, including iPad and iPad 2, iPhone (3GS or later), and iPod Touch.

Attaching the xPrintServer to your network won’t impact any existing networked printer settings or printers. Users can continue to use printers as they normally do.

The product will be sold through standard retail channels including Amazon.com, starting early next year. There’s a clever commercial online at YouTube to sell the concept to your IT manager or Computer Guy.

Macworld has packaged its User Conference experience as iWorld this year, tech talks and presentations that run Thursday through Saturday during the Macworld Expo, January 26-28.

Today’s the last day to get a $75 rate on iWorld, the end of the early-bird registration. They’re also packaging an opening night Blast with the three-days of classes for a total of $110. In fact, today is the last early bird day for all of the Macworld experiences, from pre-show training to the Mac IT meetings for administrators and high-end business users. Even the Expo Pass, the lowliest entry ticket to the January events, goes up by $5 tomorrow.

A full list of everything that’s on offer in the iWorld sessions is online. For example, at 10AM Friday is a Super iPad Tools for Work tech talk that promises to “cover office type applications, presentations without projector, database management, PDF management, outlining and brainstorming, tracking secure data, tracking travel and expenses, dictation and transcription, remote OS administration, making phone calls (on an iPad!), and remote meetings (like WebEx and GoToMeeting).”

You can compare the packages and register to save some dough at the Macworld 2012 website.

Dragon Dictate is available for a special Cyber Monday price today, just $99 for the combination of dictation software and the company’s training video. It’s marked down $130 for today. That’s a discount off the boxed version, which includes a nice one-ear USB headset.

After having evaluated the obvious parts of the 2.5 version, it’s easy to see why a training video would be a big bonus. In addition to supporting Office 2011 and tapping wireless mics, the software has a voice recognition mode that is worth every minute you’ll put into it. Not that Dictate is useless without the training, but a video that outlines the education process will be a lot smoother than the extensive-but-exhaustive product manual.

If you’ve never used an online dictation product before, there’s no better time to start — considering that the technology is a quantum leap in front of anything during the previous decade.

There’s something about the conversational tone in writing that attracts us. Especially when we want to persuade or sell either an idea or a product. In testing, our writing got simpler and more direct while we dictated.

The new 2.5 version of the product lets you use an iPhone or an iPad to control the software, treating the phone as a wireless mic. You can also make a quick post directly to Facebook or Twitter. It’s as simple as saying “post to Twitter,” although you’ll want to be able to find a way to manage the 140-character limit for Twitter.