Windows 7 is scheduled to be launched in less than a month, and in anticipation of this important date, many developers have been working hard on new versions of their programs that take full advantage of all the enhancements included in Microsoft’s new operating system. One of them is WinZip, which announced the release of WinZip 14. The popular archiving and compression tool is now available for downloading as a pre-release beta version that lets you have a sneak peak at all its new features and check how well it works with Windows 7. And you know, I just couldn’t resist the temptation!

WinZip does look great on Windows 7. But it’s not only about visual appearance: it also takes advantage of all Windows 7 special features. You can, for example, access the most frequently used tasks in WinZip from the Jump lists in the Start menu, or the taskbar. Read the rest of this entry »

A few days ago Microsoft started rolling out a Technical Preview of Office Web Apps, the long-awaited online version of the new Office 2010 suite. However the event was so successful that invites quickly ran out and the Preview was closed. As one of the hundred users who were left out, I started looking for alternative ways to try Web Apps, until I finally stumbled upon this simple trick on Cecilia’s blog.

All you have to do is login to Live SkyDrive, the free online storage service provided by Microsoft. If you don’t have an account in SkyDrive, you can easily create one with your Live user (that is, your old Hotmail address or Messenger user). Once, you’re inside SkyDrive, you need to upload at least one Office document to any of your folders.

As soon as there’s an Office document in your SkyDrive account, you’ll see a link to join the Preview program to test Web apps. Click the link, accept the terms and you’re in!

Note that Office Web Apps are still under development and have some serious limitations. To begin with, online Word is not available yet. Also, you’ll need to convert old Office files to the newest format (that is, PPT to PPTX, for example), though this seems to be done automatically by the suite itself, while keeping a backup copy of the old document. Read the rest of this entry »

Mac: Sharing your music with others is a great way to get into new music and also reveal what awesome/terrible taste you have. Simplify Media (now updated to version 2.5) is designed to help you do this with the minimum of fuss over WiFi allowing you to share music via iTunes. In effect, it means that you can enjoy and share songs with your friends wherever they are as long as you’re connected to the web.

Windows: If you’re tired of local TV, try tuning in to some foreign channels instead! With TVU Player 2.4.7.2 you can watch satellite and cable TV over the Internet on your own computer, without any special hardware. Content is very varied - from soap operas to important sport competitions worldwide - and includes channels from many different countries.

iPhone: Convertbot aims to make the process of working with different scales of measurement much easier. The app handles all manner of conversions including currency, area, volume, speed, and temperature. There are 21 different categories of units available, and you can select or deselect those that you’d like to appear in the interface using the settings menu.

Windows: After a few years without major changes, Avast has launched a new version of its renowned antivirus. The all new Avast 5 Beta features a complete interface overhaul - much better than the previous design! - and interesting new features such as the so called Behavior mode. Despite being still a Beta, it’s a good chance to take a sneak look at the future Avast.

iPhone: For many people, Wikipedia is now the first point of reference for information on a particular subject. Now you can carry the huge online encyclopedia in your pocket thanks to this official iPhone client, Wikipedia Mobile. The free app provides an optimized version of the site designed to make it very simple and fast to access on an iPhone.

Mac:  Stealing the crown from WinZip, the previously undisputed king of file compression apps, RAR (now updated to version 3.90) is a must-have in any modern-day Mac toolkit. The application not only includes support for extracting virtually any kind of file compression format, it also boasts a no-nonsense approach to reducing file sizes.

This week I had the chance to test Immunet Protect, a cloud-based antivirus tool that protects your system thanks to the collaborative work of its thousands of users worldwide. Innovative as it sounds, this is actually not the first cloud security app I’ve seen. I tested Panda Cloud Antivirus a while a go, so I thought it may be a good idea to compare these two programs and see whether the cloud trend has any future in security software.

As a starter, Panda Cloud is not compatible with other antivirus tools you may have already installed on your system (in my case, AVG 8.5) but this is in fact a typical feature of Panda software – they can’t even coexist with other Panda apps. Immunet Protect, for its part, doesn’t mind working with other antivirus software, though you should generally avoid having two antivirus apps running at the same time.

Both programs have a ‘Summary’ window that shows system’s current status and other data. But there are some differences: Panda Cloud Antivirus has a nicer interface, with visually appealing icons and large buttons that make it easier to use. Immunet Protect, on the contrary, seems to focus more on numbers and statistics, and its toolbar menu is a bit overcrowded with buttons a links. Just after installation, Immunet performs a first system scan, while Panda doesn’t lift a finger. Read the rest of this entry »

iPhone: 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.

Mac: If you’ve been left unimpressed by the look and speed of your browser then Safari is Apple’s iconic answer and as you’d expect from them, it’s a delight to use and easy on the eye. The latest version sees some exciting introductions such as Top Pages to instantly see your most visited pages, tabs on top for easier management and Cover Flow to flip through your bookmarked sites iTunes style.

Windows: uTorrent is one of the most popular BitTorrent clients, and it keeps on improving and adding new features. The latest version, uTorrent 2.0 Beta , is still under development, but you can already take a look at all the new goodies: support for UDP trackers, enhanced CPU power usage, new setup dialog with built-in speed test and new transfer cap options.

Stop the presses, it’s a Twitter service that doesn’t use the prefix “twit”! That already makes FileSocial pretty cool even before you try it. FileSocial is a file sharing service for Twitter, that allows you to share any file up to 50mb.

Using it is simple, you have to allow it access to your Twitter account, then just choose your file, upload it, write a message, and it will be tweeted from your account. You can choose not to tweet directly, and just create a link to your upload. As FileSocial accepts any format, including compressed files, you can share whatever you like, which is excellent. According to their site, there is no expiry date on your uploads, although you can of course delete whatever you upload.

The service is quite new and still in a beta testing phase, but works well. You can see how many visits your link has got, although not how many downloads. Hopefully they will release a desktop application so you don’t need to always go through their website. Otherwise, FileSocial looks like a really promising Twitter service.

There are an increasing number of online synchronization, sharing and backup solutions appearing on the market. This is mainly due to our increasingly mobile access-data-on-demand-anywhere lifestyles, with iPhones and Web 2.0 apps being a particularly big driver. One of the latest efforts at satisfying these needs is NomaDesk which has been around for Windows for some time now but has just been released for Mac. I took a look at it to see what it can offer.

NomaDesk bills itself as “The easiest and most secure way to share, synchronize and backup critical files; wherever you are, even off-line.” Such a service does come at a price however - usually $15 per month for teams and $50 a year for individuals although if your data is important, it’s a relatively small price worth paying. Fortunately you can have a free 30 day trial of NomaDesk before parting with any cash.

NomaDesk is available in two separate versions — a “Team Fileserver” for people who want to share and collaborate on documents, and a “Personal Fileserver” for those who use different computers but want to make sure information is synchronized.

Naturally, all files stored on NomaDesk’s servers are encrypted and password protected. Getting them there is also made as easy as possible. For example, you can e-mail them directly to the server and allowing others to access them is as easy as sending a link. In case the worst happens, there’s a handy “Theftguard,” which enables you to remove data from your hard drive in a flash if your computer gets stolen. NomaDesk can remotely remove data at your request but the information is still securely saved on NomaDesk’s fileservers. The program also uses a “Delta-sync” feature which synchronizes only those parts of a file which have changed, saving you time and bandwidth. Meanwhile, if you’ve got an iPhone, you can access and modify your files extremely easily via a NomaDesk dashboard widget.

There are some major drawbacks I found to NomaDesk however. One is the lengthy setup process which requires a complete restart after installation and is really annoying if you’ve got lots of applications open. You also have to send a confirmation e-mail after the restart which all adds time onto the account setup process. Worse than this however are the frequent hang-ups and crashes when NomaDesk logs-in. Twice it hung my entire system forcing me to make a complete restart leaving me less than impressed.

However, these problems can probably be attributed to the fact that NomaDesk for Mac is still in Beta stage. When it is working properly, NomaDesk is extremely simple and easy to use. The cost of using NomaDesk may put off some but if your data is valuable, it could be a price worth paying once it’s more stable.

Those canny Swedes have been at it again. Following on from the launch of music service Spotify, Voddler is a new service where the focus is the screen rather than music. Voddler promises to offer a service similar to Spotify except with films and TV shows on demand.

Co-founder Mathias Hjelmstedt told OnSoftware:

“Since 2005, we’ve been working on developing the streaming technology that’s allowed us to conceive this project. It will offer both TV shows and films on demand and eventually will be extended beyond home computing to become part of your living room viewing experience.”

The service is initially being rolled-out in Scandinavia first before being launched in UK and then worldwide and will work on Windows, Mac and Linux. Voddler has been in beta stage since 1st July and the development blog claims that 16,000 people signed-up for it on the first day.  Once you’ve entered your name and e-mail address however, you’ll have to be one of the lucky ones selected for beta testing. OnSoftware has been granted an exclusive pass so watch this space for one of the first looks at this exciting app.

Asked if Voddler uses the same streaming software common to sites such as YouTube, Hjelmstedt says, “Not at all. If YouTube were to use our patented steaming technology, my guess is that they could save up to 90% of their streaming costs.” A bold statement indeed. Asked also if Voddler is anything like Hulu, Hjelmstedt simply replied, “No, it’s much better.”

But will paid-up users receive a better service than those only using the ad supported version? Hjelmstedt says, “It depends on the film. It’s quite possible that a newly released film at the cinema will be available the same day on Voddler to all users. However, some film studios only want paid-up users to have access to new content so it really depends.”

Eventually, Hjelmstedt sees Voddler as an essential home entertainment system. “Eventually there will be a Voddler box that plugs into your TV so that you won’t even need a computer.” Asked about the price of the premium service, he says, “Cheap. A little bit more expensive than Spotify though because it’s films and not music.”

Scanning the blogosphere, it doesn’t seem that many people have been invited at this early stage although Morten Skogly offers us an exciting sneak preview with high-resolution screenshots.

Apart from the screenshots on Skogly’s blog, the only other shot we have of the service is from the Swedish ISP that Voddler is currently being promoted with.

Watch this space for a full review of Voddler on OnSoftware soon!

The Web is full of handy software applications that can contribute to make your life a bit easier. Whatever your need is, it’ll probably take you only a few minutes of Googling to find a suitable program for it. But if you look further, you’ll see there are other applications the aim of which is not precisely to be useful and efficient. In fact, there are a quite a few of these useless programs that seem to have been created for no reason at all - or at least, for no sane reason. Here are some examples I found on the Web, though I’m sure you’ll know many more.

Alien Communicator - Believe or not, ‘the truth is out there’. And if you want to find it, you better start contacting aliens right now. When you run this tool, aliens will be able to communicate telepathically with you and leave messages by controlling the number generation capabilities of your PC.

Voice Lie Detector - If you think your partner or your kids are not completely sincere, you need a lie detector. This program uses an old algorithm to detect voice stress, an unmistakable signal that will enable you to discover if you’re being lied to.

Parrot Trainer - So you have a parrot, but can’t be bothered to train it by yourself? Let your PC do the hard work for you! This app repeats the same sound over and over again until your parrot learns them by heart. According to the developer, you can also use to nag your kids, husband, wife… What’s more, it comes with four sound samples recorded by the developer himself. Read the rest of this entry »

Crane wars is an almost ready for release game from Flashbang studios, the quirky team behind Paper Moon, Off Road Velociraptor and Minotaur China Shop. You can play a beta 3 version of this browser game here. You control a crane at a construction site, and have to build tower blocks, while watching out for attacks from a neighbouring crane company. You can throw objects at the competition’s buildings, and they can do the same! The game is timed - your budget is constantly being drained, and when it runs out the game is over.

The controls are simple, but building your skyscrapers can be a bit fiddly, especially when someone’s throwing trucks at your creation! Like all of the games on Blurst, Crane Wars is compelling mainly because it’s a cool and ridiculous idea. It was originally scheduled for release today on the Blurst site, so if you don’t fancy playing the beta and want to wait, it shouldn’t be long… As with all Blurst games, you’ll need the Unity browser plug-in.

Pocket PC: Generally speaking, tennis sims for mobile devices are pretty lame. Fiddly controls and jerky animation are often the main culprits in the failings of these titles. Not so in VT Pocket Tennis though, which proves to be one the most enjoyable games of its kind on the Pocket PC. It has a wonderfully realistic feel to it, with well-rendered 3D players, authentic shadow effects and motion blur.

Mac: If you’ve gone crazy for the iPhone then why not bring the iPhone look to your Mac? Spiffy Icon Pack provides over 50 iPhone style icons that give your Mac a unique flavor. All of the icons are beautifully illustrated featuring most major Mac program icons including Adobe Dreamweaver, Excel, iChat, iDVD, iTunes and Skype to name just a few.

Windows: After a short invite-only beta stage, Trillian has now launched as an open beta, which means you can freely download this powerful, sleek multi-platform IM client and give it a try. The new Trillian Astra Beta 4.0.0.109 features support for a dozen IM protocols and has an extensive settings menu to fully customize it.

Windows: After a few months in alpha stage, Opera 10 has finally reached the beta milestone in its development. The new Opera 10 Beta web browser has a 40% faster engine and flawless support for Web standards, as well as a customizable speed dial, inline spell-check, automated crash reporting, and the so called Opera Turbo for fast browsing on slow connections.

Mac: If you don’t trust Keychain on the Mac, then take a look at the newly updated 1Password. This tiny but powerful application allows you to store and manage multiple identities and passwords for use in all sorts of programs, websites or browsers. 1Password works with most major browsers and includes an extension to quickly access your credentials while you’re surfing the net.

iPhone: Personally, whenever I go to a theme park I’m usually the one who volunteers to stay at the bottom and look after the bags. I did manage to pluck up the courage to install Rollercoaster Rush on my iPhone though. The aim of the game is to get your carriage from the start of the track to the finish without derailing it. Your only means of doing this is by tapping the right side of the iPhone to accelerate and the left side to brake.

Google entered the browsing wars with Google Chrome for Windows just under a year ago and according to a study by Net Applications, it’s already become the fourth biggest browser out there with almost 2% of the market. Mac fans can now try Google Chrome for themselves although it’s worth noting that this is strictly a developer release meaning some features (such as bookmarking and Flash movies) are not working yet.

This release only works on Intel Macs and is prone to bugs and instability but it’s enough to give you a good idea as to what the finished product will look and feel like. The first thing I noticed about Google Chrome is that it’s unbelievably lightweight. While Firefox was consuming anything from 20-30% of my Mac’s CPU, Chrome barely registered on the scale occasionally touching 3%.

For anyone who’s plagued with Firefox memory leaks and crashes, this alone is surely going to be a compelling reason to give Chrome a go. As you’d expect, Google Chrome also features a type of tabbed browsing which improves on Firefox’s slightly cramped user experience.

Google Chrome is also extremely quick. Surfing the Softonic site, page loads took less then a second and all images were loaded very quickly. YouTube in particular loaded with lightening speed but unfortunately, because the Flash player is disabled in this developer release, it wasn’t possible to test watching videos.

However, sometimes, it simply produced nothing when trying to find the YouTube homepage and maybe this is one of the bugs Google are working on. Overall however, the handling of sites using JavaScript in particular was mightily impressive. I also like the way that when you open Chrome, it displays windows of your most visited sites so you can click on them to go straight to them.

If only there were more extensions for Google Chrome, I’d seriously consider converting when the final build is released. Before that happens though, it will need to get much more popular. Based on this first proof, Safari and Firefox may well have a real fight on their hands.

Windows: If you live abroad and make lots of long distance calls maybe you should consider start using VoIP technology. The most popular VoIP app, Skype, has just hit version 4.1 Beta and offers some really interesting new features: built-in screen sharing, ability to send contacts, birthday reminder, and improvements in audio and video quality.

Mac: Are you a Windows Winamp fan? MPLAY Multimedia Player is very similar as an extremely simple media player that makes it as easy as possible to mix and match your favourite music. MPLAY was originally designed as an easy-to-use MP3 player but has grown to become an MP3 mixer, audio/midi player, video player and even an image viewer. You can even add things onto it such as an MP3 to AIFF converter and more.

Symbian: If you’ve been piling on the pounds and want to get those thighs in shape for bikini season then look no further than your Nokia phone for help. Install Nokia Step Counter on your device and you’ll be able to see how many calories you’re shedding with every step you take. The app works by utilizing the accelerometer in your handset, recording the number of steps you make, time in motion, distance traveled, and calories expended.