Take control of your PC's power button with Chameleon Shutdown
Shutting down your PC is normally a fairly straightforward process (unless you’re running Windows 8 , but that’s another story). Your work is done, documents saved, applications closed, so you just hit the Shutdown button and Windows takes care of the rest.
If some important task hasn’t completed, though -- a file is still being downloaded, or a video file rendered -- then life is a little more complicated. You can still have your PC shut down automatically when the job has finished, but you’ll need a little third-party help to make this happen. And that’s where Chameleon Shutdown comes in.
Does iPad make the PC obsolete?
The question is really about the "new iPad" that Apple launched earlier this week. I say "Yes", for many people needing to upgrade their computers. Many of you will answer "No". Who is right?
The new iPad is a transformative device, extending on the disruption caused by the original model in April 2010 and its successor a year ago. The 2048 x 1536 resolution display is main reason. For many people, the new iPad will offer the best computer screen they can afford, and, if they get a 4G model, one that is always connected. New iPad is the poster child for the cloud connected-device era.
Despite U.S. employment gains, Verizon Wireless to cut 3,175 support jobs
Friday's big U.S. news might be that more than 220 thousand jobs were added in the month of February, but not everything is as bright and shiny in the world of communications.
The nation's largest mobile network operator Verizon Wireless announced it will be shutting down several of its U.S. support centers and eliminating as many as 3,175 non-union jobs by the end of the third quarter of 2012.
Our gift to you: Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012
Burning discs has become so fundamental to computing that practically every computer produced in the last decade has a disc burner of some sort built in. But in order to make use of your burner, you’re going to need some suitable software. Windows includes some very basic support for disc burning, but if you want to do much more than copy files from your hard drives onto a recordable disc, you’re going to have to look elsewhere.
The software that is supplied with CD, DVD and Blu-ray recorders is often complicated and packed with endless features you’ll never use. Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012 is a user friendly burning tool that strikes the perfect balance between ease of use and depth of features.
Windows 8 can become Windows again!
In my last article, "Microsoft, Metro takes our choice away!", I discussed the need for Windows 8 to better use the long heritage of the operating system, rather than try to be something so totally new.
As a Windows software developer I want to see Windows 8 do well on the market, but I realize that end users will dictate that outcome. There is a reason Windows, despite its ups and downs, has become the most popular computer operating system on the planet. It has provided a huge number of people so many choices that it allows them to accomplish many important things. This follow-up article is just one programmer's ideas about how to leverage this power and heritage to make Windows 8 even better.
Save 54% on CyberLink PhotoDirector 3
CyberLink is a company that is synonymous with software that is incredibly powerful yet also incredibly easy to use. When it comes to the arena of photo editing, there are a number of extremely high-end tools to choose from, and these have a tendency to not only be very complicated to use, but also restrictively expensive. The same cannot be said of CyberLink PhotoDirector, which includes all of the powerful tools you would expect to find in a professional image editing tool, but it is far easier to use than the likes of Adobe Photoshop.
We thought we’d let you in on a deal which will get you the latest PhotoDirector 3, which is retailing with a $149.95 MSRP for only $69.95, saving you a huge 54 percent. Read on.
Windows 8 Consumer Preview Video Review
Windows 8 marks the biggest changes to the operating system's user interface in about two decades. Windows 1.0 and 2.0 retained much from MS-DOS, while v3 brought a totally redesigned graphical UI. Microsoft took the world by storm with Windows 95, further refining the look and feel and introducing the Start menu. The following years and new Windows releases didn’t see major GUI changes.
Sure, Windows XP brought the slipstreamed taskbar and Start menu. Windows Vista added a few new menus, meaningful search box and desktop gadgets. Other changes included Aero Peek, and Previews on running applications. Windows 7 replaced the taskbar with the superbar, providing users more control over and visibility into open applications. For the most part the Start menu is the same as Windows Vista with no changes whatsoever. Windows 8's new tile-like UI Metro does away with it all and where the desktop motif remains for legacy apps, the Start menu is gone. Why fix something that is not broke? After all it only took over a decade to finally get the desktop prefect.
Archos G9 Android tablets (the ones with huge storage) get Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade
With the domination of Apple's iPad, the Android-based tablet market has lots of mid-range competition, with different companies jockeying for differentiation.
Archos has a pretty big line of Android-powered tablet products, and today the company announced its G9 family of Android tablets will begin receiving over-the-air upgrades to Android 4.0.3 "Ice Cream Sandwich" today. This line is easily differentiated from the pack of Android tablets because they can be outfitted with a 250GB HDD, giving them vastly more storage than most Android-powered tablets, which tend to utilize flash-based storage and max out at 64GB.
Make Windows 8 work for you
The next version of Windows is nearly here. If you missed it, you can now download and install a fully functional pre-release in the form of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. We recommend following our recent guide to installing it in a virtual environment so your main system is left untouched, but once it’s up and running, what then?
Whether you plan to use the Consumer Preview to familiarize yourself with the next version of Windows, or decide to migrate across now, you’ll want to know how your apps are going to fare. Read on then, for our guide to picking the perfect software packages to help you with your exploration of the next generation of Windows.
Steve Jobs' last big deal is Apple's biggest headache
Before his death in October of last year, one of Steve Jobs' last big moves was Apple's foray into electronic books. The company announced the platform in March 2010, but the method in which Apple handled its deals with publishers has caught the eye of regulators.
The Justice Department plans to sue Apple and the five biggest book publishers -- including Simon & Schuster Inc, Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group USA, Macmillan, and HarperCollins -- and accuse them of colluding to raise prices of books. Apple is alleged to have struck an agreement with the publishers that allowed them to change the way they sold ebooks, and in turn allowed the publishers to take more control over pricing.
Will you buy the new iPad?
I just gotta ask. Apple launched the "new iPad" yesterday, with unexpected branding. It's not "3" or "HD", as rumored, just "new". Preorders started less than 24 hours ago, with the tablet coming to stores (or by FedEx to your home or office) on March 16th or 23rd, depending on where you live. Will you buy? Or perhaps you preordered already?
The new iPad's compelling feature is the high-resolution display, which is 2048 x 1536. That is better than 1080p HD (1900 x 1080). The models with cellular radios offer either faster HSPA+ or 4G LTE -- the latter of which won't be available from all carriers in all markets. Pricing is unchanged, as I expected. Apple typically offers more rather than sells for less. It's tradition. Prices range from $499 to $829. Is that low enough for you? Are the features compelling enough?
Save big bucks on creative and security software
Everybody loves a bargain, and if you’re on the lookout for software at a great price, look no further than the Downloadcrew Software Store where you’ll find something to suit every taste and budget throughout the month of March.
Perhaps you need to squeeze the last ounce of performance out of your computer; there are a number of applications that can help you out, starting with Auslogics BoostSpeed 4. For just $9.95, a saving of 80 percent off the MSRP of $49.95, you can speed up your start times, clean out the clutter from your hard drive and more. When taking care of your drives, Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro 4 provides a complete defragmentation solution, and it is currently available for 67 percent off the MSRP of $29.95 at just $9.95. Other performance enhancing tools worth taking a look at include TuneUp Utilities 2012 [3-PC non-expiring lifetime licence] which can be installed on up to three computers and costs just $14.99 (70 percent off the MSRP of $49.95) and IObit Advanced SystemCare 5 PRO [3-PC], which is also discounted by 70 percent from $39.95 to $11.95.
Use Adobe SWF Investigator to test, debug Flash apps
If you need to investigate the inner workings of an SWF applet then there are plenty of great free tools around that can help (Flashbug being particularly useful). It seems these are now going to have some major and official competition, though, as Adobe Labs have just released a major inspection tool of their own in the new SWF Investigator.
Open the SWF file of your choice -- either locally, or online -- and the program will tell you much more about it. The SWF Info tab displays its tags, exported classes and header information; the Disassembler works with ActionScript 2.0 or 3.0 content to give you an idea of the original code; the Hex Viewer allows you to view and edit the raw SWF bytes, and the Strings pane displays any embedded strings within ActionScript 3.0 content.
Run Office 2010 or Quicken 2012 for Windows on your Mac
Codeweavers has announced the launch of CrossOver XI, its commercial port of the open-source Wine application that allows Linux and Mac users to run Windows applications without having to install Windows itself.
CrossOver XI sees the two previously available separate editions of CrossOver, Games and Pro, incorporated into a single application, and includes numerous platform updates and improvements. It also promises support for a wider range of applications than before, including Microsoft Office 2010.
Who needs iPhone 4S LTE when you've got iOS 5.1?
Wow, it's like magic. Apple frequently uses that word or some extension, right? Calling iPad "magical". Well something magical happened to an iPhone 4S one of my family members owns. Upgrading to iOS 5.1, which Apple released today, changed that cute signal indicator from 3G to 4G. What an upgrade! All for free, too.
But wait! My speed test isn't any faster. It's still slow mo as ever. I conducted three speed tests in a row from my apartment. Ah, cough, cough -- .16Mbps, .94Mbps and .60Mps downstream. Woohoo! Gimme some of that 4G, AT&T!
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