TeamViewer 7 is now available for Windows, Mac and mobile operating systems such as Android or Apple’s iOS. The Linux download page lists version 6 as the latest.

The developers have added a lot of new features to the remote access software. It is a long list divided into the two core areas Remote Control and Meeting.

Remote Control

All users benefit from performance optimizations. Especially direct connections, file transfers and working with TeamViewer Manager have seen performance improvements. The new media features, e.g. screenshot creation during remote control sessions or the AVI converter make life easier in specific situations. The option to display multi-remote screens on a 1:1 scale may be interesting as well to some TeamViewer users.

• Drag & Drop Even Faster – Simply drag each desired file from and into the remote control window and drop it exactly where you want it.
• Enhanced Multi-Monitor Support – Do you and your clients both work with two or more screens? Then simply display multiple remote screens on a 1:1 scale on your own monitors – simultaneously and without toggling.
• Save Connection Settings per Computer – You can now store individual connection settings for each computer in your computers & contacts list. Thereby, saving you valuable time for all further connections to the same computers.
• Integrated Screenshot Feature – Create a screenshot at any moment during a remote control session. Thus, snapshots of the remote screen are acquired at lightning speed.
• AVI Converter – Convert your recorded sessions into AVI format and then edit your videos at will.
• Movable TeamViewer Panel – Position your TeamViewer Panel wherever you like on your local monitors so that you can see every important screen area at any time.
• Performance Improvement – Especially direct connections and file transfer are now even faster due to optimization of data packets and display settings.
• Optimized performance with TeamViewer Manager – Huge speed increases, especially for large databases. Through optimized database requests, TeamViewer Manager is now up to 4x faster.

Meetings and Presentations

Please note that TeamViewer 7′s meeting feature is only compatible with other TeamViewer clients, it is not backwards compatible.

Several useful new features have been integrated, from recording presentations and converting them directly to avi video files over participants who join the meeting on mobile devices to options to start meetings before participants are added which is ideal for testing and preparing.

• Instant Meeting – With just one click, you can start your meeting even before adding any participants – ideal for preparation and testing. Invite your colleagues, business partners or clients on the fly.
• Schedule Meetings – Schedule your meetings and send invitations directly from your email client. Use the new “My Meetings” functionality in your TeamViewer account to maintain the perfect overview of all your planned meetings. Transfer your appointments automatically to your Outlook calendar.
• Up To 25 Participants – Invite up to 25 participants to your meeting. From marketing presentations with potential new clients in a personal 1:1 scale, to large international meetings, anything is possible.
• Mobile Participation On The Road – With the new TeamViewer Apps for iPhone, iPad (coming soon) and Android, participation in meetings is possible at any time from the road. That way, you and your colleagues will never again miss important discussions.
• Presenter – Organizer – Participant – Assign different rights to your participants during a meeting. Name one participant the organizer. This person will have expanded rights in order to support you during the meeting. Alternatively you can give another participant the presenter role so that this person can share their screen.
• Communication Tools – Now all participants can see and hear each other. During a meeting, they are connected via Voice over IP and Webcam. Additional tools, such as chat, whiteboard or telephone conferences, support the acoustic and visual exchange of ideas. Choose from a variety of communication tools for lively meetings and presentations.
• File Box – Would you like to make files available for download during a meeting? Simply copy the desired documents into the shared file box via Drag & Drop and easily and quickly exchange them at will.
• Record Presentations – Record your screen presentations and convert your video into the AVI format. This way, you can edit your videos at will.
• Movable TeamViewer Panel – When presenting your entire screen, just drag your TeamViewer Panel to each desired position – even, for example, to a second monitor, to have a complete view of all the important screen areas.

Are you using TeamViewer? If so, which new feature do you like the most? (via)

Input Director offers a solution; The free software program
can be used to to control multiple computers running the Windows operating system with a single keyboard and computer mouse. The software is installed on all computer systems that need to be remotely controlled with a single keyboard and mouse combination. The computer with the connected input devices is configured as the master, all other systems as slaves. It is theoretically possible to configure a second master and multiple slaves if necessary.

The configuration on the Slave system authorities master systems to control it. The position of the Slave monitor and the Slave system need to be configured on the Master system.

Why is the location of the slave monitor important? Because it enables one of the ways to move the mouse over to the monitor of the slave system. This works similar to multi-monitor systems where the mouse is moved over the border of the monitor to show up on the second monitor.

Another interesting feature is the shared clipboard which becomes available on all systems connected with each other.

Master configuration screen

Slave configuration

The Slave system can be configured to allow control from a specific network address or hostname, to improve security.
The application supports data encryption to encrypt all network traffic. Available for selection are 128-bit, 192-bit or 256-bit AES keys.

Input Director offers several features that go beyond the core functionality, including:

• Synchronizing screensavers and shutdown of all systems. Master systems can force slave systems to shutdown.
• Support of different keyboard layouts
• Hotkeys to switch control immediately so that the mouse and keyboard input is moved to another computer and monitor.
• Hotkeys to lock slaves or all computers at once
• Auto-switching of roles, enables master mode on slave systems if the mouse is moved to them.
• Support for keyboard macros and key bindings. Macros can be run on a single system, or broadcast to all computer systems.

Input Director’s strength is that it is easy to setup and use, with enough advanced features to make the application attractive to experienced computer users who need features like encryption, different keyboard layouts or macros. The ability to run macros on all systems at once offers interesting options, for instance for testing and benchmarking.

Users who download Input Director should take a look at the quickstart guide and the advanced configuration guide posted on the developer website.

Input Director is compatible with all versions of Windows from Windows 2000 to Windows 7. (via)

SharkZapper for Google Chrome changes as it provides remote control functionality for the music streaming service. While it does not change the fact that Grooveshark needs to be open in a tab in the background, it offers direct access to much needed controls.

The extension places an icon in the Chrome address bar that expands on a click. The interface displays the song that is currently playing along with cover art if available.

Controls allow to mute the song, change the volume, pause it or load the previous or next song. Users who are logged in can furthermore rate the song (smile or frown) and add it to their music or favorites.

A search is available as well to quickly search for songs on Grooveshark. The search activates the Grooveshark window that displays the search results from where the songs can be played or added to playlists.

A mouse over on the extension icon displays the artist and song that are currently playing on Grooveshark.

Options are available to change the behavior of the extension slightly. It is for instance possible to activate notifications on song change, or to remove the album art from the remote control window.

SharkZapper is available for direct installation at the Chrome extension gallery. The remote has been designed for Grooveshark’s HTML-based interface.

The program works the following way: Users start by adding a list of IP addresses or computer names to the program. It is then possible to highlight some or all of them to perform actions on the selected hosts. Actions can be selected by either selecting them from the Actions menu or by right-clicking.

Available actions are:

• Ping. The ping reply initially displays in black, then red if it times out, and then after 4 consecutive time-outs, any subsequent replies will turn blue to signify that the machine has been rebooted
• Install Windows Updates on the remote machine(s) (requires Microsoft’s SysInternals PsExec in your system path)
• View the WSUS installation log for the remote machine(s) – this log is stored in C:\RRx on all remote computers. (Tip: You can doubleclick a row to view the log file)
• Reboot the remote machine(s) (will also automatically start ping monitoring if you haven’t already started it)
• Retrieve the last boot-up time of the remote machine(s) – comes in very handy when you’re rebooting machines
• Load a | delimited text file to automatically populate the “Notes” column – this makes it simple to keep an ongoing list of any instructions you might have that are specific to certain machines, such as programs to start after a machine is rebooted and logged on.

Along with RemoteRebootX.exe there are 3 additional .NET executables included in the zip file below. To use them you must have the WSUS Admin Console 3.0 installed on your computer. They will allow you to connect to your WSUS server and …

• Retrieve a list of computers that have already downloaded updates but haven’t installed them
• Retrieve a list of computers that have already installed updates and are waiting to be rebooted
• Retrieve a list of computers that have not checked in with the WSUS server in more than 3 days

Additional information and usage tips are available at the developer’s website. Remote Reboot X has been developed in Microsoft’s Visual C# 2008 and requires therefor the Microsoft .net Framework. Doug does not mention the .net Framework version on his website though.

The PC server application has to be started first. A small notification area displays status information and error messages. Everything else is handled by the mobile phone application. It provides four different modes: Mouse mode, Keyboard mode, Application mode and Utilities.

Mouse and keyboard mode give the user control over the computer’s mouse or keyboard which can be controlled with a joystick or the numeric keys. Application mode handles six applications that can be controlled using that mode if installed and on top of any other windows on the computer desktop.

The applications are Firefox, Winamp, Windows Media Player, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer and Explorer. The last mode Utilities provides access to running commands or sending messages.

The application does not require any configuration of Bluetooth or Java on both the client or server which will appeal to many users who usually shy away from such applications. It could be handy in several situations like business presentations, lying on the coach at home and listening to Winamp or Windows Media Player or starting a command without having to go near the computer.

Each client creates a unique ID and password and the user who wants to give access to his computer has to send that data to the other user who enters it in his computer. The presentation mode for example displays the full computer screen of the client’s computer giving the other user the option to follow each and every action of the client in real time. There is virtually no delay and the quality of the picture is really good. Even small fonts are readable.

The other options, remote support, file transfers and virtual private networks work the same way. Everything is streamlined for ease of use. Transfers and connections work behind firewalls as well which works nicely in combination with the portable version of Teamviewer.

Teamviewer is free for commercial usage. A few additional versions are available at the developers homepage that suite specific needs. A support version is available for customers which is a basic version of Teamviewer that can only be used to connect to the client’s computer.

You also find a server version and a manager version at the download page. This is an excellent solution for anyone who has to remotely connect to clients computers regularly, who wants to do presentations over the Internet or use a virtual private network. It is free only for non-commercial usage.