iTechMax » Softwares

10 Best Free Social Networking Tools

Hammad — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:27:05 +0000

Almost everyone who surfs the web now is subscribed to at least one social networking website. There exist now several popular social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace etc. which provide people from diverse backgrounds and physical locations to interact with each other on a single platform. However, managing social relationships and professional links via social networks can be sometimes a hectic job, especially if you’re subscribed to several different social networks. That is where we come in. Today I will present to you a list of ten most effective tools available which can help you better manage your social networking profiles.

1. Flock

Flock is a Mozilla powered browser with a rich set of features integrated into its user interface (UI) which allows users to manage their social networking profiles without any hassle. Users can manage their social profiles without even visiting the host website, have chat sessions with their Facebook and Twitter friends via in-browser tool bars, manage RSS feeds and many more. Flock is available as a free download.

2. TweetDeck

A Twitter specific tool, TweetDeck provides the ability to manage multiple Twitter accounts, giving access to advanced statistics, Facebook integration, easy messaging etc. It works like a charm if you want to manage multiple social networking profiles on Twitter.

3. Minggl

Minggl is a social media management tool which customizes web browsers across Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X to integrate features provided by several networking websites which include (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, LinkedIN, and Digg. Profile info for each website is stored and updates can be sent across all social networks via Minggl without having to visit the website itself. Support for more social networks in on its way.

4. Ping.fm

This nifty little free app lets users ping their status updates to all their favorite social networks simultaneously. Status updates to over 40 different social networks can be sent in a single go, without even to log in to each specific service. Ping.fm also supports URL shortening for easy Twitter updates.

5. DandyID

This utility helps users manage their online social identities easily and also has support for WordPress via its WordPress plugin called DanyID Services allowing users to integrate the utility to their WordPress powered blogs.

6. TwitterFeed

Similar to TweetDeck, TwitterFeed brings some more features not present in the earlier. It serves as a great way to market your blogs as every time you update your blog; this app automatically sends a Tweet with the link to your blog. If you’re a blogger who loves to use Twitter, then this is a must have online tool for you.

7. Kinoma Play

A utility aimed for users who like to social network while on the move, Kinoma Play is a mobile browser specially designed to manage various social networks on a smartphone. It allows publishing content and doing more on multiple social websites from any Windows Mobile operating smartphone.

8. MySocial 24×7

A lightweight sidebar extension to Firefox, MySocial 24×7 keeps you updated about your friend’s activities while working in tandem with FriendFeed. The best feature about this app is that it updates you in real time, while you browse other websites.

9. Shareaholic

Another Firefox add-on which allows quick sharing of social media content on over sixty social networks present on the internet. Shareaholic is a neat utility which doesn’t clutter your browser with icons and names, rather keeps things simple with a single drop down icon. This add-on is highly recommended to all users as it has also won the Mozilla Foundation Grand Prize Award for Firefox add-ons. If you use Google Chrome, you can install Shareaholic extension to manage multiple social networks simultaneously.

10. Atomkeep

The solutions provided by Atomkeep are to manage account and profile information not only on various social networks, but also on career search websites such as Jobster, Monster etc. It provides a user friendly UI which lets you manage all your social information from one window pane instead of accessing each service individually.

We recommend trying the app you find suitable for your needs and don’t forget to give us your feedback on how you found each of them to be using the comments section.

15 Best Free Apps for Mac

Hammad — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:12:28 +0000

Mac OS X is one of the best operating system made by Apple for their Mac line of desktop computers. Mac OS X comes with features which are useful, unique and scalable making it one of the best operating systems out there for users to try. Today we’ve got a list of 15 of the best free apps for Mac OS X which gives the already great operating system enhanced reliability, and users more power to manage their work and entertainment needs in a much better way.

The list goes as follows:

1. Chrome

One of the best web browsers I have used so far, lightweight and fast compared to Safari and Firefox and do not hog system resources.

2. Firefox

If you don’t like Chrome, you can always try Firefox which is also as good as Chrome with a massive library of addons which can improve your productivity.

3. QuickSilver

A unified, extensible interface for working with applications, contacts, music, and other data.

4. Evernote

Capture all of your thoughts, ideas, and inspirations, into a single place. Access everything whenever you need it from your Mac, even when offline.

5. AppFresh

AppFresh helps you to keep all applications, widgets, preference panes and application plugins installed on your Mac up to date.

6. Adium

Free instant messaging client which supports multiple networks including MSN, Yahoo, Gtalk and many more.

7. Pidgin

If you don’t like Adium don’t worry because Pidgin can be used as an alternative. Pidgin also enables users to log in to accounts on multiple chat networks simultaneously.

8. TweetDeck

If you are Twitter fan, then this is a must have app for your Mac. You can update multiple social networks including Facebook, Foursquare, Linkedin and many more.

9. Skype

Skype enables users to talk to their family and friends, make video and voice calls, send instant messages and share files with other Skype user.

10. VLC Player

VLC is one of the best video players on the internet which can play almost every video and audio format.

11. GIMP

GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages.

12. uTorrent

uTorrent is the best torrent client for Windows and Mac.

13. iSquint

iSquint is a free video conversion tool for MAC which enable users convert there favorite videos and Shows in to iPod compatible format.

14. Burn

Burn enables users to burn discs and contains many advanced options.

15. NeoOffice

NeoOffice is a full-featured set of office applications (including word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation programs) for Mac OS X.

Skype for iPhone Updated for iOS 4 with Multitasking Capabilities

Hammad — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:28:33 +0000

Skype has released an update to their software to support multitasking capabilities for iOS 4 for iPhone 4 and other iDevices. Previously, when you navigated away from Skype, it would quit Skype and you would go offline.

But you don’t have to worry anymore as Skype has released a new version which minimizes when you switch to any other app on your iPhone. You will be able to get messages, receive calls when Skype is minimized. When you will receive a call, it will show you a notification with the name of the person calling you or sending messages.

You can download Skype from iTunes or Skype Official website.

Source

Best 5 Portable Media Players

Hammad — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:21:24 +0000

The era of portable multi-media applications is on the rise these days and no form of multi-media is complete without a media player. Today, there are hundreds of offerings, both open source and shareware solutions which all promise users to deliver the highest quality of media playback with the most ease and convenience. Today we have for you a sorted out list of five of the best portable media players currently available to users who are always on the go and need to satisfy their taste buds with those exciting thrillers. The list includes media players for both the Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X platform. So here we go:

1. VLC Media Player Portable

Arguably the world’s most famous open source media player, the VLC Media player has been around for quite some time now and enjoys a lot of praise from users from around the globe. Available on all three major operating system platforms which include Windows, Mac and Linux, VLC media player portable is arguably the best portable media player available right now. Available for a free download, the compact media player offers the ability to play multimedia files on any computer by keeping the content along with the portable app in a USB, iPhone, iPod, Cd or whatever else. It supports a truckload of video formats for easy playback and can also be used as a server to stream in uni or multicast on a high-bandwidth network. Portable VLC player is a must have for all those who like to have their content with them all the time.

Download VLC Media Player Portable for Windows

Download VLC Media Player Portable for Mac

2. Winamp Lite – Portable MP3 Player

Winamp, the legendary media player which has been around even when most of us reading this weren’t here is also running energetically in the portable media player app race. The portable app for Winamp’s MP3 player is as simple, sleek and elegant as the desktop variant is. Loaded with tons of features to keep users busy while travelling, the Winamp Lite’s skinnable interface keeps the looks of the player fresh. Also, the great graphic equalizer, preset visualizations and playback support for AVI, MP3, NSV, WMV, MPG video files makes it a great utility to have in one’s back pocket.

Download Winamp Portable

3. iShout

Strictly a Mac OS X offering, iShout is a typical rich featured portable media player with the added feature of shoutcasting streams and recording one’s favorite radio stations. Powered by StreamRipper, iShout provides some great abilities in addition to the baseline MP3 player features which make it an outstanding choice for people who love to listen to radio while on the move and can always their favorite shows with this portable app. The version 1.0.1 of iShout enables users to listen to low bitrate streams (usually associated with internet radios and compressed MP3s. The application is completely free to use, however, if one is impressed with the work of the author, you can given in some bucks for appreciation.

Download iShout Portable

4. Media Player Classic

The simplest of our entire list today, the Media Player Classic is famous just for it’s this very property. It provides users with the most features with the simplest user interface and minimum of fuss. Always in its native Windows Classic skin, it saves time by letting user do his job without the minimum of effort and provides with all the essential portable features such as MP3 playback, good quality video playback with support for multiple video formats (though some more used formats are missing). The MPC is very memory efficient and consumes very less amount of resources when compared to its counterparts and delivers great MP3 playback. The MPC is available as a free download for Microsoft Windows.

Download Media Player Classic

5. Audacity Portable

The next portable media player in our list is the growingly popular Audacity portable media player. Basically this portable app is the famous Audacity audio editor optimized for compact performance and made into a portable media player. Like its desktop variant, the portable app has hosts of features which make it such a great utility to have while on the go. This includes the ability to record live audios, convert analog records (e.g. tape records etc.) into digital recordings (CDs). It can also edit .Ogg, MP3, and WAV sound files with elegant sound mixing by cutting, copying and enhancing effects, all on the go! This great media player is also available as a free download for Windows and Mac OS X operating systems.

Download Audacity Portable for Windows

Download Audacity Portable for Mac

FreeMake Video Downloader: Easily Download and Convert Videos from the Internet

Hammad — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:39:08 +0000

Everyone needs to covert videos to specified formats at some point in time, and with the advent of video streaming websites (YouTube, Metacafe etc.), videos downloaded are often in formats which cannot be run on other devices like the smartphones, PCs without Flash or FLV players etc.

The tool I’ll be discussing today is the FreeMake Video Downloader, a tool which combines two tasks into one software i.e. it allows users to not only download videos from the web, but also helps them convert it to the format in which they desire the video to actually be. The software allows users to download and convert videos from 20 of the most popular online streaming video services including YouTube, Facebook, Google Videos, Dailymotion, etc. FreeMake Video Downloader supports video conversion to popular mobile formats such as 3GP and MP4, but also allows users to convert videos to AVI, WMV and MP3 formats on-the-go with the option for HD videos as well.

The software is extremely easily to get along with; simple address bar lets you paste the link for the video and then hit add button to convert it as well. Specify the output path and the format in which you want to convert the video and press the download button. Once the video downloads it will automatically be converted to the format in which you specified.

There are a lot of options provided to make this software very flexible. Advanced settings can be configured by accessing the Options menu which is divided by different tabs. The General tab allows users to change how the software runs on the PC, such as Reduce to tray, enable/disable pop-ups, concealing explicit content, etc. From Connection tab, proxy settings can be modified, and Accounts tab refers to adding multiple YouTube & Facebook accounts.

The application is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP, Vista and 7 and is a must have for all of those people who regularly need to download videos from the web and convert them. The best thing about the utility is that it is completely free of any charge. The application can be downloaded from here.

iPhone 4 Ring Tone Maker

Ather — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:59:16 +0000

Every one of us loves to have a cool ring tone on our cellular phones which suits our personality and taste. If you’re an Apple user and like to customize on how your smartphone sounds when you receive a call, we’ve got the perfect tool to create your own ring tones. The software is called Tipard iPhone 4G Ring Tone Maker and allows users to create ringtones for their Apple smartphone from almost every audio format there is including MPEG, WMV, MP4, DivX, MOV, RM, AAC, WMA, MP3 and many more. The ringtones created are in iPhone M4R format. You can also rip all your DVDs and then convert them into iPhone ringtones and transfer the ripped DVDs without using iTunes.

The software is very easy to use with a very user friendly interface. All you have to do is to load up the files you want to convert into iPhone ringtones and press the Generate button and it will convert the file for you in the M4R format. The tool also gives you a chance to listen to the music before converting it to check the audio quality. The Tipard Ring Tone Maker also allows you to modify the already changed ringtones present in your iPhone and users can delete, rename or even export ringtones without using iTunes at all.

With all the great features, there comes a catch though. The software is shareware and requires users to buy the software for complete functionality. With the free, un registered version of the software, ringtones up to 10 seconds length can be created, which is quite adequate for a normal user (unless you want to have whole songs as your ring tones).

The free version of the Tipard iPhone 4G Ring Tone Maker can be downloaded from here.

Jailbreak iPhone 3GS running iOS 4.1 Beta with Snowbreeze 1.8

Hammad — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:16:54 +0000

Today, iH8Sn0w the person behind the popular iPhone jailbreaking tool, sn0wbreeze has announced snowbreeze v1.8 which can be used to jailbreak iOS 4.1 Beta running on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2G. IH8Sn0w tweeted about the announcement on his twitter account and announced that he will be releasing the software soon. However, no fixed release date has been announced by him.

We will update you as soon as we hear something about this. So make sure you subscribe to our RSS feeds, follow us on Twitter or check our Facebook page for more updates

Update: Snowbreeze 1.8 has been released to jailbreak iOS 4.1 running on iPhone 3GS (Old bootrom), iPod Touch (Non MC model) and iPod Touch 3G running iOS 4.1 Beta. Snowbreeze 1.8 can be downloaded from the links given below.

Download Snowbreeze 1.8

Fring For iPhone Blocked by Skype

Humza Shah — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:17:21 +0000

Everyone knew this was coming. When Fring updated its iPhone app to allow usage of the front mounted VGA camera of the iPhone 4 for 3G video calls, it received praise from every corner except one. Over access to the service had Fring blocking Skype which resulted in shock and awe from the customers. What’s coming was a Skype response and today it was here.

Image Credit – Unwired View

Skype has now blocked Fringe and is threatening to sue Fring for violating Skype’s Terms of Services (ToS). While talking to TechCrunch, Skype spokesman clarified that this was not the first time Fring had overstepped Skype’s ToS, infact Skype has been considering filing a law suit against Fring since the past one year. With the new Fring app for iPhone 4, service usage increased which caused Fring to block calls going through Skype to manage the bandwidth, resulting in the issue. Fring has also had some strong words for Skype, claiming that Skype was “bullying” them. The press note from Fring co-founder reads as follows:

We are disappointed that Skype, who once championed the cause of openness, is now attempting to muzzle competition, even to the detriment of its own users” said Avi Shechter, fring’s Co-Founder and CEO “We apologize to our users for the impact of Skype’s bullying and we will be happy to reconnect with Skype once Skype reverses their decision.” Avi continued, “We believe in communication openness and know that users will continue to vote with their mobile phones – opting for fring’s innovation, clarity, honesty and openness”.

Skype, on the other hand has labeled Fring as doing things which put a bad name on the Skype brand. The statement from Skype’s Robert Miller in a blog reads as follows:

Fring was using Skype software in a way it wasn’t designed to be used – and in a way which is in breach of Skype’s API Terms of Use and End User License Agreement. We’ve been talking with Fring for some time to try to resolve this amicably. We actively encourage developers to build products that work with Skype, acting, of course in accordance with our various API licences. At the same time, Skype will rigorously protect our brand and reputation, and those developers that do not comply with our terms will be subject to legal enforcement.

Methinks that the show has just begun and as time passes, more details and drama would surely unfold!

Fring Update Temporarily Block Skype Access

Ather — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:37:22 +0000

When we reported Fringe releasing their updated app for iPhone 4 which would allow users to make video calls using the 3G network, we didn’t knew it would be an overnight success. The situation has been so much in the favor of this new app that Fring has to temporarily lock down access to Skype to “free up capacity” for direct Fring-to-Fring calls. Now that is what we call a block buster success.

The people at Fring say that they are working hard to solve the issue, and building the necessary bits needed to bring back the over used service status back to normal. Let’s hope for the best to when Fring resumes back the Skype service back to its full capacity.

Fring launched its app for the iPhone 4 users yesterday which enabled them to make video calls other than Apple’s default FaceTime video chat app. The original app can be downloaded via this link at the iTunes store.

Install Ubuntu on HTC Evo 4G

Hammad — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 11:09:33 +0000

Yesterday, we posted Ubuntu running on Google Nexus One. And as we mentioned before, they were trying to port Ubuntu on the next big thing, HTC Evo 4G. Well, folks at HTC Evo Hacks managed to install Ubuntu on HTC Evo 4G as well.

However, the only problem the developers faced was that Evo 4G custom ROMs didn’t have support for loop devices, which is required to mount ubuntu images. So in order to make it work on HTC Evo 4G, they had to re-compile the kernel with support.

There is a detailed guide posted here as well which has step by step instructions for those who want to install and try ubuntu on their HTC Evo 4G.

Here is a video showing Ubuntu running on HTC Evo 4G.

Source