iPhone: If you’re a fan of console soccer games and have been waiting for a decent one to come to iPhone then get straight to the App Store because X2 Football 2009 is here. This excellent football game looks and plays a lot like Pro Evolution Soccer and FIFA. It contains loads of international teams, all with real players, and a control system that is as intuitive as a console.

Windows:  Being safe online requires a few different applications: anti-virus, firewall, email filter and more. But you can also have them all together in a single app with Norton 360. This comprehensive security suite protects youfrom any possible online threats, while keeping your system fully optimized and your data safe thanks to automatic backup copies.

Mac: Fed up of trying to bring all your video content together? Miro (formerly known as Democracy Player and now updated to version 2.0.5) is one of the best internet TV apps out there aggregating content from Hulu to YouTube. Miro means you don’t have to visit separate sites to keep-up with your favorite content.

Symbian: Whatever you think of the limited overs format, I defy you not to enjoy Cricket 20-20, one of the slickest mobile simulations of the sport I’ve ever seen. Cricket 20-20 allows you to play one-off limited overs matches and 20-20 tournaments. You can choose to play as any of the so-called ‘test playing’ international teams, and have total control over batting, bowling, and fielding.

Mac: The DivX Corporation was the pioneer of DivX and has always produced sleek and effective video players. DivX Web Player lets you watch DivX videos directly in your web browser without resorting to the standalone player. DivX Web Player allows you to play videos in full screen with navigation controls, or in a separate window so you can continue browsing other sites without losing the video.

Windows: If laziness is the only reason why don’t back up, here’s a way to avoid it: install PureSync and you’ll be able to create backup copies of your important data and sync content between different folders in a snap. You can manage multiple syncing tasks and schedule them to work automatically, according to a specific period of time.

Windows: are you tired of always listening to the same MP3 libraries and local radio stations? Then give Internet radio a try! RadioSure is a lightweight yet powerful online radio player that lets you listen to thousands of free online radio stations worldwide. Plus it lets you add your own radio stations and record streaming music to your hard drive in MP3 format.

BlackBerry: If you ever wished you were around when the industrial revolution kicked off, then Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon will give you the chance to revisit history. This BlackBerry version of the popular PC-based Railroad Tycoon game allows you to build your very own transportation empire. Your aim is to master supply and demand and use your tactical know-how to expand your rail network.

Mac: There aren’t half as many video conversion tools available for Mac as there are for Windows, so when one comes along which is quick, easy to use and most importantly, completely free, you take note. Evom ticks all of the above boxes and will even upload your conversions directly to YouTube. Everything is clearly presented, it handles all major formats and using Evom is a breeze.

My favorite tool for downloading YouTube clips on Mac is the DownloadHelper extension for Firefox. It’s convenient, quick and even converts videos into the format of your choice while it downloads. For a while however I’ve been plagued with a ”Conversion requires external application” error message when downloading certain clips.

The exact error read: “Conversion requires an external application that appears to be missing on your system. Configure conversion? > Cancel > OK.” When I selected OK, it opened the Preferences for DownloadHelper highlighting in red the location path for the selected converter option which is either FFMpeg or MEncoder.

I eventually found the start of the solution was to install the ffmpegX video/audio encoder for Mac. ffmpegX is basically a Mac OS X graphic user interface designed to operate more than 20 video and audio processing tools including ffmpeg which is a very fast video and audio encoder.

For the purposes of correcting the DownloadHelper error, you don’t actually need to use the ffmpegX interface. You do however need it to use it to install the mpeg2enc binary for ffmpegX. Once you’ve installed ffmpegX, you’ll be immediately taken to the main interface where you’ll be prompted to load 3 binaries. You only need to load one binary to fix DownloadHelper - the mpeg2enc binary - which can be found here.

You don’t have to worry about the mencoder or mplayer binaries but you do need to check the box next to mpeg2enc and locate the binaries that you’ve downloaded onto your hard drive. The resulting installation places the binaries in your Mac’s application support library. The final step is to re-open your DownloadHelper preferences (in Firefox’s Tools menu) and enter the path where the binaries are located. For most people, it will be “/Library/Application Support/ffmpegX”:

When the DownloadHelper logo animates next to the URL bar while you are using YouTube, you should now be able to download videos again with it. However, it hasn’t worked perfectly for me. For some reason, videos are being downloaded to a temporary file on my Mac rather than the directory I’ve configured downloaded files to be saved in DownloadHelper. In addition, the files are not being converted to QuickTime format they were previously. However, I can sort-out all of this by manually moving the files and converting them myself later. The important thing is that this work-around allows you to download YouTube clips again using DownloadHelper.

One of the best innovations in iMovie ‘09 has been the improved ability to upload directly to YouTube. Before, you had to export your clips to QuickTime format and then compress the video for web streaming but now all of this is done for you in one go. The only downside is that iMovie ‘09 doesn’t allow you to upload in HD format which is one feature Apple will hopefully add to the next release. For every other format, editing and sharing your video clips via iMovie has never been easier and you don’t even have to visit the YouTube site. Here’s a step by step guide about how to do so:

1.  Once you’ve completed your project, go to the “Share” option in the main menu bar and select “YouTube…”

2. Enter your account name and password. Below this you can add title, keywords and a description for your video.

3. Select the size to publish your video i.e. Mobile, Medium, Large or HD although as mentioned earlier, you can’t select HD.

4. Click “Next” and you’ll be given a warning to ensure that you’re not uploading copyrighted material. Click “Publish” and iMovie automatically starts uploading your project to YouTube.

Remember that YouTube clips can only be a maximum of 10 minutes. If you select the largest size to publish, expect to wait around 10 to 15 minutes while the whole process is completed for a 10 minute movie clip. When it’s done, iMovie issues you with the YouTube link where you’ll find the video although it may take another 5 minutes or so to appear. In addition, even when it does appear, you may receive a warning when watching it that it’s still not fully completed uploading and therefore the quality may be degraded until it is.

From start to finish then, you need between 20-30 minutes for a large size 10 minute clip to be fully uploaded in all its glory. Note that you’ll also notice a handy “Published to YouTube” message in the top left of your project window to let you know that you’ve definitely uploaded it. You can also remove the video from YouTube at any time by going back to the “Share” menu and selecting “Remove from YouTube…”.

Pocket PC: Browsing the Web on a mobile phone is traditionally such a painful process that many of us simply don’t bother. Thankfully things are beginning to change though, thanks to apps such as Firefox Mobile, or Fennec as it’s also known. The alpha version is now available to test drive, but you’ll need an HTC Touch Pro, because this is the only device that Fennec is currently compatible with.

Windows: Want to create a presentation with your photos but don’t even know where to start? Muvee Reveal is the app you need. This awesome editor lets you create attractive video presentations in a variety of formats, including your favorite images and short video clips. The program is dead easy to use and includes a bunch of themes and transition effects.

Mac: Ripping a DVD is the process of extracting all the video files from that disk so that you can make copies of it (for your own use of course). However, DVDs can contain hundreds of video, audio, subtitle and menu files that can also be highly encrypted making copying or ripping a real chore. RipIt has been made so that even a beginner to ripping will be able to make their own backups in just a few steps.

A while ago a friend of mine asked me how to extract the audio track from YouTube videos and, to be honest, I didn’t know how to reply. I had downloaded some videos from YouTube (there are a bunch of programs that can help you with that) but never considered the possibility of extracting audio from them. The question caught my attention and I started looking for the solution, which didn’t take me long. As Apple would say, if you want to extract audio from a YouTube video, there’s a app for that.

This app is called Free YouTube to MP3 Converter and lets you extract the audio track from any video on YouTube to MP3 (three different quality presets available) or WAV. It’s really simple to use: all you have to do is copy the URL of the video and paste it on the program’s interface. After a short analysis the program will display the video’s title and you’re good to go: click on the “Download” button and the video soundtrack will start downloading.

Free YouTube to MP3 Converter features a few configuration options with which you can change the output folder and the file’s name, as well as edit the file’s tags.

It’s not officially published on their website yet, but it seems that VLC media player 1.0 RC is about to be released. At least that’s what we can infer from the fact that the news has been leaked across the Internet and the file is already available to download from FileHippo.

While this is not the official VLC Release Candidate – if you understand “official” as coming from the developer’s website – we just couldn’t resist the temptation to download it and take a look. VLC Player has always been one of our favorite pieces of software and we were eager to see all the new features.

At first sight, as you can see, VLC 1.0 hasn’t changed that much. The program still keeps its characteristic plain interface that makes it really simple to use. But going into detail you’ll notice a slight change in the toolbar layout, with “Playback” now next to “Media”, and an important reorganization in menu layouts, to access certain tools more easily and also include some of VLC’s new utilities. Read the rest of this entry »

Windows: If you ever come across an online video you’d like to keep it with you, NetVideoHunter is the app you need. This handy Firefox extension lets you save embedded videos from websites like Youtube, Dailymotion and Metacafe among others, and save them right to your hard drive in FLV. It includes a built-in video player and can handle multiple downloads.

BlackBerry: If you’ve already got bored of your BlackBerry Storm and are wishing you’d bought an iPhone instead then fear not because iPhoneishStorm Theme will give it a passing resemblance to Apple’s legendary mobile device. The theme completely overhauls your home screen, adding a series of iPhone-style icons, as well as a dock at the bottom of the screen.

Mac: If you think that Apple¡s iChat is a bit limited, then you might find Chax gives it that little something extra. Chax is a collection of minor modifications and additions that extends iChat and makes using it far more pleasurable. The preferences alone add several new features to iChat, then there are all the other benefits, which include a unified contact list and growl notification.

Video tutorials have become a fashionable way to demo certain software apps. It’s also the best way to create tutorials and explain how to do specific tasks with your computer. Why is that? I can see two main reasons: first, they’re more comfortable to follow than a long, boring text; second, they’re also much easier to understand for people who are not particularly computer-skilled.

Producing high-quality video tutorials with zooms, transitions and video effects can be difficult and time-consuming. But if all you need to do is a short video explaining your uncle how to configure the anti-virus automatic updates or delete cookies in Firefox, BB Flashback Express is the perfect tool.

With BB Flashback Express you can easily record any on-screen activity and the export the video to AVI or Flash format, or upload it to YouTube – or other sites – right away. Don’t worry about settings: the whole configuration process is done via an intuitive step-by-step wizard that guides you through video, sound and other details.

BB Flashback Express has some nice features, such as mouse click highlights, support for recording animations and moving graphics and the special ability to hide shortcuts and use a plan wallpaper when you’re recording the desktop. It also supports recording from various sound sources, as well as your webcam. Once your video is recorded, you can use the program’s built-in player to check it out.

Unfortunately once your video is recorded you won’t be able to edit it: BB Flashback Express doesn’t include any editing tools, as they are offered as an exclusive feature of the paid versions of the program (BB Flashback Standard and Pro).

[Image from Random Jottings blog]

Ask.com to re-rebrand as Ask Jeeves (in the UK) [The Register]

Windows 7 application limit ‘opens door to Android’ [Computerworld]

Adobe Flash set to dominate your TV [BBC]

Posterous: microblogging by email [Posterous]

Follow us on Twitter @softonic_en [Twitter]

Is Sony planning to add its movie catalog to YouTube? [Ars Technica]

Rumour: Windows Mobile powered ZuneHD details ‘released’ [Engadget]

Amazon.com ‘to block’ Phorm ad network [BBC]

What celebrities were dead by your age [Dead At Your Age]

Twitter fight: Larry King versus Ashton Kutcher [TechCrunch]

Webby nominees announced [Webby Awards]

Windows: Panoramic photos are easier to create than you think, especially if you use The Panorama Factory. With this tool creating panoramas is a piece of cake: select your source images, adjust a few settings, stitch them together and you’re done. The program can also generate the necessary HTML code in case you want to showcase your creations.

Symbian UIQ: We’ve had bird flu, mad cow disease and elephantitis, and now another seemingly cute creature is set to bring terror and panic to the planet - the Ameobax. This mutant germ has escaped from a scientific lab and is spreading its way across Earth in the form of a series of cuddly blobs with big eyes. Don’t worry it’s not real, apart from in this excellent mobile game.

Mac: Being able to see the person you are communicating with makes such a difference to the quality of your conversation and reduces the feeling of distance of those that are far apart. The problem is that most IM clients only allow one video at a time. ooVoo however allows you to see up to six friends, family or colleagues at the same time, in very high video quality and all for free.

Windows: Is your music collection a real mess, but you can’t even think about fixing all those files by hand? Jaikoz can lend you a hand. This complete tag editor analyzes your music folders and downloads all the necessary data from online databases. Your music will be properly named, tagged and organized without effort!

Mac: The technology is now here to turn any Mac into a pretty decent broadcasting tool that can be used to produce, edit and publish videos on air. BoinxTV is designed to help you turn that dream into a reality with a seriously comprehensive and feature rich multimedia package that takes time getting used to, but is definitely worth the effort if you’re serious about being an amateur broadcaster.

Symbian UIQ: When the rain falls outside it often seems like there’s very little to do and amusing yourself can become a problem. Well, instead of sitting there reading reviews of mobile software why not install play some board games to pass the time in a fun way? Whether you’re alone or with company, the collection of titles in Astraware Boardgames will keep you amused for hours.

Recording action on your screen and saving it as a video tutorial is sometimes the best way to explain how to do something on the computer, specially with people who have difficulties in understanding technical jargon. The problem is that creating those screencasts can be quite time-consuming, particularly if you’re not familiar with the necessary tools. Well, that was up until now, because with ScreenCastle you can create simple screencasts in a couple of clicks.

This awesome online tool launches a Java-based video capturing utility that lets you record any activity on screen, whether it takes place on your browser or on some other application, and including both mouse gestures and keystrokes. What’s more, you can also set it to record sound from your microphone, which enables you to add a voice over to the screencast right away. Read the rest of this entry »