Facebook has just released the Messenger app for Windows 7. It’s been available for iOS and Android for some time too.

The app does exactly what it’s supposed to do – bring the Facebook chat outside Facebook. But there are a few more features too. Read more »

There is a good reason why companies like Mozilla can give away their software for free. That’s because they get a lot from search engine providers to include their search engines inside the browser. So far Google has been the default search engine in Firefox and now they have signed another three-year contract with Mozilla to keep their position at the top of the search box.

This time however, they are paying a lot more to Mozilla than they did last time, almost three times as much. Google will be paying around $300 million per year for three years, which is close to a billion dollars. So how did Google suddenly become so generous? The reason is Microsoft. Read more »

Firefox was in a precarious position for a while because the search deal with Google was running out – and that was the main source of cash for the non-profit Mozilla Foundation. Firefox fans can breathe a sigh of relief as there’s a new deal that ensures Google sponsorship for another three years.

After reports that Chrome has surpassed Firefox for the second spot in the most popular browser leaderboard, it looked uncertain if Google still had interest in Firefox. It turns out it does and Google will remain the default search provider for Firefox for the foreseeable future. Read more »

For all the features that iTunes offers, it’s still one of the least convenient ways of managing the content of your iDevice. Its performance is hardly spectacular, its usability is mediocre and its inability to upload files to a single device from multiple computers is downright baffling. Enter CopyTrans – a third party app that promises to allow uploading content to your iPhone/iPad/iPod without the hassle of the official Apple software.

Compatible with all iOS versions, CopyTrans lets you drag and drop single files to your iDevice. It works with music tracks, videos and even apps now so chances are you’ll only need iTunes rarely. There’s no need to sync the whole library either, so transfers are much quicker and convenient here. Read more »

Microsoft has announced, that starting January 2012, they will slowly start updating the older version of Internet Explorer browser on Windows to whichever is the latest version the user’s computer supports. The update process will begin from Australia and Brazil and will slowly be taken to the rest of the world.

Microsoft obviously understands that having people stuck on archaic versions of IE, such as IE6 and IE7 harms not only the web browsing experience but also the web in general because the web developers then have to go through the trouble of coding for these older browsers that do not support the newer standards and features of today’s web. Read more »

Microsoft has divulged some juicy details regarding the upcoming Windows Store for Windows 8. Like any application store, this will be a unified location to download apps on your Windows 8 device and will be your only source for downloading Metro-style apps.

First of all, the Store will open its doors to developers starting February, 2012. Developers can create an account by paying $49 and after that proceed to develop apps for the platform. Read more »

Today, Opera software released the latest version of its desktop browser. Opera 11.60 brings a few new features to the table, including new HTML5 parsing algorithm, which should help unify code discrepancies among browsers, new email client and improved speeds for SSL sites.

The new Opera browser also comes with a new star button, which lets you quickly add sites you like to your Speed Dial. The address field has been revamped with new search suggestions and you should now be able to find your favorite websites faster. The browser engine saw some updates as well so Opera 11.60 should be the most stable version of the browser so far. Read more »

Citing sources close to Microsoft, TheNextWeb, claims that the Windows 8 public beta is set for release in February 2012.

There’s nothing set in stone so, you know, don’t hold your breath until we hear something official. Still it doesn’t seem that unlikely as Windows 8 is expected in 2012 anyway and the MWC 2012 is a big event, a fitting place for presenting a converged desktop/mobile OS. The next iteration of Microsoft’s OS will be the first to be designed to work on both desktops and mobile devices like tablets. Read more »

In case you feel like you’ve been here before, you’re not wrong. Audiophiles who like to share audio files will remember Napster making a name for itself in 1999 and the early 2000′s and subsequently bowing out again by 2002, only to come back from the dead in 2003.

It now looks as though the music service won’t be cheating death a second time around however. Read more »

The Windows installation process either frustrates people because they know it will take a lot of time (if they know how to do it at all) or intimidates them with the complexity of the procedure. Microsoft are redesigning the process for their upcoming Windows 8 OS to deal with both problems.

You can still do an advanced setup, which will let give you the most control over how the OS is installed, or you can do a streamlined setup, which is started by simply running an .EXE file or via web delivery. Read more »

There are new Skype betas available for download, bringing the Facebook video-calling feature for both PC and Mac users. Back in July Facebook launched its video-calling feature, courtesy of Skype, and now you can video-chat with your friends straight from the Skype app too.

Starting a video call is easy enough. All you need is the latest beta of Skype, where you sign in with your Facebook account and voila – you’ve enabled video calls with your Facebook friends. Read more »

The Motorola DROID Razr is officially out today and the lucky ones that have received their devices have already found a 1-click rooting solution.

All you need to do to root the device is install an app called DooMLord_V2, the USB drivers (or let your OS do that automatically), set the device in debugging mode, connect it to your PC and let the app do the job for you. Read more »

The Nokia Suite application is available for download over at the official Nokia support page. After a one month beta period the application is out dropping the Ovi nametag and adding a few other goodies too.

Here’s the changelog of the application. Read more »

After Adobe announced their plans to stop developing Flash Player for mobile devices, we’re now hearing that Microsoft plans to do the same with their own proprietary plugin, Silverlight. If you went “Silverwhat?” then I won’t be surprised. Touted as the competitor Adobe’s Flash, Microsoft’s Silverlight never really managed to gain the same amount of popularity among web developers.

But now it seems that won’t be an issue for long. Microsoft is on the verge of announcing the next version of Silverlight, with the beta version already having been released back in September. But according to Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet, this will probably be the last version of Silverlight. Read more »

It was fun in the beginning but now reporting a new version of Firefox has become as mundane as telling the time. Just a few weeks after Firefox 7 came out Mozilla has now released Firefox 8.

But this isn’t an official release yet. The official launch is slated for November 8 but keeping with their tradition Mozilla has provided the Firefox release on their FTP servers a couple of days before. Read more »