Create stylish photo collages with Collagerator
Photo collages can be a very effective way to present a group of your favorite digital images. They’re also very time-consuming to produce manually, though, so if you’re interested in collage creation then you might prefer the free Collagerator.
The program starts with some basic configuration options, like choosing your preferred collage design (background color, how the images will be arranged), its size and orientation (portrait or landscape). Add a few images and they’ll immediately be organized according to your rules.
IObit Advanced SystemCare 7 Beta 2 adds welcome new features
IObit has released the second public beta of Advanced SystemCare 7.0, its flagship PC maintenance suite, with even more new tools and options.
The package comes bundled with IObit Uninstaller 3, for example, which now supports listing and removing browser plugins.
Pressy -- an impressyve way to add a physical button to Android
I just reviewed the Moto X and absolutely loved the hands-free voice activated experience. However, sometimes I still yearn for actual buttons to push. On-screen buttons are all the rage on Android, but a new Kickstarter campaign has launched with the aim of adding a physical one to Android devices via something called "Pressy".
According to the designers, the device is "a tiny physical button that connects to your phone through the headphone jack. Connecting the Pressy Button with the free Pressy app lets you easily customize and use your favorite, everyday actions. For example, if you use your flashlight on regular basis, set a Click-combination [in] the app for turning on your flashlight and start clicking the button".
Best Windows 8 apps this week
Forty-fourth in a series. The overall application growth has improved slightly this week in the US Windows Store. A total of 812 new apps found their way into the store, roughly 150 more than last week's performance.
The important 80,000 apps mark was surpassed this week for the first time. Users now have access to 80,605 apps in the US store. 61,898 of those are free to download and install, while 18,707 are paid applications. The free application count rose by 512 apps this week, the paid app count by exactly 300 new apps.
Bitdefender Antivirus Free adds Windows 8.1 support, squashes bugs
Anti-malware developer Bitdefender has released Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition 1.0.20, a minor refresh of its free Windows anti-malware tool. Version 1.0.20 is notable for adding support for the upcoming Windows 8.1 release, due October 18.
Version 1.0.20 also squashes a few bugs and improves compatibility with Outpost Firewall Pro 8.1 too, resolving an issue with slow boot when both apps were installed alongside each other.
FastPreview lets you add image previews to Explorer right-click menus
The Windows Explorer Preview pane can be a convenient way to display the currently selected image without launching a separate viewer. This also consumes a large chunk of screen space, though, which is why many people prefer to leave it turned off.
You could still preview graphics files by turning on a folder’s icon view, of course. But if that’s rather less than convenient, FastPreview (from the author of the popular Firefox add-on DownThemAll) offers a simpler and more lightweight approach: just right-click any image and you’ll find a thumbnail embedded in its context menu.
BlackBerry Q10 is NOW available at Sprint
The BlackBerry Q10 was officially unveiled by the Canadian maker during a special event held in late-January. But, sadly for impatient US fans, the QWERTY smartphone only arrived in June at local mobile operators Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T. Furthermore, Sprint subscribers had to wait even longer to get their hands on the new device.
Good news! Starting today, the BlackBerry Q10 is available at Sprint, after "just" seven months since its unveiling. The US mobile operator offers the smartphone for $99.99, alongside a traditional two-year agreement.
New infographic shows the history of mobile technology in business
Mobile technology moves pretty fast these days. Think back ten years and things were very different. Most people had basic mobile phones with physical button keypads, and despite Microsoft’s attempts to bring tablets to the masses it was Apple launching the iPad in 2010 that finally made it happen.
The past decade has seen some amazing innovations, and changed the face of business. According to a 2013 AT&T Technology Poll, 98 percent of small businesses use wireless or mobile technology in their daily operations and 66 percent of small businesses have stated that it would be a major challenge to operate their business without such technology.
Nokia announces HERE Connected Driving in-car navigation solution
On Friday, Finnish mobile maker Nokia announced HERE Connected Driving, a cloud-connected in-car navigation solution with offline mapping, real-time traffic information and mobile device app support. Labeled by the company as "the only end-to-end driving solution on the market", it will be officially demoed during the International Motor Show in Frankfurt, Germany.
Nokia's in-car navigation solution is comprised of four parts -- HERE Auto, HERE Auto Cloud, HERE Auto Companion and HERE Traffic. HERE Auto takes care of navigation instructions, with or without a data connection, similar to the company's HERE Drive+ Windows Phone 8 app. It provides turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation in 95 countries, while supporting 2D, 3D and satellite map views (street imagery is also included). According to Nokia, Continental's Open Infotainment Platform already integrates HERE Auto and it is expected to arrive in cars in upcoming months.
Acer Aspire M5 brings Haswell to your home [Review]
I continue to hear about the death of the PC, but trust me, I am not writing this story or anything else, on a tablet. I have three of them, and enjoy using them -- "Under the Dome" looks great on the Kindle Fire HD while I am "Under the Covers" at night -- but they are essentially useless for my job. In fact, I mostly work from a two-year old Gateway laptop -- the device is more than suitable for my needs and I rarely venture to my home office to touch the desktop.
Acer, however, has decided to try and tempt me away from what I had been considering more than adequate at this point. I write this latest missive from the brand new Aspire M5 that FedEx dropped off to me for review, courtesy of the hardware maker.
Linux environment Gnome fires Google over security concerns
I love Linux, it is no secret. Sure, I may stray to Mac and Windows every once in a while, and bash code-names, but I always come back to my first love; Linux. This week, I even had an argument with its creator Linus Torvalds over some measles, but even that can't stop my love.
My love for Linux, however, is very much focused on Fedora and Gnome3. And so, I am happy to see that Gnome has kicked Google to the curb as the default search engine for its Epiphany Web Browser (aka "Web"). Instead, it will use the privacy-focused DuckDuckGo.
Parallels Desktop 9 for Mac -- a better Windows 8 experience than a PC?
Over the years, the big knock on OS X was that it lacked the software availability that Windows had. While Apple's operating system has made huge gains, Windows is still the software leader -- especially for business. When Parallels was released in 2006, it solved a problem for many Apple users; it allowed them to run Windows on their Mac.
Today, Parallels announces version 9 of its virtualization software. "Parallels Desktop 9 for Mac customers will enjoy peace of mind knowing that Parallels keeps pace with and supports leading new technologies, such as the upcoming OS X Mavericks, Windows 8.1 and increasingly popular cloud services", says CEO Birger Steen.
Did Poetic slip and confirm iPhone 5C name and date?
I own several tablets and am always on the lookout for a good deal on a new case for one of them. One place I keep a frequent eye on is Poetic, which manufactures a full line of cases for a number of different devices. As of this afternoon, we can add one more device to that lineup -- the Apple iPhone 5C.
You can imagine the surprise I got upon arrival on the company home page when I was greeted with the image seen above. The company appears to be unveiling its line of bumper cases for a phone that has not yet been released or even announced. In fact, Apple has yet to confirm it will even be holding an event in early September.
Hidden File Finder lets you quickly identify hidden files on your PC
If a malicious program wants to hide objects from you, then the simplest approach is to mark those files or folders as "hidden". By default they won’t be visible in Explorer, and even if you’ve changed that setting (see Folder Options in Explorer) they’ll still be just a few files out of many. You may never notice their existence.
When you’re checking a PC for malware or similar issues, then, it makes sense to highlight hidden content, and Hidden File Finder makes that very easy indeed.
Flickr for iOS gets a revamp with new filters and photo editing tools
Yahoo has released Flickr 2.20 for iPhone and iPod touch, a major new update to its app for quickly sharing and uploading photos using your iOS device’s camera.
The new build adds three major new filter-based features to its roster, plus adds new camera tools while dropping the paywall on some of the more professional editing tools. Both sets of tools are also jazzed up with new animated transitions for "the best camera experience yet".
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