software

How much do I love Cheapskate readers? So much that even when I'm a little under the weather (cough), I can't help serving up five sweet deals (sneeze) to carry you into the weekend (moan). That's love, people.

1. Storage to go Oh, flash drives, you so crazy. Crazy-cheap, that is. Today only, and while supplies last (not long, I'm guessing), Best Buy has the Kingston DataTraveler Special Edition 16GB USB 2.0 flash drive for $7.99 shipped, plus sales tax. This tiny drive includes Kingston's urDrive software, which helps manage, organize, and back … Read more

Apple has released its third update for OS X Mountain Lion, bringing the latest version of the software to 10.8.3 after over three months of development. Along with a number of bug fixes for problems users have been experiencing in 10.8.2 and earlier, the new version adds a couple of new features.

The first is that Mac users can now redeem iTunes gift cards using an iSight camera. Now if you take a snapshot of the card in the Mac App Store you can have the system identify its number and redeem it instead of having … Read more

Mozilla yesterday announced the launch of a new Firefox OS Simulator.

Mozilla acknowledged that the third version of the simulator is "a bit rough around the edges," but decided to release it to give users the chance to give feedback and contribute fixes.

Firefox OS is Mozilla's upcoming mobile operating system. Since late last year, the organization has been offering simulators showcasing its functionality and giving users the chance to try it out. As with previous versions, Firefox OS Simulator 3.0 is available to Windows, Linux, and OS X users, and runs as an extension in … Read more

We Dropbox users have gotten very accustomed to our boring yet reliable Dropbox desktop clients (download for Windows, Mac, Linux 32-bit, and Linux 64-bit) chugging along tirelessly, syncing files and folders between computers and devices with no muss or fuss, that it was with some trepidation yesterday that I updated to version 2.0, the brand-new release from the online-hosting service. The new update gives the system-tray-based app a slight cosmetic makeover--the utilitarian menu as been supplanted with a more modern UI that includes links to your Dropbox folder, the Dropbox Web site, three "recently changed" files, and … Read more

FreeRIP extracts and converts your audio tracks, as well as detecting CD and song info and making all of that info editable right from the interface. It's easy to start right up with FreeRIP, which supports the most common audio formats--MP3, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, WMA, and WAV. It can also convert files between any of those formats, play your audio files, and edit tags. With the release of version 4.0, the app now adds burning audio CDs to the mix of features that free users can access.

FreeRIP's bare-bones interface is set up for easy access and … Read more

You've got just over a month to file your annual tax return, meaning the time has come to start shopping for a deal on tax software.

I have something of a love/hate relationship with TurboTax, but it's been my go-to product for the last several years. Warts aside, it gets the job done.

And today it'll get it done a little cheaper. For a limited time, you can save up to $20 on TurboTax Online. That means $34.99 for for TurboTax Online Premier and $54.99 for TurboTax Online Home and Business. Both versions include … Read more

I am a PC user and a Mac user. My PC is an Alienware that allows me to play my MMORPGs for whenever time permits me to do so and the graphics on that little powerful machine makes me sing. My Mac, on the other hand, is primarily for work and is used on a daily basis for simple tasks. Luckily for me, my semi-new PC is well-maintained and doesn't give me a lot of problems anymore, but until this one, I have had my share of slow, problematic PCs that used to keep me up at night, literally. … Read more

Following closely on the heels of a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 security vulnerability, another Samsung user has found that the bug affects other models.

Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 flaw, the bug allows for full access to the Samsung Galaxy S3. The method is similar in that it requires a fleet-fingered user to hop through a number of screens.

As discovered by Sean McMillian, the smartphone can be manipulated by tapping through the emergency call, emergency contacts, home screen, and then the power button twice. McMillian admits that the bug isn't consistent -- sometimes, he said, it works … Read more

The first results of Opera's WebKit brain transplant are now available for people to try: a beta version of Opera for Android.

The new version uses Android-native user-interface elements but preserves many Opera features such as Speed Dial. It gets some new features, too, such as Off-road Mode to enable a proxy-browsing technology designed for slow network connections and the Discovery tool for people who want to browse content tailored to their interests.

The Oslo, Norway-based company announced in February that it's scrapped its own Presto engine, except in its TV browser product line, in favor of the … Read more