Wolfram Genealogy & History Research Assistant 1.0.2

Wolfram Genealogy & History Research Assistant has been updated to version 1.0.2

Wolfram Genealogy & History Research Assistant is exactly what the name implies – a research tool for genealogists and historians, and it’s a Universal app – it works on iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads running iOS 4.0 or later.

It covers:
* Events that occurred while your ancestors were alive
* How common were surnames of your ancestors
* Weather history
* Demographics of towns and areas they lived in.
* Financial/economic information

It claims to assist you in mapping family relations – I’ll be exploring that feature at some point in the near future. It’s based on the Wolfram|Alpha computational knowledge engine, which is one of the information engines that powers Siri, in the iPhone 4s.

In the version 1.0.2 update, there are some minor bug fixes.

In-app recommendations have also been added.

Requirements:
* iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.
* iOS 4.0 or later.

It’s $4.99 and available from the Apple App Store:
* Wolfram Genealogy & History Research Assistant – iPhone/iPod touch
* Wolfram Genealogy & History Research Assistant – iPad

Skype 3.0 for iOS Adds Video Calling for Certain Devices

Skype, which is a cross-platform application that allows you to instant-message, and make voice and video calls over the internet, has received a major update to Skype Version 3.0. Quite a few of us use Skype to stay in touch with people in other states or other countries, and given its flexibility, this is a welcome update.

Of interest to iPhone 4 users, as well as other iPhone, iPad, iPod touch users, video calls over both WiFi and 3G are now supported. Skype works with iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, and iPod touch, but it will only handle voice or video calls on certain devices, and some devices require additional hardware (iPod touch – compatible headset with microphone).

I can confirm that video calling over WiFi and 3G with an iPhone 4 to a Mac OS X user and a Windows user works, however the quality of the video is dependent upon your signal. Skype has been able to handle voice over IP (VOIP) on 3G networks for a while, and I believe I will continue to use that function more than the video, but it is cool that video has finally been added.

Updates in Skype 3.0
* Make Skype to Skype video calls on WiFi and 3G (3G calls = Additional Data charges may apply)
* Call Skype desktop users (Mac OS X or Windows) and other iPhone users.
* Two-way video calls supported on iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 4th gen.
* Receive only video supported on iPad and iPod touch 3rd gen, with no camera.
* Make video calls in portrait and landscape.
* Skype video calling requires iOS 4.0 or above.

Skype requires iPhone OS/iOS 3.0 or above.

Skype is free to download at the Apple iTunes Store

Please note: Additional charges either through Skype or your carrier may apply depending on your situation.

nook Software Update Version 1.5

I know a lot of genealogists have been using ebook readers to keep track of a lot of reading and even documents, and today the Barnes & Noble nook received a major update.

The first major feature added – staying in sync across multiple nooks or the nook app installed on multiple computers. The Kindle has had it for a while, so it’s good to see this feature added.

The organization has been vastly improved with the addition of “My Shelves” which you can use to organize your library and documents by topics.

Performance has been improved quite a bit – page turning is now, from what I’ve seen today, on par with Amazon.com’s Kindle.

Password protection has been added. Search has been improved, and there are other fixes/improvements.

You can install the update through a Wi-Fi connection either automatically or manually. It will no be avaialble over 3G – you’ll need to be connected to a Wi-Fi network to install it.

Source: Barnes & Noble

Evernote 3.4.0 Released

My favorite (currently) note-taking app for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad was updated a few days ago. Evernote 3.4.0 has been released with quite a few fixes. As always, it’s free. Evernote is a note-taking application that spans across several platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, iOS, Android) and allows you to keep your notes in sync across all platforms.

What an update this is! For those genealogists who use their iPhones to make audio recordings, the audio recording portion of Evernote has been greatly enhanced, including bumping the limit up to 90 minutes. You can also select multiple images from the camera roll to add them to a note.

Thate changes/additions I’m interested in, from within Safari and Mail you can now directly send PDF and text information into Evernote through the “Open In” option.

If you are running iOS 4.2 and are configured properly, you can also print notes to a printer on the network, from within Evernote.

Changes
* Select multiple images from your camera roll at once and add them to a single note or make multiple snapshot notes
* Audio note recording limit increased to 90 minutes, great for lectures and interviews
* Audio recordings can now be played, paused and replayed from within the note
* Audio note playback can be controlled via the dock player, headphones or other external controls
* Send PDFs and text from Safari and Mail directly into Evernote via the “Open In” option
* 3rd party developers can configure their apps to send PDFs, images and audio into Evernote
* Print notes directly from Evernote to a network printer (in iOS 4.2)
* Numerous bug fixes and improvements

You can read the official Evernote blog entry here or check the official Evernote website.

Requirements
* iOS 3.0 or later (iOS 4.2 for printing over the network)
* Languages: English, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish

If you already have Evernote installed, you can just go through your normal update process. If you don’t, you can download it through the iTunes Store (Evernote link)

Note that this is only for the iOS platform, and that Evernote for Android has note been updated with this release.

Research Logger 1.2

Research Logger 1.2 is now available. Research Logger is an iOS/iPhone OS app for genealogists that helps you keep track of your genealogy research, both the research that you’ve already done, and the research you need to do or will be doing.

Version 1.2 is another major upgrade. You now have the ability to add audio recordings and pictures to your log entries. You can also email log entries to other people.

Changes:
* Audio recording and pictures in your log entries.
* Email individual log entries.
* Email all your log entries in .csv format.
* Various bug fixes.

Requirements:
iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, with iPhone OS 3.1.3 or later.

Research Logger can be downloaded for $0.99 (US) through the Apple iTunes App Store

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