What is Windows Home Server?

Sky News app for Android updated to version 2.0.0

Andrew Edney

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Jun 15, 2012

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Sky News app for Android updated to version 2.0.0

The Sky News app for Android app has been updated to version 2.0.0.

Stay informed, and get the breaking news FIRST – free – from Sky News

The Sky News mobile app is now even better, with added depth on the big breaking news stories.

Delve deeper with image galleries, live blogs, graphs and interactive pictures, all optimised for your Android smartphone

You can read all the top stories from the newsroom with sections for UK News, World News, Politics, Business, Entertainment, Strange News, and a new Technology News section.

Key Features:
– Enjoy a whole new level of depth on the main stories of the day
– Headlines, showbiz and weather bulletins
– A new technology news section
– Send your breaking news story directly into the Sky Newsroom via Your Report

What’s in this version:

– SkyNews v2 brings you a whole new level of depth on the main stories of the day
– Image Galleries
– News Timelines
– Interactive Images
– Live Blogs
– Graphs and Charts
– Improved Tablet Support

Download the Sky News app from Google Play

Dropbox app for iPhone and iPad updated to version 1.5

Andrew Edney

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Jun 15, 2012

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Dropbox app for iPhone and iPad updated to version 1.5

Dropbox has updated it’s iPhone and iPad app to version 1.5.

Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. After you install Dropbox on your computer, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your iPhone and iPad and even the Dropbox website! With the Dropbox app, you can take everything that matters to you on the go.
Read your docs or flip through your albums when you’re out and about. Save photos or videos to your Dropbox and share them with friends in just a couple taps. Even if you accidentally leave your iPhone in a taxi, your stuff is always safe on Dropbox.

Features:

Always have your stuff with you, no matter where you are.
Add files to “Favorites” for fast, offline viewing.
Easily save photos and videos to your Dropbox.
Share your photos and docs with family and friends.
Save email attachments straight to your Dropbox.

What’s New in Version 1.5

• Automatically upload photos and videos using Wi-Fi or cellular data plan
• Earn up to 3 GB of extra free space for uploading photos automatically (in 500 MB increments)
• See all the photos and videos you’ve uploaded to Dropbox in Gallery view
• Move and delete sets of files at once
• Upload files of any size

Download now from the Apple App Store

StableBit Scanner 2.0 for Windows Home Server 2011 Beta Updated to 2.0.0.2362

Andrew Edney

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Jun 15, 2012

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StableBit Scanner 2.0 for Windows Home Server 2011 Beta Updated to 2.0.0.2362

StableBit Scanner 2.0 for Windows Home Server 2011 is now available in beta and has been updated to version 2.0.0.2362.

An advanced hard disk surface scanner, monitor and more.

Monitors all your hard drives and ensures that every bit holding your precious data is readable.

2.0.0.2362

* Added option to refresh BitFlock interpretation data (on a delay).

* Added some more BitFlock format types.

* Sorting by Size did not work properly.

* Faster initial startup time for service. Disk enumeration is now parallelized.

* Notification checkboxes in settings now work.

* Added a new method of scanning the disk, using Direct I/O. See Scanner tab in settings. When enabled, verification sector commands will be sent directly to the disk. The drive will read the entire contents of the sector and verify the checksum, without returning any actual data. This will speed up disk scanning over BUS limited devices, such as USB 2.0, or if you have many disks connected to the same controller. Because this scan method hardly consumes any bandwidth, you can scan as many disks at the same time as you want, even on the same controller. Heat throttling continue to function, yielding on overheating disks. Scan throttling still needs to be optimized for this scan mode. Direct I/O scanning requires Direct I/O to be available on the disks being scanned. If it’s not, then the standard scanning method will be used. In addition, the Scanner will perform some statistical analysis while performing sector verification and will disable it on some disks if it is not working properly with your particular enclosure.

Download the latest beta version from here

The Home Server Show Episode 187 Out Now

Andrew Edney

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Jun 15, 2012

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Dave at the guys at the Home Server Show have released episode 187.

Here’s what Dave has to say about this weeks show:

Episode 187 is ready for you and we are talking about the UR3 Beta for Windows Home Server, Amazon’s music player for Android and iOS, and we go over the SkyDrive app installed on Windows Home Server and how you can get to your files remotely. All this and the week’s news.

Listen to the show from here.

Seagate and LaCie Announce Details for the Acquisition of a Controlling Interest in LaCie

News

Jim McCarthy

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Jun 15, 2012

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Seagate and LaCie today announced the signing of binding share purchase agreements for a controlling interest in LaCie. Read on for details.

Back on May 23rd, we told you about Seagate’s intention to acquire a controlling interest in LaCie. Here is what we told you:

Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) today announced their intent to acquire the shares of French storage concern LaCie (EuroNext: LAC) for between €4.05 and €4.17, depending on net debt levels at the closing date. The lower end of the range represents a premium of 29% over LaCie’s trading range for the last 30 days. The total transaction would be about €146 million/$186 million. Here is what the press release states as the rationale for the deal:

The transaction would combine two highly complementary product and technology portfolios, adding LaCie’s line of premium branded consumer storage solutions, network-attached storage solutions and software offerings to Seagate’s array of mainstream consumer storage products. The combination would accelerate Seagate’s growth strategy in the expanding consumer storage market, particularly in Europe and Japan, and add strong engineering and software development capabilities, as well as relationships with several key retailers.

Today, Seagate and LaCie announced that the deal had been finalized, with valuation between €4.05 and €4.17 per share, depending on debt levels at the closing date. Here is what Seagate announced today:

CUPERTINO, Calif. & PARIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Following their press release issued on May 23, 2012 announcing exclusive negotiations and the receipt on June 8, 2012 of the opinion of the employee representative body of LaCie S.A. (Euronext:LAC), Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ:STX) and LaCie announced today that Seagate, Philippe Spruch, LaCie’s chairman and CEO, and his affiliate, have entered into a binding share purchase agreement to purchase all of the shares of Philippe Spruch and his affiliate, representing 64.5% of the outstanding shares of LaCie for a provisional price of €4.05 per share (as may be adjusted downwards depending on the cash and debt position of LaCie at closing). As previously announced, Ricol Lasteyrie & Associés have been appointed as independent expert by the Board of Directors of LaCie on June 23, 2012. The transaction has already received clearance from the US Antitrust Authorities but remains subject to regulatory approval in France (approval of foreign investments by the Ministry of Finance) and Germany (antitrust filing) and to other customary closing conditions.

Following the acquisition of the control of LaCie, Seagate will file an all-cash simplified tender offer on the remaining LaCie shares at a price of €4.05 (as potentially adjusted downwards as set forth above). This price shall be increased by 3% in the event that a squeeze-out procedure is implemented (as a result of the acquisition of 95% of the shares and voting rights), resulting in a maximum potential price per LaCie share of €4.17.

About Seagate

Seagate is the world leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions. Learn more at www.seagate.com.

About LaCie

With operations in the Americas, Europe and Asia, LaCie is the leading manufacturer of storage devices for PC, Apple, and Linux. LaCie has differentiated itself through sleek design and remarkable technical performance. Find out more about our products at www.lacie.com.

Seagate closed the day at $24.03, up $0.185, or 0.77% on the day. LaCie closed at €3.99, down €0.01 on the day.

Seagate Stock Quote LaCie Quote Seagate Press Release

Microsoft talks about Building the Mail app in Windows 8

Andrew Edney

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Jun 14, 2012

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Microsoft talks about Building the Mail app in Windows 8

The Building Windows 8 articles are coming thick and fast from Microsoft – this new one is all about building the Mail app.

This is how the article starts:

When we started planning the email experience for Windows 8, our goal was to create an app that embodied the Metro style design principles. It needed to be fast and fluid, be great with touch and a keyboard and mouse, focus on your content, provide the right features at the right time, and fulfill our expectations of email on modern devices. Starting from scratch gave us an opportunity to carry forward the essential functions of an email app, while also designing features with a fresh eye and taking advantage of what Windows 8 offers uniquely.

To continue reading it, click here.

Angry Birds Seasons Piglantis update available now

Andrew Edney

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Jun 14, 2012

0

Angry Birds Seasons Piglantis update available now

The new update for Angry Birds Seasons has been released – this time it’s Piglantis!

What’s New in Version 2.4.0

Welcome to beautiful Piglantis! Things work a little differently in this aquatic wonderland — try flinging the birds underwater and see what happens! Think you can defeat the King Pig in his tropical lagoon kingdom?

Play through 30 ALL NEW LEVELS in the fantastic kingdom of Piglantis!
Delight in the new water physics — hint: pigs sink!
Explore the underwater ruins of Piglantis!
Groove to the aquatic sounds of the lost pigilisation

Download Angry Birds Seasons now

Adobe Reader for iOS updated to version 10.2.1

Apple
News

Andrew Edney

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Jun 14, 2012

0

Adobe Reader for iOS updated to version 10.2.1

Adobe have today released an update to their Adobe Reader app for iOS.

Adobe Reader is the free global standard for reliably viewing and sharing PDF documents across platforms and devices. Easily and efficiently access the widest range of PDF file types—including PDF Portfolios, password-protected PDF documents and Adobe LiveCycle rights-managed PDF files. Now available for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, Adobe Reader offers fast, high-quality interaction with PDF.

View PDF files
• Quickly open PDF files from email , the Web or any application that supports “Open In…”
• View PDF Portfolios, PDF Packages, annotations and drawing markups
• Read text annotations such as Sticky Notes

Access encrypted PDF files
• Open and view password-protected PDF files
• Access files secured by Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management, which helps protect sensitive documents
• Supports the highest grade of PDF encryption, up to AES256

Interact with PDF files
• Search text to find specific information
• Use bookmarks to jump directly to a section in your PDF file
• Select single page or continuous scroll modes
• Easily zoom in on text or images for a closer view
• Quickly navigate through large files using thumbnails
• Select and copy text from a PDF file to the clipboard

Print and share files
• Print wirelessly with AirPrint
• Share PDF files with other applications using “Open In…”
• Email PDF documents as attachments

Available languages
English, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Portuguese, Swedish, Russian, Czech, Polish and Turkish

What’s New in Version 10.2.1

Improved performance and stability
Fixed customer reported issues related to Forms and Commenting
Fixed localization issues

Download from the Apple App Store

CoveCube Iterates StableBit DrivePool Beta to 1.0.2.6257

Windows Home Server

Jim McCarthy

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Jun 14, 2012

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CoveCube has released a new version of their StableBit DrivePool add-in for WHS2011. We have the change log details!

CoveCube continues their StableBit DrivePool beta program with the release of 1.0.2.6257. Here is the change log:

StableBit DrivePool

[D] = Driver was modified (reboot required after update)

Confirmed DrivePool Issues

The GData antivirus add-in crashes the Dashboard when DrivePool is installed. Please contact GData, they do have a fix for this.

Not Supported

Shadow copies are not supported on the pool.

BETA ==== 1.0.2.6257

Added some extra safeguards against pool parts being listed twice in the Pool tab.

Offline volumes are now enumerated properly. They will not be listed in the Pool tab.

Pool tab was sometimes refreshing too often. Changed the timings on the pool tab refresh.

Minor bug changes, but if you are in the beta program, go and grab your updated version here.

StableBit Website Download the Latest Beta Build of DrivePool

Skype for Mac updated to version 5.8

Apple
News

Andrew Edney

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Jun 14, 2012

0

Skype have just released version 5.8 of Skype for Mac, and there are a few interesting changes.

This is what Skype just posted on their blog:

Move it around. Tony Bates, President of the Skype division of Microsoft, mentioned a few weeks ago at the D10 Conference that we have continued to evolve the Skype for Mac user interface based on your feedback. You’ve been very vocal with your thoughts about the revamped full-screen user interface we introduced in Skype 5.0 and we’ve been listening intently. For this reason, we’re excited to announce the return of the slim contact list that so many of you have been requesting. Now you can reposition and resize your contact list however you like. We believe this change will simplify your experience.

Mobile love. We’re making Skype video calls better. When you’re talking with someone who is using Skype for iPhone, Skype for iPad or Skype for Android and that person rotates their mobile device from portrait to landscape (or the other way around), Skype for Mac will now detect this and automatically re-orient the video call. If you’ve held or plan to hold a video call with someone who is using Skype for Windows Phone, the same auto-rotation feature is already supported.

Share with Multiple People. We’re also improving Screen Sharing, which lets you share your desktop over a call or show friends and family your photos. For our Skype Premium subscribers ($9.99/month or just $4.99/month if you pay for an entire year), the latest Mac release will simultaneously display your live video alongside your photos, so your friends can also see you and you can see their reactions. This works as a Premium feature with both one-to-one Screen Sharing, as well as Group Screen Sharing (for use on video calls with up to 10 people). Of course, if you simply want to share your screen with someone else for free over an audio call, that’s still free.

Ready to Roar. Skype 5.8 for Mac is also built to work with Apple’s forthcoming desktop operating system, OS X Mountain Lion, in addition to being compatible with past versions of OS X going all the way back to Leopard.

More to come. Another feature many of you having been asking for – the ability to open chats in separate windows and keep track of what’s going on with multiple contacts at once – will be coming to Skype for Mac real soon. Stay tuned for additional updates.

Give it a try and let us know what you think.

The Digital Lifestyle Show 358 Fiddling With Star Wars

Andrew Edney

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Jun 14, 2012

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The Digital Lifestyle Show 358 Fiddling With Star Wars

This weeks Digital Lifestyle Show has just been released – and it’s show 358.

Here’s what Ian says about this week show:

Welcome to show number 358 a packed show looking at Apple’s WWDC announcements including new MacBooks, iOS 6, Mountain Lion and the new Retina MacBook Pro. It’s not all just Apple, we talk Raspberry Pi and BBC iPlayer, Windows 8, Amazon’s Cloud streaming and whether streaming services can challenge providers like Sky.

You can listen to or download the show from here.

Amazon Kindle App for iOS Updated to version 3.1

Apple
News

Andrew Edney

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Jun 14, 2012

0

I use the Amazon Kindle app on my iPad all the time, and it has just been updated to version 3.1.

Description

The Kindle app is optimized for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, giving users the ability to read Kindle books, newspapers, magazines and PDFs on a beautiful, easy-to-use interface.

You’ll have access to over 900,000 books in the Kindle Store. Amazon Whispersync automatically syncs your last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across devices (including Kindle), so you can pick up your book where you left off on another device.

Get the best reading experience available on your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch:
• Shop the Kindle Store by visiting Amazon for the largest selection of books people want to read: over a 900,000* books.
• *New*: Email PDFs & other documents to your new Send-to-Kindle e-mail address and we deliver them to your device. The documents are automatically archived in the Amazon Cloud and available for re-download on your iOS or supported Kindle devices. You can also read PDFs from Mail, Safari, or by transferring them from iTunes.
• Get free book samples – read the first chapter free before you decide to buy.
• Customize your reading experience by choosing the background color, font size, and either portrait or landscape format.
• Instant dictionary word lookup. Tap and hold a word to view the definition. Use the Google and Wikipedia links to get more information.
• Search inside the book to find a character, topic, or section you want to revisit.
• Simply tap on either side of the screen or flick to turn pages.
• You can also read your Kindle books on your Kindle, Kindle Fire, Kindle Touch, PC, Mac, Android-based device, and Windows Phone 7-based device. Our Whispersync technology syncs your last page read, notes, bookmarks, and highlights across devices, so you can pick up where you left off.

What’s New in Version 3.1

– Improved reading experience on iPad: Smaller margins and a cleaner look help you focus on the author’s words.
– Search: Quickly locate your content by searching for a title or author.
– Google and Wikipedia: This update fixes an issue that prevented lookup of words on Google and Wikipedia.

Download from the Apple App Store

Western Digital announces My Net line of wireless home networking products featuring FasTrack technology

Andrew Edney

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Jun 14, 2012

0

Western Digital announces My Net line of wireless home networking products featuring FasTrack technology

Western Digital today unveiled its first line of wireless home networking products, designed specifically to accelerate movies, video and gaming, delivering a premium high-definition entertainment experience. In fact, there are 5 new routers and a switch as part of this new line.

With the My Net family of powerful and easy-to-use home networking products, WD debuts its exclusive FasTrack technology that instantly detects entertainment traffic on the network and fast-forwards it to gaming consoles, media players, smart TVs, tablets, smartphones, computers and other Wi-Fi connected devices.

“With so many people within the home simultaneously watching movies, playing games and browsing the Web via their iPad, iPhone, Xbox and other devices, the network demands placed on today’s connected home has grown exponentially,” states Jim Welsh, executive vice president for WD’s branded products and consumer electronics groups. “Our successes in creating Connected Home solutions with our WD TV media players and personal cloud products have given us valuable insights into the network-overload problems of home wireless users, and entering the wireless home networking market offers WD an exciting opportunity to strengthen our Connected Home offerings that are aimed at enhancing the home entertainment experience for consumers.”

Accelerated Entertainment

According to Nielsen and NM Incite’s recent U.S. Digital Consumer Report, data from the fourth quarter of 2011 shows that 33 percent of consumers streamed a movie or TV show from the Internet through a subscription service such as Netflix or Hulu Plus. Internet video services, multi-player online gaming sites, and live video chat services, combined with the explosive growth of tablets, smartphones and other devices that connect to the home network, have created a new model of home entertainment and Internet usage.

With the industry’s only full line of HD dual-band wireless N routers, My Net users can fully enjoy this new age of home entertainment. WD’s exclusive FasTrack optimisation technology intelligently and automatically prioritises Internet favourites like Netflix, Hulu Plus, VUDU, YouTube, Xbox LIVE, Skype and others, to create a smooth streaming experience in up to Full-HD 1080p quality. By using real-time analysis to maximise bandwidth for entertainment services, My Net routers provide a premium entertainment experience on any screen in the home that is connected to the router.

Streamlined Setup and Ease-of-Use

The sleek hardware design of the My Net family of routers is complementary to the devices’ friendly and intuitive user interface, which was designed by a veteran team of developers to enable quick router setup from wireless or wired devices such as iPad and other mobile devices, as well as PCs and Mac computers. The streamlined router setup is designed to make it easy for novice users to be up and running in minutes, while also providing all the customisation tools expert users crave. The included My Net Dashboard makes it easy for users to customise, monitor or change the settings of the network, including setting parental controls, Internet security, guest network access, network name and password, printer and scanner settings, and mapping storage drives, all in one easy view.

New Combination Router, Personal Cloud and Automatic Wireless Backup

In addition to getting a premium home entertainment experience with My Net routers, customers can centralise storage and backup for all the computers in their home, as well as create a personal cloud for their digital media and remotely access those files anytime, anywhere. Part of the My Net family, My Net N900 Central is WD’s all-in-one N900 router with an integrated 1 TB or 2 TB internal hard drive. Remote access to My Net N900 Central is available on any computer through www.WD2go.com and with WD mobile apps for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch or Android smartphones and tablets.

In addition to keeping content safe at home and always accessible while away from home, users can rely on My Net N900 Central for automatic wireless backup with the included WD SmartWare software for Windows, while Mac users can utilise all the features of Apple Time Machine backup software. Additionally, any WD external hard drive with SmartWare software can connect directly to a My Net router to wirelessly backup all PC computers in the home.

My Net Router Family

My Net N900 Central – The My Net N900 Central HD dual-band storage router provides accelerated HD streaming plus integrated storage for wireless backup and remote access. With FasTrack Plus optimisation technology, My Net N900 Central delivers high quality, accelerated HD entertainment that is intelligently and automatically prioritised to ensure smooth streaming. The Wireless-N storage router features fast wireless performance with speeds up to 900 Mbps (450 + 450 Mbps on the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands combined), as well as integrated 1TB or 2TB internal storage for automatic wireless backup. My Net N900 Central includes 4 LAN and 1 WLAN Gigabit Ethernet ports for up to 10/100/1000 Mbps wired speeds, 1 USB port for additional storage, printer and media share server use, and range amplifier antennas for extended range. Additionally, My Net N900 Central is Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) certified for easy detection and connection of Wi-Fi devices.

My Net N900 – The My Net N900 HD dual-band router also provides a premium entertainment experience for movies, games, video, music, video chat and more. The My Net N900 offers the ultimate performance for all connected devices in the home, even while streaming to multiple devices at the same time. The exclusive FasTrack Plus technology provides intelligent, real-time traffic prioritisation for simultaneous HD and 3D media streaming and online gaming. The Wireless-N router features high wireless performance with speeds up to 900 Mbps (450 + 450 Mbps on the 2.4 and 5 Ghz bands combined) and also includes 7 LAN and 1 WLAN Gigabit Ethernet ports for up to 10/100/1000 Mbps wired speeds, 2 USB ports for additional storage, printer and media share server use, and range amplifier antennas for extended range. Additionally, My Net N900 is UPnP and DLNA certified.

My Net N750 – The My Net N750 HD dual-band router is optimised to deliver multiple simultaneous HD media streams on the network, delivering accelerated video to all connected wireless and wired devices. WD’s exclusive FasTrack technology detects entertainment traffic and prioritises bandwidth on the network to smoothly stream multiple HD movies, shows, games and more to connected devices. The router provides a combined data rate of up to 750 Mbps (300 + 450 Mbps) and features 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports and 2 USB ports.

My Net N600 – The My Net N600 HD dual-band router is ideal for simple and fast web surfing and entertainment streaming with FasTrack technology for a smooth HD viewing experience. The router provides an combined data rate of up to 600 Mbps (300 + 300 Mbps) and features 5 Fast Ethernet ports with 1 USB port.

My Net Switch – My Net Switch is an 8-Port Gigabit home entertainment switch, ideal for instantly expanding your wired connections with super fast Gigabit Ethernet up to 10/100/1000 Mbps.

Pricing (all MSRP inc VAT)

My Net Switch	My Net N600	My Net N750	My Net N900	My Net N900 Central (1TB)	My Net N900 Central (2TB)
£49.99	£79.99	£99.99	£169.99	£299.99	£349.99

Availability

My Net N900, My Net N750, My Net N600 and My Net Switch will be available June 14 at select retailers and online at www.wdstore.co.uk . My Net N900 Central will be available next quarter.

These new routers look really good, and they are fast. CDW was treated to a demo this week and they appear to perform faster than their rivals.

We have a My Net N900 Central (1TB) device here for review, so expect more very soon.

Ford releases MyFord Mobile iPhone app for Focus Electric drivers

Andrew Edney

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Jun 14, 2012

0

Ford releases MyFord Mobile iPhone app for Focus Electric drivers

With the first retail customers now taking delivery of America’s most energy-efficient compact car, the 2012 Ford Focus Electric, the MyFord Mobile iPhone app and www.MyFordMobile.com are available to help owners locate charging stations and recharge their cars in half the time of the Nissan Leaf.

MyFord Mobile allows Focus Electric drivers to link up with their cars via an embedded AT&T wireless module that provides for remote communication with the car to maximize utility and minimize operating costs. Drivers can log in at any time to check the current state of charge of the advanced lithium-ion battery pack and enable the exclusive value charging mode.

Focus Electric drivers also will be able to share, learn and teach smart driving by participating in forums on the MyFord Mobile website – with features such as leader boards, unique achievements and social networking – when the car becomes available through dealers in the first half of 2012. In the process, users will be able to seamlessly upload driving achievements and statistics to popular social platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

“The Focus Electric is a fun car to drive and helps save customers money at the pump; with MyFord Mobile, the enjoyment and savings continue after the vehicle is parked and charging,” said Bill Frykman, Business and Product Development manager. “This innovative app also offers new ways of sharing your driving experiences to create a “cool” factor while educating new Focus Electric drivers on the perks that come with an electric vehicle lifestyle.”

While away from the car, customers can monitor the battery display for the current charge level and for how long the car will need to be plugged in to get a full charge or reach a desired range. The MapQuest-powered trip planner built into both the app and Web portal enables users to find available public charging stations and plan efficient multi-destination routes. Users can select their next destination and send it directly to the car from either the app or the portal for hassle-free voice guidance.

Only MyFord Mobile includes industry-first value charging technology co-developed with Microsoft that can help customers charge the car at the lowest possible cost. Electricity rates can vary widely depending on location, season and time of day. The national average is about 11.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, but local rates can vary from less than 5 cents at night to more than 37 cents during peak times in areas such as Hawaii.

When the Focus Electric is plugged in at home, value charging harnesses the power of Microsoft’s cloud computing platform to check local utility rates and then automatically starts charging after the prices drop. With value charging, Focus Electric users get reduced operating costs and use power when there is less strain on the electrical grid. An added benefit is owners don’t have to go searching for energy pricing data.

Owners can also use MyFord Mobile to program their driving schedule with GO Times and set a desired cabin temperature. Do you want a warm car on that cold morning? Using GO Times will heat it up without using battery power. Are you leaving in the middle of the night? GO Times will ensure you use as much of that value charge as possible and still ensure you have a full battery.

Of course the battery can only be charged if the Focus Electric is plugged in. The combination of MyFord Mobile and the embedded wireless connection enables the car to send a text message alert to the owner if someone unplugs the Focus before the battery is fully charged or the owner forgets to plug in at night.

MyFord Mobile can also help drivers learn to be more energy efficient by automatically uploading and processing vehicle data from each trip. After arriving at a destination, drivers can check the trip and charge log to see how far they drove, how much energy was consumed and how much braking energy was recaptured. They can also get overall driving scores.

“The MyFord Mobile app and the Focus Electric work together to coach drivers to be more efficient and maximize the benefits of the electric vehicle experience,” said Joe Rork, MyFord Mobile product manager. “We wanted to help drivers get more miles out of every charge and have some fun along the way.”

Focus Electric drivers can register an account now at http://www.myfordmobile.com and download the iPhone app from the iTunes App Store. Drivers who are curious about making the jump to gasoline-free driving can check out the site and the app as a guest. MyFord Mobile will also work with the upcoming C-MAX Energi and Fusion Energi plug-in hybrids.

We will be meeting with Ford later this month so will be reporting on their other latest developments soon.