Searching for free downloads from your favourite artists can sometimes be a painstaking task. There are so many bogus sites out there just waiting to install malware onto your computer that it can be as dangerous as it is time consuming. X-OOM's MediaGrabber looks to make finding free media downloads a simple and safe exercise.

After putting in a few search terms into the software, MediaGrabber trawls the net for you, downloading anything it can find that you have requested. MP3s, lyrics, videos and photos are all downloaded, and if the software cant find the exact MP3 you are looking for, it'll even nick the soundtrack off of a suitable YouTube video.

Media Grabber then files your downloads into a convenient database, letting you pool all your favourite artists content together in one place.

The software also features a video converter, allowing users to upload their videos onto portable media players.

Priced at £19.99, you can pick up the MediaGrabber here.

Geo-aware, real-time data and social networking have been big buzz words this year, so it's nice to see an app throwing all of those features together into one mix. The
Postabon app is a location-aware shopping service that allows its network of users to post hot deals in real-time.

Available both to PC and smartphone users, Postabon can pick up on where you are currently located, or where you are headed, and direct you to local deals in shopping categories that you have showed an interest in.

It's mostly powered by user input, with Postabon's network of shoppers adding real-time deal-updates as they move from shop to shop. There is even an incentive "karma" scheme, rewarding users who regularly post popular deals.

Postabon is currently available only to residents of New York City, but with plans to expand to other spots around the globe, no doubt there is at least a London-centric version waiting in the wings.

Oh, what a year to be a gamer! With the PS3 finally fighting fit and giving the Xbox 360 a run for its money, there were so many excellent games and so few hours to play them all. Even the weakening PC gaming market had a few notable titles, and a few welcome surprises were in store for DS owners too.

Before we go any further, let me offer my apologies to Empire: Total War, Borderlands, FIFA 10, The Sims 3, GTA: Chinatown Wars and Metroid Prime Trilogy. They are all worthy of your money, but just fell short of the cut for this list!

So let's crack on: in no particular order, here are Tech Digest's top ten games of 2009.

Assassins Creed 2- Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Delivering on the failed promises of its predecessor, Assassins Creed 2 oozes quality out of every one of it's 15th century orifices. Taking on the role of young nobleman Ezio and following his rise into one of Renaissance Italy's elite assassins, the game was a stunning showcase by developers Ubisoft. Free-running around the lovingly modelled Florence is an exercise that never tires, as is knifing a corrupt guard in the back.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - Xbox 360, PS3, PC

A superhero game that isn't totally pants? You're kidding right? We were sceptical when we first saw screenshots of Batman: Arkham Asylum. Could it play as well as it looked? Thankfully, Rocksteady Studios pulled it off with aplomb. Sneaky, dark and making excellent use of its source material, Batman: Arkham Asylum played like a comic-book Metal Gear Solid, with a ton of cool secrets to unearth. An honourable mention must also go to Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill, who puts in a superb voice-over performance as the twisted Joker.

Dragon Age: Origins - Xbox 360, PS3, PC

They've conquered sci-fi epics with Mass Effect, now Bioware have gone all Tolkien on us with the excellent Dragon Age: Origins. A party based dungeon crawler, DA:O weaves a twisting narrative of political intrigue around its magic-casting, troll-slaying heart. Be careful though, the game will eat away hours of your life, so it's not best suited for a quick play while the brussel sprouts boil. If your computer can handle it, make sure you pick up the superior PC version, which irons out the few faults found in the console versions. Did we mention you can sleep with a dwarf?

New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Wii

He's spent over a quarter of a century saving Princess Peach from lizard-king Bowser's clutches. You'd think if we weren't tired of it yet, at least Mario would be! But, on the strength of this 2D reboot for side-scrolling Mario platformers, it doesn't look like boredom or old age have kicked in yet. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the first side-scrolling Mario game to feature four-player simultaneous co-op, and it's a total blast.

Killzone 2 - PS3

Released way back in February, it could have been easy to overlook this FPS. However, Killzone 2's campaign mode represented the first glimmers of the PS3's comeback early this year, earning this Halo-killer's place on the top ten list. A bleak, cinematic shooter whose production values have only recently been bested by Modern Warfare 2, you can pick this game up now for around £15. An absolute bargain, and one PS3 owners should not miss out on.

Left 4 Dead 2 - Xbox 360, PC

Maybe it's just my way of preparing for the inevitable zombie apocalypse, but I just cant get enough of blasting the undead back to the grave. Left 4 Dead 2 ups the tension already present in bucket loads in its predecessor, offering a more meaty set of campaign missions and that frantic four player co-op we've come to love. Again, the PC version is the one to pick up if you have the luxury of choice.

Scribblenauts - DS

Maybe a bit of a leftfield choice this one. Let's be honest, was Scribblenauts the most polished game of 2009? No. Were some elements of the control scheme pretty busted? Yep. However, was it not the most wildly inventive game we saw all year? Too right it was. A cute little puzzler, the depth of your imagination was the only obstacle between you and solving each level's enigma. Typing a word into the in-game dictionary produced a little cartoon version of pretty much anything you can imagine. Ninja? Check. Hoverboard? Check. Freeze-ray-gun-glued-to-the-bottom-of-a-T-Rex? Your wish is Scribblenauts' command. Here's hoping a sequel builds on the excellent ideas on show here.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Doesn't really need an introduction this one, but what the heck; Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is AMAZING. Playing like a bombastic feature-length episode of 24, the game threw up the biggest launch in video game history and broke all sorts of ridiculous sale records in the process. Featuring a hectic and controversial single player campaign and that crack-like multiplayer gaming, this one might be a bit of a moot entry, as you probably already own it, don't you?

Street Fighter IV - Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Some things you never forget. Like how to throw Ryu's haduken fireball for instance. Ahh, down, forward, punch, why were you away so long? Street Fighter IV was probably the most gaming fun I've had with my mates all year. Both nostalgic and mind blowingly impressive, the cell-shaded reboot for the franchise was beat-em up perfection. Look out for the Super Street Fighter IV update in the new year.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - PS3

Saving the best till last, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has to be the game of the year. Sure Modern Warfare 2 will sell more, but the endearing charm of Indiana Jones-alike Nathan Drake and his breakneck, globe-trotting quest to solve the mystery of Marco Polo's last voyage was a master class in both story telling and game design. It's an adventure that's all killer, no filler, while running around the many exotic locales will make your jaw drop. Absolutely perfectly realised, it's the sort of game you dreamt up in your head but never thought could actually be made. And then there's the multiplayer modes, which I'm off now to play again for another couple of hundred hours...

If you want to get your kids web-aware at an early age, why not introduce them to the KidZui web browser?

KidZui are launching version 5.0 of their browser today, which is set to help parents and children share and discover new experiences through the Internet.

Children can send KidZui approved content to friends and parents with the browser's new "KidConnect" functions. KidZui have trawled the web to find over 2 million websites, games, photographs and videos suitable for children, jointly approved by parents and teachers who already use the service.

ZuiTube has also recently been launched, acting like a kid-friendly YouTube lite.

Parents will also be able to connect with one another through in-built Facebook support, as well as receive weekly emails reporting on their children's web habits.

For more information, visit http://www.kidzui.com/

Microsoft has pulled its Windows 7 discount pricing after apparently overwhelming demand lead to its online store crashing and has continued its EC hissy-fit confirming that their will be no Vista to 7 upgrade option.

Microsoft claim that they sold more copies of Windows 7 in the first eight hours than it did in 17 weeks in 2006 with a simliar offer for Windows Vista.

The blogosphere is already awash with rumours that actually, Microsoft were going to do it all along, to the fan the flames of hype around 7. Hype which hasn't been seen for a Microsoft OS since Windows 98.

And after pulling IE 8 from the Euro version of 7 following their EC anticompetitive fine, Microsoft have also said that there will be no Vista upgrade option in Europe.

Although Windows 7 will be released in Europe for the price of an upgrade package in the rest of world.

Microsoft's Leila Martine said: "What we are saying is 'we don't care as a consumer if you had Windows Vista or not because we can't tell that and we don't want to penalise you for our decision to take IE8 out of the Wndows 7 E version and to not give an upgrade option."

You can still download the release candidate which will work until late next, and which I have partitioned onto my macbook HD. Aren't I cool?

I'm not cool.

(Via PcAdvisor)

1. Adobe Photoshop Elements [PC / Mac]

Photoshop? Easy?

There's no denying that the various flavours of Photoshop contain some very advanced features, but in fact it's possible to do basic image and photo editing and manipulation plus a range of "fancy" things without a whole lot of training.

Photoshop Elements is a cut-down version of the full-blown package which means it doesn't have as many features but it's also cheaper. In fact, it often comes bundled with digital cameras.

Get to grips with the basics of Photoshop Elements and you may well find yourself wanting to delve deeper into its powerful tools.

Ease of use: 3/5
Features: 5/5
Price: Latest version around £60, may be bundled. PC / Mac

TweetDeck and Seesmic are desktop clients designed to make communicating on Twitter and managing your accounts easier.

Here they go, head to head: TweetDeck version 0.26 versus Seesmic version 0.4.

Look & Feel

Both TweetDeck and Seesmic are built using the Adobe AIR platform, and have a similar look and feel.

Seemsic appears to have more subtleties designed to make it easier to decipher tweets from multiple accounts at once, yet neither application is hugely customisable when it comes to the overall look.

If you only run a single Twitter account then seeing how applications handle multiple accounts won't matter to you, but if you're a "power user" handling two or more active accounts, you'll find Seesmic offers more options for handling them.

Both applications let you view columns for each account's tweets, replies, direct messages and so on, but Seesmic also allows you to view a single stream of messages from all your accounts at once, ordered by the time tweets arrive.

Whether this works for you depends on how you like to view accounts, but at least you have the option. TweetDeck (currently) doesn't offer this.

Anyone planning to buy themselves a copy of Windows 7 needs to be on their mark at midnight tonight. From 12:01am on Wednesday 15th July, you can pre-order a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium for £49.99 or Windows 7 Professional £99.99 saving yourself up to £120.

They haven't said how many cheaper copies there'll be but have quoted that "stocks are limited". So, with RRP set at £149.99 and £219.99, the smart move is to get in fast.

If you don't fancy it, there's probably still time to download a free copy of the Windows 7 RC and that'll last you a year before you have to do something about getting a new one. Otherwise, get yourself over to the Windows 7 pre-order site tonight or to any of their UK partners below is stocks run thin.

Windows 7 pre-order sites UK

Amazon
Currys
Dixons
Micro Anvika
PC World
Play.com
Tesco
Microsoft
Argos
Comet
Ebuyer.com,
John Lewis Partnership,
Littlewoods,
Staples

After yesterday's mammoth list of the 101 best iPhone apps we decided there was a little bit more room... for a list of the iPhone's top 10 music applications.

These are apps that help you to listen to or discover music, rather than create or learn to play music.

As usual, if your favourite isn't listed here, feel free to let us know in the comments.

Click the image below to start the tour.

Following Google's Chrome OS announcement yesterday, there is much speculation on the web today that Microsoft is going to make a big announcement of their own at their conference on Monday.

The rumours began after notorious tech-blogger Robert Scoble claimed via FriendFeed to have some information regarding a possible announcement to his pal Diego. "Diego, no, it's one of Microsoft's primary businesses," he wrote. "Did you know Microsoft has 14 billion dollar businesses?"

Reports are now suggesting the Microsoft may be announcing a new version of Office that not only syncs via the cloud, but will work in the cloud without the need for any actual software to be installed.

If true, this would be a major attack on Google Docs. It's interesting to note that the domain office.com has recently been sold and is currently unoccupied. I wonder.....

Be sure to visit Tech Digest on Monday where we'll be bringing you any important news from the Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans.

(via TechCrunch)

In celebration of the App Store turning one this weekend, and in an attempt to try to prove to Dan that it's not a load of novelty nonsense, I now present to you the 101 best iPhone apps in the world today.

Quite some claim, huh? I know that one of your favourites won't be listed here, and you'll be shocked, appalled or just mildly ticked off that I've dared to include X or Y by Company Z, but there you go -- that's lists for you.

Feel free to tell us what your favourite iPhone apps are. I've tried to include a cross-section of games, serious apps, productivity, lifestyle and other apps, but of course I'm biased. I'd be happy to have all of these on my iPhone. Some of them are free, some are rather pricey, but I believe they're worthy of the list.

Just don't blame me if you buy something from this list and don't like it. Deal?

Here we go. Hop over the jump to see the list.

Google has announced plans today to launch an entire computer operating system under the Chrome banner to take the fight to Microsoft's very heartland. It's initially aimed at netbooks but it's pretty clear that the grand plan is total PC domination.

Being Google the platform will be entirely open source with the code available to developers in the coming weeks. It'll be a light-weight system, presumably with a strong emphasis on the a software suite in the cloud. Small wonder we saw Gmail and the Docs leave beta yesterday.

Their aim is to produce something from the bottom up for the always-connected web generation of computing, something that, unlike Windows, does not rely on a core architecture already known for its weakness to malware. To do both Microsoft and Google some justice here though, Windows has been redeveloped quite some number of times and it's not as if Chrome OS is going to be a completely fresh start. It's already based on Linux which has been around for years.

What's more, one of the reasons Windows is more susceptible to attack than any other OS is because 90% of computers run it. It makes sense for hackers to aim their guns at it. The same will be true for any OS with majority market share.

Presumably Chrome OS will be free which is the real bonus to us all. It'll also have PC manufacturers rubbing their hands with glee as they'll no longer have to pay whacking great licenses to Microsoft. Doubtless that saving will also be passed on to us.

I'm not saying that Google are the good guys but it makes little difference who out of them and Gates, Ballmer & Co. has the monopoly. So, I'll stick with the one who charges me less and, besides, I've had enough of scratching around for product keys on lost CD cases.

(via Gblog)

I know, I know. Pick up your jaw. We'd all rather got used to the fact that Gmail and all the Google apps were in some sort of permanent beta over the last five years. Google has now decided that the time is right for their web software to be fully-fledged in its own right but not because it's passed a bunch of tests.

It seems that all sorts of potential users - largely in the corporate world - might have been put off by the idea of using software that was only half ready or half safe or experimental or whatever the connotation might have been. So, by removing the label, Google hopes to be removing the stigma too.

They promise to continue developing their mail and office products all the same but those of a nervous disposition may now use the joy of the software in piece. If you haven't, I heartily recommend you do. If, however, you don't see things Google's way, then try this lot.

GBlog

Struggling along on your Windows-based PC and considering moving over to Linux?

Here are five reasons why you should make the switch.

1. Lots of free software available

If your PC doesn't already have a Linux distro (the geek cool name for a particular distributed version of the operating system) installed on it, and you're a tech-head then you can generally get the Linux operating system itself for free

If you want support and instructions on setting it up you can pay a software company for this.

However, once it's set up and running, you'll find a wide variety of useful software packages already available that will let you do pretty much anything you're likely to want to do.

It's true that there are more versions of Linux available than of Windows or Mac OS X, but you can find out more about the user-friendly Ubuntu flavour of Linux in Duncan's How to get all the music and software you want for free and legally talk.

32 years old and still going strong, Apple has launched a huge range of hardware and software in that time.

Not all of it was great, and there were some very dark years at Apple in between Steve Jobs' two reigns. Nevertheless, picking the ten greatest Apple products of all time hasn't been easy.

Here's my attempt. I'm sure you have your own ideas.

Click on the image below to start

I'd like to sit here all smug saying we told you so after Acer let the cat out of the bag about a month ago but, as it stands, Windows 7 will actually be available one day earlier than we said. Can you ever forgive us?

Microsoft has promised that most retailers and manufactures will run an upgrade scheme for those who recently purchased Vista machines - we already know that Dell is a likely candidate - but it looks like only those with Vista Starter, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate will be included with no joy for those who opted for Basic. That'll teach you to skate cheap.

Both the Windows 7 beta and release candidate have been well received and you'd think that the this full version will sit far better with the public than Vista ever has, despite being more or less identical. I'd still rather run XP after using the 7 beta for a while now but then perhaps I'm just a stick in the mud. It's very sticky and muddy down here. Probably best you do your own thing.

(via Windows Blog)

At last, Skype has come up with a new version of their VoIP software that I actually want to download for reasons beyond the fact that it happens to be the latest. The Skype 4.1 beta sees the addition of screen sharing across Windows, Mac and Linux plus other trinkets like birthday reminders and a more in-depth contacts search.

Naturally, none of this costs any extra and, in case you're worried about the privacy issue, it's totally up to you whether you share the whole screen or just a part of it.

I may not be enamoured by gmail but I'm a sucker for Google Chrome. I admit it. So, it brings me great pleasure that the G-Lords have just updated their browser by making it 30% faster at loading Java-heavy pages and added a couple of features too.

The new version of Google's WebKit, on which the sofware's based, and the V8 Java engine are to thank for a lot of the improvement but, if it's tweaks you're after, then you'll be pleased to hear they've added the form autofill and a degree of discretion by allowing you to delete thumbnails from the "most viewed pages" section. What you browse when you're not reading Tech Digest will, of course, go no further.

If you haven't tried Chrome, I'd recommend giving it a blast. If you're using Firefox, I'm not going to argue. I'd risk the wrath of a certain Mr Rawlins if I didn't give a shout out to Opera and, if you're using IE, please stop.

(via Google Blog)

The addiction that is gmail has added yet another feature to its burgeoning tool kit in the shape of an automatic translator. "Yay," I hear you cry, "now, I can read about cheap VIaGra in all the languages I can possibly be spammed in." Thanks gmail.

If you'd like to sample this dawning of a new age, you'll have to switch on the Google Labs feature to enjoy it. It'll automatically translate whatever e-mails arrive in your inbox in Johnny Foreigner's tongue and put them into Google's version of your own land's language.

Naturally, it's bound to produce large piles of unintelligible nonsense whenever it has a go at proper nouns or anything approaching an idiom, so it could be worth it just for the craic. And the VIaGra.

(via Shiny Shiny)

Nero has taken an interesting step, today, a little away from media software specialist to more of a home IT solution package with the launch of BackItUp & Burn.

The idea is to provide an incredibly simple way for people to copy and save their data without having to think or know too much about what's going on - or remembering to do it for that matter. Nero has minimized the footprint as much as possible and kept the interface design in a similar vein to well known Windows products like Outlook to promote whatever warm glow that may bring.

The software allows you to back up to HDD, CD, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, FTP, memory card and online too as well as synchronising files and folders and scheduling activity along with all the norms you'd expect.

It's available for a very reasonable £29.99 for the downloadable version and, provided you actually buy software, that's pretty hard to argue with even if you only use the package for burning. Definitely worth a look.