Tag Archives: featured

Windows 8 RTM: Salient Changes & New Features

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Since the release of the Developer’s Preview of Windows 8 in September last year, we have seen the operating system progressing a little bit in every subsequently-released package. During this time, we at AddictiveTips, have made sure to cover everything related to Windows 8, and you can read our detailed coverage of Windows 8 to find out everything you need to know. Yesterday, Microsoft released the RTM (Release to Manufacturing) version of Windows 8 - the final version that will be available to the consumers once it is made public. Just like the Consumer Preview and Release Preview, the RTM version also comes without any surprises. Other than some new apps and a facelift for others, such as the new Bing App, the Personalization Tattoos, and revamped interface of the People app, there is not much that users have not seen before. In this post, we will look at all the new, as well as updated features and apps in the Windows 8 RTM release. Read More

List Of Google Now Commands & Smart Cards

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For the recently concluded Google I/O 2012, big G had quite a few tricks up its sleeve, and, rather unsurprisingly, most of the announcements made at the event were based around Google’s fast-flourishing mobile OS, Android. In terms of hardware, the Android community relished the arrival of the 7-inch Tegra 3-supported Nexus 7 tablet, whereas on the firmware front, it was the latest iteration of Android, Jelly Bean, that snatched the limelight. Besides all other new features and performance tweaks, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean brought with it a much improved, smarter and informative search assistant in the form of Google Now. Initially exclusive to only the aforementioned Nexus 7 tablet and a handful of other Android devices rocking Jelly Bean, a fully functional - yet unofficial - build of Google Now can now be installed on almost any rooted device running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (and above). The specialty of Google Now lies in its knowledge-packed Smart Cards. Based on your location, calendar events, search queries and personal preferences, these cards automatically keep appearing at regular intervals throughout the day, keeping you apprised of whatever information you need to have at hand at that particular instance. Although using the Google Now feature is no rocket science, there are a few phrases, query formats and voice commands that can help you maximize use of its Smart Cards. To reveal the list of all such useful commands, continue reading past the break. Read More

How To Install OS X Mountain Lion On A PC [Hackintosh Guide]

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Macs and PCs have competed with each other for a long time and a fairly large number of users run both OS X and Windows side by side. If you’d like to see what using a Mac feels like (and maybe you’re thoroughly impressed with the images coming out of NASA’s control room featuring multiple Macs), but aren’t in the mood of buying a real one, a Hackintosh is just the thing for you to try. Although a somewhat difficult feat, it is possible to run the latest version of OS X i.e. Mountain Lion on your PC given you have the right hardware devices. In the event that your hardware isn’t compatible, you will, very likely, have to go shopping for new ones. With the proper hardware, creating your very own Hackintosh is simple. This guide details the process for running Mac OS X Mountain Lion on a regular PC. Tests were carried out on an HP ProBook 4530s. No changes to the hardware were made. You will need a USB drive drive that has 8GB storage space and a friend who owns a Mac. Read More

10 Neat Tips & Tricks For OS X Mountain Lion

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Mountain Lion is still pretty fresh out of the oven - not pipping hot, but fairly fresh - and people are still getting to know what it can do, what's new and whether or not to make the upgrade. The battery drainage issue is one that's definitely put a question mark up for some who might have been on the point of upgrading, but as an OS, Mountain Lion has been downloaded over three million times in just the first four days of its launch. It's safe to say that quite a few people might be tinkering with it as you read this. Of course, once you go over the new features in Mountain Lion, you'll probably want to check around to see what's under the hood, not so obvious or learn what tweaks have been discovered so far to make your experience better. Since with new restrictions come new annoyances, here is a list of some common annoyances and their fixes. Read More

Top Windows 8 Features For Businesses And Professionals

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Although Windows 8 has managed to attract criticism from every corner of the globe, its revolutionary new look and feature-rich environment promises to win the hearts of the users, in the long-term. Casting the traditional boot management interface and start-menu away, Microsoft has decided to set the trend for the future. Ease of access, cloud-connectivity, widespread device integration, secure and privacy ensured are the buzzwords associated with Windows 8, if analyzed beyond the smokescreen. The recent unveiling of Microsoft Office 15 is only an affirmation to this cause. Undoubtedly, the new Metro User Interface allows a fast, neat and organized operating experience with everything (except the power options) accessible with a single click. In this post, we set our perspective straight and relevant for businesses. Why should a firm, business or organization look towards Windows 8 when they are already satisfied with the ever-popular Windows 7? Shifting to a radically new operating system, apparently just an upgrade, may require blanket time for adjustment and coordination within and beyond functioning teams that may hinder efficiency, at least in the short term. With this concern in mind, a conscious manager or team lead would think twice regarding the incentives Windows 8 has to offer in achieving the goals of the organization. From the network administrator to the IT manager, the executive to the worker, the accountant to the operator, we present a critical analysis that would empower you in making the move to prosperity, keeping in view the goals of efficiency, productivity, network management, user controls, security and data backup. Read More

6 New Features In OS X Mountain Lion’s “Preview” App

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In our extensive review of Mountain Lion, the latest installment for OS X, we briefly reviewed the new features that have been added to the stock apps. There are quite a few additions to almost all apps and many changes, like the addition of a Share button and the integration of iCloud, are ones that you will see implemented all across the OS. While some apps deserve more spotlight than others, we feel Preview, easily one of the most used stock apps, could do with better detailing. We found Preview to have 6 noteworthy features that we could only mention but not discuss earlier. The news that Preview now allows you to fill PDF forms has travelled fast and is perhaps now one of the more known features of Mountain Loin; however, Preview was zapped with these additional five tricks as well. For convenience, you can now rename files from the title bar, for peace of mind, you can now restore older versions of files, insert pages or images to a document from your camera or a scanner, annotate images or files with more shapes like ovals and call outs and finally, save files directly to iCloud. Read More

What’s New In OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion? [Review]

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Mountain Lion, the latest installment in Apple's OS X, was released yesterday and brings the version to OS X 10.8. Available to download from the Mac App Store for the promised $19.99, it is a 4GB download and boasts some 200+ features as per Apple’s official page. We aren’t going to sit and count off each one on our fingers, but here’s a look at what’s new and noteworthy in the OS. Apple hasn’t just thought of what new features users need, it’s also executed them well keeping in mind the smooth UI it is well known for developing and maintaining.  The new OS integrates better with its mobile counterpart, iOS, and even borrows a couple of features from it. Apps have been added or renamed to create a better, more integrated feel between Mac and iOS devices but with Apple, it is safe to say that no functionality has been lost. Twitter has been integrated and the promised Facebook integration will arrive later this year in Autumn. Some features of the OS, though not many, are tied to iOS 6 and while they are still there, will not be fully functional until the latest version of iOS is released to the masses. Read More

What’s New In Microsoft Outlook 2013? [Review]

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Microsoft recently announced the next version of Office suite – Office 2013 (codenamed Office 15). Steve Ballmer, the current CEO of the Redmond giant, unveiled Microsoft Office 2013 Consumer Preview, in San Francisco, but as of now, Microsoft is calling the new version as Office 365 Consumer Preview, and has made it available as Home, Small Business and Enterprise editions. This is the first time in history that the Office suite is designed by keeping desktop and touchscreen devices in mind, particularly when Windows 8 is just months away from its GA launch. One of the most powerful and frequently used applications in Office, is the Outlook. Outlook 2013, akin to other programs in the suite, has received much love from the developers, and now looks more polished and elegant. Basically, it’s the same old Outlook with an improved functionality, aesthetics and ergonomics. We decided to do a brief overview of the new Office Suite, and an in-depth review of the new features, changes and enhancements that are made to MS Outlook. Read More

How To Get Jelly Bean Style Makeover & Features On Any Android Device

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At Google I/O 2012, not only was the world introduced to Nexus 7 - the first ever Android tablet in the Nexus series - but the event also brought with it the announcement of the latest iteration of Google’s mobile OS, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. As it turned out, not even the most die-hard Android fanboys had anticipated the goodies that Big G had up their sleeves for the latest version of Android, especially considering that it saw the version number of the OS leap by a mere 0.1 points from its predecessor, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. However, the fact of the matter remains that Jelly Bean is hands down the fastest, smoothest, safest and most user-friendly version of Android to have arrived to date. Ranging from the knowledge-powered Google Now to a better predictive keyboard and expandable notifications to auto adjustable widgets, there are dozens of innovative features in Jelly Bean to look forward to. However, as long as you can manage to go through our detailed post covering the most noteworthy features of Jelly Bean, we won’t be required to repeat them here, since this particular post focuses on the apps and mods that can help you get the taste of Jelly Bean on almost any Android device. Read More

What’s New In Microsoft PowerPoint 2013? [Review]

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With the release of Windows 8 GA on the horizon, Microsoft has unveiled the next version of their second biggest product, the Microsoft Office 2013. Right now, it is only the Consumer Preview, however, it provides ample basis for users to form an idea about what the final version will bring to the computing world. Graced with the same Metro style UI of Windows 8, the design and functionality of Microsoft Office 2013 has been streamlined to work with both PC’s and Tablet devices. Even though, at first glance it appears to be a lot different than its predecessor, it is essentially the same product, with a few tweaks and enhancements added here and there. The main focus has been on improving document sharing using the SkyDrive cloud service, and using it to access and edit them from remote locations. In this article, we will look at the enhancements of the old features and addition of new ones in the Microsoft PowerPoint 2013. Read More

What’s New In Microsoft Word 2013? [Review]

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With the recent launch of Office 15 at a media event, new trends have surely been set. The flurry of Windows 8, its metro user interface and a clean and resourceful look has brought in criticism from around the world, but the overall balance is being seen in Microsoft's favor, as it embarks upon technology integration, cloud-connectivity, and modern, touch-friendly outlook. In what follows, we will inform you exactly where Microsoft Word 2013 from the Office 15 Suite aims to reform your experience with documents. It is surely time to embrace text-flow, PDFs, collaborations, and the world wide web through a resourceful Office App Library for the better. A cleaner discussion thread and Microsoft SkyDrive integration promise a unique experience for the novice as well as advanced users. Read More

What’s New In Microsoft Excel 2013? [Review]

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Some say that Office 15 is merely a polished look of the previous version, but a deep analysis of the Suite proves otherwise. Yes, times are changing and Microsoft is adapting with the new world by imparting a metro user interface initiated with Windows 8 and carried on in the new Office preview. With the modern feel and easy navigation experience acknowledged, cloud-based services using Microsoft SharePoint and SkyDrive allow you to collaborate like never before. Moreover, documents can be accessed on all devices from the mainframe to the touch-phone. A sleek and responsive workspace allows you to achieve productivity at a new peak. In this post, we will discover the new features in Microsoft Excel 2013 ranging from the new sharing options to Office Apps. Data organization has been simplified using Flash Fill, data analysis has been equipped with Quick Analysis and charting is now much more effective owing to the new Recommended charts option. Read More

Top 5 Android Apps To Tweet Longer Than 140 Characters

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As we all know, popular micro-blogging phenomenon, Twitter, allows users post tweets up to just 140 characters long. If you wish to post a message longer than that, you’ll need to resort to other web apps, such as TwitLonger, TweetExtend, RichTweet, TMI.ME, JumboTweet and EZTweets etc. Just like the Twitter web service itself, its official Android client doesn’t let users post a tweet longer than the conventional 140-character mark. Worse yet, Android users don’t have the luxury of resorting to a standalone app to post longer tweets, either. Although the previously reviewed Tweet Longer For Twitter app emerged as a worthy candidate in this regard, it didn’t last long in the market, leaving Android users yearning for an alternative solution. While we may not be able to present you with another standalone solution, we can bring to your attention several other third-party Twitter clients for Android that support integration with one of the aforementioned services, and hence, let you post tweets without taking the notorious character limit into consideration. Continue reading past the break to reveal the list. Read More

5 Noteworthy New Features In Firefox 14

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Firefox 14.0.1 is now available and it isn’t going to make as many headlines as its previous version did. There are changes both at the backend and the user interaction front line, the noteworthy 5 out of which will be detailed below. If you’ve already upgraded to the new version, you might have noticed something strange; you’ve upgraded to version 14.0.1 instead of 14.0. The reason behind this isn’t a patch for a bug detected at the very last minute. Rather, it is because Mozilla wanted to sync versions of its desktop and mobile browser. In summary, the new Firefox features will make your Google Searches more secure, improve your online gaming experience, help you choose which plugins to enable on a website, add full screen support for Mac, and the Awesome bar will autocomplete URLs. Read More

Could Interface Get In The Way Of An App Submission Being Approved By Apple? [Case Study]

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When it comes to what apps make their way into the iTunes App Store, Apple’s policies are rather ambiguous, at best. Developer forums across the internet are riddled with complaints of app rejections, despite a lot of otherwise-similar submissions making it past the Cupertino giant’s scrutiny. There have been fiascos like the infamous I Am Rich app, an insanely-expensive and ridiculous app that just splashed a fancy icon on your device’s screen, telling the world that you’re rich (the app was priced at a mind-boggling $1,000!), and had no other function or use whatsoever. Then, a simply Google search for App Store rejections would provide you enough tips on what to do and what not, to get your app past Apple’s strict and inconsistent regulations. This article, however, is neither aimed at making you an app submission champion, nor will it point out the flaws in Apple’s policies. This here is a case study into a certain variety of apps that got approved after several rejections, which our friends over at Sparkling Apps were kind enough to share with us, and anyone who’d benefit from this knowledge. Read More

5 Great Cydia Tweaks For Chrome [iOS]

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Looks like Mobile Safari has finally met its match, and if you don’t believe that, just take a look at the number 1 app in the Free section of the iOS App Store. In less than a week, the intuitive Chrome web browser for iPhone and iPad has managed to become the favorite iOS app of many users. People seem to absolutely love the fact that they can now literally carry the tabs from their desktop browsers right on their iDevice. Apart from that, there is the familiarity factor, as Google has kept iOS Chrome’s interface pretty similar to the desktop version. Having said all that, Chrome is still not perfect. For one thing, there is no simple method of making the app your default browser, and the browser can certainly use a healthy update, too. Luckily, you don’t have to wait for Google to roll out the app’s update in order to make the browser more awesome, there are a few Cydia tweaks available in the jailbreak store that will let you make some really useful changes to Chrome for iOS. Read More

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Announced: Here’s A Summary Of Its New Features & Improvements

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The fifth Google I/O began today amidst much anticipation fueled by recent announcements, rumors and leaks regarding Google’s flagship Android tablet, and the latest version of their mobile OS, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which is what we’ll be discussing here. Although not as huge an iteration as Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean adds a lot of much sought-after features, interface tweaks and improvements, while keeping almost all of its overall look the same as that of the former. Join us after the break for a summary of the salient new features and improvements in Jelly Bean. Read More

How To Jailbreak iOS 6 Beta & Install Cydia [Complete Guide]

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Apple announced iOS 6 during WWDC 2012, and the world went into a frenzy (as it always does with any Apple offering). The 6th major iteration of the OS brought with it a lot of bells and whistles, like revamped Maps, more knowledgeable Siri, shared Photo Streams and loads more (you may want to check out the entire list of new goodies). On the same evening, iOS 6 beta became available for developers, ensuring that apps – the life and blood of iOS platform – became optimized before the operating system became available publicly. However, many, like us, just couldn’t wait to get their hands on the newest iOS for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, and many devices, despite not belonging to developers, got the new OS up and running in a matter of days. However, doing so resulted in one thing that most jailbreakers don’t like at all – breaking the jailbreak! The good news is, iOS 6 is jailbreakable, publicly, and even Cydia can be installed through some unconventional methods. We’ll get to that just after the jump. Read More

Windows Phone 8 Announced: Here’s A Summary Of Its New Features

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Until yesterday, only the most enthusiastic Windows Phone 7 fans (or Microsoft execs) could have compared the Mango platform to iOS or Android, but today, things have taken a rather sudden and welcome turn for the folks over at Redmond. Microsoft just announced Windows Phone 8 for 180 countries and in 50 languages. It is an absolutely gorgeous variant of their mobile platform, but the announcement could be termed as a true example of mixed emotions. WP8 sounds just about perfect, but the bad news is that it will not be compatible with any of the existing WP7 devices (you read that right; not even the exalted Lumia series made the cut). Although Microsoft has got a set of sound reasons for this exclusion (which will be discussed past the break), the news won’t be pleasant for current Mango users. Having said that, maybe you will forgive MS once you hear about the awesomeness that constitutes Windows Phone 8. Plus, Mango users haven't been completely forsaken either, thanks to Windows Phone 7.8. Read More

Best Reddit Apps For Android

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In just a short timespan, Reddit has managed to earn great respect and repute among internet users. Proclaiming itself as the "frontpage of the internet", this Q&A and discussion-based social network lets users submit any type of content – text, URLs, images, videos et al – about which they wish to get response or answers of other users from all across the globe. You can find almost every facet of life being discussed under its relevant subforum/category, popularly known as a Subreddit. While iOS-owning Reddit addicts have an official client, iReddit, that keeps them hooked to the network on-the-go, Android users are currently out of such luck. That said, users of Google’s mobile OS are blessed with plenty of third-party Reddit clients, each with its distinct set of features and aesthetic appeal. This particular article focuses on the best Reddit clients and apps for Android. Read More