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TechPP Mega Christmas Giveaway : Coming Soon!

Raju — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:55:00 +0000

This is HUGE. I am very proud to announce the first ever annual TechPP Mega Christmas Giveaway. There is a reason for having the word ‘Mega‘. We will provide visitors with the opportunity to win licenses of excellent software programs worth more than $10,000 this holiday season, starting last week of November!

Many well known and respected software companies have already agreed to provide us with FREE Licenses to their amazing products that we could hand out to the lucky readers of TechPP. Each day we will be providing free licenses to one excellent software product. I do not want to spoil the fun by revealing the names of the software products, but you can be sure that these products are best in what they are supposed to do.

Some of the giveaways will be for lucky few winners while some others will be ‘free for all’. Isn’t that exciting? Most of the software developers have confirmed their participation in this mega giveaway and we are still in talks with few others.

Stay tuned for further updates on TechPP Mega Christmas Giveaway. You can follow us on facebook or Subscribe to the updates via RSS.

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IP Privacy Pro Free Licenses Giveaway – Winners

Raju — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:35:44 +0000

“Better late than never“.

This is the excuse I am giving myself for being late in announcing the winners for IP Privacy Pro Free License Giveaway. Because of the weekend, it took more time than expected to get the licenses generated. Though the response for the giveaway was awesome, with more than 100 comments made in a week, I guess a shorter duration for the giveaway would have been better. Thanks everyone who participated and those who helped in publicizing the giveaway.

IP Privacy is a wonderful application which is both anonymous browsing software and a browser cleaner. It normally costs $39.95 per license and the guys @ privacy-pro were kind enough to share 20 licenses, each valid for 6 months! As usual, we have used Random.org’s List randomizer tool to pick the 20 lucky winners and by the time you read this post, you would have got your license key in your mail inbox.

Winners List:

1. Omar Play
2. Samrat P
3. clydeman
4. bowlby4
5. Bishnu
6. Ágoston Tordai
7. Thomas
8. blogrpro
9. lucifer
10. alain
11. Murphy
12. Budha
13. Garrett
14. H2o
15. Regine
16. Persian boy
17. kopo
18. hafiz
19. princevit
20. Hotshot05

Once again, congrats to the winners and others do not need to fret. Some MAJOR announcement coming your way in another 24 hours which would give you higher and guaranteed chances to win something as cool as IP privacy.

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Ultimate List of FREE Android Apps – Part 1

Raju — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:41:01 +0000

Google Android OS has come out to be a major competitor at-least to Windows mobile OS and Nokia’s Symbian OS, if not for Apple’s iPhone. Some of the latest Smart-phones like Motorola Droid, T-Mobile’s G1 and G2, HTC Hero etc feature Google Android OS.

Just like Apple’s App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch, Google too has its own App Store called Google Android Market. Though the Android market is relatively news, there are thousands of Apps already and if you have just bought an Android phone, it is quite obvious that you will be dying to try out some Free Android apps on your brand new phone. There are hundreds of Free Apps already in Android Market which makes your job of picking up the best apps even more difficult. Hence, we at TechPP have done all the hard work for you and have come out with a list of super cool, useful and crazy apps for your Android phone.

This is the first article in the series of posts which will introduce the best free apps available for your Android Phone.

Ultimate List of Free Android Apps

1. Phonebook

Phonebook has a cool user interface for viewing and managing your contacts. It displays your contacts with pictures and contextual information such as coming birthdays, missed calls and unread text messages. Phonebook comes with a nice landscape view, a dialer and a quick access to your favorites and most called contacts.

2. Locale

Brilliant and simple program to handle profiles automatically. Locale is a scriptable, location-aware settings manager. A wide range of triggering events are available like battery level, dates, times, GPS coordinates and calls from specific people can all be used. Some third-party programs even integrate with Locale, increasing the available options

3. Facebook for Android

Pretty decent way to read and post status updates. Update your status, post pictures, check out your friends profiles, make comments all from the comfort of your device. This is a must have if you have a Facebook account.

4. Opera Mini

Opera Mini is an Android app that serves as an alternative to Android’s default web browser. It is a extremely lightweight. Opera Mini loads most websites much faster than Android’s Browser loads the full HTML site. Extra speed is also accomplished by Opera compressing and routing the page through their own servers.

5. PicSay

PicSay is a small app that lets you edit and modify photos on your phone. You can add speech balloons, any of a range of text styles, and images like hearts and stars to your photos. Or if you’re feeling less whimsical, you can modify the picture’s contrast, tint, hue and saturation levels; flip and rotate your image; and do other basic editing tasks.

6. Live Chat

Chat, flirt and discuss with other users in this Live Chat application. You can create your own chat groups and create a profile with photo.

7. Twidroid

This Android based Twitter app is available in a free and a pro version. Both of Twidroid’s offerings provide most every Twitter function you might need, from the basic viewing and sending tweets, following and unfollowing users, viewing profiles to the more advanced: saved searches, URL shortening, photo posting, and geo-location support.

8. iSkoot

iSkoot is a free app for Android phones that puts Skype on your mobile. Click to call or chat with your Skype buddies! Make inexpensive international calls with iSkoot, as well, through SkypeOut. This is similar to iSkoot app for iPhone.

9. ShopSavvy

ShopSavvy is all about the deals. Enter a product name or barcode (using the keypad or the camera), and ShopSavvy identifies the product, searches the Web and local chain stores for the best prices, and collects reviews of the item.

10. Ringdroid

Ringdroid app for Android lets you create free ringtones from your favorite songs. Just load a song onto your SD card, select start and end points, and save it as a ringtone, alert or notification. You can even record your own ringtones with Ringdroid.

11. Google Voice

Google Voice is a new service from Google that gives the user his own personal phone number. You then can use your Google Voice number to make phone calls or send SMS messages from the web. And the Android app lets users do the same from their Android device. This means users can make and receive calls and text messages on your Google Voice number through your phone. Google Voice also archives all voice mails and SMS messages online, so you will never lose that important message.

12. ActionComplete

ActionComplete is a high-tech to-do list for your Droid phone. It makes it easy to organize your tasks and appointments. You can even set reminders that will pop up based on where you are, allowing you to remind yourself of certain tasks at the office, others at the home, and so on.

13. Astrid

Astrid is a solid task manager developed by Google. Tasks are easy to add and easy to check off when you’re done. You can also add a timer to help you build that sense of urgency.

14. TooDo

TooDo is another task management application, with online syncing, either with Toodledo or Remember the Milk. Synchronization is both ways – tasks created or marked completed on TooDo can be seen online, and vice versa. It also has a couple of really nice features – first, you can add voice, photo, and video notes to your tasks, and second, you can set geographical reminders to pop up whenever you’re in a specific location (based on the GPS).

15. Meebo IM

Meebo is a free Instant Messaging app that supports AIM, MSN, Yahoo, MySpace IM, Google Talk, Jabber and ICQ. You can also sign in using a Meebo account and your chat history will be saved forever, and can be accessed from anywhere by logging in at meebo.com

16. TuneWiki

TuneWiki is a replacement for Android’s built-in media player, offering a number of nice features. Most notable is the lyric scroll, which pulls lyrics off the Internet and scrolls them along with the song. It can also be integrated with Last.fm and Shoutcast radio streaming, YouTube video search.

17. Meridian

Meridian is yet another media player app which can play back MP3, OGG, MP4, and 3GPP files, and offers up basic playlist and gesture support. It’s pretty ugly, but it gets the job done.

18. Flixster

Flixster does one thing, and it does it well: Movies. It keeps you up to date on everything new in the movie world, be it for the box office or the rental store, complete with movie times (by way of GPS), community-driven user reviews, and trailers.

19. PostBot

PostBot is an open source app for posting text and images to Wordpress blogs. You can set up multiple blogs and choose which to post to from the settings. This is a great little app for posting quick thoughts and photos from your Android phone.

20. PF Voicemail+

PhoneFusion’s Voicemail+ offers a really slick way to get visual voicemail on your Android phone. You need to register for a free account and forward your voicemail to them. Once it’s set up, you’ll be able to scroll through your voicemails, listen to the ones you want and ignore the ones you don’t, delete messages, and respond by text.

21. Video Player

Video Player app from Android Tapp does exactly what it says: It plays videos, a function that Google mysteriously chose to leave out of Android. Video Player isn’t fancy; you can play, pause, move backward and forward through the video, and that’s it.

22. Sherpa

Sherpa is an Android app that helps you find new places based on your own personal preferences. Sherpa “learns” your likes and dislikes, then uses your location information to suggest restaurants, stores, and attractions in your area that might float your boat.

23. GDocs

Since Android is a Google product, the absence of an app for viewing and editing documents and spreadsheets from Google Docs would just be wrong. That’s where Art Wild’s GDocs comes in, allowing users to view spreadsheets and to create, edit and view word processor documents from their Google Docs account. Please note that the editing is strictly text-only.

24. Imeem Mobile

You can play music off your phone’s SD card or stream music over the Internet with Imeem’s mobile player. Imeem offers several ways to listen once you’ve created a free user account: Upload tracks from your computer and listen to them under the “My Music” tab, create on-the-fly radio stations from music similar to your favorite artists using the “Search” function, or listen to featured stations put together by Imeem’s staff and other users.

25. Palringo

Palringo is similar to Meebo which integrates multiple IMs into 1 app. You can access Yahoo Messenger, AIM, Windows Live Messenger, Facebook and other IM networks with Palringo. You can create groups at will, but only other Palringo members can take part.

This is it for the first part of the series. Hope you liked the post. Please share/bookmark the post in case you found this useful. Let us know which is your favorite app and which are the ones you use often. In case you like an app which is not yet covered here, feel free to share it so that we can include it in our next part of the series.

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10 More Google Wave Gadgets to Play With

Raju — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:44:22 +0000

Just around a month back I had shared some cool Google Wave gadgets which I had listed down just after getting a Google Wave invite. A month down the line, I thought of revisiting Google Wave to check out any new gadgets to play around it. Most of them are still in beta, so be aware that few of them might not work as expected, but most of them will.

Suggested Read:

10 More Google Wave Gadgets to Play With

1. Dr. Musical Wave

Dr. Musical Wave is similar to Lasty, which we saw in the previous list of Google Gadgets. It tells what a last.fm user is listening, Music compatibility between people, Similar artists to an artist you like and more. The good thing is, all of this with pictures to make it look colorful. Just add dr-music@appspot.com to your contact list and then to your wave.

2. Napkin

Napkin is a Google Wave Gadget written in Adobe Flex that allows you to do quick “back of a napkin” sketches within a Wave. It lets you draw or plot or mind map. Here is the direct import link to get started with collaborative drawing gadget for Google Wave.

3. ClackPoint

The ClackPoint gadget for Google Wave enables you to add audio-conferencing to your waves with a single click. Each wave with the ClackPoint gadget installed has its own private audio-conference, with participation available directly through the browser using our Flash 10 plugin, or via telephone using the provided code. Non-Wave participants can also be included by using the phone and sharing a participant code. In order to get started with Clackpoint, here is the direct import link.

4. Code Snippet

This is a default gadget available via Google Wave. So you must install it as an extension. it is simple and easy to use and I find it useful as well.

5. Dicerolling robot

Dicerolling robot for Google wave allow rolls in a lot of systems (d20, NWoD, GURPS, etc) with free switching between them and it allows each system to use its own syntax and result display that is most convenient for that system. Add dice-y@appspot.com to your contacts list and then to your Wave to get started.

6. Collaborative Sudoku

Collaborative Sudoku is a simple Sudoku game gadget for Google wave. Check out the direct import link to get started with Sudoku gadget on Google wave.

7. Ribbit Conference Call

The Ribbit Conference Gadget allows Wave participants to escalate an online collaboration session to a real-time audio communications session, allowing participants to talk with each other while collaborating. The Ribbit Conference Gadget is persistent in the Wave. You can download the Ribbit Conference gadget here.

8. Ribbit Message Gadget

The Ribbit Message Gadget allows Wave participants to connect to a Wave by calling an associated dial-in number and leaving an audio message. The Ribbit Message Gadget displays a transcription of the audio message along with the actual audio message attached as an MP3 file. A Ribbit Message “robot” automatically tracks recorded messages and responds to requests from the gadget. It is not yet available for download, watch out this space for an update.

9. Hobbity

Hobbity is a Google Wave plugin that will change your long URLs to shorter ones. It uses migre.me API to shorten the URL. Add hobbiturl@appspot.com to your contacts to get started.

10. Polly

Creates a Wave to poll recipients and store their answers. Users are able to dynamically alter their choices. Add polly-wave@appspot.com to your contacts link and then to your wave to get started.

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Track the Best Black Friday Deals for 2009

Raju — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:51:54 +0000

This Black Friday will supposedly be the best time of the year to look for bargains in computing and electronics. Every year, the day after Thanksgiving – “Black Friday,” sees retailers offering ridiculous pricing on few high-profile products to get people into stores.

A variety of sites track these specials and often manage to scoop the stores by posting sale prices beforehand. The Black Friday is still 3 weeks away but the ads have already started coming in. So, it’s time to start figuring out where you want go and what you want to get. Use these resources to help you do just that.

Track the Black Friday Deals for 2009

1. BFAds

Black Friday Ads features all the latest updates on Black Friday deals. In addition, the site also features buying guides and shopping lists for those who want a little more than deal-seeking. You can discuss hot deals with others in its message boards, find discounts the site might have missed, and more.

Currently, they do not have much info on the deals, but am sure they will have all the updates when the D-Day comes. Keep this site on your radar when you get ready to buy on Black Friday.

2. BlackFriday.info

BlackFriday.info is a simple and efficient site. You can pick a store from the logos on the front page to search for Black Friday sales. They also have a running list of Black Friday sales that are upcoming. This site has a great design and makes it super easy to browse through all the deals which interest you. BlackFriday.info even has a Facebook Fan page, so you can check out some of the latest updates on the popular social network.

3. Black Friday at Deal Taker

Tons of great Black Friday sales here, including ads from stores, coupons, flyers, and more. The design makes it easy to find all the current ads. The site also provides coupons and information on special deals for you to check out while you’re waiting for Black Friday.

4. BlackFriday.fm

You can find lots of good Black Friday sales here. They also have a nice feature where you can add and save your favorite sales to a list for easy access. Black Friday.fm features some of the most up-to-date news of any site in this roundup.

5. Black Friday Gotta Deals

The site has ads posted from retailers such as Sears, Kmart, Lowes and many more. Visitors to Black Friday @ GottaDeal.com are able to compare prices, look up product reviews and in some cases, purchase the same item online for less than the price displayed in the actual ad. You can also sign up for their free newsletter to stay on top of the latest Black Friday sales.

6. The Black Friday

TheBlackFriday.com is one of the most popular source of black friday sale information. You can keep track of in-store coupons and flyers here, as well as multiple store-specific deals. Consider this as a backup only if all the other sites go down!!

7. BlackFridayAds

Small selection of stores on this site, but it’s frequently updated with new Black Friday sales information. Currently they have details on the deals offered by Sears, Lowes and ToysRus. I expect more stores to update their deals over here in coming weeks.

8. Black Friday

You can find Black Friday sales here by store, popular products, or category; you can also save all your favorite deals to a portable, printable list. Black Friday features one of the most user-friendly designs of any site in this roundup. It makes it quick and easy to find what you’re looking for. lists all the best deals from several well-known retailers. Simply click on one of the stores’ names in the right sidebar and you can see its respective Black Friday ad.

9. Black Friday Deals at Amazon

While Black Friday are traditionally reserved for stores you can actually visit, giant online retailer Amazon.com has rolled out a huge plethora of specials especially for Black Friday. Get that gadget you always wanted at really cheap prices.

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10 More Popular Google Chrome Extensions

Raju — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:49:09 +0000

Before you continue reading the post, make sure you have read this article

This post is an extension of the one linked above. Some of these Chrome extensions were suggested by you readers, and I am sure you will find it as helpful as the previous one.

10 More Popular & Useful Google Chrome Extensions

1. Google Reader Checker

Google Reader Checker is very much similar to TPGoogleReader which we had seen in the previous post. This is from the same developer who developed the Gmail Checker extension for the Chrome web browser. It will display a new button in the Chrome menubar that shows the count of the unread news items in Google Reader.

Download Google Reader Checker extension for Google Chrome

2. AdBlock+

Probably one of the most useful Google Chrome extensions. We had seen AdSweep extension in the previous list and you can consider AdBlock+ to be an alternative for that.

Download AdBlock+ extension for Google Chrome

3. FlashBlock

Personally, I hate those flash animations on the websites which considerably slows down the page loading time. Add FlashBlock and Flash elements won’t play unless you click them.

4. Google Tasks

The Google Tasks add-on integrates Google Tasks into Google Chrome by allowing the user to access the tasks directly from within the web browser without having to open the Google Tasks website. Simple and easy to use extension.

Download Google Tasks extension for Google Chrome

5. Google Wave Checker

A simple extension that will display the unread Google Wave messages in the Google Chrome statusbar.

Download Google Wave Checker extension for Google Chrome

Check Out: Ultimate List of Google Wave Gadgets and Tools

6. LastPass

Few readers complained that ChromePass (which was included in the previous list) was tagged as a virus by Avira AV. In that case, you can try out LastPass. It is one of the best secure password managers and generators around.

Download LastPass extension for Google Chrome

7. Xmarks

Xmarks is a popular bookmark syncing tool. It’s a longtime favorite of Firefox users and the Chrome version – though only in alpha testing – looks like it will be every bit as good. You can encrypt and automatically sync your bookmarks.

Download Xmarks extension for Google Chrome

8. Vince’s Clock

Vince’s Clock adds a clock to your bookmarks toolbar. This is also useful if you set your taskbar to autohide but still want the time displayed somewhere prominent. Hover over the analog clock, and the extension also displays the current date.

Download Vince’s Clock extension for Google Chrome

9. gPDF

This extension allows the user to open pdf documents directly in Google Docs. This means that no pdf reader needs to be installed on the computer system to read pdf documents. Also, it will reduce the chance that the document exploits security vulnerabilities in the installed desktop pdf reader.

Download gPDF extension for Google Chrome

10. HotCleaner

HotCleaner provides browser add-ons for Firefox, IE, and now Chrome that add 1-click cleanup of your cookies, browsing and history. Click & Clean sports several options, including the ability to launch an external application when you click the TP roll icon.

Download Click & Clean extension by HotCleaner for Google Chrome

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Ultimate Resources of Windows 7 Gadgets

Raju — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:05:49 +0000

Gadgets in Windows 7 and Windows Vista can do more than just show the weather and news. Many of the available gadgets are useful as system utilities that keep track of Windows 7 or Windows Vista resources. Several gadgets have been created that can track CPU, memory, hard drive and network usage.

Gadgets, which were introduced in Vista are mini applications built using XML, DHTML, and JavaScript. In Vista, though, those gadgets were more constrained to the sidebar. Although you could move them outside the sidebar to other parts of the screen, the bar itself would never really go away. In Windows 7, that has changed. The sidebar is no more and the gadgets can sit anywhere on your screen in either a minimized or maximized state.

Below are the best resources on Windows 7 gadgets and Windows Vista gadgets that can be used to help keep track of system resources.

Ultimate Resources of Windows 7 Gadgets

1. Windows 7 Feature Focus : Windows Gadgets – Paul Tharott

Paul Tharott neatly explains the funda behind Windows gadgets, how to install a gadget, what’s changed in Windows 7 and list of useful Windows 7 gadgets.

2. The Official Windows 7 64-bit & 32-bit Gadget Gallery

The official Windows Live gallery contains a huge list of Windows 7 and windows vista gadgets which have been neatly categorized and arranged for easy access.

3. Windows 7 Desktop Gadgets by Windows7News

A nice resource which explains Windows 7 desktop gadgets in detail including managing and customizing the Windows 7 gadgets.

4. Top 5 must-have desktop Gadgets for Windows 7

Check out this awesome article by RedmondPie which lists out the 5 must have desktop gadgets for Windows 7 which includes Twitter gadget, a search gadget and more.

5. Top 7 Email And Notification Gadgets For Windows 7

Ghacks has listed down 7 cool gadgets which display information and notifications about online services such as Facebook and Twitter or software programs like Outlook or Skype on the Windows desktop.

6. Top 16 Windows System Utility Gadgets

About.com has listed down 16 System utility gadgets for Windows 7 that can be used to help keep track of system resources. Some of them are really helpful and must have if you ask me.

7. Windows 7 Desktop Gadgets by Bill Evjen

These are some basic Windows 7 desktop gadgets, an intro about the default desktop gadgets available in Windows 7 and some additional ones.

Hope you found this article useful. Check out other useful Windows 7 tips.

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iPhone 3GS vs. Motorola Droid Phone – A Detailed Comparison

Raju — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:57:08 +0000

Motorola Droid is the first phone from the DROID series and will be the first phone to be powered by the new Google Android 2.0 operating system and will be available, starting from Nov 6th for $199 (after a $100 rebate) with a two-year contract on Verizon.

Over the last few years, several devices, from the BlackBerry Storm to the Palm Pre, have hit the market hoping to be an iPhone killer, but none of them have so far succeeded. And now, Motorola Droid is hoping to pose a serious challenge to iPhone’s supremacy in the ever-growing smartphone market.

Amongst the wannabe iPhone killers, Motorola Droid is probably the fastest and has one of the best display screens available. So does the Motorola Droid has enough in it to place any pressure on the iPhone?

iPhone 3GS vs. Motorola Droid

1. Hardware

Droid runs on the TI OMAP 3430 processor, one of the top processors on the market, which is also used in the Palm Pre. In addition to its application-switching capabilities, the TI OMAP 3430 is also a very fast processor. Infact, Droid is pipped as “the fastest Android device till date”.

iPhone 3GS uses Samsung S5PC100 processor which also runs at 600MHz and includes a CPU, a graphics processing and a memory controller all on one chip. Even the iPhone’s processor is capable of application switching functionality, but Apple hasn’t utilized the feature as yet.

Round 1: It’s a draw, though Droid has a slight edge because of it’s application switching capabilities. But Apple can use that anytime.

2. Operating Systems

iPhone’s OS has always been rated high by the experts for its reliability and ease of use. On the other hand, the Android OS is still relatively unknown, being used and tested by different devices and manufacturers hasn’t helped its cause either. Moreover, Android 2.0 OS is being used for the first time in Motorola Droid.

Round 2: For the time being, iPhone operating system is still the best OS around. We need to wait and see if Android 2.0 will match up with iPhone OS.

3. Keyboard & Screens

Many of those who dislike iPhone, don’t like it for the fact that it lacks a physical QWERTY keyboard. Using this to their advantage, Motorola Droid provides its users a full horizontal slide-out keyboard that features broader keys than devices such as the BlackBerry Tour.

As for the screen, Droid displays video at 854×480 pixels, which is higher than the 640×480 pixel display that is used by the iPhone 3GS.

Round 3: It’s Motorola Droid all the way. Atleast by the initial reviews and tests, Droid’s keyboard and screen are a notch higher than iPhone 3GS. Let us wait and watch how it works out in real life.

4. Applications

Apple’s app store has been around for few years now and there are more than 95k apps currently and it has served more than 2 billion downloads approximately. Android as well, has an app store, but it is not even comparable to that of Apple’s “as yet”. May be, we will get to see more applications in the coming months, when more and more Android based phones come out.

Round 4: Without a doubt, iPhone wins here.

5. Camera

iPhone 3GS features a 3 mega pixel camera with video recording and editing capabilities. Though it’s good enough for a smart phone, it succumbs meekly in front of Motorola Droid’s 5 Mega Pixel camera. One thing to note here is, though Droid comes with video recording capability, but no editing feature as yet.

Round 5: Discounting the video editing feature, Motorola Droid features a much better camera than Apple’s iPhone 3GS.

6. Battery Life and Talk time

iPhone 3GS is powered by lithium-ion battery. On 2G network, it can provide a talk time of upto 8 hours, while on 3G network, it provides 5 hours of talk time.

On the other hand, Motorola Droid is also powered by a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery, but Verizon claims that on its 2G network, it can provide talk time of upto 12 hours and on 3G network, talk time of upto 6.4 hours.

Round 6: Motorola Droid. Though both of them features lithium-ion batteries, Droid wins over iPhone on the basis of talk time. Note that this is just as per the claims made by Verizon and Motorola.

Final Take

It is very tough to beat Apple on the music and applications front. But looking at the specifications and initial reviews of Motorola Droid, it does have lots of things going for it that previous devices have not. We need to wait and watch if Droid matches up the hype and expectations. If the Droid doesn’t get the basics down, then its flashy extra features won’t mean much.

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10 More Free VPN Services for Anonymous Browsing

Raju — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:25:04 +0000

Few months back I had shared Top 5 Free VPN services and many of the readers found it very useful Few of them requested for more such Free VPN services and here I present 10 more Free VPN clients for anonymous browsing.

For the uninitiated, VPN stands for Virtual Private Networks and if you ask me why you would need to use VPN, check out the reasons below

Protect privacy
Anonymous browsing
Bypass geographical blocks from certain websites
Get secured connection
Bypass ISP Blocking

10 More Free VPN Clients

1. ItsHidden

ItsHidden is a free VPN solution that has opened up a BETA test to the public, who can now privatize their Internet traffic – including BitTorrent transfers in no time. ItsHidden was set up with torrent users in mind, allowing them to hide their identities from ‘third parties’ who choose to snoop on their activities. It has both free and paid services and works on all Platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux, IPhone etc.

2. LogMeIn Hamachi

LogMeIn Hamachi provides a secure way of setting up a VPN, a LAN over the internet. It is highly secure and since there is no setting up of the firewall, it’s easy to install. Apart from connecting two computers, it also enables sharing of files and resources and remote desktop control with Remote Desktop. It’s free for non-commercial and personal use. It provides encrypted tunneling across public and private networks.

3. GPass

GPass helps you bypass censorship and blocked web sites by tunneling network traffic through encrypted proxy servers. It is particularly popular in China. GPass is easy to use, and requires no setup on your part unless you want to do a little tweaking. It’s also impressively fast for a proxy.

4. AnchorFree Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield from Anchorfree helps to fix and solve unencrypted wireless network connection issue. Hotspot Shield keeps the Internet connection secure and anonymous on public networks by creating a virtual private network (VPN) between the notebook, laptop, desktop computer or iPhone and AnchorFree Internet gateway. This impenetrable tunnel prevents snoopers and hackers from viewing users’ email, instant messages, credit card information or anything else you send over the network.

5. LOKI Network Project

Loki Network Project is a free VPN service and SSL based free VPN server which base on US. You can use it with free without registering as a member. Do not expect great speed as yet.

6. Your Freedom

Your Freedom is not exactly a VPN service but functions like one. It provides both a free and paid service. Free service limits to six hours of usage per day (up to 18 hours per week). You need to install a client on your system and a user name & password to use this.

7. Ace VPN

Ace VPN makes use of open-source VPN client OpenVPN to provide its services, you simply install the client and use pre-configured config files to connect using your username and password. It has both Free and Paid options. The paid service is one of the cheapest ones out there.

8. FreeDur

9. LinkIdeo

10. JAP VPN

Hope you found this post useful! Let us know if you know of any other Free VPN service.

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Mega List of Windows 7 Drivers

Raju — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:14:41 +0000

Windows 7 has just been released all over the world and I am sure many of you are gearing up to upgrade the OS of your PC to Windows 7. One thing which comes to my mind immediately when I think of upgrading my OS, is about the compatible drivers.

A lot of older hardware and software were not designed for Windows 7 (or even Vista for that matter), so they may require an update or new driver in order to operate correctly on Windows 7. The decision to provide a Windows 7 driver or update will lie with the developer/manufacturer of the product. The good thing is manufacturers are now releasing Windows 7 drivers for their products. Updating to the latest Windows 7 drivers may help keep your PC running at its best.

The below section lists popular driver and software updates to download for Windows 7. Please feel free to suggest any Windows 7 driver download that I have missed. The list is inspired from about.com and enhanced further.

Acer Drivers (Desktops and Notebooks)

Windows 7 drivers are available for Acer desktops or notebooks, they can be downloaded via Acer’s Service and Support site, linked below. They have not grouped the Windows 7 drivers together. So, I would suggest you to go to this page and select your country from the list. Under Service & Support tab you will see a link for “Driver Download”. Click on that, choose your desktop/notebook/netbook model and select Windows 7 as the OS in the dropdown available. Example link (Acer India site)

Download the latest Acer drivers for Windows 7

ASUS Drivers (Motherboards)

ASUS Windows 7 drivers can be downloaded via ASUS’s Windows 7 Compatible ASUS Motherboards list, linked above. ASUS has made available Windows 7 drivers for many of their motherboard lines including those based on AMD, Intel Socket 775, Intel Socket 1366, and more.

Download the latest Asus drivers for Windows 7

ATI Radeon Driver

The latest ATI Radeon Windows 7 driver is the ATI Catalyst 9.10 Suite. This Windows 7 driver from AMD/ATI contains the entire Catalyst suite including the ATI Radeon display driver, ATI WDM driver, and the Catalyst Control Center. This Windows 7 driver is compatible with ATI Radeon HD series GPUs.

Download the latest ATI Radeon drivers for Windows 7

BIOSTAR Drivers (Motherboards)

BIOSTAR Windows 7 drivers are listed on BIOSTAR’s Windows 7 Ready motherboard list. The above listed BIOSTAR motherboards have passed Windows 7 WHQL logo testing completely and yield best user experience. The Windows 7 ready motherboards include those based on socket 1366, 1156, 775, AM3, and AM2+ designs.

Download the latest Biostar drivers for Windows 7

C-Media drivers (Audio)

Windows 7 drivers for C-Media are available for download from C-Media’s standard support site, linked below. Currently, the drivers present are for RC version of Windows 7. Note that the Windows 7 beta drivers do not support to record the playing digital audio (WAVE).

Download the latest C-Media AC97 drivers for Windows 7

Canon drivers (Scanners & Printers)

Canon hasn’t yet officially released the drivers for Windows 7. For most of the products, the drivers for Windows Vista SP1 would work on Windows 7 as well. When digging through the Canon website, I could see that, for some scanner models like CanonScan LiDE 100, LiDE 200 and LiDE 700F, Windows 7 compatible drivers are already available. As per one support ticket, Windows 7 drivers for following Canon scanners will be available – link. Link for Inkjet printers

Compaq Drivers (Desktops and Laptops)

If any Windows 7 drivers are available for Compaq computers, they can be downloaded via HP’s standard support site, linked below. Compaq is now part of HP. Compaq’s newer computers typically come with Windows 7 installed and of course have Windows 7 drivers available. HP’s site may have Windows 7 drivers listed for older Compaq computers as well.

Download the Latest Compaq Drivers for Windows 7

Creative Sound Blaster Drivers (Audio)

Windows 7 drivers for Creative are listed on Creative’s Driver Availability Chart. Creative has made available Windows 7 drivers for many of their popular Sound Blaster products including their X-Fi, Sound Blaster Live, Audigy, and more. The chart also has details of Windows 7 drivers for MP3 players, Speakers, headsets, cameras and others.

Download the Latest Creative Sound Blaster Drivers for Windows 7

Dell Drivers (Desktops and Laptops)

Windows 7 drivers for Dell desktop and laptop computers can be downloaded via Dell’s standard support site. Check out the updated list of their computer systems that they have successfully tested with Windows 7 – Microsoft Windows 7 Compatible Dell Systems

Download the Latest Dell Drivers for Windows 7

Gateway Drivers (Desktops and Notebooks)

Windows 7 drivers for Gateway desktops and notebooks will be available via Gateway’s support site, linked below.

It is surprising that Gateway doesn’t seem to have any Windows 7 drivers available at this time. I also did not find any list of Gateway computers that were otherwise compatible with Windows 7 but chances are that the more recent models are. Keep a check on the below link for updates

Download the Latest Gateway Drivers for Windows 7

HP Drivers (Desktops and Laptops)

Many of HP’s desktop and laptop PCs have Windows 7 drivers available. Any available Windows 7 drivers for HP desktop, laptop, and tablet computers can be downloaded via HP’s standard support site, linked below. Check it out.

Download the Latest HP Computer System Drivers for Windows 7

HP Drivers (Printers and Scanners)

The most current information on Windows 7 drivers for HP printers and scanners is available from the HP Imaging and Printing Software and Driver Information for Windows 7, linked below. It includes HP Deskjet, Officejet, Photosmart, LaserJet, Designjet, or Scanjet imaging devices.

Download the Latest HP Printer/Scanner Drivers for Windows 7

Intel Drivers (Motherboards)

Windows 7 drivers for Intel motherboards can be downloaded via Intel’s Microsoft Windows 7 page, linked below. Intel lists the various motherboards that have passed WHQL testing and also links to the various motherboard models where Windows 7 drivers are available. The few motherboard driver download pages I looked at showed Windows 7 drivers for Intel’s integrated video, audio, ethernet controller, and more.

Download the Latest Intel Motherboard Drivers for Windows 7

Intel Chipset Drivers (Motherboards)

The latest Intel Chipset Windows 7 driver is version 9.1.1.1020 which was released on 9/17/2009. This Windows 7 driver download contains both 32-bit and 64-bit driver versions for Windows 7. The page clearly mentions the chipset models which are fully compatible with Windows 7. Do not install this driver on a motherboard not listed.

Download the Latest Intel Chipset Drivers for Windows 7

Lenovo (Desktops and Laptops)

Windows 7 drivers for Lenovo desktop and laptop computers can be downloaded via Lenovo’s support site, linked below. It states that these are for Windows 7 RTM so that’s the real deal and may be worth checking out by Lenovo owners pulling an early upgrade. There seems to be a lot of drivers, covering a ton of Lenovo systems. This post lists out Windows 7 beta drivers for all Lenovo products.

Download the Latest Lenovo Drivers for Windows 7

Lexmark Drivers (Printers)

Windows 7 drivers for Lexmark printers are available from the Windows 7 Printer Drivers list on Lexmark’s site, linked below. You can check if your specific Lexmark printer will work best with the native Windows 7 driver, with the latest Windows 7 driver downloaded directly from Lexmark, or with the latest Windows Vista driver, also available from Lexmark.

Download the Latest Lexmark Printer Drivers for Windows 7

Microsoft Drivers (Keyboard, Mouse, Etc.)

In addition to creating operating systems like Windows 7, Microsoft also produces hardware like keyboards, mice, game controllers, webcams, and more. Microsoft hardware products with Windows 7 drivers are listed on on their Microsoft Hardware Support for Windows 7 page, linked below.

Download the Latest Microsoft Hardware Drivers for Windows 7

NVIDIA GeForce/ION Driver (Video)

The latest NVIDIA GeForce/ION Windows 7 driver is version 191.07 which was released 2009-10-05. This Windows 7 driver is compatible with NVIDIA GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, and 200 series GPUs and also NVIDIA ION GPUs. You might also wish to check out your motherboard manufacturer’s website for NVidia Windows 7 driver that better fits your hardware. This must hold good for NVIDIA 3D vision as well.

Download the Latest NVIDIA GeForce/ION Driver for Windows 7

Realtek AC97 Driver (Audio)

The latest Realtek AC97 Windows 7 driver is version 6305 which was released on 2009-09-07. This download contains both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of this Windows 7 driver. It is important to note that the AC97 chipset may be a part of your sound card or motherboard but Realtek only created the chipset. This means that it’s possible there’s a Windows 7 driver that better fits your hardware available from your actual sound card or motherboard manufacturer.

Download the Latest Realtek AC97 Driver for Windows 7

Realtek High Definition Driver (Audio)

The latest Realtek High Definition Windows 7 driver is version R2.35 which was released on 2009-10-12. This download contains both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of this Windows 7 driver.

Download the Latest Realtek High Definition Driver for Windows 7

Sony Drivers (Desktops and Notebooks)

Any Windows 7 drivers for Sony desktop or notebook computers can be downloaded via Sony’s eSupport site, linked below. The Sony Windows 7 upgrade page has all the information required about Sony PCs and Windows 7, including a handy tool to see what Windows 7 drivers and other information is available for your specific Sony computer.

Download the Latest Sony Drivers for Windows 7

Toshiba Drivers (Laptops)

Windows 7 drivers for Toshiba laptop computers can be downloaded via Toshiba’s standard support site, linked below. Toshiba has a list of Windows 7 supported laptops here: Toshiba laptop models supported for use with Windows 7. Toshiba also has a roundup of various Windows 7 information on their Windows 7 Support page.

Download the Latest Toshiba Drivers for Windows 7

VIA Drivers (Audio, Video, Ethernet)

Windows 7 drivers for VIA ethernet, Audio and integrated graphics can be downloaded via VIAARENA’s standard support site, linked below. You need to select the OS, type of driver and the specific model to be able to make it Windows 7 compatible.

Download the latest VIA drivers for Windows 7

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