Aladdin, the folks behind popular Mac utilities such as StuffIt, unveiled Aladdin Transporter this week. The new utility is designed to make it easier to implement customized and automated file management, communications and Internet-related tasks. In fact, the phrase “hot off the press” (in this case the CD press) certainly applies to Transporter. It’s so new that few details were available about it earlier this week.
But now they are, and here’s the scoop. You can use 26 customizable actions, or “steps,” to create customized drop boxes that perform a wide range of automated tasks, such as file compression, FTP, Web, and e-mail transfers, as well as the ability to display custom alert dialogs, text messages, sounds, pictures, even QuickTime movies. The goal is to let you accomplish in a single drag and drop action tasks that normally require multiple steps in several applications.
The folks at Aladdin say that a Transporter drop box can replace simple tasks, such as sending files via e-mail, or more complex ones, such as Stuffing files, uploading them to a password protected FTP site, and then sending out a notification via e-mail.
Aladdin Transporter can also help you do things such as setting up document distribution procedures that provide security, legal protection, and other personalized features. With Aladdin Transporter users can password-protect drop boxes, require recipients to agree to a license agreement before accessing a download site, and enable a recipient to download a file from a password protected FTP site without having to reveal passwords to them.
Matthew Covington, product manager for Aladdin Transporter, says that those who should find it useful include IT managers, service bureaus, educators, Webmasters, and tech support departments.
Right now, Aladdin Transporter is exclusively available at CNET. It has a recommended retail price of US $149 and is compatible with any Power Mac running Mac OS 8.6 or higher that has 8 MB of available RAM. More info is available at the Transporter Web site.