Tools, utilities, and drivers

Apple today launched iOS version 6.1.3 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users.

The latest update fixes a security flaw that allowed someone to gain access to an iPhone by getting past the lock screen.

By following a specific series of steps, including making an emergency call, a person could get around the passcode and make phone calls, listen to voice mail, or check contact photos.

iOS 6.1.3 also adds improvements to Apple's Maps app for users in Japan.

iOS users can update their devices over the air by opening the Settings screen, tapping on … Read more

Apple has released its third update for OS X Mountain Lion, bringing the latest version of the software to 10.8.3 after over three months of development. Along with a number of bug fixes for problems users have been experiencing in 10.8.2 and earlier, the new version adds a couple of new features.

The first is that Mac users can now redeem iTunes gift cards using an iSight camera. Now if you take a snapshot of the card in the Mac App Store you can have the system identify its number and redeem it instead of having … Read more

When looking for an app that does something in particular, you may find yourself installing a handful or two for a bit of trial and error. While space on your device may not be an issue, you won't want to keep all of the apps that fail to perform the way you need them to. At this point, you're faced with the fun task of either going to the Google Play Store, or opening the Applications menu in the Settings area, to remove the apps you don't want. How fun! OK, not really.

If this is a … Read more

If you are considering security software for your Mac there are a number of options out there, including those from popular companies like Sophos, Symantec, and Intego. There are both free tools and paid subscriptions to choose from.

A while ago I gave Intego's SecurityBarrier X6 suite a spin, which in testing has been found to be one of the better-performing anti-malware tools for OS X; however, the software did require a bit of a technical approach that was not too appealing to the average user.

In order to cater to a broader range of people, with its 2013 security suite … Read more

Have you ever wanted to watch the latest movie trailers and music videos or stream shows in the background while you work? Now you can with a little homegrown program called VideoGhost from Greedy Glutton Software.

How does it work? VideoGhost can be installed on your computer or run as a standalone product. After launching, you will see that it is a third-party browser with a controllable opacity setting and options to stay fixed on your desktop. The process is relatively simple with these hot keys:

Apple's Preview program in OS X is a very convenient tool for quickly editing image and PDF files. It supports a number of options for annotating images and adjusting colors, cropping, and otherwise editing them, it can also be used to quickly convert an image to another format.

Preview supports reading most common image format types, and likewise allows you to export them to these same types, so even if Preview is not set to be your default program for handling images, you can still use it to quickly make an image conversion.

To do this, right-click the image … Read more

Apple has released a new beta of iOS 6.1.3 for developers.

Dubbed iOS 6.1.3 beta 2, the update is supposed to fix a hole that can let someone gain access to your iPhone by sneaking past the lock screen. Through a small series of steps, including making an emergency call, a person could bypass the passcode in order to make phone calls, listen to voice mail, and check contact photos.

Apple acknowledged the bug last week. promised to squash it in a future iOS release. iOS 6.1.3 will fix that problem, the company said, … Read more

Browsing and installing all of the free software we offer at Download.com can potentially bog down your computer over time. It can be hard to resist installing something just because it is new, looks useful, or simply, is free. It is a good idea to do a house cleanup and getting rid of junk that you don't need once in a while to improve the performance of your computer. But how do you know what to remove?

It can be easy to forget which program does what and why you have it installed, making PC cleanup a nightmare. … Read more

Just days after its release, one of the most high-profile iOS jailbreaks turns out to be the fastest to be adopted too.

Evasi0n, which gives iPhone, iPod, and iPad owners deeper access to the software on their devices than Apple allows, has been downloaded and used by nearly 7 million people since its release on Monday, Forbes reports.

To put that figure in perspective, Apple last month said that it had sold more than 500 million iOS devices cumulatively, and that 300 million of those were running iOS 6 -- its latest major release.

The 7 million tally comes from … Read more