Run your own license plate recognition system with OpenALPR
IP cameras have always been marketed as security tools, but you probably don’t have time to watch them, and they wouldn’t give you much information, anyway.
OpenALPR is an open source software library which changes all that, by transforming an ordinary camera into your own automatic license plate recognition system.
BlueStacks 2 brings multi-tasking of Android apps to Windows
Popular Android emulator BlueStacks has been updated to version 2.0 with some major new features.
Launch an app and it now opens in a browser-like tab, allowing users to play multiple apps simultaneously.
Speccy restores compatibility with Windows 10, supports latest Intel processors
Piriform has released Speccy 1.29, a new version of its free Windows system information tool. The headline new feature in version 1.29 -- also available as a standalone portable build -- is improved support for the latest generation of Intel processors.
Speccy 1.29 also strengthens hardware detection, restores compatibility with the latest build of Windows 10 and updates its hardware detection algorithm.
Signal Desktop first beta now available
Edward Snowden-endorsed developer Open Whisper Systems has announced the first public beta of Signal Desktop, a secure chat app for Chrome.
The new release enables users of its popular mobile app, Signal Private Messenger, to carry on a conversation across even more devices.
Shutterstock Tab brings beautiful images to every new Chrome tab
Stock photo vendor Shutterstock has released Shutterstock Tab, a free Chrome extension which displays a gorgeous image as a background for every new Chrome tab.
As a bonus, there’s also a clock, a 5-day weather forecast, and a tiny toolbar with links to recently visited sites.
Record desktop activity to tiny self-playing EXEs with Screen2SWF
Windows screen recorder Screen2SWF, once a $49 commercial product, is now available for free.
With so much freeware competition around already you might be thinking, "so what?", but wait: the program does have some interesting features which help it stand out from the crowd.
TeamViewer 11 comes with the promise of better network performance, redesigns toolbar
TeamViewer GmbH has released the final version of TeamViewer 11, its remote access tool for Windows, Linux and Mac computers. The new release, also available as a portable build for Windows users, launches with an emphasis on better performance through various networking optimizations.
Version 11 also unveils a redesigned toolbar and client interface, plus adds new options that include unattended access to Android devices as well as a SOS button for those businesses who want to provide it.
NirSoft releases MMCSnapInsView 1.0
NirSoft has released MMCSnapInsView, a free portable tool which provides details on all the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-ins installed on your PC.
Snap-ins are the Windows components behind many system administration tools -- Event Viewer, Device Manager, Task Scheduler and more -- although they’re also included with some third-party applications.
ImBatch 4.4.0 adds PDF processing support
High Motion Software has shipped ImBatch 4.4.0, a major update to its free-for-personal-use image batch processing tool.
New PDF input support means the program can now process multi-page PDFs just as easily as image files.
Share from PowerPoint to Facebook and Twitter with Microsoft's Social Share
Build a great presentation and PowerPoint gives you various ways to share it with the world: by email, as a OneDrive link, individual slides, an online presentation, and more.
Social Share is a free Office add-in which also enables PowerPoint to directly share presentations via Facebook and Twitter.
Monitor what’s running on your PC with apps tracker
Apps tracker is an open source tool that logs which programs are being run on your PC, and for how long.
The program is portable, so there are no intrusive drivers or Windows services to worry about. Just launch it, click the window close button and it minimizes to your system tray.
Automatically set your PC’s volume levels with SoundVolumeView
Changing your baseline volume level in Windows is easy -- click the speaker icon, spin the mouse wheel -- but if you want to adjust the volume of some other device then it quickly gets more complicated.
You might click the "Mixer" link, for instance. Or maybe the speaker icon. And then the levels tab. And then you adjust the various levels for that device, but what if you want to tweak something else…?
8 not-so-obvious reasons to try Ultra Virus Killer
If you’re running a great security suite, with an accurate "second opinion" scanner on hand, then installing a program called Ultra Virus Killer might not seem a high priority.
But wait: despite its name, UVK isn’t just about malware hunting. It has a pile of other PC maintenance and management tools to explore.
7-Zip gets a major update at last
After five years of stop-start development, 7-Zip has just released a new stable version 15.12.
It’s been a long wait, but if you’re still using the latest stable build -- 9.20 -- then there are plenty of reasons to upgrade.
Colortypist is a full-screen color viewer
Selecting the best colors is a key part of any graphic design project, yet most color pickers only display your chosen shades in tiny boxes.
Colortypist is a portable Windows freebie which allows you type color names or codes and displays them full-screen, in real time.
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