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Music curation services and software have made it possible to personalize your listening experience, even for free on radio services like Pandora. Songza is the newest in curated listening, providing a list of different radio-style stations that play music according to your current mood and location, as well as what you are doing.

The idea behind Songza is simple. Open the app and set the day and time (it does this automatically, but you can change it). Next, define what you are doing--whether working, in need of an energy boost, drinking coffee in an upscale café, hanging out with … Read more

There are dozens of calculator apps on the App Store, so opening someone's phone and finding an app called "digital calculator" wouldn't cause anyone to bat their eyes twice. Except, this particular digital calculator is actually Spy Calc, an app that hides private photos and videos behind the façade of a boring calculator interface.

The tool is ingeniously made. The front-end calculator uses the built in iOS tools to recreate a digital calculator, but adds a password to it as an extra layer. You can use the calculator or you can enter your password … Read more

Mac users are constantly trying to find ways to operate their systems using the least number of keystrokes or clicks. Sunlight for Mac does allow a different method for showing and hiding windows, but ultimately saves few steps and will not appeal to most users.

After a quick download, the installation of Sunlight for Mac took place quickly, despite the atypical location for the installer program. Technical support and user instruction were both unavailable. Despite the simple nature of the program, the lack of tutorial requires the user to play with the interface to learn how to use it, which … Read more

Photo Editor Fotolr is a unique app in many ways because it offers a very robust experience, including a number of editing tools, collage creation, and album curation--all for free. That, however, is tempered by sometimes-spotty performance issues and occasional crashes, combined with a limited and sometimes confusing menu system.

When you open Fotolr you can choose to edit an existing photo from your library or camera, create a collage on one of three templates, or create a new album. There are also sharing tools to send your photos or libraries to other users. The interface works well and the … Read more

Despite the fact that Mac OS X comes with a very good, built-in screenshot tool, there are still some limitations to it when it comes to automated screen-taking. Click for Mac allows the user to take screenshots periodically, but it also comes with some limitations.

Available as freeware, the program allows the user to set a timer to take screenshots automatically every few minutes. The installation is a simple drag-and-drop process and the user interface is very straightforward and intuitive. New users will enjoy the short learning curve of the app. However, the drawback is the lack of customization as … Read more

A good task list is a must for your iPhone. The portable device is a perfect tool for carrying a calendar and task list with you wherever you go, but those lists need to be well constructed, easy to access, cloud friendly, and quick and easy to access and edit. That's why coTODO is both a very good app and a frustratingly incomplete app in need of some additional work.

When you open coTODO you are presented with a tutorial that walks you through basic editing of a handful of different things you can do, from adding tasks to … Read more

Even though it's an excellent file browser, the standard file manager for Mac is lacking some features related to working with invisible system files. Kilometre for Mac aims to provide some extra features that are not supported by the Finder. Despite being functional, this file manager has a dated look and few features beyond displaying invisible files.

Kilometre for Mac downloads quickly and installs without much hassle. Technical support did not appear to be available, though. There were no user instructions, which would be a deterrent for some because the interface was not intuitive and the features were not … Read more

The most common portable hard drives have USB 2.0 connections, which are great for compatibility, but terrible for performance. If you have an old USB 2.0 portable hard drive, you can increase its transfer rates by upgrading it to USB 3.0. For as little as $15, you can double your drive's real-world performance. Here's how:

Disclaimer: Opening your portable hard drive's enclosure will likely void your warranty. It's also possible that you'll damage the original enclosure and or the internal hard drive. We recommend you back up any data that may be … Read more

Puzzle games are easy to find for Android devices, but their quality varies. What's the Word: 4 Pics 1 Word functions well, but is much too basic to hold a user's attention for long.

What's the Word: 4 Pics 1 Word is available for free, but coins, used for hints, cost extra depending on the number purchased. The application downloaded and installed as expected. After startup, there are no user instructions available and the main menu's tiles are not easy to interpret. Fortunately, the main play button is easy to find. In terms of gameplay, the … Read more