Taking Control of Your iPad Keynote

One of the flaws that Apple never try correcting is the difficulty to control iPad Keynote slides from distance. Yes, they said that Keynote Remote app is available in the App Store. But the biggest issue is, it's only applicable for those who owns an iPhone or iPod Touch! That's ridiculous! Isn't there any cheaper and more practical way to control our gorgeous Keynote presentation? The answer is yes, yet it requires courage.

Yeap, you got it right! Jailbreak is THE way to solve this problem. What you have to do is to install BTStack Mouse from Cydia. Together with this, Activator app will also be installed (so don't be surprised). Activator app is for you to configure the action of your mouse click. Don't worry, it is not necessary to get our hands dirty, the default setting should be good enough. So what now? Well, the last and most crucial step, ransack your room and see if you have any bluetooth mouse. Remember! What I meant is not the normal wireless mouse with dongle that we use with our PC. Bluetooth mouse is a mouse which utilises a newer and more power consuming bluetooth technology, where wireless dongle is not required to link it with your PC. If you don't have one, you can try your luck at the nearest PC stores.

Now, power up your bluetooth mouse. Then, switch it to discovery mode. At the same time, tap on your BTStack Mouse app and wait for it to detect your mouse. Once it's detected, you just have to tap on the device name to connect it. Alright, done with the major procedure. Right now, you should be able to see a black MacOS style cursor on your screen. Next, you need to minimize/exit the BTStack Mouse app. This is a bit tricky. You must remember NOT to use your 5 finger grabbing gesture to get back to your home screen. If you do so, your whole screen will turn black and freeze. This is because the app is originally designed for pre-iOS5 system. It doesn't support the new set of gestures. To exit, just click on the Home Button. What if you did it accidentally? Don't worry, you just have to do a clean reboot on your iPad, by pressing and holding both the home button and power/sleep button for a while, wait for the white Apple logo to reappear, and everything will be fine.

That's it! With the cursor on the screen, you can now hold your mouse and use it like a remote control to control your Keynote slides. But things isn't that perfect, with this method, you can only move your slides forward, not backward. So if you need to go back to the previous slide, it will be a lil bit awkward as you will have to walk to your iPad "gracefully" and swipe your screen.

Note: This post is merely for educational and informational purposes. Jailbreak voids warranty and holds the potential of ruining your device.

Besides Jailbreaking your iPad, another much legal and simpler option would be to purchase the Bluetooth Media Remote for iPad and iPhone, developed by a company called Satechi. It is a new product and is believed to be the first iPad Keynote compatible remote control. However, it is quite expensive ($27.99) and you probably have to wait for some time before it reaches your doorstep.

Forgotten about Yahoo! ? Axis might be THE app to bring it back to life!

Think that Yahoo! is not cool anymore? have already abandoned Yahoo! for years? Perhaps it's time for us to hold our horses. Yahoo! have launched its latest breakthrough innovation, the Axis browser. From what we feel from our test drive, it passes with flying colours!

Let's put it in a simpler way. Axis is a web browser app on your iOS device which lets you bring your bookmarks everywhere you go. It sync bookmarks between your PC web browser and your iPad or iPhone's Axis app, and allows you to continue your browsing from where you left off anywhere you wish. All you need to do is just 2 insanely simple steps. First, download and install the Axis app on your iPhone and iPad. Next, download and install the Axis plugin on your PC web browser. That's it! Now, you only have to login with your Yahoo email address from both your PC and iPad.

Okay, now that you have become an Axis user, what benefit would you get? First, of course, you will get a smooth bookmarks sync between your PC and mobile devices. Second, this awesome feature is not only limited to Yahoo! search engine! it happens that Yahoo! has decided not to be stingy, but to share the pleasure with every other search engine, including its greatest rival, Google. Number three, while you search for an item on your Axis app and also on your PC browser's Axis search bar, it automatically generates snapshots of each web address so that you can preview the content before deciding which to select. Honestly, this is awesome!

Anyway, nice effort Yahoo! And FYI, we love your Axis ad too!

iMindMap for Android is Out!

iMindMap, the only mind mapping app which is recognized by the "creator" of modern mind map, Tony Buzan, is officially available for Android devices, FINALLY! You can now create beautiful mind maps in the Buzan's way, using freehand branches and various styles. Some stock images are available for basic usage, but if you are looking for more features and flexibility, you are required to do in-app subscription to iMindMap Freedom for access to the cloud, insert images from your photo gallery, insert floating text, export mind map as image, and much more.


Note: iMindMap is also available in the App Store for our fellow iOS users,  it supports both iPad and iPhones.

Cleaning Your Uninstallation Leftover for Free!

Believe it or not, uninstalling a software from your computer leave a significant amount of junk behind. As day goes by, those Gigs of junks will pile up and take over a big part of  your hard disk space. And the consequences? A sluggish computer that you just feel like chucking out of your window. Software companies like Revo does provide you with a solution, yet full removal comes with a price, and it is not cheap. So? What should we do to save cost and protect our computer at the same time? The answer is right here.

Advanced Uninstaller Pro is now offered for FREE! That's right, you hear me right! It offers you the advanced features that a professional unistallation software should have, with absolutely no hidden cost. Calling it a Swiss Army Knife for PC Users is not an exaggeration. It features programs uninstaller, installation monitor, startup manager, start menu cleaner, internet browser tools, registry tools, etc. We are not quite certain about the effectiveness of this software in handling those extra features, but the programs uninstaller does perform well in our test, and is able to detect and remove the leftovers of the uninstalled software from our laptop. 

Verdict: Though the user interface of this software looks less convincing (sort of like a fake antivirus software), it does deliver what the developers promise. If your desire is to maintain your computer and save unnecessary cost, this is the exact software for you. 

PicShop HD- Free for 1 Day Only!

This photo app needs no introduction. It is as effective as Snapseed and iPhoto, and is now offered for free! There are tons of expected functions like editing tools and filters. Also available are some cool frames anda stickers. Okay, enough of the nonsense, go grab it before it's too LATE!!!

Recipe Master: The App for The Cook

Organizing recipes collection on an iPad and iPhone is a tedious job. Being a modern mom simply means that you have to copy and paste useful recipes from various web pages to your word processing / editing apps, and save it for later references. Or maybe, you can get slightly handy apps like Instapaper or Pocket (formerly known as ReadItLater) to save a copy of your webpage for offline viewing. BUT, those procedures still doesn't change the fact that organizing recipes on your iOS devices is annoying!

So, isn't there anything that can actually convince the cool moms to come back to their iDevices? Fortunately there is!

Recipe Master, developed by m2ware llc, is the kind of app that moms will drool for. It doesn't just save your recipe. It let you search conveniently within 15 recommended online recipe sites. If you prefer to look at somewhere else, no problem! There's an option for you to search on web. What if you don't want to use the web? What if you have some family secret recipes which you wish to store and organize? No issue with that! You can choose to create your very own recipe from scratch! Thinking of sharing your recipe with other friends? Sure! You can do it with Recipe Master import or by email. What about the most fundamental part, offline reading? No worries, they have got it covered!

Verdict: We personally love the way the app convert the recipes in webpages into beautiful and accessible recipes with fancy fonts and neat layout. The option to organize our collection into categories is also simply delightful. We are lucky to grab it for free during its promotion period, thanks to Appsgonefree, the app that bring you all the goodies! Though it cost $2.99 to own it now, we reckon that it is a worthy investment if you love cooking.

ACD See Flash: Better than Real Camera Flash!

Novice camera users like me often encounter flash related issues, like capturing a photo which is either too dark or too bright, red-eyed or having uneven colours. And when I power up your photo editing app, thinking of repairing my shots, the overwhelming options and functions defeats me.

I believe that many of you have faced the same issue. Don't worry, look no further, ACD See Flash app is just the app you need! With ACD See Flash iOS app, all you need to do is to load your photo and adjust the light of the photo by using a slider, nothing else! No confusing buttons, no alien features, just a slider. ACD See Flash is no ordinary app, it not only allow you to adjust the brightness of the photo, but at the same time, intelligently retain the details and contrast of your precious photo, making your photo look more natural.

Note: ACD See Flash is now offered for free for limited period in conjunction with the coming Mother's Day celebration! Go ahead and grab yours now!

LOL

I can't stop chuckling when I see this news. We all know that Samsung has spent a fortune in sponsoring the 2012 Summer Olympic that will be held in London. But ironically, one of its biggest rival, HTC's CEO is the one who has been honoured as one of the few lucky torch bearers!

"While carrying the flame in the relay, every step I take will represent my deepest support for Taiwan's athletes attending the London 2012 Olympic Games."
                                                                                                                                                  --Peter Chou, HTC CEO

iPhoto Journal: THE way to edit and share your digital photos

iPhoto is THE way to edit photo on your iPad, but what makes it distinctive from other photo apps in the App Store? The answer lies within the app itself. Besides the effects and advanced editing features in your iPhoto, a unique feature that Apple brought to you is "Journal". Journal lets you create amazing collage from your photo albums, allowing you to share your travelling photos with your family and friends in a creative fun way. With "Journal", you can add weather indicator, sticky notes, quotes, etc. in your photo collage to make it more informative. After completing your Journal, you can either play it in slideshow or share it with your other device through iCloud and iTunes.

iPhoto really is THE way to edit and share your precious memory!

Brilliant iOS Photo Editing app for Free!

Want to get Snapseed or iPhoto apps for your iPad yet shocked by the heavy price tag? Why not try something else for free? "XnView Photo fx" is definitely an app worth trying. It offers much more colours, effects and filters than any other free photo editing apps, including the popular Instagram app and also Adobe Photoshop Express! Besides that, it includes a history button which let you view all the edits you've done on your photo.

Verdict: One of our favourite features is the "compare and contrast" button which you can press to temporarily remove your editing and show the original image.

Ever Forget to Deactivate Your Private Browsing Session?

Firefox and Safari are both great browsers that come with a handy feature called "Private Browsing", and Mozilla has made it more accessible through a combination of "CTRL+SHIFT+P" hot keys shortcut, allowing us to close all our private browsing information in critical situation. But, have you ever forgotten to deactivate your private browsing session before you leave your PC? That's risky, knowing that someone might have the opportunity to look into your private world, and that's not comforting.

Don't worry, fortunately, a creative Firefox add-on developer called Bennett Dill has came out with a solution. The solution is named as "PB Exit". It is a small but useful extension that will force Firefox browser to end its private browsing session if your PC is left unattended for more than 10 minutes.

Though we know that 10 minutes is quite a long time and there might still be a risk for our fellow PC users, still we think that it is a great addition to your web browser to reduce risk of being spied at. We do hope that the developer will try his best to deliver his promise, as stated below:

"I will try to better detect idle and add settings in the future (e.g. custom idle time, only close specific domains instead of completely exiting private browsing)."  -- Bennett Dill

Finally!

For those who download a lot of software from CNET Download.com, you should be awared that AVG had been on the Number 1 position of the top download list since forever, and nobody has ever beat it, even though it's evidently quite sucky. But when I browsed through this column recently, I noticed something funny. Apparently, Avast Free Antivirus has FINALLY successfully claimed its crown, with over a million downloads. That's something I would never thought would happen. So, ya, congratulation Avast team!