Nick Peers

Ever wanted to emulate an Android phone or tablet on your PC or Mac? Perhaps you’re a developer who wants a more convenient way to test code, or you’re looking to demonstrate Android in some way. Or perhaps you’re simply someone who wants to give Android a test run without going the whole hog and spending good money before giving it a whirl?

There’s a simple solution to all of the above -- and that’s to install the free Genymotion 1.3.0 for Windows, Mac and Linux.

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Agile Web Solutions has released 1Password for Mac 4.0.1, a major update to its encrypted password manager tool. Also available for Windows and iOS, the latest version comes with the promise of over 90 new features, including support for multiple and shared vaults.

Other highlights include bypassing the cloud via Wi-Fi Sync, 256-bit authenticated encryption, iCloud support and a completely revamped user interface.

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Google has released Chrome for Android 30 FINAL, a major new update to its mobile web browser. The main highlight in version 30 is updated swiping gestures, but other new features include the ability to search by image, faster searching through the Google Search app and improved password sync.

The chief changes are three updated swiping gestures. Users can now swipe horizontally across the top toolbar to quickly switch back and forth between tabs, or drag vertically down from the toolbar to enter Tab Switcher view.

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Team MediaPortal has released MediaPortal 1.5.0 FINAL, a major update to its open-source media center for Windows PCs. Version 1.5.0 sees the functionality of the PowerScheduler++ plugin incorporated directly into MediaPortal, and comes with the promise of improved support for TV broadcasts delivered over the internet.

The update also adds support for US CableCard tuners and Windows 8.1, but drops official support for XP.

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Google has unveiled the first public beta of Google Web Designer, its HTML5 web coding tool for Mac and Windows. Although geared towards advertisers looking to build rich interactive web ads using HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript, Google Web Designer can also be used for a variety of wider applications too.

The app has been launched as part of Google’s drive to make it easier for advertisers to code content for a variety of platforms -- mobile and desktop -- using HTML5. The idea is that users can simply design the ad and it will work seamlessly across multiple devices with no additional tweaking required.

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Seattle-based ACDSee Systems International has released both ACDSee 17.0 and ACDSee Pro 7.0, major new releases of its photo tools for Windows. The new releases come less than 12 months after the last major updates, but offer competitively priced upgrades that are less than half the price of the full versions at $29.99 and $59.99 respectively.

The new releases include a number of additional editing tools and filters in addition to a tweaked user interface and enhancements to key areas such as image management.

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Versoworks has released Speckie 6.0, a major new version of its real-time spellchecking tool for Internet Explorer. The software, available free for personal use as well as in commercial form with additional features, adds support for the forthcoming Internet Explorer 11 with this new release.

Version 6.0 also comes with the promise of improved support for Rich Editors, and has updated the Settings user interface to be more amenable to touch-screen interfaces, despite the fact it doesn’t yet support 64-bit versions of Windows 8 or Windows 8.1.

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These days most browsers offer some form of basic protection against clicking a fake link and visiting phishing websites (facsimiles of genuine sites that attempt to trick users into giving up sensitive personal information like passwords and credit-card details). But they don’t offer much else protection against other dangerous sites.

This is where Web of Trust (WOT) comes in: it maintains a database of websites, rating them for safety, privacy and security and giving you a second opinion about whether or not a particular site is safe to shop at, share personal details with or even simply visit.

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The VideoLAN organization has released VLC Media Player 2.1, a major new build of its popular open-source, cross-platform media player. Version 2.1, codenamed "Rincewind" is an essential app for Windows 8 users wishing to play DVD video on their PCs without having to pay for the privilege.

VLC 2.1 adds hardware decoding support to three major platforms and hardware encoding support for Windows, plus rewrites the audio core to provide better volume and device management.

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Adobe has released brand new versions of its consumer-level photo-editing and video-editing suites with the launch of Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 and Adobe Premiere Elements 12.

Version 12 of both suites add mobile-friendly features and a number of new editing tools, but critically remain standalone applications, allowing users to purchase them outright as opposed to signing up for an ongoing cloud subscription.

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Mozilla has rolled out Firefox Aurora 26.0a2 and Firefox Beta 25.0b1. While the Beta has few noteworthy features to talk about, the Aurora alpha release has a number of major new talking points.

Chief among these is support for running Firefox in the Modern UI. This marks the first appearance of Mozilla’s Windows 8 touch-optimized app in an alpha build, it having previously only been available as a standalone pre-alpha release.

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Apple may have been focusing on its recent iOS 7 release, but the company has still found time to roll out a major update to iTunes with the release of iTunes 11.1. Despite the minor revision number, version 11.1 ships with a number of notable new features.

The headline new feature is iTunes Radio, which Apple has set up to compete with other streaming music services such as Last.fm and Pandora. Over 250 stations are available covering different genres, or users can create their own using a favorite artist or song as a starting point.

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MAGIX Software GmbH has updated its movie-editing product range with the release of MAGIX Movie Edit Pro 2014. Also available in Plus and Premium versions, the new build comes with the promise of improved multi-track performance through more efficient use of multi-core PCs.

The new build also comes with "tons" of new content, with all elements now HD and 16:9 compatible. Movie Edit Pro 2014 also gains HDR effects for the first time too, while Plus and Premium users gain a new proxy editing feature.

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Mozilla has launched Firefox 24.0 FINAL for Windows, Mac and Linux. There are no major surprises in the final build, with all new and changed features highlighted in the Beta migrating across to the new version.

Two changes that are exclusive to the final version are removed support for the Revocation Lists feature, and the promise of performance improvements when loading new tab pages, attained simply by enabling new tab page preloading as the default behavior.

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Los Angeles software developer iolo Technologies has released System Mechanic 12.0 and System Mechanic Professional 12.0, major updates to its flagship PC stability and optimization tool.

Also available in cut-down freeware form, version 12.0 boasts major new stability tools, improved cleaning and expanded malware engine, plus full certification with the forthcoming Windows 8.1.

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