Category Archives: Mac

Wireless Power Transmission: real available technology and marketing advantages

Wireless energy transmission for remote charging is one of the most strategic key factor for the development of a new generation of tech devices in the near future. Few years ago some futuristic thinkers forecasted the possibility of wireless energy transmission between far places. In particular the academic community was interested in energy transmission between the planet earth and orbiting satellites equipped with solar power stations.

This long range power transmission technology would radically change the energetic, economic and power equilibrium of our world but unfortunately, at the moment, this technology is not available.

On the contrary, near range power transmission is something near the corner.

After long researches an USA company is launching the first generation commercial version of a wireless power transmitter with ultrasound that will allow to recharge (for the moment) mobile phones in a range of 15 feet (4.5 meters) just using a special cover.

Fifteen feet are not a long range nor a medium one but the important thing is that it is contactless and that 15 feet start to be an interesting distance.

So interesting that a big coffee shop chain as Starbucks is considering to introduce these remote charging devices in all its shops.

In this way all the customers will be able to automatically and freely charge their mobile devices as soon as they enter into the coffee shop. A good added value considering how much energy our devices need when strongly used during the day. And consequently, for many people, a good reason to prefer a store to another one. A potentially viral added value as well as a magnetic marketing strategy!

Last but not least, it must be considered that the success of this kind of technology operations is determined by costs. At the moment it is not possible to find any information about prices for the mobile device covers at the end consumer side. If the end users price for covers will be high, the huge, positive effects of a partnership with a big player as Starbucks couldn’t be enough without some kind of tech fashion pivot.

Good luck uBeam! You have the right idea!

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References:

http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/26/kill-the-cord/#.qngqm6:i3dY

Rediscover Prism by Mozilla (Ubuntu, MAC and Windows tips)

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In 2007, when Prism was launched, there were some enthusiastic reviews about this application. Then the widget era began and Prism popularity decreased. Anyway, Prism is still a powerful application for all that people who desire to run their more often used web application saving RAM and CPU resources. Prism, based on XULRunner, is multi platform, easy to use and very flexible. To use it on Ubuntu you can launch the Terminal and type:

sudo apt-get install prism

or using the Synaptics Package Manager (System —> Administration —> Synaptics Package Manager). Then go to Applications —> Internet —> Prism and a small windows appears. Now, fill in all the required information: the web application URL, the name you prefer, settings and do not forget to click on the Desktop shortcut option. At this point you will find a new rough icon on your Desktop with the name you chose. The first time you use it, with the right mouse button click on it and go to Properties —> Permissions and Allow executing file as program. If you want to change the icon you have to click on it (with the right mouse button), go to Properties —> Basic and choose your favorite icon clicking the icon on the upper left corner. If all are steps are annoying for you, it is possible to use Prism as add-on for Firefox. In this case, on Firefox, go to Tools —> Add-ons —> Get Add-ons and type Prism on the search bar. You will install Prism as a simple add-on for Firefox. Now, you can automatically generate a Prism application just clicking on Tools —> Convert Website to Application when you are in the web application page.

On Windows or MAC we suggest to download the standalone package directly from the official web page or install Prism as Firefox add-on following the same steps we described for Ubuntu. If you use the Prism standalone package you have to decompress it in your favorite location. For Windows users: when you set up a new Prism application, try the tray menu option but do not forget to click on the Desktop shortcut or you will not be able to find again the application after you close it.

In my experience, Prism is really useful with all the Google web applications, with Zoho services and Pandora. Try and enjoy it!

Best 10 Freeware Sites

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This week, in our Freeware Page, we would like to share our personal list of the 10 best freeware websites. Of course, this is just our personal opinion but we are 100% curious to learn new website from your comments!

#1 http://sourceforge.net/
In our opinion FileHippo is the #1, a lighthouse for all the other freeware distribution sites. The programs here are open-source and you can find freeware for all the most used OS: Linux, Windows and Mac

#2 http://www.filehippo.com/
Full of real freeware, well structure and it has developed a powerful “update checker” http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker/

#3 http://www.techsupportalert.com/
Well organized, contains brief but effective review about each software

#4 http://download.cnet.com/
The software is categorized between Windows, Mac, Mobile and a very interesting Webware category for the online stuff. Use “The Download Software Finder” to be sure to surf between real free programs

#5 http://majorgeeks.com/
Good site, full of stuff and Shareware programs are clearly labeled!

#6 http://www.tucows.com/
An evergreen site; it was one of the first to share freeware, interesting but it does not contain a huge variety of freeware as others site

#7 http://www.nonags.com/
Elementary graphics but it contains a site menu and the proposed software is really freeware so….

#8 http://www.freewarefiles.com/
Interesting site but sometimes you find old version of proprietary software distributed as free…

#9 http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/
Well structured, easy to navigate and updated. Watch the tags (freeware or free trial) before downloading programs!

#10 http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Freeware/
Basic graphics; it has many freeware but you have to dig them from the lists.

We wait your comments!

How to easily check HD health using a cross platform software: GSmartControl 0.8.3

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GSmartControl is a multiplatform (Windows, OS X, Linux) freeware drive health inspection tool which is very useful in all that case when you think something is not working perfectly on your HD. Today, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we have posted a brief comment about this software which basically is the graphical user interface for smartct. The program is very intuitive and easy to use; it automatically detects all your internal HDs (with some external USB disks we had some problems because they were detected as unknown) and let you decide if you want to activate the SMART feature. This particular feature let you “predict certain kinds of failures with certain chance of success” so you have a better chance to avoid HD crashes and all the consequent data loss. If you prefer, clicking on the “Enable Auto Offline Data Collection” the HDs will be tested every four hours without impacting your CPU performance. I would like to focus your attention that GSmartControl is very well developed and it is possible to download many “personalized” versions for all the main Linux distributions, OS X and Windows. Last but not least, do not forget that SMART could predict some HD crashes but it is not 100% safe; for this reason we strongly recommend you to backup your PCs, at least every week!

HTTrack: a very useful multiplatform (Windows, Linux and OS X) website copier!

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This week we have reviewed a useful multiplatform (Windows, Linux and OS X) software dedicated to all the people who desire read their favorite web-sites also when disconnected from the web. HTTrack is a very powerful program which contains easy (not always unfortunately) features to download complete websites and navigate them when outline. In our Freeware Page you can find a brief but incisive review about this program. Moreover for the Linux geeks, we inserted some tips (how to install and useful links) about HTTrack in our Linux Page. Sometimes the use of HTTrack could be a little difficult but after some experiments you will be able to manage it without problems. Enjoy it!

How to upgrade or repair your Macintosh or Ipod: a quick reference guide to useful websites!

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Apple Today, in our Freeware Page we have added a new (and very detailed) post with useful links to websites containing terrific instructions to upgrade or repair Ipod, Apple desktops and laptops. These websites can be useful for the people (like us) who do not desire to throw away their Macintosh only because a new model has been launched. Last but not least we have decided to insert also some links to websites which have Macintosh news and guides about regenerating old notebook batteries. If you have some more useful and free websites to suggest, please, write a comment!

SpaceTime: powerful 3D browsing for Windows 2000/XP/Vista!

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Today in our Freeware Page, we posted a review (in Spanish) about SpaceTime: a brand new 3D tabbed “browser” which runs using the Internet Explorer 7 engine. SpaceTime has a powerful graphics and is very attractive to use but, unfortunately it needs a good hardware to run without problems: 512MB RAM, 128MD graphics adapter (3D capable), Pentium 4 2.4GHz or AMD 2400xp+, a minimum screen resolution of 1280 x 1024 and an ADSL connection to Internet. SpaceTime is in its beta version but during the tests we didn’t find any bugs. Moreover we were fascinated by its multiple features; in fact it is also possible to search (Google, Google Images, Yahoo!, Yahoo! Images, Flickr) and shop (ebay) in an delightful 3D environment. At the moment SpaceTime is available for Windows 2000, XP and Vista but “the Mac version is coming soon”. In our opinion SpaceTime is an interesting free consumer PC software application which represents the state of the art for contemporary 3D technology.

How to easily synchronize bookmarks between different computers: a wonderful, multiplatform (Linux, Windows, MAC OSX) plugin for Firefox

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Today, in our Freeware Page we have posted some useful tips about mergering bookmarks stored in different PCs. Online Bookmark Manager, a terrific add-on for Firefox, allows you to Export, Import or simply Synchronize your bookmarks in just few clicks. I sincerely solved many headaches because, before using Online Bookmark Manager, I wasn’t able to merge all the bookmarks I had stored in my PCs during last three years. Last but not least this software is multiplatform, very easy to use, full of features and you can also choose what bookmarks you want to share and what you want to keep private. One of the best Adds-on I have ever used!

Ajax 13: the new online multiplatform (Windows, Linux, MAC OS X) office suite for Firefox users!

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Today, in our Freeware Page, we posted some brief notes about a wonderful site we recently discovered: Ajax 13. This site offers to everyone (and without the free registration – if you prefer -) the possibility to create and save documents, spreadsheets, presentations, mind mapping docs and to listen to music using Ajax tunes. This new site, created in 2006, has big potentiality of fast growth because the services it offers are potentially more powerful and versatile than in “Google Docs & Spreadsheet“. Ajax 13 is a multiplatform web based platform written using the AJAX based methodology. We tried Ajax 13 features and we confess that in our tests we found some little minor problems but in the end we were able to save on our desktop all the files we created. We really think Ajax 13 is something to try!

IZArc: the best portable free software to manage all archives (zip, tar, etc..)

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This week we have tested IZArc in our freeware page. IZArc is a terrific freeware to manage many (perhaps I should say: “All”) different formats of archive. IZArc has a very clean interface and in few minutes (after few tests) you are able to use all its features. Using IZArc you can also have a quick look in ISO archives before burning them and directly scan them using your favourite anti-virus. I hope that IZArc developers would create a Linux version in the future because this freeware is really one of the most useful and tiny software I discovered in last months (now it is possible to use IZArc in Linux through Wine). In our Linux page we posted a review about LiveLook, a multiplatform (Linux, MAC OS X, Windows) on-line service to remote control your computers. Unfortunately this web based service will be free for just few more weeks but for the moment it works greatly.