Lazybit

Version 3.1 is about to go public, this story provides details about some of the entries in the changelog.

+ improved SIM card write speed, only updated records are written
+ the .manifest file is now embedded into the program
+ notifications about missing readers can be optionally disabled
+ automatically enable and start the smart card service, if possible
+ detect ActivClient and let people disable it, for it renders the reader unusable
+ gracefully handle AT&T cards that have incomplete USIM phonebooks (no email file)
+ added support for PTT (push to talk) records available on some 3G cards
- fixed the problem of pasting contacts to FDN sections
- addressed issue of a limited number of contacts copied from Google
- Facebook deprecated their contacts API, so the feature is removed

Full story »

What this means:

• The latest version is the most feature-rich SIM card management program
• The 1.x and 2.x branches are not supported anymore and they will not be updated

If you've made up your mind - you can upgrade to SIM Manager 3.

A new version of SIM Manager was released the other day, it brings changes on multiple fronts:

• features
• names
• costs

The 3.x branch is a major step forward, the program will be extended in these directions:

• More online synchronization services will be supported. At the moment SIM Manager can synchronize with Yahoo! Contacts and Google Contacts; it can also retrieve the phonebook from Facebook and write it to the SIM. We'll add new services to this list. The most likely candidates are Microsoft Live and Nokia Ovi - but our priorities will be determined by the feedback we receive from people. So if you are interested in seeing your favourite service in SIM Manager - let us know.
• Other methods of retrieving SMS and address books will be added. The first point in the roadmap is retrieving the data via Bluetooth or infrared, thus you won't need any cables or readers at all.
• SyncML support - so you can synchronize with any online service that relies on SyncML to get its job done.

What happens to the names:

• We decided to ditch the number sufix in the name, because it creates confusion among people (and sometimes among dekarters). There will be no more "SIM Manager 2" and "SIM Manager 1.x".
• SIM Manager is the name that we're keeping, the version number is not a part of the name anymore.
• SIMple is the name we chose for a simplified version of SIM Manager - the one you get for free when you purchase our SIM reader. SIMple is not as feature-rich, it lacks the online synchronization features and it cannot exchange data with other systems; it does only one thing - read and write to the SIM. Of course, this can be more than enough for most of us.
• If you're interested in any of the old versions, you can find them on our FTP archive.

Costs:

• The cost of the program is the same.

• There are three update options:

  • From 1.x to 3.x - USD 13
  • From 2.x to 3.x - USD 3
  • From SIMple to SIM Manager - USD 9.90

  • Secret option 4 out of 3 - get it for free, if you do one of these:

    • become a fan of Dekart on Facebook
    • tweet about us
    • write about us on your site
    • or you can just drop us an email and explain why you deserve the license; we're open to arguments :-)

The latest version, at this point, is 3.0, here's a direct download link - it always points to the latest version.

As I write these lines, we're already done adding some changes to 3.1, which will significantly reduce the amount of time needed to write data to cards.

Stay tuned, and have fun with SIM Manager - the best SIM card management program out there.

A fresh version of smart card Logon for Windows 7 x64 is now available: httx://dl.dropbox.com/u/3258602/DKbeta/Logon-x64.msi

The software is also compatible with:

• Windows Vista
• Windows Server 2008

This is a free version without any feature limitations. Get it while it is hot! ;-)

Some great changes are on their way - SIM Manager is going to get a major upgrade soon.

The software will be extended with new online synchronization features for services other than Google Contacts and Yahoo! Contacts (which we already support).

A great addition to that is Facebook - the new version of SIM Manager can get all your friends' phone numbers off Facebook and write them to a SIM card. Here is how this works:

In the future, we adding support for SyncML, and the ability to retrieve the data from a phone via Bluetooth.

SIM Manager's icon is changing as well, here are the prototypes:

Stay tuned for more.

With the advent of iPhone4, the question How to use a micro-SIM with my phone? became very popular, even though [to the best of my knowledge], there are no other phones that use a micro-SIM. Besides the iPhone4, that is.

As a person who does not own an iPhone, the only reason this captured my attention is the fact that people cannot use their micro-SIM with SIM Reader, unless they employ some clever tricks that involve paper, scissors and rock some scotch tape.

What happens when you have a curious mind, a motivation to help people, a load of old smart-cards and some expensive toys?

This is etched with a laser on a sheet of plastic. Here are some other photos of experimental prototypes of our microSIM adapter:

As soon as we're satisfied with the results, Dekart will offer free microSIM adapters with every purchase of SIM Reader.

This is what it looks like when inside our SIM card reader:

Yes, you can barely see it - that is precisely the point :-)

Stay tuned!

After a rather long development cycle, Private Disk 2.12 is officially released. What has changed?

Major changes under the hood

On lack of admin rights - one of Private Disk's strengths is the ability to start directly from USB flash disks, requiring no installation on the computer. This is a widely used feature, but its use is impeded by the fact that mounting an encrypted disk requires administrative rights. This is a show-stopper, you realize this as soon as you attempt to access your encrypted files in an Internet-cafe, or on a computer at work (university, or any other non-home environment), where administrative privileges are revoked.

Private Disk introduces "Explorer mode", which provides read\write access to the encrypted disk's contents. This mode is invoked automatically, if the required privileges are not available. If you wish to start Private Disk in Explorer mode even if you have admin rights, use the /explorer command line argument.

This is a unique feature for disk encryption software of such kind. To take things one step ahead - we made sure that this works for all the file systems used on Windows - FAT, FAT32, NTFS. Thus you can be absolutely sure that your files will be accessible in any circumstances, regardless of how the planets are aligned in the sky.

Handheld computers and phones - another significant improvement is Private Disk's ability to access encrypted data on Windows Mobile and Windows CE handhelds. This is achieved by adding compatibility with SecuBox from Aikosolutions. In plain English, it means that:

• SecuBox users can mount their encrypted images on Windows desktops;
• Private Disk users can mount their encrypted images on Windows-powered handhelds.

Another interesting bit worth mentioning in this context is that if you already own a license of SecuBox, you can get Private Disk with a discount; and if you already have Private Disk, you can buy SecuBox with a discount.

Here's how SecuBox looks like on a handheld, notice how the interface closely resembles that of Private Disk.

Looks familiar, doesn't it?

Minor changes
Private Disk suffered just a few cosmetic changes, most of the hard work was invested into things that are under the hood. Here are the simple bits:

Installation - you will notice a prettier and a friendlier installer, it sets up Private Disk in 3 clicks (in the past it took about 7). A few clicks are not essential, but they do make a difference.

Playing nice with Windows Vista/Seven - as of Vista, Microsoft made some changes in the way the system behaves. The new version of Private Disk takes that into account and plays nicely with UAC, requesting admin rights when necessary.

Tricks on 64-bit platforms - Private Disk has been updated to behave well on 64-bit computers, which ensures a consistent functionality on any Windows computer; regardless of the hardware you have - Private Disk works in the same way, you don't have to change anything or learn anything new; Private Disk takes care of the details.

Per-user settings - Private Disk keeps user-specific settings, rather than system-wide settings. In the previous releases, the changes made by one user would affect others in the system; that is not the case anymore. Each account on the system can have their own preferences (ex: hotkeys, program icons, etc).

Splash screen can be disabled - I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand I like the fact that people can see the Dekart logo and Private Disk's icon; on the other one - I always turn splash screens off when possible. You can do that too, the command line argument is /nosplash.

There are some other changes that I will mention here, but I'll ask you not to tell anyone about it ;-)

• If you installed a trial version, and the trial period expired, Private Disk will let itself be purchased with a discount;
• If another copy of Private Disk is running on your network at the same time, Private Disk will be happy that you use it somewhere else, and offer another copy of itself to you with a discount.

What has NOT changed?

A few things haven't changed, they are:

• The licensing policy is hyper-friendly - you get free updates for all the versions of the same major branch (i.e. anything that is 2.x is free for you);
• Technical support is free. We are there when you need us; you can interact with us on our forum, on Facebook, by posting comments on our Youtube channel, by writing an email to the helpdesk, by posting comments here - on Lazybit. For more details, check out Dekart on the social web.
• Private Disk continues to be a lightweight application with a small memory footprint - it is fast, it will not slow your system down, it will not get in your way;
• Private Disk continues to provide a high level of security, to make sure that your secrets stay secret.

What happened to v2.11?
Private Disk jumped directly from 2.10 to 2.12 - that's what you see if you observe what happens on the site. However, a 2.11 release does exist, it was made available for the Japanese market only.

P.S. Private Disk turns 10 soon.

P.P.S. Thanks for reading it all the way down to this point. Patience pays off, here is a link to purchase disk encryption software with a discount. :-)