One thing that always excites me is the release of a new piece of free software that claims to offer a new way of doing something that we do every day. For a geek like me, it’s like Christmas.

One piece of software that has got me excited right now is Torch Browser – a new software that, although a browser in function, offers a number of really unique features that sets it above other browsers currently in the market. More →

A fierce competition exists among the different web browsers for market share and right now Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome are in the top three.

According to a report published by Net Applications, Microsoft Internet Explorer still maintains the lead with a significant 52.84 percent of the market but it is in the fight for second place that things get interesting. More →

You might be an experienced pilot or you might be studying to become one very soon, either way, there is an Android smartphone application that will make your life as an aviator an easier and a more enjoyable one.

The Android application market is fast busy catering for every available market out there and this includes the aviation industry as well. Here are some of the 3 more practical Android apps for pilots that you will currently find.

Study Buddy (Commercial Pilot)

When you are studying to be a commercial pilot and you are busy preparing for the FAA written tests, the Study Buddy (Commercial Pilot) will help you with your preparations. It is like no other study tool that you have ever seen. It has three modes that you can operate with, which is Learning mode, Flashcards and Simulated tests. More →

It’s only been a few months since I got my BlackBerry Bold 9700 and I haven’t fully maximized and enjoyed its current OS. But it seems I wouldn’t be able to do this after as RIM seems to be preparing to release its latest BlackBerry OS  - version 6.0. BGR managed to obtained some “official” screenshots of the BlackBerry OS 6.0, running of course on a BlackBerry device.

So, what are we looking at here? First up is the new BlackBerry default browser which if you can see from the screenshot below shows tab switching functionality, new favorites and – multitouch!  The new browser is of course banking on RIM’s WebKit.

What else should we expect from BlackBerry OS 6.0? BGR got them pointed as follow:

New Media Player – Not really as good as the iPhone or Android OS media player, but certainly RIM is working doubly hard to make their device’s media player at par with those two smartphone rivals.  So you got finger browsing capability and touch-enabled playback.

Better Scrolling – More fluid scrolling through lists, web pages, emails and the like thanks to system-wide kinetic scrolling with rubberbranding

Cleaner Message Inbox – Yes, the outdated message inbox of BlackBerry phones are finally getting a redesigned to make it more in tune with the times.

Customizable Homescreen – Again, this may not be as good looking as other smartphones but certainly RIM is doing great in enhancing BlackBerry devices’ homescreens.

Modal Popups Using Gestures – BGR explains this very well, “ If you tap and hold (obviously a touchscreen device is required), you’ll get a 9 icon group centered on the screen which is basically a pretty context menu. For instance, you could be composing an email, and instead of pressing Menu + Send, you could tap and hold on the email, see the popup window, and hit the send icon there.”

Improved Photos App – The new photo app takes some cue from how good the iPhone photo app is. If you’re like me who is also using an iPhone, you’d feel comfortable and familiar with BlackBerry’s new photo app.

So, what time frame are we looking at here? Around June or July perhaps? Oh common RIM, release it earlier. I know you can do so much faster than what you’re doing right now.

Google has just updated its Google Maps for BlackBerry app to version for. It’s a pretty big update if I may say so with some great features such as Google Buzz on Maps, voice search, location starring and more.  It’s a pretty cool update, especially Google Buzz which I’ve been wanting to check out on my Nexus One phone but still couldn’t make it run.

Let’s go over to these new features of Google Maps 4.0 for BlackBerry. First off we have search by voice.  The new feature lets you do your search by simply speaking out your search term. Just press the green “call” button, speak out and wait for your search results. As easy as that. The app lets you search for name of establishments, addresses or generic search terms. Search by voice support English and Mandarin Chinese.

Next Google Buzz for Mobile – a feature that I’ve been wanting to try in my other smartphones but failed to execute. Google Buzz for mobile on BlackBerry Maps 4.0 app lets you add the Google Buzz layer to see what’s going on around you as well as post to your Google Buzz account. You can share pictures, news and more. You can enable this feature by selecting Layers > Buzz and you’re good to go with your Google Buzz activities.

Another nice feature of  Google Maps for mobile 4.0 for BlackBerry device is personalized search suggestions. What the app does is to utilize your search history to suggest search terms for your new search. You need to enable web history on your Google account to use this feature on Maps for Mobile.

Once you’re signed in to your Google Account, the app will synchronize starred items between your maps.google.com on your computer and on your BlackBerry so much so that you’ll have the same starred locations on both interfaces.

Other new features of Google Maps 4.0 for BlackBerry include – Google Labs’ experimental features and viewing nearby businesses by choosing a point from the map.

To get Google Maps 4.0 for Mobile on your BlackBerry devices, simply point your phone’s browser to m.google.com/maps.

Come April 3, there will definitely be an influx of iPad applications trying to gain exposure on the iPad App Store.  So, if you are a developer and you want your apps to be among the iPad launch apps, you better start finalizing these apps now and submit it to Apple for approval. You only have until March 27 to ensure that your apps will be featured during the iPad launch on April 3, say Apple.

Apple has issued the following guidelines to help you with your plans of submitting your iPad applications:

• Build and test your iPad application using iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 available on the iPhone Dev Center. Only iPad apps built with SDK 3.2 beta 5 will be accepted for this initial review.
• Upload your distribution signed app through iTunes Connect by Saturday March 27, 5pm PDT.
• The App Review Team will review your app on iPad and email you details about the readiness of your app.
• You wil also receive additional information about submitting your app for final review before iPad ships.
• Only apps submitted for the initial  review will be considered for the grand opening of the iPad App Store.

So there. You’ve got a whole week to prepare your applications and submit them to Apple for review. Since the it will only be a fews before the iPad App launch there’s a pretty big chance that your application will make it on time. I mean common, can Apple really review all the apps that will be submitted on March 27 thoroughly?

Suddenly, Amazon announced the availability of Kindle for Mac app. As if sending a signal to all Mac users planning to buy the iPad for e-book reading purpose that they can do the same thing with their current machine.  That they don’t need to spend some precious $525 dollar just to have an e-book reader.  They can do so with their existing machine and with the help of Amazon’s Kindle for Mac.

Now that I have let that issue out, let’s get into the details of the Kindle for Mac. Features? Pretty much what the application can do with its other iteration – Kindle for PC, Kindle for iPhone, and Kindle for BlackBerry.

Some of these features will let you:

• Purchase, download, and read hundreds of thousands of books available in the Kindle Store
• Access their library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon’s servers for free
• Choose from 10 different font sizes and adjust words per line
• Add and automatically synchronize bookmarks and last page read
• View notes and highlights marked on Kindle, Kindle DX, and Kindle for iPhone
• Read books in full color including children’s books, cookbooks, travel books and textbooks

Amazon also promise to roll out some more features soon. These include – full text search and the ability to create and edit notes and highlights. Kindle for Mac is available as a free download requiring around 20MB of your Mac’s storage. It works for all Intel Mac models.  Ready to take this app for a spin?  Here’s the download link - www.amazon.com/kindleformac.

First Lady Michelle Obama and the USDA has launched a competition for developers, game designers and students to develop the most fun and engaging tools and games that will encourage children, specifically “tweens” (ages 9-12) to eat better and be more physically healthy and active.

Apps for Healthy Kids aims to halt the increasing rate of obesity among children which have tripled in the past 30 years which may shorten the expect lifespan of chilren.

If you’re up for the challenge, the Apps for Healthy Kids  is requiring that any tools and games that you will develop be built based on USDA nutrition dataset which is available through the Open Government Initiative. These datasets provide information on total calories, calories from “extras” and MyPyramid food groups for over 1,000 commonly eaten foods.

So here’s how you can enter the contest:

During the competition submission period (March 10 – June 30, 2010), first register here (registration is free) and read the complete Official Rules and Questions and Answers. After you register you must verify your email address via the registration email sent to the email entered in the registration form. You will then be able to enter a submission. Fill out the submission form on the submit application tab, including your submission title, text description, link to game or tool, data set(s) used, and whether you are submitting in the “tool” or “game” category. A picture is optional but helpful. Be sure to read the terms and conditions, and if you agree, check off the box, and submit!

Finally, the prize, not much at $40,000 but hey, it’s for a good cause anyway.

Google has just rolled out a new online service, making it officially known that the company is serious about cloud computing and business applications. The new service – Google Apps Marketplace provides products and services including installable apps that integrate with Google Apps. These installable apps features single sign-on capability and Google’s universal navigation.  Some of these apps even integrate with domain data.

If you an enterprise network administrator utilizing Google’s many cloud server application or Google apps, the marketplace is a useful destination for finding new apps from both Google and third-party application developers. The marketplace shall serve as a one-stop-shop for all your enterprise apps need.

Currently, Google is in a deal with around 50 companies offering online business apps. And right after Google announced the Google Apps Marketplace, those companies started announcing their own applications which debut at the marketplace.

Of course, the number of companies joining this avenue is bound to grow leaps and bound. Give it a couple of days and I’m pretty sure third-party online apps developers will start jumping into the deep pit of Google’s marketing strategy.

In case you’re interested to know, some of the great apps which debut at the Google Marketplace include the following:

BatchBook Social CRM- BatchBook is a lightweight but powerful CRM that allows you to easily organize contacts, monitor social networks and track leads and deals.

Aviary Design Suite – Design tools and templates to create, modify and share images, logos, presentations, audio tracks, podcasts & more. Teams can collaborate on multimedia projects. Works directly in Google Docs!

myERP.com : Manage your business in the cloud – Free online business suite. Streamline your CRM, Sales, Projects, Purchasing, Inventory, A

EchoSign Electronic Signature for Google Apps – EchoSign.com, the web’s leading eSignature service, natively integrates with your Google Apps account, including Google docs, spreadsheets, etc. for instant on-line review, approval, and eSignatures.

Google Apps Marketplace seems to be a solid applications shop. Nothing fancy on the UI aspect. Just your usual plain Google theme.

Opera has released the latest version of its web browser for Windows – Opera 10.50, which it claims is the fastest web browser produced so far for Windows. Featuring sleek and refined new design plus some nice features such as private browsing (sounds familiar?), Opera 10.50 is also packed with old features you’ve grown to love with Opera.

Opera 10.50′s new features can be categorized into –  refined browsing experience, faster browsing speed, private browsing, and platform integration.

For its browsing interface, Opera has made some improvements and revisions to provide you with a leaner browsing experience, with special emphasis on your PC’s screen estate. Gone are the Opera menu buttons which were now replaced with traditional menu bar.

With Javascript engine, Carakan and a new graphics library running under the hood, Opera also promises the fastest browser for Windows they made thus-far.

Another new feature of Opera browser for Windows is private browsing. Now, if you’ve used Google Chrome or is still using it right now, it’s similar to Incognito Mode. This means, you can browse sites for as long as you want and you won’t leave a trail or browsing history behind. Opera does private browsing either in a tab or separate window.

Opera 10.50 also integrates well with Windows 7/Vista Aero Glass, Aero Peek and Jump Lists. It also lets you easily access your Speed Dials, tabs and more from the Taskbar.

Of course, the old favorites – Opera Turbo, Opera Unite and Opera Link are still active in Opera 10.50.