First Retina-Ready Mac App Hits the App Store Ahead of WWDC

While the purported specs of MacBook Pro have suggested that it will come with only minor improvements and won't come with Retina Display, the first Retina-ready app has just arrived in the Mac App Store.

As reported by The Next Web, Brothers Roloff - developer of FolderWatch has released an update for their app, which includes support for "Retina graphics".

It is possible that Apple has informed some developers about the upcoming upgrade so that there are enough apps available when it launches the new MacBook Pros with Retina Display at the WWDC Keynote. Interestingly, FolderWatch was also featured as an Apple Staff Favorite in June 2011.

Though Apple may still end up launching new MacBook Pros with Retina Display, we feel that the developer is just looking for some free publicity as we find it hard to believe that a developer who has early access to sensitive information (especially when it comes to Apple) would leak information so blatantly (as you can see below they even tweeted about it).

Apple just approved FolderWatch 2.0.4. The app is ready for retina displays and comes with a couple handy new features.

— Brothers Roloff (@brothersroloff) June 8, 2012

 

Apple is widely expected to unveil updates for nearly its entire Mac product line at the WWDC. According to rumors, the new MacBook Pros (13-inch and 15-inch) will be thinner, come with Retina Display, flash memory and Intel's latest generation Ivy Bridge processor.

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Facebook Launches App Center; Makes it Easier to Discover Social Apps For iOS And Android

Facebook has announced the launch of App Center, an app recommendation portal that takes advantage of Facebook's social graph in delivering suggestions to users.
The App Center features native iOS and Android apps, as well as web apps, including the ones that run inside Facebook's website.
Facebook's doing quite a bit to ensure that the apps that are showcased to users are of high quality, as described on its developer blog:

Success through the App Center is tied to the quality of an app. We use a variety of signals, such as user ratings and engagement, to determine if an app is listed in the App Center.
[...]
Well-designed apps that people enjoy will be prominently displayed. Apps that receive poor user ratings or don’t meet the quality guidelines won't be listed.

The App Center already lists more than 600 apps at launch, which span across various categories like games, music, news, sports and photos. Any app using Facebook's login framework can be listed on the App Center, provided it follows guidelines set up by Facebook.
App Center is available on Facebook's native iOS and Android apps, as well as Facebook's desktop and mobile websites at this URL. Just like the App Store, every app in the App Center has a details page which features screenshots along with a description of the app.
Upon clicking a mobile app you would be redirected to the App Store or Google Play if you're on mobile,  and if you're on a PC you have the option of sending a link to the app on your mobile. You could of course start using the app right away if it's web based.

This isn't the full blown mobile HTML5 platform that Facebook was rumored to debut, but a front end to apps on the App Store and Google Play. Of course, there are web apps and apps that run within Facebook's canvas, but it isn't the mobile HTML5 platform that could compete with Apple or Google.
This is obviously good news for developers, who are constantly looking for new ways to increase visibility of their apps, and it'll be interesting to see how well this works out for them. (If you're a developer, you could even try our forums to get some eyeballs for your app.)
Head over to this link on your PC or iOS device to have a look at Facebook's App Center.

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Cool Websites and Tools [June 8th 2012]

Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. Most of the listed websites are FREE or come with a decent free account option. If you want to have similar cool website round-ups delivered to your daily email, subscribe here.
Add Your Website Here!
ManualsLib – This is a free to use web service that includes user manuals for various user products. These products range from electronic appliances to other user products. You can either browse the manuals listed on the homepage or search for a product using keywords; the site has more than 465,000 manuals listed. Read more: ManualsLib: Get User Manuals For A Variety Of Products Mail Widget – Apple’s default mail client is great, but the one problem with it is that you always have to have it running in order to find out if you have any new mail. If you are running a slower Mac, this can be a real problem because the memory it is using can be very valuable. That is why MailWidget exists. Read more: Mail Widget: Display Amount Of New Mail On Your Mac DashboardScripted for iPad – Have you ever wondered what a movie script looks like? Yes, they are stories and what each character is all about but how are they exactly written? Well, if you own an iPad then you don’t have to wonder. Scripted for iPad is a nice and innovative app that lets you do exactly that. Read more: Scripted for iPad: Read & Share Movie Scripts
These are just half of the websites that we discovered in the last couple of days. If you want us to send you daily round-ups of all cool websites we come across, leave your email here. Or follow us via RSS feed.
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Sony bumps up Xperia Mini Pro to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

I am the first comment this is my big chance: Hi Mom and I want to thank my family, my friends, my parents, my uncle, my aunt, my grandmother, my grandfather, my friend, my. .. "Friend," my neighbor, my compadres, my gossips, my Meuse, my moso, my colleagues, my girls, my babies, my parrot, my dog, my cat, my squirrel, my fish, my refrigerator, my TV, my computer, my facebook, my twitter my youtube channel, my mother, my father, my lover, this is a great opportunity are giving me for being the first comment on this page and really want to say that thanks, infinite thanks and I will never forget this special moment where I was finally first at something, plus I want to wish a special greeting to Tokyo Japan to make those Chinese puppets as impressive as Zidane, but not because I want to thank, but most importantly I want to wish all that in as much as the bottom of my heart never lose that feeling that many can not read this message as long as a bastard but I do not care I'm very happy of this event, do not fit with excitement and my life took an unimaginable sense, I applaud and I go for, aplaudanse yourself for giving me such a great opportunity to I can be the first to comment so similar publication and these small and short words that come from my heart just expressing a minimal part of the impressive emotion, thank you all and I hope they're right, oh I forgot, thanks to my guitar, my friends, the amixers, the wachiturros, the Flaites, the Cannis and all those people that make me feel special to know I'm not as stupid as them, deep and sincere thanks. want to say more but time I can see, all these few words express my greatest feelings and I hope I can present more opportunities in life, and continue to succeed, will remember this moment all my life and I am out but not before reminding my family, my friends, my parents, my uncle, my aunt, my grandmother, my grandfather, my friend, my friend, my neighbor, my compadres, my gossips, my Meuse, my moso, my colleagues, my girls, my babies, my parrot, my dog, my cat, my squirrel, I fish in my refrigerator, my TV, my computer, my facebook, my twitter my youtube channel, my mother, my father, my lover, oh and also all those people who read this comentario.Mierda, I'm the first comment this is my big chance: Hi Mom I want to thank my family, my friends, my parents, my uncle, my aunt, my grandmother, my grandfather, my friend, my ... "Friend," my neighbor, my compadres, my gossips, my Meuse, my moso, my colleagues, my girls, my babies, my parrot, my dog, my cat, my squirrel, my fish, my refrigerator, my TV, my computer, my facebook, my twitter my youtube channel, my mother, my father, my lover, this is a great opportunity are giving me for being the first comment on this page and really want to say that thanks, infinite thanks and I will never forget this special moment where I was finally first at something,

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Apple to make Baidu the default search engine on Chinese iPhones

As Apple and Google continue to remove the “fr” from the word “frenemies”, Apple has taken another step to help themselves at the expense of their main former ally and biggest competitor; according to Bloomberg, Apple is set to announce that they will drop Google as the main default search engine in China, switching to the more popular home-grown Baidu.

Baidu is already the most popular web search engine in China, having gained market share hand over fist after Google decided to abandon the Chinese mainland and move its search servers to Hong Kong. Apple most likely sees this as a way to try and increase their popularity in the Chinese mobile phone market, where they have lagged far behind the many forms of Android (both forked and official). The fact that it will not provide Google with a way to grow its market share of Chinese mobile search is in all probability just a bonus.

Despite having smaller market share in China than elsewhere, the sheer size of the Chinese user base lead to the territory growing to become Apple’s second largest market last quarter, behind only the United States; as such Apple and Google undoubtedly view China as an extremely important battle field in the ongoing war over mobile market share.

According to Bloomberg’s sources the announcement could come as soon as next week, perhaps during WWDC. As an interesting quirk of history, way back in 2010 none other than Motorola chose to replace Google with Baidu as its default search engine on its Android smartphones; presumably they reversed course at some point!

As you might expect, no one at Apple, Baidu, or Google wished to comment on the story.

source: Bloomberg

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Are Your iPhone Photos Refusing To Rotate In Windows Explorer? Here Is The Solution

I love my iPhone but there are a couple of pet peeves that I have had with it from day one.  One of them was something which I managed to miraculously solve this morning, which was the strange enigma of iPhone photos refusing to turn around the right way, when transferred to the PC and viewed with the default Photo Viewer in Windows Explorer.
If you have an iPhone and a Windows PC, I’m sure you’ve encountered the same problem.  You’ve connected your iPhone to the computer, transferred your photos over to a folder on the PC, and then you’ve started to rotate the ones which are the wrong way around like so :

But when you try to rotate them round the right way and save them, you receive an error message like this :

This pissed me off for a long time, and as I started to use my iPhone camera more and more, this problem became even more of an irritant.  I didn’t want to crane my neck or stand on my head to view my photos. So I decided to see if there was a solution to the problem.  After scouring webpages and forums on the issue, I came across a very simple and straightforward program called JPEG Lossless Rotator, which works instantly and perfectly to turn those photos around any way you want them. It integrates into your Windows Explorer right-click menu to make things as easy and fast as possible.
You will find the program just under the green download button.  It is NOT the green download button, but the links below that.  There is even a portable version of the software for all you USB stick fans out there.

After downloading it, make you sure you tick the “Integrate JPEG Lossless Rotator With Shell” option, otherwise it won’t appear in your Explorer right click menu.

Then as soon as you have finished installing it, the app is ready to be used, immediately.  There’s no need for system reboots or any of that nonsense.
Just go to the photo (or photos) that you want to rotate, highlight them with your mouse, right-click, and you will now see two new options in your right-click menu :

Simply choose the direction in which you want your photos to be turned and automagically, they will be turned!  Hallelujah!

And that is basically that.  JPEG Lossless Rotator is one of those life-saving programs that you can just install in less than a minute, it starts working right away, and it does exactly what it says it will do. No bugs, no error messages, no steep learning curve.  In other words, my kind of perfect program!
Do let us know in the comments if you have been having the same kind of troubles with your iPhone images.  If you are, and you own a Windows PC, I strongly recommend JPEG Lossless Rotator as the solution to the problem.  Or maybe you prefer another solution?  Please do tell me about it as I like to consider all possibilities. Mac owners, I don’t know if you even have this issue when you transfer your photos to your computer.  Do you?  If so, what is the Mac solution?
And now, I think I may have found the solution to my other pet peeve.  But I will keep that for another article!

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How Do You Deal With Windows PC Crapware? [We Ask You]

While I’m no Windows or Microsoft fanboy (believing fanboys of all persuasions to be as bad as one another) I do use Windows more than any other operating system. It has had its ups (XP, 7) and its downs (ME, Vista), and it’s set to be tested when Microsoft re-imagines it with the new Metro UI in Windows 8, but it’s still the Windows we know and love. Or hate, depending on your point of view.
One thing that annoys every Windows user is the crapware that comes pre-installed on new computers. This isn’t actually Microsoft’s fault, despite what some people think, but thanks to PC manufacturers bundling a load of software onto their machines before they get sold in stores, it’s a problem, regardless of who is to blame. Which leads us to this week’s ‘We Ask You‘ question.

PC manufacturers bundle pre-installed software with new computers for two reasons: to ensure some features work straight out the box without a need for the end user to search for a solution themselves, and to save money. Both are legitimate reasons; the first saves n00bs from getting frustrated, the second keeps the cost of buying a new PC down as low as it is.
However, that doesn’t stop it from being really annoying. Anyone who knows a little about computers would rather start with a clean slate and a fresh version of Windows. They can then fill it with their own crap in their own time. Inspired by Microsoft’s recently announced Signature program which sees the company remove all the detritus for you for $99, the timing seems ripe to ask what you do to combat Windows PC crapware?
Do you leave it all on your new PC and work around it? Do you sort through each added program in turn, deleting those you deem unnecessary? Do you use software designed to remove crapware with the minimum of fuss? If so, which software? Do you use a workaround to get a clean Windows install? Let us know in the comments section below.
All comments will be digested to form conclusions in a follow-up post next week where we will detail what ‘You Told Us’. One reader will be chosen for the coveted ‘Comment Of The Week’, having their name put up in lights for all to marvel over. What more motivation than that do you need to respond?
‘We Ask You‘ is a weekly column dedicated to finding out the opinions of MakeUseOf readers. The questions asked are usually open-ended and likely to start a conversation. Some are opinion-based, while others see you sharing tips and advice, or advocating tools and apps to fellow MakeUseOf readers. This column is nothing without you, as MakeUseOf is nothing without you.
Image Credit: A Florian

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4 Reasons Windows Phone Needs To Succeed [Opinion]

It’s very easy to hate on Microsoft and all of its products. This is the company that started as the nerdy cousin of Apple, has made some really bad decisions over the years, and has one Mr. Steve Ballmer as its CEO. But Windows 7 is fantastic, the Xbox 360 gives joy to millions, and Microsoft has at least been consistent.
And then there is Windows Phone, Microsoft’s operating system for smartphones that replaced the disappointing Windows Mobile. There is iOS, there is Android, there are a host of other contenders, but Windows Phone deserves a place at the top table. In fact, there are several reasons I think Windows Phone needs to succeed.

Windows Phone is Microsoft’s mobile operating system, replacing the equally-simply named Windows Mobile. It arrived on October 21, 2010 as Windows Phone 7 and the name is expected to stay in line with the desktop operating system. The current version is Windows Phone 7.5 (Tango), and we expect to see Windows Phone 8 arrive before the end of the year.

Love it or hate it, the world needs Microsoft. No, I’m being serious. More than Google, more than Facebook, more even than Apple, the world needs a strong, confident Microsoft to exist. Windows is by far the most-used operating system on the planet and were Microsoft to suddenly pop out of existence I dread to think what would happen. Perhaps we’d all buy Macs, perish the thought.
Microsoft’s future doesn’t hinge on the success or failure of Windows Phone, of course. At least not yet. But as smartphones become the dominant force, able to do everything we would once turn to our laptops for, the product is set to become more important to Microsoft’s fortunes. Microsoft needs Windows Phone to succeed in order to stay in the smartphone game alongside Apple and Google.

Windows Phone has appeared on handsets manufactured by a number of different companies, including Samsung, HTC, and LG. But it’s Nokia that has truly embraced the platform, forging a partnership deal with Microsoft at the beginning of 2011 which tied the companies’ fortunes together. Microsoft needed a strong hardware partner, Nokia needed a strong operating system.
The partnership has gone fairly well to this point, with the Lumia range of handsets strong contenders for smartphones of all budgets. Many reviewers love both the hardware and the OS, but wouldn’t compare even the high-end Nokia Lumia 900 against either the iPhone 4S or Samsung Galaxy S II. Fair comment perhaps, but I think it’s too early to dismiss the potential.
I don’t want to see Nokia go under, and I would hope most people feel the same. This is a company that has produced some of the best mobile phones of all time – as many commenters informed us on this article – and it would be a huge loss if Nokia went bust. The company needs Windows Phone to succeed in order for it to succeed in this smartphone-dominated market.

You may love your iPhone or Android handset. You may not be able to imagine ever needing to use a handset not built along the same architecture. But things change, and at high speed, in the world of consumer technology. Yesterday’s market leader yesterday can be mostly-forgotten by tomorrow. In this scenario choice is key.
Windows Phone offers consumers an alternative to iOS, Android, BlackBerry, etc. And choice is a great thing that we often take for granted. Even if you are yet to have even considered buying a Windows Phone handset you should be pleased to see the platform doing well. If you ever grow tired of your current OS then you’ll have a ready-made replacement.
Competition is also good for driving innovation. It stops companies from becoming lazy and doing the bare minimum. Apple is already offering only incremental upgrades with each successive iPhone, so I hate to think what it would be doing if Android wasn’t in the world to counter its offering. The same is true of Windows Phone; the more successful it is the less Microsoft’s competitors will be able to rest on their laurels.

Last but definitely not least is the fact that Windows Phone is good. Really good, in fact. If you don’t believe me then try the operating system out for yourself. All it takes is walking into a phone shop and touching a demonstration model. You’ll be surprised how good it looks, how fluid it is, and how it offers a different way of doing things.
Christian has already identified 10 Reasons To Buy Windows Phone 7, and even a brief test will show that he isn’t making this stuff up. I strongly believe that good products deserve to succeed, and on that basis Windows Phone should be around for a long time to come.
So there we have it, four reasons I feel Windows Phone needs to succeed. You may not agree with all, or even any, of them, but everyone is entitled to an opinion. As always we’re keen to hear your thoughts in the comments section below, whatever those thoughts may be. Hell, even Apple fanboys are welcome to rip Microsoft a new one here. Opinion is free, discussion is good, debate is healthy.
Image Credits: Microsoft Sweden, Robert Scoble, Clive Darr, Mohamed Nanabhay, Martin Cathrae

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What Is The Best Backup Solution? [Geeks Weigh In]

Ten years ago an external hard drive – or even a physical disc such as a CD-ROM – was the only practical way to back up files. Consumer-grade network storage solutions were primitive, expensive and hard to use. Cloud storage? What’s cloud storage?
More choice is great, but it also brings a dilemma. What should you choose to handle your backups? Is there one solution that’s clearly the best? Let’s apply some thought to this problem and see what comes out ahead.
Before we can gauge backup solutions we first have to decide the metrics we’re judging them by. I think there are four details that are important.
This one is obvious. An inexpensive solution is better than an expensive one if everything else is equal.
How much can you realistically store? A backup solution that can’t contain all your files is ineffective and annoying.
How quickly can you create a backup and restore from it?  This is an ease-of-use issue and also a functionality concern when backing up large amounts of data.
What’s the chance that your backup will be destroyed or lost? Can it be stolen, erased, or lost in a disaster?
This article is looking at backup solutions from a satellite view. It’s not meant to help you find a specific product but instead decide what category of backup solution is best for you. Now, on to the contenders.

The undisputed champion of backups of years, external hard drives are still popular but now have serious competition. Is this still you best bet?
External hard drive prices change over time but are currently sitting at around $100 for 1TB of storage. This is by far the cheapest solution in terms of capacity-per-dollar.
This is another high point of the external hard drive. Though the 1TB drive is currently the volume leader, there are drives in 2TB, 3TB and even 4TB capacities. Only one other option can offer more.
Today’s external hard drives have mostly transferred over to USB 3.0, which is extremely quick. Even at USB 2.0 speeds are fine – a typical example with a typical drive will net you around almost a gigabyte per minute, which is faster than most any other choice.
External hard drives are vulnerable to theft, physical destruction and hacking. They aren’t particularly secure unless encrypted.

NAS is the cousin of the hard drive, but it connects to a network directly. Some options can handle everything over Wi-FI while others have to plug in to a router.
A decent NAS unit can easily run over $200 before any hard drives are installed in it. Some hard drive manufacturers are now selling external hard drives with network adapters as a poor man’s NAS, but reviews of such product aren’t great.
NAS can meet or exceed the capacity of an external hard drive. The largest units, which are designed with enterprise solutions in mind, can 8TB, 16TB, 32TB or even more.
Network hardware is usually the limitation on speed. Data can be transferred quickly with the best Gigabit adapters or a strong 802.11n. A weak network, on the other hand, can slow transfer speeds to far less than a gigabyte per minute.
Like an external hard drive, this solution is vulnerable to theft, physical destruction and hacking.

The new kid on the block, cloud storage offers traits that are opposite of the physical storage options. Let’s see how it stacks up.
Cloud storage services charge by the month. A small account with around 10 gigabytes will cost about $10. Storage in the hundreds of gigabytes can cost $50 or more per month. Capacity-per-dollar is clearly not the strong point of cloud storage.
It’s possible to purchase cloud storage in almost any capacity, as different services offer different plans. Pricing is the limitation.
Your Internet connection is the bottleneck. Many users will find that cloud storage is relatively slow as a result. Also, because most Internet service providers offer lower upload speeds than download speeds, backing up data will usually take longer than restoring it.
Hacking is the main threat to cloud storage. Theft and physical destruction, though possible, are extremely unlikely – and most services claim to implement redundant file storage that protects against disaster. Most issues with hacked accounts occur because of a breach in the user’s security rather than a breach in the service.

Backing up to a physical CD, DVD or Blu-Ray disc seems archaic, but it can still be done, and is an option some users might want to consider.
Individual discs may cost only a few cents or dollars (depending on the format) but the need to constantly buy discs can make this an expensive option over time.
Theoretically there is no limit, but time and money are factors. Most people won’t be able to practically back up more than one hundred gigabytes of data.
The speed at which data is burned varies significantly from one burner to the next. Data transfer rates typically lag USB connections, and even if they did not, the need to switch out discs while backing up data instantly puts this option near the back of the pack.
Physical discs aren’t vulnerable to hacking even when inserted because they can be made read-only. Theft and destruction are potential threats, but discs are small enough to easily secure in a safe or even an off-site lock box. Discs are fairly resistant to impact damage and invulnerable to both water damage and power surges.
These four backup solutions are not the only options, but they’re the only ones I can seriously recommend.
I think the external hard drive remains the overall champion. It is inexpensive, offers plenty of capacity and can quickly handle large backup and/or restore jobs. Most users faced with the question of backing up data should buy an external drive and be done with it.
With that said, both cloud storage and physical media are good choices for backing up important data. Despite fears of hacking, cloud storage is secure overall because it is nearly invulnerable to other threats. Physical media is even more secure but a pain in the butt to use.
Now, geeks, it’s your turn. Based on the criteria listed in this article, what do you think of this verdict? What do you use as your data backup solution? Do you know of an amazing alternative that isn’t listed here? Let us know in the comments.

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The Top Free Ways To Stream Video From Your Computer To Your Mobile Or Tablet

One of the things I like most about modern tablets and other portable devices as opposed to laptops is that you can watch videos in your bed, on the sofa, or in the garden without feeling like there’s a fevered walrus sitting in your lap.

Then again, there’s the slight inconvenience of having all my media stored on my computer, and the tedious process of manually adding videos to your iPad through iTunes. It’s worth it, but not all that fun. That’s why I started streaming my videos from my computer to my tablet.

Before we get started, let’s clarify what I mean by ‘streaming’. Although some of the apps discussed below let you stream your video over the Internet, in general we want to stream the video over your local network. That way, streaming video won’t impact your Internet bandwidth, and streaming quality only depends on the speed of your router.

1. Connect To A Desktop Client Application

The easiest way to stream video to your device is probably to connect to a desktop client; an application on your main computer that’s ready to play ball with your mobile or tablet. This requires very little set-up, and offers a high compatibility, as most of these client applications are ready to transcode files that don’t play natively on your device.

Air Playit [Android & iOS]

Air Playit’s desktop client is available for Windows and Mac. The mobile application is free, both on iOS and Android. After selecting the folders you’d like to share in the desktop application, your videos should show up on your device.

Besides streaming transcoded videos to your device, Air Playit can also convert the video on your computer with the click of a button, so it can be downloaded over your local network and stored on your device for later enjoyment.

Emit Lite [Android & iOS]

Apart from Windows and Mac OS X, Emit’s desktop client is also available on Linux. Emit Lite does most of what Air Playit does, with one added benefit; Emit is able to display subtitles from SRT files, and softcoded subtitles in MKV files. However, this free version is ad-supported, and ads can be shown even while you’re watching videos.

The Linux client and subtitle support might give Emit Lite the edge over Air Playit, even despite the sometimes intrusive ads. After all, subtitle support is indispensable for a lot of foreign users, and anime lovers.

Boxee for iPad [iOS]

A lot of you will be familiar with Boxee as a desktop media center, but Boxee is also available for the iPad. Like its desktop counterpart, you can use it to queue, watch and discover online media, but you can also stream video from your computer to your iPad over your local network. This requires the Boxee Media Manager software, which is available for Mac OS X and Windows.

Apart from the Boxee Media Manager, it doesn’t hurt if you’re using Boxee as a media center on your computer as well. With this, you can push videos from your iPad to Boxee on your desktop when you feel like swapping your tablet for the big screen.

2. Connect To a UPnP/DLNA Server

A desktop client might give the best media compatibility and fastest set-up from scratch, but connecting to a UPnP/DLNA server gives more flexibility. The chances are you’ve already got a UPnP/DLNA server. Most media center applications double as a UPnP/DLNA server; this can usually be turned on in the preferences.

By default, these servers don’t transcode media. This means that the files visible on a UPnP/DLNA server are not necessarily playable on your device. Some of the applications listed below support other video filetypes, like AVI and MKV. Otherwise, you’ll need to convert some files in advance, or use a UPnP/DLNA server application that supports transcoding likeMediaTomb (Windows, Linux) or PS3 Media Server (Windows, Mac, Linux).

BubbleUPnP [Android]

BubbleUPnP is one of the best Android applications of its kind. Although BubbleUPnP itself is no formidable media player, video playback can be delegated to other applications, so you can play virtually any media without transcoding or prior conversion.

If you’re looking for a good media player to accompany BubbleUPnP, check out Angela’s article on the 8 Best Mobile Video Players For The Android Phone.

It should be noted that this free version of BubbleUPnP comes with some limitations. As such, the playlists you create are capped, music downloads are limited to batches of maximum 40 tracks, there’s a time cap on remote control of the local renderer, and there’s a limit of three plays per app launch when BubbleUPnP is called from an external application. All in all though, BubbleUPnP does what we want it to do.

Media Link Player Lite [iOS]

DLNA/UPnP applications are a dime a dozen on iOS, but almost all the free ones are limited in such a way that renders them practically useless. One exception on this rule is Media Link Player Lite. Nevertheless, it supports only the most rudimentary video formats. This simply means you’ll have to use a media server that’s able to transcode your files, as outlined above.

Not an option? You’ll have to go premium, or access your media in a different way. One of the best UPnP/DLNA applications is 8Player, which can play most any file. However, the lite version will only let you play the first five files in every folder, prompting you to upgrade for full support.

3. Connect To An FTP Or SMB Server

Although UPnP/DLNA is a protocol that’s at ease sharing digital media, it’s not the only way to access a remote server or computer. Two other popular network protocols are FTP and SMB.

FTP is short for File Transfer Protocol, and it’s one of the standard protocols to share files over a network (e.g. the internet). SMB, also known as ‘Samba’, is the default way to share files and folders from Windows desktops, but you can also enable it on Mac OS X (System Preferences -> File Sharing -> Options) and add it to Linux.

ES File Explorer [Android]

ES File Explorer is a free Android file browser. It’s an application you may want on your Android device in any case, but the main features we’re concerned about are the ability to connect to remote network shares. This means you can view the contents of folders that are shared on your computer and, as a result, the video files therein.

Now, because ES File Explorer is not the video powerhorse we’re looking for, we’ll want to open these files in another application like MX Player. Again, if you’re looking for an Android video player, Angela’s 8 Best Mobile Video Players For The Android Phone is a good place to look.

OPlayerHD Lite

OPlayerHD Lite, as a rare case, is almost as magnificent as its premium counterpart. The main difference between these two is a very non-intrusive text ad. The application does everything we need; it lets you add SMB network shares and connect to FTP servers, making it easy to scour your computer for a video across a network.

No need to outsource the rendering to another application; apart from browsing video sources, OPlayerHD also comes with a very decent video player. You can expect to play most any video file, with subtitle support added into the bargain. Other interesting features let you download these videos for offline enjoyment, and TV Out.

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To-Do List App Any.Do Comes To iPhone & Chrome [Updates]

Any.Do, the popular to-do list Android app, has just launched two exciting new additions to its arsenal. The first is the long awaited iPhone app, which brings the app’s simplicity to iOS, and the second is the Any.Do extension for Google Chrome.

Any.Do first launched for Android at the end of last year, and since then has been downloaded by millions of users. If you’ve been hearing about Any.Do’s features and capabilities but did not own an Android device, you can now use it for free on an iPhone or web browser.

The app makes use of simple gestures to create notes, reminders and tasks. You can accomplish almost anything on the app using gestures, some of which are not common on iOS apps. For example, to move a task around, simply tap and hold it. You can also pull down to create a new task, swipe to the right to cross over a task and tap a task to see more options.

Tasks can be either typed in or you can use the app’s speech recognition feature to dictate them. Tasks can be stored in different folders and share you can them with friends via e-mail, Facebook or Twitter.

The Chrome extension brings Any.Do to your desktop, with list syncing, a drag and drop interface, and the usual notes, reminders and tasks. The interface is almost identical to the mobile apps, and when you sign in for the first time, your mobile notes and tasks will already be there, waiting for you.

Download Any.Do for iPhone, Any.Do for Chrome, and if you haven’t tried it yet, Any.Do for Android.

What do you think of Any.Do?
Source: Any.Do

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New OtterBox Armor case will protect your Apple iPhone 4/4S from water

The OtterBox Defender series is one of the better selling cases for the Apple iPhone 4 and Apple iPhone 4S. Now, the company has raised the stakes and will be soon offering the OtterBox Armor series. Unlike the boxy style of the Defender, the Armour is more of a protective shell. While OtterBox hasn't released that much info on the product outside of a video and web site, the Armor is expected to be a "waterproof, thermo-plastic shell, precision fit to 1/3000th of an inch in accuracy, and [is] locked down behind a medical-grade stainless steel latch."
Of course, to some, it might seem a little late in the game to offer a case for the Apple iPhone 4 and Apple iPhone 4S considering that all indications are that the next iteration of the phone will launch around October with a larger screen and could have much different dimensions than the current models sport. Still, we suppose if OtterBox could capture just a small percentage of the current number of iPhone 4/4S users, it will all be worth it to the company. OtterBox says that right now the case is being launched only with the Apple iPhone in mind and it will explore making the case for other models.
So far there is no word on pricing and availability, although there is a cool video that we invite you to watch.
source: OtterBox via MobileSyrup


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How To Make Your Own Little Polarama Planet With Photoshop

Technically called a Polarama (because it uses the Polar co-ordinate system), you can end up with a little “planet” when you wrap around a panorama photo – like you can see on the thumbnail to the side there.

Today I’m going to show you how to achieve this effect in Photoshop. This is a quick and easy tutorial anyone can follow; even easier if you already have some panoramas to play with.

No Panorama? Use Photomerge

Start by taking lots of pictures that you’ll stitch together into a panorama. In order for the planet effect to work, make sure you have a consistent sky all the way around. It’s essential that you lock the focus and white balance if you can.

• Open up Photoshop and from the File->Automate menu, choose Photomerge.

• Use the browse dialog to find your files. Ensure settings are on Automatic, andRemove Geometric Distortion.

• When you hit OK, things are going to take a while to process, proportional to how many photos you took. The atrocious result below took about 30 minutes to render with 47 huge iPhone photos; the rendered file ended up at 2.1GB. It’s a good example of how this entire process will mess up if you don’t lock the white balance. Learn from my mistake!

• When you’re done, cut the edges either side so that they align; if you took a good amount of overlap, you should be able to find a common feature to both edges that you can just slice down the middle of.

I must stress, using a panarama app such as 360 is far, far easier. I resorted to using this; the geometric distortion with scenery that was too close was just too much for Photoshop; you’ll get better results if your foreground is a little further away than my tiny garden.

Polar Distortion

Next, we’re going to distort the image into a square shape.

• Go to Images->Image size and uncheck the chckbox that says Constrain Proportions. Make the height the same as the width and apply. You’ll end up with a square but ridiculous looking image. Great!

• Spin the image around next; Image -> Image Rotation -> 180?. Note – if you skip this step, your sky will be in the middle. So don’t.

• The last step is to use polar distortion. Select Filters -> Distort -> Polar Co-ordinates -> Rectangular to Polar, and apply.

You may also want to rotate again at this point, and if there’s an ugly stitching mark in the middle due to temperamental skies, use healing or smudge tools to clean it up. As it is, we had a glorious day of throughly non-English weather.

This is an earlier attempt, which shows clearly what happens if you don’t have sky all the way around. This is difficult if your surroundings are too close, but you might actually want this effect if there’s a tower you want in the scene.

Have you made one that you think is awesome? Be sure to share it in the comments. Flickr also has a specific group called Create Your Own Planet with some absolutely stunning examples, but no one uses Flickr anymore, apparently.

Check out all our other Photoshop tutorials too; I’m particularly fond of my tilt-shift how-to. If there’s some other effect you’d like us to perhaps cover, let us know and we’ll see what we can do.

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Get Paid To Shop Smarter With Smoopa [Android 1.6+ & iOS]

If you’re a frugal shopper or just someone who is conscious of the prices of the items you buy, you more than likely compare prices of items between stores. Others, on the other hand, don’t do it because it takes a lot of time and energy to check the prices of everything to find the best ones. It would be great, however, if there was a much easier way to find the best price for an item. Or something that will keep you from having to become a coupon addict.

About Smoopa

Smoopa is the tool you are looking for. Its main purpose is to help people find the best price for whatever they’re looking for. However, it also gives users incentives for entering updated prices for certain items at certain locations. In other words, you can use Smoopa to find the best prices, and you can help keep its database up to date and get paid for doing so with rewards.

Installation

Installation is very simple. Just follow this link if you’re an Android user or follow this link if you’re an iOS user. You can also simply search for “Smoopa” in your respective app store.

Popular Items

When you first launch the app, you’ll be shown the “Popular” page, where some of the most popular items and their best price is displayed.

Here’s also a good place to search for a specific item, which you can do by tapping on the magnification lens icon in the top right corner. Once you have found your item, you can see the different prices and shipping charges, if applicable.

Scan An Item

Scanning new items is very easy to do. When you first tap on Scan, you’ll be asked to create a Smoopa account or log into one you have already created. This is necessary so that Smoopa can keep track of how many times you’ve scanned an item and reported its price, as each time you do, your rewards balance slightly increases.

Speaking of which, don’t expect to be able to request a reward after just a few scans; it will take some time and effort before you can reap the rewards. However, it’s very much worth it because you’ll be making money through rewards while finding the cheapest prices on items. It’s great in two ways!

Rewards

Smoopa does offer some pretty nice rewards for all your effort. You can choose from a handful of different gift cards, get a check in the mail, or donate your rewards balance to a charity. What to choose is completely up to you, but in any case you will be paid! Personally I wish they could also pay people via PayPal as it’s quick and safe, but I’ll keep that on my wishlist for now.

Conclusion

Smoopa is a fantastic way to save lots of money on virtually anything that you want to buy, from TVs and game consoles to breakfast bacon. There are absolutely no downsides to using Smoopa, and it’s well worth a try. If you don’t ever try, you won’t know what you might be missing out on.

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