citrix - ReadWriteWeb

Free LogMeIn Now For iOS

David Strom — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:00:00 -0800

If you need remote access to your desktop from your iOS phone or tablet, now you can get there for free. Starting today, LogMeIn has a new app in the Apple App Store and it is free. This replaces their low-end Ignition app that they previously charged $30 for. It doesn't give you everything that the current paid app provides, such as file management and cloud storage and HD video/audio streaming. But if you just need remote access, then the free app will do quite nicely. You of course need to run the free version (or the paid version) of LogMeIn on your Windows or Mac desktop, and set up an account online with them to complete the connection.

What I like about LogMeIn is how they are upstanding guys. If you put down your money in the past for Ignition, you will be grandfathered in and have the premium features forever. They are planning on an Android app next year, naturally. The Pro version is $40 a year.

Citrix Brings GoToMeeting App to Android

Dan Rowinski — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:15:00 -0800

Cloud and virtualization company Citrix is releasing its popular GoToMeeting application for Android devices. Citrix cites stats from The Telework Coalition that 58% of companies consider themselves a virtual workplace while 67% of all workers use mobile and wireless computing devices. Combined with the fact that Android controls more than 40% of current smartphone market share, GoToMeeting is long overdue for a release on Google's mobile operating system.

GoToMeeting is going to be preloaded onto Motorola's newest Android device, the Droid BIONIC, starting Sept. 8. The iOS version of GoToMeeting has been downloaded nearly 250,000 times. Motorola will also be pre-loading the Citrix Receiver that allows employees to access corporate Windows apps and documents from anywhere.

]]> "Device manufacturers have invested a good deal of time and resources to make their Android devices more enterprise friendly. Shipments of Android devices around the world have increased at astounding volumes each quarter and enterprises recognize the productivity benefits from providing the right tools to a growing mobile workforce. IDC believes that vendors will ship a total of 178.9 million Android-powered smartphones by the end of 2011 and reach 420.0 million units by 2015," said Stephen Drake, program VP, IDC's Mobility and Telecom Research in a press release.

The GoToMeeting Android app will be free from the Android Market. Here are the features that GoToMeeting brings to Android:

Quick session entry: Click a meeting invitation from your email, enter your meeting ID and you are in.

VoiP integrated audio: Use the phones built-in mic and speakers over WiFi for conversation over an IP connection.

Audio controls: The ability to mute yourself if you are in a noisy area.

Zoom in on content: Pinch to zoom to see content up to 200%.

Portrait or landscape: Taking advantage of the accelerometer.

See who is attending: List of all meeting attendees.

The Citrix Receiver and GoToMeeting for Android are a significant step for the operating system to gain traction in the enterprise. Android is following a similar development cycle that Apple did with iOS, which took several years to have the apps, security and functionality that has made it a popular device among corporations.

On the flip side, anything that Android does in the enterprise space is probably bad for Research In Motion. Google could also have a significant feather in its hat with its Motorola purchase as that likely includes Android security startup 3LM (Three Laws of Mobility) that is one of several companies building BlackBerry Enterprise Server-like functionality for Android.

Android proliferation coupled with enhanced security, BlackBerry's declining market share and excellent apps for functionality such as GoToMeeting could spell trouble for RIM. We will see how the trend plays out in the near future and if Android can fully gain a foothold in corporations.

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New Version of LogMeIn Ignition Includes Flexible File Transfer

David Strom — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 09:59:53 -0800

There are dozens of remote PC control apps for iOS, including Citrix Receiver, various VNC ports and LogMeIn Ignition. The latter announced an update to its $30 app today that includes the ability to send any kind of file back and forth between your PC and phone, without having first to collect them from iTunes or iPhoto.

]]> Why is this important? For one thing, when you are in the throes of doing a remote control session, you occasionally have the need to move a file one way or another. Second, it works over Wi-Fi and 3G connections, so you don't need a nearby computer to offload your files. You can create new folders and move files about at will. Those of us that remember using Laplink can finally rejoice that this feature is finally available in an iOS device.

A number of synchronization services are available that handle file transfer, including Evernote, SugarSynch and FileMagnet (see the TidBITS story comparing five of them). Ignition avoids the effort in using a second app for these transfer tasks.

You can download the latest version from the iTunes Store here. You'll need to set up a free LogMeIn account and install the desktop software on the computers that you wish to remotely control first.

Also in other news, Ignition will come pre-installed on new Toshiba Android Thrive tablets and be available for a free 45-day period, and $25 thereafter. Like other Android versions, though, it doesn't include the file transfer feature yet.

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GoView: Free Screencasting Tool from Citrix

Frederic Lardinois — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 11:11:57 -0800

Citrix just entered the screencasting market with its GoView application for Windows. GoView, which was launched at the DEMO conference today, allows you to record demos on your screen and Citrix will host these videos for you. Unlike most of Citrix's offerings, GoView is available for free. While the tool is easy enough to use, its feature set lags behind its direct competitors like Jing or ScreenToaster. However, while it doesn't offer a lot of new features, it is very easy to use and will surely attract a large number of users.

]]> Easy to Use - But Lacks Features

GoView's advantage over its competitors is the sheer simplicity of the service: you press record and that's what it does. After you stop the recording, you are taken to GoView's website, where you can add a title and description to your video. You can also password protect your video and see a preview.

However, unlike other tools like ScreenToaster, or Techsmith's Jing and Camtasia Studio, GoView feels somewhat limited. As far as we can see, you can't even set a keyboard shortcut to start your recordings, and you can't specify a specific area of your screen for your recordings - your only option is to record the whole screen.

GoView does, however, allow you to cut out sections of your recordings later on and let you add titles to your video later on. Sadly, it doesn't allow you to overdub your voice-over recordings after your original recording.

However, just like most other screencasting tools, GoView also gives you the option to download a video file with your presentation, which means that you could edit it in your favorite video editor after the fact.

GoView is free and has Citrix's brand name and infrastructure behind it, but products like Screentoaster or Jing also give you free hosting for your videos and more powerful recording features. In its current iteration, GoView's web service was also often very slow, but that might be due to the high demand just after today's launch. Overall, GoView is a useful product, but it doesn't do anything that others don't do already.

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