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In digital images, gamma correction or encoding refers to luminance; adjusting it can make video or still pictures seem brighter or darker. Gamma Control is a simple piece of freeware for quickly adjusting your display's gamma without changing your graphics settings. It's great for gaming or watching movies online because it illuminates dark corners and reveals detail, any time you need to brighten (or darken) your display temporarily. We looked at Gamma Control 3, which is ad-supported and includes a feed. Unfortunately, the feed didn't work for us, and the updated version proved a bit buggy.

Gamma … Read more

The Volvo C30 Electric is already out on the roads in Europe, but this week the Swedish automaker released 10 video clips documenting the development of new technology for the C30.

According to Volvo, the C30 Electric had a short development time, and the process involved about 100 research and development specialists.

Click on the links below to view videos two through 10, to learn more about testing, safety, engineering and other aspects of the C30's development.

The films include "A Milestone in the Automotive Industry" (below), "Battery System," "Electrical Architecture and Electrical Safety,&… Read more

The business world relies on PDFs. Microsoft Word is the leading word processor. To edit PDFs in Word, you need to convert them to DOC files. That's where Wondershare PDF to Word comes in. It's a simple, free utility that converts PDFs to Word documents, either one by one or in batches. It preserves all of a document's layout and formatting, which saves a lot of time when reusing content. It's compatible with most versions of Windows from XP to Vista, but it only runs in 32-bit editions of Windows 7.

As you'd expect with … Read more

Apple is readying a MacBook that would extend the ultrathin Air design beyond the 13-inch market segment, according to reports.

Japanese-language site Macotakara says a new 15-inch model has entered the test phase.

It's not clear at this point whether this will be an addition to the MacBook Air series--currently offered in 11- and 13-inch sizes--or a new MacBook Pro.

One tech site claimed back in July that a 15-inch model would be part of the MacBook Pro line. Macrumors, which also supports the MacBook Pro theory, had originally reported about an ultrathin MacBook back in July. … Read more

File joiners and splitters break apart large files into smaller segments that can be joined together easily. They make it possible to share, upload, and download files and data much too large for the typical PC to handle. If you share files online, over private networks, or via devices like thumb drives, you probably know how useful file joiners and splitters can be. HJ-Split is an easy-to-use application that bundles several versatile splitter and joiner tools from Freebyte. This portable freeware runs without being installed, making it a useful addition to portable devices. HJ-Split handles files up to 100 GB … Read more

At long last, Facebook as a universal app is finally here and if you're an iPhone or iPad user looking to browse the popular social site, the app is better than ever. On the iPad specifically, it might be the best platform for browsing the site available.

Now a universal app for both iPhone and iPad, Facebook offers a fun and fast way to browse through friends' pages, statuses, photos, and more. The interface is fairly sparse, but makes it easy to get exactly where you want to go on the site quickly. Across the top you have a … Read more

When Apple introduced the iPhone and iOS, it pushed for the adoption of HTML5 as an alternative to and replacement for Adobe Flash, stating that the plug-in is clunky, lacking in features, and not advancing. Since then, Adobe has buckled down and implemented a number of enhancements in Flash and its latest releases have brought massive speed and feature improvements. Today, Adobe has furthered this effort with the release of Flash Player 11 and AIR 3.0. You can also grab the updates manually from CNET Download.com: Flash Player 11 for Windows | Mac; and AIR 3 for Windows | Mac.

With these latest releases Adobe is bringing highly accelerated graphics support to the platform. According to Adobe, the new Stage3D technology in the new Flash Player brings combined 2D and 3D acceleration that is up to 1,000 times faster than the previous Flash and AIR iterations. While currently Stage3D is supported only for personal computers, it should make its way to mobile devices in future Flash releases.

The advancements offered by Stage3D should bring far more complex graphics development for the player, and allow some developers to use it as a viable alternative for their projects, especially for cross-platform efforts.… Read more

Toshiba announced today the updated version of its Canvio portable drive, which now comes with USB 3.0 and cloud backup capability. The original version of the drive was announced more than a year ago and offers only USB 2.0 connectivity.

The Canvio 3.0 drive is available now in three capacities, 500GB, 750GB, and 1TB, which cost $90, $110, and $140, respectively. The drive is preloaded with NTI BackupNow EZ software for Windows, which enables users to back up both to the portable drive and to the cloud. Toshiba says the software will scan a computer automatically for important documents and recommend which files to back up to the cloud and which to back up to the directly connected portable storage device. It's unclear, however, if the online storage is free, and if so how much storage is included with the drive.

Toshiba also announced that its entry-level Canvio Basics storage drive now comes with USB 3.0, too. The Canvio Basics 3.0 is also available now in 500GB, 750GB, and 1TB versions that each cost $10 less than the Canvio 3.0 of the same capacity.… Read more

I've heard a lot of really bad-sounding audio products over the years, but most of them were so awful they suffered a natural and well-deserved "death." Take for example the $499 Gateway KAS-103 home theater in a box system that debuted in 2003. I had the "pleasure" of reviewing this attractive system, but it sounded so bad I was duty bound to try another sample, which was equally dreadful. There was absolutely no blend between the sound of the subwoofer and the tiny satellite speakers, the high levels of background static were impossible to ignore, … Read more