Mac

Yet another big announcement from WWDC today is a whole bunch of new apps for OSX Mountain Lion that are synced over iCloud to their counterparts on iOS. They include Messages (with iMessage support), Reminders, Notes, and a new app called Documents to the Cloud. There's a developer SDK that will allow third parties to similarly tie their mobile apps to their desktop versions.

The highly anticipated FTP client, code editor, CSS editor, and previewer, Diet Code for iPad has hit the App Store. Now you can make quick edits to your website while on the go or on vacation.

Last week, during Apple's Q2 2012 financial results conference call, CEO Tim Cook said that, in terms of sales, the iPad achieved in just 2 years what took the iPhone 3 years, the iPod 5 years, and the Mac 20+ years.

I'll let that the idea of that Aventador-esque acceleration curve sink in for a moment while I digress into nostalgia.

Apple is trying to encourage users of its MobileMe service to switch over to iCloud by offering a free Snow Leopard upgrade DVD. Snow Leopard usually costs $29 from the Apple Store. In order to use iCloud on your Mac, it has to be running Lion. Apparently, some percentage of MobileMe users are still running on Leopard and haven’t upgraded to Snow Leopard which is needed before you can upgrade to Lion.

Hot on the heals of the release of iA Writer for iPhone and iPad comes a mighty fine competor, Byword for iPhone and iPad. Byword is a text and Markdown editor that focuses on being simple, distraction free, and beautiful.

Reflection is a new Mac app that lets you use the screen mirroring feature of your iPhone 4S and iPad 2 with your Mac. It's very easy to use and will be great for giving demos, teaching, and gaming.

Screens VNC, the best designed, easiest to use VNC app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, recently went 2.0 and now handles remote computing better and faster than ever before. Even better -- we've partnered with Edovia Inc to put both the iOS and Mac versions of Screens VNC into the hands of 5 lucky readers! That's $50 worth of apps for each winner!

For a chance to win, just leave a comment below! The contest begins now and ends Sunday, March 4 at midnight PST.

"With iCloud integration, SSH keys, and a re-designed Screens Connect, Screens 2.0 handles remote computing better and faster than ever before."

Screens 2.0 from Edovia lets you use your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or Mac to take control of anything from your home computer to a secure server room, from the couch while you watch the big game, to poolside, half a world away, while you sip an umbrella drink. Mobile VNC (Virtual Network Computing) and RDP (Remote Desktop) is the dream every geek has had since we first saw prop tablets on TV starships, since we first heard talk of ultra-thin clients. And Screens 2.0, thanks to its design and usability, opens that dream up to a wider, more mainstream audience than ever before.

Apple is clearly bringing the best parts of the iPad to the Mac, but how about bring iOS some of the best parts of OS X as well?

Yesterday Apple released the OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion developers preview, and like OS X 10.7 Lion before it, front and center was a drive to take what worked best in iOS in general, and the iPad in specific back to the Mac. To make an Apple experience that's more consistent across their two platforms.

But how about a little quid pro quo? There are several aspects of OS X, including some of what's being implemented in Mountain Lion, that I'd love to see in iOS 6.