If you’re a Windows junkie like me, you’ve probably heard of Total Commander at least in passing. Though it’s been in development for what seems like ages, the popular file manager has finally graduated to version 1.0 in its Android port. You can download the app from the developer’s forum here – unfortunately it’s not yet on the Google Play Store.

For the uninitiated, think of Total Commander as an alternative to that old favorite Root Explorer. There’s three crucial differences between that app and this one: Total Commander is more powerful, admittedly uglier, and it’s absolutely free – it has been since it was introduced on Windows and later WindowsCE and Windows Mobile. I must admit that the interface is pretty awful, but then, power users won’t be too concerned by that.

Total Commander supports all the bells and whistles of most advanced file managers, including support for compressed files. It’s also got something that most others don’t: a dual-pane view, perfect for moving lots of files around quickly. To activate it, just tilt your phone into landscape mode. This feature works great on high-end phones with 720p screens. Total Commander can also use root permissions – check the settings menu.

[via Android Police]

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OCZ has added a low profile version of the Vertex 3 to their SSD portfolio. The drive has a height of 7mm, which is 2.5mm slimmer than most 2.5″ drives are. Other specifications match the regular Vertex 3, so reading our Vertex 3 review will give you an idea of the performance, but below is a specification table in case you don’t remember the main details off hand:

A Canadian retailer, Canada Computers, is already listing the low profile versions and pricing appears to be slightly higher compared to normal Vertex 3. However, Canada Computers has not received any stock yet so the prices may not be final yet. Availability is unknown as of now but expect to see these SSDs in stores within a week or two.

We are definitely experiencing a shift towards smaller form factors in storage devices and computing in general. Especially Intel’s Ultrabook project is fuel for the fire because in order to meet Intel’s strict dimension limitations, it’s necessary to use either mSATA SSDs or thinner 2.5″ SSDs/HDDs. On top of that, the internal components of SSDs don’t usually even need the extra 2.5mm and making a drive 7mm instead of 9.5mm is only a matter of shaving off some of the chassis. I’ll give you a sneak preview of our Plextor M3 Pro review to demonstrate this:

Plextor M3 – 9.5mm tall

Plextor M3 Pro – 7mm tall

Both SSDs have exactly the same PCBs and the only thing that makes the M3 Pro thinner is the fact that it has thinner thermal pads. What this means is that pretty much any 2.5″ SSD could be turned into a 7mm model without even modifying the PCB.

I would like to see more hybrid approaches like what Intel is doing, though. Hybrid in this case means that there’s a riser attached by screws that turns a 7mm SSD into a 9.5mm SSD. Some laptops are designed for 9.5mm drives and a 7mm drive might jiggle inside the laptop.

Example of the use of a riser

Having a riser means the user doesn’t need to decide between 7mm and 9.5mm as you can easily remove the riser if you need to fit drive inside a computer that only takes 7mm drives. Of course, offering 7mm and 9.5mm drives like OCZ and Plextor are doing is better than offering only 9.5mm drives, but using a riser still looks like the best option.

Source: OCZ

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Sigma’s newest medium telephoto macro lens ‘Sigma MACRO 105mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM’ is now available in Sony AF fit. Just a bit of info, this splash resistant lens features a HyperSonic Motor as well as Special Low Dispersion (SLD) and one high refractive index SLD element. The Sigma MACRO 105mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM has a retail price of 649.99 GBP (about $ 1,028). [PhotographyBlog]

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The basic gist is this: if you sign a new contract after the summer, even if it’s extending your current contract, you lose unlimited data. The only way to get a new phone (such as, say, the Verizon-bound Galaxy S III) and keep unlimited is to purchase it outright. Most of the headlining Verizon phones, like the DROID RAZR MAXX, HTC Rezound and Galaxy Nexus, go for a whopping $ 649 without a contract discount.

That’s a lot of money to spend to hand on to unlimited data. On the plus side, it means that you’re free to go to another service provider if you get sick and tired of Verizon’s nickel-and-dime policies. As an unlimited customer myself (who’s long past his upgrade date), I must say that it’s a definite option, especially considering the lack of new power phones in Verizon’s lineup for the last few months. If I’m going to have to spend a ton of money anyway, I might as well get an unlocked phone and buy a Straight Talk unlimited SIM card.

In any case, the message for current unlimited users is clear: switch to tiered data, pay up, or get out. It’s frustrating to see wireless companies increase their spectrum, bandwidth and capabilities while all the time demanding more money for less data. Those of you who are unlimited on Verizon and eligible for an upgrade, get one soon to lock in your rates for another two years.

[via SlashGear]

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RescueTime’s desktop client only reports user activity to the RescueTime website, and doesn’t even have its own Settings dialog.To use RescueTime, you need to set up an account and install a tiny client application on your computer. The RescueTime client sits in the system tray (by the clock), and collects information about what you do with your computer. This information can include every window, every document, and every website you access–and it all gets reported to RescueTime for slicing and dicing. There is also an Android app that links to your RescueTime account for tracking time not spent in front of the computer.

If you are uncomfortable with that level of detail, you can use the RescueTime Web interface to tell RescueTime not to collect window and document titles, not to collect website URLs, or not to collect email and webmail activity information.

You can also switch on a domain whitelist, so that RescueTime only tracks time you spend on a subset of specific websites. RescueTime also has a setting for ignoring adult websites. With this setting on, RescueTime ignores any adult-related websites you visit (as long as it recognizes them as such).

After you decide how much information RescueTime should receive, you can just sit back and use your computer as you normally do. RescueTime will sit quietly in the system tray, watch you, and report back to HQ. After a while, you can log into the RescueTime Web interface and look at the extensive dashboard outlining your work habits.

RescueTime works by classifying activities on a scale of -2 (very distracting) to +2 (very productive). It can guess how productive many activities are based on collective data from its user base. For example, it gave my YouTube browsing a -2 score without me having to tell it how distracting YouTube is for me. It doesn’t recognize all activities, and you may need to tweak some of those it does recognize (for example, maybe you need YouTube for your work).

The RescueTime dashboard tries to give you a bird’s-eye view of your work habits, but sometimes ends up being more confusing than helpful.If I had to describe the RescueTime dashboard in a single word, I’d pick “confusing.” Many Analytics solutions, like Google Analytics, use dashboards, and it often works out great. But the RescueTime dashboard uses some unorthodox graphs, which can be difficult to understand. The “All Activities by day” report is shown as a stacked graph with a hodgepodge of colors, and does not include zooming controls. The Efficiency Summary feature is supposed to show you what time of the day you do best in, but for me, it pinned Afternoon as both the most productive and least productive time.

Once you start drilling into the data, you can come up with interesting insights. For example, I can now tell approximately how much time I spend on email every week. And I can tell how long it took me to write a particular review. But even the lower-level reports, such as Activity Detail, leave much to be desired: Even when you view this report By Hour, you still can’t tell when you did what. For example, RescueTime can tell me that sometimes between 10 am and 11 am I went to the RescueTime website, and also used WriteMonkey to write this review, but it can’t tell me what I did first, nor whether I went back to the RescueTime website after I started writing the review. Having a sequential log of computer activity could provide some important insight, but unfortunately, that’s not something you can do with RescueTime.

RescueTime’s Pro version also offers a Focus feature for blocking distracting websites. You click a button, pick how long you’d like to focus for, and RescueTime makes it impossible for you to access distracting websites for this duration.

RescueTime is a neat concept, and a crack at a problem that definitely needs solving: If we could be more focused when we’re in front of the computer, we might be able to spend less time “working” and more time enjoying life. Imperfect as it may be, it is still one of the best personal monitoring solutions available today.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor’s site, where you can use this Web-based software.

–Erez Zukerman

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The two outlets are also reporting that Apple is sourcing these screens from Asian suppliers — South Korea’s LG Display Co, Japan’s Sharp Corp and Japan Display Inc. — and that formal production is slated to begin next month.

Considering Apple’s competitors have been laterly coming out with phones sporting ever larger screens — the Samsung Galaxy Note is a massive 5.3 inches, for instance — it might make sense for Apple to inch up its display real estate as well.

Sources: WSJ, Reuters; Image via iLounge

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Like high-powered smartphones themselves, Android tablets are on the cusp of a considerable leap forward. A big part of that will be resolution, and Acer hopes to be leading the pack with the Iconia Tab A700. The latest in the Iconia series doesn’t have an official US launch date yet, but it’s been spotted hanging out at the FCC by Liliputing, which means that it can’t be too far off. Any takers?

Like the recently upgraded Iconia Tab A510, the A700 will get a quad-core Tegra 3 processor and Ice Cream Sandwich at launch. But unlike the current models, it’ll be sporting an impressive 1920×1200 10-inch screen. Capacities come in 32 and 64GB, with HDMI, a USB host port and a 5 megapixel rear camera thrown in for good measure. The battery will be a massive 9800mAh. Right now there’ no news of a wireless broadband version (the model at the FCC is WiFi only) but there’s no reason there couldn’t be.

At this point it’s a race between Acer and ASUS to see who can get the first 1080p Android tablet out. Neither the A700 nor ASUS’ Transformer Pad 700 Infinity have a firm release date, though late summer is looking pretty likely. These models will naturally carry a premium over their lower-res siblings, with the A700 getting a previously quoted price of  €549.

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When can the pain end? Not anytime shortly, apparently. Rovio is content to milk the Angry Birds franchise for all it’s value, announcing which the upcoming payment usually include engine racing. Angry Birds Heikki is a web-based game which may launch about June 18th. Rovio state which the game won’t be a revolutionary departure from existing Angry Birds games, however, can feature “racing themes.”

The partnership between Rovio plus Heikki Kovalainen can create a fresh line of products for both parties. Rovio didn’t go into perfect detail in regards to the future game, saying: “The co-branded products line is introduced later this spring with all the webgame, that will feature fun Angry Birds game degrees with a racing theme inside addition to additional bespoke content, launching later inside the summer.”

The Angry Birds franchise lately hit 1 billion downloads over all platforms the games are available about. Rovio additionally newly acquired the IP rights to Casey’s Contraptions, plus might rework the game with modern degrees plus art, reinventing the game because Amazing Alex. If which doesn’t appeal to we, there’s just a month to go till we reach play Angry Birds Heikki.

[via The Next Web]

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