PC World Philippines :: iPod Touch

Top 6 Sites to Get Products for Free

By Fei on January 22, 2010

By John Maringmei
January 22, 2009

BANGALORE – Get Stuffs for Free

We have heard the adage ‘Nothing in life comes for free’ a thousand times, but in the wonderful online world you can be sure that the above saying can be proved otherwise. Yes, you can get absolutely free stuffs if you do scout around on the Net. We are not referring to ‘freeware’ or ‘open-source’ software but talking about products that normally would costs you some dough.

There is a smorgasbord of sites offering all kinds of free stuffs but it is very difficult to discern which are genuine. Another caveat with all these so called ‘free’ sites is that you can’t be sure if the freebies are valid for you or not (most of the offers are generally for a specific region).

So what we have tried to do here is to provide a list of the top 5 reliable source from where you can actually get a paid product (gadgets and software) for free every day. But do note that the sites referred to here offers one product a day and each product can be claimed for free on that particular day only.

One Paid Software for Free Every Day

If you are a software connoisseur, you probably would have heard of this popular site that offers licensed software for free every day – Giveaway of the Day. This site allows you to download paid software one-a-day for free.

The software on offer can be downloaded and installed on your PC only on that particular day — which generally means that even if you have downloaded it on a valid day, it will not work if you try to install it on a later date.

One thing to keep in mind is that the software on offer are generally little-known titles and you must not expect top-notch apps every day. But you never know when software which can come in very handy crops up on the site. So keep an eye on the software on offer daily and you might be lucky enough to grab an excellent app any day.

Free Games for the Taking

As for software, there are tons of ‘freeware’ games but as usual this games are not usually not up to scratch to their paid counterparts. Fortunately you can get your hands on good paid games for free with sites that let you download them on a particular day with no strings attached whatsoever.

The previously mention Giveaway of the Day site has a section for games where you can get games for free daily. Another very good place to get paid games for free every day is on the GameHouse site where there is a Today’s Free Game section for downloading free games daily.

As mentioned previously the games on offer will not be the heavy-duty one but those you can play on a low to medium configuration PCs. But still free is free. Right?

High Quality iPhone/iPod Touch Apps Up for Grabs

If you have an iPhone/iPod Touch, you normally would be looking for apps to keep you occupied for some fun-filled hours or for productivity purposes. Any which way, these apps can make your iphone/ iPod Touch much more interesting.

But most of the good apps available in the App Store generally cost money. Worry not, because there are a couple of good sites which offers generally paid apps for free. The best we can recommend is the free app a day site. The good thing about this site is that the apps that are on offers are carefully selected and only the ones they think are polished and high-quality are put up on their site as a free download.

Another good site for free apps is free app alert, it is a little different from what we have covered so far; it provides a list of apps which was previously not free but has become free now. These apps are not restricted for download on a particular day but can be downloaded anytime.

Gadgets for Free. Really!

Well, Well. We know that there are lots of sites that give away software and games but what about gadgets? There is actually a site, 1 Free a Day, that offers free gadget every day with a catch — you have to pay the shipping fee.

The gadgets on offer are generally small items and frankly speaking the gadgets on offer are not that great but as we mentioned before, nothing beats ‘FREE’. It would be good not to expect too much on the kind of gadgets you can get since the list gets hardly updated.

Apple Tablet: Content Will Be Key

By Fei on January 21, 2010

By Ian Paul
January 21, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO – On January 27, Apple is holding an event to unveil its “latest creation,” which is expected to be a 10-inch touchscreen tablet. Apple’s rumored device has been generating a lot of buzz and excitement, but it’s not clear yet whether tablet excitement — assuming that Apple really is unveiling a tablet, of course — will turn into tablet dollars at the cash register.

One factor not working in Apple’s favor is that tablet devices have never proven to be successful with paying customers. Ken Delaney, an analyst at Gartner, recently told Bloomberg that tablet computers only account for one percent of the PC market despite being around since the 1990s. Granted, Apple’s device may look more like a large iPod Touch than the traditional tablet laptop with a swivel screen, but even so Apple will need more than just flashy hardware to make its tablet product successful.

Perhaps more than any other product the company has produced, the rumored tablet will need an ecosystem of compelling content to convince people they want to buy this device. But what would that look like?

iTunes LP and iTunes Extra

The most obvious use for a tablet would be for playing back music and video sold through the iTunes store. Just like your laptop, iPod, or iPhone, an Apple tablet would offer a way to watch movies and television shows and listen to music. The device may also convince people to buy albums with the iTunes LP feature, and movies with iTunes Extras, the DVD-like special features included with movies downloaded from Apple.
Applications

It’s not clear yet what kind of an operating system Apple’s latest creation will have. If it runs a standard version of OS X then the rumored tablet will run the same computer programs your Mac does, but if the device is running the iPhone OS that opens up Apple’s wide catalog of third-party iPhone applications available through the iTunes Store.

Games

Most iPod Touch and iPhone video games are controlled by the use of an accelerometer where you tip the device to one side or the other to manipulate on-screen movements. That may be a relatively easy thing to do on a handheld device with the flick of the wrist, but a 10-inch tablet would require you to grip the device with both hands much like you would with a steering wheel, which may not be as compelling for gaming. But there are some games, such as Madden NFL 10, that make use of on-screen controls that could be more interesting, and two-player games like Touch Hockey: FS5 would be far easier to play on a bigger screen. Of course, putting iPhone games on the tablet assumes the device would be running the iPhone OS and not Mac OS X.

Books

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday morning that Apple is in talks with Harper Collins and other publishers to bring e-books to the rumored tablet device. But unlike books on the Kindle, Sony Reader, Nook, or any of the numerous e-readers announced at CES, books on Apple’s tablet may have interactive features including video, interviews and social networking. That may be a compelling format for a children’s book–imagine Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are with embedded clips from the movie–or business-oriented books that could benefit from interactive illustrations or news video, but do you really need interactivity when reading fiction? By my estimation you’d lose more than you’d gain reading works by John Steinbeck, Philip Roth, or Jonathan Safran Foer with interactive features.

Mags and Rags

There’s been a lot of buzz ever since Sports Illustrated unveiled its electronic magazine concept, and now there’s more news that The New York Times’ long-awaited second attempt at a paywall may be timed with Apple’s product announcement next week. Many other companies are also considering or working on new digital formats including Time Inc., News Corp., and Hearst. But there’s a big question mark hanging over the issue of whether people would be willing to pay for online content again.

About those paint splotches…

A rumor out yesterday, and first reported by Fox News, says that Apple may also be introducing new versions of iLife and a preview of iPhone OS 4.0. Is it possible that Apple’s new device will have some kind of artistic bent to it, as the company’s event invitation suggests? Could Apple’s new device be ideal for using iMovie, iPhoto or iWeb in new and interesting ways? Only a few days until we know for sure.

iPhone & iPod Touch users urged to update to v3.0 to ensure browsing security

By Jon on June 22, 2009

IT security and control firm Sophos is urging iPhone and iPod Touch users to upgrade their devices with the latest version of Apple’s eagerly awaited operating system – not just for the enhanced usability features, but because the update fixes more than 40 security vulnerabilities. Existing iPhone users can update their operating system for free via iTunes to version 3.0, and take advantage of a number of longed-for new features such as cut-and-paste, spotlight search and a landscape virtual keyboard. However, Sophos experts note that Apple has also included a number of important security patches inside the update, making it crucial for both sets of users to patch as quickly as possible. Sophos warns that the iPod Touch customers are required to pay USD9.95 for the privilege.

According to an advisory on Apple’s Web site, iPhone OS 3.0 patches 46 vulnerabilities, including some that could potentially allow hackers to run malicious code on a user’s iPhone if they visited a booby-trapped Web site or viewed a specially-crafted image file.

“If left unpatched, hackers could run malware on your iPhone just by you visiting a website or viewing a maliciously-crafted image,” explained Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. ”Although we haven’t come across any examples of hackers creating malware to exploit these vulnerabilities as yet, it is vital that iPhone and iPod Touch users understand the importance of this latest update. Without it, they are leaving themselves potentially wide open to attack – it pays to remember that no operating system is invincible.”

“There’s no doubt that some iPod Touch users will be unhappy that they have to pay for their devices to be fixed, and it’s certainly unusual for a company to charge for important security patches like this,” continued Cluley. “In an ideal world Apple would make free fixes available for iPod Touch users who don’t feel they need cut-and-paste and other new features, but do want to be able to use the internet securely.”

Apple update fixes 46 iPhone security holes, but iPod Touch owners have to pay

By Jon on June 22, 2009

IT security and control firm Sophos is urging iPhone and iPod Touch users to upgrade their devices with the latest version of Apple’s eagerly awaited operating system – not just for the enhanced usability features, but because the update fixes more than 40 security vulnerabilities.

Existing iPhone users can update their operating system for free via iTunes to version 3.0, and take advantage of a number of longed-for new features such as cut-and-paste, spotlight search and a landscape virtual keyboard. However, Sophos experts note that Apple has also included a number of important security patches inside the update, making it crucial for both sets of users to patch as quickly as possible. Sophos warns that the iPod Touch customers are required to pay $9.95 for the privilege.

According to an advisory on Apple’s Web site, iPhone OS 3.0 patches 46 vulnerabilities, including some that could potentially allow hackers to run malicious code on a user’s iPhone if they visited a booby-trapped website or viewed a specially-crafted image file.

“If left unpatched, hackers could run malware on your iPhone just by you visiting a website or viewing a maliciously-crafted image,” explained Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. ”Although we haven’t come across any examples of hackers creating malware to exploit these vulnerabilities as yet, it is vital that iPhone and iPod Touch users understand the importance of this latest update. Without it, they are leaving themselves potentially wide open to attack – it pays to remember that no operating system is invincible.”

“There’s no doubt that some iPod Touch users will be unhappy that they have to pay for their devices to be fixed, and it’s certainly unusual for a company to charge for important security patches like this,” continued Cluley. “In an ideal world Apple would make free fixes available for iPod Touch users who don’t feel they need cut-and-paste and other new features, but do want to be able to use the internet securely.”

For more information, please visit: www.sophos.com/blogs/gc/g/2009/06/18/apple-update-fixes