Software

Review: Zombie Piano delivers a fun concept in a not-quite functional package

In Zombie Piano, tap the keys on the onscreen piano and zombie sounds will emanate from your iPad in an approximation of that tone. The concept is funny to a degree, and while it almost certainly is an attempt to capitalize on the current popularity of zombies in pop culture, it fails to provide enough of an engaging experience to hit the mark.

To be certain, Zombie Piano is not a serious app. You are not supposed to be able to make music with this app and it's not surprising that the zombie sounds barely sound different from each … Read more

Review: Create, edit, and publish multimedia presentations with Lyrebird

Kazo Vision's Lyrebird is a powerful multimedia publishing solution that lets you create, edit, and distribute custom multimedia content, incorporating a huge range of file and document types to a variety of devices employing LCD screens and projection technology. It's composed of two parts, an Editor and a Player, though they're one and the same in the free Standalone Edition. The free version lets you master Lyrebird's many options and steps, and schedule multimedia presentations to play on your own PC, once or multiple times, always on top (or not) and with effects such as text … Read more

Review: Apply effects to sound clips with Moo0 Audio Effect

Moo0 Audio Effect is easy-to-use freeware that applies basic special effects to audio clips. Audio Effect can alter the volume, pitch, bass, treble, and other tonal aspects of MP3 and WAV files. It's a very basic tool, which means you can finish a job in less time than it takes to learn which buttons to press on that "full-featured" audio editor. Moo0 Audio Effect is suitable for Windows XP to 8.

We could resize Moo0 Audio Effect's compact user interface by dragging the corner, or we could toggle between Minimum and Advanced Options views. A Language … Read more

Review: Take out the trash on boot or on demand with Moo0 Disk Cleaner.

Disk cleaners earn their keep by taking out the trash: deleting temporary files, clearing caches, emptying the Recycle Bin, and purging other space-hogging, system-slowing junk before it can accumulate into the data processing equivalent of clogged arteries. Moo0 Disk Cleaner 1.19 is fast, lightweight, and easy to use, and it can clean on boot or on demand. It targets those places where junk files accumulate, such as your browser, program caches, and Windows temporary and log files, though you can add custom targets and exclude any location from cleaning. In fact, you need to check each item's box … Read more

Review: Enjoy pre-built playlists on the go with Tunigo Play

Tunigo Play is a clever extension of the Spotify technology, combining many of the benefits of endless streaming music with prebuilt playlists for any mood. It's not a perfect app, but it manages to take the music discovery concept of similar apps to a new level that works quite well.

Tunigo Play is a collection of playlists that are based on specific themes. For any one playlist, you can see the number of subscribers, when it was last updated, and how long it will play for. When the playlist is up, you can swipe left or right to quickly … Read more

Review: Make your friends pop up with Chat Heads

When Facebook Home debuted, most people yawned--until they saw the "Chat Heads" feature. This appropriately-named app adds them to your phone without taking the whole thing over the way Home would. Chat Heads brings this cool notification feature to any of the apps of your phone.

The app slides a "Chat Heads" section onto your accessibility menu that you have to turn on before you use it. It also tries to hit your phone with ads, but you can choose to decline that part of the app. Once you go through the longer setup process, Chat … Read more

Review: Bill Reminder Free BillManager helps you track your payments

If you're buried under a sea of bills, this app might help you dig yourself out. Bill Reminder Free BillManager will remind you when it's time to pay any bill you tell it to. It's nowhere near as helpful as a full budgeting app or even Google Calendar, but it does what it says on the box.

Bill Reminder Free BillManager lets you create multiple templates and bill reminders for days or months. Sadly, you can't set bill reminders to reoccur on the same day every month. You have to create them every single month, which … Read more

Review: Manage what you copy with ClipNote Special

ClipNote Special packs so many neat goodies that you might be a little overwhelmed. Once you catch your breath, you'll wonder how you ever did work on your mobile gadget without it.

This app automatically runs in the background, waiting for you to copy or cut something. Once you do, it holds it for you until you delete it. Once you don't need what's on your clipboard anymore, you can delete everything with one touch. If you want to keep something through multiple deletes, you can save it as a favorite. The app buttons can sometimes seize … Read more

Review: Collage Creator lets you design praise-worthy collages

Collage Creator lets you combine several of your photos into a cool, artistic collage to share on any social network. The only thing holding Collage Creator back from being a five-star app is how long it takes to get started.

The app tries to get you to log in to Facebook, but you don't have to give up any password to get to any of the app's main features. If you do log in with Facebook, you can snag photos from your profile to add to your collages. Collage Creator makes you tap through several different tutorials before … Read more

Review: Browse your social network with Facebook Web

Facebook's default app has never won a lot of fans because of its slightly buggy performance. Facebook Web gives you another way to view your feeds, but it doesn't do much to best Facebook's default app. The only improvements it gives you aren't noticeable and aren't worth the ads.

Since this is a Facebook viewer, you'll have to log in with your Facebook account to use it. It presents a Facebook layout that closely mirrors the one you're used to with a few changes. The most noticeable change is the ads on the … Read more