hardware

Our utilities update report is a column on updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is on bringing you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there were updates to maintenance programs, a number of filesystem and file management tools, and one hardware utility for managing battery calibrations.

Maintenance The popular maintenance tool Snow Leopard Cache Cleaner was updated in this past week. There is … Read more

Our utilities update report is a column on updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is on bringing you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there were updates to file recovery software, some drive monitoring utilities, and duplicate file management tools.

Maintenance

Cocktail is a good option to use as part of a general maintenance routine and also has options to allow for adjusting … Read more

Only a week after Google upgraded the stable version of Chrome to 11, the company bumped its beta users to version 12 beta last night. Google Chrome 12 beta (download for Windows | Mac | Linux) pushed a moderate range of under-the-hood improvements to Chrome beta users, including better hardware acceleration, stronger privacy controls, and slightly safer file downloads. It also killed support for Google Gears, a move the company announced back in March.

The new beta includes two security improvements. Flash-based local shared objects, which are bits of Web sites stored locally on your computer, can now be deleted from within … Read more

Be careful venting your frustrations with modern technology when using the latest version of Google Chrome, released today. Chrome 11 (download for Windows | Mac | Linux) comes with the ability to convert your speech to text, which could prove to be a big boon to people who have difficulty with keyboards as well as providing on the go translations when used with Google Translate.

The new feature, based in HTML5, requires a microphone icon embedded in the Web page. Click the icon and then speak into your computer's mic. The input records as text, and the browser automatically inserts the … Read more

Last year, we took a look at the Cobra iRadar detector and app for iPhone. Now Android compatibility is available for Cobra's device with the release of the iRadar app for Android, available for download in the Android Market.

The Cobra iRadar app for Android offers all of the standalone features that we saw when we tested the iOS version, including GPS warnings for known road hazards, traffic cameras, and speed traps using Cobra's Aura Camera and Driving Hazard Database (data connection required) with Google Maps integration. You can also set a speed warning with notifications when a … Read more

Our utilities update report is a column on updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is on bringing you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there were updates for some maintenance tools, a couple of hard-disk monitoring tools, and some file recovery and duplicate file management tools.

Maintenance In maintenance utilities this week, the tools Cocktail and Snow Leopard Cache Cleaner have been updated. … Read more

Our utilities update report is a column on updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is on bringing you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there were only a few updates, for a couple of popular maintenance utility titles, and a new tool that can help optimize SSD performance in some systems.

Maintenance There are few utility updates this week, and the majority of … Read more

Our utilities update report is a column on updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is on bringing you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there were updates to some maintenance and filesystem tools, including a major update of TechTool Pro, and some hardware and process management tools.

Maintenance Some standard maintenance programs were updated this week. The tools OnyX and Maintenance are made … Read more

After some real-world tests, Microsoft has concluded IE9 is the most energy-efficient of the major browsers on the market.

Microsoft compared its new browser with Opera 11, Firefox 4, Chrome 10, and Safari 5 on an Intel laptop, measuring how many watts the machine consumed with the browser idling, showing a news site, and running graphics-intensive Web tests.

The upshot: IE9 is the most efficient in the test, meaning it'll take the smallest toll on the battery.

"We hope and encourage the industry and other browser vendors to follow us on the path to a more power efficient … Read more