Mac OS X Mountain Lion

The latest version of Apple's Mac OS X , dubbed Mountain Lion, hit the Mac App Store this morning.
Consumers can download the updated OS for $19.99 on machines running OS X 10.6.6 or higher . Those who purchased a Mac on or after June 11 can get the upgrade for free.

Apple unveiled a developer preview of Mountain Lion in February, and not too much has changed since then. In fact, as PCMag noted in our review, Mountain Lion looks like an identical twin of its predecessor, OS X Lion , at first glance.

A deeper look, however, reveals some nice tieups with other Apple products currently available on iOS devices. Not surprisingly, the revamped OS focuses heavily on iCloud and integration with other iDevices. Work on a document on the Mac and it will be automatically accessible on your iPhone or iPad.


Apple also touted the easy sharing aspects of Mountain Lion, which allow for quick sharing of photos, videos, and other files via Mail, Messages, AirDrop, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and Vimeo. While Twitter will be built into Mountain Lion, Facebook will be available in an upcoming update, likely around the release of iOS 6 , which also includes Facebook integration.

AirPlay Mirroring, meanwhile, can essentially turn your Apple TV into a gaming console. Apple TV will wirelessly deliver high-definition mirroring and audio to your HDTV.

Other features include: Game Center, Dictation, and Power Nap, which will update your Mac even when it's in sleep mode.

More Lion >>

Gmail Organizer

Version: 1.0.0.2
Released: June 29, 2011

Supported Platforms: Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, & 7 (32 & 64-bit)
Requirements: Microsoft .Net Framework 4.0 which is a free download from Microsoft.

Gmail offers a very generous amount of email storage; currently it's at about 7GB. Amazingly though, I know quite a few Gmail users who are approaching that number, are you one of them? If so, you can pay Google and they'll give you more space, but do you want to do that? Heck no! Another option is to do some housecleaning and start deleting old messages, but that can be tedious and take a lot of time.
This month's premium utility from PCMag.com is Gmail Organizer. Our program has been designed to help you quickly free up your mailbox. You can use it to delete messages but even better yet is its ability to delete just the attachments in your mailbox. Launch the program, sort your messages by size, select the messages with the largest attachments, and hit Delete attachments.

Gmail Organizer features the ability to:
• Delete just attachments
• Delete messages
• Download attachments
• Save messages locally

Link Download

Internet Fax Services

Think fax machines are outdated? Check out these e-faxing services that will let you send and receive documents without pricey hardware, paper, and ink.


Faxing, despite the conveniences of modern communications technology, still remains a vital element of the business experience. Still, the cost of a fax machine, ink, and paper can add up over time-but it doesn't have to be that way. Electronic faxing, or e-faxing, is a service provided by a number of companies that will let you send and receive faxes via email or Web interface.

Editors' Choice winner eFax (4 stars) not only offers a very competent electronic faxing service, but it also lets users add their John Hancock using digital signatures, email large files to others using a link (to prevent bounce backs), store files indefinitely at no extra charge, and more. It's truly the best-rounded electronic faxing service we've found. MyFax (3.5 stars) doesn't match that feature set, but it lets users receive incoming faxes to five email accounts and acquire code to embed a "Fax Me" button into a Web site. Send2Fax (3 stars) is the most basic service, offering just the basic electronic faxing functionality.

If you're looking to save a few chips, check out the reviews of the electronic faxing services below and determine which of them is best suited for your needs.
eFax (Spring 2011)
 
Free; $16.95 per month (eFax Plus); $19.95 per month (eFax Pro)
eFax makes it extremely simple to get a local, international, or toll-free fax number (as well as digital signatures and other neat features), but the relative high cost of entry may dissuade some).
MyFax (Spring 2011)

$10 per month (Best Value); $20 per month (Most Popular); $40 per month (Fax More)
MyFax may not have some of the advanced features seen in eFax, but it's a competent and affordably priced electronic fax service that delivers incoming faxes to five email accounts.
Send2Fax (Spring 2011)

$8.95 per month/$12.95 per month
The affordably-priced Send2Fax lets users send and receive faxes for the fraction of the cost of a traditional fax machine, but it lacks the advanced features found in its rivals.

Atomix (for iPad)

As a gamer, I'm in constant search for publications that offer fresh takes on industry related-happenings. But in this age of quickie news pieces and link-bait articles, insightful gaming analysis has become rare. Atomix, the first video game publication designed exclusively for the iPad, is just what I've been looking for. The free iPad app—which is its own entity and not a digitized version of a pre-existing publication—aims to be a mag for the tablet age with its deft combination of well-written, well-researched articles, informative video, and subtle use of sound. Atomix' industry-wide coverage is excellent, easily worth the 99 cent per issue charge, but its janky interface could use some work.

The Digital Magazine
I had to download the entire first issue to my iPad before I could dive into Atomix's content. The upside is that the magazine lives on the iPad, so I could read even when the tablet wasn't connected to the internet. On the flip side, that means I had to endure a very lengthy 45 minute download. I considered that a (somewhat) fair trade-off as I paged through Atomix—and watched its video content—while riding a city bus. When I downloaded the app a second time on the fastest network in the office, it took just 10 minutes.


The "cover" of Issue 1, which highlights Rockstar Games' upcoming L.A. Noir, offers a glimpse of what's inside. A dramatic music snippet plays as the neon-light L.A. Noir logo crackles as though it's shorting out—a fitting intro for a digital magazine showcasing the hard-boiled crime story. Swiping from right to left doesn't open the issue; instead it brings you to a placeholder for the second issue, which should be "available soon." Tapping the Read icon opens the magazine.

Compelling Content
Atomix' staff claims that it aims to avoid generic news stories and instead focus on content that's deeper and more evergreen. The articles in Issue 1 reflect this approach, with stories about the rise of video game novels (and their narrative importance), how to play retro games on a HDTV, and in-depth feature about L.A. Noire. The writing is surprisingly good, too; the authors bring an air of professionalism and insight that you don't see on many gaming sites. That alone makes it worth the 99 cents (as if such a price tag were a dealbreaker).


Text is interspersed with images and traditional print-style pull-quotes, which gives Atomix a decidedly magazine-like feel. Video is also a vital component of the experience. For example, Right Controls For The Job—a story about iOS gaming—included three video segments that comprised the meat of the article.

High-Tech Magazine Features
Vertical swipes let you scroll up or down within an article, which is what you'd expect from reading content on an iPad. But Atomix offers some unexpected navigational elements. The Dead Rising 2 story, for example, has an information box that is revealed when you pull its edge out from the left side of the screen. Very cool. Another article, More Than Games: Interactive Narrative, features a "Download Here" button that launches the App Store so that you can purchase Passage, one of the games mentioned in the article.
Bringing a finger to triangle located in the upper-left screen corner opens the page index that lets you jump to another story with a tap. I found this a superior method of navigation, as I found swiping sometimes less than intuitive; many swipes just didn't register on the first go. Another knock—you can't resize the text using multitouch gestures so you're stuck with the default print size.

Atomix Dogged
My Atomix gripes stem not from the content, but from how it's presented. Stories such as "Border Hell" (which analyzes the gameplay mechanics and atmosphere of PlayDeadGames' haunting Limbo) should have been split across multiple pages, but instead exist in a single page that requires you to scroll down a lot. There's even a dotted horizontal line that offers an artificial page split. I really wish that Atomix would've used a multi-page format

In addition, some stories have multimedia intros that take a second or two for the music or animation to kick in, which makes for a jarring experience. For example, when I swiped to the Noir Adventures feature, I saw the image of a dark cityscape image. A second later the screen turned black, which made me think I encountered a glitch. Then a second after that, the page finished loading, adding text, background images, and some noir-like art that slid in from the right side of the screen. I like that Atomix has chosen to add multimedia pop to its piece, but when I'm reading about games, I don't need to feel like I'm in a game—I just want the information and evaluations. Also, you cannot share stories by e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter, which, I suppose, is to be expected when a company is attempting to make money from issue sales.

Should You Download Atomix?
Gamers with a thirst for hobby-related content that extends beyond repetitive news headlines and link-bait will find a lot to like in Atomix. Yes, the multitouch implementation has issues, and it's a length downloaded, but those who want very solid game journalism will find a lot to like here. 


Jeffrey L. Wilson
Junior Analyst, Software

Adobe Nav (for iPad)

The iPad app Adobe Nav ($1.99, due out next month), which works with Photoshop CS5 (Photoshop version 12.0.4 or later), lets you access your 16 most frequently used tools from the Apple iPad rather than using the mouse and your primary screen. The iPad app connects to Photoshop remotely, letting you use the two in tandem. It's a clean and spacious app, though not quite as much fun to use as Adobe Color Lava ($2.99, 3.5 stars) and Adobe Eazel ($4.99, 3 stars) because it requires a steady connection, and for me, the connection dropped frequently. The other Adobe apps do have to be connected to Photoshop while you're using them, although they can be connected, either while you're using them or after your finished to transfer your work.

The benefit of the app is it gives you a second screen to hold your tools, opening up more real estate on your primary screen. It's a great idea for artists and designers who are traveling and don't have a second screen when they're using a laptop remotely. But in the office, most Photoshop power users have two screens, so the app becomes less applicable at a desk.

Connecting to Photoshop
To connect the app to Photoshop CS5, make sure you are running version 12.0.4 or later—otherwise, you won't even see the correction options in your menus. From the iPad app, press the PS icon in the lower right corner of the screen, which will launch step-by-step instructions for connecting the two devices. If everything is configured to support the connection and no updates are needed, you should be able to connect in a minute or two.

On the other hand, if you need to update Photoshop to a newer version or have something else to troubleshoot along the way, it could take a half hour or more to connect the first time. One problem I encountered was that when I opened the Remote Connections (under the Edit menu), the Password field was pre-filled with four hidden characters, even though directly below them read, "Password must be six characters or longer." It wasn't clear whether or when I was supposed to change this password, or how to save it. When I finally did try it (a few times, trial-and-error style), the new password didn't seem to take because I opened the same dialog box again only to see, once again, four hidden characters in place. Eventually, I typed in a six-character password, closed the box, and tried to connect the app using the same password, and it worked.

When the app is not connected to Photoshop, the "PS" logo in the bottom right is gray. When it is active, it is blue.

Display
Once you're connected, you can use Adobe Nav like it's a virtual, off-screen toolbox. The app's roomy display places large icons of your 16 favorite Photoshop tools front and center in a four-by-four grid. These are much easier to see and select from the iPad than they from the primary screen in Photoshop.

You can swap out the tools at any time for other tools. Press the 'X' to remove a tool. Scroll through the options to select new ones. And drag and drop the new ones into place (see the slideshow). You can also rearrange the 16 tools at any time by dragging them around. None of these actions requires the remote connection with Photoshop, and as a result, all these actions happen smoothly and easily.

But once I tried using the app to actually select the tools I wanted to use in Photoshop [running on a 15-inch MacBook Pro ($2,049.00-$2,199.00, 4 stars)], I experienced long delays between when I selected the tool on the iPad and when it showed up on screen. Vice versa, lag time persisted in the other direction—when I selected colors on screen, they would show up on the iPad several seconds later.

I experienced the longest response times when the iPad app was resting on the table to the left of my notebook. Changing the position helped some, but didn't resolve all the connectivity issues. And connectivity wouldn't be a problem at all if you could connect the app to Photoshop via the iPad's USB cord.

Should You Buy Adobe Nav?
I appreciate that Adobe Nav (for iPad) plates up a spacious interface with large icons to alleviate the eye strain that can come with squinting at Photoshop menus. I also think it could be rather useful to Photoshop CS5 artists who are traveling and working on a notebook, where screen space is already quite limited. But because the app relies on a steady and constant wireless connection, it's not quite as useful as it could be. If there's a way to enable the connection via the USB cord, I hope Adobe adds that functionality because without it, you're at the mercy of a signal that may not hold up.

Nice Office (for Blackberry)

Nice Office is a Blackberry app that promises to "turn your BB into a virtual office" by letting users sync calendar and contacts with an account created on the Nice Office web site, view journals (which track all phone calls, documents sent, and emails), manage mail accounts, upload documents, and dive into light CRM capabilities that lets users configure workflows; you can even perform a remote wipe of a Blackberry in case the device gets lost. For a small company that does not require a complex CRM solution, Nice Office is an affordable CRM and business productivity app.

Setup and Price
Nice Office is downloadable through Blackberry App World. While the app is free to download, you still need to setup a Nice Office Premium account. Premium accounts are $9.95 per month and provide the ability to add four mobile devices and 220 MB of storage space. Users can take it for a free test run for 30 days.

After installing on a Blackberry, users must register for an account at Nice Office's website. The website has a wizard that walks you through the initial steps of getting started. The first step is configuring a device. Nice Office supports not only Blackberry 4.2+, but also Android. The software also lists supported devices as the somewhat data Windows Mobile Pocket PC as well as Windows Mobile 5 and 6. Nice Office has a plug-in to support Office 2003 and Office 2007. Device configuration consists of selecting your device from the listings in the interface, and adding a pin and email account associated with the device.

Once I did this, I saw my Blackberry added in the interface, but when I tried to sync my phone with my Nice Office account, I received the error, "Please register your device." I was missing some steps as I found out after consulting the Nice Office knowledge base. I was emailed a file that I had to upload to my phone. This is a .jad file which allows the Blackberry to communicate with the Nice Office network servers. On Windows Mobile phones, the file is .cab. After uploading, I then had to manually sync my Blackberry Contacts and Calendar with Nice Office. Once these steps were completed, my device was registered and the Blackberry auto-synced with my Nice Office account. The fact that I needed to perform these additional steps after adding my device, was not made apparent within the setup wizard. I only found out what I had to do by going to the Nice Office knowledge base. So, the setup wizard does not walk you through the entire process of adding a device. In fact, users don't get much help in the Nice Office interface at all. After the setup wizard semi-walks you through initial setup, a rather confusing home screen opens and you are left to your own devices. The interface is navigable enough to weed your way through and get going, but a more thorough, guided setup would be preferable.

Features
Nice Office lets you view and manage work flow and status levels from the Blackberry. Viewing this information is handy for example, if you are out in the field and tracking the progress of a sales account. The syncing of contacts and calendar between the phone and the Nice Office account works well. By default, users are given a niceoffice.com email account, but you can manage any email account from the Nice Office interface. Nice Office supports SMTP and IMAP email servers. While its documentation stated that Hotmail is supported, Nice Office was unable to connect to my Hotmail account via IMAP. That may be because Hotmail uses POP3 instead, but I could not find any definitive information as to why I had a problem. I added my Gmail account which uses SMTP and IMAP with no problems.

You can actually do quite a lot in your account interface on the Nice Office web service, such as send email, documents and faxes directly to contacts. One feature missing however is a way to upload documents directly from the Blackberry to the Nice Office service and vice-versa. You can upload documents from your computer to the Nice Office web interface however.

The journaling feature logs activity of just about anything you do within Nice Office and can result in a very large and busy log file. By default, Nice Office journals all phone calls, documents sent and emails. This useful if you want to track activity, such as phones call you receive or make to clients. You can disable auto-journaling altogether on the Blackberry, but I did not find a way to select what to journal against and what not to, which would give a user more control.

Nice Office Maybe A Nice Choice
While I can see why the vendor touts this app as a "virtual office," better integration with at least word processing and spreadsheet apps would truly make this a complete virtual office. As it stands though, it's not a bad app to consider adding to your arsenal of business software, especially for users always on the go, but I would definitely try it out before buying to see if it is of benefit for your business.

Skype 5.3 for Windows

Like some other technology trademarks, "Skype" has entered the vernacular, even being used as a verb by such luminaries as Oprah and Ellen. Its importance to modern life was highlighted by the outcry when the service went down for nearly two days. But as Skype's influence becomes more powerful, so does the software itself: New in Skype since our last review are HD video calling, group video calls with up to five participants, and a completely new and clearer-sounding audio codec called SILK. Skype 5.3 is simply the best way to make voice and video calls using your Internet connection and computer.

Skype is much more than just VoIP or even video calling, however. It's really a whole communications ecosystem. A Skype account can offer screen sharing, phone-card like calling with Skype to Go, Wi-Fi access in airports and other public places, even lessons in anything from a new language to relationships through Skype Prime. Mobile apps enable calling from PC-to-phone as well as PC-to-PC and smartphone-to-smartphone. Skype 5.3 even makes video calls between iPhones and Android phones possible. And don't forget there are Linux and Mac versions, as well as HDTVs that come with Skype video calling—the number of possible combinations is staggering.

Interface
Skype's interface hasn't changed as drastically between versions four and five as it did between three and four, but it's both more polished and more capable. Setting up an account and installing the software is a breeze. You have to enter your country, language preference, e-mail, desired username, and password. A welcome screen gives you all the help you need to get fully set up with your webcam, mic, and address book. I had a webcam attached to my PC, and a message at the top of Skype's windows told me it was working. I could preview my video and take a snapshot.

Once you're logged in, a large window with a contact list on the left and Skype Home on the right appears. This right area is tabbed, letting you switch between Skype Home, Profile, and Facebook (see the slideshow). As in version four, you can split the interface into a more-traditional, narrow IM contact list and a separate larger window. But that larger window now has tabs for Skype Home, Facebook, Profile, and Feedback. Here you can view your Facebook newsfeed and post text-only updates. You can also call Facebook contacts if their phone numbers or Skype IDs are in their Facebook profiles. But the layout isn't as well presented as Windows Live Messenger's Facebook view and doesn't prioritize your news feed as the social network's own site does.

The new Skype Home tab of the larger side of Skype's window has its own social network update box and shows your contacts' thumbnails. You'll also see any alerts from the system here, along with help videos. When you start a call or video call the whole window is taken over for the video feed, call details, and IM chat on the bottom. Unfortunately, you can't use Skype for other IM accounts like AIM, Facebook, or MSN.

Adding Contacts
Privacy settings let you allow incoming calls from anyone, or restrict incoming calls to just people in your contact list. The same goes for video and screen sharing. But to be listed in another user's contacts requires mutual acceptances, à la Facebook. Speaking of Facebook, you can import contacts from that site, as well as from Hotmail, Gmail, Outlook, MSN, and more. Once you choose contacts to connect to, they'll receive a request in their Skype notifications, and if they accept, you'll always see their status and be able to call them. In earlier days of Skype, a SkypeMe mode let lonely souls connect, way before Chatroulette, but Skype has moved away from that model, probably for the best.

Microsoft to Acquire Skype for $8.5 Billion

Best application for iPad

1. Real Racing 2 HD

If you're looking for the ultimate in mobile 3D racing games, Real Racing 2 HD delivers with beautiful, fluid, realistic graphics. Two new gyroscope-based steering methods makes hugging those curves even easier, since you don't have to touch the iPad's screen to steer.




2. Jenga HD

The nailbiter coffee-table block-building game of your youth breaks into the next dimension on the iPad 2. Full gyroscope support means you can simply move the tablet around to get various perspectives on the block pile. For example, placing the iPad parallel to the ground gives you a top-down birdseye view you can't get otherwise. In the iPhone version (sans gyroscope support), you need to flick the screen to move around the board. It really brings a new dimension to the already-fun game.





3. Google Earth

The awesome Google Earth is another app that really showcases the iPad 2's processing and graphics power. The app is visually stunning, moving around is fast and seamless, and you rarely have to wait for a map to redraw. Here's hoping Google adds gyroscope support soon.




4. Flipboard

This gorgeous, graphics-intensive, just-for-the Web "magazine" that lets you flip through your news and social media was no slouch on the first-gen iPad, and performance is even better on the iPad 2.






5. GarageBand

This excellent Mac program translates extremely well to the iPad and is true testament to how much iOS has matured—it's a desktop-class app running on a mobile device. It also showcases the new tablet's processing power.
For a closer look, check out our Hands-On GarageBand video.



6. iMovie

Apple's own desktop video-editing app, iMovie, goes mobile with a new iPad version. The easy-to-use app makes good use of the tablet's touch-screen interface, and lets you clip, add photos, music, themes, and more to the video you capture right on the iPad 2.





7. WebEx

If you need to work, but don't want to be tethered to your desk, this virtual meeting app offers two-way video conferencing that uses the iPad's front-facing camera, but just like with FaceTime, you need to be on a Wi-Fi network to use it.





8. Twittelator

Currently, Twittelator is the only Twitter client that lets you record audio and video, and take photos with the iPad 2's cameras, and use them to help illustrate your tweets.






9. Incredibooth

If the sheer fun of Apple's own preloaded Photo Booth isn't enough for you, Incredibooth turns your iPad into, well, a photo booth. Four lens filters let you create different image styles, and after you pose for your close-up in front of the iPad's front-facing camera, you have a photo strip you can either trash, share on Facebook, or e-mail to your friends.




10. Pocketbooth HD

A pumped-up version of Incredibooth, Pocketbooth HD lets you use either of the iPad 2's cameras to shoot, and offers a lot more settings to tinker with. 'Send to Twitter' and 'Print' are additional sharing options you don't get with Incredibooth.