Make AirPrint Work With Non-AirPrint-Compatible Printers

Like many users, I was pretty excited about iOS 4.2's AirPrint feature--until I learned that it would work only with AirPrint-compatible printers. Sorry, but I'm not ditching my perfectly good laser and inkjet models just so I can beam the occasional photo or document from my iPhone.

Fortunately, I don't have to. Following some instructions over at news blog Javox, I learned how to make AirPrint work with just about any printer.

I won't repeat the step-by-step here, as it's pretty straightforward. However, I will note some important items the author left out:

The download page for the required AirPrint files is rife with pop-ups, so make sure your browser security is up to date. I also hosted it here if you'd rather avoid that link altogether.

When you open the Command prompt (as described in Step 4), make sure you run it as an administrator. In Vista and Windows 7, you do this by clicking Start, typing cmd, right-clicking the entry that appears, and then choosing "Run as administrator."
On my Windows 7 system, I never got the Windows Firewall prompt as described in Step 6. Consequently, when I went to choose a printer on my iPhone, both my printers appeared--but with padlocks next to each. To access them, I had to manually add AirPrint as an "allowed program" in Windows Firewall.

If you encounter other problems getting this to work, you may need to enable a guest account in Windows (as described by this commenter), then stop and restart the AirPrint service.

I'm happy to report that after jumping through several of these hoops, I can now print to both my Brother HL-2170W and Brother MFC-490CW. Works like a charm.

Mac users may want to check out AirPrint Hacktivator 1.7, which accomplishes more or less the same thing but with a little more automation.


Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20023976-233.html#ixzz16iLikPTR

RockMelt Browser Is Social, But Not Obnoxiously So

Is it worth switching to a new browser? Marc Andreessen never had to force users to ask that question when he built Mosaic. For most people, it was their first browser.

But now he's backing the development of another browser, RockMelt. This browser is not perfect, but it does show that there's room yet in the market. If Facebook built a browser, it would probably look a lot like this.

This has been tried before. The other social Web browser, Flock, integrates Facebook features. Also, like Flock (at least the new 3.0 version), RockMelt is built from Chromium, the same Google-developed open toolkit underneath the Chrome browser.


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-20022134-250.html?tag=mncol#ixzz14jbIeogQ

Windows Phone 7, Canadian Xbox 360s Get Netflix Streaming Today

Microsoft may have missed out on being the first to stream Netflix in 1080p with surround sound, but it's still improving access to the service with a new app for Windows Phone 7 arriving on the same day a dashboard update brings Watch Instantly access to Xbox 360-owning Canadians. The free app should be easily found in the Marketplace Video Store, but just in case you don't have an HTC Surround or similar device in your immediate vicinity check out this demo from March embedded after the break.

Nintendo Wii Debuts Disc-Free Netflix Streaming

Disc-less Netflix streaming is now possible on all three major game consoles.

Nintendo Wii owners can download a free Netflix app from the Wii Shop Channel, starting today, that lets the rental company's subscribers stream television shows and movies without requiring them to insert a special disc into the game console.

This comes on the heels of Sony's announcement last week that a free app would be available today to let Netflix subscribers stream content on PlayStation 3 without inserting a disc. Microsoft's Xbox 360 has been offering disc-less Netflix streaming since the service's launch on the console in 2008.

To stream Netflix content on any device, consumers must sign up for a plan. Netflix plans start at $8.99 a month.


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20019842-17.html?tag=mncol;title#ixzz12qHn43GA

PayPal's iPhone App Now Scans Your Check

There may be no jet packs yet, but we are very much living in the future. Proof enough of that is PayPal's latest addition to its iPhone app, which brings with it the capability to snap a photo of a check and have it be deposited to your PayPal account free of charge.

Sure, this is something that customers of Chase and USAA have been able to do with each company's respective iPhone applications for months now, but this is PayPal. Why is that important? It means if you've connected your PayPal account to another bank that does not offer such a feature, you can use PayPal as the go-between.

Of course PayPal has limits of how much you can transfer from your account each month, but you can have that lifted if you do things like confirm your Social Security number and debit card.

There are some other strings attached, including the fact that you must hang on to that check for 15 days after sending that information to PayPal, just in case it does not clear. PayPal also says that it takes "about six days" for the amount to show up in your PayPal balance, which is considerably slower than if you took it to the bank.

PayPal says the new feature is powered by Las Vegas-based BankServ (formerly NetDeposit). No word yet on if and when PayPal plans to bring this feature to its apps on other platforms like Android and BlackBerry.


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20018826-248.html?tag=mncol;txt#ixzz1254ewU82

Microsoft Releases Updated Windows Live Apps

Microsoft today is releasing the final version of its new set of Windows Live apps, including updates to its photo- and video-editing programs, as well as synching and blogging tools.

The Windows Live Essentials 2011 apps have been in testing since June and are available for download from Microsoft's site. The collection includes Windows Live Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Messenger, and Mail, along with Windows Live Mesh, Family Safety, and Writer.

Microsoft also plans to announce that Dell will be the first global PC maker to start including the programs preloaded on its PCs.

Of note, the updated programs will work on Windows Vista or Windows 7, but not on Windows XP. Microsoft says the programs will be available in 48 languages over the next few hours.

Without a new release of Windows, Microsoft is counting on the updated versions of Windows Live to help boost holiday PC sales. Microsoft announced on Monday that it was getting rid of its Windows Live Spaces blogging site and will instead transfer users to WordPress.com. WordPress will also be the default blog option within the Windows Live Writer blogging program that is part of the new app suite.

Stephen Sinofsky, president of the Windows unit, said in an interview earlier this month that Microsoft plans to tout the hardware acceleration of its Windows Live Essentials as an example of how Windows adds power on top of a generic Web experience.

"There [are] some really exciting and innovative things in it, and they also tap into the power of hardware," he said. "Movie Maker and Photo Gallery are all hardware-accelerated and do a really great job using accelerated video and accelerated graphics in general."

The photo program adds a number of features including face recognition and the ability to combine multiple group photos, choosing the best shot of each person to create a new, better family photo. Microsoft is also adding more options in Photo Gallery and Movie Maker for uploading to other services as part of a concerted effort to focus not just on its own Web services, but also more widely used services, such as Facebook.

Messenger, which got an updated beta last month, now allows users to chat with their Facebook friends--the first major IM program to do so, while Movie Maker can now upload to Flickr.

Windows Live Mesh, the synching program, combines elements of the prior Live Mesh preview and Windows Live Sync. Earlier this week, Microsoft posted a beta version of Windows Live Sync for the Mac (Guess they didn't get the memo on going back to the Mesh name.)


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20018173-56.html?tag=mncol#ixzz112xDFILx

Apple Makes Progress With Ping

Apple has made a small but important change to Ping that improves it considerably. It's not enough to make the much-maligned social network a real winner, but it's a good a start: An update to iTunes now allows you to interact with Ping directly from your music player, instead of having to make a visit to Ping itself.

So now you can recommend songs to your friends, and see the music they recommend, at the same you're actually listening to songs.

It's a such an obvious feature that it's hard to believe that Apple didn't include it in Ping's launch. But that just shows you how rough that launch has been.

Ping also doesn't track what you play, even though Apple's own "Genius" recommendation service does that (as do competitors like Last.fm). That could be quite a useful feature, given proper opt-in privacy options.

But most important is that Ping lives in a gated suburb that most of your friends never visit. If Apple is really serious about social, then it has to find a way to integrate Ping with Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of the networks your pals are already using. My hunch is that we'll see that eventually.

Story Copyright (c) 2010 AllThingsD. All rights reserved.


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20017643-93.html?tag=mncol;title#ixzz10lebYiOs

Hands-On with PS3's 3D Blu-ray update

We got a chance to test the 3D portion of the Sony PlayStation 3's latest firmware update, version 3.5, and the short story is that it works fine, aside from one minor issue that may be a deal breaker for audiophiles, and some compatibility gaffes with older PS3s.

For our test we hooked up our PS3 Slim to a number of 3D TVs in our TV test lab: the LG 47LX9500, Panasonic TC-P50VT25, the Samsung UN55C8000, and the Sony KDL-46NX810--representing all of the current flat-panel 3D TV makers. In each case the PS3 delivered what was, as far as we can tell by eye and the TVs' status indicators and menus, Full HD 3D, aka 1080p to each eye via the frame-packing format used by Blu-ray. Images appeared as sharp as we expected, without the softer look characteristic of half-resolution broadcast 3D, from DirecTV for example.

For compatibility testing we tried six of the currently available 3D Blu-ray discs: "Monsters vs. Aliens," "Coraline," "IMAX: Under the Sea," "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," and "Monster House." All played without a hitch in 3D mode, as they have on standalone 3D players like the Samsung BD-C6900 and the Panasonic DMP-BDT100. It's also worth noting that, as with all of our previous 3D testing, we used standard HDMI cables we had onhand already; no new cables were required to pass 3D over HDMI.

Further compatibility testing performed on an older, 60GB PlayStation 3 "fat" (first generation, February 2007 manufacture date) reveals that the player cannot recognize or play back either "Monsters vs. Aliens" or "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs." The other four 3D Blu-rays mentioned above were recognized and played back normally.

We wouldn't be surprised if a firmware update appeared to fix this issue, but in the meantime it might be annoying for Samsung and Panasonic 3D TV owners; both "Monsters" and "Ice Age" are exclusives, respectively, to each company for now. We would be surprised, on the other hand, if the forthcoming exclusive version of "Avatar" showed the same issue.

We've contacted Sony for an explanation and when we receive one, we'll update this post. Until then we don't know for sure which versions of the PS3 can play which 3D discs, and why.

A couple of other oddities are worth noting. The PS3 makes extensive use of menu overlays for settings and status, and engaging them by pressing Triangle or Select during playback causes the image to revert to 2D, which can be a bit jarring. Removing the menu re-engages 3D mode. For what it's worth, other players we've tested can deliver overlays and maintain 3D mode.

Audiophiles may fume in rage that, according to Google's translation of Sony's Japanese press release (hat tip: AVS Forum), the PS3 is incapable of outputting high-resolution audio formats, namely Dolby Digital TrueHD and DTS-Master, when playing back 3D Blu-rays. We confirmed this issue using "Ice Age" and a Pioneer VSX-1020-K; while the Panasonic DMP-BDT100 lit up the Pioneer's "DTS-Master" indicator, the PS3 could only summon the standard "DTS" message in 3D. We don't consider this a big deal, however.

Aside from these minor issues, the upgrade making the Sony PS3 a 3D-compatible Blu-ray player (did we mention it's free?) provides a rare smooth sail in the otherwise rough seas of this year's 3D TV revival.

Editors' note: This article was updated with additional testing of a first-generation PS3.

CBS News App For iPad Lifts Off

Just as the laptop and portability changed the face of computing over the last two decades, the iPad, and competitors who are quickly following in Apple's footsteps, marks the beginning of a new era in computing and deeper embedding of technology in our daily lives.

Paul Saffo, a forecaster who has explored the long-term impact of technology innovations, said that the iPad is as "important as the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984," which launched the graphical user interface and mouse to the masses.

What makes the iPad a potential game changer? Certainly, the size and light weight of the tablet-sized iPad, as well as the touch interface evolved from the iPhone, offer a more "personal" and convenient computing experience. But more important, the iPad and its underlying software have the beginnings of a platform for rich, interactive applications that changes how users interact with content.

Adapting the iPad application model is at the core of the launch of our first CBS News iPad application, which is available for free in the Apple App Store. Instead of clicking on Web pages with a mouse or touchpad, you use your fingers to navigate and interact with the content with swiping, dragging, scissoring and other gestures.

The CBS News iPad app brings you the latest news from CBSNews.com, with text, video, and photos, as well as content from "The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric," "The Early Show," "48 Hours Mystery," "Sunday Morning," "Face the Nation," and "Up to the Minute." A separate "60 Minutes" iPad app is in the works. (CNET News is published by CBS Interactive, a unit of CBS.)

The CBS News app for iPad includes related content--text, videos and photo galleries--for each story, and one-touch social-networking features, which allow users to share stories with friends and colleagues via e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter.

The front page of the CBS News app has two viewing experiences. In portrait mode, users can browse headlines with images and related thumbnail photos, or use the app in landscape mode, which provide a quick, mostly text view of top news, videos, popular news galleries, and Twitter messages.

Other features include the option to save articles for offline viewing, searching news by content type, weather targeted by location, stock look-up and an easy-to-browse section for CBS News and CBSNews.com programs online.

Stay tuned for updates as we evolve our iPad application and develop apps for emerging tablet devices. CBS News is also available on the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Symbian platforms.


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20016251-93.html?tag=mncol;title#ixzz0zdUwpnHf

iOS 4.1 For iPhone, iPod Touch Released

The latest software for the iPhone and iPod Touch is available starting Wednesday for download from Apple.

The company foreshadowed the arrival of iOS 4.1 at its annual fall press event last week and included an overview of the latest features. The download is free via iTunes for iPhone and iPod Touch owners.

Besides upgrades to new features for games, photos, and high-definition videos, Apple is using this software update to zap several bugs at once.

Among the issues Apple CEO Steve Jobs promised would be fixed with the installation of 4.1 are: proximity sensor problems that were causing some accidental dropped calls; the painfully slow performance of the iPhone 3G with iOS 4.0; Bluetooth connectivity problems with certain car stereos and headsets (that CNET noted as soon as the iPhone 4 was released); and problems related to the Nike+iPod software.

Other upgrades in iOS 4.1 include: the ability to upload HD videos over Wi-Fi, TV show rentals on iTunes from an iPhone or iPod Touch, new HDR (high dynamic range) photo function, and the delayed GameCenter.

GameCenter was announced in April at the iOS 4.0 press event, but was not included in the initial release of the software. GameCenter is a social-networking feature that allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to play games on their devices against friends in real time.

CNET's Kent German will have a hands-on review of the latest software for iPhone and iPod Touch as well as screenshots later today, so be sure to check back.

App Sends iPhone's HD Video At Full Quality

It's easy enough to write off TransferBigFiles as just another cloud-based file transfer service with an iPhone app like Box or YouSendIt. However, TBF claims its app is the first to let you send full-quality HD video files created with the iPhone directly from the device over Wi-Fi or 3G--no need to sync, convert, or connect to a computer first.

The app is pretty straightforward. You can create a free account through the app or with the company's Web service, sign in, and start uploading and sending. The input box for adding recipients isn't linked to your contacts, so you'll have to input e-mail addresses on your own, which is a pain. But otherwise the process is effortless and if you're uploading a large file, the app will run in the background for up to 10 minutes on iOS 4. Also, should you drop your signal or interrupt the transfer some other way, the upload will resume where it left off.

The Web service has free and paid account types, which apply to the app as well. Signing up for a free account gets you 2GB of online storage for iPhone files, but the first 100,000 users to install and activate the TransferBigFiles iPhone app will get 5GB for their video and photo uploads. Even if you never buy into the Web service, that's a good deal for occasionally sending clips off to friends and family or for business.

Update: Just to clarify, the iPhone transfer storage and Web service storage are separate amounts. While the free account gets you 2GB of iPhone transfer storage, it only includes 250MB of Web service storage. The free account is nice for sending off a video clip or photo, but you'll have to buy into the Web service to make that worthwhile.


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20015169-1.html?tag=mncol#ixzz0yDpMZZzU

Angry Birds Game Finally Lands On WebOS Devices

Angry Birds, which has been downloaded more than 5 million times via iTunes, is a game in which you play an army of titular birds angry at an enemy army of green pigs that have stolen all your eggs. They've made up structures to hide behind, which you destroy by flinging super-powered birds at them, knocking down their walls.

The game is far and away one of the most fun games on the platform. It has a great combination of problem solving and skill and a perfect physics engine, and it has great replayability. And now it's coming to WebOS devices.

We knew it was coming a couple of weeks ago, so it's no surprise, but the fact that it's finally landed (ha ha!) fills me and any other Pre users with joy. I can now play this on my Pre to save my poor, poor iPhone's battery. I have quite literally played my way through an entire charge trying to get one level right.

It's available right now at the Palm store for $1.99. It's two bucks that will buy you hours of fun. You can thank me later.
Now when are we getting new levels, Rovio?

Barnes & Noble Releases Nook for iPhone

Recently, Barnes & Noble announced that it was rebranding its eReading software across various platforms and calling it Nook. As part of that evolution, the company has released a "next-generation" Nook for iPhone application that incorporates many of the features found in its Nook for iPad app. At the same time, it's updated Nook for iPad to include some new features, including one that allows you to rate e-books from within the app. Users had been requesting the feature, the company said.

Nook for iPhone appears to be a big improvement over the company's previous B&N eReader for iPhone. As with the iPad app, you can customize color themes (for backgrounds and links) and set the screen for day and night reading, as well as control the screen brightness. The company says the eBook cover art and text have been been optimized for the iPhone 4's Retina display but it also looks just fine on earlier iPhone and iPod Touch models. Barnes & Noble's LendMe feature, which allows you to lend out certain e-book titles to one friend one time for 14 days, is also integrated into the new app.

Check out all the features on the Barnes & Noble Web site or just download the app here. It's free, after all.

New App Brings Flash To Jailbroken iPhones

An updated version of Frash, an app that permits the otherwise banned Adobe Flash technology on Apple mobile devices, has been released. At the moment, however, it's only capable of handling relatively basic Flash animations (including, for example, the cult-classic Flash cartoon "Trogdor the Burninator"). The device in question must also first be "jailbroken," or hacked to remove protections and restrictions put in place by the hardware or software manufacturer.

Comex, the development firm that created Frash as well as the JailbreakMe tool, initially launched the app in a limited test that was first only accessible via the Safari browser on the iPad. The updated Frash, Comex says, also works on the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and third-generation iPod Touch.

Last month, the U.S. Copyright Office ruled that jailbreaking is technically legal from a copyright standpoint. Apple objected to the ruling, and has said that jailbreaking nevertheless violates its user terms of service, but at the same time there has never been an instance of the company pressing legal action against a customer who jailbroke a phone.

Will the wider ability to add Flash to an Apple mobile device through jailbreaking make Apple crack down on the practice? Apple's relationship with Flash manufacturer Adobe grew quite hostile this spring, with Adobe's Flash evangelist writing a blog post that read "Go screw yourself Apple" in the wake of Apple's decision to keep non-approved third-party APIs off iOS 4. That policy change had cut off a back-door approach that had let Flash, which Apple says it doesn't permit for security and performance reasons, onto Apple mobile devices without jailbreaking.

Hackers Release Browser-Based iPhone 4 Jailbreak

The unlocked iPhone 4 is now technically legal and technically possible.
Just days after the U.S. Copyright Office ruled that bypassing a manufacturer's protection mechanisms to allow "handsets to execute software applications" no longer violates federal copyright law, the iPhone Dev Team on Sunday released a jailbreak for the iPhone 4 at JailbreakMe.com.

Unlike previous jailbreaks, which required the device to be connected to a computer to run the update, the latest jailbreak is accomplished completely via mobile Safari loaded on the device. The browser-based software bypass reportedly works on all iOS devices, including iPhones, iPads, and iPods running iOS 4 and iOS 4.01, but it will reportedly not work on devices running the iOS 4.1 beta.

Also, some users report the jailbreak disrupts FaceTime and MMS functionality on the device.

However, as of this writing, demand for the jailbreak is apparently so strong that the site's servers can't keep up, and many visitors report difficulty in getting through.

Jailbreaking allows devices to run apps not approved by the company producing the operating system--such as Apple, the main target of such bypasses. Jailbreaking also allows devices to run on nonauthorized networks.

While the U.S. Copyright Office has declared the software legal, Apple discourages users from loading the bypass, reminding them that doing so will void their device's warranty. "As we've said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones as this can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably," Apple said in a statement earlier this week.

20 Great, Free iPad Comic Books

One of the under-the-radar killer apps of Apple's iPad is the collection of comic book storefronts (which also double as comic readers). They're all free, and connect you to virtual comic shops that sell digital issues of comics for about $2 each--with transactions handily conducted through Apple's app store back end.

There are official Marvel and DC Comics apps, along with indie apps such as Comics + app from iVerse, IDW Comics, and the Comics app from ComiXology, which sell titles from a variety of large and small publishers. All of these apps have a very similar layout, and many sell overlapping products. Even better, they all have a frequently changing collection of free comics available to download, making it easy to build a small virtual comic book library for the low, low, price of free.




As a former comic reader in my high school days (I know, hard to believe, right?), who has done little-to-no comic book reading in the past 20 years, I was surprisingly sucked in by these apps, but also found the free offerings available varied wildly in quality, from full issues of classic comics, to skimpy "preview" issues only a few pages in length, to low-grade indie comics that look like they were drawn in the back of a grade school textbook.

To the end, I took it upon myself to sample the free wares available in the biggest iPad comic book apps and pick the best examples for casual readers. If you've downloaded some free winners not on my list, let everyone know about them in the comments section below.

1978 Space Invaders Makes It To 2010 iPad, Original Style

The world changed significantly in 1978. The first computer bulletin board system was released, Apple III was under way and, most recognizably, TAITO’s SPACE INVADERS made its way into arcade games rooms around the world. Some 32 years later, it’s back. iPad style.

TAITO Corporation, the original manufacturer and distributor of the classic game, announced that Space Invaders HD (iPad edition) as been released. Here’s what TAITO had to say:

While remaining a faithful recreation of the beloved arcade classic, the graphics and sounds in SPACE INVADERS HD have been specially optimized to take full advantage of iPad’s hardware. Not only are familiar tricks like the Nagoya Attack present and accounted for, the game also includes a treasury of bonus materials, such as rarely seen design documents from the original 1978 game’s development.

Graphics have been optimized exclusively for the iPad, making it “a more impressive gaming experience than the iPhone/iPod touch edition” – something we awarded proudly with 4.5 stars. You can see our review here.

The price for this nostalgic goodness? $4.99. Available to download now.



Read more: http://www.148apps.com/news/1978-space-invaders-2010-ipad-original-style/#ixzz0uAECOumi

Barnes & Noble Makes Nook More Student-Friendly

Using an e-reader for academic pursuits can be pretty disjointed. What happens to the passages you highlight? Are they citable? What about supplementary learning tools like workbooks and class notes?

Barnes & Noble hopes to make the experience better with the launch of NOOKstudy. It is downloadable software for your Mac or Windows PC that will help you access and organize your course material, whether or not you use Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader.

Barnes & Noble says that NOOKstudy will give students access to "eTexbooks, lecture notes, syllabi, slides, images, trade books, and other course-related documents." This information should be able to be synced with your own notes as well, taken either inside the Nook e-reader or inside the NOOKstudy software.

Another important feature is search. NOOKstudy lets you search text passages, search your own notes, or look up definitions and formulas through reference sites like Dictionary.com or Google.

Barnes & Noble says that no Nook is required to use these learning tools so students without the actual e-reader can still download the software and access the same materials as those who have one. In fact, with the Nook's sluggish e-ink screen, it may be preferable to skip the device altogether and just opt for the PC software.

As an avid user of Amazon Kindle's note-syncing feature, I think NOOKstudy seems promising. Amazon presents my highlighted passages in list form and the citations are listed by location in the Kindle format of the book, not in a valid page number format. It is frustrating and ugly. Also, there is no ability to share or collaborate on my notes and they are certainly not searchable. If NOOKstudy can make this experience better, it may succeed in academia where Amazon has only served to frustrate students and educators alike.

NOOKstudy is set to launch in August. Students and professors can sign up now for an early account.

Free movies on your iPad from the National Film Board

Do you like indie films? Documentaries? Animation? Then I'm about to make your day: NFB Films for iPad lets you watch over a thousand movies on your tablet. For free.
"NFB" stands for National Film Board, a bona fide Canadian treasure. The app taps the NFB's mammoth library of documentaries, features, animated films, trailers (for upcoming NFB releases), and more.


All the movies are streamed to your iPad (via Wi-Fi only), but there's also an ingenious "watch later" option that downloads a selected movie for offline viewing--great if you're about to get on a plane or something. These downloads expire after 48 hours, which strikes me as more than fair. (Apple's own App Store movie rentals last only 24 hours, and you have to pay for those.)


NFB Films includes a Channels section where you can browse various categories, including Documentaries, History & War, and Environment. There's a search option, natch, and you can add movies to a favorites (sorry, "favourites") list for easier access.


If you come across a film you want to share with friends, the app lets you send an e-mail that includes a link to the Web version.
I did encounter the occasional bug--sometimes a paused movie wouldn't stay paused, for instance--but overall I had a ball perusing the film library and watching some true gems.


Indeed, although I tend to have fairly mainstream tastes when it comes to movies, in recent years I've developed a strong appreciation for, well, "films." This app comes stacked to the digital rafters with them, and they're all free. Consequently, NFB Films easily earns a spot on my list of must-have iPad apps.

Yahoo Ships Mail, Messenger App for Android

Yahoo said Thursday that it has launched both a Mail and a Messenger app for the Android operating system, as well as a search widget for Android as well. Yahoo also said that it had beefed up its Mail and News sites for Apple's iOS devices by adding support for HTML5.

Both of the Mail and Messenger apps can be downloaded via the Android market, but they're only available for devices with Android 2.0 or higher.

"Yahoo keeps more than 600 million consumers around the world connected to the people and things that matter to them most - wherever and whenever they want," said David Ko, senior vice president, Americas, Audience, Mobile, and Local for Yahoo, in a statement. "With the availability of our world-class Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Messenger apps for Android and by harnessing the latest in HTML5, we're making it easier than ever for consumers to access fast, reliable, and feature-rich Yahoo experiences across some of the fastest growing platforms in the market."

The new Mail features include the ability to receive new email, pushed to the phone; search emails by sender, recipient, subject and keywords; upload photos as attachments from the camera; view and download attachments; insert emoticons and text formatting; and folder management.

Mail also debuts a new ad platform for Yahoo, with a display ad by Samsung making its debut.

With Messenger, Yahoo users can now check friends' status, send instant messages via SMS, multitask with the app running in the background, use emoticons, and send photos.

Yahoo's addition of HTML5 doesn't appear to have added too much to the Mail app, beyond the ability to read HTML emails and manage folders. But Yahoo said that the News app has a new animated interface, with photos, slideshows, and video features. Yahoo will add support for additional devices and countries later, the company said.

JuiceDefender Saves Batteries by Automating Android Data - Friendly Computers

Android: Most phones don't make it easy to switch cellular data connection on and off, even if doing so really helps save your battery. JuiceDefender toggles wireless data and Wi-Fi on and off every so often to preserve power. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

The whole point of a smartphone with Google apps baked in is constant connectivity, of course, and you don't want to shut off access to your email, Google Voice messages, and other online services. But when you're walking around, at your office desk, and generally not actively using your phone, you probably don't need your phone to check in every minute with the mothership. JuiceDefender lets you set a time interval—5 minutes, 15, 30, an hour, two hours—at which its background process will re-enable your carrier APN, see if there are new messages or data coming in, and then shut off again. You can also set similar Wi-Fi connectivity rules, or only have web data enabled when you've got your screen on. Besides the battery savings, those who like to parse out their email checks and avoid minute-by-minute distractions see some benefit here, too.

That's all in the free app—paying for UltimateJuice (€2.79, or just under $4 in U.S. money) provides access to MMS messages, more automated Wi-Fi features, and a daily "night" sleep schedule. We've previously praised APNDroid for offering a similar on-off capability, but the app it plugs into for automation, Locale, now costs $10.

JuiceDefender is a free download in the Android Market, with some features requiring a paid upgrade. For more tips on getting more life from your Android phone, and other smartphones, tip on over to our exhaustive smartphone battery guide.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5482663/juicedefender-saves-batteries-by-automating-android-data

PadMapper for iPhone Is an Apartment Hunter's Dream Come True - Friendly Computers

iPhone: We've always been big fans of previously mentioned PadMapper, the Google Maps mashup that puts Craigslist apartment listings on a map with advanced filtering options. Now the same awesome tool exists for your apartment hunting on-the-go. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

A pocket-friendly version of PadMapper means that next time you're walking around in a neighborhood that looks promising, you can just pull out the app and let PadMapper use your location to find available rentals nearby. (You can also search for a specific location if you don't want to view nearby listings.) Apart from the portability, it works almost exactly like the web version. You can filter by rent, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, view full listings and pictures, and save favorites.

PadMapper is a free download from the iTunes App Store, and I don't think I'd start another apartment search without it.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5481210/padmapper-for-iphone-is-an-apartment-hunters-dream-come-true

Unofficial Better Gmail for Chrome Bends Gmail to Your Will - Friendly Computers

Chrome: We love Gina's Better Gmail Firefox extension, a bundle of user scripts that improves the Gmail experience. Now that Google's beefed up support for Chrome extensions, reader Dimitar Gruev has taken a shot at bringing an unofficial Better Gmail to Chrome. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

Almost a year ago our own How-To Geek put together a version of Better Gmail for Chrome, but that was way back when Chrome didn't even have extensions (his were all bundled into a single user script). This new Chrome extension is an unofficial Better Gmail for Chrome that was inspired by Gina's Firefox extension and our earlier Better Gmail for Chrome bag o'scripts.

Once installed, access Better Gmail's options by clicking the wrench -> Extensions -> Better Gmail Options. Tick the boxes of the features you want activated and you're good to go. You can choose to hide little used fields like "Invite Friends," remove ads, show the number of unread emails in the favicon, and more.

Gruev says future versions of Better Gmail will hide spam count, move to next message on delete or archive, and include support for POP3 email. A big round of applause goes to Gruev for putting this together. What kinds of features do you hope for in future versions of Better Gmail? Share your ideas in the comments.

Source:http://lifehacker.com/5477037/unofficial-better-gmail-for-chrome-bends-gmail-to-your-will

Grab NovaPDF Printer Free, Normally $20 - Friendly Computers

NovaPDF creates a "printer" that exports any web page, document, or anything else print-able to a PDF file, and can pull some neat tricks like appending to an existing PDF. Through the Digital Inspiration blog, you can grab a "Lite" copy free. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

NovaPDF is certainly far from alone in offering a print-to-PDF tool for Windows, as we've looked at similar solutions using PDFCreator and doPDF and CutePDF. NovaPDF offers a pretty intriguing option to append your PDF printing to previous PDFs, though, which can be really helpful for compiling reports and gathering web research. The PDFs it puts out also have embedded fonts for universal looks, and you can customize the metadata on them before printing. From a quick test, it seems to install and work fairly cleanly, right from the get-go.

The oft-linked Digital Inspiration blog explains how to grab and register a copy of NovaPDF Lite 7.0 free, using a link specific to that blog, one we assume won't stick around forever. Neat, free stuff, and it's a download for Windows systems only.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5473688/grab-novapdf-printer-free-normally-20

Boxee Integration App Plugs Boxee Into Windows 7 Media Center - Friendly Computers

Windows: Maybe you're a Windows Media Center fan with an occasional jones for Boxee apps, or a Boxee fan who'd like a little DVR action. A free utility can integrate Boxee into Windows Media Center, giving you the best of both worlds. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

This Windows Media Center plug-in comes courtesy of the same folks who gave us the Hulu Desktop Integration, and acts much the same way. Click on the Boxee option from Windows Media Center's main menu, and Windows Media Center will close down while Boxee opens up. Watch your NBC/ABC/Fox/Hulu, see what's new on the Onion News Network, and then close Boxee—back up comes Windows Media Center.

The real benefit comes from using a remote on your couch to navigate both applications, never having to get up and mouse around or VNC into your home theater PC from a laptop to get just what you want on your big screen. With both Hulu and Boxee available as temporary switches, Windows Media Center balances out a few of its weaknesses in a head-to-head comparison.

Boxee Windows Media Center Integration is a free download for Windows 7 only. As with Hulu Desktop Integration, it won't work with media center extenders like the XBOX.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5472711/boxee-integration-app-plugs-boxee-into-windows-7-media-center

OpenOffice.org 3.2 Improves Startup Times, Office 2007 Compatibility - Friendly Computers

Windows/Mac/Linux: The latest version of OpenOffice.org, the free and open-source office suite, improves startup times by over 40 percent (by some tests), improves importing and support for password-protected and 2007 office files, and improves many areas of the Calc spreadsheet. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

You can check out the full feature list at OpenOffice.org, but the majority is nitty-gritty stuff. That said, the Calc tool seems to have picked up quite a few improvements and compatibility features, including support for "complex" (multi-row or column) copy and paste, pivot table importing, cell sorting and merging, and much more.

Importing Office 2007-formatted files seems to have gotten lots of attention in this release as well, and password-protected files can successfully be loaded, provided you've got the password. If you're an OpenOffice.org fan and see something new and great, share it in the comments.

OpenOffice.org 3.2 is a free download for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5469403/openofficeorg-32-improves-startup-times-office-2007-compatibility

AVI Joiner Combines Split Video Files into One - Friendly Computers

Windows: Ever download a movie from—oh, I don't know—some far-reaching nether-region of the internet, and when your download finishes realize the video is split into multiple parts? AVI Joiner quickly combines those split videos in just a few clicks. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

Using it could not be easier. Just run the app (AVI Joiner.exe), drag and drop the files you want to join into the Files to be joined pane, make sure they're in the correct order, and click the Run AVI Joiner button. The app will ask you where you want to save the joined video (name it and make sure to add the .avi extension to the end), then sit back as it fires up a command line and starts the joining process. I joined a couple of 700MB files into a 1.4GB video in roughly a minute.

This awesome little app was built courtesy of the Lifehacker Coders group over at the Productive Geek forums. You can currently grab the download hosted over at drop.io here. (For a portable version, grab the AVI_Joiner.zip file; if you want an installer, grab the setup.exe and install.nsi files. Make sure you grab the newest versions, and if we happen to hit a bandwidth cap at drop.io, be sure to let me know.)

AVI Joiner is a free, open-source application for Windows only.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5467180/avi-joiner-combines-split-video-files-into-one

Chrome's New Stable Release Brings Extensions, Bookmark Sync to the Masses - Friendly Computers

Windows: Google just pushed an update to the stable channel of Chrome on Windows, bringing support for extensions and bookmark syncing to everyone who isn't living on the bleeding edge of Chrome. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

The major features in this release (officially labeled 4.0.249.78—uh, we'll just call it 4.0):


Extensions
Bookmark sync
Enhanced developer tools
HTML5: Notifications, Web Database, Local Storage, WebSockets, Ruby support
v8 performance improvements
Skia performance improvements
Full ACID3 pass, due to re-enabled remote font support (with added defense against bugs in operating system font libraries)
HTTP byte range support
New security feature: "Strict Transport Security" support
Experimental new anti-reflected-XSS feature called "XSS Auditor"

They've also pushed out a handful of security fixes, listed on the Chrome Releases blog post. Google's spinning this release as adding "over 1,500 new features" to Chrome by virtue of the number of extensions already available to the Chrome community. This update isn't the final blow to Firefox or anything along those lines, but we can't help but think the folks at Mozilla would be a little worried. Extensions are a large part of what's set Firefox apart from Chrome, while Chrome has often out-paced Firefox in arenas like performance. As Chrome extensions hit the mainstream stable release, we could see a lot of people considering the switch.

Chrome 4.0.etc. is a free, stable release for Windows only.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5456369/chromes-new-stable-release-brings-extensions-bookmark-sync-to-the-masses

SlideScreen Renovates Your Android Home Screen with Info Streams - Friendly Computers

Android: The default home screen in Android is fine and mostly functional. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

SlideScreen, a replacement utility, provides way more information on messages, weather, calendar events, Twitter or RSS streams, stocks, and whatever else you want, in a slick-looking black wrapper.

Grab the free version of SlideScreen from the Market, and after installing and setting up your weather location and other logins, you'll be given the option to replace your standard home screen with SlideScreen, or just keep it as an app you can open at any time. Give SlideScreen the home screen tryout; you just might fall for its visual scheme and organization.

A center weather/time/date bar can be slid up or down to reveal more information from the "top" (email, SMS, calendar items, missed calls) or "bottom" (stocks, Twitter, and Google Reader items). Long-press on an item to get more information, or click the icon on the right to launch its corresponding app. Swipe an item to the right to dismiss it (or mark as read, in Reader feeds), with a satisfying haptic buzz that happens when you do. Hit your Menu button to pull up the app launcher (pictured at left), which keeps 8 slots open at the top for your most frequently accessed apps, and otherwise acts like the pull-up app drawer on the stock home screen.

My only complaints have to do with SlideScreen defaulting to the default Messaging app for SMS, when I have Google Voice installed and supposed to run as a default messaging app. I'd also like to add a few other items—Google Talk chat notifiers, non-Gmail email pings, and Voice updates—that show up in my normal Notifications bar to SlideScreen's home page. I can still get at them from the app launcher page, but that's far from ideal. Otherwise, I'm impressed with how well it runs, even on my not-so-snappy HTC Dream. Like Dan at Gizmodo, I'm considering trying it out as my default home screen. If you don't use the apps that SlideScreen doesn't pick up data from all that often, you'd have even more reason to give it a go.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5453654/slidescreen-renovates-your-android-home-screen-with-info-streams

Circle Dock Arranges Your Shortcuts in a Mouse-Centered Application Dock - Friendly Computers

Windows: Sure you could use the start menu or even install an application launcher like Launchy but you'd be missing out on the rotating eye candy and application management of Circle Dock. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

We first covered Circle Dock when it appeared out of of a Donation Coder contest two years ago. Since then it has undergone quite a few revisions and is more polished than ever.

One of the initial complaints about Circle Dock was the lack of comprehensive help file—even in the beginning the application did a lot but it wasn't always clear on how you could get it to do what you wanted—the new release has a huge help file that launches immediately after the installation so you can dig right into tweaking settings. You can tweak just about everything in Circle Dock short of tweaking into being Square Dock.

You can alter the size, shape, rotation speed, and transparency of the circle as well as what hot keys and mouse combos will summon it and interact with it. You can reorder icons, swap them out—don't think the default icon for an app is sexy enough for your new circle launcher? You can grab a new one and replace it—and rearrange them by drag and drop.

Circle Dock is freeware, Windows only. Have a novel application launcher? Let's hear about it in the comments.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5452732/circle-dock-arranges-your-shortcuts-in-a-mouse+centered-application-dock

MightyMeeting Hosts Remote PowerPoint Presentations from Your Smartphone, the Web - Friendly Computers

Web/iPhone/Android: Got a PowerPoint presentation you want to share with co-workers or clients on short notice, or who are in a different timezone? Free tool MightyMeeting lets you conduct presentations remotely via the web or its iPhone and Android applications. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

Upload any PowerPoint presentation or PDF to the site to get started (or just forward presentations from your email account to a private email address) to get started. Once your presentation is in the cloud, you can invite anyone to join you. When they click through to your presentation, they're looking at the presentation as controlled by you—again, either from a web browser, iPhone or Android device.

As I mentioned, the free webapp could come in particularly handy for short-notice presentations—you don't have to set up any projectors or have any files on hand. All you need is a supported device on your end and a laptop the people you're presenting to can look at. (You can invite multiple guests, too, so a room full of people could watch your presentation directly in front of them.)

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5450275/mightymeeting-hosts-remote-powerpoint-presentations-from-your-smartphone-the-web?autoplay=true

Free Antivirus: Panda Cloud Antivirus - Friendly Computers

Every windows computer should make use of a Antivirus system to protect themselves from frequent attacks from viruses. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

However finding a Antivirus software to suit users needs is a bit difficult task, considering that many AV softwares are known to slow down a system resulting in lesser performance for other applications.

Also Read: How To Keep your PC Safe and Secure?

Panda Cloud Antivirus is a new innovation which uses cloud computing to scan and eliminate viruses from your PC, regularly monitoring and protecting your computer in real-time.

Panda Cloud Antivirus is extremely fast and uses a very low memory footprint ~20MB, which is way much better than a traditional AV software.

The Antivirus is still in the beta stage and available as a Freeware, however this may change in future and Panda may start charging users, however they will still leave it as a free product for personal use.

So if you are unhappy with your current AV and want to tryout something fast, go ahead and download Panda Cloud Antivirus and keep your PC safe and secure.

Source: http://techie-buzz.com/featured/free-antivirus-panda-cloud-antivirus.html?rel=web_related&utm_source=self&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=web_related

Real Estate Search for iPhone Helps You Find Your Dream Home by Location - Friendly Computers

iPhone/iPod touch only: The next time you're driving around a nice neighborhood and wonder if there are any homes for sale in your price range, whip out your iPhone and check with Realtor.com to find out. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

This nifty app for the iPhone and iPod touch taps directly into the listings at Realtor.com to give you all kinds on information on nearby homes for sale. You can search by town, state, zip code, price, or the amenities you're looking for. You can even search by Multiple Listing Service (MLS) number assigned to a specific property if you happen to know it.

The app also checks your location and lets you know about any open houses going on in the area so you can scope houses from the inside out. If you want to know everything going on in the housing market in your area, save your searches and Realtor.com will email you every time there's an open house or new listing. Be advised, the app updates every 15 minutes, so you may get a lot of alerts if you're searching a major metropolitan area.

Each listing contains tons of information about the home for sale, including the asking price, property details, agent information, and pictures if there are any. You can view the property on a map, email it to someone else, and even contact the listing agent, all without leaving the app.

If you're in the market for a new home, or just want to daydream about what's out there, then this app is a good start. It's a handy way to carry around a comprehensive overview of the housing market right in your pocket or purse.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5447276/real-estate-search-for-iphone-helps-you-find-your-dream-home-by-location

Restore the XP Backspace Functionality in Windows 7 and Vista - Friendly Computers

If you've settled into Windows 7 but find the change in the functionality of the backspace key while browsing files to be too much to bear, use this simple hack to turn the backspace key back to its XP state. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

For the unfamiliar: in Windows XP pressing the backspace key while browsing files in Windows Explorer would navigate you up one folder level. In Windows Vista and Windows 7 however, the same keystroke doesn't move you up a folder level but back one stop in the history. It's a small thing but if you've coded the backspace into your muscle memory as a quick way to navigate up the folder hierarchy it can be a very annoying small thing to deal with.

Over at How-To Geek they've put together a guide to using AutoHotkey to resolve the backspace issue. You can either add their script to your AutoHotkey installation or download a stand alone executable—both are provided. Throw a link to the application in your Startup folder and you'll never have to deal with the backspace key not navigating the way you want. Check out the link below for full details and the files.

Make Backspace in Windows 7 or Vista Explorer Go Up like XP Did [How-To Geek]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5445499/restore-the-xp-backspace-functionality-in-windows-7-and-vista

RaopX Streams Any Audio (Not Just iTunes) from Your Mac to Your AirPort Express - Friendly Computers

Mac: One of the coolest parts about Apple's AirPort Express router is wirelessly playing music from iTunes through speakers all over your home. With RaopX, however, you're no longer limited to iTunes; you can play any system audio through AirTunes. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

In order to play audio through your AirPort Express, you'll need RaopX and inter-application audio router Soundflower. After installing both, all you need to do is go to Sound in System Preferences and change your default input and output to "Soundflower (2ch)" and start up RaopX in a Terminal session (just launch Terminal [Utilities -> Terminal], type in RaopX, and hit Enter). RaopX will build a 9 second buffer and then stream all audio from your computer to any speaker connected to an AirPort Express.

It's certainly not as easy as picking "AirTunes" from a drop-down menu, but it's hard to complain when you can finally stream Pandora, Mixtape.me, or your other favorite non-iTunes media player to AirTunes. Note: RaopX does not currently support Apple TV or iTunes Speaker Passwords.

RaopX is a free download, Mac only.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5443786/raopx-streams-any-audio-not-just-itunes-from-your-mac-to-your-airport-express

Skype 4.2 Beta Makes HD-Quality Video Calls - Friendly Computers

Friendly Computers -
Read more below…

For some head-scratching reason, Skype didn't mention a major upgrade to its recent Windows beta when it dropped in early December. That would be the ability to make 720p, HD-quality video calls if your video hardware supports it.

No word yet on a Mac (or Linux) release with HD calling yet, and PC World guesses they wanted to make the announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show, next to news about HDTV integration. I discovered the video boost, in hindsight, after recording a recent TV news appearance, so I can testify to the beta being worth an early upgrade.

Skype's 4.2 beta is a free download for Windows systems only. If you're seeing HD-quality video on your Skype beta setup, tell us what camera is giving you the good stuff in the comments (I was using this Adam-recommended Logitech 9000 during my brief video interview)

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5440503/skype-42-beta-makes-hd+quality-video-calls

Sothink HD Movie Maker 1.2.90818 - Friendly Computers

HD Movie Maker is a professional Blu-ray burner. It encodes almost all video formats into high definition Blu-ray movies, including WMV, MKV, AVI, DivX, XviD, MPEG, MP4, QuickTime Movie, Real Video, H.264/AVC, M2TS, etc. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

It can burn HD movies into Blu-ray discs (BDMV) or regular DVDs (AVCHD) up to 1920x1080p. The supported disks include DVD+R/-R, DVD+RW/-RW, BD-R/BD-RE, BD-25/BD-50, etc. With Sothink HD Movie Maker, people can enjoy HD movies freely on Blu-ray players or Sony PS 3. This HD Movie Maker also supports the world TV broadcast standards: PAL and NTSC, and 5.1 surround sound; calculates proper video bit rate automatically according to target disc’s capacity, convenient to skip videos with remote control; auto generates chapters for multiple videos; can preview videos conveniently with a built-in video player; supports multi-core CPUs and speeds up concurrent video encoding on multiples; loads external subtitle files to enjoy Blu-ray movies perfectly. Main features: 1. Create high definition Blu-ray videos from any video formats including WMV, MKV, AVI, DivX, XviD, MPEG, MP4, QuickTime Movie, Real Video, H.264/AVC, M2TS, M2T, MTS, etc. 2. Make HD Blu-ray movies of different resolutions up to 1280x720p, 1440x1080p, 1920x1080p. 3. Manage and burn HD Camera videos to Blu-ray Movies, supporting Sony (*.m2ts), Cannon (*.m2t), Panasonic (*.mts), etc. 4. Burn BD movies on various discs like DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, BD-R, BD-RE, etc. 5. Convert videos to BDMV, and burn on Blu-ray Discs like BD-25 (single layer with 25 GB capacity), BD-50 (dual layer with 50 GB capacity), etc. 6. Burn HD Blu-ray movies into regular DVDs with 4.7 GB (DVD-5, so-called D5) or 8.5 GB (DVD-9, so-called D9) storage capacities, which is particular to make HD Blu-ray discs even without Blu-ray burners. The output is AVCHD (or called BD5/BD9) 7. Display thumbnails of the imported source videos and the thumbnails’ size are editable. 8. Support pausing, resuming and stopping.

Source:

Form Docs 7.6.2 - Friendly Computers

Form Docs provides a wealth of business forms and documents that are perfect for small businesses. In addition, its design elements ensure that it can create a document for any need. - Friendly Computers

Read more below…

The program's interface is incredibly simple to operate, thanks to its excellent tutorials. An intuitive layout simplifies navigation between different documents, which helps ensure each document is filled out properly. Form Docs offers an impressive collection of document templates, including human resources hiring forms, project quotes, tax forms, purchase orders, and easily a dozen more, all fully customizable and with clearly labeled fields. Its simple operation leaves you with a professional-looking document that is ready for business. Form Docs' greatest assets are probably its automatic serial number generator and its ability to store up to 1 million company profiles for easy filling of forms. This is a great tool for small businesses because it handles all aspect of your business itself. Form Docs' design tools will also have particular appeal to entrepreneurs and start-ups because the program can build virtually any form from scratch to exactly meet all your changing and growing document needs.

Form Docs has a 30-day trial period. It installs desktop icons without asking permission and leaves folders behind after uninstalling. This is an impressive program that makes dealing with business documents a lot less daunting, and we recommend it.

Publisher's description
From Formdocs :

Form Docs for Windows Electronic Forms software includes everything you need to design and fill in any type of form for small business, big business, industry, government, and law enforcement. Provides built-in spell checking, automatic serial numbers, drop-down lists, and easy to define calculations for simple forms. More complex forms can add ODBC database connections, E-Mail, Routing and Approval with Digital Signatures, and International currency support. Optional forms to PDF conversion and built-in scripting language make FormDocs a complete Electronic Forms management solution for any size business or organization. Easily create, fill-in and manage thousands of Invoice, Purchase Order, Purchase Requisition, Proposal, Quotation, Incident Report, and other forms on your PC or Network. An optional multi-user Office edition enables up to 100 users to concurrently share and work with a single form file. Also enables users to attach documents, drawings, photos or files to a form so that everything can be stored together in 'one place'.

Version 7.6.2 allows users to enter an unlimited amount of data into new scrolling form fields and scrolling table rows.


What's new in this version:

•No more 'running out of space' when filling in a form. Version 7.6.2 allows users to enter an unlimited amount of data into new scrolling form fields and scrolling table rows.
•Additional form pages are automatically printed as needed to display all of the data.

Source: http://download.cnet.com/Form-Docs/3000-10743_4-10124018.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody