downloads

Delete downloaded app history from Google Play

Downloading apps, especially free apps, can be quite addictive. You see a random free app featured on a blog, linked to in a tweet or mentioned by a friend and you promptly download it. You soon realize the app adds no real value to your life, so you delete it from your device. Somewhere down the road you want to re-download an app from your Google Play Store history. You browse on over to your download history only to find a never-ending list of apps.

In the past you'd be stuck with this long list of apps; unable to … Read more

Search and download your favorite MP3 files and play them via Easy MP3 Music Downloads Pro

This app not only provides an alternative environment for you to browse and play music, but it also allows you to pick off those music files directly from the Web. Easy MP3 Music Downloads Pro acts as both a download manager and a media player.

The starting interface of Easy MP3 Music Downloads Pro resembles the interface of Android's default music player app. There's the playlist, artists and albums section. Thus it is probably technically impossible for anyone to get lost in it. The basic functions are also quite the same. You can choose a music file from … Read more

Open Hexagon, an open copycat of Hexagon

Open Hexagon is a polygonal endurance run that draws heavy inspiration from Terry Cavanagh's Hexagon. Much like its former Web app game, Open Hexagon challenges players in a collapsing environment of walls that cave in. Your goal is to keep a dinky little triangle alive by orbiting around the core while dodging walls and crushing barriers. The game's overall design is a simple pixelated collection of lines and shapes, with some added chiptune tracks to appease the eardrums of our inner geek.

Since its release, the developer, Vittorio Romeo of Vee Software, has received mixed reactions for releasing … Read more

Transfer files and more with Cyberduck, but at a price

With a name like Cyberduck you might be wondering what type of app this is. Most people will not guess that Cyberduck is an open-source FTP browser designed for file transfers. At $23.99, Cyberduck has to provide a lot of capabilities to compete with free FTP systems.

As an FTP download and upload client, Cyberduck works well. The interface is clean and easy to work with. You can browse through folders and preview files in a Quick Look window, and you can also launch editors from within the Cyberduck tool to make changes to files. Unlike most FTP tools, … Read more

AC/DC finally coming to iTunes

AC/DC, known for such heavy metal hits as "Back in Black," "Thunderstruck," and Highway to Hell" will finally be rocking iTunes.

Apple announced today that the band has made its entire catalog available for download. Fans can buy the whole albums or individual songs. AC/DC was one of the high-profile acts, a group that once included The Beatles and Kid Rock, choosing not to distribute their music at online stores.

The partnership is a stark reversal from 2008, when AC/DC refused to sell individual songs. Brian Johnson, the group's lead singer … Read more

Chrome 23 review: Do Not Track support, better battery management come to Chrome

Google Chrome has matured from a lightweight and fast browsing alternative into an innovative, standard-bearing browser that people love. It's powerful enough to drive its own operating system, Chrome OS. The browser that people can use today, Chrome 23, offers highly competitive features, including synchronization, autofill, and standards compliance, and maintains Google's reputation for building one of the fastest browsers available.

Chrome 23 represents a major milestone for the browser, but those expecting to see dramatic changes in major version-point updates will be disappointed. For a while now, Google has been pushing features over what it calls milestone … Read more

Schedule alarms, open Web sites automatically, and more with SNV Timer

The publishers describe SNV Timer as a reminder program, but it actually includes three separate applications designed to manage shutdown operations, user-set alerts, and more. While many will see this diversity as a benefit, others will find that the lack of integration between programs and the redundancy of some functions negatively affect SNV Timer's usefulness.

When you install SNV Timer, you'll actually get SNV Timer, SNV Notepad, and SNV Calendar, each with its own desktop icon. SNV Timer does just what its name implies: it allows you to choose a specific time or number of hours for whatever … Read more

Download YouTube videos with automatic format conversion

MovieSherlock is a YouTube downloader for the Mac platform. When you see a YouTube video you want to save locally, you invoke MovieSherlock and it handles the download for you. MovieSherlock can convert formats, as well as provide search integration. The Lite version of MovieSherlock sells for $14.99, while two more-powerful editions sell for $24.99 and $39.99. There is no free evaluation version.

The MovieSherlock interface lets you type in the name of a video you would like to watch, and it will search YouTube for the content, download it, and launch it in a player. Converting … Read more

Obey the law, or else. California cracks down on app developers for privacy

Making good on her promise, California Attorney General Kamala Harris has continued her crackdown on mobile-app developers and companies for not doing more to ensure users' privacy. She announced today that she'll be sending letters to 100 app developers and companies to formally notify them that they're violating California's privacy laws.

"Protecting the privacy of online consumers is a serious law enforcement matter," Harris said in a statement today. "We have worked hard to ensure that app developers are aware of their legal obligations to respect the privacy of Californians, but it is critical … Read more

Convert files -- five of them, anyway -- with DeskPDF Pro

There are any number of utilities out there that can quickly and easily convert a variety of file formats into PDFs, so there's no reason to settle for one that doesn't quite meet your needs. DeskPDF Pro combines an efficient drag-and-drop interface with some useful features, but the limitations of the trial version are significant, and there are free programs with many of the same features.

Once installed, DeskPDF Pro appears as an icon in the Windows system tray; clicking it brings up a small interface onto which users can drag files for conversion. This launches a window … Read more