It's not hard to make a difference

December 15, 2011 - Filed in Shared thoughts by Felix

Past year's news often were about huge, billion dollar programmes to stabilize the economy, the banks, the markets, the Euro .. you name it! With such huge sums still taking a dominant place in this world's news on a regular basis, it's easy to forget that even very small amounts can make a huge impact when given to the right organization.

To me, one such organization is Doctors Without Borders, an international medical humanitarian organization that is committed to bringing medical care to people in crisis regardless of their race, religion or political affiliation. Not few people owe their life to the donations that made their work possible. Here's just one example from their website: $35 can purchase enough vaccine to inoculate 35 people against measles. A fairly common desease for which - in some countries - the mortality rates are still as high as 28% (source: Wikipedia).

If you are looking for something truly special to spend money on this christmas: make a donation to Doctors Without Borders. Make a difference.

New Macs and new, aluminium Apple® Remote

October 20, 2009 - Filed in Shared thoughts by Felix

It's become a habit for me to check the tech specs of new Mac® models to see whether there have been any changes with regards to the Apple® Remote.

While, for the past few years, no changes have been made by Apple® in this area, they made two with the most recent updates:

The new MacBook®

The new, white MacBook® is no longer equipped with a built-in IR Receiver. It's not listed on the tech specs page (not even as optional accessory) and also not listed as an option in the Online Store.

The new iMac®

The new iMac® still has a built-in IR Receiver, but no longer comes with an Apple® Remote.

The new Apple® Remote

The new Apple® Remote has an entirely new design. Its enclosure is made of aluminium and - from what I can see on the pictures - it's thinner than its plastic predecessor. Another change is the button layout. The Play/Pause button moved from the middle of the navigation cross down into one line with the Menu button.

My first assessment (from just looking at the pictures) is that this button layout change will make using the Apple® Remote less intuitive and will produce more user errors because the Play/Pause and Menu buttons can now be easily confused. And not having the Play/Pause button in the middle of the navigation cross just doesn't feel right.

I'll buy one of the new Apple® Remotes as soon as they're available for separate purchase in Germany and may have to share some more thoughts on its design then.

AJAX Remote after "Remote"

July 11, 2008 - Filed in Status updates, Shared thoughts by Felix

As you've likely read in the news, Apple® just released their own native iPhone™/iPod® Touch application called "Remote" to control iTunes® from afar, which in many ways is very similiar to the music module of Remote Buddy's AJAX Remote (which in its current form first came into existance around October 2007).

In case you're wondering, I don't feel bitter or angry nor do I feel any grief. Knowing about the popularity of Remote Buddy at Apple®, getting a hint or even an offer from Apple® would have been an appreciated move and - I'm sure - would have been to the benefit of everyone involved. But that's certainly not something Apple® can be asked or expected to do. That said, I'm fine with as it is now, too: an interesting new competitor has entered the market.

So what does this mean for the future of Remote Buddy's AJAX Remote?

I have been working on a native client for iPhone™ and iPod® Touch for several months now and I'll continue to work on it and release the client for free on the AppStore as soon as it's ready and Apple® approves it. That has always been the plan and I see no reason to not persue it further now:

• In terms of iTunes® remote control, even the current, private beta of the native Remote Buddy client already offers a lot of advantages and features over what "Remote" is offering.

• Just like Remote Buddy's AJAX Remote today, it'll be able to do a lot more than to "just" control iTunes®. Among many other things, it can also control mouse and keyboard of your Mac®, act as a remote for over 100 applications and "stream" your iSight®'s camera picture. The native client will build on this strong foundation, take it to the next level and also add a lot of fancy new stuff that I'm sure you'll love.

• Last but not least, the performance of the native client application is simply amazing and not at all comparable with the current AJAX Remote web application. The AJAX Remote web application will still be around in future versions, though: I know a lot of you are using it in desktop browsers or as widget on your Dashboard.

I stay fully committed to Remote Buddy and its future development. Stay tuned.