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Review: MobiTexter lets Android phone owners text from their PCs

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If you have a friend who communicates only by text—but your fingers fumble at phone keyboards—MobiTexter could be the answer. This service works with an app on your Android phone to let you text from the comfort of your computer browser.

Once you install the app on your Android phone, you register your Google account with it, then head over to your PC. From your browser, MobiTexter asks for access to your Google account, including your contacts. After you grant it permission, the site links you right to the main texting tools.

MobiTexter’s Web interface is basic, but serviceable. It automatically pulls in your most recent text message conversations, which are displayed in a list on the left side of the page. On the right, you have fields for entering new individual or group texts.

MobiTexter’s Web app is clean and uncluttered, as a text app should be.

Like rival DeskSMS, MobiTexter limits you to 160 characters per message, and displays incoming messages in small pop-up windows. And while it does display messages in conversation threads, it doesn’t automatically add incoming messages to those threads, which is unfortunate. It makes it harder to reply naturally when the message to which you’re replying doesn’t show up in the conversation view.

I also wish that MobiTexter supported MMS, so you could send pictures and videos. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. Still, MobiTexter is free and is a reliable way to send and receive basic texts on your computer.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor’s site, where you can use the latest version of this Web-based software after installing the Android app.

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From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2035652/review-mobitexter-lets-android-phone-owners-text-from-their-pcs.html#tk.rss_all

Computers

Review: Angry Birds for Pokki lets you play the Chrome version on your desktop

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While known best for its mobile versions, Angry Birds is also available for Windows, but with its 50MB+ installer, a lengthy installation process, and a full-screen game that’s hard even for medium-strength computers to haul, Angry Birds for Windows is not the best choice if you want to actually enjoy the game. Angry Birds for Pokki, however, is a delightful discovery, bringing the Angry Birds Chrome experience right to your desktop.

With one click, you can start playing dozens of levels of Angry Birds using half the RAM the full Windows version does, and with surprising responsiveness, even in full-screen mode. Since this is actually the Chrome version of Angry Birds, you need to sign in with your Google account in order to play most of the levels, and the available levels are mostly special holiday ones…but these include all the cool birds, all the mad piggies, and even the Mighty Eagle. The game is ad-supported, but you can get rid of the ads forever for $4.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page will download the software to your system. You will need the Pokki platform to run it.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: Pulse app for Pokki brings the news to your desktop

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News junkies, Pokki has you covered with its very own desktop version of Pulse. Pulse for Pokki is a mirror image of the Web app, with one significant difference: There’s no need to launch your browser. Once you sign in with your Pulse account, the app immediately syncs your sources and feeds. If you don’t have an account yet, you can easily create one from within the app or log in using Facebook.

With its beautiful simplicity, Pulse for Pokki makes it easy to stay in touch with all your favorite topics.

To start, add some favorite sources using the “Add Content” button. These can be easily divided into categories of your choosing or added to one big collection. When viewing your feeds, you get to choose from three different layout options, all containing both titles and images in different sizes. Unlike Pulse for Android and iOS, Pulse for Pokki shows one source at a time, letting you switch sources using the left menu. While reading an article, you can share it on Facebook or Twitter, play with different font sizes and styles, and choose between a light or dark theme.

There are a few downsides. The share-by-email option, marked by an envelope button, causes the app to freeze repeatedly. There’s no way to add an article to favorites in the Pokki version, although you can browse your favorites from the app—but if you have none, the app will direct you to add some using the nonexistent star icon. There’s also no convenient way to refresh the app. Despite these issues, Pulse for Pokki is a convenient and speedy way to stay in touch with your favorite blogs and online publications, thus staying connected at all times.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page will download the software to your system.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: Gmail Lite brings Gmail to your desktop via Pokki

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Gmail client Gmail Lite takes email out of your browser and brings it, with a twist, to your desktop. This Pokki-based app is incredibly lightweight.

Gmail Lite‘s clean interface makes it easy to use Gmail on your desktop, provided all the Gmail features you need at the moment are supported.

The best part of having Gmail on your desktop is the real-time notifications; these come in pop-up banners as well as little tray badges, and ensure no email goes unnoticed. Gmail Lite sits in your Windows tray, and with one click, gives you access to all your emails, including labels, starred and sent emails. You can easily perform various Gmail actions such as assigning labels, starring and unstarring, archiving, and, of course, reading and writing emails.

Gmail Lite is almost perfect, but it is missing several crucial features: You cannot attach files; there is no in-email spellchecking; you cannot choose which email address to send from in case you own several, and (the most painful) the search feature doesn’t work. Nevertheless, Gmail Lite is an excellent client for most Gmail features, and its multiple-user support really seals the deal.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page will download the software to your system.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: Wunderlist for Pokki brings the to-do list (not the bloat) to your PC

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Renowned to-do list application Wunderlist is available for multiple platforms, including both Web and mobile. While you can get Wunderlist for Windows, the installation file alone is over 20MB, and this is before you even begin the installation. With Wunderlist for Pokki, there is no installation—once you have app platform (and excellent Windows 8 launcher) Pokki installed, you can start using Wunderlist less than a minute after deciding you want to.

Wunderlist fans will recognize the elegant simplicity of the Pokki edition.

If you’re a Wunderlist user, the Pokki version of the app will look very familiar, with every feature you’ve come to expect from other versions of Wunderlist. After logging into your account, you can start adding scheduled tasks and to-do items, with or without a date, placing them in your own custom lists. Wunderlist for Pokki comes with several useful keyboard shortcuts for easy browsing which you can easily learn by pressing “H.” In fact, not only can you access your slick to-do list with one mouse click, you can easily access most of its features without having to click that mouse again.

As with other Pokki apps, Wunderlist comes with tray badge notifications for overdue tasks, which will keep reminding you of the things you haven’t done. With its customizable backgrounds, super-easy browsing and automatic mobile syncing, Wunderlist will make you want to get things done.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor’s site, where you can download the latest version of the software directly into your Pokki installation.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: Razer Game Booster shuts down processes that distract your PC from your game

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For pruning that forest of running tasks, turn to Iobit’s Razer Game Booster (free). Game Booster examines your operating environment and selectively shuts down services and programs not directly related to the game you’re playing.

Razer Game Booster helps you identify processes that could speed up your PC (and your game) if you closed them.

The result of shedding those unwanted processes is a noticeable increase in responsiveness and framerate performance, especially in laptop systems where every clock cycle counts. Sporting ready-to-use profiles for many popular titles, Game Booster attempts to streamline the process many gamers manually perform to get the best numbers from their favorite titles, but reduces the strip-down procedure to a single button push. New features add screenshot and gameplay video capture modes to the toolbox. Although there has been talk of transition to a paid service, Razer Game Booster remains free.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor’s site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: Connectify Hotspot turns your laptop into a hotspot

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Your phone isn’t the only piece of equipment able to share an internet connection with other devices. Windows has been able to do this for years; the problem is getting it accomplished quickly, easily and wirelessly, especially on the go with a laptop system. Connectify Hotspot (two editions, various pricing) provides the tools to do precisely this, acting as a software router between whatever internet connection you provide and the other computers connected to your laptop.

The free Lite version is robust enough for most personal use and includes a simple firewall program to boot. The Pro version lets you use your laptop as a repeater and permits sharing of 3g/4g connections as well as Ethernet and Wifi, plus other benefits outlined in the vendor’s comparison chart. Connectify Hotspot Pro isn’t cheap however, running anywhere from $30 for an annual license to $45 for a lifetime license.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor’s site, where you can download the desired edition of the software.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: CopyTrans makes iOS management easy.

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iTunes is a great tool for managing the content of your iPhone or iPad—if you can live with all of its limitations and restrictions. Like the fact that it stores your files where it wants to, and only where it wants to. And the fact that it’s a resource hog. Enter CopyTrans, a useful $20 utility that puts you more in control of managing your iOS content on your Windows PC.

CopyTrans installs as part of WindSolutions’s CopyTrans Suite, which includes several different applications for managing various parts of your iOS experience, such as CopyTrans Contacts and CopyTrans Photo. While it’s called a suite, you purchase the applications you want individually. All of the applications include a free demo version; you can try any of them and buy the ones you like. (Note that the free version of CopyTrans limits your transfers to 100 tracks.)

CopyTrans lets you browse the contents of your iOS device, sorting it by type, genre, artist, or album.

WindSolutions bills CopyTrans as an “Easy iPhone Backup” solution, and, indeed, this application does allow you to backup some of your iPhone (and iPod and iPad) content to your computer. But its focus is solely on music, videos, apps, and playlists. It does not backup contacts or photos; you’ll have to purchase a separate part of the CopyTrans Suite to accomplish that.

CopyTrans sports a basic but functional interface. It automatically detects a connected iOS device and catalogs its audio and video content. CopyTrans has two main features: Smart Backup and Manual Backup. A Smart Backup is completely automated, as it offers a one-click way to make sure all of the content on your iOS device is synced with your iTunes library. It does this quickly (transferring 233 tracks took just a few minutes) and without creating duplicate files. This can be a handy way to make sure the content you have added to your iPod or iPhone is saved in iTunes, too, whether that’s because your iTunes library was lost or you’re using another computer.

The Manual Backup option gives you more control over the results. You can use this feature to sync only selected contents to iTunes, or you backup the contents of your iOS device to another location on your computer. Doing this creates a location from which you can play back your tunes and videos with your favorite media player, which doesn’t have to be iTunes. While CopyTrans lists your content and lets you sort it by genres, artists, albums, or playlists, it’s not a media player, and doesn’t allow you to play back content itself.

CopyTrans lacks some of the features found in Mobiledit, a $25 application that could be considered its rival. But where Mobiledit allows you to peruse all of the contents of your mobile phone (including iPhones) using a Windows Explorer-like folder structure, CopyTrans focuses strictly on audio, video, and apps. And you wouldn’t really consider CopyTrans an iTunes rival, as it’s not a comprehensive tool for transferring content between your PC and iOS device. But CopyTrans is a worthy sidekick to iTunes, as it offers more control over your iOS content than Apple’s software delivers.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page will download the software to your system.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: CopyTrans TuneSwift automates iTunes chores

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Whether you’re upgrading computers or just doing a little digital housekeeping, you’ll need to move or backup your iTunes media library. You could do it manually, or you could save yourself plenty of headaches and hassle and use CopyTrans TuneSwift instead. This $15 application automates the process and handles all the heavy lifting for you.

CopyTrans TuneSwift installs as part of WindSolutions’s CopyTrans Suite, which includes several different applications for managing various parts of your iOS experience, such as CopyTrans Contacts and CopyTrans Photo. While it’s called a suite, you purchase the applications you want individually. All of the applications include a free demo version; you can try any of them and buy the ones you like. TuneSwift does not, however, offer any functionality in its free version. You can open it and view the interface, but you can’t use any of its features until you pay for a license.

TuneSwift displays its progress as it works, but this application isn’t exactly swift.

TuneSwift is simple to use, and its interface is straightforward. Launch the program, and it asks you whether you want to backup, restore, or transfer your iTunes Library. The options are as simple as they sound: backup creates a file that you can later use to restore iTunes should any problems arise, restore lets you fix problems (provided you already have a backup created), and transfer lets you move your iTunes installation to another location, such as a new computer or an external drive.

Once you make your selection, TuneSwift walks you through the entire process, as it helps you select locations for storing backups and transferring libraries. (Note that it will delete the contents of your iTunes library from its original location if you decide to transfer it, so creating a backup is always a good first step.)

Despite its name, TuneSwift isn’t exactly swift: it took a couple of hours to back up my iTunes library of more than 16,000 files. And it slowed my Windows 7 PC to a crawl in the process. But it worked exactly as advertised, both when I backed up my iTunes library and when I transferred it to an external drive.

TuneSwift may not be swift, but if you need to clean up or move your iTunes installation, its ease of use will help you overlook its flaws.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page will download the software to your system.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: Cryptocat chat client includes encryption

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Chatting online is easier than ever; chatting securely, not so much. The chat clients built into Facebook and Gmail emphasize ubiquity and ease of use over encryption. Cryptocat is one chat client that says you can have both security and convenience, and made quite a splash upon arrival.

CryptoCat’s simple aesthetic makes it easy to focus on the conversation.

Cryptocat demonstrates an important lesson about security software: Newer rarely means better. Following a glowing profile piece Wired published on Cryptocat and its developer, 21-year-old Nadim Kobeissi, security guru Bruce Schneier published a cautionary post in his blog letting readers know Cryptocat wasn’t as safe as it seemed. At the time, the problem was that Cryptocat handled security host-side, rather than locally. This has since been addressed, and Cryptocat now runs as a browser extension and handles encryption locally. Still, this is an important example to keep in mind: Encryption software, even when it’s open-source, can’t be considered secure until it’s been thoroughly audited and battle-tested (preferably for years).

While I wouldn’t use Cryptocat for mission-critical secret communications, it does add a modicum of security and privacy over the features built into Google and Facebook, and is just as easy to use. After installing a Chrome or Firefox extension, all you have to do is pick a nick (a handle) and a title for your chat room, and presto–you can chat with any other Cryptocat user who joins the room. The aesthetic is decidedly old-school 8-bit, but that only adds to Cryptocat’s charm. It’s a nice way to chat with friends, and can serve as a reminder that it’s important to use other forms of security, too.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor’s site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: SortMyBox tidies up messy Dropbox folders

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Once you start sharing Dropbox folders with other people, they quickly become unmanageably messy: You, Jane, and John share a folder, and files quickly start popping up. Nobody wants to delete anything, in case one of the  other users still needs those files. SortMyBox is a free online tool that might be able to help, but still requires some discipline to use.

With its simple rules and clear log, SortMyBox can help you see exactly which files went where.

To use SortMyBox, you have to go to its website and allow full, unconditional access to all of your Dropbox files. If that idea makes you uncomfortable, then we feel the same way. One reassuring fact is that SortMyBox is open source, so anyone is free to audit the code (as long as they can understand it). Once you let SortMyBox into your Dropbox, it will set up a SortMyBox folder at the root of Dropbox. You can then configure rules that will apply for any file that pops into that folder, much like you can do with RoboBasket and DropIt for your local machine. Once anyone places a file into that folder, it will be sorted accordingly. SortMyBox will only take files from that folder, but it can plant them anywhere else in your Dropbox.

To use SortMyBox effectively in a team setting, everyone would have to place new files into SortMyBox, which requires discipline, and (as with all such systems) the filters would have to be accurate. But if you satisfy these two simple requirements, SortMyBox might be able to help with your messy Dropbox.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor’s site, where you can use this Web-based software.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: SDelete deletes files securely from the command line

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Sometimes, you don’t want to carefully sort your files; you just want to delete them, and be sure they really are gone for good. For those times, the simplest, most bare-bones options is SDelete, a free command line utility directly from Microsoft’s Windows Sysinternals.

You can use this 81KB download to delete specific files, but you can also have it wipe all free space on your hard drive to securely remove all traces of old files. After running it with the -c (“Clean free space”) option, your drive should be pretty much impervious to attempts to recover deleted files (as long as they’re not in the Recycle Bin awaiting easy retrieval, of course). SDelete can work well as a scheduled task, periodically cleaning your drive. Because it is so minimal, you’ll have to set up that task manually, using the Task Scheduler built into Windows.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor’s site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: Asoftech Photo Recovery works fine, but so do its free competitors

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Asoftech Photo Recovery is an effective, but not perfect, program that recovers documents as well as photos and video from memory cards. It didn’t recover some of the tougher items in my tests, but neither does most of the competition. The demo will find files, but not recover them (like most recovery programs). For that, you will need the full version, which costs $30.

I tested Asoftech Photo Recovery by trying to recover some files erased from an SDHC card. Photos–no problem, documents–no problem, video from my Canon 230SX–a problem. The program didn’t find the separate, linked headers that this Canon camera writes to the card, that are required for the .mov files to play properly. Only one program I’ve tried recovered these headers–the free, command line-based PhotoRec (though they must still be reconstructed by hand with a hex/sector editor such as Hexedit).

Though it’s bright purple and not particularly sophisticated, the Asoftech Photo Recovery interface is easy to use, and you can limit the types of files you’re looking for, which speeds up the scan process. But with freebies such as PhotoRec and Recuva available that work as well or better, it’s hard to recommend any pay program until you reach the level of more powerful (and complex) programs like R-Studio Data Recovery and its ilk.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page will download the software to your system.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: Eraser removes files safely and permanently

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Secure deletion utility Eraser is free, comes with a beautiful GUI, can do just about anything when it comes to secure file wiping.

Eraser includes its own interface into the Task Scheduler, letting you set automated disk sweep schedules from within the application. You’re not limited to wiping free space, either: Eraser can be set to securely delete the contents of any folder on a set schedule. That sounds like a scary proposition for me (remember, there’s no way to recover files securely deleted), but for braver souls, the option is there. Also, if you’d like to have your recycle bin regularly and securely purged, Eraser can help you there.

Last but not least, Eraser integrates with the file context menu built into Windows, so that you can right-click any file or folder and get an Eraser submenu. From there, you can securely wipe the file or folder either now, or the next time your computer reboots. All in all, if you’re serious about wiping files on a regular basis, Eraser is a very solid tool.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page will download the software to your system.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: StartMenuPlus8 is just another utility to give Windows 8 a Start Menu

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With Microsoft ditching the venerable Start Menu with Windows 8, plenty of vendors are stepping in to fill the void. StartMenuPlus8 doesn’t exactly replicate the Windows Start Menu, but functionally it’s the equivalent.

StartMenuPlus8 sits on the desktop taskbar; however, it’s not where you’d normally expect it on the far left, but to the right as a program icon. Once you’re used to that, simply click it and you get the Start Menu functionality that you want. You can access your programs, folders, the control panel, etc. all in the fashion you’re used to. The program is also highly configurable, and has some features such as configurable task lists that might interest you.

As you can see, StartMenuPlus 8 isn’t an exact duplicate of the Windows Start Menu, but it has more options.

I find the effort behind StartMenuPlus8 worthy, but it’s not as handsome or as slick as Stardock’s Start8, which melds almost seamlessly with the operating system and replicates the Start Menu and W8 UI behavior to a tee (all while costing the same $5). Still, you might want to take a look if you want a Start Menu replacement with more options.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor’s site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

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Computers

Review: Museo Slab font conveys modernity without flightiness

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Designed by Jos Buivenga of Exljbris, OpenType (PostScript) font Museo Slab is the offspring of popular—and also free—Museo. As Museo Slab‘s name suggests, this is a slab serif typeface, but don’t let that fool you into thinking Museo Slab is purely a display font. Museo Slab is legible at tiny sizes, and includes more than 25,000 kerning pairs.

If you are looking for a modern edge, but want to retain legibility and clarity, Museo Slab is a good place to start. Museo Slab includes all upper and lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation, special characters, and diacritics. The italic face retains the stacked letter-press type lowercase a of the regular version (unlike many serif fonts, which switch to the handwritten a in the italic face), but converts bottom serifs to smooth curves in some of the lowercase letters (m, n, p, for example), giving a more delicate look.
Modern and powerful, yet legible, Museo Slab 500 works admirably for branding.
Museo Slab 500 and Museo Slab 500 Italics are both available for free for personal and commercial use. Other weights (Museo Slab 100, 100 Italic, 300, 300 Italic, 500, 500 Italic, 700, 700 Italic, 900, 900 Italic, 1000, and 1000 Italic) also are available to purchase. Various weights and faces of complementary Museo and Museo Sans also are available for free.

Note: The “Download Now” button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor’s site, where you can download Museo Slab 500 and Museo Slab 500 for free.
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Source: PCWorld