Review: Audio Notetaker lets you sit back and listen while it takes notes

Every student or conference attendee knows the ever-present dilemma: listen to the presentation, or try to take notes? Sonocent Audio Notetaker is an ambitious product that brings an end to this plight...at least some of the time.

Audio Notetaker analyzes audio recorded either by the program or outside it to create speech bars that are easy to navigate. You can enhance these bars with colors, text, images, screenshots, slides, and PDF documents, and add text and references to boot. Audio Notetaker can record live lectures, interviews, Skype calls, and even online talks a la TED. It makes it possible to concentrate on listening while taking minimal notes, and easily go over the recorded material later.

Audio Notetaker is a truly innovative way to handle recordings, but at its current price of $150 for a perpetual license, it's not an impulse buy. It also crashed multiple times while I tried it, causing me to lose my work, so frequent saves are advised. It's a great product if you can soak the cost.

Note: The Download button takes you to to the vendor's website, where you can download the software.

Yaara is a foodie, horse-lover, and biologist who enjoys being a geek as a full-time job.
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Review: SynciOS takes over for iTunes

SynciOS SynciOS is a free application that gives you much more control over your iOS device than iTunes does.

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I recently tried Wondershare's MobileGo for iOS, a handy tool for managing your iOS devices from your PC. MobileGo for iOS gives you a lot of freedom over your iOS device—something noticeably lacking when you use iTunes. I liked it a lot, but was admittedly turned off by its $40 price tag. That's why I'm so fond of SynciOS, an application that does a whole lot of what MobileGo can do, and does it for free.

SynciOS automatically recognizes your iPad, iPhone, or iPod when it's connected to your PC. It displays a host of information about the device, including its battery status, whether or not is jailbroken (it works with both kinds of devices), and even your estimated contract expiration date. Like older versions of iTunes, SynciOS uses a column on the left of the screen to let you navigate through the application and a connected device, while displaying more information in the main screen. (The latest version of iTunes eschews this layout in favor of what Apple calls a "simplified view," but I actually find that harder to navigate.)

SynciOS lets you manage all of the apps you've installed on your iOS device.

From the column on the left you can peruse your device's media (audio and video), photos, ebooks, apps, contact and calling information, and its file system. You can easily transfer content from the iPhone or iPad to your computer, and vice versa. While iTunes makes it easy to transfer songs and videos from your PC to your iPad, transferring photos isn't as easy. SynciOS, like MobileGo, handles this task easily.

You can create an album on your iOS device, load it with photos from your computer, and sync it in seconds. Also simple is transferring content that's not in a compatible format: SynciOS recognizes this content and converts it for you, making it easy to get all the songs and videos you want on your iOS device.

SynciOS stumbles a bit as a contact manager, though. It has an option for managing contacts, but recognized none of the hundreds of contacts I have stored on my iPhone. This is an area where MobileGo excels, as it allows you to sync and de-dupe contact lists. Like MobileGo, SynciOS does allow you to view text message threads on your computer, though it would be more helpful to see the phone numbers associated with contacts.

SynciOS lets you view and delete photos from your iOS device.

SynciOS does offer better handling of apps than MobileGo, however, as it allows you to see a complete list of all the apps installed on your iPhone or iPad. It lists the version number and size, and includes options for uninstalling and backing up any of the titles.

SynciOS is not a replacement for  iTunes, as it can't update your iOS software or offer you access to a built-on App Store. But it's not meant to be: SynciOS requires that you have iTunes installed. And it can't compare with MobileGo for iOS for contact management. But in all other aspects—especially price—this free application is the iOS manager to beat.

Note: The Download button will download the software to your system.

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Review: Disc Soft takes on virtual hard drives with Daemon Tools Ultra

Daemon Tools' disreputable younger days as a hacking tool seem a speck in the rearview mirror now. Arriving at what appears to be the new top of the pyramid for single users is the $45 Daemon Tools Ultra, but there's more, and less, here than meets the eye.

Disk Soft wants you to feel special, so the installation procedure is packed with golden moments like this.

You've got to imagine the word "Diversification" is mentioned frequently over at Disc Soft Ltd these days. After years of static prices and singular release schedules, they've gathered an armful of new products under the Daemon Tools banner and have their market segmentation tuned finely enough to impress a Toyota executive. A cursory glance turns up 10 titles on the products page, some with prices close to $250 for corporate site licenses.

The new interface is commendably clean, except for the ad bar. This can be turned off via the Preferences menu.

In the plus column, Disc Soft Ltd has added Virtual Hard Drive support to Daemon Tools Ultra, allowing users to create and access hard disk drive files as if they were physical devices attached the system. Protocol support is expanded as well, including iSCSI implementation for networked image hosts via either Disc Soft's own Daemon Tools Net or other iSCSI compliant hosting solutions. Operation is swift and reliable, with Ultra mounting a wide variety of images during testing and new features working as expected. Popular optical emulation modes perform as robustly as here as in other versions. However, that's not the case with features across the board.

You can add dynamically sized virtual hard disks to the feature list in Ultra.

Daemon Tools 5 Pro users will find functionality missing from the Ultra version "upgrade," including the ability to master bootable disks images or discs, USB stick portable execution modes, command line interface scripting and other power user features. Licensing restrictions prevent users with multiple copies from performing selective upgrades. It's either all Ultra, or all older versions. Word from Disc Soft Ltd indicates Ultra is a work in progress:

"This is just first version which introduced new way of mounting. If users will like it, then we may add more features so no functionality will be lost compared to Pro"  

And on licensing issues the company says:

"By purchasing an upgrade you will get a license of DAEMON Tools Ultra with a new serial number, that is always available at My Licenses page. Your current license will be blocked.

About Multi-Instance License. Instance is considered as a License copy, which may be installed and used on one operating system. So, there is no ability update 1 instance."

This beta-test approach is ill-advised given the product is commercially themed, has been officially released, and is one of the most expensive in their catalog. Also off-key is the fickle attitude displayed towards future development.  All the "may" and "if" language suggests support is likely to be based on popularity rather than any sense of responsibility towards existing, paying customers.

Image format conversion is supported only in Ultra, Net, and Pro versions (not the popular free version),

Adding injury to insult are the multiple attempts during installation to insert third party "browser bar" style software nonsense which makes the asked $45 investment feel exploitative. The good ideas and new features on display here don't outweigh this cynical approach. Unless you need VHD and iSCSI support, hang on to your current version until Disc Soft commits. If they won't, why should you?

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

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iRobot’s Mirra 530 Takes the Hassle Out of Cleaning Your Pool

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Samsung Series 5 NP535U3C Review: AMD Takes on Intel's Ultrabook

It's only 0.7 inch thick, and it weighs just 3.35 pounds (3.8 pounds with power block), but the 13.3-inch Samsung Series 5 NP535U3C doesn't qualify as an Ultrabook. The reason? "Ultrabook" is a trademark belonging to Intel--and the Series 5 NP535U3C doesn't use an Intel processor. Instead, it has a 2.1GHz dual-core AMD Fusion A6-4455M processor. The crucial question: Can this ultrathin, AMD-based ultraportable laptop hold its own in an Ultrabook world? We tested it to find out.

Our review model, priced at $699 (as of August 6, 2012) as configured, sports an AMD Fusion A6-4455M processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and a 13.3-inch screen. It also offers 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a built-in 1.3MP webcam. The Series 5 runs a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium.

Performance

Diehard AMD fans will be saddened to learn that the Series 5 NP535U3C doesn't quite match the performance of its Ultrabook counterparts. In PCWorld's WorldBench 7 benchmark tests, the Series 5 earned a rather puny 62 out of 100, meaning that it's speed was only 62 percent of our testing model's. The average WorldBench 7 score for the most recent three Ultrabooks we tested was 127.7.

To be fair, the WorldBench 7 tests take more than just processor speed into account, so components other than the AMD processor may share responsibility for the Series 5's poor showing. For instance, a major factor in WorldBench 7 tests is storage and startup speed; and one Ultrabook requirement is speedy boot-up times, which many Ultrabooks accomplish by using a small SSD caching drive plus Intel’s Smart Response technology. This Series 5 doesn't have an SSD cache drive, so its startup time is comparatively slow (31.4 seconds versus 12.3 seconds for the much speedier Acer Aspire S5).

But some WorldBench 7 tests stress processor speed. In our Office Productivity tests, for example, the Series 5 managed a mark of just 950, while the Aspire S5 earned a score of 4039. And in our Web Performance tests, the Series 5 sustained 6.8 frames per second versus the Aspire S5's 12.8.

The Samsung Series 5's graphics performance was somewhat stronger, thanks to the integrated AMD Radeon-class GPU. In our Crysis 2 graphics tests, the Series 5 managed frame rates of between 11.3 (at high quality settings and 1366-by-768-pixel resolution) and 24.5 (at low quality settings and 800-by-600-pixel resolution) frames per second. This frame rate was slightly higher than the average for the last three Ultrabooks we've tested. All of the laptops we're comparing, including the Series 5, rely on integrated HD graphics.

The Series 5 has a disappointingly short battery life. In our tests, we managed to eking out a scant 5 hours, 2 minutes in our tests; all three of the most recent Ultrabooks we've tested held out for more than 6 hours.

Design: Chassis, Keyboard, Trackpad

The 13.3-inch Series 5 model that we evaluated looks a lot the rest of Samsung's Series 5 lineup. It has a solid, slate-gray aluminum cover with a small, understated Samsung logo. The muted gray aluminum of the interior is just a few shades darker than that of the Apple MacBook Air. The minimalist keyboard deck contains a small power button in the upper right corner, speakers just above the keyboard, and tiny blue lights at the front for Wi-Fi, power, and battery.

The keyboard and trackpad are comfortable to use, but they have some of the same drawbacks as those on the Samsung Series 5 Ultra, which I reviewed in March. The keyboard's widely spaced, island-style matte keys are very quiet but offer weak feedback. The trackpad is smooth and accurate, and it supports multitouch gestures such as a surprisingly responsive pinch to zoom. The two discrete mouse buttons below the trackpad, however, feel flimsy and cheap.

Port selection on the Series 5 is adequate for an ultraportable laptop. On the left side are a gigabit ethernet port (which pops out, to avoid disrupting the machine's slim profile), a USB3.0 port, an HDMI-out port, a combination headphone/microphone jack, and a mini-DisplayPort. On the right side are two USB 2.0 ports and a four-in-one card reader.

Screen and Speakers

The Series 5's 13.3-inch matte LED-backlit display has a native resolution of 1366 by 768 pixels. The screen features SuperBright Technology, which in our assessments appeared to live up to its name: The screen was quite bright, making it is usable even in very harsh lighting. Colors seemed accurate for the most part, though whites occasionally took on a bluish tint; text and images looked crisp. Off-axis viewing angles, especially the vertical angles, were poor, however, and viewing the screen from a less-than-optimum position yielded darker, contrasty images.

High-definition video looked reasonably good on the Series 5. Not everything was entirely smooth--especially in higher-definition streaming clips--but artifacting in video clips seemed to be limited to darker, fast-moving scenes, and choppiness was minimal.

The Series 5's speakers, though not very loud, produced very full sound, considering the size of the system.

The Bottom Line

You shouldn't write off the Samsung Series 5 NP535U3C just because it has an AMD processor instead of an Intel processor. Though Intel's Ultrabooks may outperform the AMD Series 5 overall, the Series 5's integrated Radeon HD 7500G graphics are slightly more impressive than Intel's HD 4000 integrated graphics. In addition, theAMD Series 5 is $100 cheaper than its Intel counterpart, and it has excellent speakers for the category.

So if you're looking for an ultraportable multimedia machine--and you're not too picky about startup time or branding--the Series 5 deserves a look.

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A Tale in the Desert MMORPG Takes You to Ancient Egypt

A Tale In The Desert ($14/month, 24 hours of play as free trial) is a unique MMORPG because has no combat system at all--not even against NPCs. Set in ancient Egypt, the prime focus of the game is crafting and building. Those who are used to crafting that consists of "click a recipe, watch a progress bar, get an item" will find A Tale In The Desert farm more involving.

A Tale in the Desert is crafting-based, combat-free, and not nearly as well-populated as it deserves to be.Each iteration of A Tale in the Desert has players working towards complex goals, then restarting when they are finally accomplished. It's currently on the sixth "Telling." One very early quest involved building a flax comb, which required thorns, bricks and wood. Bricks required straw (which required grass to be dried) and clay and a brick rack; a brick rack required boards; to cut boards into wood I needed to make a plane, which required a slate dagger, which required slate, and so on.

A Tale In The Desert focuses on group projects and cooperative play, but when I was testing, I found it virtually abandoned, with plenty of empty player-constructed buildings but rarely more than a single other person on. The very few people I did meet were helpful and friendly, however. The 24-hour trial (that's 24 hours of play, not a day from first logon) should help you decide if you'd like to vacation in the desert...and maybe bring some friends.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

--Ian Harac

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Twitter Client Blu Takes Just a Little Desktop Space

Many of today's best Twitter management applications--from TweetDeck to HootSuite to Seesmic Desktop--take up a good portion of your desktop real estate. If you're looking for something a little smaller, consider Blu. Developed as a concept application for Windows 7, Blu is a slick little Twitter client that leaves you with plenty of room to get some work done.

Blu lets you see @replies and mentions in a conversation view, which makes it easier to understand them in context. Blu's rectangular shape is reminiscent of the dedicated AIM client I've always relied on for instant messaging. But is attractive interface is far superior: It features a muted blue and white design that manages to look both simple and sophisticated at the same time.

Blu's default display shows you Twitter timeline, while icons at the bottom of the Blu client make it easy to view @mentions, favorites, retweets, direct messages, and your own Tweets. I especially like how Blu lets you see @replies and mentions in a conversation view, which makes it easier to understand them in context. It's a handy feature.

Additional icons let you access Twitter search and compose new tweets. Blu's singular column design means that you can only view one of these categories of information at a time. Rival TweetDeck, meanwhile, features a multi-column design that lets you view multiple information streams at once. This omission is the trade-off for Blu's slim footprint, though, and it's one that I'm willing to take.

Blu's social media support is limited to Twitter, and this app only allows you to manage one Twitter account. If you can live with those limitations, you'll find that Blu is a whole lot more than just a pretty face.

Note: The Download link takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

-- Liane Cassavoy

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