Better Inline Previews for your Gmail

Gmail offers inline previews for a couple of popular web services including YouTube, Flickr, Picasa and Yelp. What that means is if someone sends you a link to a YouTube video in an email, you can watch that video right inside your Gmail mailbox without clicking the link. You can similarly preview Flickr photo albums and Yelp ratings of places in the email itself.

Inline previews improve your Gmail experience but they aren’t enabled by default – you’ll have to turn them on manually from the Labs tab under Gmail -> Settings.

Gmail introduced inline previews in 2009 but they never expanded the scope beyond YouTube and Flickr. A new Chrome extension called Iframely builds upon on the concept of inline previews and add support for nearly every web service that’s out there including Facebook, SlideShare, Instagram, Vimeo, Imgur, Tumblr and Twitter.

With Iframely installed, you can not only preview almost any link that’s included in your email message but also read full web pages inside your mailbox. For instance, if a friend has sent you a link to a news story from the New York Times or the CNN website, you can read that full story inside Gmail without opening new tabs in the browser.

It also supports Instagram photos, Soundcloud audio clips, Twitter tweets (if the message contains a link to a tweet, you can read the corresponding tweet), watch Vimeo videos – all inside your Gmail.

Bonus Feature: Add Inline Images in Gmail

Iframely offers another useful feature for your outgoing message. While you are writing an email inside Gmail, just paste a link to any web image – like an Instagram photo – and Iframely will automatically insert the corresponding picture as an inline image to your email message.

Chrome may sometimes display a mixed content warning since some of the embedded content could be served from non-https websites – you can click the shield in the address bar to remove the warning.

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Posted at 09:24 |  by Unknown

How To Hide / Show All Desktop Icons Easily with One Click

Wanna show or see your Awesome Desktop wallpaper always when you go to the desktop of your computer? But the whole Desktop is hidden under the shortcuts and icons? I’ve solution for you to reveal your stunning desktop and get rid of those cluttered desktop icons. Try AutoHideDesktopIcons! to hide the desktop icons.
What is it and How it is useful?

AutoHideDesktopIcons is the simple tool that will hide your entire desktop icons and shows them when needed by you. It is portable application, you can use it from any portable drives from anywhere, since it doesn’t need installation. Download the zip file and launch the file directly from there. It has nice little user interface window with settings for you configure it.

At the first startup, it will automatically hides the desktop icons. In settings window, you can configure this app to function when and which button click should show the desktop icons. You can choose any buttons (Left, Middle, Right) from your mouse to show the desktop when click that button or you can choose all three buttons.

In addition, this application has timer settings which is used to hide desktop icons when timer expires. You can alter the timer secs from 3 sec to 100 sec to delay the hiding action.

You can also turn on the start with windows option to run this program every time you start windows. You can utilize other options like always start minimized, always be on top, or to hide the taskbar.
Conclusion

AutoHideDesktopIcons is the great program to hide your cluttered desktop icons all at once to show uncluttered desktop to everyone. Also, you can access all your favorite program icons with one click. It is pretty useful one to get the place in your software list.

Download AutoHideDesktopIcons | 21KB | Free

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Posted at 23:44 |  by Unknown

How to install any version of Windows using any Windows disc you can find

Reader Chris needs to reinstall Windows 7 Home Basic on his laptop. Just one problem: he lost his recovery discs.

A more common problem is when you need to reinstall Windows and you never had recovery discs to begin with. Few manufacturers provide them anymore, and many new PCs don't have optical drives even if they did.

Thankfully, there's a way around this. All you need is a Windows ISO file (basically the entire Windows operating system in a single container) and the free Ei.cfg Removal Utility. The latter deletes a key file inside the former, thus allowing you to install any version of Windows.

Let me explain that a bit further. Windows 7 and 8 installation discs are version-specific; they're designed to match up with your product key. That's why you can't use, say, a Windows 7 Home Premium product key to install Windows 7 Professional, even if you have a disc for the latter.

Likewise, even if Chris somehow laid hands on a Windows 7 Home Premium disc, his Home Basic license key wouldn't work. That's where Ei.cfg Removal Utility comes in: It effectively creates a "universal" Windows ISO, one that will install whatever version matches your product key.

From a high-level perspective, the process would work like this: Borrow a friend's install DVD, copy the ISO file from it to your hard drive, then run Ei.cfg. When it's done doing its thing, use the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool to put that tweaked ISO on a flash drive.

Now, just boot from that flash drive and choose the version of Windows you want to install. Enter your license key and you're good to go. (Don't bother trying to sneak an upgrade; remember, your key will work only with the version of Windows that came with your PC. In Chris' case, that's Windows 7 Home Basic.)

Can't find an install disc or don't have an optical drive? There are "official" Windows 7 SP1 ISO downloads available from the Windows 7 Forums.

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Posted at 08:45 |  by Unknown

Microsoft Takes Wraps Off Windows Phone 7 Games

If Apple's always taken an "if you must" stance toward gaming on the iPhone, Microsoft's attacking from the opposite angle, making gaming front and center on its Windows Phone 7.

At the GDC Europe 2010 games conference in Cologne, Germany today, Microsoft took the tarp off a who's-who of game studios, all on track to release games for its upcoming powerhouse handheld. Studios like Gameloft (Hero of Sparta), Konami (Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania), Namco Bandai (Tekken, Soul Calibur), PopCap (Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies), and THQ (Company of Heroes, Dawn of War II).

Those five and others will reportedly contribute some 60 games to Windows Phone 7, including Assassin's Creed, Bejeweled LIVE, Castlevania, Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst, Frogger, Guitar Hero 5, Halo Waypoint, a cutesy slice of new IP weirdly titled ilomilo, Max and the Magic Marker, Rocket Riot, Splinter Cell Conviction, Star Wars: Conviction (and another Star Wars--Battle for Hoth), The Harvest, Tower Bloxx NY, Uno, and Zombie Attack!.

The games will be available through the company's Xbox LIVE Marketplace, which Microsoft revealed back in February would be part of its Windows Phone 7 series. At that time, Microsoft claimed the Windows Phone 7 Series would deliver "the first and only official Xbox LIVE experience on a phone, including Xbox LIVE games, Spotlight feed and the ability to see a gamer's avatar, Achievements and gamer profile."

Demonstrations of the service seem to jibe with those earlier claims. The phone does indeed offer fully realized avatars (they look essentially identical to their Xbox LIVE counterparts) and these can be fully reclothed or accessorized. Achievements, profiles, friend lists (with status), and scoreboards, i.e. leaderboards are all present and accounted for, rendering said information in realtime.

"We believe that no matter where life takes you, the best in gaming and entertainment should follow," said Microsoft Xbox LIVE VP Marc Whitten in a press release. "Windows Phone 7 takes a different approach to handheld gaming, utilizing Xbox LIVE, Microsoft Game Studios, leading game publishers, and innovative indie developers, to create powerful, shared experiences for everyone."

New games for the Windows Phone 7 will reportedly appear every week via Xbox LIVE Marketplace, mirroring the way the service already works for Xbox 360 owners. "Try before you buy" demos will be available to let you sample before spending. And while realtime multiplayer isn't (yet) in the offing, turn-based multiplayer should be available at at launch.

The differences between Microsoft and Apple here are striking. Where Apple opens the door on its products, then passively observes as game studios and/or independent designers flock to the trough, Microsoft's bringing its own thunder and proactively courting major studios to design to the Windows Phone 7 platform, much as it would its Xbox--or Sony and Nintendo would their respective consoles.

It's tough to say how well the Windows Phone 7 will work as just a phone or personal information management tool when it ships in October, but when it comes to gaming, Microsoft's already well ahead of Apple in terms of focusing, laser-like, on the platform's gaming possibilities. With Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst and Halo: Waypoint in the mix, it's clear Microsoft's (wisely) planning to leverage its existing console IPs to at the very least make the phone immediately appealing to anyone with an Xbox 360.

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Posted at 08:05 |  by Unknown

Microsoft confirms patch for Flash in IE10 coming soon

Adobe recently issued an update for the popular Flash Player utility to patch critical flaws that could allow an attacker to run malicious code on the target system. But, if you’re using Windows 8, the version of Flash that Microsoft has embedded in Internet Explorer 10 is still vulnerable. Good news, though—an update is forthcoming to address that problem.

Adobe responds quickly to patch identified vulnerabilities, and most Windows users are conditioned to apply security updates as they’re released, but Microsoft is responsible for updating Flash in its Web browser. Windows 8 hasn’t yet officially launched, though, and Microsoft’s initial response was that Flash would not be updated until after October 26 when Windows 8 becomes available to the general public.

  

Microsoft baked Flash into IE10, so it's responsible for patching it.

A couple of the flaws addressed by Adobe were given its highest threat warning level, and are associated with attacks that are already circulating in the wild. Last week, Adobe confirmed that Windows 8 users are still vulnerable to these threats.

I asked Microsoft about speculation that a patch is imminent. Yunsun Wee, Director of Microsoft Trustworthy Computing, replied with this statement: “In light of Adobe’s recently released security updates for its Flash Player, Microsoft is working closely with Adobe to release an update for Adobe Flash in IE10 to protect our mutual customers.”

Wee added, “This update will be available shortly. Ultimately, our goal is to make sure the Flash Player in Windows 8 is always secure and up-to-date, and to align our release schedule as closely to Adobe’s as possible.”

Microsoft isn’t the first to embed its own version of Flash. Google’s Chrome browser has had Flash baked in for a couple years now. However, Google has a solid track record of speeding patches to users as fast as—or sometimes faster than—Adobe.

With Flash in Internet Explorer 10, Microsoft has to accept responsibility for addressing issues in a timely manner. Leaving these Flash vulnerabilities open is similar to the situation Apple put Mac OS X users in earlier this year when it was so slow to deploy an update for its proprietary Java implementation.

There is no confirmed timeline for an update from Microsoft, but it’s welcome news that Microsoft realizes the urgency of the situation, and is diligently working on a patch rather than leaving customers vulnerable until the end of October.

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Posted at 07:37 |  by Unknown

Outlook is a game changer for Windows RT tablets

Microsoft announced that Outlook 2013 RT will be coming to Windows RT, along with the Windows 8.1 update. Sales of Windows RT tablets like the Surface RT have been underwhelming thus far, but Outlook will change that.

When the Windows 8.1 update comes to the Windows Store later this year, Outlook RT will join Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote as a free app on Windows RT systems. That is huge news in general, but it’s particularly intriguing for business users.

The Surface RT (and Windows RT tablets in general) is a decent tablet, but it's not a great device for business computing. It has distinct advantages over its Surface Pro sibling—it’s thinner, lighter, cooler, quieter, and has significantly better battery life—but it can’t join a Windows network domain.
                                The availability of Office could change the trajectory of Surface RT sales.

With the Windows 8.1 update, it still won’t be able to join a network domain, but the IT and BYOD management features in Windows 8.1 make it much more business friendly. The addition of Outlook is the real game changer, though. The default Mail client in Windows 8.1 is no match for Outlook, and business users need consistency between the tools they use on their primary PC, and the apps available on the Windows RT tablet.

Smaller Windows tablets are expected to launch later this year. The small size, combined with the features of Windows 8.1 (and the inclusion of Outlook) will make Windows RT tablets very powerful business tools.
“Computing Nirvana” is here

Earlier this year, Nvidia CEO Jen Hsun Huang told an audience of financial analysts, "If Outlook were to show up on RT, my life would be complete," adding, "I am one Outlook away from computing nirvana. Outlook god, please…"

Assuming the “Outlook god” means Steve Ballmer, Huang’s plea apparently did not fall on deaf ears. The minions…I mean Microsoft developers…have heard Huang’s prayer.

Why does the CEO of nVidia care? nVidia has a vested interest in the success of Windows RT because it makes ARM processors that are used in some Windows RT tablets. Success for Windows RT means more demand for nVidia processors.
Outlook MX would be even better

Outlook 2013 RT is a very welcome addition to the suite of Office apps for Windows RT devices, but it could be better. It could be Outlook MX.

Microsoft has engineered Office 2013 to be more touch-friendly than previous versions, but it still falls into desktop mode, and it is harder to work with on a touchscreen display than an app designed specifically for Windows 8—like OneNote MX.

The Touch and Type keyboard covers are effectively a part of the Surface tablet experience, so Surface RT users still have a touchpad and physical keyboard to work with. But, most other Windows RT tablets don’t have that benefit and are used purely as touchscreen tablets.

                                 Smaller Windows RT tablets with Outlook will be great mobile business tools.
OneNote MX, with its radial menus, offers a far better experience than OneNote 2013 when working with a touchscreen display. It doesn’t appear to be part of this update, but Microsoft should be working on developing dedicated Windows 8 MX versions of all of the Office apps.
What about iOS and Android?

Office is a powerful carrot that Microsoft hopes will lure customers over to Windows tablets—be they Windows RT or Windows 8 Pro models. The addition of Outlook is a significant advantage for Windows RT tablets, but even if Windows RT doubles…or even triples its market share, there will still be a massive audience of iOS and Android tablet users left in the cold.

According to an alleged internal roadmap document leaked a couple months ago, Outlook RT was not supposed to be ready until late 2014. That roadmap also suggested that Office for iOS and Android might also become available around the same time.

It’s possible the leaked roadmap was simply wrong. Assuming it was legitimate, the accelerated availability of Outlook RT suggests a spark of hope that Office for iOS and Android will also be available earlier than anticipated.

I’ve asked Microsoft whether or not that’s the case. If Microsoft is working on iOS or Android versions of the Office apps, it's still being coy about it. The official response I got was, "We have a great Office experience on Windows 8 tablets. For iPad and Android tablets, people can use Office Web Apps."

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Posted at 06:10 |  by Unknown

Razer Edge Pro: Our first look at a Windows 8 gaming tablet

At first glance, the Razer Edge Pro is indistinguishable from other Windows 8 tablets: It’s 2.2 pounds of matte black metal with a 10.1-inch screen and a single Windows button. But pick it up, and you'll immediately feel the heft in your hands. It's bulkier than the Surface Pro, and also runs much, much hotter.

That heat flows from the powerful components nestled inside. An Nvidia GPU and an Intel Core i7 CPU allow Razer's tablet to compete with similarly priced ultrabooks in terms of raw processing performance. The goal? To deliver no-exuses PC gaming in a handheld tablet form factor. Throw in a Gamepad Controller accessory, and the Edge Pro begins to approximate a console gaming experience, care of dual analog sticks, a D-pad and action buttons.

I haven't yet spent enough time with the tablet to know whether it delivers on its promise—look for our full review next week—but Razer's latest gaming hardware began to leave a strong first impression the moment I pulled it out of its packaging.

Playing PC games on a tablet is fantastic

The most important thing you need to know about the Razer Edge Pro is that it delivers in terms of frame rates and battery life. You can use it to play contemporary PC games at decent settings, and the battery lasts long enough to let you play for at least two to three hours at a stretch before you need to recharge. You can augment battery life with an extended battery pack, which Razer sells separately or as part of a Gamepad Controller bundle.

 Having complex PC games like Civilization 5 at your fingertips is amazing.

To use the Edge Pro for its intended purpose, the Gamepad Controller would seem near essential. Most PC games suck when you're relegated to touch gestures, so either a mouse/keyboard combo or a gamepad is essential. I spent a few hours playing Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider and XCOM while curled up on the couch with the Gamepad Controller resting on my lap. Being able to play complex PC games from the comfort of the couch is amazing, but it just doesn't work without the Gampad option.

Controlling PC games on a tablet is an exercise in compromise

At first blush, I was disappointed with the design of the Razer Edge Pro. It feels bulky and unwieldy—more like a prototype than a finished product. It’s heavier, thicker and harder to carry than the Surface Pro, weighing in at 2.25 pounds and measuring roughly 12 inches wide.

Snap the Edge into it's Gamepad accessory and you have a viable handheld gaming platform. But it's hard to use anywhere besides your couch.

Alone it’s not much of a burden, but—as mentioned earlier—it’s also not much of a gaming machine sans accessories. Insert the Edge Pro into it’s Gamepad chassis, and you get an excellent platform for 3D action games that's 15 inches wide, almost 4.5 pounds and nearly impossible to safely stow in a backpack or messenger bag. So, perversely, to make the Edge Pro shine as a mobile gaming device you have to render it practically immobile.

The screen disappoints

Razer built the Edge with a 10.1-inch IPS display bearing a native resolution of just 1366 by 768. It works well enough for browsing the web or playing games from the Windows Store—the Surface RT has the same 1366 by 768 resolution, after all—but it diminishes the fun of playing graphically intensive PC games or watching HD video. Indeed, the Edge Pro looks inferior next to the Surface Pro's vibrant 1920 by 1080 display. 

The Edge has a serviceable display, but it's not very vibrant and can't handle 1080p video. 

I didn't want to put the Razer Edge Pro down, but eventually I had to, because with the Gamepad attached I couldn't hold it steady for more than an hour before my arms turned to jelly (though, admittedly, I kept picking it back up). I've only had a few days with the Edge Pro, and there's still plenty of testing to be done. I'm going to put it through the PCWorld Lab's battery of benchmarking tests, hook it up to my PC and HDTV, and then see how it holds up during daily use. Look for a comprehensive review next week.

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Posted at 03:49 |  by Unknown

Why Internet Explorer 11 is the right browser for business

Today, Microsoft released a Developer Preview version of IE 11 for Windows 7. Newer doesn’t always equal better, but IE 11 has some power under the hood that business users will benefit from.

To some extent, a browser is a browser. They all render and display content from the Web. However, since IE 8 Microsoft has invested significant effort and resources to push the envelope and expand the browser's capabilities. In a world where business is increasingly done online and in the cloud, it makes sense to have a browser that can deliver rich content and interactivity.

The Internet Explorer 11 Developer Preview for Windows 7 is very similar in scope and function to its Windows 8.1 sibling. Microsoft has tweaked performance, improved support for emerging Web standards, and expanded the ability to deliver an immersive experience from within the browser.

In IE 11, JavaScript runs 50 percent faster than in Chrome. It has improved support for HTML 5 features like drag and drop that will allow cloud-based tools like Microsoft’s SkyDrive and Office Web Apps to work more intuitively. IE 11 also supports WebGL for delivering smooth, 3D graphics over the Web.

A blog post from Microsoft explains some of the benefits of IE 11: “IE11 is the first browser to natively decode JPG images in real-time on the GPU, so pages load faster and use less memory, reducing power consumption and improving battery life. IE11 is also the first browser to render text on the GPU. Text and images are the heart of the Web, and accelerated text and JPG performance impacts nearly every page you see.”

More and more business is done through a Web browser. The fact is, for many business users and consumers, the Web browser is by far the single most-used application on the PC.

As I said at the beginning, a browser is a browser in most scenarios. Some support protocols or formats that others don’t, but as long as you’re using the latest version of each they’re all very similar. There’s always one that can claim to be the fastest, but we’re generally talking a millisecond here or there, and that torch is frequently passed among the major browsers.

There’s a new Web, though—Web 3.0. Web 1.0 was about simply displaying static HTML pages. Web 2.0 introduced interactivity, user-generated content, and Web applications. Now, we’re entering the Web 3.0 phase, the “intelligent Web” era of ubiquitous connectivity, data mining, and artificial intelligence.

The new Web requires new Web tools, and new Web tools need a browser capable of rendering and displaying the content. Microsoft is leading the way with Internet Explorer. You can check out Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7 by downloading and installing the Developer Preview.

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Posted at 03:20 |  by Unknown

Install any version of Windows using any Windows disc you can find

Reader Chris needs to reinstall Windows 7 Home Basic on his laptop. Just one problem: he lost his recovery discs.

A more common problem is when you need to reinstall Windows and you never had recovery discs to begin with. Few manufacturers provide them anymore, and many new PCs don't have optical drives even if they did.

Thankfully, there's a way around this. All you need is a Windows ISO file (basically the entire Windows operating system in a single container) and the free Ei.cfg Removal Utility. The latter deletes a key file inside the former, thus allowing you to install any version of Windows.

Let me explain that a bit further. Windows 7 and 8 installation discs are version-specific; they're designed to match up with your product key. That's why you can't use, say, a Windows 7 Home Premium product key to install Windows 7 Professional, even if you have a disc for the latter.

Likewise, even if Chris somehow laid hands on a Windows 7 Home Premium disc, his Home Basic license key wouldn't work. That's where Ei.cfg Removal Utility comes in: It effectively creates a "universal" Windows ISO, one that will install whatever version matches your product key.

From a high-level perspective, the process would work like this: Borrow a friend's install DVD, copy the ISO file from it to your hard drive, then run Ei.cfg. When it's done doing its thing, use the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool to put that tweaked ISO on a flash drive.

Now, just boot from that flash drive and choose the version of Windows you want to install. Enter your license key and you're good to go. (Don't bother trying to sneak an upgrade; remember, your key will work only with the version of Windows that came with your PC. In Chris' case, that's Windows 7 Home Basic.)

Can't find an install disc or don't have an optical drive? There are "official" Windows 7 SP1 ISO downloads available from the Windows 7 Forums.

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Posted at 02:58 |  by Unknown

Speek eases conference calling hassles for Windows Phone

If that headline sounds familiar, it's because I wrote a similar one back in January about Speek for iOS. It's an app that brings conference-call creation and management to your smartphone.

At that time, I'm sure at least some folks were hoping for a Windows Phone version. Hope no more, because Speek is now available for Windows Phone 8.

Like its iOS predecessor, Speek for Windows Phone lets you set up conference calls right on your handset, using a highly visual motif. Each person is represented by their thumbnail photo from your address list, this giving you the chance to "see" everyone on the call.

Because I don't have a Windows Phone handset on which to test-drive the app, I'm making a few assumptions about it relative to the iOS version. The latter, for example, lets you set up an account right on the phone. This consists in part of a custom username that doubles as your unique URL, like Speek.com/WidgetCo.

From there you can set up call right away, inviting contacts via text or e-mail, or create a future call (here known as an event).

Whether the call happens now or later, participants either click the provided link or respond to the SMS invite. Speek dials their number, and presto, the person who answers is immediately on the call. At your end, you merely tap Start A Call, wait for your phone to ring, then return to the app.

Once the call is live, you can see the aforementioned thumbnail view of who's connected and even who's talking. You can also add callers on the fly, though it's not clear if the Windows Phone version lets you share images from your photo library. But it does let you make comments, mute individual talkers, and even remove participants if the need arises.

When the call is over, Speek immediately emails you a call history outlining who was on the call, how long it lasted, and any materials shared.

My complaint with the iOS version, which no doubt holds true here as well, was that those you invite via text have to manually enter (or at least copy and paste) the Speek phone number and your room name (like the aforementioned "WidgetCo").

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Posted at 02:16 |  by Unknown