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Storyboards captures the intuitive ease of touch screen controls and uses them effectively to create a robust storyboarding tool for the iPad. With hand drawing features, clip art, and easy to create and manipulate storyboard panels, this is a very useful app for prospective and active filmmakers, alike.

Storyboards breaks down each level of the storyboarding process carefully to make organization a snap. Tap the opening page to create a new storyboard, and then create a new Drawing. On any drawing, you can draw by hand or you can drag and drop one of dozens of different pieces of clip … Read more

The lack of options in native backup utilities means some Mac users may look to outside programs for more features. FileFort Free Mac Backup Software for Mac adds flexibility to backups, as well as some useful options, and would be a helpful utility for many users.

FileFort Free Mac Backup Software for Mac is free, but it attempts to install other programs from the developer, including an Internet tool bar, during setup. There were no problems during download, but the user must accept a lengthy licensing agreement to operate the program. User instructions were not obviously available, but there is … Read more

The built-in camera for the iPhone is a great tool, allowing millions of people to take high-quality photos and share them near instantly with friends and family when on the go. But the actual app used to take photos is fairly limited. Fortunately, there are dozens of tools on the App Store that provide additional options for things like focus lock, exposure control, and white balance, including Camera Plus.

This version of Camera Plus is the lite version of the app so some of its more robust features are still missing; but even as a free app, it provides more … Read more

Advanced users who work with hundreds and even thousands of image files need a way to quickly filter them. Graphic Inspector for Mac's sorting options may make it a worthwhile option for these users, but others will find the program less useful.

Graphic Inspector for Mac comes with a free trial version with a 30-day usage limit. The full version requires a $39.95 payment to unlock. Download and installation completed quickly and a user guide is available with the program. This guide provides the user with fairly detailed operating instructions. Technical support is also available via a button … Read more

Windows comes with its own built-in search feature, but many users find it to be slow and cumbersome. As its name suggests, Wise JetSearch is a speedy alternative that can quickly search for files and folders in a variety of locations. We think it's a great choice for anyone who's looking for an alternative to the built-in Windows option.

Wise JetSearch has an attractive and very simple interface. A drop-down menu reveals a series of check boxes from which you select the drives you want to search. There's a field where you enter your search terms, including … Read more

Text messaging can add up very quickly, even if you have a plan through your phone service provider. For users in the Philippines, Chikka Text Messenger claims to offer free text messaging, but, sadly, we never made it past the Sign In page to find out how it performs.

To start, Chikka asks for access to your Contacts, which is typical of these types of apps. If you don't already have a Chikka account, you'll have to create one by using your Globe, Smart, or Sun mobile phone to register, or by entering your e-mail address. Because we … Read more

No matter how robust a data plan you have on your phone, it's still probably limited and slower than Wi-Fi. It pays to do most of your downloading on your home's connection or on free hot spots. WiFi Free will help you find dozens of free places to connect, but it's nowhere near as seamless as other apps. It takes too long to set up and has a very simple layout.

When you install this supposedly free app, you'll be stuck either paying 99 cents or connecting it with your Foursquare account. If you don't … Read more

VirtualLab Data Recovery is a modular data and partition recovery tool from BinaryBiz. VirtualLab recovers lost, damaged, or deleted files and partitions, including Mac partitions, as well as deleted e-mail and photos. It can also recover CD and DVD data in many cases. This powerful suite even includes a RAID Recovery tool. It works on regular hard drives as well as removable and flash drives. While the program is free to try, it won't recover any data. The least expensive licensed version recovers up to 100MB of data. License upgrades are available, depending on how much data you need … Read more

Reliable and resilient, Mobile Tracker can actively track down the phone on which it is installed, providing you with every single bit of data that the device receives and transmits. Installation is quite straightforward, and depending on which device it's used on, it may even be permanent.

For the mobile version, the tracker interface presents a simple list of most recent contacts divided into two categories, via direct call and via SMS. When it comes to the PC version's tracker interface, it largely depends on the type of Web messenger software that you plan to use with it. … Read more