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We've seen quite a few programs that promise to capture Internet content in one way or another, and more often than not, these programs disappoint. Hulu Downloader, however, actually delivers an effective and fairly easy-to-use set of tools for capturing and converting online Flash videos, such as those found on Hulu, YouTube, and other popular Web sites.

The program's interface isn't entirely intuitive, but with a bit of experimentation it's not too hard to figure out. The program's major features are arranged with buttons down the side. The browser function allows users to travel to … Read more

One of the best Mac OS X tools in my arsenal of iPhone utilities is Ecamm Network's PhoneView, which lets you retrieve your call history, export contacts, play and save voice memos, search and save SMS messages, play and export music, download photos, and create, edit, and save notes. It even lets you use your iPhone as a disk drive.

Now an update to Phoneview has added three new key features that make the app even more useful.

The first new features let you retrieve MMS messages and view them later on your computer. (The previous versions only handled … Read more

Vocabulary Builder for SAT ACT GRE GMAT LSAT is a basic program that contains more than 2,000 words for vocabulary practice. Although the program works fine, we wish we knew more about where its words come from and their relevance to each test.

The program's interface is basic, with separate sections for memorizing words and taking practice tests. The word memorization section features an audio recitation feature using Microsoft Sam, which we didn't particularly like; we've always found Sam kind of hard to understand, and we'd rather read the words and definitions anyway. We wish … Read more

Since I got my iPhone 3GS a couple of months ago, I've been wondering when I would really benefit from its highly anticipated faster 3G capability. I finally got the answer, and as it turns out, the wait is far from over.

AT&T announced Wednesday details of its rollout plans for High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 3G technology. This is the next generation of 3G, and it offers up to 7.2Mbps data connection speeds (as opposed to the 2Mbps and 3.6Mbps of the current 3G).

(This is, of course, just the theoretical number. Typical real-world downlink and uplink speeds will likely be less than that depending on location, device, and overall traffic on the local wireless network at a given time. Nonetheless, this promises a significant boost. HSPA 7.2 is part of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) family of technologies, which include GSM, UMTS, and the Emerging LTE technology. HSPA 7.2 offers backward-compatibility, meaning it also works with existing 3G and 2G devices at the lower device-specific speed.)

According to the announcement, the new speed will be available by the end of the year. Unfortunately, it's available only in six cities in the U.S., including Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Dallas; Houston; Los Angeles; and Miami. This means the rest of the country, including the San Francisco Bay Area where I am, must continue to wait.

It's unclear how long the wait will be for the rest of the cities, but the company says it plans to deploy HSPA 7.2 in 25 of the nation's 30 largest markets by the end of 2010, and to reach about 90 percent of its existing 3G network footprint with HSPA 7.2 by the end of 2011.

While this is rather sad news for me, for most people it won't mean much, as chances are your phone is not compatible with the higher 3G speed. Currently, the iPhone 3GS is the only HSPA 7.2-ready smartphone I know that AT&T offers.

However, AT&T assures that it will offer more compatible devices with the rollout of HSPA 7.2. The company expects to have six HSPA 7.2-compatible smartphones in its device portfolio by the end of the year, as well as two new LaptopConnect cards.

The rollout of HSPA 7.2 is part of AT&T's plan to invest some $18 billion this year, of which more than two-thirds is going toward broadband and wireless. Key projects of this investment include, in AT&T's words:… Read more

KidsMouse for Windows is a suite of Flash-based games that is, according to the publisher's information, suitable for infants. We didn't have an infant handy and our cat didn't seem interested, so we tried the games ourselves. It turns out that KidsMouse is a great way to get kids acclimated to using a mouse while also working with numbers, letters, and colors.

As would be expected from a game for kids, the interface is incredibly simple, with 16 games represented in the menu by images. There is no Help file, but not much of a need for … Read more

Not all programs need to have tons of bells and whistles to be effective. TreeSize Free proves this point. Its approach and set up are as simple as it gets but it gives users detailed information regarding available free space on their computers.

This free program's user interface couldn't be easier to navigate. All you do is select a folder or a hard disk to scan and the program goes to work, quickly displaying the amount of space programs and files are taking up. Using the intuitive command buttons at the top of the window, you can choose … Read more

No need to rely on an abacus or fingers and toes once you have this free Calculator for Science Students in your toolbox. A variety of calculators, converters, references, and glossaries reside at your fingertips through this full-featured app.

This calculator launches a nicely designed, easy-to-use interface--slightly drab, but easy to comprehend. It offers a numeric keypad and buttons for performing a number of scientific calculations. Below the keypad are six tabs that provide access to a wide series of tools that will make a handy reference for science students and teachers. This application performed quickly and very well in … Read more

Quicksys RegDefrag might be the prettiest back-end utility we have ever come across. The Web 2.0-esque design almost makes us want to take back stars from other Registry defraggers.

An Options menu lets you manage several settings, including checking for updates automatically, adding RegDefrag actions to context menus, and managing system and Registry backups. You can also choose from one of 17 languages, including Magyar, Arabic, and two that wouldn't even show up on our screen. This program does two things: displays your Registry information and defrags. The program performed without a hitch for us, although it did … Read more

This program converts a variety of file formats to PDF files. We hit a few bumps at the beginning, but ultimately, it proved to be a valuable file conversion tool.

When we first installed 1-2-3 All to PDF, we encountered a few error messages. Luckily, we were able to bypass them and move on to the main interface, which can be accessed by right-clicking on the file you wish to convert. The program can also be accessed through your Print interface. Once activated, the user interface is fairly straightforward. All we had to do was select the location to save … Read more