Remote Professional Mobile Software

I thought as a good post I could chat about a neat little piece of software that I found for my Nokia N8 the other day. And yes I realize that the Nokia N8 is no longer the king of the cameraphone world, but it is still a good little piece of equipment so I'm not prepared to put mine out to pasture just yet! The Nokia Pureview will likely be my next upgrade but until then my trusty old N8 will have to do the job :)

Anyway onto the software...Many of you out there may have noticed that there are lots of applications out there that allow you to control your pc from your phone, but there is a distinct lack of applications that allow you to control your phone from your pc. There could be a good reason for this, but I'm not really sure why. This was the sort of software I needed for one main reason - Whatsapp messenger. I have a few friends who absolutely swear by it, and refuse to migrate to any desktop based chatting programs which is quite annoying ! So when it comes to long conversations on Whatsapp, I always wished I could type using my keyboard instead of my touchscreen.

Curiosity got the better of me one day, and after some deep digging on Google, I finally discovered a little gem called Remote Professional. This was the exact piece of software that I was looking for!
It is designed for Symbian OS phones, and was recently updated to add S^3 support so it was my lucky day. The software is comprised of two parts, the desktop application and the phone software. It is pretty basic to operate, all you do is install both parts of the software, then you run the client on the phone, and connect via the pc. The great thing about the software is that it not only supports a usb connection, but also a wifi connection. This essentially means that while my phone is charging on the other side of the room, I can sit and chat on Whatsapp using wifi at my desktop - very very cool!Their website also lists bluetooth support but I haven't tested this out personally.

The performance of the software is really good too as there isn't really much noticeable lag. There is also a copy from phone to pc, and copy from pc to phone feature which comes in quite handy at times.
You can even record videos and take screenshots of what is being displayed on the screen. Yet another little feature I should mention is the ability to block the screensaver from turning on while you are using the software - very handy if you are having a conversation and you don't want to be continually unlocking the phone to carry on chatting.

The software comes with a trial version so you can check it out for yourself over here so you can decide for yourself. I've put some screenshots below so you can see what it looks like.

 

A look at Gunnar Glasses

Today I'm going to have a look at Gunnar Glasses. What exactly are these glasses, and who are they designed for?
These particular glasses are aimed at anyone who sits at the computer for extended periods of time, and claim to take some of the strain off your eyes.
For most people sitting in front of the tv for house can lead to dry eyes, irritation and headaches. I am one of the people, so a product like this is quite a good idea.
According to their website http://www.gunnars.com
"GUNNARS increase contrast, comfort and focus while minimizing eye fatigue and visual stress for anyone who spends long hours staring at digital screens. GUNNAR eyewear is powered by i-AMP lens technology comprised of a proprietary lens material in an advanced geometry tuned for intermediate viewing distance and finished with custom formulated lens filters, tints and coatings."
So it sounds good, but at the price tag of $79.99 is it really worthwhile? I got myself a pair last week and have been using them for several days now. The first thing you notice about the glasses are that they are very light, similar in weight to the 3d glasses you get at the movies. This means in terms of comfort you don't need to worry about using them over extended periods, in fact you barely notice them.
As for performance, I have found myself having less dry eyes the past two days, so all that fancy marketing talk must have some truth to it. Also my eyes didn't quite feel as burnt out at the end of the day so cleary something is working here.

It isn't all good news however. The yellowish tint on the glasses can make the colors on the screen a little distorted, so if you work in a field where coloring is important (say graphic design) then I would advise against getting these as this could cause a problem in the long run.

If you spend a large portion of your day in front of the pc then I would recommend these glasses to you. $79.99 may seem quite pricey, but when you look at some of the other brands of glasses who claim similar results for over $100 then it seems like a bargain!
For now I'm quite happy with my Gunnars, so I'd say they are a good investment overall.