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Archive for the ‘Software Reviews’ Category

Dock Gone: Say Goodbye to Your Dock

Written on July 07, 2009 by James Dempsey and 20 people have commented

When Apple introduced the Dock with OS X, people immediately either love it or hated it. Over time, we all got used to it. Among some of the usability complaints about the Dock is the fact that without hacking, you can’t simply get rid of it. Hiding the Dock will only get you so far – it still pops-up at inopportune times. If you’re frustrated by the inability to completely hide the Dock, there is a simple solution.

Fairmount: Convert Your DVD Collection

Written on June 30, 2009 by Bryan Schuetz and 22 people have commented

Have you ever wanted to copy or convert your personal collection of DVDs for backup or easy viewing on your Apple TV, only to be thwarted by CSS encryption? I feel your pain, and so do the good folks at Metakine. Lucky for us, Fairmount is here to help, and it’s free!
CSS, or Content Scramble [...]

Zengobi Curio Does Everything

Written on June 29, 2009 by Nick Santilli and 3 people have commented

The fear of freedom that Zengobi’s Curio offers users has caused me to write and rewrite this post many times over the past few months. I just haven’t known how best to embody its essence. So before I confuse (and frighten) myself more, I’m kicking this post off with my conclusion of Curio: It’s the [...]

App Review: Presenter Pro — Learn to Sell It Like Steve Jobs

Written on June 24, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 3 people have commented

Presenter Pro is a learning resource for professionals and interns alike, coaching you in the ways of effective presenting.
There are three heroes of presenting for me: Merlin Mann, with his deliciously witty and yet precise style; Lawrence Lessig, who takes a high-speed, word-by-word approach; and of course, Steve Jobs, who is alternately expressive, passionate and [...]

Nambu Solves Twitter Clutter

Written on June 23, 2009 by Bryan Schuetz and 20 people have commented

The great thing about Twitter is that there are a million different ways to both access and contribute to the content being shared there. The bad thing about Twitter is that there are a million different ways to both access and contribute to the content being shared there.
Nambu is a native OS X application for [...]

First Look: Spanning Tools Public Beta

Written on June 22, 2009 by Andrew Bednarz and 2 people have commented

I’ve never been as organized as I currently am with the combination of my MacBook Pro, iPhone and Google Calendar. Sure, before I crossed the line to Apple, I had tried to use Thunderbird (with Lightning’s Calendar plugin) to keep organized, syncing to my Windows Mobile phone, but it was always clunky and slow and [...]

iPhone Doc Editing: Documents to Go vs. QuickOffice Pro

Written on June 19, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 7 people have commented

A little while ago, QuickOffice ($19.99, iTunes link) brought Word document editing to the iPhone. This week, however, QuickOffice officially loses its corner on that market with the introduction of Documents to Go ($4.99, iTunes link) by Dataviz, a seasoned contender.
The iPhone may not be my device of choice when it comes to doing [...]

10 Father’s Day Apps for Your #1 Dad

Written on June 19, 2009 by Peter Venero and 10 people have commented

With Father’s Day just around the corner (Sunday, to be exact), we here at TheAppleBlog thought what better gift to get that special father in your life than a thoughtful yet handy iPhone or iPod touch application.
Feeling the cash crunch around this particular time? Not to worry, most of the applications mentioned here are free [...]

Beta Watch: Opera 10 Beta 1 Turbo

Written on June 18, 2009 by Charles Moore and 2 people have commented

Back in March, I reviewed the Opera Turbo Labs preview version of the Opera 10 alpha browser incorporating server-side optimization and compression technology that Opera claims can speed throughput over slow connections by reducing the amount of data needed to display Web pages by up to 80 percent — music to my ears, being stuck [...]

TweetDeck Hits the iPhone: Best Twitter Client Yet?

Written on June 18, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 16 people have commented

Part of me wishes people would stop making great Twitter clients for the iPhone so that I can just pick a horse and stick to it, but another, far larger part of me is thrilled to see TweetDeck (free, iTunes link) come to the App Store. While I stopped using the desktop client in favor [...]

My Living Desktop: Beautify Your Screen

Written on June 10, 2009 by James Dempsey and 7 people have commented

With My Living Desktop, adding a little tranquility to your Mac has never been so easy. With over 30 scenes, and a custom import option, your desktop will never be the same again.

App Review: GyPSii — Social Networking For Digital Nomads

Written on June 02, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 4 people have commented

GyPSii brings GPS-fueled social networking to the iPhone, but do we really need to sign up for yet another network?
Any effective social-network connoisseur will already have a bevy of accounts to frequently check. Aside from the regulars — Facebook, Twitter, and so on — there’s already a stack of networks I’ve tried and duly abandoned, [...]

App Review: Quick Voice Pro — Voice to Text Email for iPhone

Written on May 28, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 17 people have commented

By converting your voice messages into text e-mails, Quick Voice Pro could be a time-saving boon for busy iPhone owners.
Empowered by our emails, tweets, IM conversations, and blogs, we’ve become modern-day information conduits. We collect knowledge, then discharge it into the ether, spurting out a constant fountain of fact, fiction and entertainment.
Quick Voice Pro is [...]

NTFS for Mac OS X 7.0

Written on May 25, 2009 by Liam Cassidy and 16 people have commented

Today it’s the foundation for all modern pre-installed Windows systems. It replaced the aging FAT (File Allocation Table) file system with a leaner, meaner standard. It’s more secure, more flexible, and has more built-in gadgets than a Swiss Army Knife. It’s NTFS, of course — the New Technology File System.
I grew up with NTFS. I [...]

Enjoy Physics-Based Fun With Ragdoll Blaster for iPhone

Written on May 21, 2009 by Liam Cassidy and 2 people have commented

What happens when you bring together four engineers and one über-artist, all sharing a rich background in both game design and development experience on a “very popular 3D earth-rendering application,” lock them all in a studio in Boulder, Colo., and let them loose on the iPhone SDK?
Well, you get Backflip Studios. Pretty obvious really, if [...]

App Review: Face Fun – iPhone Face-Recognition Multiplied By Fun

Written on May 20, 2009 by Olly Farshi and 1 person has commented

If we were to liken the iPhone to a Greek hero — all muscle-bound and chiseled man-face — it would surely be Achilles, the guy with the wonky heel.
The iPhone is our modern-day electronic hero, savior of our interconnected lives. Yet it is a hero with one tiny flaw, a weakness that even its fondest [...]

TuneUp Update Brings New Features for Obsessive-Compulsive iTunes Users

Written on May 19, 2009 by Jenny Kortina and 4 people have commented

iTunes cleanup software TuneUp has been undergoing some exciting changes. Last week, TuneUp launched a new UI, and today the company is announcing the availability of the software at Apple Store retail locations in the U.S. Over 250 Apple Stores will now offer a retail-packaged version of TuneUp for $29.95.
I had a chance to review [...]

Save the World with Terminator Salvation on the iPhone

Written on May 13, 2009 by David Appleyard and 4 people have commented

As a fan of the Terminator trilogy, I’m fascinated to see how the new movie will fare. I was equally intrigued to take a look at the iPhone game released to accompany the fourth installment in the movie series. Gameloft announced the release last week, and Terminator Salvation is now available to download (iTunes link) [...]

Need for Speed Undercover Infiltrates the iPhone

Written on May 12, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 3 people have commented

As a general rule, racing games tend to leave me cold. My brother is the car buff and racing fan. I’ve enjoyed a few, like Gran Turismo, but I tend to give them a pass. Need for Speed Underground for the PS2 was another exception to the rule, mostly because of the RPG-type elements of [...]

Time Master: Above and Beyond Time Tracking

Written on May 12, 2009 by Tanner Morrison and No one has commented

Some of you may recall my article a few weeks back, Time Tracking Via the iPhone: 5 Apps Reviewed. In recent weeks, I have continued to experiment with a few different time tracking apps. That was until I came across Time Master, one of the most powerful time trackers I’ve ever used. At $9.99, Time [...]