Jared Lewandowski » Reviews

The Wyzo Web Browser

Jared Lewandowski — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:59:47 +0000

If you like Firefox, then you have to try out Wyzo. Built from the Firefox core, Wyzo integrates BitTorrent capabilities, download acceleration, and much more—though you can get many of Wyzo’s best features in Firefox if you’re not up for the switch.

Here are some of the better features than help Wyzo stand out amongst the broad variety of web browsers out there today:

BitTorrent Integration: Wyzo integrates BitTorrent downloads directly in the browser—and at speeds comparable to many desktop BitTorrent apps. Want the same in Firefox? Grab the FireTorrent extension.

Download Acceleration: Wyzo supercharges your downloads (claiming speed boosts up to 10x faster) with multi-source downloads. Want the same in Firefox? Check out the FireDownload extension or the beloved DownThemAll.

Cooliris Previews: This couldn’t be more straightforward. Wyzo comes with the Cooliris extension installed by default, integrating beautiful graphics and cinematic navigation to your browser. Install it in Firefox and you’ve got the same.

Agreed, this functionality may be available as a plugin for Firefox, but with such a nice integration into the Wyzo browser, it’s defintely worth a closer look. Wyzo is a free download for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Download Wyzo

iPhone 3.0 SDK Delivers

Jared Lewandowski — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:56:16 +0000

I recently downloaded the beta version of the third iPhone SDK and all I can really say is hold on to your seat and get ready for some killer apps to be available very soon. Also known as the iPhone 3.0 SDK beta, it allows developers to view the new features and also gives them ample time to test the new features in their applications.

Among the 100 new features announced by Apple, some are really interesting to the iPhone developer community. Developers can now design applications utilizing the In App Purchase (IAP) feature that lets users to engage in micro purchases for their application add-ons after purchasing the application previously from the iPhone Store.

There is more good news in store for iPhone developers with the Push Notification Services (PNS) feature, included in the iPhone 3.0 SDK release. The PNS allows third party servers to send latest updates of their applications or services through a constantly open IP to iPhone and iPod Touch users who have subscribed to such services.

Third party hardware developers can now create many more cool and exciting iPhone stuff with the new list of accessories announced by Apple in the 3.0 beta SDK release. Developers can now also build peer-to-peer applications that allow users to stay in touch in real time and utilize various social networking sites to their advantage.

If this wasn’t enough iPhone developers can now dig into 1,000 new APIs to do new stuff and find additional functionalities in their applications. I’m really excited about what I saw under the hood… I may even jump in and start building apps

Espresso vs. Coda

Jared Lewandowski — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:16:38 +0000

If you currently build web pages from the ground up, then you’ve most likely began a cyber-trek through all sorts of different web development software. I started out with GoLive, then moved to Dreamweaver with the Adobe acquisition. After making the latest transition to the Coda/Transmit environment from Panic, I recently came across the latest MacHeist bundle and was introduced to the newest kid on the block… Espresso.

Having used Coda the past year and a half, I must say the features I like most are the way it handles CSS and PHP auto-scripting, the integrated FTP management system, the seamless integration of SVN, and the built-in help books for HTML, CSS, Javascript and PHP. The color coding for scripting is also a huge plus as I find the colors to fit perfectly with the code. Quite simply, it’s extremely fluid and somehow manages to make coding seem effortless and fun.

Espresso, on the other hand, is only a few months shy of being released from beta and I’m not sure it can win me over just yet. I’ve become quite comfortable with Coda and think it will take more than another code editor/FTP manager to get me to make the move. I do like CSSEdit, which is available from the same developer, MacRabbit, but I’m equally as happy with the built-in CSS editor in Coda (even though I find hand-coding CSS a bit more satisfying)

Text editors for writing code are very user sensitive and can make for quite a personal dilemma. But whatever your style is, feel free to give them both a shot as they are both VERY good at what they do.

Safari 4 beta Review

Jared Lewandowski — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:53:02 +0000

Let me start by saying this browser is FAST! From the minute I loaded my first web page (my.msn.com), I was convinced that this was the fastest browser I’ve used on a Mac so far. Especially when using Gmail and Google Calendar is where I noticed the most speed enhancements. It felt snappy and the colors really pop out at you. Webkit has been known to be a great foundation for browsers lately, I mean, look at Chrome… It’s also very fast and handles Javascript very well. In fact, Safari 4b is very reminiscent of Google Chrome. From the “Top Sites” layout showing the most visited website, to the tabs positioned on top of the browser window.

Safari 4b Tabs

I wouldn’t be surprised if Google released something identical to Safari 4b in the very near future. This isn’t a bad thing. I’ve been waiting for something as fast as Chrome to make its way to the Mac for some time, and I’m happy that it was Apple who released it. But if I was a PC user, I would continue to use Chrome or IE7 until further notice.

As I write this post (using Safari 4b) I’ve already moved the tabs back down to the usual position underneath the bookmark bar. To do this on a Mac, just open Terminal and enter the following command: defaults write com.apple.Safari DebugSafari4TabBarIsOnTop -bool FALSE

I rarely use the “Top Sites” feature and the Cover Flow for History items is still a bit too much glamour (and wasted processor power) for me. The only place Cover Flow has worked so far is in iPhone and iPod, and man does it work beautifully in a touch-screen environment. Maybe this is where Apple is headed. Could we be looking at the next generation browser for an upcoming touch-screen device from Apple? Or perhaps we’re looking at a sneak peek of the next Finder with tabs, which would be awesome! Guess we’ll have to wait and see…