Mobispine allows you to blog by reaching the apps menu, finding the “Options” tab and clicking on the “New Blog” selection. This will instantly create a blog for you on the Mobispine network.

Who’s Likely to Find This App Useful?

Mobispine is pretty much for anyone who has a cell phone and simply wants to keep in touch with or publish any sort of news of any variety. It’s basically like housing a newspaper all on your phone. There are news feeds on just about any subject you can fathom.

Mobispine Guide

If you think Mobispine if for you and you’d like to run it directly onto your phone, all you have to do is access this link with your mobile device and your phone type is detected and if supported, the correct version corresponding to your phone will be downloaded.

If you’d like to set up the software, select a region and then a country. Next, Mobispine will provide you with a full set of links customized to your region. For example, if I told it I was in Canada, it would show me the news feeds from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. With over 200,000 sources in 50 different countries with access to over 30 languages, you’ll be able to find unlimited amounts of news from all over the world.

Check out Mobispine for the iPhone:

Within the menu you’ll find options for Tools, Mashups, New Blog Post and Tell A Friend links. In the Tools area you can change your account, check your data usage, review the settings for the client software and check for software updates.

What do you think about Mobispine? What are the other RSS readers you use on your mobile phone? Tell us all about it in the comments.

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This lightweight antivirus application caters to your system without having to take up half of your PC resources. Panda Cloud Antivirus is based on cloud computing, and is only partially installed on your computer and keeps core files on a dedicated server on the Internet.

The graphical user interface is very easy on the eyes and is actually one of the top interfaces I’ve found for free antivirus software’s.

Features and Reliability

One of the key features of this antivirus software is that you don’t have to manually update it. Complicated configurations and having to download new signature files is pretty much a thing of the past this Panda Cloud Antivirus. However, this doesn’t mean you remain unprotected when disconnected from the network: this antivirus app features a local cache that keeps the program up and running, continuously working at 100%.

When I ran a quick scan, the scan itself lagged a little at first, however it quickly picked up after 30% of the computer had been scanned. For the most part, the speed of Panda Cloud Antivirus is dependent on how much free memory you have, how many apps are installed, folders, and a variation of stored data. You should expect a regular scan to take an average of 40-70 minutes to complete.

Once the program has been installed, if you ever wish to open up the task manager to check on the effects of Panda Cloud on your system you’ll be able to find it listed in your task manager under PSANHost and PSUNMain. One thing that I can say is that during the scanning there were very few apps that were noticeably acting sluggish, even the Internet connection and PC speed where up to par.

This new program should take up around 50 MB on the hard drive and eats around 17 MB of RAM when in use.

Conclusion

All in all, besides lightness as its main attribute, Panda Cloud Antivirus is quite a simple antivirus tool that can’t be scheduled to run automatic scans. It would also be beneficial for this antivirus software to include effective filters for web, email, or support to detect any spyware. However, as a software that’s very much still in beta, it’s what you’d expect.

Panda Cloud Antivirus was designed fo Windows XP and Windows Vista, with Windows 7 support in the near future.

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Below you will find 7 Firefox Add-on’s that will help you jump-start your online business guiding it into the right direction.

Domain Lookup

One of the first things you have to take into account when starting an online business is finding the right domain name. This can sometimes become quite a difficult task, this where Domain Lookup steps into place. With this add-on if you’re searching the web and find a phrase or two that might make a great domain name if properly thought out, then you can search for generic domains that match those key words. This extension also checks for the validity of the specific domains by cross-checking the information with many of the webs top domain registrars.

Take a quick look at the Domain Look-up informative tutorial on how to search for domains here.

Firebux

Firebux lets you automatically and securely download transactions from your banks and credit cards. You can also automatically categorize them, create budgets for each and every category and receive real-time alerts on your mobile phone for free. In order to use Firebux, you need to have an account on Buxfer. Key features include: Automatically download transactions, track your expenses, track who owes you money, send money through Amazon Payments and more.

LinkedIn Companion

The thing about starting an online business is, well, you need recognition. Depending on what your business is focused on (web design, service of goods, IT solutions and more) than you can resort to LinkedIn Companion. This add-on allows you to open doors and opportunities for networking and the facilitation of finding projects through LinkedIn’s connection to over 25 million experienced professionals.

Gmail Manager

An important and vital part of your online business revolves around how connected you are with your prospect clients and future customers. The most widely used choice of contact on the web is the use of email. Countless amounts of businesses utilize Gmail as their sole provider for contacting needs, especially since you can easily register a customized Gmail account with your specific domain name through your web host.

Gmail Manager allows you to manage multiple Gmail accounts all at the same time in the same browser window. You’ll instantly receive updates on new messages and replies with the use of a handy drop-down menu embedded into your toolbar.

Find on Xing

Xing is a global networking site for professionals that houses over 7 million online professionals in over 200 countries. Xing is very much like LinkedIn, however with a more diversified goal in global outreach to businesses and individuals. The Firefox extension Find on Xing allows you to specifically highlight a professionals name and find a profile or review of them on the Xing database. This will allow you to network, create social stature, and expand the available opportunities you’re able to take part in with your online business.

MoneyQuake

Have you ever wanted to virtually keep track of  how much your exact earnings of advertisement services on your website are? Well with MoneyQuake you can pretty much do just that. This extension displays real time earning statistics from several of the most popular advertisement systems such as Google Adsense, Bidvertizer, SoftwareProfi, PeakClick and more. This will allow you to easily create and manage your websites budget on a daily basis.

Business.com

Business.com is one of the most sought out online resources that help you search for vital information to expand the presence of your online entrepreneurial ventures. This add-on will allow you to effortlessly search through this sites composite archive of hundreds of articles and thousands of resources that will help you establish your business, gain experience, and brainstorm with new found ideas.

Which one of these Firefox extensions were you able to find helpful? Please MakeUseOf the comment box below and share with us your valuable thoughts and insight.

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No matter the job scape or your skill level, you will surely be able to find the following free applications useful and effective for the development and creation of websites with your Mac computer. Without further ado, here are 6 Excellent Mac Apps for Web and Graphic Design.

Linotype Explorer

Linotype Explorer is an incredible font management app created for Mac users. You can use this app to install and “test” out new fonts on your PC. The selection of appealing fonts for your site is vital; this art of text is called Typography.

FotoFlexer

FotoFlexer claims to be “The world’s most advanced online image editor”. It offers completely free access to numerous features such as photo effects, graphics, shapes, morphing, and the creation of collages. You can also integrate and share your art with social sites like MySpace, Flickr, Facebook, and more. This can be an important app if the site you are creating is going to use apps.

Colorate

With Colorate you can create harmonized color palettes along with color schemes. Generate these palettes for images, photographs and more.

Simple CSS

With Simple CSS you can create Cascading Style Sheets from scratch or edit them right from the comfort of your desktop. Update styles on multiple pages all at once and reduce the data transfer usage on your page for faster loads.

Blender

Blender, open source software that allows you to create 3D animation with interactive playback leaves you with the option to optimize the style of your site with a few graphics. You can create animations with shades of colors, glossy features, soft shadows, and advanced rendering features.

JAlbum

JAlbum is a very useful app that allows you to create stylish photo galleries to publish on the web. All you have to do is simply drag selected folders into a pane where any images contained within the folder will automatically be arranged into a photo gallery. You can add several different themes and templates to enhance the appearance of your gallery, later then gain the HTML code and publish the complete gallery onto the web.

Conclusion

When designing why not take comfort with the facilitation of apps for your Mac that will allow you to boost your productivity and create better looking graphics or sites? The above 6 applications empower you with features that can meet your designing needs and make designing fun.

Which of the above apps have you used or plan to? Please MakeUseOf the comment box below and share your thoughts with us!

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All of these icons have been designed according to the style used in the original iPhone icons, which turns them into really eye-catching designs

Here are 15 absolutely free iPhone icon sets for the personalization of your iPhone courtesy of MakeUseOf!

Enjoy!

Comic iPhone Icons

Social Bookmark Icons

SummerBoard

Hand Draw iPhone Icons

Aquaticus Socia

Some beautiful iPhone icons

ultra colors

IPhoneStyle Dock

Radiance

Aluminium and White

Chalkwork

Web 2 Icons

Sleek Icons

Toolbar Icons

Spiffy Icon Pack

Installing Your iPhone Icons

First off, you have to start off with the basics. iPhone icons arrive in two sizes, one of which you see most; the home screen icons are generally 59×59 pixels, whereas some icons can also be seen in 29×29 for list size; an example of the list sized icons can be seen within the iPhone’s settings area.

Now, how do you replace the icons on your iPhone? The icons for each application on the home screen can be found in the bundles, which you can easily find on your iPhone’s /Applications folder. For example, for changing the Weather app icon, you have to place your new icon (that should be named as icon.png) in /Applications/Weather.app/. You will have to overwrite the existing icon.png file with the new one.

And there you have it! That’s how you can install an icon on your iPhone.

Customizing your iPhone can be a fun way to put technology to an inspiring use. Let your iPhone reflect whatever you’d like it to and which icon set did you like the best? Feel free to leave us a comment below to share your valuable thoughts. If you know about some other cool free iPhone icon sets please share them as well.

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We believe we’ve found a completely free file compressor extractor app (alternative to WinZip) called ZipItFree.

Why ZipItFree?

Besides the fact that (as it states it in its name) this app is free there are no annoying and irritating registrations or fees to pay. As soon as you unzip a file you have full control of functions through a modern and stylish graphical user interface while also being able to enjoy the benefits of its speed as well.

Decompressing files is even easier (as it should be) then zipping them up. All you have to do is open your ZipItFree file and locate the extraction button and click it. Your extraction should instantly begin.

The method of file compression this app uses is many times referred to as the “Black Hole” by developers because of its extremely high compression ratios and mega-fast decompression.

Another reason this desktop app (compatible with Windows versions NT-Vista) can be placed at the top of fellow similar software is its ability to utilize ZipV2 encryption algorithms to archive contents within a zipped file. This has been classified as over 100 times more secure than AES encryption algorithms (used by several un-zipping apps).

Our Journey Ends

ZipItFree handles several different formats with ease and allows you to leave comments on your archives describing what that specific archive contains so that you don’t have to unzip every file every single time you may be searching for something.

A few things that could be fixed on this fairly new app would be the support of additional formats, for now ZipItFree can support a wide variation of files; however, it still does not support all formats. The only other con I came across is that although the encryption method is substantially strong, it still may not be enough for everyone. It would be a much stronger app if it were able to somehow allow app users to choose stronger and better encryption methods totally dependent on their needs.

Here are a few files that ZipItFree easily supports: ACE, ARC, BH, BZip, CAB, GZIP, JAR, LHA, RAR, TAR, UUE, XXE, ZIP, and Zoo.

What file compressor/extractor do you use? Let us know in comments.

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No one will say you can’t be a hardcore gamer on your home PC with this app. Your computer will be able to run applications much faster, open up your browser window and surf the net a lot quicker, and play games without the headache of having your PC freeze on you.

Why Tune for Gaming?

As time progresses and new games reel out of the big software development companies labs they often arrive to your PC with the need of more system resources, thus requiring you to turn off most of the applications running in your OS’s background so that they can run smoothly.

What Can I Squeeze out of Game Booster?

Game Booster will help in not only the optimization of your PC for gaming, but it will also aid in running any CPU abusing application you decide to launch. Although this app frees your computer from staggered applications and slothy PC tools it uses very little processing power. This enables you to run it whenever you’d like without compromising vast amounts of CPU usage.

This app works much like the Windows Task manager but the difference is it makes every task twice as easy and allows you to free up space with the click of a few buttons.

When you switch to gaming mode Game Booster administers a quick analysis of unnecessary background apps that may be running and quickly gives you the option to immediately stop them with the click of a button.

If you’re running the Windows Vista Aero theme Game Booster will place it inactive and switch you to a faster theme since this one takes up a lot of CPU.

The Choice

I must admit, at first I was pretty skeptical about this app, however, after using it and viewing live successful results I have to say that I will be an avid user of this app for quite some time. An area of which Game Booster could possibly improve upon would be by offering the option to turn off common apps that are run all the time such as iTunes. At the moment there is no way to edit the list of processes Games Booster will choose to suspend, however in the near future and further revisions we hope to find this feature available.

My suggestion would be to try a few other apps to free RAM on your PC, and then make a decision as to which app will free up space on your PC exclusively.

Also keep in mind that using Game Booster with the hope that your PC starts playing games that it wouldn’t even launch before is not a smart approach. I’d rather recommend using it on games that load fine but lag a bit. You might also want to check out a previously mentioned tool called CanYouRunIt that tells you if your computer can run a particular game.

Are you familiar with any other windows program that can be used to optimize Windows PC for gaming? Please share them with us in comments.

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This is where this quick, easy, and simple desktop blogging tool comes into place. Why not simplify the way you manage your blog and post without having to open your WordPress, Drupal, or any such blogging platform dashboard?

Lets Blog With BlogDesk

BlogDesk allows you to quickly write and publish posts onto your blog with the click and stroke of a few keys. You’ll be able to manage multiple blogs and create infinite amounts of posts with this tool.

With the support of WordPress, MovableType, Drupal, Serendipity, and others, it allows space for the diverse use of not only multiple blogs, but multiple blogs on several different blogging platforms.

Here’s How:

The first thing you’ll have to do once you’ve downloaded your desktop client is scroll to the menu bar up top, select ‘file’, and click on ‘manage blogs’.

Next you have to choose to create a new blog, enter the blog’s name, its address (www) and then you have to select which blogging platform your blog’s operating on.

Now BlogDesk will ask you for the blogs entry point and port. You will leave this just as it is. Now click ‘next’ and enter your login details.

You will arrive at a screen that will ask you for a blog ID, if you don’t want to enter one, just choose Get Blog-ID. Now click ‘next’ and you’ll be prompted to retrieve all of your blogs categories. Once your categories have been added, click ‘finish’, and you’re done adding a new blog.

Adding a Post

Adding a post if fairly simple. You just need to select your blog, the posts corresponding category, and if you would like to allow commenting, pings, or change the date.

Once your post is complete click on the green arrow pointing upwards and your post will instantly be published onto your blog.

Now, all you have to do is check the published post to make sure that it’s visible to all of your site’s visitors.

A nice simple fast publishing tool for bloggers.  Do you know of anything similar?   Let us know in the comments.

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This app tells your computer to execute tasks specified by you at the time you’d like them to be run. You can turn off, restart, hibernate, suspend, logout, and run other applications on your computer with the click of a few buttons.

How do We do This?

First you’ll have to download the app here.

Now after the app has been successfully installed, you can begin to play around and find out what tasks you’d like to schedule. You’ll need to begin by opening up Marxio Timer and coming to a screen similar to the following:

Within this screen you’ll need to decide whether you want to select a few of the tasks already pre-selected or you can choose the Run Program option and browse through the apps you’d like to run at a selected time.

For the sake of this tutorial I have chosen to run a Display text task. This can come in handy at times when you want to remember important tasks or memos.

Once I’ve entered the selected text I will scroll down and enter the time I’d like the task to run.

Now I can either choose additional tasks to go along with the reminder such as turning off the computer or I can press the Activate button to finalize the task.

As soon as you activate your task a small window will pop-up showing you the allotted time you have before your task is executed. You can easily hide this window and quickly re-open it to check your remaining time as well.

And finally, once your timer has reached its end, the task will be carried out automatically. You won’t need to do anything else but sit back and let Marxio Timer do the rest.

To Conclude:

Marxio Timer also lets you save user profiles for future tasks, and it allows you to create a desktop shortcut so that you’re able to quick-start your tasks without having to fully open up Marxio. Tasks can be virtually scheduled to any time you choose after/before/every few minutes, after your PC is on idle time, once, or on any other pre-selected time periods.

Another quick feature this app comes with is the capturing of screenshots. You can set the timer to capture any area of your screen at whatever time you decide as you manipulate the timer to benefit you. This is a nifty feature that can come in handy for avid users.

Do you know of any other similar apps that can be used to manipulate the PC in this way? If so, let us know about them in the comments.

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With this app you can eliminate all the steps of having to load the Twitter site and enter your login credentials every time you want to visit your account or send someone a message.

Avoid the Extra Clicks with Twittastic

Twittastic (compatible with Windows platforms Win98 and up) drastically increases the improvement of your Twitter experience by allowing you to update your personal profile, follow your friends or sites, and send messages all from the comfort of your desktop.

Twittastic features a clear-cut and simple GUI (graphical user interface) and arrives at your desktop with a few interesting tools. For example, you can take a screenshot and instantly share it on Twitter by uploading the file to Twitpic (through Twittastic) and pasting the corresponding link in the text field. This same process can be applied to photos, webcam shots, and any other sort of file on your PC.

Another nifty feature that comes with Twittastic is the ability to flip your text completely upside-down. This feature isn’t absolutely useful, but it can be a bit interesting for your followers at times.

You can also insert small graphics into your tweets as well.

After the image has been uploaded:

The End of our Fan(Twit)tastic Journey

Twittastic lets you control your Twitter account directly from your desktop through the use of various features allowing you to save time and blend creativity with your Tweets as well. Not only are you able to send messages and update your account on your desktop, but you’re also able to share unlimited amounts of files with other users.

A quick drawback I came across was that Twittastic only supports one account; hopefully in the future the developers of this app will allow the use of multiple accounts at once.

Do you use Twittastic?  If so, what do you like / dislike about it?

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That’s where doPDF shifts into place. This free PDF converter not only rescues you from having a hole drilled into your pocket where loose change starts to seep out but it also saves you a whole lot of productivity time as well.

Here’s How to Get Started

doPDF is extremely simple to use so if you don’t have a lot of patience with 3^rd party applications fear no more because you’ll have a smooth time with this software.

First you need to download this app. Once you’ve installed the application just open up a document in Microsoft Word, NotePad, WordPad or pretty much any other text editing software. I’m going to use Microsoft Word for the sake of this tutorial.

Next you have to go to File-> Print-> doPDF.

Now you just have to click OK and a small window will pop-up asking you where you’d like to save your new PDF document, once you’ve chosen your preferred location then click OK once again.

And you’re finished, it’s as easy as that! With these few steps you’ve just created a high quality PDF document.

Before the conversion:

After the conversion:

Conclusion:

The entire process from begining to end shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to complete. It is possible that as doPDF converts a document the file can suffer from minor unusually formatted images or texts, however for the most part doPDF is pretty accurate.

At the moment there’s no option to print web pages (for example: news articles or pages off a forum) that automatically divide into separate pages, thus you’ll most likely end up with lines that divide the article or page throughout your PDF document, if you decide to print directly from the web.

Another quick issue I discovered was the size of the file doPDF creates. The size of the document can be a bit large and sometimes daunting depending on how many images a page may contain, though if you can manage to use WinZip or a free similar app to ZIP the file up, it shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Please feel free to MakeUseOf the comment box below and leave us your thoughts.  What similar apps do you use?

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How Is This Possible?

With Muziic, a free online music player that allows you to access millions of songs free of charge, you won’t get into trouble for it because unlike Napster was at one point, it’s completely legal. This app enables you to search through a wide variety of songs in a music catalog that showcases all types of genres all the way from classical hits to hip-hop or R&B.

You’re also able to view small clips that are associated with the song of your choice, courtesy of YouTube.

It might seem a lot to take in at first once you open the user-interface, however you’ll come to find out that it’s pretty easy to search and listen to tracks once you get the hang of it.

Here’s How

The first thing you have to do is open up Muziic, then once you see the following window pop-up you’ll know that everything is in place.

As soon as the complete Muziic player window opens then you can scroll through the list of genres all the way to the left side of your window. You can open up a genre and view songs that have been previously uploaded by other users by simply clicking on its name.

Once you’ve browsed through the list and found songs you want to listen to, just click on the plus sign next to the song and it will be instantly added to your playlist.

Now in order to play the songs in your play list all you have to do is double click on the song and it will begin to load and play on the music player at the top left hand corner.

The End of Our Small Journey

Muziic player also allows you to configure the quality of your songs depending on your Internet connection speed by clicking on the Settings tab and choosing between Standard and HQ Stereo (HQ Stereo requires faster speeds).

There were a few things I wasn’t too fond of.  It doesn’t have the option to listen to radio stations like you can with Last.fm or Spotify. I also found no easy way to manage the playlist or quickly browse through it as well.

However, once you take all of these things into consideration and the fact that it’s a free music player you’ll see past a few of the drawbacks (since you can’t have everything) and you can begin to enjoy free music with Muziic.

Please feel free to MakeUseOf our comment box below and leave us a thought!

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So this is when you stumble upon an add-on that conveys the following message to you: “This add-on is for older versions of Firefox”.

Fix Incompatible Add-ons

Since your sights are set on using Firefox extensions that keep telling you they’re incompatible with the version you have, and downgrading a version or two isn’t an option, now you can discover a nifty tool called Nightly Tester Tools.

Ironically this is a Firefox add-on that will help you make all other incompatible extensions compatible with the browser version you’re running.

What’s Next

The first step you need to take is to download Nightly Tester Tools here, if you haven’t already.

Next if you still have the extension that was disabled when you upgraded to a newer version of Firefox in your add-ons menu, then you will go to Tools/Add-ons and right-click on your disabled extension, then choose Override Compatibility.

Now it will ask you to confirm your selection by clicking Force Install.

The last step involves restarting Firefox to have your add-on fully working.

Bonus Features

Here you thought it was the end of this add-ons story but actually there are a few other features that this extension allows you to take full advantage of.

With Nightly Tester Tools you’re also able to take screenshots of any webpage and save them in JPEG format. You can easily restore tabs from a previous session if it just so happens that your PC froze and you didn’t have time to properly close your browser window.

Feel free to test all other Nightly Tester Tools features and let us know how you like them in a comment below!

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Photobucket Uploader is a Firefox extension that lets you store your images on Photobucket as soon as you’ve downloaded and installed this add-on (if you don’t have a Photobucket account yet you can snatch one up here).

With the following steps I’m going to show you how to select an image and instantly upload it to your PB account. You’ll be able to access your images from within your browser while being able to organize them to your preferences as well.

How do I use PB Uploader?

Step 1

Once your add-on has been installed you can access your Photobucket account by going to the Tools section of your browser window. Then scroll down and click on the camera icon that says “Uploader Login” next to it.

Step 2

Next a small login screen will pop-up requiring you to login to your PB account.

Step 3

As soon as you have logged in, a small grey bar will slide down on the top right of your browser letting you know that everything is a-go with your PB account.

Step 4

Right-click on any image and select the “Upload to Photobucket” option to instantly save the image(s) to your PB album.

Step 5

Once you’ve selected the image you should immediately see another grey bar slide down confirming that your image has been successfully uploaded.

Step 6

Now you can view your image in your PB album or organize it!

If you choose to view the image in your album, this is what it will look like:

Who Benefit’s from Using Photobucket Uploader?

The great thing about this app is that there is absolutely no limitation to who can and for what you can use PB Uploader for. Common users range from everyday bloggers to graphic designers and anyone else who wants to use this app.

Not everyone is aware of how easy it is to upload pictures to their PB account, but this add-on takes that easiness and further simplifies the uploading of any image you can right-click on. This not only can save you time, but it can increase your productivity as well.

Compatibility:

Photobucket Uploader is compatible with Win2000/XP/Vista and all versions of Firefox from 1.5-3.0.

If you’ve found this app to be interesting and useful then you can download it here.

If you use this extension, have you found it to be useful and reliable? Or perhaps you use a similar better app? Let us know about it in the comments!

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Annoyed and overwhelmed by tabs one can say that it would be easier to have some sort of “mediator” between you and your Firefox tabs so that you don’t go mad and close them altogether. How about the addont to preview Firefox tabs as thumbnails. This is where Firefox Showcase steps in, an application I came across which helps you do just that.

Managing your Tabs

This new Firefox tab preview addon compatible with all Firefox versions 1.5-3.2a1 pre allows you to quickly summon a window that shows you your tabs in thumbnail sizes so that you’re able to scroll through the tabs you need. This way you won’t need to second guess on a tab before opening it. You’ll just need to take one look at the tab thumbnail and know exactly which one you need. This saves you both browsing time and hair, as you won’t have to tear it out due to Firefox frustrations.

How it all Works

1. First you’ll need to download Firefox Showcase.

2. Once you’ve downloaded, installed, and restarted your browser you can click on the tools scroll down menu in your browser window, find add-ons, and select the options button in Firefox Showcase.

3. Now you’re ready to customize the way your tab manager works and views. You can tell the browser that you want the single showcase window to display your tabs in 200 pixel thumbnails or even smaller/larger sizes. You can also choose where you want your showcase window to display and how you’d like it to show you your tabs. These are just a few of the options and features that Firefox Showcase offers.

4. As soon as you’ve configured your new add-on you can find the button in the top right side of your browser window with the arrow pointing down, click on this button and instantly view all of your tabs in thumbnails.

Larger thumbnails:

Quick Overview

Once you’ve installed Firefox Showcase all you have to do is click on the thumbnail of the tab you want, and it’ll open up automatically. You can also right click on thumbnails to perform other tasks such as bookmark a page or send a page as a link.

You’re also able to select multiple thumbnails by left clicking and holding down the Control key [Ctrl]. The scroll ball on your mouse can be used to scroll through thumbnails. Use Control-F in Showcase to use the find bar and quickly search through thumbnails with keywords.

If you have any comments or suggestions regarding this feature please feel free to comment below! Any other great Firefox tab preview addons? Please share them in comments!

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Children are prone to learning inappropriate things whether in school or the outside world, however you have the control over what they may learn in your home. Explore the following two preventative Firefox applications to add Internet parental control to your favorite browser. Choose the one that can aid you and your family the best.

FoxFilter

This first app is a powerful filter that blocks access to inappropriate content because of its pre-defined set of rules that are instantly triggered when an individual visits a site that may contain explicit groups of keywords (i.e. Adult Content, 18+, erotic, etc…)

Configuration & Options

As you’ll note the resemblance in its name, FoxFilter is a Firefox add-on that’s compatible with Mac, Linux and Windows operating systems. In order to modify your version of FoxFilter and edit whitelist/blacklist preferences you’ll need to login to your account settings.

You can do this by double-clicking the FoxFilter icon at the bottom of your Firefox browser. If a URL is whitelisted it’s because it has been previously blocked and believed to be a legitimate site by you. Whitelisting is easy, all you have to do is access your account settings.

Suricate

This Firefox add-on collaborates with a global group of sites that have been flagged by previous Suricate users. Not only does it use this list to deny access to users on your PC, but it also blocks the sites you select as well.

How it Works

The way it works is if you come across a site that Suricate didn’t initially block then you can click the site banning button at the top left hand corner of your browser and it will immediately block the site, add it to your blacklist and notify the Suricate central site that the URL you’ve just banned isn’t appropriate for children in general.

With these options you have the control to customize Suricate by banning the sites you want and allowing whichever ones you prefer.

This is a shot of me configuring Suricate:

FoxFilter vs. Suricate

When it comes to deciding which of these two applications best suit your parental control needs you should take into account the simplicity and basic uses of the apps. FoxFilter is easy to use, however it is a bit more difficult to configure when compared to Suricate due to the extra settings.

Although in order to access your account all you need to do is click on the FoxFilter button, some detest the idea of having to travel to another site, while with Suricate you can just configure it by selecting the options button in the add-ons window.

In regards to effectiveness, both applications are fast as they work to immediately blacklist or ban a URL and instantly make it seem as though it’s been wiped off the face of the Internet.

Thus with this being said, FoxFilter and Suricate are both similar applications and either one will aid you on your quest to successful parental control.

Which app do you use to restrict your child’s access to the internet? Please let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

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I have come across a free multiple desktop application that can possibly help you not only organize yourself, but also jump-start your efficiency. It works both on Windows Vista and XP. We will let you decide how this app could benefit you the most.

WindowsPager

WindowsPager allows for up to four virtual desktops that can effectively increase the efficiency of your work and save time. You can manage several windows and applications that are always visual on your Windows task bar.

How It Works

All you have to do is launch WindowsPager from the zip file once you’ve downloaded it , click on the exe file and run it, you will instantly have four accessible and separate desktops to work from. This app is compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista and comes with no uninstaller as it is run from a zip file.

You can switch from one desktop to the other with the click of the mouse, and if you should ever want to, quitting out of the program is extremely easy as well (by right clicking).

WindowsPager immediately multiplies your screen space by four and it hardly uses up any memory on your PC because it is run from the zip file (it almost acts as though it is a third party application). If you utilize newer versions of FireFox then you won’t need to scan WindowsPager for viruses as the browser does this for you, however if you’re using another browser or wish to scan for more viruses then you can use your personal anti-virus software installed on your PC to scan the system once you’ve reached the zip file.

This is what WindowsPager looks like in the task bar once an app window has been opened on all four desktops (i.e. Browser, Image Viewer, Media Player, & more):

Here’s a video that will help you to visualize WindowsPager in action:

Conclusion & Compatibility

The few things this application lacks are a settings menu so that the user is able to quickly change settings and functionality, and a task bar icon so that the user can quickly summon the power of multiple desktops when needed.

If you like the idea of dividing your work space on your desktop so you’d have a crisper and cleaner view of the tasks you’re undertaking, then WindowsPager can possibly aid you.You ma also check out other virtual desktop managers that were profile on MakeUseOf earlier.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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We’ve previously covered other remote support programs such as Crossloop, PCHelpware, Schnitz Remote Lite and Teamviewer but today we are going to look at remote assisstance software – Instant Housecall.

Instant Housecall allows you to connect to a friend or relative’s computer. All they need to know is your unique Instant Housecall specialist ID.

Functionality

This desktop version of Instant Housecall is the Free Edition. It can be installed and configured on computers that operate on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. Once you’ve downloaded Instant Housecall and configured it, you will be granted temporary access to another computer’s remote system once the user on the other end allows you to obtain it.

The user seeking assistance by you will have to visit FreeRemoteSupport.com and enter your specialist ID which you chose at the time you downloaded and registered your version.

The Grass is Greener on the Other Side

When you have access, you will be able to move the mouse on the user’s desktop, open/close apps, remove/add programs, and more as if you were actually sitting in front of their computer. The specialist ID is very important and it will also act as your username when logging into the system. The user who needs you to come to the rescue will utilize this ID to enter it on the developer’s site (listed above) and download a small client that will allow you to instantly gain access to their PC and fix/add whatever need be.

Immediately after the user has requested your help and installed the simple client on their PC, a small Instant Housecall window will pop-up on your desktop and let you know that your assistance is needed. You will not only be able to manipulate their desktop, but you will also have full control of file sharing/transferring between your computer and theirs. You will also find the use of a built-in chat application helpful as well.

The Conclusion of Your Housecall

Instant Housecall is extremely easy to use because you won’t find any trouble bypassing through the users firewall once they’ve granted you access.  You will have full control of their computer as if it were your own, and you will be able to chat with them sending them instructions or confirmations with this app’s simple chat system. This is a professional app that lets you share your PC skills with friends, relatives, and others. If you decide to use this app then you can further read of its functionality with the simple user guide.

If you decide to give it a go, let us know in the comments what you think about it and how it compares to its rivals such as Crossloop.

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With this said, there are easier ways to blog then others.  These Firefox add-ons empower you with quick and easy ways to blog.

Zemanta

With Zemanta you’re able to receive countless suggestions that correlate to your blog topic or content posted in your blog post. These suggestions can aid you in writing your post while you’re inside your blogging dashboard.

This extension lets you add your Flickr account and link any image you’d like as well by logging into the Zemanta web user interface.

You’ll also be able to connect to your Facebook, MyBlogLog and/or Twitter accounts as well.

This add-on not only gives you suggestions that have to do with your post, it also helps you with your search engine optimization by giving you suggestions on tags to use when you’re about to publish your posts.

Image selection from related content within your post:

WordPress.com Sidebar

By pressing alt + w when you’re in your browser you can bring up a quick sidebar that will allow fast and easy access to your WordPress blog without you having to access the actual site. This nifty little sidebar lets you view your site stats, create bookmarks relating to your post, and finally you can construct posts and publish them directly onto your blog without ever visiting your WordPress dashboard. Access this Firefox extension here.

View your blogs stats:

Create a post or copy and paste content from a web page and publish it onto your blog:

DashBlog

DashBlog feasibly lets you gather videos, images, texts, songs, and capture browser screen-shots from any existing web page. You can utilize this collection of content to publish them directly onto your blog or your Twitter account.

Supporter blogs include but are not limited to: Blogger/Blogspot, Tumblr, WordPress and more.

From any web page all you have to do is click on the small DashBlog icon located at the top left hand corner of your browser and the DashBlog options userface will instantly pop up.

How it Works

A few steps are needed to post content on your blog from DashBlog:

Create a post with content located on the webpage of your choice (text/quotes, images, videos, and audio)

Click on the “OK, Post” button and wait for confirmation that the post has been blogged.

Now visit your blog and view your DashBlog post. Your readers will have no idea that you used a third party Firefox extension to create the post they are reading.

What Firefox add-ons would you recommend that help you to blog more easily?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Luckily there is a program that can help you improve organization skills and keep track of appointments, tasks, notes, and memos. It’s a Windows-based desktop app called To-Do-Desklist.

This app can help you tackle those everyday to-do tasks by allowing you to store notes, reminders, and thoughts that will pop up on your desktop when you need them to.

The creators of this app modeled it after real life situations. For example if you’re at home and a note happens to pop into your mind, you can quickly enter it in your To-Do-Desklist software and effectively be reminded at a later time.

How it Works

With this task management tool you can quickly and effectively save appointments, events, dates, thoughts and more. The program displays all pending tasks as notification messages that pop-up on your desktop. You’ll be able to easily review them and mark them as completed when necessary by clicking  on a small check mark in the reminder. You can also customize these notifications to match the feel of your desktops wallpaper and theme.

An important feature is the assigning of priority levels; To-Do Desklist carries this feature, and it allows you to edit a to-do’s priority anytime.

You can also set To-Do Desklist’s reminder option to manage the times when you’d like your notifications to pop-up on the lower right hand corner of your desktop.

With this quick and effective desktop app you can set important dates and events in an effective way that will help you become or remain a bit more organized. While To-Do-Desklist does not guarantee anyone’s ability to remain organized, it may help you in your quest to establish better organizational skills. With To-Do Desklist you’re able to take control of your notifications anytime or any day.

If you decide to give this app a shot, let us know what you think about it in the comments. Or if you use another to-do app, let us know which one you use and why you like it. What features make your preferred app the best one?

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Choose which of these applications benefits you the most and begin to simplify your email usage.

(1) SimpleMail (Firefox Extension)

The first email application is called SimpleMail. It’s a Firefox extension that will simplify your POP3, IMAP and SMTP emailing needs all through the use of Firefox. You’ll be able to turn Firefox into a simple yet handy easy email sender client.

Managing Email

Once you’ve installed it, you’ll be able to manage your mailbox as if it were another tab in Firefox. This extension can be used with POP3, SMTP and IMAP email accounts. You won’t have email assistance as other email clients may have. However, the fact that you’re able to check your webmail with the click of a button (literally) supersedes what SimpleMail lacks in that department.

Added Features & Usability

SimpleMail allows you to set up as many email accounts as you’d like. You’re able to check your messages, reply to them, view any attached files or images, and you can send emails using its rich text editor.

Although you can add an address book, this program was meant to be a straightforward email client therefore it lacks the option to insert signatures and spam filters.

OS Compatibility: Win98/98SE/Me/2000/XP/Vista

(2) Gmail Notifier Beta (Desktop App)

With Gmail Notifier you can check your messages without having to open your browser to the Gmail webpage. You’re able to check email from the system tray, eliminating a visit to Gmail’s webpage.

This application is quite useful. However it falls short of expectancy in some areas such as you’re only able to check one account at a time, and the notifier only checks for new messages when you tell it to.

Gmail Notifier shows you a snippet of every email that enters your mailbox. That way you can decide if it would be worth opening your browser to read it.

This is the Gmail Notifier Button with the options listed:

The notifier takes you to your Gmail account once you’ve clicked on the specified snippet of the email.

OS Compatibility: Win2000, NT, XP, Vista

(3) GmailAssistant (Desktop App)

This is a very useful app because unlike Gmail Notifier, you’re able to automatically check various email accounts at one time. With GmailAssistant you don’t have to constantly log into your Gmail accounts just to check and see if there’s new mail, because this program checks emails automatically for you and briefly displays a snippet of them right above your windows tool bar.

Travis wrote an in-depth review of GmailAssistant here.

Features & Configuration

GmailAssistant can be easily configured and it connects to your Gmail account using IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) for a safe connection. You must have IMAP access enabled in order for this application to check for new messages. This is how you enable IMAP access once you’ve logged into your Gmail account: Settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP > IMAP Access.

Adding a New Gmail Account:

OS Compatibility: Win200/XP/2003/Vista

(4) Gmail Backup (Desktop App)

Backing up your email may not be at the top of your priority list but it can sure save you lots of headaches in the future if something bad and unforeseen were to happen to your email account.

Dreadful possibilities for backing up your email include being locked out of your Gmail account or even accidentally deleting emails yourself. Gmail Backup can be used for any reason you’d like, even though it only has one purpose; to backup your Gmail account messages.

Karl did a write-up of Gmail Backup here.

You’re going to be asked to enter your Gmail details.

Then the app immediately backs up and downloads your Gmail email onto your computer once you’ve directed it too.

Downloaded Emails

The email that has been backed up and downloaded to your computer will show in the folder you specified. You will be able to open the emails in the default email client you have installed onto your pc (i.e. Outlook, Windows Mail and more), in my case it’s Windows Email therefore it appears as this:

Gmail Backup is very easy and simple to use because it allows you to specify dates you want it to back up your email. You can choose any destination folder within your directory and, as stated above, emails can be read through Outlook, Windows Email, or any sort of text reader as well.

OS Compatibility: Win XP/Vista

(5) eCipher (Secure Emails) (Desktop App)

eCipher is a tool that encrypts email messages which can be sent through an easy-to-use desktop interface and shown to be originating from the email client of your choice (i.e. Gmail, Yahoo!, MSN, Outlook, Windows Mail and more).   This ensures the privacy of the content your email messages contains.

This app works as an independent email tool that utilizes your email server settings to send messages through the SMTP port.

Compose

You can choose to compose an email once you’ve clicked on the settings button and added an email account.

Protection

Your emails are protected and encrypted with a 256-bit AES and 2048-bit RSA encryption algorithms. The recipient must also have eCipher in order to read your emails; otherwise they will not be able to open them.

Sent encrypted email received by a recipient who does not have eCipher and/or the correct de-ciphering key

Same email received downloaded and opened with eCipher by the correct recipient

Compatibility

eCipher is compatible with several email clients such as Outlook and Thunderbird.

OS Compatibility: Win 2000/XP/2003/Vista

Please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions! Do you use any of these? Do you know of any better ones?

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With access to several hundred channels worldwide you’ll barely ever run out of something to watch. And the best is yet to come since ProgDVB is offered for free!

ProgDVB supports various types of data sources:

• Internet TV and radio
• DVB-S (satellite), DVB-S2, DVB-C (cable), DVB-T,ATSC
• IPTV
• Analog TV
• Playback from a file

Key functions:

• High Definition TV support including H.264/AVC
• Picture-in-picture support as well as independent simultaneous recording/playback of several channels from one or more devices
• Support for the majority of DVB and ATSC devices including DiSEqC and CAM interfaces support
• Support for all digital TV audio formats: MPEG, AC3, AAC,…
• Time shifting functionality using the RAM or disk buffer of unlimited size
• 10 Bands equalizer
• TV and Radio channels recording
• Playback from disk based files
• Electronic program guide (EPG) from Digital TV or XmlTV.
• Teletext
• Subtitles (Teletext, image-based and closed captions)
• Support for VR, VMR7,VMR9 and EVR renderers including OSD (except VR) independently from channel type or signal presence
• Network broadcasting
• Skins for OSD and GUI
• Both Win32 and full-fledged Win64 versions are available
• Interface Language Localizations

Setting up ProgDVB

You’ve read the above main features (or a portion of it). Now comes the moment when you’ll quickly become knowledgeable on how to download it and set it up. Despite the complexity level that this new software may seem to have acquired, it is actually quite simple.

First off, click here in order to download your .exe file, and to begin installing the application.

Once you’ve completely downloaded and installed ProgDVB, you’re now ready to begin watching Digital TV through satellite. All you have to do is click on your desired country within the left hand side and scroll down to your desired channel. Once you’ve located and chosen a channel you’d like to watch simply click on it and it should momentarily begin to load on your ProgDVB TV screen.

Setting up ProgDVB to make scheduled recordings

There are three different ways to record content in ProgDVB. These is immediate record, scheduled record and selected program record (like a Sky+ box).

Note that when making scheduled recordings, no two schedules can overlap!

Immediate Recording

To make an immediate recording, simply select the channel to record from the left column and press the record icon. Press the record icon again to stop the recording when desired.

User set time based scheduled recording(s)

To set up a simple scheduled recording, tune to the channel to record from. Click the ‘Service’ menu, select ‘Scheduler’ and click ‘Add’ on the scheduler box. Select a date to record (if not today), enter a time in 24 hour format (e.g. 20:00 for 8pm), select ‘Start Record’ from the drop-down field and click ‘OK’. Click the ‘Add’ button again, select the date to stop recording (if not today), enter a stop time in 24 hour format, select ‘Stop Record’ from the drop-down field and click ‘OK’.

To make two or more recordings from independent channels, follow the above steps to schedule the first recording, then do another ‘Add’ on the scheduler box, enter the date and time one minute before the second (or later) recording and choose ‘Change Channel’ from the drop-down field and enter the name of the channel in the channel name field. Then follow the steps above for making a simple schedule for the second recording.

Recording a program using EPG (Electronic Programming Guide)

Choose the channel from the left column to schedule a recording for. Click the ‘i’ EPG icon to bring up the TV Guide for that channel. If no information is shown, then this channel does not use EPG. In this case, follow the steps above for “User set time based scheduled recording(s)”.

Select the program to record, click ‘For Record’ and click ‘OK’ to confirm. To record other programs (even from other channels), repeat these steps for each recording.

To cancel a schedule, click the ‘Service’ menu, select ‘Scheduler’ and remove the three entries (change channel, start record and stop record) for the schedule to cancel.

Summary

ProgDVB is a powerful and creative way to watch satellite TV all from your PC with the use of a few mouse clicks. The only real complaint or “critique” I have for ProgDVB is the quality of sound. Depending on which channels you decide to view the quality of sound and mainly the quality of picture may vary. Hopefully in the future this can be fixed as technologies via satellite advance.

Let us know in the comments what you think of ProgDVB and if you think this is a good replacement for normal regular TV.

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If you’re tired of having your notes and thoughts relentlessly scattered all around your desktop while the thought of having to manually organize these things has your mind cluttered up, then WikiPad is the ideal candidate that will bring forth a solution to the change you’ve subconsciously been searching for.

I stumbled upon WikiPad while doing a search with the set of words “notepad” and “organized” in it. To be honest I’m actually quite surprised at the fact that I was able to come across this application, because it seems as if it were nested deep within the internet’s layer after layer of endless information. Until a couple of days ago, I had never even heard of the word Wiki and Pad in the same sentence, let alone as one word. However, as this application has allowed for the simple, quick, and effective organization of what was once my self-indulged mess of papers and thoughts, I am glad I stumbled upon it at this precise time!

You can use this application to keep track of projects, personal contacts, general information, to-do lists, storage of HTML files, and more, later allowing you to place them on a website, CD, or any other HTML based application.

A warning: once you begin to use WikiPad you’ll probably conform to an incredible amount of usage! This application is original and lets you keep track of information, search detailed specific data, and use it in any way you’d like as it is an Open Source application!

Features

Here’s a list of WikiPad’s solid features:

• On the fly WikiWord linking, as you type
• WikiWord auto-completion
• Easy WikiWord navigation
• Wiki text styling
• WikiWord History
• Wiki document attributes
• Dynamic views
• Tree/Outline view with over 100 icons
• To-do lists
• Incremental search
• Search and Replace
• Autosave
• Export to HTML
• All your data is stored in plain text
• URL and file linking
• Intuitive keybindings
• Help Wiki included

WikiPad’s Uniqueness & Origin

The difference between WikiPad and other notepad-like applications is the simplicity and facility it offers when cross-linking your information. You’re able to create links by typing in WikiWords. It’s no shocker to me that this application exhibits the word Wiki in its name, since wiki means quick, and these application-based names are known for the quick and easy combination of useful information (i.e. WikiPedia).

Verdict

WikiPad is a useful Open Source application that delivers the astounding organizational skills that sometimes we professionals and computer savvy people alike seem to lack. With this being said, I enjoyed and will continue to enjoy using WikiPad.  However, one major implication (in my book) that I didn’t like about this application was its GUI (graphical user interface). I think it should be a bit “easier” on the eyes and it should be somewhat more inviting instead of simple and basic. As well as the format in which you can view the way it categorizes your notes.

Plug and Play

You’ve read how great WikiPad is, and also how it can be configured to be made a little better. However, now you’re ready to install. Here is a quick review on how to install and setup your WikiPad to get it up and running in no time!

First thing you have to do is visit the WikiPad site and download the latest version of Wikipad (1.8) by scrolling all the way to the bottom and clicking on the link shown below:

(The Wikipad wiki software available for Windows, Linux and Mac PCs. So it covers pretty much everyone here.)

After you’ve clicked on the above outlined link you will be directed to a page with the following link in it:

Click on this link as it will open up the download zip file as seen below:

Once you’ve clicked OK, your copy of WikiPad will start downloading instantly. If your Internet connection ranges from DSL to a T1 then it should take a matter of minutes or even seconds.

Now lets open up your newly installed WikiPad. Arrive at your start menu, click on programs and scroll down to view the WikiPad folder and open it up.

Once you open it up you’ll arrive at a help Wiki page, read the page, get familiar with the software, and once you’ve done this you can access WikiPad’s menu and create your new Wiki by clicking on where it says “Wiki” on the top bar:

Give your new Wiki a name and that’s it! You can now begin to write countless amounts of information cross linked between different Wiki’s!

WikiPad Bonus

Well, you didn’t think I was going to leave you empty handed now did you? Sending off our readers without useful tips and thoughts isn’t what we’re accustomed to here at MakeUseOf, thus I’ve compiled a list of useful shortcuts for your WikiPad, enjoy!

Ctrl + J: Wikize
Ctrl + L: Goto Link
ALT + left/right: Move Across (History)
(I defined: ALT + W/D instead)
Ctrl + up/down: Move Across (Parent/Child)

Ctrl + O: Open Wiki
Ctrl + Alt + F: Search (globally)
Ctrl + F: Search in page
F3 / Shift F3: Incremental Search

Ctrl + Q: Home
Ctrl + T: Hide Tree
Ctrl + space: Auto-complete
Ctrl + Tab: Tab Browsing (previous)
Ctrl + Shift + P: Referrers to Page (Ctrl + UP)

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Skyfire browser has been mentioned to be not as quick and “cunning” as Opera Mini (see MakeUseOf review) once you start browsing. However it allows for a much quicker viewing of videos on sites such as Youtube with impressive tempo. One of the major differences between the two mobile surfing giants is that Opera Mini requires the use of JavaScript in order to start up – this can easily interfere with loading speeds.

A new feature this version assumes is the “Super Bar” and “predictive text”. Whenever a keyword is typed in anywhere within the browser, the Super Bar searches for this word and returns with a defined word or a synonym. This feature seems much like the one Opera and Chrome browsers have adopted. With Skyfire if you come across a page you’d like to share or send to a friend via SMS, with two simple taps within the menu, a pre-filled text appears on your screen with the specified URL content.

With this new release you’re also able to save images, download files, and in addition Skyfire can now be set as a default browser.

Since Skyfire is in Beta there are a couple of bugs. Some things I wasn’t quite fond of when browsing were that if Skyfire lost service as I browsed, then I would have to completely restart the browser.

Another bug I found consisted of the fact that Skyfire currently does not support Pocket Internet Explorer bookmarks. If you would like to import your current bookmarks from Pocket Internet Explorer to Skyfire, then for the time being you’re unable to. We expect Skyfire’s developers and programmers will address this issue soon enough before its final release. However, besides these tiny bugs, Skyfire has proven to be a fast media-enriched browser.

When Skyfire views Flash content, it can possibly take anywhere from 2-3 seconds in order to update the screen and the video may freeze as well.  However this is still by far a supreme addition to the bundles of mobile browsers available.

Here is a quick graphed comparison placing Skyfire an Opera Mini in contrast with both of their loading times for the designated pages, as well as which applications they support:

Here is a video of the browser operating. Even though the interface is more or less the same, this is a bit of an older version. One of the largest updates within the newer version consists of performance gains but keep this in mind when watching.

The changes and updates made to the new version of Skyfire allow it to become more stable and “rock” the mobile browsing community. However, it seems as though it has quite a bit of time before it can supersede the many expectations of the Opera Mini fans.

Download Skyfire browse here.

Do you use, or have you used, Skyfire? How do you think it compares to Opera Mini or any other mobile browser? Let us know in the comments!

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