10 widgets for Opera users to sing about
DotooDotoo is a to-do list widget in your Opera browser.You can create a host of to-do lists and access them all from within the widget.Adding tasks is as simple as pressing the "+" button under your list and inputting your task.It's not a sophisticated widget, so you won't be able to track your progress.But if you want to quickly add a few tasks, you should be happy with what you find.Dotoo lets you create a quick to-do list.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETFacebook NotifierFacebook Notifier gives you a listing of all your friends' recent status updates.You can't update your profile in the application, but you can easily access your profile with the links in the widget.It might not be the most useful app, but if you want to see what your friends are up to while you're browsing outside Facebook, it's a fine choice.Facebook Notifier keeps you up-to-date.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETGoogle ToolBarThe Google ToolBar should be one of the first widgets you add to your Opera browser.The tool gives you quick access to (and search results in) Google search, Gmail, Reader, Finance, News, and much more.Almost every Google app currently available is featured on the toolbar.And since it's a widget, you can drag it around your browser to put it in the perfect spot while you're working. Google ToolBar is a must-have.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETiTunes WidgetOpera's iTunes Widget allows you to see the top songs, featured tracks, new releases, and top albums.You can also choose songs by genre.When you find a song you might want to buy, you can click on it.That will immediately open a Web page redirecting you to the iTunes Store, where you can view the song's listing and buy it.Buy your favorite songs with the iTunes Widget.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETLyrics NowLyrics Now is a useful widget that provides you with song lyrics in a matter of seconds.Simply input the name of the song and its artist, and Lyrics Now will do the rest.It displays the album cover and the lyrics.You don't need to click the arrows in the sidebar to scroll through the lyrics.Instead, you can hover your mouse over them to get the job done.It's a simple addition, but one that makes sense; who wants to hear a clicking mouse while you're listening to a song?Lyrics Now helps you quickly find your favorite song lyrics.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETPandoraIf you're a fan of music, you'll love the Pandora Opera Widget.Once you download it and input your Pandora credentials, the widget displays all your stations in the familiar Pandora interface.You can listen to songs, tell the service which tracks you like, and check out other users' stations.It's a full-featured Pandora widget that works just as well as its site.Pandora's widget is just like Pandora.comScreenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETPanic ButtonSince it's Friday, some of us might be surfing the Web instead of working.That's where the Panic Button comes in.After you install it on Opera, you can place it on your screen while you surf the Web.Whenever you hear the boss coming, simply press the Panic Button, and it will open a new tab automatically.You can pick which site that tab directs you to.In the process, the Panic Button is hidden behind your active windows.It's a must-have if you don't want to get caught at work.Hit the Panic Button when the boss is around.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETTwitter OperaThe Twitter Opera widget is a lightweight application that allows you to update your status, see what others are saying, and search Twitter.It's like having the full Twitter experience in a simple widget.I posted updates from the app, and like the site, it updated my stream immediately.I was really impressed by Twitter Opera.Twitter Opera gives you Twitter in a widget.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETWikipediaThe Wikipedia widget is one of the most useful tools in the entire Opera widget listing.It's a simple tool--it only has a search box--but it quickly finds articles on Wikipedia that are relevant to your query.As you're typing, it even displays suggestions to help you in your search.When you finally query the widget, the Wikipedia article is displayed in a new tab.It's a great app.Wikipedia in a widget is just as useful.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETMy Top 31. Google ToolBar: The power of Google in a lightweight package.2. Pandora: Listen to tracks while you work.3. Twitter Opera: It's Twitter in a little widget.It doesn't get much better than that.
How to find free e-books for your iPad
How to find free e-books for your iPad
There are a lot of advantages to the iPad as an e-reader, chief among them its capability to be a true multiformat product supporting Kindle, ePubs, PDFs, and others.One little difficulty remains: finding ways to get free books.Sure, Apple and others don't exactly want you to stock up on free literature if they can help it, especially in the case of books that aren't public domain. Still, we have to try, don't we? Here are the best (legal) ways not to pay.The iBooks Store does have over 30,000 free books, mostly from Project Gutenberg, and many of them with surprisingly decent formatting. There is a trick, though: you'll have to be fastidious. Searching for an author in the iBooks Store will often bring up only for-pay versions of many books, whereas entering their specific titles will brings up free versions, too. It's extremely odd, but we discovered the bug when looking for many titles, including "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse and Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan."The Kindle App has free books galore, if you can find them. Amazon offers a large selection of free books in its Kindle store, but you'll need to browse online or check out Amazon's Kindle blog for the most recent freebies. They're downloaded directly via the Kindle app; right now, there's no way to import files from a computer via USB. To help matters, check constantly updated free Kindle book sites such as jungle-search.com (Read how to find free books on your Kindle for more details).Import ePub books via iTunes: You can download or convert your own ePub books from any source (including Google's large collection) and import them into Apple's iBooks app, but you'll need to go through iTunes on a computer using iTunes 9.1. Dragging the file in will put the book in your sync queue, but you can't directly drop the book onto your iPad. As for where you get those ePub books from...well, that's your decision.For PDFs, use GoodReader. For $.99, GoodReader reads .doc, PDF, HTML, and TXT files, can import docs and PDFs from any Web page or even directly from the Google Docs server, and it also allows wireless drag-and-drop of files from a nearby computer without syncing. A clever trick: visit Google Books on GoodReader and download the "PDF" link for free books directly into the reader app. Its page-turning system is a little awkward, but it's a great tool to have (and PDFs retain color-coding for those using it for revisions). It's a shame it can't read ePub as well.Check other apps: Free Books and Kobo are two other iPad book apps that have their own slightly different supplies of titles. We've found luck getting a free book on one that we couldn't get on another. It's a hassle to swap back and forth, but it might be the only way to get what you're looking for.And, of course, there's always good old-fashioned Web browsing if you're online, or Instapaper Pro ($4.99, also a free version) for downloading any HTML page for easy offline reading.Any other tips? Let us know in the comments.
There are a lot of advantages to the iPad as an e-reader, chief among them its capability to be a true multiformat product supporting Kindle, ePubs, PDFs, and others.One little difficulty remains: finding ways to get free books.Sure, Apple and others don't exactly want you to stock up on free literature if they can help it, especially in the case of books that aren't public domain. Still, we have to try, don't we? Here are the best (legal) ways not to pay.The iBooks Store does have over 30,000 free books, mostly from Project Gutenberg, and many of them with surprisingly decent formatting. There is a trick, though: you'll have to be fastidious. Searching for an author in the iBooks Store will often bring up only for-pay versions of many books, whereas entering their specific titles will brings up free versions, too. It's extremely odd, but we discovered the bug when looking for many titles, including "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse and Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan."The Kindle App has free books galore, if you can find them. Amazon offers a large selection of free books in its Kindle store, but you'll need to browse online or check out Amazon's Kindle blog for the most recent freebies. They're downloaded directly via the Kindle app; right now, there's no way to import files from a computer via USB. To help matters, check constantly updated free Kindle book sites such as jungle-search.com (Read how to find free books on your Kindle for more details).Import ePub books via iTunes: You can download or convert your own ePub books from any source (including Google's large collection) and import them into Apple's iBooks app, but you'll need to go through iTunes on a computer using iTunes 9.1. Dragging the file in will put the book in your sync queue, but you can't directly drop the book onto your iPad. As for where you get those ePub books from...well, that's your decision.For PDFs, use GoodReader. For $.99, GoodReader reads .doc, PDF, HTML, and TXT files, can import docs and PDFs from any Web page or even directly from the Google Docs server, and it also allows wireless drag-and-drop of files from a nearby computer without syncing. A clever trick: visit Google Books on GoodReader and download the "PDF" link for free books directly into the reader app. Its page-turning system is a little awkward, but it's a great tool to have (and PDFs retain color-coding for those using it for revisions). It's a shame it can't read ePub as well.Check other apps: Free Books and Kobo are two other iPad book apps that have their own slightly different supplies of titles. We've found luck getting a free book on one that we couldn't get on another. It's a hassle to swap back and forth, but it might be the only way to get what you're looking for.And, of course, there's always good old-fashioned Web browsing if you're online, or Instapaper Pro ($4.99, also a free version) for downloading any HTML page for easy offline reading.Any other tips? Let us know in the comments.
ACCAN calls ACCC to action over 'freemium' games
ACCAN calls ACCC to action over 'freemium' games
We are no strangers to mobile games that try to take advantage of the freemium model to gouge its customers â€" something that many Australians have also encountered in some form or another. This tactic, so far, has been employed unchecked and unregulated in Australia. Now, however, peak consumer body ACCAN has called on the ACCC to investigate, especially in cases where the game is advertised as being "free to play", but will prevent or seriously slow progress unless the player is willing to spend money."We've known for some time that 'freemium' apps cause problems for consumers, especially children. The CNET Australia workon the My Little Pony app alerted us to an alarming trend where 'free' games don’t just include but actually require in-app purchases," said ACCAN policy and campaigns officer Erin Turner. "When people download a game for free, they should be told if it will end up costing them money down the track. At the moment, this is not happening, and it needs to change."ACCAN's submission to the ACCC examined three popular games on the iTunes and Android app stores: The Simpsons: Tapped Out; Tap Paradise Cove; and The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth. These games were found to be aggressively promoting in-app purchases, to the point of hindering gameplay.In The Simpsons: Tapped Out, the game promotes spending money through the use of on-screen prompts and in-game dialogue; later in the game, it pushes the point home more aggressively. One particular item â€" a corn crop on Cletus' farm â€" requires either a 90-day wait or an AU$48.58 purchase.Tap Paradise Cove.(Credit: ACCAN)In Tap Paradise Cove, players need to complete quests to level up. Developer Pocket Gems employed a mechanic we've seen many times â€" the player must either wait up to 24 hours or pay money in order to move on to the next task."There's no way someone could 'play free forever' like Paradise Cove claims. Without paying money, you could play for only a few minutes before having to set the game aside for hours or even days. Parents beware; these kinds of games are encouraging your children to spend hundreds of dollars on digital content," Turner said.The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth, a multi-player game, was found to implement a "play to win" mechanic. Unless players are willing to put money into funding their defences and armies, other players who are willing to pay money would be able to easily defeat the non-paying player, destroying their kingdoms. ACCAN also found that a mini-game in the title contains gambling elements â€" which may have something to do with the fact that developer Kabam was seed funded by internet betting exchange Betfair. Last year, the Tolkien estate sued Warner Bros over the title.Conversely, ACCAN held up Fruit Ninja as an example of a game that implements the freemium model well in a submission to the Commonwealth Consumer Affairs Advisory Council in February. "At no point are players prompted to make in-app purchases, and it is possible for players to earn enough starfruit through gameplay to purchase in-app features," the submission said.CNET Australia has contacted the developer of The Simpsons: Tapped out, Electronic Arts, for comment. We will update this story when we have more information.
We are no strangers to mobile games that try to take advantage of the freemium model to gouge its customers â€" something that many Australians have also encountered in some form or another. This tactic, so far, has been employed unchecked and unregulated in Australia. Now, however, peak consumer body ACCAN has called on the ACCC to investigate, especially in cases where the game is advertised as being "free to play", but will prevent or seriously slow progress unless the player is willing to spend money."We've known for some time that 'freemium' apps cause problems for consumers, especially children. The CNET Australia workon the My Little Pony app alerted us to an alarming trend where 'free' games don’t just include but actually require in-app purchases," said ACCAN policy and campaigns officer Erin Turner. "When people download a game for free, they should be told if it will end up costing them money down the track. At the moment, this is not happening, and it needs to change."ACCAN's submission to the ACCC examined three popular games on the iTunes and Android app stores: The Simpsons: Tapped Out; Tap Paradise Cove; and The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth. These games were found to be aggressively promoting in-app purchases, to the point of hindering gameplay.In The Simpsons: Tapped Out, the game promotes spending money through the use of on-screen prompts and in-game dialogue; later in the game, it pushes the point home more aggressively. One particular item â€" a corn crop on Cletus' farm â€" requires either a 90-day wait or an AU$48.58 purchase.Tap Paradise Cove.(Credit: ACCAN)In Tap Paradise Cove, players need to complete quests to level up. Developer Pocket Gems employed a mechanic we've seen many times â€" the player must either wait up to 24 hours or pay money in order to move on to the next task."There's no way someone could 'play free forever' like Paradise Cove claims. Without paying money, you could play for only a few minutes before having to set the game aside for hours or even days. Parents beware; these kinds of games are encouraging your children to spend hundreds of dollars on digital content," Turner said.The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth, a multi-player game, was found to implement a "play to win" mechanic. Unless players are willing to put money into funding their defences and armies, other players who are willing to pay money would be able to easily defeat the non-paying player, destroying their kingdoms. ACCAN also found that a mini-game in the title contains gambling elements â€" which may have something to do with the fact that developer Kabam was seed funded by internet betting exchange Betfair. Last year, the Tolkien estate sued Warner Bros over the title.Conversely, ACCAN held up Fruit Ninja as an example of a game that implements the freemium model well in a submission to the Commonwealth Consumer Affairs Advisory Council in February. "At no point are players prompted to make in-app purchases, and it is possible for players to earn enough starfruit through gameplay to purchase in-app features," the submission said.CNET Australia has contacted the developer of The Simpsons: Tapped out, Electronic Arts, for comment. We will update this story when we have more information.
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