4.0

Safetica Free is a freeware version of Safetica's powerful security client scaled down for the home user. It combines data protection and encryption with a secure password manager and generator, temporary and junk file shredder, archived file tool, disk encryption, RSA key generator, and more.

Safetica's installer offers more options than most, including whether to run the program at startup and also to open the program's Web site and Help file when the installation finished. The Help file and Web-based resources often refer to the enterprise-level software client, which includes tools for monitoring employees' computer behavior. But … Read more

Bluetooth, once trumpeted as the ultimate convenience, quickly proved a headache with plenty of pairing problems and inexplicable connection snafus. Bluetooth 4.0, the newest version of the technology, is about to change all that. … Read more

BatchPurifier Lite removes metadata from JPEG images without affecting their quality. Such data can include thumbnails, geotags, Photoshop resources, EXIF data, and even the make and model of the camera that captured the image. Removing some or all of the metadata from your images helps reduce their size on the disk, but it can also help protect your privacy, especially if you like to share pictures online. BatchPurifier Lite can also remove metadata from compressed images. This freeware version of a premium tool is fully functional but limited to JPEG images only.

BatchPurifier Lite's wizard-based interface starts with the … Read more

Loaded's Bridget Carey sits down with us for a roundup of breaking news from the Mobile World Congress, a smartphone expo based out of Barcelona that started this weekend.

The announcements range from Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) handsets with simpler nomenclature and integrated quad-core processors with new features like built-in projectors and a Nokia PureView smartphone with an insane 41-megapixel camera.… Read more

Over the last month, CNET has written a lot about an upcoming trade show called Mobile World Congress. And over the next week, we'll be writing even more about it.

If you've never heard of the event before, I don't blame you. Indeed, Mobile World Congress doesn't have the same name recognition that CES commands in the United States, but for the wireless world, it's almost as big and just as significant. Each February, folks from all corners of the industry and around the world meet in Barcelona, Spain, to make deals, demonstrate the latest technologies, and show off the latest and greatest phones and tablets.

This will be my fifth year at the show, which begins Monday in Catalonia's Gaudi-obsessed capital city. Though a possible transit strike threatens to make getting around a little difficult, there's guaranteed to be a (metric) ton of new devices, from the very fancy to the strictly functional. It will be a massive amount to cover, but CNET will have a large team on the ground, including editors Jessica Dolcourt, Roger Cheng, Maggie Reardon, and Stephen Shankland. And thanks to CNET TV producers Jamie Yee and Mark Licea, the new handsets will get their star turns on video.

Android avalanche So what exactly will we see?… Read more

Both Motorola and Lenovo are expected to announce Android devices powered by Intel Medfield chips at next week's Mobile World Congress.

First disclosed all the way back in December 2008, the Intel processor has been making some noise lately with terrific benchmark scores. … Read more

Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 chip is racking up benchmark numbers that make the Samsung Galaxy S II's performance seem so last-year while turning Ice Cream Sandwich into a dreamy experience, said a chip review site.

"Occasionally we'll see performance numbers that just make us laugh at their absurdity," said Anandtech. "[Snapdragon S4's] Linpack performance is no exception. The performance advantage here is insane. The MSM8960 is able to deliver more than twice the performance of any currently shipping SoC (system-on-a-chip)."

And what about that Adreno graphics processing unit? "From a compute standpoint … Read more

Good business tools can make a difference for mom-and-pops, one-man bands, and other small businesses, as well as give a professional look to records, documents, and communications. Icebergo is an accounting and billing solution powered by Microsoft Access. It can manage inventories, purchases, sales, ordering, accounts, taxes, statistics, reports, and more. Its Office-style interface integrates well in a familiar software environment. Icebergo requires an up-to-date version of Access. We tried Icebergo's fully functional freeware edition in Office 2010.

New users must log in to Icebergo as an Admin using a provided password, but it can handle multiple user accounts. … Read more

Comparing Apple's iPad 2 with Motorola's XyBoard and Amazon's Kindle Fire is fraught with peril. But here goes anyway.

Let me preface my review by saying that a few overzealous readers (I'm being charitable with that description) almost invariably call the writer (me) an idiot for not being as savvy and/or perceptive as they claim to be. That's par for the course. But let's get a few things straight here.

First, this isn't an official review. Like the kind you would find at CNET Reviews. Second, I don't favor one manufacturer … Read more