By mortonmanor
Have you ever wanted to access the latest documents from your Mac or PC on your iPhone? This seems to happen to me all the time: Someone is late for a meeting and I have some time to kill or I’m at lunch when I’ve been inspired solution to a problem that’s been vexing me at work all day. Times like these I usually have my own but not much else.
Enter Dropbox
Dropbox is an application and online service that automatically synchronizes folders on your Mac or PC across other Macs or PCs. It also sports a copy of your latest documents (that were in the dropbox folder) on the web for easy access. The service and the software free for up to 2 GB along on storage or 2.25 GB if you use this link. If you need more storage you can purchase one of their paid subscriptions (starting at $9.99 per month for 50 GB).
I’ve been using dropbox to keep files on multiple Macs and PCs in sync and found it to work nearly flawlessly. My wife and I use it to instantly share files amongst our computers.
Dropbox On the IPhone
The folks at dropbox have said to expect an app for the iPhone within the next few weeks. In the meantime if you point your iPhone browser at www.get dropbox.com you will find an iPhone optimize version of their webpage. From here you can access all the documents in your dropbox folder (as long as they’re viewable on the iPhone).
Give Dropbox a try and let me know how it works for you.
Here are what others have been saying about DropBox recently:
MacWorld – Dropbox iPhone app ‘almost here’
SeattleTimes – Networking’s a cinch, with Dropbox, Growl
By mortonmanor
Economic Sympathies
After seemingly never-ending growth new devices on the UW WiFi network came to a screeching halt last month. As the chart to the left illustrates a receipt staggering month over month increases in the unique WiFi devices on the network.
March marks the first month in recent memory with a number of devices actually decreased (although just slightly).
iPhones, Android and Blackberry are up
While usage most devices was flat in March, the iPhone, T-Mobile’s G1 and Blackberries were all up slightly. Briefly looking at the data it isn’t clear what it’s leading to the decline, though I suspect that the weak economy and general slowing consumer spending play a big role.
You can see all the details on my UW Stats page.
By mortonmanor
Strictly by the Numbers
No matter how you look it, the data from our web and network logs is compelling and even a bit alarming.
Consider the following about our Wi-Fi network last month:
- Total devices grew by more than 7%.
- Smart Mobile devices (think iPhone, Windows Mobile, etc) increased by 16%.
- 1 in 8 devices is a Smart Mobile device.
- We’ve seen nearly 90,000 unique devices on Wi-Fi since October, 2007.
- iPhone/iPod Touch use grew by over 22%.
- 1 in 12 devices is an iPhone or iPod Touch.
- Macs now account for 23% of Wi-Fi devices.
In any month these numbers would be extraordinary, but this was a summer month. A month when many students, faculty and staff are away. School starts again in a week, I wonder what the next couple of months will bring.
Let me know what you think.
In the mean time, I’ve updated the UW Mobile Usage Stats for your viewing pleasure.
By mortonmanor
Apple today released the 2.0 version of the iPhone software. This upgrade is free to iPhone users, comes standard in the new iPhone 3G and is a paid ($9.99 I think) upgrade for iPod Touch users. One of the key improvements with this upgrade, is vastly improved support for Microsoft Exchange. Users will now be able to automatically synchronize their email, contacts and calendar. This synchronization is wireless and immediate giving iPhone users a similar experience to Blackberry and Windows Mobile users. Also similar is the ability to remotely erase the contents from the phone should it be lost or stolen.
OK, I’m sold. How do I configure the thing?
Continue reading Configure the iPhone for UW Exchange
By admin
It’s (mostly) Official 
They wait for many is over. Apple has officially released iTunes 7.7. This update includes access to the App (application) store to browse new iPhone apps.
I’ll post more on it later, but you can snag it at the Apple iTunes web site.
To get the new applications (along with Microsoft Exchange support and other new features), you need to upgrade your iPhone to version 2.0 software. At the time of this writing, Apple has NOT officially released this software. Several web sites (Lifehacker, MacRumors and others) are listing links to an Apple web page to download an early version. Reports from users are that this version does seem to work, but it is NOT official and it could cause problems with your phone, so proceed at your own risk.
David Morton (mortonmanor)
