Jash's Blog

Chrome gets an Incredible start page

jashsayani — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:43:43 +0000

Google Chrome has been out for a long time with users switching to Chrome from all different browsers. The main feature lagging in Chrome that kept users to Firefox was Extensions. But since Google has finally added support for extensions in Chrome, there are tons of cool extensions pouring into the extensions gallery. Today I have a new extension that takes your Chrome browser to a higher level.

Its the new Incredible Start Page extension. It replaces the default start page screen that has thumbnails of pinned sites, to a new flashy screen that has a sticky note for jotting down quick tasks, Bookmark and Recently visited sites, along with a nice in-browser wallpaper of your choice from Flickr that has all your bookmarks from the Bookmarks bar. This is a unique design for a start page and is quite impressive. The personalized picture and the sticky note, make it the most appealing to me…

You can download and install this extension from this page.

Note: It is broken for Incognito windows. You will get a Page Not Available, when you open tabs in Incognito windows, but I think the developer should fix that soon. Besides that, its a great customization and is definitely worth a try!

Giveaway - WinX DVD Ripper Platinum

jashsayani — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:41:23 +0000

Need to create digital copied of your DVDs? WinX DVD is a good way to convert DVDs to multiple formats such as mov, mp4, flv and avi. You can also export files for specific devices like the iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, Zune and PSP, just with a single click. It you are an advanced user, you can also adjust settings manually and rip content with the desired parameters.

There will be 5 licenses of WinX DVD Ripper Platinum given away. More information about the software is available here.

To enter the giveaway, tweet “Giveaway on Jash’s Blog by @JashSayani http://tr.im/QOdA #jashgw #giveaway” and post a link to the tweet in the comments.

The comment must be left before March 14th, 11:59 PM Pacific time.

Here are the rules:

You have to be at least 13 years old to enter.

You may enter the giveaway only once.

Winners will be selected in a random drawing.

Trillian comes to the Mac

jashsayani — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:46:35 +0000

Trillian is a popular multi-protocol IM client for not only Windows but even iPhone and Web now. With the new Trillian Astra which is the 4.0 version of Trillian, the IM client has drastically improved with the interface, usability and features. Its my preferred IM client for Windows. Finally after a long way of development and testing, Trillian is now available for the Mac! So you can have the seamless integration among all your IM services on your Mac.

Here are a few screenshots of the Mac version of Trillian:

Download Now

GDrive is kind of here…

jashsayani — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:04:44 +0000

So there has been news about a Google Web Drive or GDrive that will provide online storage to users. There were numerous posts on this topic on various blogs, one of them was by me over here. After all this time, Google has decided to allow users to upload all file types to Google Docs. So you can upload, store and share any type of file you want with Google Docs. There is a detailed post by Google over here.

There is also a brief storage limit section that tells you that you get 1 GB space and cannot upload a file larger than 150 MB. More storage can be purchased at 25 cents per Gig.

I think this is a great step for Chrome OS…

Happy New Year !

jashsayani — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:28:11 +0000

2009 had been a good year. There were many technological advancements. We had 2 major OS releases: Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Google unveiled the Chrome OS. Google also released Wave and Google Voice services. Microsoft came up with the My Phone service to provide backup platform to Window Mobile users. Nokia started the Ovi Store. We also got to see Kindle 2 this year. And now, Sweden got the first 4G network. So its been an eventful year.

Happy 2010! This year will continue to have more awesome software and gadgets. So stay tuned…

MacStories Apps Tree has a gift for you

jashsayani — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:51:22 +0000

Last Christmas, Mac Heist had the Mac Giving Tree with many apps that were given on Christmas Day. This year, MacStories has a huge Apps Tree with 450 Application licenses for Christmas. There are numerous Mac and iPhone applications like 1Password, MailPlane, CSSEdit, FontCase and ExpanDrive. To get your favorite application, just visit this page and follow the instructions…

MacStories will give the licenses on 22nd of December. So stay tuned…

A review of JoliCloud - Another Cloud OS

jashsayani — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:34:43 +0000

So Google Chrome OS has been out for some time and there have been numerous builds by developers all around the world. Dell came up with a 8GB version of Chrome OS, a developer slimmed it to a 300MB version and now we have a new version by Hexxeh. Since Chrome OS is out of the box, JoliCloud unveiled the alpha version of their cloud-based OS. JoliCloud is a similar concept to Chrome OS, but expends its functionality. It has an Application Directory that allows users to install apps with one-click and keep them updated. It also runs Adobe AIR to allow users to enjoy applications that run on the AIR platform. So it is more useable than Chrome OS as it allows users to run native applications that work with Linux.

I recently got my hands on JoliCloud OS and have done a quick review. Take a look at the video:

A Review of Chrome OS

jashsayani — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:17:44 +0000

So Google Chrome OS was unveiled yesterday and everyone was excited. Google released the source code of Chrome OS and the Developer build for preview. Many people read through the documentation and compiled the source to test Chrome OS. I thought to give Chrome OS a try and review it - the features, interface and speed. I tested the Developer build and made a small 4 minute video showing Chrome OS, right from booting to all menus. This will give you an idea of what Chrome OS is like and give you the feel of it, so you need not spend your time figuring out how to get Chrome OS running.

Booting is pretty fast on netbooks, might take a few seconds longer on virtual machines. When booted, you have to login with your Google account and then Chrome browser loads with some extra information like Time, Battery, Internet connectivity and few options. That’s it! Everything else is in the cloud.

Here is the video:

Manage your projects with Verb

jashsayani — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:55:49 +0000

There are many ways to manage tasks and projects online. Right from simple apps that just work to complex apps that suite your needs. Verb is a new Web application that lets you manage your projects in a simple and elegant web interface. You can create projects, add tasks, set priorities and due dates and keep your self on the track. Then you can check them off as they are complete.

When you add a project, Verb will ask you to enter the title and a short description of the project. Once you do this, you will have the project listed in your Projects tab.

You can then add a task by going to the Tasks tab and adding a task. You need to enter the task name, description, project (to which this task need to be added), set Tags, due date and priority (as Critical, Todo and Maybe). You could also choose Quick Add and just enter the name of the task. Once you add a task to the project, you can see it from the Tasks tab or the Dashboard, arranged as per priority.

iPhone Application

So far, Verb is only accessible via the Web app on the computer, but an iPhone app is under development and would be released soon.

If you need simple and elegant project management, then Verb is a great option.

Share files with Upload Robots

jashsayani — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:37:42 +0000

With the internet being used more and more everyday and increase in social networking, file sharing is of great importance. There are tons of services that lets you share files for free. Right from Dropbox to Box.net to RapidShare. However, I have been using Upload Robots for some time now and have found it to be the next step in file sharing. It has all aspects of a perfect file sharing host - Simple, Fast, Efficient. The most impressive is their interface, a beautiful website right from the front page, sign up to dashboard. After all simplicity is the key to efficiency. Also, when I first uploaded a file, I was amazed by the speed. It is seriously fast! This makes it a great choice for file sharing. Further more, It is a media temple venture so I like it even more as I love media temple.

Lets take a look at the features:

Instant Upload

Need to just share a file quickly? Just head to Upload Robots and choose the file you want to upload. You can upload a file upto 10MB and share it right away.

Account

There are two types of accounts - Free and Pro.

A Free account comes with 4GB of space and 10MB upload limit for each file.

A Pro account comes with 120GB of space with upload limit of 250MB per file. Pro account also has 30% faster uploads, 128 bit SSL encryption, Custom sub-domain (username.uploadrobots.com) and customizable sharing links. It all costs just $5 a month.

Here is a screenshot of Manage Account where you can see your account details and also change your password:

Files

When you upload files, they go to Recent Uploads, then you can click on “Create group” to create folders and drag files from Recent Uploads to the folder of your choice. You can glance all your groups, files, sizes and format from the page and delete any file you want with just a click.

Preview

You can select any file from the Files page and get a preview of the file, along with File size, type, upload date and the link for sharing. If you are a Pro user, you can also customize the link by editing it.

That’s about it! You can upload and share files easily and quickly using a great interface. Upload Robots is new and there are many more features that can be expected in the future.