New Web Browsers - Vivaldi and Yandex Alpha

Download Vivaldi
Download Yandex

Following on from my previous blog which focused on web browsers which are currently popular, I will now take a look at browsers which are currently under development.
A big change in the web browser market is about to happen as Microsoft is reducing the focus on Internet Explorer in favour of a project currently referred to as Spartan. However, I have chosen to look at two lesser-known browsers: Vivaldi and Yandex.

When you first open a new tab in Vivaldi, you will see the speed dial feature. This allows you to pin your favourite websites, making them quick and easy to access. It has different tabs and each page can have single website tiles, or folders which contain multiple links. There is also a bookmark manager if you prefer to organise your favourite sites in a more traditional way.

Interesting functions available in Vivaldi include:

• You can create a ‘tab stack’ by pulling a tab on top of another tab, which is useful if you have lots of tabs open.
• You can use the ‘load pages without images’ function to reduce loading times if you have a slow internet connection.
• You can easily zoom in and out of webpages by using the slider in the bottom right of the window.
• The colour of the area at the top of the window changes to match the colour of the favicon of the website you are currently on, but you can switch this off if you find it annoying.

The main attraction of the Vivaldi browser is that it already contains many features without the need to add extensions. On the side panel, you will find sections for bookmarks, contacts, notes and downloads.

• Bookmarks – Lets you see all of your bookmarks
• Contacts – An address book
• Notes – Take a note and include a URL and a screenshot
• Downloads – Shows all your downloads and allows you to pause current downloads

An email feature will soon be added to the side panel and the ability to more add extensions is expected. You can keep up-to-date with new developments on Vivaldi's blog.

Yandex Alpha offers a somewhat unorthodox approach to the browser interface, yet it is still intuitive. It has a speed dial-like feature called Tableau. You can customise your tableau by adding websites you access frequently and change the background to another from the lovely selection of backgrounds available. Some of the backgrounds are animated - if you find this distracting you can select a static one or ‘pause’ it.

The window has the ‘SmartBox’ at the top. Clicking here give you access to various options for the webpage you are currently on. The share function is particularly useful as you can put the link on Facebook or Twitter with just a few clicks. Contrary to the majority of web browsers, Yandex Alpha puts the tabs at the bottom.

Yandex Alpha tries to help you focus your attention on the webpage rather than including lots of extra clutter (so, in this aspect, it is the opposite of Vivaldi). However, if you feel the need to get some extensions to enhance your experience, they are available.

As Yandex Alpha is still under development, you may come across some bugs (problems and errors) but it is easy to report them using the ‘bug report’ extension.

Why don’t you give these new browsers a try and see how they compare with your old favourite? What do you like about innovative, new browsers? Do you prefer to stick with what you know? Let me know in the comment section! 

Web Browsers - Chrome and Firefox

Download Chrome
Download Firefox

In this blog, I will compare various features of both of these browsers. The features I mention are just a start. If you want to get to know these browsers, explore for yourself and decide which one you prefer.

Apps

Apps for Chrome can be downloaded from the Chrome Web Store. There is a wide selection available. Some apps run offline (without an internet connection). You can also find apps for Chrome that are also available for Android.Apps for Firefox can be downloaded from the Firefox Marketplace. This is where apps for Firefox OS (for mobiles) are also downloaded. Not all apps are available for both platforms, though. (For help with this see: http://mzl.la/1AohSJ2)

Extensions/Add-Ons

Extensions for Chrome are also downloaded from the Chrome Web Store.

Firefox calls extensions ‘Add-ons’ and they can be found in Firefox’s add-ons page.

Both browsers have a wide selection of extensions/add-ons.

Themes

Chrome has a large selection of themes available in the Chrome Web Store. You can look specifically for themes created by Google or by artists.

A wide selection of themes for Firefox can be found on the add-ons site. Hovering over the picture will allows you to preview how your browser will look.

If you want to completely change the way your browser looks, you can try a ‘complete theme’.

New Tab

Chrome’s new tab page displays thumbnails of your frequently visited pages. Additionally, the bookmark bar is displayed along the top.

The background of the new tab page depends on which theme you have.

If you have a dislike for Chrome’s new tab page, ample alternatives can be found in the Chrome Web Store

Firefox’s default new tab page isn’t very exciting. Some thumbnails appear based on websites you’ve visited recently and you can ‘pin’ website you want to remain there permanently or remove ones you don’t want.  Apart from that there is negligible customisation. You can, however, install a ‘new tab’ add-on to replace the default one.

Bookmarks

To add a bookmark in Chrome, simply click the star in the right side of the Omnibox. From here, you can change the thumbnail, title, description and folder.

Chrome’s bookmark manager is very visual. There is the option of sharing a folder of bookmarks with other people.

In Firefox, new bookmarks can be easily added by clicking the star. Clicking on the star again allows you to edit the bookmark – change its name, move it to another folder (by default it goes into ‘Unsorted Bookmarks’), add tags or just remove it.

Firefox’s bookmark manager allows you to keep your bookmarks well organised.

Search Engines

Chrome allows you to search from what it calls the ‘omnibox’ (the bar at the top). Going to Chrome’s settings page allows you to manage your search engines: you can change you default search or how you can easily search other website buy typing its keyword and pressing tab.

You can add search engines to Firefox by going to the ‘search’ section of the ‘add-ons’ site or, if the website you are currently visiting can be added, you will see a ‘+’ symbol in the search box.

Windows 8 Mode

When Chrome is set as your default browser in Windows 8, you can select the ‘Windows 8 Mode’ option from the menu. This makes the app take up your entire screen.

Along the bottom of the app, you can access your Chrome apps; it somewhat resembles a Chrome desktop. If the app ‘works offline’ it will open in a new ‘window’.

Firefox was originally going to introduce a Windows 8 mode but this project was cancelled.

Special Features

When you have no internet connection, you can play a game on Chrome by pressing the spacebar. The aim is to get the dinosaur to leap over the cacti without bumping into any.

Firefox Hello is a feature which allows you to have video chats with people – you don’t even need to sign in. It’s really simple to use, all you need to do it click the icon then ‘start a conversation’. You then get a link for the conversation which you can send to a friend.

Links you might be interest in...

Keep up-to-date with developments of these browsers on their blogs:

Chrome Blog | Firefox Blog

Over to You

Which browser do you prefer between Chrome and Firefox? Or, is there another browser you prefer? Feel free to let me know in the comments. In my next blog, I will look at new browsers which are still under development which could soon become your new favourite. 

Pushbullet | App Review

Download apps and extensions from:
 https://www.pushbullet.com/apps for free!

Pushbullet allows you to send files/links/photos/notes between devices and web browsers using apps and extensions. You can send them to yourself or to your friends if they also use Pushbullet.

Examples of using Pushbullet include:

• Finding a website you like on your phone and you want to view it on your computer.
• You think of a good idea when you’re out and you want to be reminded of it when you get back to your computer.
• You take a photo with your phone and want to edit it on your computer.
• You start working on a document on the train home and want to continue working on it on your computer.

And it’s not just about sending stuff from your phone to your computer as this video from Pushbullet shows: 

A useful feature of Pushbullet is that you can send SMS (text) messages from your computer via your phone. Your contacts list on your phone will appear in the ‘To’ box when you are about to send a message. Additionally, Pushbullet can ‘push’ notifications from your phone to your computer. You can disable this feature if you don’t like it or mute specific apps you don’t want to be notified about. If the notification is about a message you’ve received, you can reply to it using your computer by clicking ‘reply’ in the notification. Currently this works with WhatsApp, Telegram, Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, and Line. These features mean you can communicate using messages without having to change between your computer and your phone. Additionally, it means you can use the larger keyboard for your computer rather than a fiddly phone keyboard!

Pushbullet allows you to subscribe to a selection of channels. These allow you to stay up-to-date about something you are interested in. An example of this is updates from the Pushbullet blog.

The speed that Pushbullet operates is dependent on the speed of your internet connection. A slow connection will mean that you will need to wait a while for files to be uploaded and downloaded from the cloud.

Another thing to consider is you can only send one photo/file at a time between your phone and your computer. This means it could be time consuming if you wish to send many files as you’d have to select them all individually.

Contact

Website: pushbullet.com

Social Media Links:

• Twitter:@Pushbullet
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pushbullet 
• Google+:https://plus.google.com/+Pushbullet/videos

OneNote | App Review

Free Download, see onenote.com

OneNote is a free note-taking app which is available for many platforms. Having apps for multiple platforms and allowing access to notes from the website means you can view and edit your notes anywhere you can get an internet connection. Logging in with your Microsoft account means your notes will be synced with OneDrive, meaning all of your notes will be available on all of your devices (as long as you have and internet connection).

You can create multiple notebooks and within each notebook you can have several section each with numerous pages. This set-up replicates the way notes can be organised in real life. Even if you use this system to keep your notes well-organised, you may still need to use the search function sometimes! You have the choice of searching for a page that contains a specific term or you can search for a term on the page you are currently editing.

You can add text to the page and add a tag to it, for example ‘website to visit’ or add to-do tick boxes.

Alternatives to text include an audio note, video note or you could draw or handwrite on a page using your device’s touchscreen or by using your computer’s mouse. You can also change the background of the page. Having lines on a page can make it easier to write neatly.

The OneNote web clipper allows you to ‘clip’ webpages to your notebooks. Other ways to add notes are sending an e-mail to me@onenote.com or by using the ‘Send to OneNote’ tool.

OneNote can extract text from an image or just make the text in the image searchable.

OneNote offers some helpful options for taking notes. In the Windows version, you can set the window to be ‘always on top’ so that you can take notes from another window. Similarly, dock view puts OneNote on the side of your screen so you can take notes while, for example, reading a document in another window.

Contact

Website: www.onenote.com

Social Media Links:

• Twitter: @msonenote
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OneNote

XMind | App Review

Free download for Windows

Free download for Mac

Free download for Linux

Free Portable download (for use on USB drives)

• The paid for version adds more features.

When XMind loads, you are presented with a selection of templates and themes. The templates are really useful and range from a weight-loss plan to business tools such as a SWOT analysis. Alternatively, you can choose to start with a blank workbook. Adding subtopics are easy, either by using the button on the toolbar or by pressing the tab key on your keyboard.

To make your map more ‘visual’ you can add what XMind calls ‘markers’. These are icons which appear next to your topics. The selection of ‘markers’ includes task progress, faces and various symbols.

I've created a mindmap to the main features of XMind.

• Put a relationship between two topics – a line will link them
• Put a boundary around topics – a line will surround them
• Put a summary next to topics – brackets the topics into a group

• Add a note to a topic
• Insert a file (a document, a photo, another XMind file) to a topic
• Insert a hyperlink (to a website) to a topic

What I like about XMind is there’s lots of options to customise, such as a choice of different ‘structures’, a list of which is shown below:

Other customisation options include:

• Change the background colour or add a wallpaper from the selection or from one of your own files
• Change the shape for each topic, and the colour of the shape, and make it gradient-filled.
• Change the line colours which extent from the central topic to ‘multi’ and ‘tapered’.
• Add a ‘legend’ which explains the markers you’ve used.
• Change the font and font colour.

Personally, I use XMind to keep track of my to-do list for university and also to organise my lecture notes. I’m sure you’ll have lots of ideas of how you can make use of this great piece of software. For example, keeping track of the ideas you have floating around in your head to organising a holiday! Go on and give XMind a try!

Contact

Website: http://www.xmind.net/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xmind.net

Twitter: @XMind

Kami | App Review

Download for iOS
Free download for Android
Download for Steam
Download for Mac

*Please note: This review is based on  the Android version of the game.

The aim of Kami is to fill the screen with one colour. You are given a target number of ‘moves’ in which you should achieve this. The game comes with many levels and can buy more is you wish. The premium packs cost £0.60 each (in the U.K.) and are entitled ‘5 Color Retro’, ‘Noughts and Crosseyes’ and ‘Convulsion’.

The app has attractive graphics. The game itself has a nice effect that makes it looks as if paper is being folded. If you make a mistake, you can reset the level to how it was when you started. This is useful if you are trying to stick to the target number of ‘moves’ and have ended up going over it. If you are struggling, you can get hints. The game comes with 5 hint coins and you can buy more if you need to.

The game has pleasant oriental-style background music. The background music and sound effects can be turned off if you wish.

You can log in to the app with Google Play Games using your Google+ account. Google explains the advantages of doing this on its ‘Gaming with Google Play Games’ page: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/2954594?hl=en&ref_topic=3114802

Alternative:

Color Zen – Same principle of filling the screen with colour but without the paper graphics.The way in which you change the colour of the screen is by tapping two coloured blacks together. The colour which you should fill the screen with is indicated by the colour of the border around the screen. Similarly to Kami, you can buy extra levels. The price of the extra packs range from £0.61 - £0.64. The themes of these packs are: classic, seasons, reflection, serenity and nature. Despite their differences, I believe that someone who enjoys playing Kami will also like Color Zen.

Contact

Website: http://www.stateofplaygames.com/work/kami/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/State-of-Play/79299477142

Twitter: @State_of_Play

Stop, Breathe & Think | App Review

Free Download for iOS 

Free Download for Android 

Use on the Web

Stop, Breath and Think is an app which allows its users to access meditation routines. The app includes a guide to mediating and explains the routines available. It’s a good idea to have a look through the guide before starting to get a grasp of the basics.

At the start of the process, you consider how you feel then rate yourself both mentally and physically. The next step is to choose which emotions best describe your current state. You will then be presented with a list of recommended mediations based on what you told the app in the previous steps. Finally, choose which meditation routine you wish to do then relax and enjoy! Some routines give you the option of how long you wish to do it. A voice will guide you what to do, for example, focus on your breathing or visualise something. Alternatively, if you log-in, the app allows you to use a self-timer.

After completing your session, you can do another mediation or view your progress. In the ‘view progress’ section, you can see your stickers, ‘weekly settledness’ and top emotions. The stickers are awarded to you after completing certain goals such as carrying out a specific number of meditations or meditation at certain times of the day. Your ‘weekly settledness’ is based on how you were feeling mentally and physically and shows how many times you ‘checked in’ to the app. You can also see your ‘top emotions’; the emotions you choose most frequently prior to your meditation sessions.

Some routines include one shorter clip for free and you need to pay for the longer one. You can also purchase additional meditations if you wish. The app developer is a not-for-profit organisation and the money goes towards their projects.

Adding a feature which lets you download a mediation session for you to listen to later could be useful if you were going somewhere that you could not get a WiFi/Internet connection.

Alternative:

Doze - Designed to send you to sleep. Just relaxing music with no voice. You can set a timer or skip tracks.

Contact

Website:http://stopbreathethink.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toolsforpeace

Twitter:@ToolsforPeace

TouchMail | App Review

Free Download for Windows 8.1

TouchMail is a visual mail app which can be found in the productivity category and ‘Organise Your Life’ collection of the Windows Store. The graphical interface is much more attractive than traditional email applications. The most recent update added the ability to see how many unread messages you have in each email account at a glance as well as the ability to move messages into and between folders.

Messages can be viewed in a timeline or grouped by sender. The view can be zoomed in or out so you can read more of the message without opening it or see more messages. 

Filters allow you to view only messages which are unread, with attachments, from a specific sender or have been flagged. If using the filters doesn’t help you to find the specific message you are looking for, you can also search for a message by clicking on the search icon and entering your search term.

New messages are shown in toast notification (which appear at the side of the screen) and on the apps live tile on the start screen.

TouchMail supports gestures, for example, swiping upwards to delete. This is useful on Windows 8 tablets and touchscreen computers. Clicking on the message while it is deleting will cancel its deletion.

Deleting a message from the Inbox

When sending messages, you can add attachments either from local storage or OneDrive. You can import contact pictures which will be displayed on the messages received from that contact. If the messages is being received from a well-known company, for example, Facebook or eBay, their logo will be already set as the contact picture.

You can also give contacts a specific colour which all future messages received from that contact will be displayed in. More control over how contacts are dealt with would be beneficial, for example, an ‘address book’. Currently, no more than three email accounts can be used with TouchMail. In the future, the developers may want to consider increasing this.

Alternative: 

Mail – Made by Microsoft and includes the ‘Calendar’ and ‘People’ apps. I don’t find Mail’s interface as appealing as Touchmail’s.

Contact Details:

• Website: http://www.touchmail.co/ - You can sign up to the TouchMail newsletter there.

• Twitter: @TouchMail

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/gettouchmail