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Desktop time and date displays are nothing new to Windows, which traditionally lags behind the aftermarket when it comes to timekeeping. There is no shortage of such displays; most are free, and many reproduce analog clock faces, though most use digital displays. Some are simple and straightforward yet almost completely customizable, like DS Clock from Duality Software. It displays the time and date in a wide range of formats in an unobtrusive, compact linear window. It synchronizes with atomic clocks and time servers around the world. It also displays pop-up reminders using Calendarscope, and it's compatible with Swatch Internet … Read more

Because of the high prices of solid-state drives, most tablets have limited storage. To keep the cost reasonable, manufacturers have to opt for offering low-capacity units.

And the main reason why tablets don't use hard-disk drives (HDDs) is the physical size: HDDs are generally not compact enough for the portability of a tablet computer. That is, unless, that HDD is Seagate Technology's Momentus Thin.

The company announced today that this hard drive, which is the world's first 2.5-inch hard drive with a 7mm profile, is now also the internal storage unit for the first HDD-based handheld tablets in the world, the 8- and 10-inch Archos G9 tablets. The new tablets, unveiled today, are among the first low-cost high-capacity tablets on the market.… Read more

After the WD Caviar Green, Western Digital announced today a new green hard drive that also offers up to 3TB of storage, the WD AV-GP.

The company says that the new drive is designed specifically for audio and video applications, such as DVRs, Media Center PCs, and surveillance systems; will deliver 24-7 reliability; and uses less power thanks to WD's GreenPower Technology. According to WD, the AV-GP drives have been field-tested to have a rated 1-million-hour mean time between failures.

The new WD AV-GP drive has a SATA interface and comes in 2.5TB and 3TB capacities. Note that … Read more

If you can't decide whether to get the Samsung 470 solid-state drive because it's so expensive, there's now another one that's even more tempting--the Vertex 3 from OCZ.

At around $500 for 240GB, the OCZ SSD isn't any cheaper, but it is much faster than the Samsung 470 and supports the new SATA 6Gbps standard (SATA 3). Most existing computers, however, support the popular SATA 3Gbps (SATA 2), which has data cap speeds of close to 300MBps.

SATA 3, available in computers powered by Intel's new Sandy Bridge chipset, on the other hand, offers twice that speed. And the Vertex 3 delivered in our testing, emerging as one of the fastest internal drives on the market.

Sharing the same design as a standard 9.5-millimeter, 2.5-inch internal hard drive, the Vertex 3 also includes a drive bay converter that helps it take the place of any 3.5-inch hard drive. This means it will work in any case where a traditional SATA hard drive, be it a 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch, would be used.

The OCZ Vertex 3 is also available in 120GB and 480GB capacities. The former costs around $250, and the latter is outrageously priced at more than $1,800.

To see if the drive is worth the investment, check out CNET's full review.… Read more

Strategic board games let players test their generalship in wars of conquest. TripleA is a free, open-source, Java-based pack containing several strategy games with single-player, multiplayer, and online modes, with more available online. Players manage vast armies of men and weapons, including ships, planes, tanks, and transports, supplies, and other resources. Rolling virtual dice simulates the random element in battle, but different values for various elements mean that strategy trumps chance, at least for skillful generals.

TripleA downloads and installs normally but requires the JRE (Java Runtime Environment) to open, but that's free, too, and easy to install. TripleA'… Read more

Synchronizing files and folders between your work and home PCs, desktop and laptop, and portable and permanent storage can be a hassle. A lot of users procrastinate and end up doing a lousy job of it. If they had a free synchronization tool like SyncBreeze, they could not only make an easy job of synchronizing folders and files between directories, disks, and even networked computers, but also help you keep your stuff in sync.

SyncBreeze has a simple but elegant layout, with clearly labeled icons grouped by function. The online Help site includes a PDF-based user's manual we were … Read more

More than a year ago, Synology released the DiskStation DS409Slim, which was an excellent network storage solution for a space-conscious environment. The server was one of a few, if not the only, four-bay NAS servers that host 2.5-inch laptop hard drives, instead of the regular 3.5-inch desktop hard drives, allowing it to be much more compact.

Today, the company announced the upgrade of the same server, called DS411Slim, with a faster processor and 256MB of RAM (as opposed to just 128MB of the DS409Slim).

Like all NAS servers from Synology, the DS411Slim runs DiskStation Manager (DSM) operation system (… Read more

Much ado has been made over the impending death of the book as we know it, and while we doubt that brick-and-mortar bookstores are going to become extinct anytime soon, it's obvious that electronic books are changing the way that we read. And a separate e-book device, such as Amazon.com's Kindle or Barnes & Noble's Nook, isn't necessary to read them; programs like the Barnes & Noble eReader make it possible for users to purchase and read over two million e-books right on their computers. This is an incredibly useful program, but we have to … Read more

Google Chrome and Google Apps are a natural marriage, and Google Apps Shortcuts is the matchmaker. It's a free extension that adds Google Apps to the Chrome interface. If you haven't tried Google Apps, it's worth checking out. It gives quick access to the Google applications you use every day, such as Gmail, Google Docs, and Contacts. Chrome is already fast; Google Apps Shortcuts makes it a lot more versatile.

Google extensions install automatically when you open their download links in Chrome. We merely clicked to allow the browser to add Google Apps Shortcuts, and Chrome did … Read more