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Logbook Pro September 2012 Newsletter:
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New Releases for Desktop (1.12.6), iOS (4.0), and Android
(2.0.1) |
We've been rolling out new releases across the board
with more great things to come (now in development).
If you're not subscribed to our
Revision History Forum I suggest doing so and then
you'll get an e-mail notification when we add new release
announcements to this area. The revision history
forum is also a great place to go when you want to find
out the details about our latest releases, what changed,
etc. In the past 1-2 months we have released major
updates for Logbook Pro Desktop, Logbook Pro for iPhone,
iPod touch, and iPad, and Android. Be sure to
check our
versions/download page at any time as well for the
latest version numbers and download links.
Logbook Pro Desktop 1.12.6
- Improved security with cloud communications using
secure and encrypted data
- Improved detection of proxy and firewall configurations
- Cloud account credentials now stay with the data file
to make it easier for those backing up and restoring
files
- Added new intervals to the LOOKBACK report for Flights
and Hours now showing the last 28, 30, 60, and 90 day
stats
- Added a new date preset on the report/analyzer date
filter window to easily choose "Last 28 Days"
- Improved layout save/restore routines. (If your
layout becomes locked transitioning to the new system
you can easily reset it following this
KB article)
- Add a checkbox to Options/Backup to bypass password
prompt when creating backups
- Changed label on backup password dialog from Cancel
to "Skip Password"
- Fixed an issue when printing charts to a printer other
than the windows default printer
- Fixed a data sort issue in some flight log reports
extending the sort pattern to use OUT and/or TAKEOFF
if available for leg sequencing
- Fixed layout issues in Percentages report
- Custom Text fields not populate like other Auto Filled
fields when the Duration value is input instead of having
to TAB across custom fields to activate the cell and
pull in the AutoFill data
- Improvements to layout (data grouping) in the Aircraft
Configuration Summary Report
- Improvements to the custom report template system
- Web links to resources such as portals for cloud sync,
backup, schedule importer will now open externally to
Logbook Pro using your default web browser
- Changed any remaining terms "My Sync" to "Cloud Sync"
- Updated installation system for Windows 8 support
To update Logbook Pro Desktop simply backup your data
(File..Backup to File) and then uninstall Logbook Pro
from the Windows Control Panel (data and registrations
are NOT affected) and then
click here to download the latest desktop version
and install it.
Logbook Pro for iOS 4.0
- iOS 6 and iPhone 5 Compatibility
- Improvement to Time Calculator to show total minutes
on leg total and grand totals
- Native iOS 6 (device) social networking integration
(Twitter and Facebook)
- Various other improvements and enhancements
3.5.x Improvements:
- New button on right side of Route field to auto-enter
the airport at your location
- New Sky View to get overhead views of airports
- Improved Weather system
- Significantly improved performance in data listing
(Flights, etc.)
- Progress indicator and other improvements to in-app
schedule importer
- My Account screen shows your subscription statuses
- Added a button at the bottom of Settings / Synchronization
to easily requeue all data to be synced again
Click here to get the latest Logbook Pro FREE app
from the Apple App Store
Logbook Pro for Android 2.0.1
- Android OS 4 ("Ice Cream Sandwich") support
- Support for new Kindle Fire HD and NOOK HD tablets
- Enhanced in-app schedule importer allowing you to
process trips directly from within the app, no need
to go to the web portal
- New Sky View for overhead imagery of airports
- New Weather screen to pull METAR and TAF information
on one or multiple airports
- New button on right side of route field to auto-enter
the airport at the current location of the device
- New time zone support offering three modes:
Device Local, UTC, and Custom
- New sync time zone support to sync data back to Logbook
Pro Desktop in a desired time zone
- Improved performance in Flights list
- Improved Time Calculator showing total minutes along
with decimal and HH:MM presentation
- Improved data entry of time values using a numeric
keypad instead of alpha-numeric keypad
Click the link for the Android app store you wish to
download 2.0.1 from:
Google Play,
Amazon,
Barnes & Noble (for NOOK only)
Thank you for your outstanding feedback, special thanks
to our outstanding beta testers that keep us to the
high standards of software you expect, and we are happy
to bring you
free
updates to Logbook Pro Desktop for 15 years now!
We are continuing to work hard to bring you great tools
to help you as a pilot and we have great things to come
in the near term and long term.
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New Devices Rolling Out: iPhone 5, Kindle Fire HD, NOOK
HD, and maybe iPad mini? |
If you watch television any day or night, chances are
you will see an ad with a cell phone or tablet during
your viewing time. You'll hear it on the radio,
it's in the news, we are obsessed with this technology?!?
Devices are rolling out left and right making it hard
for consumers to keep up with and vendors are racing
to get their new hardware on the market prior to the
fast approaching holiday shopping season. Developers
are also chasing technology striving to keep up at Mach
10! Microsoft announced their upcoming Windows
Phone 8 and "Surface" tablets to be their entry in the
tablet market. Amazon made their big announcement
for their new Kindle Fire HD models and just in the
past week or two Barnes and Noble announced their NOOK
HD tablets. And as you know, pictured above, the
new iPhone 5 is here and we "may" hear about an iPad
mini according to the rumor mill.
We designed our Logbook Pro apps to be resolution independent.
Logbook Pro does not require an update to work on any
of the above mentioned devices, we designed it this
way! We learned a lesson in the past with APDL
which was hard coded to a specific display size (resolution)
and it caused issues when new devices came out with
differing screen sizes. As Apple and Android continue
to introduce new devices rest assured Logbook Pro is
ready! As mentioned in our
August newsletter we will consider supporting Microsoft's
new devices as time permits. With our free app
model and cloud sync subscription option you can switch
or use any and all supported devices at any time!
No need to purchase apps for each device you use, that's
ludicrous! Enjoy Logbook Pro and take the worry
about which device you want to enjoy today!
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Now you can see why ... we charge for cloud
sync instead of by app |
We've been offering mobile products for over ten
years both with our Logbook Pro PDA Companions as well
as our airline product "APDL". In June 2010 we
came out with our first iPhone app "Logbook Pro for
iPhone" and "Logbook Pro for iPad" version 1.0 for Apple's
OS version 3.0. It was a fee based app and you
had to pay for either the iPhone app or iPad app (or
both). We immediately realized this was a bad
idea, this was NOT good for you, our customer and this
is not how we wanted to do business! At the time
it was two completely separate development efforts for
iPhone and iPad due to different display layouts and
other internal architecture challenges. With two
development lines we therefore charged for two products.
Immediately we changed direction and went with the "universal"
app model and with a major new OS "now named iOS" just
releasing we saw problems for the road ahead for our
customers and our business model. These apps are
going to need constant development and attention, unlike
our Palm and Windows mobile predecessors. In December
2010 we came out with v2 of our apps and made them FREE!
We gave everyone that purchased the v1 app for $29.99
a free year of cloud sync universal, a $34.99 value
as our compensation for our change in direction.
Here we are only two years later and Apple is now on
it's 3rd major OS update since our initial iOS app.
We started developing for Android not long after our
iOS release and it too has matured through three major
OS updates since the initial release. Apple is
on iOS 6.0, our v1 app was built for iOS 3.0.
Android is at 4.1, our initial app was targeted at 2.2.
Other products require you to pay for each platform
and as some saw last year, when Apple came out with
iOS 5 another logbook vendor's app broke and they required
their customers to purchase the new version just to
get their app working again. A sad situation to
say the least! With Logbook Pro's new model charging
you not for the software but instead an alternate revenue
method, cloud sync, we give you the software and all
updates FREE! You can be sure to always have the
latest version available to you, you never have to deal
with bugs because you don't want to pay for another
version, with the other model you pay hundreds seemingly
every year! With Logbook Pro's model you pay $30/year
and that's it! You can use any and all devices
that work with cloud sync, you can change devices at
any time, we have completely eliminated the hassle in
the mobile market!
Recently iOS 6 and a new device iPhone 5 came out.
Apple's new iOS was a major update and broke things
that worked in prior versions, which seems to happen
annually. YOU MUST KEEP YOUR SOFTWARE UP TO DATE!
Within ONE week we had iOS 6 support and iPhone 5's
new screen size supported. Cost to you...NOTHING!
Our commitment is to keep up with new devices, platforms,
technology. That is what you are paying for with
your modest $30/year cloud sync contribution.
For your $30 you can use iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Android
phone, Android tablet, Kindle Fire (including new HD),
NOOK tablets (including HD coming later this year).
Don't you worry about the constant changing technology
which can easily break your apps (annually) - we are
committed to keep you in ship shape and spend your time
enjoying your flying and not fiddling with your devices
trying to make things work.
Logbook Pro Desktop is a one time purchase, all version
1.x updates are free as they have been the past
FIFTEEN years! If you paid $69.95
for Logbook Pro Desktop in 1998, you would not have
paid another penny to date, you got all updates free!
I don't think any of our competitors can say that! A
Mac product has cost customers nearly $1,000 since the
initial release including all of the mobile updates
which have to be updated with every Desktop update and
who knows what the future will hold. Another Windows
competitor "leases" the software to you and when you
stop paying, you are locked out of your data!
We appreciate your business and your loyalty and we
are working for you! Any money you pay is returned
to you through software updates, improved services,
expanded products and services, we rotate our revenues
right back to you, our priority, our customer!
Thank you for your vote of confidence and we are proud
to offer you software that you can trust and rely on.
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The Logbook Pro and Schedule Importer API planned for
October |
Are you a software developer of a logbook product?
Are you a user/customer of another logbook product that
works with Logbook Pro via export of data and use of
our Import Wizard to bring it into Logbook Pro?
Would you like to automate the transfer of data from
your product to Logbook Pro? Would you, as a developer,
like to use our schedule importer capabilities?
If you answered YES to any of the above then you'll
be interested in our upcoming public API's. If
you're a user of another product, please inform the
vendor of this article by giving them this link:
http://nc-software.com/newsletters/2012/09/default.htm#api
We are wrapping up our public API which will allow SOAP/WSDL
access to our services. We created a new forum
which will allow us to assist you with consuming and
using these services. We expect to initially introduce
them as a beta in the upcoming weeks and then push them
to final/production if no issues arise.
Click here to view the API forums where you can
subscribe to the forums of interest to be notified of
new posts. More information will be posted when
available.
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Windows 8 Releases October 26th (as well as Windows
Phone 8 and Surface Tablet) |
On October 26th Microsoft will release Windows 8 which
for the consumer will come in two editions: Windows
8 and Windows 8 Pro. Microsoft is also making
the upgrade extremely affordable going back all the
way to Windows XP. This is a great opportunity
to update to Microsoft's latest and greatest operating
system at a fraction of what it used to cost, the upgrade
is estimated to be approximately $40. For Mac
users wanting to use
VMware
Fusion or
Parallels Desktop to run Windows (Logbook Pro) on
your Mac this is a great way to update your Windows
license and use the latest at an affordable cost.
Developers got the final version of Windows 8 in August
and we've been using it since. It is an outstanding
operating system which really is a "minor" update to
Windows 7 with the addition of a start screen and other
new features. Don't hyperventilate over the start
screen which we've all heard so much about. It's
blown out of proportion and is easily bypassed by going
to the Windows Desktop which launching an app such as
Logbook Pro. You can also press the Windows Key
+ D to go into the Desktop mode. You'll actually
come to like Windows 8's start screen as it allows you
to put your favorite apps and web pages on the screen
and in one click you can launch it among many other
great improvements. Windows 7 is Microsoft's best
OS to date and Windows 8 only improves upon it.
If you're worried about the START button being removed,
there are 3rd party apps such as "Start8"
which brings it back. I highly encourage you to
update to Windows 8 especially if you used a version
prior to Windows 7 and Logbook Pro runs perfectly on
this OS (32 and 64-bit) as well.
We will take a close look at the new Windows Phone 8
operating system releasing on October 26th as well along
with the new devices already being announced along and
we'll also look at supporting the new
Surface tablets..
We are in a great world in computing. Both Windows
and Mac are outstanding operating systems. All
mobile platforms are outstanding as well. It's
a tough choice these days, they all have their pro's
and con's. And if you're like me, we want them
all! :) |
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Product |
Version |
| Logbook Pro PC
Edition |
1.12.6 |
| Logbook Pro Universal
App for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad |
4.0 |
| Logbook Pro for
Android/Kindle Fire/NOOK |
2.0.1 |
| Logbook Pro Palm
Companion |
1.10.5 |
| Logbook Pro Pocket
PC Companion |
1.10.16 |
| Airline Pilot's
Daily Aviation Logbook - Palm OS |
6.0.4 |
| Airline Pilot's
Daily Aviation Logbook - Pocket PC |
6.1.4 |
| FlightCentral Route
Browser |
2.2 |
| Airline Schedule
Importer |
8.4.8 |
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Click here to download updates as required. |
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Logbook Pro is a registered trademark of NC Software, Inc.
All other trademarks or registered trademarks are property of their
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