convertibles

If you wanted to load the "Green Acres" theme song to your MP3 player, how would you do it? You could search for an MP3, but we suggest you make your own with Converter Plus, a versatile audio and video converter that, among other accomplishments, can convert video files into MP3s. That sounds sort of un-special, we know, but it's a lot less common than you'd think. And besides it's just one of Converter Plus's capabilities, which include not just converting audio and video files from one format to another, but also downloading video … Read more

Advanced Word to Pdf Converter Free promises to convert Word documents (DOC, DOCX, and DOCM) as well as text and rich-text documents into searchable PDFs, as the name suggests, for free. We assume it's intended for users who lack Word, since Word can save Word, text, and rich-text documents directly as PDFs. And "free" in this case means it's a restricted version of a premium tool. That wouldn't matter so much if it actually converted files in its default mode, without the paid version's settings and options. Unfortunately, it didn't.

Advanced Word to … Read more

AVI has been around a long time, and there's a lot of video saved in the format. Some devices, including mobile devices, have limited media file compatibility and won't play AVIs. For many users, the simplest solution is to convert the AVI files to MP4 files. AVI to MP4 Converter from A Software Plus is a free utility that can do the job with a minimum of fuss. It converts AVI and similar formats like DivX and Xvid, singly or in batches. We tried it in Windows 7 Home Premium SP1.

AVI to MP4 Converter's user interface … Read more

Any Video Converter Professional makes it very easy to convert video files one by one or in batches, to and from just about any video format you can play. With one of the largest and most diverse Profiles menus we've seen, chances are good that this premium video conversion utility has a profile just for your device. It's a simple matter of choosing the files you want to convert, selecting the device you want to play them on, and letting Any Video Converter do the rest. Any Video Converter also extracts audio from video files, which is something … Read more

Many cell phones save recorded video and audio in 3GP container files, and not just phones on 3G networks; many on 2G networks do, too. While plenty of media players (such as VLC) can play 3GP files, a lot of people prefer to convert their recorded audio to MP3s for maximum versatility, as it's much easier to share MP3s and use them with other programs. Shiver's 3GP to MP3 Converter Plus freeware simplifies the task. It can convert even large 3GP files into MP3s without reducing quality.

This program's appearance is plain; it's hard to imagine … Read more

PC makers take note. Microsoft is pioneering the next PC.

Surface Pro makes a good case as the template for the new PC for a couple of simple reasons: Microsoft put the device's electronics behind the glass, not under the keyboard, and the device uses a real processor.

Let's address the electronics first. Most of the newfangled laptops I saw at CES were convertibles. That is, the displays are not detachable because the core electronics are under the keyboard, just like your father's laptop.

And most of them were unimpressive. The mechanics necessary to flip and/or … Read more

Intel is betting a chunk of its PC future on so-called convertibles. So far, financial analysts aren't convinced these are designs that will win the day.

Newfangled laptops that perform mechanical acrobatics to convert to tablet mode, like Lenovo's Yoga convertible and Dell's XPS 12, aren't impressive enough yet to revive PC-market doldrums, according to a growing chorus of financial analysts who follow Intel.

On Thursday, Intel CEO Paul Otellini, speaking during an earnings conference call, tried to depict convertible PC designs as the best of both worlds: the laptop and the tablet. In essence, he … Read more

In the wake of reporting weak profits today, Intel CEO Paul Otellini couldn't repeat enough that "radical" new PC designs will subsume the tablet experience.

Here are some of Otellini's comments that suggest that Intel and its PC partners are aggressively going after the tablet market with newfangled Windows 8 devices. Most of these comments came in response to analysts' questions.

Radical transformation:

If you watch a lot of video on your computer, a decent video converter is an absolute necessity. But if you also watch a lot of video on your smartphone or tablet, or like to make DVDs, or find yourself constantly saving bits of video for later, a decent video converter isn't good enough. You need a good one. Like Xilisoft's Video Converter Ultimate. It's on the high side of premium video converters for home use, but you get what you pay for, which in this case means automatic profiles enhanced for just about any device or … Read more