GClient is a Google Plus desktop client, actually a mini-browser of sorts, just for Google Plus. It is not without its faults, but it does save you from running multiple browser sessions. It’s not an ideal solution for everyone, but it might be useful for some.

The first thing you see when running GClient is a suspicious-looking window asking for your name and email address:

The developer seems to be using the app as a way to get people’s names and email addresses. Not the most confidence-inspiring tactic I’ve seen. As you can see above, I just gave them a disposable email address instead. It worked – I got my “free unlock code” and they didn’t get my real email. After entering my unlock code, I was presented with a small login window (Google’s own, not the app’s), and then shown this:

That’s right – GClient is just a way to access the Google+ mobile interface. It seems like a lame solution at first (what, no funky dedicated interface?), but on second thoughts, I can see the logic in doing something like this. Google+ is still in flux, there’s no public API yet, and no real way to poll the service for updates or post new updates.  So the only real way to provide “standalone” access is not standalone at all – it’s just the same service in a different format.

Here’s what the feed looks like:

Basically, if you’ve ever used Google+ from a mobile device, you will know what this looks like. But in case you haven’t, here are a few other screenshots of the mobile interface. This is how you post an update:

And this is what a friend’s profile looks like:

The only thing which isn’t stock Google in this app is the Options panel, which looks like this:

Note that the Google Plus desktop client is set to auto-start by default. If you don’t like such behavior, this is where you go to disable it.

So Is It Good Or Not?

I know this post may seem a bit conflicted. I’m used to writing more positive reviews, but then again, I’m used to applications that don’t require your email to send you a “free unlock key” on startup. But GClient finds itself in a unique position of being the only solution in town, at least for now. If you have a Google Apps account and still want to take part in Google+, GClient is the way to go.

Its basic approach is reasonable. If the developer dropped the email requirement and added a global hotkey for popping up the interface, GClient would be much better. As it stands, it’s OK, but it leaves the playing field wide open to any enterprising developer who wants to present a slicker solution. Would that be you, by any chance?

Let us know what you think of GClient in the comments.

Well, now you can. In this article, I’m going to show you a badass new free desktop app that makes sharing and socializing across your email accounts and social networks a breeze. If any of what I just said resonated with you in any way, you will not want to miss this app!

What Is MultiMi?

MultiMi provides users with access to online services including email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, and file storage services in one location. It was created by Zbang, which is a company that provides “simple and efficient solutions for managing the overwhelming quantity of content that people share on a daily basis.”

With MultiMi, you can :

• Share content like photos, music, and video.
• Collaborate on documents with others via Box.net or Google Docs.
• Connect Facebook Chat and Google Talk for instant messaging.
• Keep up to date with the latest Twitter trends and all the Facebook pages you like.
• Store and share files through cloud storage services simply by dragging and dropping.
• Run searches across all your emails, networks, desktop, and the web.
• Manage, share, and sync all your contacts and calendars.

You may have noticed “AVG” in the title of this article. That’s because MultiMi also incorporates AVG LinkScanner, which automatically checks links exchanged through MultiMi in real time. Before you even click a link, AVG LinkScanner has already assessed the risk profile of anything you’ve received.

MultiMi is available for Windows XP SP3 or higher and it requires 1 GB of RAM (which everybody should have) and 500 MB free hard disk space.

Getting Started with MultiMi

To start using MultiMi for all that I mentioned, head over to their homepage and download the app.

When you first start the application, you can add an account on the startup screen. Feel free to add your email account(s), Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Once you do that, you’ll notice that the main dashboard is divided into different sections:

• Messages will be where you access all of your email, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn messages.
• Social gives you news updates from Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
• Events shows your upcoming events from Google Calendar and Facebook.
• Photos will pull in your photos from Facebook, Picasa, and email attachments.
• Media is where all the music and video you’ve shared will be.
• Files will house all of your documents, etc.
• Contacts will display people you frequently talk to or email.

To view your messages, just click on Messages in the left panel and the center area will populate with messages from the accounts you’ve added. To compose a message, just click the Share button at the top of the screen and select Compose Message. You can also select the account you would like to send your message from and the contacts it is going to.

If you want to post a status update to an account, you can select Update Status and choose the account to post to. To upload images or files, click the Upload button.

And don’t forget, the app also supports GTalk and Facebook Chat, so you can communicate with your contacts directly while inside the application as well.

Conclusion

So basically, MultiMi allows you to stay connected and keep organized in a secure way, all from your desktop. Now you can kiss all those tabs in your browser goodbye!

What do you think of MultiMi? What’s the one feature you’re most excited about?

The problem is, we are not completely living in that future yet. Most people are still not ready to leave their desktop to go to the cloud. Opening cloud applications inside a browser doesn’t feel like opening an application at all. Those web applications may easily be ‘lost’ among many other open tabs, and continuously looking for them may be a bit annoying.

That’s why some people would love the ability to turn web apps into desktop programs, which you can open independently. One of the tools that you can use to do that is called WebRunner. We mentioned this extension a few years ago, back when it was called Prism.

From The Webtop To The Desktop

The first thing you have to do is open the WebRunner page with Firefox. Then download the extension that matches your operating system. As far as I know, a Firefox extension should work fine under Windows, Mac, and Linux, so I don’t know why they created three different versions for these three OS’s.

Please bear in mind that I took screenshots for this article using Firefox for Mac. There might be some slight differences if you are using another OS.

Confirm the installation by clicking the “Install Now” button. You will need to restart Firefox before you can use the extension.

You can enable (and disable) the extension by going to the “Add-ons” menu under “Tools“.

Armed with WebRunner, converting web apps or any other kind of webpage into desktop apps is as easy as clicking a few buttons.

There are lots of web apps out there, and the number seems to multiply every day. At the time of writing, one of the hottest web apps in the virtual world is Google Plus. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on the invite, why don’t you try to convert Google Plus into a desktop app using WebRunner?

• First, visit Google Plus using Firefox.

• Then click “Create WebRunner App” under the “Tools” menu.

• The “Web Application” window will open. There are several things you can customize in this window, such as the URL, the name, and which browser elements you want to show in the desktop application.

• You can add a shortcut on the Desktop and/or Applications Folder (or Program Files in Windows) for easier access if you want to. But I think you should at least put a shortcut in one of those locations. You can uninstall the application simply by deleting the shortcut.

• As for the application’s icon, you can use the default icon that comes with the web app by choosing “Use image from web” from the drop down menu. The “Choose image” option will allow you to browse your hard drive for your preferred image. Click “OK” to finish the process.

In case you are wondering, the Google Plus icon that I use came from David Walsh’s site

Then the desktop application will be ready inside your application folder. You can do every action that you normally do with your desktop applications with this new app. You can start the application with your OS, assign shortcut keys to quickly summon it, and the most important one – launch it without having to launch your browser.

This is what the Google Plus desktop app looks like. The first time you open it, you will be asked to log into your Google account. You don’t have to repeat the login process as long as you don’t wipe the cookies.

Other Web Apps

You can repeat the process to convert other web apps or your favorite websites/blogs into desktop apps. The first web app that came to my mind is Angry Birds Chrome. I converted it out of curiosity to see whether the game would be saved if I quit the app and restarted it later. It turns out that I could continue from where I left off!

There’s a similar tool for Mac called Fluid which uses Safari to power the converted desktop app.

Have you used WebRunner? What web apps would you turn into desktop programs? Share your list using the comments below.

But if anything could make these delayed reading services just a tiny bit better, it’s the thought of accessing those articles via a native Mac application. With a native app, there’s no need to log in when you use it and it looks great on your Mac. Thankfully, there is now such an app called ReadNow. We thought you might be interested, so here’s the details.

Why Get ReadNow?

This application is for you if you’re a Mac user who loves native applications, uses Read-It-Later or Instapaper to store articles for later reading, doesn’t want to log in repeatedly and wouldn’t mind a menu bar icon for easy access. To get an account for Read-It-Later or Instapaper, sign up directly with the service you prefer. Instapaper users will need to have a subscription with Instapaper in order for ReadNow to work.

You can use the ReadNow application for both parts of the reading later process — easily adding articles via the application or reading them in the minimalist view later. As well as opening the articles for reading, you can also move, archive and edit the articles, depending on which service you choose.

The pane for reading the articles is a clutter-free minimalist design, ensuring you read without the distractions of regular online articles. The article list comes in three different themes: light grey, yellow and dark grey.

ReadNow runs on Mac OS X 10.6+, costs US$3.99 from the Mac Appstore and is also available via the ReadNow website.

Using ReadNow

It’s so easy to use ReadNow. The best feature is being able to add a new article by a number of useful and easy methods:

• Using a keyboard shortcut to add the URL of your browser’s current tab to ReadNow.
• Dragging a URL from your browser directly on to the ReadNow icon in the menu bar.
• Copying a URL to the pasteboard and add it to ReadNow using a keyboard shortcut.
• You can also use the Read-It-Later or Instapaper web interface, bookmarklets, scripts and browser extensions to add articles during the day at work, then read articles later in ReadNow.

Arrow keys can be used to navigate the articles and there’s a keyboard shortcut to launch ReadNow.

ReadNow can also allow you to save the text and images of each article for offline reading.

You can choose whether to archive your articles automatically or manually. Articles can also be tagged and “liked” for future access easily using ReadNow.

Do you prefer to use Read-It-Later or Instapaper? Will you be giving ReadNow a try? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments!

One of the things I’ve always liked about Gmail was that it was the first true cloud app I got used to accessing. Being completely browser based, it helped me transition from desktop apps to web-based ones, possibly because there simply weren’t any desktop email clients that could live up to what Gmail offered, at least for me, anyway.

That no long holds true now that I’ve found GeeMail. GeeMail is a standalone Gmail desktop client for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and it’s a great answer for your offline needs.

What Is GeeMail?

GeeMail runs on Adobe AIR (cross-platform), and it looks and feels a lot like the Gmail that you’re used to. Since GeeMail supports the old UI of Gmail itself, things just work the way they do in Gmail, even the keyboard shortcuts.

With GeeMail, you can view all of your mail and even reply to messages while offline. When you do, your replies will be sent the next time the application detects that you are connected to the Internet.

Gmail tried to give users an offline solution using Gears, but GeeMail is a lot faster. It can grab hundreds of your most recent messages within minutes. It can do this because it only pulls in the bare essentials. Gmail’s labeling structure, for instance, won’t be pulled in by GeeMail unless you are online.

There is no configuration with GeeMail. The program has everything in place which is required to access your Gmail, meaning you don’t need to configure POP and IMAP settings like traditional email clients.

GeeMail also has a search feature, which I believe is newly added. You can search emails regularly, or click on Advanced Search to do things like search only messages from or to a specific person.

How Do I Use GeeMail?

To get started with GeeMail, just head over to their website and click the Free Download button. The client will install with Adobe Air and the first time you run it you will see a login screen that looks strikingly similar to Gmail’s online login page. Type in your credentials to log in and get your mail.

GeeMail will take a minute to connect to your Gmail account and load, but once it does you will have all of your email and labels in the app to begin viewing.

Conclusion

As with any email client, GeeMail takes a bit of getting used to, but once you have it where you feel comfortable, it’s quite useful for you. I will be sticking with the online version of Gmail, but this presents a nice offline solution for me if I ever need to read something important when my Internet connection goes down.

What do you think about Gmail desktop software or desktop email clients in general? Do you have a favorite app?  Let us know what you think about this one and whether you see yourself using it, instead of the web-based Gmail.