improvements

When it comes to backing up your computer, it's probably safest and most convenient to use a cloud storage service where you store data at remote location via the Internet. However, there's a big obstacle: bandwidth. With most existing broadband services, it can take a couple of hours to upload a few gigabyte of information.

This might change in the near future.

Asankya, a network service company, announced Wednesday that it has improved its parallel networking technology to deliver up to 40 times throughput improvement for Internet-based applications. This, if true, would solve the biggest challenge that hinders … Read more

How To Videos from Howcast.com is a free app for watching and browsing through videos from this popular how-to Web site when you're away from your computer. The useful (and often funny) videos from Howcast cover everything from "How to Roast a Perfect Chicken" to "How to Clip Your Cat's Nails" to "How to Kiss Like Angelina Jolie."

The iPhone and iPod Touch app for Howcast lets you quickly search for videos or browse through playlists as well as featured, top-rated, and most recently uploaded videos. You can also add a … Read more

Apparently, the publisher's of this program don't understand the meaning of the word free, because it's yet another program from these designers that claims to be free, but turns out to be a standard 30-day trial version. MB Flying Star Feng Shui calculates your house's proper feng shui locations.

The user interface is one overly packed window after another. We were greeted with a ridiculously cluttered window that begged us for a donation. Further inspection revealed that the program comes with a 30-day trial period, and isn't free as promised. We had to root through … Read more

This easy-to-use and informative application cleans, configures, and optimizes your PC. Advanced WindowsCare Pro's interface dispenses with the bells and whistles to display commands and data without embellishment.

The install Wizard zips through the set up, querying the user on the PC's primary use and Internet connection type. Answer those two simple questions, choose from a short list of options, and you're ready to virus check and scan for spyware, registry errors, and start-up problems, or clean your PC of history and surfing traces. The app's strength is the detailed information the scan provides, which lists … Read more

I'll be the first to admit that I'm addicted to Twitter. Each day, it's kept in the coveted second tab in my Firefox window, lodged between Gmail and Meebo. But that doesn't mean it offers me everything I want or that I have no desire for more features.

In fact, I have a list of features I'd like added to Twitter.

Groups

I still don't know why Twitter has failed to add groups to the service. Maybe the company believes that groups would make it too closely resemble a social network, but who cares? … Read more

Developers are getting smarter by making their applications more appealing through improved interface design. But good looks don't necessarily mean good performance. But in the case of this toolbox, a professional-looking interface is nicely combined with ease of use and quick performance.

Memory Improve Professional launches a nicely designed interface that's easy to comprehend and simple to navigate. The dial-based gauge displays a quick-to-grasp visual of your system's memory use.

This app's tools performed nicely in our tests. We liked that the settings for configuring this utility's performance were on the launch window, so we … Read more

This easy-to-use and informative application cleans, configures, and optimizes your PC. Advanced WindowsCare Professional's interface dispenses with the bells and whistles to display commands and data without embellishment.

The install Wizard zips through the set up, querying the user on the PC's primary use and Internet connection type. Answer those two simple questions, choose from a short list of options, and you're ready to virus check and scan for spyware, registry errors, and start-up problems, or clean your PC of history and surfing traces. The app's strength is the detailed information the scan provides, which lists … Read more

Keeping your PC running like a champ requires a bit of maintenance now and again. For your money, you could do much worse than Ashampoo WinOptimizer, a clean, fast, and professional-looking application with a robust tool set.

The fastest route to optimization is from the One-Click Optimization feature, accessible from your desktop or from a tab on the program interface. The second fastest lets you run a quick or a full scan from the Overview tab. Either option starts diagnosing your system using common, customizable settings. For spot-checking or to oversee your own changes, you can click the Modules tab … Read more