LauncherPro, one of the most popular third-party launchers for Android, has just received an update, taking it to version 0.8.4. This update brings two new features, and lots of fixes. First off, users of the paid LauncherPro Plus have gotten a new LauncherPro widget, this time for Gmail. This widget matches the style of all the other LauncherPro widgets (for Contacts, Calendar, Twitter, and ... Read more »

When Amazon Appstore for Android launched last week, one of its primary features -- Test Drive -- was disabled just a few minutes after it opened. With no try-before-you-buy, no refund process, and 1-Click purchasing ready to strike at any moment, this caused some problems. Anyway, don't despair: Test Drive is now enabled. Before you get your hopes up, Test Drive doesn't work with every app. ... Read more »

Trustware BufferZone is a great way to add an additional layer of security to your Windows computer. It's a sandboxing application, which means it helps isolate programs so they can't directly interfere with your Windows installation. Sandboxing is a terrific way to defend against malware infections. Unfortunately, BufferZone had one serious shortfall. When Windows 7 arrived and the push to ... Read more »

Nir Sofer (of NirSoft) makes loads of useful little Windows utilities. One of our favorites, Volumouse, has a new beta available and it offers some nice improvements over its predecessor. To start, Volumouse beta 2 adds support for Windows Vista and Windows 7 per-application volume settings. There's also a new "send hotkeys" feature which lets you use the mouse wheel to fire off custom ... Read more »

You still can't sync custom search engines in Google Chrome, and that makes tasks like site-specific searches a pain. There are loads of extensions available which can handle the chore, of course, and one worth checking out is Omnibox Site Search. Once installed, you simply type the letter s and press space to invoke a Google-powered site search for the domain you're currently visiting. ... Read more »

Sure, installing and removing applications in Ubuntu is a breeze -- tools like Synaptic, apt-get, and the Ubuntu Software Center are all very easy to use. Canonical thinks there's room for improvement, however, and it's delivering an interesting new feature to the Software Center: application test drives. Find a program you'd like to try out -- but don't necessarily want to install just yet ... Read more »

Those benevolent armchair philanthropist Redditors are at it again! Four days ago a 'self' post extolling the potential virtues of a Backup Day exploded with 2500 upvotes and 1000 comments -- and now World Backup Day 2011 is actually happening. On March 31, as part of the global data-saving initiative, you are encouraged to back up all of your cherished photos and videos, and important ... Read more »

A jailbreak of iOS 4.3.1 is now possible with both PwnageTool on Mac, and Sn0wbreeze on Windows. RedmondPie -- who else? -- has some handy guides that you can follow for all iOS 4.3.1 devices on Windows, for iPhone 4 on OS X, iPad 1 on OS X, iPhone 3GS on OS X, and iPod touch 4G and 3G on OS X. All iOS 4.3.1 jailbreaks are still tethered, meaning you'll have to jailbreak your device after every ... Read more »

Using some early numbers from both StatCounter and Net Applications, Mozilla's noisiest hominid, Asa Dotzler, has illustrated Firefox 4's meteoric rise to around 5% of Web browser global usage share. Internet Explorer 9, which launched two weeks ago, seems to be enjoying a much more casual stroll in the park with just 1.5% of the global Web usage share. Interestingly, we can see IE9 dipping ... Read more »

Burrito Bison is a pretty simple game, but if you're into gummy bears you might find it addictive. As you may have guessed from the name, you're a bison (not a burrito, though). In the course of your day-to-day grocery shopping, you're abducted into a bag of gummy bears, and must now fend for yourself. At the beginning of each round you launch yourself onto the marching gummy (gummi?) ... Read more »

Apple has released iOS 4.3.1, and it's now available via the "update" button in iTunes. 4.3.1 isn't a feature update, but it does fix a graphics glitch for the 4th-gen iPod Touch and some issues with connecting to cellular networks. The update isn't available for Verizon iPhone users -- who are still on 4.2.6 -- but it works with all other recent devices (including the iPad 2). It apparently ... Read more »

When someone tells me about a "platformer", my first thought is that it's probably a simple game that mainly revolves around running and jumping around, with a minimal plot. [Play a Zelda game! -Ed] Elephant Quest is one platformer that managed to prove me completely wrong. Yes, you do run and jump around, and you also shoot at stuff. But the game has much, much more going for it. ... Read more »

Wikipedia Beautifier is an extension for Google Chrome that removes all the clutter from Wikipedia and lets you focus on the most important aspect of the online encyclopedia: its content. Wikipedia Beautifier has been inspired by Readability, and aims to provide the same amount of article-centered beauty, while also keeping the familiar navigation menus within reach. After you've installed ... Read more »

If you've had your head under a rock for the last few days, here's this week's Firefox news in brief: Firefox 4 was finally released. Yes, 13 months after the initial release of Firefox 3.7 alpha 1 and four more alpha builds, a renumbering to 4.0 and 12 beta releases, and finally a release candidate (or two), Firefox 4 has been released into the wild. Just like every other Firefox ... Read more »

Quickoffice has updated its paid Pro app for Android yesterday, bringing it to version 4.0. The company says this is the biggest update of its Android application yet, and many new features have been added. Perhaps the most notable is the added ability to save files in the cloud. This works Box.net, Google Docs, DropBox, Huddle, SugarSync, and MobileMe accounts. Additionally, Quickoffice ... Read more »