Mobogenie: Manage Android Devices, Install Google Play Store Apps From Your PC

For those looking for a way to manage their Android phones from the undeniable comfort that only a mouse, keyboard and big screen can provide, there is yet another contender – Mobogenie. This impressive software allows users to manage every aspect of their Android devices from their computer. This includes basic tasks such as back up and restore of contacts, messages, photos, videos and other contents of their phone, as well as some interesting features such as the ability to send SMS from their PC, and download apps, games, ringtones and wallpapers using their computer’s internet connection, thus avoiding additional cost incurred on their mobile bills.

You begin by connecting your Android phone or device and launching Mobogenie, or vice versa. Either way, Mobogenie will correctly identify your phone and display all its contents on your desktop from where you can perform all tasks. For Mobogenie to work, you’ll need to have USB debugging enabled. Your phone should also be rooted.

Tools to perform basic tasks such backup and restore, manage contacts, messages, music, pictures, videos, and apps are located on the main window. You can also manage data on your SD card, download and install APKs stored on your PC.
Mobile management includes the following:

• Contacts
  • View all contacts saved on your phone.
  • Add new contacts or edit/delete old contacts.
  • Import contacts in bulk from CSV and VCF files.
  • Export and save contacts to the PC
• Apps
  • View all apps and games installed on the device and their size
  • Uninstall or update apps
  • Export apps to the PC
  • Move apps to SD card (if supported) or move apps to phone memory
• Messages
  • Read messages on your phone in the typical conversation style
  • Import/export or delete messages
  • Send messages from the PC through your mobile carrier’s network
• Music
  • View all music stored on your device, their title and artist, their size, file type and play duration
  • Play music directly from Mobogenie
  • Set any music as ringtone
• Pictures
  • See all pictures stored on your phone
  • Import/export images between the phone and the PC
  • Set any image as wallpaper
• Videos
  • See all videos stored on your phone
  • Import/export videos between the phone and the PC

The biggest feature of Mobogenie is the ability to save cost on your mobile data bill by searching apps on your desktop, downloading them using the PC’s internet connection and sending them to the phone to be installed.

Just like the official Google Play Store app or web interface, Mobogenie displays all apps and games available for your phone sortable by categories. There is also a search tool that really works.
You can read the apps description as provided by the developer, view download size, rating, images, and version. User comments, however, are not available.

You can also search and download ringtones and wallpapers, browse through the various music genres or just grab the currently trending ones. Ringtones can be previewed before downloading.

Similarly, you can preview and download wallpapers.
Pros

• Complete management of Android device from the PC
• Backup and restore of all phone data
• Send SMS from PC
• Download apps and games without incurring mobile bill

Cons

• Needs rooted phone
• Can’t connect via WiFi. Only USB is supported.
• Available only on Windows

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SoundVolumeView: Control Volume of All Devices And Sound Components

Windows 7 has a great volume mixer that enables users to set audio volume of individual devices and programs independent of each other. Many people are not aware of it because the mixer is hidden.
The advanced volume mixer panel can be launched by clicking on the speaker icon in the notification area (system tray) and then clicking on the link “Mixer” as shown below.


This will launch the volume mixer.

Here you can independently control the volume of all running applications and sound devices which are currently using Windows Audio support, as well as the master volume of your PC. For instance, you can increase the volume of a YouTube video running in Firefox, while lowering system sounds such as notifications. You can also individually mute a device or application.
Without a doubt, the volume mixer is very smart and useful, but it still doesn’t show all devices. To see what you are missing, just download and run SoundVolumeView.

SoundVolumeView is a tool by Nirsoft designed for Windows Vista/7/8/2008 that displays general information and current volume level for all active sound components on your system, and allows you to mute and unmute them instantly.
The tool displays an extensive set of information for each component - the current volume level in percentage and in Decibel for devices and subunits. For subunits, the volume level is displayed for every channel separately.

You can select multiple devices and apps and adjust volume level together with keyboard shortcuts.
SoundVolumeView also allows you to save a sound profile into a file, containing the current volume level and the mute/unmute state of all sound components, as well as the default sound devices, and then later, load the same file to restore exactly the same volume levels and settings. Be aware that sound profiles are bound to specific computer and its devices. You cannot save a sound profile in one computer and then load it into another computer.
There is also extensive command-line support, which allows you to save/load profiles, change current volume of every sound component, and mute/unmute every sound component, without displaying any user interface.

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EagleGet: A Fantastic Download Manager and Video Downloader

Back in the days of dial-up internet, download managers and accelerators were very much in vogue. These software grew out of necessity to speed up transfer of files across the internet, and were widely adopted by users in the hope of getting the most out of the limited bandwidth they had access to. When high speed internet connections replaced dial up internet, download managers and particularly download accelerators went out of fashion. Although it’s questionable whether these software causes any acceleration in downloads, there is one good reason why they are still relevant - web browsers make poor download managers.

Download managers built into web browsers are elementary. While it gets the job done, if you want more control over the download process, more information about the file being downloaded, want to keep logs and perform post-download cleanup, verification etc., you need a dedicated download manager.
For a long time, I was a fan of Orbit Downloader. But after the recent discovery of malware in the software, I removed it from my computer and switched to a better download manager called EagleGet.
EagleGet is free, and can do everything you’ve come to expect from a download manager. This includes the ability to download files over HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, MMS and RTSP protocol, clipboard monitoring to automatically download files copied to the clipboard, browser integration, batch download, automatic virus scan, scheduler and more.

The User Interface

EagleGet has a very neat and clean UI. There are only four large button in the toolbar, as opposed to dozens of buttons you normally find in software of this kind. Only the most important buttons are visible in the toolbar – a button each to launch a new download process, open the video sniffer, clean up the download list, and open the configuration window.
The buttons to pause, resume, open or delete a downloaded file remains hidden, and are activated only when you hover the mouse pointer over the download process. Additional options become available when you right-click on an item in the download window.

Completed downloads are automatically removed from the list and logged under the “Completed” section in the navigation panel on the left. These are automatically categorized by type – media, documents, software and compressed. If you allow it, the software will also organize downloaded files on your hard disk into sub-folders by file type.
Additionally, the interface is customizable. You can make the window take any color or set any image as background for the toolbar and window border.

Video Sniffer

EagleGet has a video sniffer that helps you search and download online videos without visiting the webpages. Coming from Orbit Downloader, this is not quite as I expected.

According to the developers EagleGet should integrate with any webpage containing videos, “no matter which browser you are using”, allowing you to download video with just one click. Unfortunately, this hasn’t worked for me so far.

Configurations

Features in a nutshell

• Accelerate downloads by using multi-threaded technology.
• Download online videos from popular sites.
• Optimized for HD and HTML5 web videos.
• Built-in Video Sniffer.
• Support MMS, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and RTSP protocols.
• Support HTTP and SOCKET proxy.
• Batch downloads function.
• Support fully customized User-Agent.
• Automatic refresh expired download address.
• Download files in Chrome, IE, Firefox and Opera with one click.
• Download different file types to separate folders.
• Monitor running and completed tasks with TaskMonitor.
• Built-in download scheduler.
• Supports drag-and-drop to rearrange the priority of downloads.
• Automatic run virus scan after download.
• Convenient task properties panel.
• Detailed connection log for each task.
• Verify integrity of downloaded files.
• Shutdown, hibernate or sleep computer after completing all transfers.
• Built-in speed limiter.
• Silent Mode (or Game Mode) function.
• Import download lists from other download managers.
• Supports multi-language interface (up to 20 languages).

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Genymotion: Easy to Use Android Emulator for Windows

Different Android devices behave differently, which is why Android emulators are a great thing for developers, because it gives them an opportunity to develop applications without having a real Android device. A basic Android emulator is included with every copy of Android SDK. But using the default Android emulator is not a very pleasurable experience.

Genymotion is an alternative, cross-platform Android emulator based on the open-source project AndroVM. It runs on all major platforms - Windows, Linux and Mac. Because it is so easy to use, Genymotion can be used by anyone and not just developers to test drive new Android apps or to see how the latest mobile operating system from Google fares.

Genymotion uses VirtualBox to run pre-configured images of virtual devices with or without Google Apps (Play Store, etc.). Virtual devices are based on a real devices such as Nexus 7, Nexus S, Nexus One Jelly Bean, WXGA Tablet, WSVGA Tablet, and more. Windows users do not need to separately download VirtualBox as it is included with Genymotion.
To download Genymotion, open this page and register an account on their website. After the registration is completed, you can download the software. Registration is necessary as you will require to sign in to your account when you launch Genymotion on the desktop.
Once you have signed in to your Genymotion account from the desktop via the Genymotion software, select a virtual device image to download. When the download completes, you will be asked to connect to ADB (from Android SDK) for various purposes like copying a file to VM, installing apps, debugging, etc. This step is optional.
Now load the virtual device and play around with your mouse.

See more screenshots here.

Features

• Large number of pre-configured virtual images. (Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.1.1 and 4.2.2, Nexus 7 with Android 4.1.1 and 4.2.2, Galaxy S4 / HTC One / Xperia Z with Android 4.2.2, Nexus One and Nexus S with Android 4.2.2 or 4.1.1, as well as some generic images for WXGA 10.1'' tablets and WSVGA 7.0'' tablets with both Android 4.1.1 and 4.2.2.)
• Connects to internet with using the host connection, but emulates it as a WiFi connection.
• Emulates GPS with configurable coordinates, and battery with configurable battery levels
• Emulates accelerometer with the ability to rotate device.
  • Right click + Move up: Tilt forth;
  • Right click + Move down: Tilt back;
  • Shift + Right click + Move left: Rotate Left;
  • Shift + Right click + Move right: Rotate Right.
• Supports OpenGL hardware acceleration, multiscreen, full screen display
• Comes with Google Play and Google Maps installed
• Supports multi touch gestures such as zoom. (Right click + Left/Right arrow key)
• Supports ADB

Genymotion is free to use and will continue to be so with many advanced features but there also will be paid versions in the future.

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Touch Friendly Firefox for Windows 8 is Ready for Testing

Mozilla has been working on a touch optimized version of Firefox ever since Microsoft revealed Windows 8 and the special version of Internet Explorer designed for Windows Start Screen interface. For a while, this touch friendly version of Firefox for Windows 8 made especially for tablets was available on the Nightly channel. Yesterday, Mozilla pushed this version out of Nightly and into Aurora, which means that this particular build is more stable than the former and while it’s not exactly ready for consumers, it’s good enough to be used by people who aren’t technically savvy or are developers and bug hunters.

To test Firefox Aurora in Windows 8, you need to make sure it is the default browser. If this is the first time you are installing the Aurora build, you will be asked whether you want to set the browser as the default. Choose yes. If you already have Aurora installed but it is not set as your default browser, then follow the steps below.

1. Right-click on the Start button and on the context menu, click on “Control Panel”.
2. On Control Panel, click on Default Programs.
3. Next click “Set your default programs”.
4. Allow the programs list to load. When it does, select “Aurora” and then click on “Set this program as default”.

Alternatively,

1. Open Firefox Aurora on the desktop.
2. From the Aurora menu on the top, click on Options.
3. Click on Advanced and then switch to the General tab. Now click on the button that says “Make Aurora your default browser”.

Firefox 26 Aurora

Firefox 26 Aurora is a lot different than Firefox is for desktop, which is expected. Yet, it doesn’t make users feel handicapped or helpless that Internet Explorer for Windows 8 seems to make. For instance, you still have access to the start page where you can find your most visited pages or pin your favorite sites. Your bookmarks and Recent History is also available from the same page.

Do note that, Firefox in Windows 8 mode doesn’t share bookmarks, history and passwords with the desktop version. To share them, you need to enable Sync.
From the toolbar, you can bookmark a page, pin a page, search within a page, or view the page on the desktop browser.


To access the tab bar, all you need to do is right-click anywhere inside the browser window.

For a full list of changes in Firefox 26 Aurora, and not just Firefox for Windows 8, see this page.

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Google Makes Quickoffice For iOS And Android Free

Google today announced that it’s making Quickoffice free on Android and iOS. This means that Android and iOS users are no longer required to pay fees to edit Microsoft Office documents, spreadsheets, and presentations on their respective mobile devices. This could be one of the biggest blow to Microsoft in recent times and a threat to their business.
While Google allows users to upload and view Microsoft Office documents to Google Drive, editing these documents require them to be converted to Google Docs format. To edit documents in Microsoft Office format, users had to get an Office 365 subscription that gave them access to Microsoft's Office Web Apps from any browser including Office Mobile apps for Android and iOS.


QuickOffice is an Office 365 replacement that allows editing of Microsoft Office documents on mobile devices in their native formats. The software let users view and edit word processing documents, spreadsheets and presentations in Microsoft format, while integrating with Google Docs and popular online file-sharing platforms such as DropBox. Previously, the application cost $20, but was free to paying subscribers of Google Apps for Business. With today's update, Quickoffice has become free to everyone with a Google account, whether you pay for a Google Apps subscription or not.
With Quickoffice becoming free, there is no reason to buy an Office 365 subscription to edit Office documents.
Current Quickoffice for Google Apps for Business users can update their app to the new version and get a number of new features in the process. The app can now, for example, create .ZIP folders and allows you to view charts in Excel and PowerPoint.
To make the deal even more attractive, Google is giving anybody who signs in to the new Quickoffice app for Android or iOS before September 26 an extra 10GB of Google Drive storage for the next two years. Additionally, if you purchased Quickoffice Pro or Pro HD on or after June 17, 2013, you are eligible to receive 50GB of free Google Drive storage, provided you can show proof of purchase. Just fill out this form to redeem the storage offer.

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Orbit Downloader Contains DDoS Malware, Report Finds

First launched in 2006, Orbit Downloader is a popular file downloading software that can integrate with nearly every popular web browser and speed up download of files over the Internet. With features like clipboard monitoring, peer-to-peer transfer to increase speed, and URL sniffing that enabled download of embedded videos from streaming websites made it one of the most successful download managers. Now a new research by security firm and anti-virus product manufacturer ESET has revealed that the program includes code designed to carry out distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on other machines.




The discovery came to light during a routine examination of the Orbit Downloader software package by the security firm. Apparently, when the main Orbit Downloader executable is run, it communicates with the orbitdownloader.com site, silently downloading a DLL file and a configuration file containing a list of targets to attack and a randomly-generated IP address for each.
The program then conducts either a SYN flood attack or a wave of HTTP connection requests on port 80 (the HTTP port) and UDP datagrams on port 53 (DNS). The IP address that accompanied the URL in the config file is used as the source address for the attack.
On a test computer set up in their lab with a gigabit Ethernet port, HTTP connection requests were sent at a rate of about 140,000 packets per second, with falsified source addresses largely appearing to come from IP ranges allocated to Vietnam. These blocks of IP addresses were hardcoded into the DLL file.
At this point, nobody is sure who is to blame for its possible that the servers of Orbit Downloader were compromised unbeknown to them, although its apparent that the author has gone to some lengths to hide the malware, as explained by ESET:

The first step is that files are encoded in base64, an encoding scheme most often used to send binary files as file attachments.  After decoding, the data is then XORed with a fixed 32-character string.  That 32-character string is actually the MD5 hash of a 9-character password that is hardcoded into the DLL file.  After this operation, each pair of consecutive bytes are XORed together to generate a single byte of plaintext.
While each download of the encrypted data from the server varies, the actual content, once converted to plaintext, has remained constant for considerably longer periods of time.

The additional malware code appears to be added sometime between the release of version 4.1.1.14 (December 25, 2012) and version 4.1.1.15 (January 10, 2013).
Following this news, many file download sites including BetaNews, Softpedia, Softonic and MajorGeeks have all removed Orbit Downloader from their sites. If you are using this program, you should uninstall it too.

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