Get to know the new GoToMyPC iOS App.
Last week saw the launch of the new GoToMyPC iOS App. For iPad users this meant an update providing improved navigation and for iPhone and iPod Touch owners, it meant they were finally untethered from their desktops. Now that you’ve had a few days to play with the App, I thought I’d go over it’s features and general use in a little more detail.
When you launch the App you’ll see a straight forward login screen with one important feature, the ability to save your Account Password. This is great because it means you don’t have to type in your case sensitive password each time you want to connect, if you’re anything like me you’ve already got a secure password locking your phone anyway.
Once you are connected you’ll see the gestures you can use while connected. Now if you’re like me you probably closed this window right away so you could see your desktop and try the App out. Well no worries, you can launch this window again at any time while you’re in session, but more about this later. The gestures are very handy, the two I find myself using the most often are the Three Finger Tap and Pinch In and Out.
At the top of the screen you notice a small black tab with an arrow, give it a tap and the Menu bar will drop down.
From left to right; X will end your session and disconnect you from your Host, the Arrows bring up directional arrow buttons for navigating,
next is the Keyboard and the gear brings up the Preferences Window on your Hosts screen,
and finally the Question Mark brings up the Gestures Window you closed so quickly at the start of your session.
The virtual mouse makes navigating on such a small screen very easy, and you can always just tap on your screen to re-position it. All in all the GoToMyPC iOS App is a dream to operate, there is one tip I’d like to pass on to anyone needing to send a Ctrl+Alt+Delete in order to logon or off Windows on their Host PC. First hold your iPhone on it’s side in landscape mode and then tap Ctrl then Alt and finally Delete one after another on the keyboard, don’t try and push all three together at the same time.
Personally I’ve enjoyed using GoToMyPC on my iPad and the new App is great on my Wife’s iPod Touch but what I’m really excited about is still coming…. soon.
How to convert a GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar or GoToTraining formated recording to something else.
Also check out: The Ultimate GoToMeeting Recording Guide and The Secrets to a Great Webinar
If you have already recorded your Webinar using the GoToWebinar software and codec you will need to convert the file to a normal Windows Media file by following the directions in Step 1, otherwise set your GoToWebinar Preferences to Convert to Windows Media Player file by right clicking the G2W icon located in your PC’s System Tray (near the time), and select Preferences > Recording. Once your Webinar has ended the recording will automatically start converting to a regular Windows Media Player file, once this conversion is finished follow Step 2.
Step 1 (Updated 10/15/2010)
The first step is to download and install Expression Encoder 4, then import your recording and make any edits you need before finally encoding.
To make edits move the colored playhead to the desired start point, right click the playhead and select Add Edit, move the playhead to the desired endpoint and do the same. Then to delete the unwanted part of the recording right click between the edit points and select Remove Clip, it’s that easy! Once you have finished editing your recording you can move on to step 2 below.
Re-encode your recording and remove the GoToMeeting codec:
- From the File menu, select Import and navigate to your recording.
- Locate the Encode tab on the right-side of your screen and expand the Video and Audio panes.
- Configure the settings as needed but we recommend setting Video Aspect Ratio to Source.
- Select the Output tab and choose a location for the saved file.
- Choose Encode from the File menu.
Processing time will depend on length of recording, output settings and your system hardware.
The free version of Expression Encoder allows you to encode the recording in the WMV format, removing the GoToMeeting codec. If you wish to encode your recording to another format like MP4 you can upgrade to the full version for around $50.00, or continue to Step 2 and use another free tool Any Video Converter or FreeMake
Step 2
Use the free software Any Video Converter to Convert the file into Flash
1. Go to http://download.cnet.com/Any-Video-Convert…4-10661456.html
2. Launch the any Video Converter
3. Click on “Add Video” and select the file that you’ve ecnoded with Windows Media Encoder
4. Click on profile at the right and select Flsh Video Move flv
5. At the right, scroll down to where it says “Video Bitrate” this is the video quality, you’ll want something greater than1000
6. Where it says Video size, select “Original”
7. Click on the Convert Button
Go Mobile with GoToMyPC
For some this has been a long time coming but as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait. GoToMyPC is finally on the iPhone!
Rather than just turn out a smaller version of the current GoToMyPC iPad App, time was taken to make improvements based on customer feedback. If you’ve previously used the GoToMyPC iPad App you’ll notice the addition of a fixed mouse pointer, which you can drag around the screen for a more “trackpad like” experience. At the same time you can still fling the desktop with your finger to quickly navigate from top to bottom or side to side and then tap where you want the pointer, which is my personal preference.
Of course all of the great GoToMyPC iPad App features are still there such as; Intuitive multi-touch and gesture-based controls, drag and hover, 300% zooming and panning for more detailed work, Full keyboard functionality including special keys, Text preview mode that automatically corrects spelling and capitalization before sending to the host computer, 128-bit AES encryption, dual passwords and end-to-end user authentication and let’s not forget Multitasking support!
So if you’re an existing GoToMyPC customer and iPhone user, head over to the iTunes store and download the App for free now. Existing GoToMyPC customers can also invite friends to try GoToMyPC free for a month using this LINK, if they end up subscribing you get a free month of service also!
For those of you who don’t have a GoToMyPC account yet, just open a risk free 30 Day Free Trial at GoToMyPC, set up your Host PC or Mac and then you too can try out the new App.
Go Mobile and be free!
So what’s it like to be an IT without GoToManage?
Here is a fun series of videos made by IT Blogger Brian Madden, they depict the life of an IT who doesn’t have GoToManage (which I’ve written about previously).
