Windows: After a few betas and release candidates, our favorite torrent client has finally made it. uTorrent 2.0 is now available for download with the same speed, ease of use and simple interface we’ve grown to love. The new version also features support for UDP tracker and a completely overhauled setup menu, among other new features.

iPhone: Want a Kindle but can’t afford one? Then try Stanza. It’s ebook reader and library for your iPhone, offering commercial titles, which can be bought through bookstores in the app, and free titles from providers like the Gutenberg project. This is a really good application. It’s well organized, easy to use and makes reading on the iPhone as comfortable as possible on such a small screen.

Mac: Imagine if you could access your iTunes collection from any Mac, anywhere in the world. MyTunesRSS allows you to do exactly this by accessing your iTunes folder over a local network or the internet. Initial setup involves setting up a server using the IP address of the computer that contains your music. Once connected, the user interface is like a stripped down version of iTunes showing you your tracks and categories.

It’s amazing how quickly Super Bowl Sunday seems to come around. This weekend sees the Colts take on the Saints in a game which could be one of the most exciting ever given the offensive nature of both teams. Super Bowl night is always special, but to make it even more enjoyable, why not grab a hold of some football apps for your iPhone? Here are some choices that will help make this Super Bowl Sunday the best ever, regardless of what happens in the match. Note that many of these apps are only available on the US App Store.

Experience the magic with Madden NFL 10

EA’s John Madden series is one of the longest running in the history of sports games. For seven dollars you can experience the thrills and spills of an NFL season on your iPhone. With great graphics and real teams, players and stadiums, this is the most realistic football game you’ll find. The in-depth gameplay includes almost 300 different plays, and an Action Time Control slo-mo mode to help you perfect the.

Get closer to the action with NFL 2010

Although it lacks the ability to trade players like you can do in Madden, Gameloft’s NFL 2010 is an altogether more polished game. The 3D graphics are slicker than those in Madden, and the fact that there are three difficulty levels means that it’s a lot tougher. It’s also pretty addictive, so make sure you keep NFL 2010 well away from you during the game, or you’ll end up missing the whole thing!

Order food with the Pizza Hut app

Pizza is a key ingredient in the recipe for a good Super Bowl Sunday. Don’t even think about getting up out of your chair to get one though. Just install the Pizza Hut app on your iPhone and you’ll be able to order food from your local Pizza Hut without even speaking to anyone! Choosing what to order is as simple as spinning a wheel and tapping the item you want.

Get some virtual booze down you with iBeer

Drinking beer on Super Bowl night is great fun. However, drinking a virtual beer from your iPhone will make you look cooler. So, grab hold of iBeer, tilt back your phone and watch as the succulent amber nectar froths and disappears slowly just like a real beer. There are five drinks to choose from, and you can refill your glass as many times as you like - all for just 99 cents. How many bars offer a promotion like that?

Learn your trivia with Super Bowl Winners

Now it’s time to bone up on your Super Bowl trivia. Install Super Bowl Winners, and you’ll have an at-a-glance reference to the outcome of every final, since Super Bowl I in 1967. Besides listing the winners, the app arms you with enough stats and data to be impressing your buddies all night with your “knowledge” of this great competition.

Scope out the teams with Pro Football Indianapolis/New Orleans Fan

The Colts and Saints versions of Pro Football’s series of fan apps for iPhone are perfect for brushing up on your knowledge of the finalists. They do cost two dollars a piece, but they provide so much information that they’re worth downloading even if you don’t support either team. You get all the latest news, player profiles, stadium plans, standings, plus detailed team histories.

Follow the action with Pro Football Live

Once all the hype is over and the game has started, you can follow all the action with Pro Football Live. The free app will provide live coverage of Super Bowl XLIV, offering end-zone to end-zone updates and impressive game time visuals. It’s packed with social networking elements too, so you can interact with other fans.

Listen live with ESPN Radio

Of course, you’ll almost certainly be watching the game on TV, but what happens if you need to go to the toilet or dash out for more popcorn? Well, just make sure you’ve got the ESPN Radio app installed and you won’t miss a second of the action. The station will be offering live commentary of the Colts v Saints, and the only costs three dollars then it’s yours forever.

Make some noise with Air Horn

The atmosphere is sure to be exciting in Miami come 7pm E.S.T. You can bring a taste of this excitement into to your home by installing Air Horn. Press down the horn and it will release a sound from your iPhone that’s just like the real thing. It’s guaranteed to provide endless amusement during the course of the game. Either that, or it will annoy the hell out of your buddies.

Make your point with 3D Foam Finger

If you forgot to buy the most crucial Super Bowl accessory of them all - the foam finger - then stop fretting because, naturally, there’s an app for that too. 3D Foam Finger places a giant hand on your screen which you can wave around to show your support. You can even change the color! It does cost 99 cents, but I guess you can’t put a price on fun.

Having your very own Karaoke nights doesn’t mean you have SingStar or spend lots of money on equipment. If you’ve got a Mac, you can turn it into a Karaoke machine complete with videos and all. Although there is a definite lack of decent karaoke apps on Macs, here is a selection of some of the better ones to give your vocal chords some exercise.

iStar Ok, it might sound a bit too much like SingStar but iStar is much more flexible than the latter. Why restrict yourself to SingStar discs when iStar can import almost anything including CD+G, KAR, AIFF, and MP3 files. So you’re not restricted to buying expensive songss like you are with SingStar. Because it can burn CD+G discs too, you can create your own karaoke videos to go along with songs.

SingSong Karaoke: Do you want a SingStar style app without the SingStar style price tag? SingSong Karaoke might not be as powerful as iStar but it is more fun by allowing you to measure your voice against the original artist of tracks. In the trial version of SingSong Karaoke, you can choose from Madonna, Eric Clapton and Gloria Gaynor but you’ll need the original MP3 file to sing them. Lyrics can be downloaded from the database.

kJams Although kJams (formerly known as kTunes) itself is free to download, you have to pay for a special burning plugin to burn CD-G discs. However, for those serious about karaoke, it may well be worth it. kJams is about as professional as it gets allowing you to rip, mix, play and burn CD+G format discs in a very easy to use iTunes style interface. kJams creates karaoke playlists, sorts tracks by name, artist, album etc.

TunePrompter While kJams can be a bit complicated for those just wanting a bit of fun, TunePrompter makes creating your own Karaoke videos an absolute cinch. Best of all, its absolutely free and a pleasure to use. Although it was originally designed for use with Griffin Technologies iKaraoke hardware, there’s absolutely nothing to stop you creating your videos, exporting them to QuickTime and then burning the results to disc.

KaraTunes is not strictly a karaoke application but it can very easily be adapted for karaoke sessions. KaraTunes puts all your lyrics data in one single database, letting you save, modify, and search lyrics with an easy-to-use interface. By supporting the LRC lyrics format, KaraTunes allows you to view lyrics synchronized with your songs. KaraTunes automatically displays the lyrics of the song being played while you sing.

Windows: Download managers may not be as necessary as they were in the modem era, but they’re undoubtedly a handy tool for download addicts. FlashGet proves to be one of the best download managers out there, with great features such as support for Torrent an eMule files, scheduled downloads, and clipboard and web browser monitoring, among others.

iPhone: If you’re a Photoshop addict then why not try out the new iPhone version of the app, Photoshop.com Mobile. It’s by no means a fully-featured editing suite, but what it does do is to allow you to quickly and easily tweak photos on the move, through an excellent interface based around touch gestures. This latest update adds support for video playback.

Mac: kJams (formerly known as kTunes) can Rip, Mix, Play and Burn CD+G format discs in a very easy to use iTunes style interface. kJams allows you to create playlists, sort tracks by name, artist, album etc and much more. If you’ve already ripped some MP3+G files, kJams allows you to import them along with standard formats such as QuickTime, KAR, MIDI and Vorbis.

Windows: Firefox releases are something we always look forward to. The all new Firefox 3.6 brings a handful of new features and enhancements that will improve your user experience and web browsing: support for full screen HTML5 videos, better Javascript performance, the latest Gecko engine and seamless integration with Personas.

iPhone: Exchanging contact details with someone is a notoriously annoying process. It normally involves rummaging around for business cards or frantically trying to remember your own phone number. Thanks to Bump these days could soon be behind us. This innovative app (which, incidentally was the billionth app downloaded from the App Store) allows you to exchange contact information simply by bumping into another iPhone.

Mac: Virtual DJ is a complete music mixing application for your desktop, allowing you to dump your vinyl turntables for a laptop. Looking like a classic DJ set-up, with a mixer and two decks, Virtual DJ will be instantly accessible to DJs and newcomers alike. There’s a BPM counter to help you judge transitions between tracks, and the visual wave display also helps to cue up your music so that you sound like a pro.

Windows: Some years ago ICQ used to be the world’s most famous IM client… until MSN Messenger arrived. Today ICQ is still a popular app that keeps on launching new releases. The latest version, ICQ 7, features a redesigned interface with tabs, works faster, is lighter on system resources and supports integration with social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

iPhone: Touch DJ is the first serious mixing app for the iPhone. It makes excellent use of the touchscreen to create a DJ-ing tool unlike any other. As there is only one stereo output on the iPhone, Touch DJ uses a novel way of beat-matching called visual mixing. This means the wave display flashes in time to the bass drum when you’re playing a track, and using this you can alter the pitch so two tracks have the same pitch.

Mac: While most video recording tools are limited to the major video sites such as YouTube or DailyMotion, iTube Grabber promises to capture almost any audio and/or video stream. iTube Grabber also instantly converts from standard FLV formats used by sites such as YouTube to several formats of your choosing such as iPod, iPhone, MP4, MPEG and even Matroska.

Touch DJ is a recently-approved MP3 mixing app for the iPhone. At $19.99 it’s certainly not cheap, but it’s one of the most impressive apps I’ve ever seen for Apple’s device.

Really convincing you that the iPhone is a powerful little computer, Touch DJ is almost as good as desktop mixing applications. Currently in version 1.0, it’s missing a BPM counter and the library has to be imported - it can’t access your iTunes library. Nevertheless, it makes incredible use of the minimal real estate on the iPhone. There’s a wealth of useful information on screen, but it doesn’t feel cluttered.

To get around the fact you can’t pre-listen to tracks while playing, Touch DJ uses innovative ‘visual mixing’ to allow syncing of your tracks. Bass sounds are highlighted on the moving waves, and the beat makes them flash. Using this you can - with some practice - beat match very well and do some impressive mixes. There are also effects, spins and the touch interface means manipulating tracks feels very tactile.

It’s not a magic DJ tool - you still need practice and it’s essential to know your tracks back to front to mix them well, but just the fact there is such a complete application on the iPhone is amazing. Read my review here, and check it out at the iTunes store.

Windows: Computers are gradually becoming a multimedia center where you can share and enjoy photos, music and video, and one of the best apps to manage this content is Boxee. This awesome media center has just launched its first public beta, including nice new features: revamped interface, new global menu, a bookmarklet to add videos and performance improvements.

iPhone: Echofon is a popular Firefox extension and OSX application, and this iPhone version will sync with both of them, while offering the same functionality and good design. The free version is still packed with features. You can have multiple accounts, tweet photos or videos, link to a bit.ly account so you can follow your stats, choose your image service and more.

Mac: One problem with creating podcasts is getting the sound levels right. Professional DJs have sound engineers to make sure everything runs smoothly for them but for those operating on their own, it can be a real pain. The Levelator is a simple way of adjusting sound levels across all of your broadcasts so that they are the same. It adjusts audio levels within your podcast or just about any other audio file you like.

Windows: If you’re one of those who prefer functionality over design, foobar2000 is the perfect audio player for you. Having just reached version 1.0, this player has the simplest interface ever, while offering interesting features such as gapless playback, advanced tagging functionality, additional tools to rip CDs and convert files and support for a dozen audio formats.

iPhone: Location-based apps are set to be the next big thing, and Gowalla is one of the front-runners in this exciting field.In essence, Gowalla uses your GPS location to show where you are, and what’s near you. The spots around you are all created by the Gowalla community, and you can also create spots yourself.

Mac: Geotagging is one of the more exciting recent developments in cataloging your photos. Thanks to the latitude and longitude data of your photos you can locate them precisely on a map. Maperture is a free nifty Aperture plugin which harnesses the geotagging features in Google Maps. It will automatically tag pictures that already have the necessary EXIF data.

I love Skype and use it all the time, and I bet lots of you do too. I have to confess that I use the standard laptop + webcam combo most often, but just the other day I was reminded of all the other ways there are of using the service. Did you know you can use Skype on your iPhone? PSP? Your TV?!

Despite the options available, most people use Skype on their home computer. The famous VoIP developers have all angles covered, from Windows to Mac and even Linux. There’s even a business version for people who want to use it professionally - and they should. Businesses that advertise online but have no Skype support drive me crazy!

Obviously there’s no use limiting such great technology to your home, which is why Skype is also available for iPhone, Windows Mobile and Symbian. Regardless of where you are and what cell phone you’re using, there’s really no need to miss out on the wonder-app.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you already knew about those Skype options - you are technology fans, after all - but what about Skype for your PSP? As long as your PSP is from the 2000 series, and you have a WiFi connection, headphones and a few other bits, you can use Skype as if you were at home. You’ll have to set up the service first, but once you do, you’ll have another way of calling family and friends for free.

I’ve saved the best until last - Skype on your TV. Ok,  it’s not possible right now, but it will be very soon. Just think - your boy/girlfriend’s handsome/pretty face in 48” HD, or long conversations with your grandmother while relaxing on the sofa - it’ll be almost as good as being there in person! Skype are slating this spring for the release of the Skype-enabled TVs and special webcams you’ll need, so watch this space!

The moment your friends and relatives learn you work for a software distribution company like Softonic, they immediately assume you know every single program that exists on Earth. And “How do I rip music from my iPod?” is one of those classic questions you’re constantly being asked, together with “how to make Windows start up faster” and “I think I have a virus, can you help me?”.

But talking about ripping music from your iPod, it’s easier than it may seem. All you need your iPod, the USB cable to connect it to your computer and Pod To PC. This app lets you manage the contents of your iPod, as well as transfer any selected tracks from the Apple device to a folder on your computer without any hassle.

After plugging in your iPod to the computer and launching Pod to PC, you’ll see the program’s main interface with a summary of the iPod’s features - pretty much like the iPod screen on iTunes. Click on the Music & Video Track Transfer tab, and you’ll see a list of all the contents of your iPod. The list can be sorted in several ways, and the program also includes direct access to the  playlists stored on the iPod and a built-in search tool to locate a given song more easily.

When you’ve selected all the songs you want to copy from the iPod to the computer, hit the Transfer button. The destination folder for those files - as well as the name they’ll be stored with on your hard drive - can be set up in Pod to PC’s configuration menu, in Edit > Options.

There’s a catch though: Pod to PC is not free, and the trial version only allows you to transfer 10 songs at a time. But $19.95 is a reasonable price to pay, if it allows you to recover all the music from your iPod.

One thing that’s always annoyed some people about the iTunes Store is that simply to preview a track, you have to download or open iTunes first to do so. However, Apple have finally seen sense on this issue and decided to allow users to preview tracks in their browsers whether or not they have iTunes installed or open.

You can try for yourself by going to the iTunes top 100 albums charts, selecting the album you’d like to preview and then pressing the play button.

The play button doesn’t appear until you hover your mouse cursor next to the track and you still get an annoying prompt to open it in iTunes first but at least you can dismiss it. If you decide that you want to buy a track or album, just click on the “View in iTunes” link on the right.

Previews are performed using QuickTime in 44.1 AAC 300+ kbits/second quality and limited to 30 seconds per track.

Could this be a sign that Apple are willing to move towards a more universally accessible and convenient web-based iTunes rather than a standalone application? It would certainly make sense to do so with all the different mobile devices now on the market which can all browse the net and are thus able to use a browser based iTunes service without having the actual application installed. Apple definitely have to be a little bit more innovative about how they take iTunes forward in the new decade especially in light of the success of other music apps such as Spotify.

We have iTunes, Spotify, Grooveshark… so what else does tunesBag have to offer? tunesBag is a new music storage and sharing service that enables you to upload all your music to ‘the cloud’ and access it from anywhere in various ways – as long as you have an Internet connection, that is.

Once you’ve created a user account on the tunesBag website you’re ready to start browsing playlists or uploading your own music.  You can create a new account (it’s free and takes less than one minute), or use your login credentials for Facebook, Twitter, Windows Live, MySpace, Yahoo! or Google. Playlists are either created and shared by other tunesBag users, or generated by the system itself with the latest additions, the top rated songs or the recently played tracks.

In order to upload your own music, you can either use a web-based uploading tool, a special desktop uploader (that must be downloaded and installed on your PC) or even send the songs via email to a personalized tunesBag address. Read the rest of this entry »

Windows: When you publish photos on the web you need to be aware of their size to ensure proper loading speed - without giving up on quality. RIOT Portable helps you find the perfect balance between size and quality, allowing you to resize photos while keeping an excellent image quality. And all of this, without even having to install it on your PC!

Mac: You may not know it, but iTunes is not the only tool with which you can manage the contents of your iPod. Yamipod is a great alternative to iTunes, offering you a clean interface and easy-to-use tools to browse the music library on your iPod, check playlists, remove duplicate files and copy MP3 and AAC to and from the iPod.

Mobile: The Holiday season is not the best time for diets, but if for any reason you need to count calories KCal is the app you’re looking for. This little handy tool lets you search online food databases to check the calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein and fiber of any particular product you’re about to eat. You can keep track of the calories you’ve taken in so far and also mark certain food as favorite.

Windows: When it comes to voice chats on the web, Skype is definitely the way to go. This awesome app - chosen by three Softonic editors as top of the decade - keeps on improving with every new version. The latest one, Skype 4.2 Beta, features call quality indicator, Google Chrome extension, enhanced support for the Windows 7 taskbar and the ability to transfer calls.

iPhone: If you’re growing tired of the default Clock feature on your iPhone and want a new way of waking up then check out Alarm Clock Free. This handy app turns your iPod into a stylish digital clock and alarm. The neon green-on-black clock skin bears a striking resemblance to Night Stand, but this is no bad thing, as it looks good and is easy to see from a distance.

Mac: There are few Mac applications that can compete with VLC Player when it comes to playing video but MPlayerOSX is a very decent attempt to do so. MPlayerOSX impresses by playing virtually any video file type. These include MPEG/VOB, AVI, Ogg/OGM, WMA/WMV, QT/MOV/MP4, RealMedia, Matroska, and many many more. It may be a little rough around the edges in places compared to VLC Player but it’s definitely worth a try.