ie8 fix

lite

NFC-enabled car keys do more than open doors

You carry your car keys everywhere, so you may as well put them to work. NXP Semiconductor launched KeyLink Lite, a near field communications-enabled car key that can do a lot more than just unlock doors and start the car.

The KeyLink Lite transfers data between a vehicle and mobile devices or computers. Based on NFC standards and utilizing the 13.56MHz frequency and cryptography, the multifunction car key lets users wave the smart key over an NFC-enabled device to access data. The KeyLink Lite securely stores sensitive data, such as the car's GPS coordinates or destination directions, and … Read more

Altec Lansing Orbit USB Lite IML227

The Altec Lansing Orbit USB Lite IML227 is a portable USB-powered PC speaker. Except for the fact that it's silver instead of black and has a plastic (not metal) housing, it's basically identical to the Altec Lansing Orbit USB iML237. See the full review of the Altec Lansing Orbit USB iML237 for more details.

Nintendo DS Lite drops to $99

Today Nintendo announced that its DS Lite handheld, originally released in 2006, has had its retail price reduced to $99. This comes a week before the annual E3 expo in Los Angeles, and a week after the Nintendo Wii dropped its price to $150.

The DS Lite was always a well-received handheld, and was the last Nintendo portable to support Game Boy Advance cartridges, but it's currently two generations behind. The Nintendo DSi, released in 2009, still sells for $150, and the Nintendo 3DS, released earlier this year, sells for $250.

It's not surprising to see price drops … Read more

A new notepad

EditPad Lite from Just Great Software is a freeware text editor that replaces Notepad in Windows. It adds up-to-date features like tabs, no arbitrary limits on file size, file conversion, unlimited undo and redo, and compatibility with Mac and Unix files.

EditPad Lite's installer let us choose between standard, portable, and advanced installation options. We selected the advanced option, which let us choose directories and set EditPad Lite as the default text file application, which would open EditPad Lite instead of Notepad when we clicked a text file or opened a new text file from Explorer's right-click menu. … Read more

Makeup app(licator)

Beauty Guide Lite is a free tool that lets you practice applying makeup to images of faces, even your own. It's basically a slimmed-down graphics editor with brushes and palettes optimized for cosmetics. You can undo, save, and print; sample and alter colors; smudge, lighten, and darken; and flip and rotate images. The software supplies faces to practice on, but you can upload your own images, too, and not just pictures of your own face but also friends, family members, even celebrities and historical figures. It's great for teaching young people how to apply makeup, and it gives … Read more

Unremarkable calendar

Calendar and to-do list applications are incredibly common, so a program of this type has to be really special to stand out from the crowd. Unfortunately, SimBust Calendar Manager Lite doesn't do much to distinguish itself. The program works just fine, but there's nothing about it that really impressed us.

The program's interface is plain and a little dated, with standard-issue menus and icons across the top. The main pane displays a calendar view. Another pane displays a to-do list, and a third lists folders that to-do items are stored in. The only thing remotely useful or … Read more

No window pain

Most modern computers have the processing power to run lots of programs at once with no problem, but that leads to a new issue: a desktop cluttered with open windows. Chameleon Window Manager Lite is a clever program that adds extra ways to handle windows without making major changes to the way your desktop functions.

The program's interface is plain and easy to figure out. When it's first launched, Chameleon Window Manager displays a configuration menu where you can customize the way the program acts. Once it's running, the program simply adds extra buttons to each window'… Read more

CES: ZTE announces new LTE Android tablet

LAS VEGAS--Mobile device maker ZTE welcomed a trio of additions to its tablet family at CES.

All three are 7-inchers running Android and each has a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera, plus a VGA front-facing camera. Other specs vary slightly between the tiered models. The ZTE Lite tablet, for instance, features Android 2.2 (Froyo), 800x480 screen resolution, a 600MHz processor, and Dolby Surround 3.0 for an audio boost.

The more upscale ZTE Lite 2 tablet boasts a 1GHz processor, a 1,024x600-pixel screen, and DLNA support. It has 4GB internal memory. Both the Lite and Lite 2 are already available … Read more

Garmin debuts four apps for iPhone, Android

Although technically one of the first GPS manufacturers to market a mapping app for portables with its Garmin Mobile 10 software for PDAs and Palm, Garmin has been notably absent from the smartphone navigation app marketplace as of late (discounting the aging and ridiculously overpriced Garmin Mobile for Blackberry). Today, Garmin jumps back into the fray, challenging apps from TomTom, Magellan, and Navigon with not one, but four of its own GPS-centric apps, including the new StreetPilot navigation app for iPhone and three new GPS apps for Android devices.

The StreetPilot name hearkens back to the original Garmin StreetPilot GPS … Read more

Firebug, Code Chrome

Google Chrome is gaining popularity and acceptance as an alternative to Firefox and Internet Explorer, and not just among Web surfers; Web developers like Chrome's speed and flexibility as well as its open-source components. Firebug Lite for Google Chrome is a free extension that adds the functionality of the popular Firebug Web development tool to the Chrome interface. Firebug Lite lets you inspect and modify HTML in real time, analyze network performance and activity, and debug JavaScript with what is claimed to be the most advanced debugger available in a browser.

Installing Firebug Lite for Google Chrome was as … Read more