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Windows Phone 7 Apps

Steven Finch — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:30:20 +0000

Here is a quick look at the new Windows 7 Phone apps.

The phone itself will run a tiled interface, almost a cross between the app screens on the iPhone and the app elements on the Android. The big difference on the Windows 7 phone is that the tiles are live – they can show you content even while they sit there.

The first think you will notice is that there are only three buttons at the bottom of the phone. These are the standard buttons that work across the phone, namely back, search and home – the same functions as found on the Android phones.

The panoramic design is something we havent really seen much of, but it looks great. The design actually means that applications arent restricted by the screen szie and have potential to grow quite quickly and easily. This example from AP demonstrates the scale an app can achieve. This app is wide with the ability for the user to zoom into the particular bit they wish to focus on.

Apart from that location based services have really been thought about for the new Windows 7 phones and in general the graphics and feel of the phone are great.

Will the new range of Windows 7 phones really make people move from their current devices over? Im really not too sure. The phones look a million times better than the previous Windows mobile OS.

Start Menu 7: Replace The Standard Windows Start Menu With Something Better

Steven Finch — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:40:42 +0000

Start Menu 7 is a new piece of software which replaces the standard Windows Start Menu.

Start Menu 7 key features:

The list of menu items is alphabetically sorted, so you can easily find any program or command by its name.
Open any location on your PC with a single click.
You can create, modify, and reorder items in Start Menu 7. So it’s easy to create a list of the most used locations, popular directories, and virtual folders to access them with a single click.
There is a special Run button to access seldom used locations without adding them into menu.
Start Menu 7 has a customizable Power Buttons panel.
With Power Timer feature you can delay any of power management operations.

Currently there is a free version of the software, but you can also buy the pro version which has even more added features.

Windows 7 Phone Sexes Up the Market

Luis Sandoval — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 05:41:28 +0000

When I saw the Windows 7 phone my jaw hit the ground like the cartoon characters of yesterday. You know, when the eyes bugged out and the jaw hot the ground with the tongue rolling out? Yes, this phone is sexy. Windows haters beware. iPhone killer? Maybe not, but this phone is sure to turn some heads as it lays out an UI unlike any other mobile phone out there. Zune owners might see some familiarities in the interface, but even those users can expect to see something new.

There was a day when Windows Smartphone would have been an oxymoron, but today, the mold is broken with this experience and it all lies in the UI. For starters, the interface is focused on dedicated “hubs” of information giving the users an interesting way to group like applications under one roof instead of being overwhelmed with information. The touch movement is fluid, the layout easy to understand, and by nature the device is social. A person’s social activity makes this phone a great pleasure to have as you are able to keep up with their status updates integrated into the UI.

You can take photos, create albums, record videos, access Xbox Live, a store to purchase your application needs, and a productivity store for those of us looking to get a little work out of it while having fun too. The phone currently has no pricing, but it’s sure to wow folks who are not familiar with Microsoft making anything this cool and sleek. I don’t necessarily think it’s an iPhone killer, but we’ll see what happens when it hits the market. Remember, Microsoft still needs to compete with Apple and Google which are the current giants in the sandbox.

Windows Mobile Overhaul Coming in 2010

Dean Sherwin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:06:39 +0000

The world of smart phones is flourishing. With that prosperity comes the smart phone wars with each rival manufacturer trying to get their share of the market. The main players are companies like Apple, Nokia and of course, Microsoft.

The Windows mobile range has been around for many years – originally as black and white PAs then eventually catching up with Blackberry. But their technology has become dated and has only ever been modified and given updates – now Microsoft say they’re recoding their entire thing and hope to get WinMo 7 out in the world by September.

They say that they’re working towards finalizing the coding for Win 7.0.0 by the summer months. LG have recently leaked that they will be launching a Windows 7 mobile phone in September, so this is starting to look very promising indeed.

In reality though, it’s about time Microsoft caught up. This overhaul is long over due and I’m sure it will be massively anticipated as September approaches.

Annoyances Nixed with Evernote 3.5

Luis Sandoval — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:55:54 +0000

Evernote 3.5 Windows in beta.

When Evernote first came out there was a lot of hype surrounding this all purpose information collector and sorter. Unlike anything that we had really seen before, Evernote allowed users to capture content either in video, internet, or photo, save it and store to the Evernote account and have all devices sync with your account. It was a great way to share information you would need later, or capture something as simple was scribbles on a napkin without actually having to carry the napkin with you. For web surfers specifically the ability to save an entire page along with the URL or just highlighted content allowed us a new way to capture just what we needed without bookmarking an entire site. Evernote really changed the way we capture data on our mobiles and now it gets an upgrade.

Evernote 3.5 for Windows was recently released in beta and it’s nothing significant, but does address a lot of previous annoyances. Evernote has always existed in many formats; an app, a browser button, and a desktop application rounds out how you can find Evernote. The desktop version for windows was nothing fancy, in fact it could be described as clunky, glitchy, with a UI that was not as intuitive as it could be. With it’s Apple counterpart running smooth and clean, it was a wonder why the Windows version could not mimic that same look and feel.

Some updates you will see are as follows:

three views offered for looking at notes: List, Mixed, and Thumbnails
geo-location tags activate a map that slides into place to show its location
interface feels a lot more Windows 7 than its older counterparts
search database has been improved, and you can save and edit your search filters
multi-language spell check

So with these minor improvements we’ve seen a nicer desktop app under the hood. The application is still free, with a paid pro account alternative offering more functionality for the power users.

Safe Internet Downloads on Softonic

Luis Sandoval — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:04:08 +0000

There’s nothing like finding that application that helps get you through your day. Whether it’s a productivity application, or a business appliation, or a creative application, whether the need, it’s nice to know that there are alternatives to the costly pay versions. Sometimes freeware or shareware is just as good to get the job done and we turn to the internet for those downloads.

Now I admit in the past I had been going to Download.com, and found what I needed on there. But recently I was introduced to Softonic, and it’s equally as impressive as Download.com, but I’m just not a fan of the interface. I found it confusing, kinda clunky, and Download.com seems to have gotten the site structure of its heirarchy better laid out.

Still there’s tons of great apps on the site, which also features apps you should have. Sometimes you find apps that you didn’t now you needed, and that’s when you know that a site is bringing value to you. That value comes in what Softonic covers; Windows, Mac, Phones, Palm OS and Pocket PC’s. Seems like a healthy library, and growing everyday.

Give it a try and let us know which one you like better.

Seesmic for Windows: Best New Twitter Client Optimised for Windows 7

Steven Finch — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:11:31 +0000

Here at Crenk we have been lucky enough to have access to the new Seesmic for Windows. Seesmic is a Twitter and Facebook client that lets you track and update you streams from one simple location and via multiple accounts.

At the Microsoft PDC09 conference yesterday, Seesmic announced their new native Twitter client for Windows. This application is engineered for Windows and optimized for Windows 7. Seesmic for Windows provides users managing Twitter the best experience available by combining the best features what Windows 7 has to offer.

We can offer all our readers access to the new Seesmic for Windows (Currently Closed Beta), by clicking the link here.

Free Windows 7 Transformation Pack for Ubuntu

Steven Finch — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:58:06 +0000

A lot of people are really looking forward to getting their hands on Windows 7 when it comes out. In the mean time there are a lot of people wanting to replicate Windows 7 in other operating system (not really sure why!). Here is a new Windows 7 transformation pack for Ubuntu.

Download Win7 Transformation Pack for Ubuntu from here

Windows Mobile Ad: Windows 6.5 TV Campaign

Steven Finch — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:30:11 +0000

Microsoft has launched Windows Mobile 6.5, but their new TV ad campaign doesn’t emphasis the new version number, its more focused on just advertising “buy a Windows phone”.

Seattle blog TechFlash says the ad is a flop, calling it “downright strange” and lacking the impact of the successful Laptop Hunter series:

Am I missing something here? I’ve watched it three times now, and still don’t think it resonates. We’ve actually been impressed with Microsoft’s “Laptop Hunters” ad campaign — which appears to be making inroads against Apple — as well as some of the more recent Windows 7 ads. But this one is just downright strange.

I have to agree with TechFlash. I dont think the ad is focusing on the right areas, it seems as though they are just focusing on the fact that Windows mobile has apps for all Microsoft products and others.
However, dont they understand that the pretty much all other phones have the basic applications the average users wants on their phones (Facebook, Twitter, etc), and they are focused more on the business market with the Microsoft Office apps, but that market is dominated at the moment by Apple and RIM.

Snow Leopard Skin for Windows Live Messenger 2009 Free

Steven Finch — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:47:28 +0000

I find it funny how there are a lot of skins for Mac like skins on products, however there doesnt seem to be many people making Windows skins for Mac’s. Anyways, here is a new skin for Windows Live Messenger which makes it look like Apple Mac OS Snow Leopard. This is the first Apple theme plus! skin that works with Windows Live Messenger 9 or 14.

This Snow Leopard 1.0.2 skin for Windows Live Messenger 2009 has already had over 1 million downloads despite being in beta.

Download here.

Create Google Chrome Windows 7 Jumplists

Steven Finch — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:25:08 +0000

Jumplists are part of the new Windows 7 taskbar. The jumplists basically provide access to program related options.

The latest dev version of Google Chrome is now offering jumplist support in Windows 7. The jumplist can be opened by right-clicking the Google Chrome icon in the Windows taskbar. The Google Chrome jumplist is divided into four areas of which three are always visible and one only if the user has added at least one item to it.

The Google Browser will display the most visited websites, the recently closed websites and tasks in the jumplist. The most visited and recent websites are directly taken from the web browser’s history while the task allow the user to open a new window (either normal or in incognito mode).

The fourth group only becomes available if the user pins an element in the jumplist. This is for example excellent for quickly accessing favorite websites from the Windows 7 jumplist. The latest developer build of Google Chrome can be downloaded from the dev channel page. It is interesting to see that the Google Chrome development team has added jumplist support while the Mozilla Firefox team has not shown any signs that they intend to support that feature in the near future.

Windows 7 Official Box Packaging

Steven Finch — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:00:33 +0000

It was leaked a few days back and I think intentionally. Windows 7 box packaging is here and here is a quick look at what it is going to look like. Now the official Windows Team Blog has confirmed that this is the official box packaging for Windows 7. Windows Team blog says that the packages are made simple clean design, easy to open, and reduces waste. The Windows 7 logo is made more bolder and easy to read and each edition has a different box color to easily distinguish itself.

Windows 7 Release Candidate To Start Having Issues 1st July

Steven Finch — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:14:29 +0000

Windows 7 users need to consider switching from the Release Candidate before the 1st July. On the 1st of July the operating system will reboot every 2 hours automatically to give the user a friendly reminder that the Windows 7 beta has reached the end of its lifetime.

Users who are not intimidated by the reboot cycle will run into another problem starting August 1 where the operating system will expire completely.

Users still running the beta release of Windows 7 have the option to upgrade to the release candidate build. Microsoft has blocked a direct upgrade but that can be fixed by editing one resource file. Interested users can visit the Windows 7 Beta To RC Upgrade article over at Windows 7 News. The same technique can most likely also be used to upgrade the Windows 7 Release Candidate to the final release of the operating system.

The Windows 7 Release Candidate can still be downloaded from the official Microsoft website. Product keys are handed out as well on those pages.

Bing Launching Mobile Search Product

Steven Finch — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:49:39 +0000

Bing has been receiving a huge amount of press and slowly even seem to be gaining marketshare on Google. Bing is now in the process of developing mobile versions of their search engine in which here are concepts.

Adobe Air Provides Desktop Gaming

Luis Sandoval — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:58:10 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Imagine the ability to entertain yourself without loading up your browser, without loading up a game on CD, but rather using your own desktop as the battleground for a game of authentic Asteroids, using your desktop.

Adobe Air makes it happen and over on the UK’s Sci-Fi website, they are offering an amazing Asteroids replica using your mouse cursor as a ship, and your file folders as the asteroids. As your folders come crashing into you, shoot them to scatter your files across your desktop for more target practice.

Do you lose your files?

Nope, they just temporarily disentegrate as you release your frustration on presentations, projects, reports, and spreadsheets. Give it a try, destroy bordem for good and have a blast…literally.

BitBlinder: Free Anonymous Bittorrent Downloading

Steven Finch — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:12:55 +0000

Over at TorrentFreak they were the first to report on a new bittorrent startup like no other, BitBlinder. Most regular bittorrent users are always looking for the best way to hide themselves online and this just may be the answer.

BitBlinder is a new and free cross platform (Mac coming soon) open source project which not only claims to make anonymous BitTorrent transfers a reality but also hides your IP address while browsing the web. Its functionality also extends to the bypassing of some web filters and in the future will be compatible with more applications, such as email, IRC and instant messaging clients.

As one of its creators explains: “We want to make online anonymity fast, usable and ubiquitous to the point that organisations give up on spying and filtering us”.

It’s apparently not as fast as regular BitTorrent use, but it’s fast enough – and the key thing is that it’s free. Previously, using BitTorrent anonymously has involved paying to use a virtual private network (VPN). Among new features promised are the ability to avoid university and corporate firewalls, too.

Top 3 Tools To Make Windows XP Look Like Vista

Steven Finch — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:58:21 +0000

There has been a huge amount of negative buzz about Vista since its launch and it seems to be justified. However, if your using XP but was the sexy interface of Vista then here are a few ideas on how to get it!

VistaMizer

VistaMizer modifies about 400 of your system files, and when you reboot your system after installation you won’t remember how your old desktop looked like. It’s highly customizable and changes lots of stuff. What’s really good about is that it will keep backup of all the changes (so that you can easily revert it) and won’t replace/overwrite anything that would risk destabilizing your system.

Vista Start Menu

Vista Start Menu turns XP’s Start menu into one like on Vista. Not only do you get a better look but also many new features that are normally not there. These include: resizable start menu, zoom in/out, program launcher, desktop search, power buttons, tabs, and more. Another noteworthy aspect, Vista Start Menu does not change your system settings, thus making it easy to install, as well as simple to remove.

Vista Transformation Pack 7

VTP changes XP’s interface, including the Start menu, the Control Panel, system dialogs, icons, and more, to Vista style. Also includes a transparency function to mimic Vista’s Aero Glass functionality. It’s probably the most comprehensive package out of all, so be very careful with it. While I haven’t experienced any problems some folks reported difficulties in uninstalling it (see comments here). Here are some of the notable changes that will be made to your system.

[Update: Version 8 was released yesterday (Nov 28). It's seems to be better and much more stable. Read more here]

Boot screen / Welcome Screen / Logon Screen.
New desktop, file and toolbar icons.
Progress Dialogs.
New System Tray icons.
New Sounds scheme.
New interface visual styles.
Windows Media Player Skins.

Panda Cloud: Cloud Antivirus Software for Free

Steven Finch — Wed, 13 May 2009 09:31:25 +0000

Everything seems to be moving to the cloud these days and this new antivirus software is no exception, welcome to Panda Cloud. Panda Cloud is currently in beta and is developed by Panda Security a leading security applications developer.

This lightweight antivirus application caters to your system without having to take up half of your PC resources. Panda Cloud Antivirus is based on cloud computing, and is only partially installed on your computer and keeps core files on a dedicated server on the Internet.

One of the key features of this antivirus software is that you don’t have to manually update it. Complicated configurations and having to download new signature files is pretty much a thing of the past this Panda Cloud Antivirus. However, this doesn’t mean you remain unprotected when disconnected from the network: this antivirus app features a local cache that keeps the program up and running, continuously working at 100%.

The interface is also very well designed and aesthetically pleasing.

Panda Cloud Antivirus was designed of Windows XP and Windows Vista, with Windows 7 support in the near future.

Currently the only downside is that it cant run automatic scans and the filters arent really up to speed, but im sure this will be included in the next release once out of beta.

Download Portable Ubuntu for Windows

Steven Finch — Mon, 11 May 2009 21:31:55 +0000

Ubuntu is becoming more popular everyday and now it is easier than ever before to install ubuntu with windows vista or xp. Today I wanted to run through a new way to install portable ubuntu for windows.

Portable Ubuntu comes around at a size of 438 Mega Byte which is actually a self extracting file. You just need to extract the files at any specific location in windows and locate and double click the file named run_portable_ubuntu.bat to run
ubuntu.

Note: It works on all the versions of Windows XP,
Windows Vista and any other windows machine.

Download Portable Ubuntu

How to Migrate from Windows XP to Windows 7

Steven Finch — Thu, 07 May 2009 02:18:45 +0000

NirmalTV has a great article about migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7. As the public release for Windows 7 RC is on the 5th May it is the right time to migrate.

Upgrading to Windows 7 is a simple process and you will not lose any files and documents which you had in Windows XP. User State Migration Tool (USMT) can be used to migrate user files and settings from Windows XP to Windows 7 using a default installation.

USMT captures desktop, and application settings, as well as user accounts and users’ files, and then migrates them to a new Windows installation. Using USMT can help you improve and simplify your migration process. TechNet has a video demo on how to migrate from Windows XP to Windows 7.

MobilePress: Wordpress Plugin To Turn Your Blog Mobile Compatible

Steven Finch — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 09:35:15 +0000

MobilePress is a WordPress plugin that will render your WordPress blog on mobile handsets, with the ability to use customized themes. The plugin also allows specific themes for specific devices / mobile browsers, such as iPhone, Opera Mini, Windows CE Mobile and other generic handset browsers.

The plugin also allows WordPress theme developers to create custom mobile themes for WordPress blogs using the MobilePress plugin. Therefore, theme designers can create specific iPhone themes or generic themes.

MobilePress also features Mobile SEO which detects Google and Yahoo mobile search bots. These mobile search bots will see the mobile version of you blog which allows your blog to optimized and indexed on Google and Yahoo mobile search.

Top 8 Free Alternatives to Adobe Photoshop

Steven Finch — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 13:29:22 +0000

Adobe has some of the most expensive and best product solution in the world, but of course they come at a price. Below are the best 8 free solutions that challenge the Adobe Photoshop program.

1. GIMP

GIMP stands for “GNU image manipulation program”, and it is one of the oldest and most well known alternatives to Photoshop in existence. Although it doesn’t quite have all of them, you’ll find most of the features included in Photoshop somewhere in GIMP. GIMP is cross platform and supported by a large community.

If just having the feature set isn’t enough for you, there is an alternative based on GIMP known as GIMPShop. It’s the same as GIMP, except the layout has been structured as close to Photoshop as possible, so anyone making the transition should still feel right at home.

2. Krita

Krita has been lauded for ease of use and won the Akademy Award for Best Application in 2006. Part of the Koffice suite for Linux, Krita is slightly less powerful than both Photoshop and GIMP, but does contain some unique features.

3. Paint.NET

Paint.NET has grown out of a simple replacement for the well known MSPaint into a fully featured open source image editor with a wide support base. You’ll need Windows to run Paint.NET.

4. ChocoFlop

ChocoFlop is a design application designed exclusively for Mac, optimized for Mac architecture. It’s quick and fairly well featured. This program won’t always be free, but until a stable version is released (it’s currently in beta) they are allowing free use. The program works pretty well as is, and if you’re the type who doesn’t mind an occasional bug it’s certainly worth a look.

5. Cinepaint

Cinepaint is designed primarily for video often used to make animated feature films by major studios, but it is also a great image editor capable of high fidelity 32 bit color. Currently there is no stable version for Windows.

6. Pixia

Pixia was originally designed in Japanese but English versions now exist for this rich editor. Although the original focus was on anime/manga, it is a very capable editor in general. Some of the features are a little counter intuitive, but there are plenty of English tutorials available now if you want to give it a shot. The website seems to have changed recently, so be sure to use our link if you don’t want a Japanese error message. Pixia works for Windows.

7. Pixen

Pixen is designed as a pixel artist’s dream, but has expanded into a smooth and well featured overall editor. It’s definitely best at animation though, if that’s your style. Pixen is Mac (10.4x or later) only.

8. Picnik

Picnik is a web based photo editor that has recently taken off due to a partnership with Flickr. It has all the basic features plus a few advanced ones like layers and special effects. It is cross platform since you only need a browser.

Download Free Windows Vista E-Book from Microsoft

Steven Finch — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:10:42 +0000

Microsoft it offering a free download of the E-book “Windows Vista Resource Kit” written by Mitch Tulloch, Tony Northrup, and Jerry Honeycutt with the Windows Vista Team. Microsoft Press Books is celebrating its 25th Anniversary of with this “Free E-book of the Month” offer. For downloading you need to sign in with your Windows Live ID and register with Microsoft Learning.

Some of the core areas covered in this book are exploit new Group Policy features, settings, and ADMX templates, administer disks, file systems, file sharing, search, and Internet Explorer, manage IPsec, IPv6, wireless, and remote connectivity.

Download Windows Vista Free E-Book

WinSplit Revolution: Spilt Up Your Screen Space into Several Windows

Steven Finch — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:37:57 +0000

If you constantly have 2, 3, or 16 windows open on your computer, WinSplit Revolution can help you organize your space. This little Windows utility automatically resizes and relocates windows making it easy to stack your programs vertically, horizontally, or in little boxes.

The program isn’t really that useful if you’ve got an 800 x 600 pixel display, but if you’ve got a high resolution widescreen monitor, WinSplit Revolution can help you make the most of your space. You can assign keyboard shortcuts to various positions. For instance, one hotkey can maximize the current window, while another can unmaximize it and drag it to the left side of the screen.

Amazon Launches Casual Gaming Download Store

Steven Finch — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:01:51 +0000

Amazon has launched on Tuesday a new video game download store. The site itself can be found here. The initial library offers over 600 games which are all under $10. All casual games are currently for the PC platform, but Im sure this will branch out in the near future.

The store allows customers to download and try any game for 30 minutes, after which point they may choose to pay for the full version.

“We have 88 million active customers who can appreciate the convenience of the true amazon shopping experience combined with the casual games experience,” Greg Hart, VP of video games and software at Amazon, told Kotaku.

While the service currently lacks some of the more popular casual games from top publishers, it will look to expand its selection.

Amazon recently acquired casual game developer Reflexive, which counts a library of over 1,000 games.