In terms of browsing speed and flexibility, Google Chrome has long been my favorite browser. A lot of this speed comes from the browser itself. The remaining speed is the result of its extensibility. Our best of Google Chrome extensions page barely scratches the surface. Another – and vastly underrated – way to crank up your Google Chrome browser is by using Chrome’s custom search engines.

Most of the time, using the computer means staring at the computer screen, one hand clasped around the mouse, the other standing ready at your keyboard. However, a lot of us use our computer for more than just Internet browsing. We use it to convert video, render images and compile code. Sometimes, we even use it to charge a cellphone. At times like these, you won’t necessarily be sitting behind your computer, eyes fixed on whatever relevant process indicator.

The ultra-portables can’t afford the room for a big, hulking hard drive. SSD comes at a price; literally, and figuratively. These expensive drives (although progress is made every day) still cannot reach the capacity of magnetic drives. Whether you’re limited to a 4 GB Netbook or a 256 GB Ultrabook, worrying about storage space is hardly enjoyable. Here are some tips you can use to increase the available memory of your memory-impaired device.

People are always going on about the Mac user experience; how it just works. For the most part, I agree with them. The operating system is like a smooth breeze, and most of the default applications are top notch quality. There’s really only one standard application that’s painfully lacking in power: Finder.

If you don’t keep your computer protected, it’s very easy to get it infected – as many of you can probably relate to. There are multiple ways to keep your computer clean and your data safe. You can use your common sense to avoid catching a digital cold, and install a good anti-virus application. Another [...]

Some of the apps that are shipped on your iPhone or iPad are great. I wouldn’t for the life of me want to replace the default Mail or Notes applications. Nevertheless, the truth is that you don’t use all of those default iOS applications – whether you’ve already found a Calendar alternative, or aren’t interested in using your camera entirely. The default iOS applications don’t take up too much space in your device’s memory. However, they do take up a lot of screen real estate.

One of the first things I do when I start using a new computer or after reinstalling the operating system, even before installing a different video player or browser, is to set the mood by selecting a desktop wallpaper. Of course, no matter how careful your choice, chances are you’ll grow tired of it sooner or later. For me, it’s what attracts me to wallpaper streamers—these small applications run unobtrusively in the background and periodically change your wallpaper.

It’s a lot easier to pin down specifics about a product when it’s already out there. The Internet makes it incredibly easy to find dependable ratings and reviews for movies, music, games and literature, and consumer reviews are available for most popular consumer technology. Finding information about something that’s yet to be released is a wee bit harder to do.

There are situations that are especially well suited to catch up with the latest news and other reading. Over morning coffee, when you’re on the move during commute, or whenever you find a free minute of time. Paper print already faces opposition from the tablet market, but what about your mobile phones? They’re ideal to carry around whenever you head out; they fit in your jacket pocket. But the screen real-estate isn’t ideal for long format reading.

However much fun your tablet and computer are when used separately, I like to believe there’s a little more fun – and utility – to be had when using these devices together. More often than not, this goal is pursued by synchronising files across platforms, but things get really interesting when you start combining hardware features. Imagine you could use Mac OS X or Windows on your iPad.

Of all the default applications that come with the Mac OS X operating system, Preview might be the one I use the most. As picture viewers (and PDF readers) come, it’s an amazingly slick and powerful tool, doing everything you’d come to expect, and then some. That’s one of the most crucial issues with these [...]

Nowadays, my cellphone performs a more essential role to me as a PDA than a communications device. When I’m heading out, my smartphone manages my appointments (synchronised with Google Calendar), ensures I’ve got access to essential documents (through Google Docs and Dropbox), and gives me access to the Internet as an inexhaustible pool of reference material.

Mac OS X computers are the very model of simplicity and usability.When you plug one in and try to do something, it just works. There’s no need to mess around with anything. Everything is in it’s right place and works just as you would expect it to. Except when it doesn’t just work. Yes, you heard that right. Mac computers come with those little quirks, those small annoyances, just like every other operating systems.

When you don’t want your computer to work as it would out of the box, you can start playing with the system preferences. This allows you to tweak the settings to adapt your computer to your specific way of use—you make it fit in your office habitat. Using the command line, or one of several third-party tools, you can tweak hidden settings in Mac OS X. We’ll go over these below, in growing order of complexity.

One of the harder steps in the creative process of developing an application is right between the idea’s conception and the baby steps of its implementation. Especially with more complex application ideas, it can be useful to work out some of the general details before you take the leap. What form will the application take? What’s it going to look like, and feel like?