accelerators

Speed things up on your smartphone with Internet Accelerator

High-speed Internet doesn't always feel like high speed. If you want to browse and surf more quickly on your phone, you can use Internet Accelerator. Just don't expect it to actually work. While it claims it can make your surfing faster, it's more likely to just annoy you with never-ending pop-ups.

The app hits you with a "rate our app!" pop-up before you get to actually test the speed. These pop-ups happen any time you load the app and can even launch your browser and do all sorts of other shady stuff. The program itself … Read more

Download Internet video faster with SpeedBit Video Accelerator for Mac

Even those with high-speed Internet connections often find Internet videos take time to buffer before playing. SpeedBit Video Accelerator for Mac tries to address this problem by accelerating video downloads, but with poor, if any, results.

While the initial program is free in a trial version, use of the full program requires a yearly subscription of $24.95. The trial version only allows video acceleration of SD videos. Upgrading to the paid version allows functions on HD video and acceleration of iTunes downloads. The program was small, but this did not translate to an easy installation. The process to install … Read more

Manage downloads and download faster with iGetter

iGetter is a download management app for MacOS. We could not find iGetter on the App Store but it is available from several download sites and the publisher's Web site. iGetter installs easily. You can use iGetter for free as a single use license with no expiration, or buy a license with full support for $25.

The iGetter interface consists of a number of icons across the top of the dialog and a status display for files beneath. It can launch automatically when you start a download, or you can use iGetter to initiate the downloads. There are two … Read more

Play high-quality videos on YouTube and other sites with SpeedBit Video Accelerator

Web browsers and bandwidth feel the pinch as online video formats get better and better (and bigger and bigger, too). SpeedBit's Free Video Accelerator for YouTube is designed to work with your Web browser to improve how it downloads and plays online video, especially high-quality formats streamed over broadband connections. It buffers and smooths audio and video playback and reduces or eliminates freezing, crashing, dropouts, and distortion. It's freeware, though a premium upgrade adds HD playback, iTunes acceleration, and automatic setup.

SpeedBit's setup wizard lets you choose between installing the freeware and the shareware version, which includes … Read more

Microsoft explains how Windows 8 smokes Windows 7

Microsoft spelled out acceleration improvements in Windows 8, in a blog post Monday. Needless to say, Microsoft says the overall experience is a lot snappier.

The latest Building Windows 8 entry, penned by Rob Copeland, the group program manager at Microsoft's graphics team, is titled Hardware accelerating everything: Windows 8 graphics.

Some context is first provided at the top in order to illustrate how Window 8 "builds on the well-established foundations of DirectX graphics" in Windows 7.

In Windows 7, we expanded the capabilities of DirectX to provide a common hardware-accelerated graphics platform for a broader range … Read more

Accelerate your download speed with this CNET exclusive offer on Download Accelerator Plus Premium 10

The act of downloading files online has been around for so many years that even I forget sometimes that there are apps out there to help me download faster. Even though our internet connections are so much faster these days, you know they can always be a little faster. For bigger files and updates, especially with MMORPGs, I often have to leave them on all-night, so the download is completed by the time I wake up.

I am sure you all have your own type of files you like to download online (hopefully nothing you aren't supposed to be … Read more

Boost your downloads

Just as in previous versions, Download Accelerator Plus 10 (free) boosts your download speeds by breaking files into smaller pieces, connecting to and downloading from multiple sources simultaneously, and even seeking out faster mirrors. What's different with this newest version, though, is the more streamlined engine that now offers features in the form of "add-ons." This means you can supplement your boosted download speeds (200 to 400 percent faster in many cases) with only the additional features that you want.

One of the most useful add-ons that you can enable in version 10 is DAPsters. If you … Read more

To prevent unintended acceleration, NHTSA proposes new standard

If you press the brake, the car should always stop--even if you're also pressing the gas pedal at the same time. That's the way the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration sees it, and it is proposing new regulations that would require brake-throttle override systems in all new vehicles.

In 2009, Toyota vehicles were recalled after a fatal crash involving a Lexus ES350. All occupants of the Lexus were killed when the driver, a 19-year veteran of the California Highway Patrol, was unable to stop the vehicle when the brake was pressed because the gas pedal became stuck … Read more

Faster graphics for older PCs in Chrome 18

Google Chrome 18 brings two methods of improved graphics support to both newer and older computers. Released today, Google Chrome 18 stable for Windows (download), Mac (download), Linux (download), and Chrome Frame improves both WebGL and Canvas2D.

To help along WebGL in Chrome on older Windows and Mac computers, it now gets a boost from a software rasterizer called SwiftShader, licensed from TransGaming. SwiftShader only works when Chrome's baked-in graphics processor acceleration doesn't run, and in the blog post announcing the update, Google said that it sought out this third-party solution so that "more users will have … Read more