Spool

Spool is a multi-platform app that lets users save articles or videos for later viewing even without an internet connection. It’s like Read It Later and Instapaper on steroids since it offers more features and most importantly, the Spool mobile app is free!

Spool – how to use it

To use Spool, you just have to install it on whichever device you’re using. It has an Android/iOS app, extension for Firefox and Chrome, bookmarklet so you can spool any links from any web browser, and a personal Spool email so you can forward links and attachments to your Spool account easily! And just like the other apps, you need to create an account first. Unfortunately, the app is currently by invite only but you can easily bypass this by logging in with your Facebook account. Once you’ve set up your account, you can now start spooling!

Let’s say you found an interesting news in Mashable and you want to read it later while in a cab, you just have to click the Spool button and wait for it to process your link. After a few seconds, you can now view it across all your devices with the Spool app installed, let’s say in your Android phone.

Spool – article viewer

Spool has an elegant reader that provides an optimized view of the article including the videos and pictures while blocking other stuffs such as advertisements, and etc. The reader is also customizable to fit your preferences. You can adjust the size of the font, the screen brightness, and make the background dark or light.

Spool – save videos for offline viewing

Its also the same process if you want to save videos for later viewing. Just click the Spool button on your web browser or share the video to Spool app via the share button on your device. Saving the video will take time depending on how lengthy and how good the quality of the video is. Once the video has been saved, you can now watch it over and over again even when you’re offline!

Spool has a built-in video player with all the basic controls such as forward/rewind, and play/pause buttons.

Spool – other awesome features

Other awesome features that I really like about Spool includes the ability to share the links with your friends who are using Spool too!

It also has a dashboard where you can easily manage all your spools. You can easily favorite a link or move it to archive in just a few clicks!

Lastly, all videos and images are converted to a phone-friendly format (HTML 5 for the videos, so no Flash required!).

Know more about Spool by watching the short video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuoMtWLRSqE

Check out the complete list of tools for managing your Spool.

© 2012, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: addon, Android, bookmarklet, Firefox, iOS app, offline, recommended, save, videos

iDump – free your iPod

iDump is a portable Windows application that lets users transfer songs from their iPod to any PC. It has a very simple interface and using it is no brainer. Just connect your iPod to PC and launch iDump.

Once your iPod is connected, iDump will automatically display all the songs stored in it allowing you to choose which ones you want to copy to your PC. But before you start selecting songs, head on to the Output Options tab first and set an output directory for all the songs that you’re going to transfer. Once done, you can go back to the main tab and start selecting the songs.

To select songs, just click the box beside the song title or if you want to transfer everything, right-click anywhere and click Select All. When you’re done choosing, click the Start Copy button on the upper-right side. If you’re not familiar with the title, just right-click on the song and click the Play button. Your default music player will open and will start playing the song.

There’s also a search bar which makes it very easy if you intend to transfer only few songs out of thousands stored in your iPod.

Another cool feature of iDump is that it imports even your Playlist. Just click the drop down box and choose the playlist you want to be displayed.

iDump may not be as feature-rich compare to other commercial apps out there but it’s still an awesome app for me. It has all the features I need for its purpose, it’s lightweight, and best of all, it’s freakin’ FREE!

iDump works well on Windows XP/Vista/7. The only downside of it I guess is that it’s not compatible with iPhone and iTouch (but for me it’s okay since I don’t own any of those).

Also see: SharePod

© 2011, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: Freeware, iPod to PC, iTunes, portable application, recommended, song, Windows

PhotoBooth for Win7 is a copycat of the Photo booth app in Mac. It is a portable application which means you can easily store it on a USB and use it on any PC with a webcam.

Image credit: Tech-Recipes

When you launch the app, it will automatically detect your webcam so you can easily take snapshots. It has all the buttons that you will see in the Mac’s Photo booth like the camera button, effects, single shot, multi-shot, and the video button which I think is for design purpose only because it’s unclickable.

PhotoBooth for Win7 has a good number of photo effects, just the same as what you can see in Mac’s. There is mirror effect, black and white, pop art, fish eye, cool backgrounds (but I can’t make them work), and even upload your own backdrop images!

PhotoBooth for Win7 does not automatically save the captured images to your hard drive so make sure you save it first before you close the app or else you have to start your photo shoot again. To save the pictures, just click the captured images then click the Download button.

Unlike the original Photo booth, Windows’ version does not have the option to share pictures via email, however, you can instantly share your pictures to your Facebook or Flickr account right within the app.

PhotoBooth for Win7 is one of the most decent webcam effects application I’ve tried. It has a lot of potentials and I’m hoping that the developer will continue to update it.

* It works well on Windows 7.

© 2011, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: photo booth, portable, recommended, webcam effects, Windows

G+ Notifier is a portable desktop app that alerts you when you have new notifications or updates on your Google+ account. When you launch the app, it will just sit in the notification area (system tray) and popup a balloon every time you receive new notifications. When you click on the balloon, it will bring you to the notification pane which contains all the latest and previously received notifications.

Currently, G+ Notifier doesn’t show you the exact things that happen on your Google+ account like when someone commented on your post or someone added you to his circle, instead, it just shows you the number of notifications you haven’t checked yet. However, it’s part of the developer’s future plans for the app to include the exact activities that happen to your account. And that should look like this if ever: The developer has left a comment below to tell us that he has already updated the app which shows a notification window like the screenshot below.

G+ Notifier is free to use and works well on 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows XP/Vista/7.

© 2011, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: desktop, Google Plus, notifications, portable, recommended, Windows

Fliptoast is an all-in-one Facebook desktop application that runs on Adobe AIR platform. It has everything you love about Facebook like chat box, notifications, status update, news feed, and even photo uploading via drag and drop.

Fliptoast is very easy to install and it will just stay on top of any applications you’re using when you launch it. It’s just a tiny box that when you click, will expand, revealing you its complete features.

Each icon has their own use:

• The first icon lets you update your status
• The second lets you upload photos via drag and drop
• The third  shows your notifications
• The fourth shows your news feed
• The fifth will bring you to the Fliptoast Facebook page
• The sixth shows you some Facebook apps recommended by Fliptoast
• The seventh will pause getting updates
• The eight lets you chat with your online friends
• The ninth lets you post to your friends’ walls

Photo Upload

Fliptoast’s photo upload is so cool! Just drag and drop the photos you want to upload and choose your desired album. You can even create a new album right within the app!

Notifications, Newsfeed, and Updates

Notifications and newsfeed in Fliptoast look just the same as how you would see them on the Facebook website. You can like a post or add comments too!

From time to time, you’ll also receive updates from your friends that will popup on your screen. You can like or comment on those popups too! Now you’re sure that you won’t miss important updates from your friends.

Chat

Fliptoast’s chat box allows tabbed conversation so you can easily chat with multiple friends.

Fliptoast is definitely a must-have for every Facebook fans out there. It has everything that you will need in a Facebook desktop application and it comes in a very sleek design and intuitive interface. It just really proves that big things comes in small packages.

Since Fliptoast runs on Adobe AIR platform, you can use it on Mac or Windows given that Adobe AIR has been installed on your machine. Lastly, before I forget, Fliptoast is completely free!

© 2011, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: adobe air, chat, drag and drop, Facebook application, recommended

Facebook Desktop is an Adobe Air based application that lets you get all the latest updates on your Facebook account without opening a web browser. You’ll get instant notifications right on your desktop so you’ll not miss anything!

To use Facebook Desktop, first you must have Adobe Air installed on your computer. Then download and install Facebook Desktop.

* Since Adobe Air can be installed in any OS, you can use Facebook Desktop in any OS too!

Once installed, launch Facebook Desktop. Enter your Facebook credentials then click Login.

Once you’ve successfully logged in, you’ll see a welcome note by Facebook Desktop above the notification area. From here, you’ll also receive all the notifications so even if you’re doing anything, like for example, while I’m writing this post, the notifications just keep on popping up. When you click the notifications, your web browser will open and re-direct you to the post.

You can also control which notifications would you like to appear.

With Facebook Desktop, you can still do your regular activities while keeping up with the latest happenings on your Facebook account.

Also see: ExcelBook – Use Facebook While At Work Without Being Caught

© 2011, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: adobe air, desktop, Facebook, notifications, recommended

ExcelBook is a brilliant application that you can use at work or even at school to check your Facebook account without being noticed by your boss or professor because it disguises as an Excel sheet. It is an Adobe Air based app which means you can install it on any computer (Mac/Windows/Linux) as long as you have the Adobe Air installed.

To login to your Facebook account, just go to File and click Login. Enter your email address and password to access your account.

Once you’re connected, your newsfeed will appear right on the spreadsheet. You might be confused at first but after a while, you’ll get familiar with it easily. Now, with this look, who can say that you’re doing something fishy on your computer?

ExcelBook lets you:

• Update your status from the function bar
• Check your wall
• Chat with your online friends (awesome!)

However, there are a lot of limitations with ExcelBook; you can not view your friends wall nor check any pictures. Probably because ExcelBook wants to maintain its simplicity and also to avoid getting a lot of attention from other people.

NOTE: Use ExcelBook – your partner in crime at your own risk. The Heat Web will not be held responsible for any problem that may arise when your officemates report you to your boss.

Also see: FBLook

(via AddictiveTips, via The Next Web)

© 2011, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: adobe air, Excel, Facebook, recommended, secret

KShutdown is an advanced shut down utility for KDE, Linux, and Windows. It allows you to set the exact date and time you wish to shut down your computer just like the sleep mode on televisions.

Aside from “shut down”, you can also choose other actions like lock screen, restart, hibernate, sleep, and logout.

You also have the option to display the progress bar so you always know the remaining time. The progress bar is conveniently located at the upper most part of your screen.

KShutdown may not be that useful or should I say “a real must-have” unless you’re the type of person who always forget to shutdown your computer but I still recommend that you download it and keep it for emergency purposes.

KShutdown is a very simple tool but for me, it rocks! It has a portable version for Windows and installer version for both Linux and Windows.

Check out the opposite of this article: Insomnia – Prevent Your PC From Sleeping

(via ShareSummit)

© 2011, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: hibernate, portable, schedule, shut down, sleep mode, Windows

Quitter is a Twitter client that runs in a command window (or “DOS window”). It doesn’t have a visually stunning interface that makes it very simple and straight-forward. It is completely portable and you can easily fit it in any USB with its file size of 150KB only!

Quitter is very easy to set up. Just run the program and allow Quitter to access your account.

Once you’re done, you can now use Quitter to:

• Read, post, reply and re-tweet
• Organize the people you follow into groups and read tweets by group
• Filter (or highlight) tweets from specific users or that contain certain #hashtags
• Use URL shorteners like TinyUrl.com for tweeting URLs
• Easily open tweeted links from other users in your default browser (no copy/paste needed)
• Send and receive direct messages
• Follow or unfollow other users

Quitter is definitely a must-have Twitter client for those people who are looking for a simple yet feature-loaded client.

* Quitter runs properly on Windows 2000/XP/Vista but requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or higher

Also see: The best and the hottest Twitter-related applications and websites

via TechnixUpdate

© 2011, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: command window, portable, Twitter client, Windows

Sendoid, unlike other file hosting sites, doesn’t store files on their server. The files go directly to the recipient from your computer. It uses a 128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to make sure that your files are secured.

There are two ways on how you can share files using Sendoid. First is by using its browser-based tool. Just visit Sendoid.com, click Choose files to share button then browse for the files you want to send. Once done, you’ll be given a link which you can share to anyone so they can start downloading the file.

You can even set a password before sending the file to make sure that only your friends can download it. However, Sendoid’s web interface limits total transfer size to somewhere between 600MB and 1GB but don’t worry because it has a desktop application that will let you transfer unlimited file size for free!

Sendoid’s desktop application is based on Adobe Air platform which means you need to have Adobe Air installed on your machine before you can install it.

Once it is installed on your computer, sharing files will be a lot easier! Just launch the app, click Create New Share button to choose the files you want to send and it will give you the download link right away. You can click the “lock” icon if you want to set a password.

You can also use the Sendoid’s desktop application to receive files from other Sendoid users. Just paste the download link in the claim code box and click Go.

What’s nice about Sendoid is that your recipient doesn’t need to install the application on their computer before they can receive the files you send using the desktop app; you just have to give them the download link and they can open it on their web browser and it will start downloading the file. That simple!

Sendoid is definitely a must-have tool if you’re fond of sharing files to your friends and loved-ones. It can be installed on your Mac, Windows, and Linux machines as long as you have Adobe Air installed.

Also see: FilePhile

© 2011, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: adobe air, browser-based, file sharing, p2p