tools

Smart Tools are powerful, yet simple

Even with its belt full of powerful tools onboard, Smart Tools is, for the most part, simple. The app opens up to a wall of choices, and if you've used any of Smart Tools' apps before, then all of them should look familiar. Smart Tools combines the powers of all of the developer's individual Pro tool sets.

The first set lets you measure length and angle, using a level, ruler, and two protractors (one which uses the screen, and the other your device's camera).

The second offers a Distance tool, which is a bit more complicated, as … Read more

Google+ gives users a tool to merge multiple accounts

Google has come up with a way to merge users' Google Plus accounts, so that all circles and circle information can now be in just one account. The Web giant announced today the launch of the "Google+ circles transfer tool" via Google Takeout.

The tool works by moving users' Google+ circles and connections from what it calls a "source" account to a "destination" account. Once users' accounts are merged with this tool, people in their circles will only see the "destination" profiles.

This is most likely welcome news to those users that … Read more

The boss approaches? Time for Windows Hide Tool!

Window Hide Tool is a freeware "boss key" app. They go by many names, but the object is always the same: to instantly hide an open window that you don't want someone else (like the boss) to see, simultaneously preserving both the illusion of productivity and whatever it was you had going on that would shatter it. The best boss keys let you program hot keys that quickly and unobtrusively drop the target window while you type or click. Window Hide Tool is one of the best we've tried. You can program basic commands such as … Read more

Asana looks to cut down the noise in your in-box

Task-management company Asana has unveiled a new way for its users to handle the e-mail overload in their in-box.

Dubbed Inbox, the feature is designed for the companies that are currently using Asana's task-management tool. With Inbox, team members can stay up-to-date on the latest events related to a particular task or project and avoid dealing with unnecessary e-mail threads, according to Asana.

At the center of that plan is a pane that provides "the entire history and up-to-date status of the work [a message is] about," in each message sent between team members. In addition, the … Read more

SwiftKey 3.0 adds 'Smart Space'

If you're not familiar with SwiftKey, it's a Google Play Editors' Choice app, and it won the coveted Most Innovative App award at the 2011 Global Mobile Awards in Barcelona, Spain. What sets it apart from other keyboard replacement apps is its capability to understand not just patterns in your typing, but also how words work together. This makes it scary good at predicting not only the next letter you need to type, but also the next word, sometimes even before you begin typing it. What's more, Swiftkey can continue to learn from your e-mail, SMS, and … Read more

SwiftKey 3.0 adds 'Smart Space'

If you're not familiar with SwiftKey, it's a Google Play Editors' Choice app, and it won the coveted Most Innovative App award at the 2011 Global Mobile Awards in Barcelona, Spain. What sets it apart from other keyboard replacement apps is its capability to understand not just patterns in your typing, but also how words work together. This makes it scary good at predicting not only the next letter you need to type, but also the next word, sometimes even before you begin typing it. What's more, Swiftkey can continue to learn from your e-mail, SMS, and … Read more

Boost your typing powers with SwiftKey

If you're not familiar with SwiftKey, it's a Google Play Editors' Choice app, and it won the coveted Most Innovative App award at the 2011 Global Mobile Awards in Barcelona, Spain. What sets it apart from other keyboard replacement apps is its ability to understand not just patterns in your typing, but also how words work together. This makes it scary good at predicting the next word you want to type, sometimes even before you begin typing it. What's more, SwiftKey can continue to learn from your e-mail, SMS, and even social media accounts (if enabled), so … Read more

Boost your typing powers with SwiftKey

If you're not familiar with SwiftKey, it's a Google Play Editors' Choice app, and it won the coveted Most Innovative App award at the 2011 Global Mobile Awards in Barcelona, Spain. What sets it apart from other keyboard replacement apps is its capability to understand not just patterns in your typing, but also how words work together. This makes it scary good at predicting the next word you want to type, sometimes even before you begin typing it. What's more, SwiftKey can continue to learn from your e-mail, SMS, and even social media accounts (if enabled), so … Read more

Learn to play the banjo, ukulele, guitar, and mandolin with the Tomky Tool's free apps.

Does your dog have fleas? Knowing the answer to that question used to be important when learning to play the ukulele, but not anymore, thanks to the Ukulele Tool. It's one of four free tools for learning to play stringed instruments bundled together as the Tomky Tool. In addition to the Ukulele Tool, you get the Guitar Tool, the Banjo Tool, and the Mandolin Tool. Each tool is separate and runs independently of the others, yet all share the same interface and features. You'll need audio to use it.

The Tomky Tool has a single installer, but each … Read more

Developer tool maker Atlassian readies for IPO

With 460 full-time employees worldwide, 18,000 customers, and plans for an initial public offering on the horizon, Atlassian's revenue has grown from $17 million in 2007 to more than $100 million five years later.

Possibly more interesting is that the company doesn't have salespeople, was founded in Australia instead of Silicon Valley, and largely saw this enormous growth selling behind-the-firewall tools to development teams.

Let me put this out there upfront: developer tools are boring. And yet, you talk to Atlassian execs and its customers, and it seems to be a big lovefest for the company and … Read more