September, 2012 - Softonic English

How to set up Do Not Disturb in iOS 6

iOS 6 adds a new feature called Do Not Disturb. It will mute calls or notification during specific hours of the day. With Do Not Disturb turned on, you will not receive any notifications for calls or alerts. The option is great if you work where noise can be distracting to yourself or others.

You can customize the feature to allow calls from specific contacts or disable calls altogether. Do Not Disturb also features a Repeated Calls function that will allow a second call from a contact within 3 minutes to ring normally in case of emergency.

After you update to iOS 6, Do Not Disturb can be used to either silence your device during the day or over night while you sleep. Since Notifications are also affected when using Do Not Disturb, it’s a good time to customize which apps you want or don’t want to push alerts to your device. The majority of apps contain at least one alert so unless you like seeing apps constantly push notifications, you can disable them too.

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Black Mesa, the fan-made Half-Life remake, is finally available

Eight years. That’s how long this fan-made re-imagining of Half-Life took to make. It’s an incredible feat for all of those involved and it’s finally available to download for free. If you’ve never played a Half-Life game, this is definitely the one to start with. If you’ve been a Half-Life fan, don’t think that Black Mesa has nothing more to offer than updated graphics.

Black Mesa has been re-scripted from the ground up. While the events in the game are lifted out of the original Half-Life; environments, voice acting, and musical score are all original. Once you start playing, you can see why this labor of love took eight years to make.

Black Mesa tells the story of scientist, Gordon Freeman, and the events that unfolded at the Black Mesa testing facility. Find out the origin story of the Combine invasion of Earth and re-experience this genre-defining game. Continue reading “Black Mesa, the fan-made Half-Life remake, is finally available”

Windows 8 Guide: Install an app on the Windows 8 Modern UI

Windows 8 will be released on October 26th. If you just can’t wait to take it for a spin, check out our review for the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, install it, and give it a try.

One of the most noticeable differences between Windows 8 and its predecessors is the Windows 8 Modern UI that sports a tiled interface. You can browse and install various apps to customize your desktop experience on this particular UI, which gives it an added appeal for those of us already familiar with adding apps to our smartphones.

Not sure how? Here’s an easy, four step approach to installing an app on the Windows 8 Modern UI. Continue reading “Windows 8 Guide: Install an app on the Windows 8 Modern UI”

Skype integrated with MSN Messenger

Microsoft has announced a new update to Skype for Windows and Mac which means users can now log in to Skype using their MSN Messenger account. This means that if you’ve got an MSN account, you can see when others are online and chat with friends who are using Messenger, Xbox, Hotmail or Outlook.com.

Skype has also been updated to be better integrated with Facebook. You can now sign in directly to Skype with your Facebook account details, without even having to create a Skype account.

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Is iTunes 11 enough to fight Spotify?

Apple announced yesterday that iTunes 11, which has been completely redesigned, will be released some time in October. The update to version 11 is one of the most dramatic redesigns of the venerable media player in recent memory.

iTunes 11 will take many cues from iOS, incorporating a better “edge to edge” experience. Gone is the persistent left bar for viewing playlists and different parts of the iTunes Store. Albums now expand when clicked on, revealing an enlarged and dynamically created background, which iTunes generates from analyzing the colors of album art. Pretty slick.

Along with interface tweaks, Apple has included tighter integration between your music library and the iTunes Store. Expanding an album will give you the option to view the artist’s iTunes store page to purchase more tracks. There will also be recommendations and trending charts to make music discovery easier.

There had been rumors leading up to yesterday’s announcement that Apple would release a streaming radio service that would compete with the likes of Pandora and Spotify. I was disappointed that Apple didn’t announce any streaming features during its keynote.

Is iTunes still relevant in a world where streaming radio and subscription music services dominate? Continue reading “Is iTunes 11 enough to fight Spotify?”

Make the grade with these 7 back-to-school apps

Whether you’re ready for it or not, schools have started back up again in the US. Last year, we highlighted some great desktop organization apps to commemorate the occasion.

Each of those apps was a great tool for ensuring you kept your schedule straight, assuming you were in your dorm room near your desktop computer or had a laptop you could tote around with you. This year, we’re focusing on some more generalized tips to make your school year a bit less stressful.

Here are seven apps that can make your life a little easier when it comes to your studies. Continue reading “Make the grade with these 7 back-to-school apps”

iOS 6 features don’t work everywhere

The iOS 6 keynote reinforced the features of the new operating system that will be releasing on September 19th, 2012. Features like Maps are new to iOS 6, and while they are available in the United States, other countries may have a more limited experience.

iOS 6 updates Siri and features better results, but there are still older devices used worldwide. A user in the United States will experience a full iOS 6 update, but what will a user in another country get?

Looking from a perspective outside the United States, it’s apparent that there’s a little less to be excited about. While core features work, the lack of extended functions in some countries is disappointing.

If Apple is promoting iOS to be the best mobile operating system available, it needs to work on making sure that more features are available worldwide.

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Apple announces release of iOS 6 and new iTunes

After WWDC 2012 and experiencing the iOS 6 beta, there are a lot of improvements to the operating system. The mobile team at Softonic highlighted their choices for the best new features. Apple’s keynote solidified the features that will be present when it launches next week.

It’s been 5 months since WWDC and the multiple beta versions have revealed a lot of interesting smaller features that were not shown during WWDC 2012. But some features like Passbook were not functional during the beta and they weren’t properly demoed during the keynote.

Here’s what Apple announced:

Continue reading “Apple announces release of iOS 6 and new iTunes”

Editors’ choices: 8 best new features of iOS 6

The release of the new version of iOS today will bring with it a host of great new features. If you’re planning to get an iPhone 5 or iPad Mini, or upgrade your existing Apple device to iOS 6, you’ll be able to do much more with your Apple smartphone or tablet than you could up to now.

We’ve known about the new features of the latest operating system for some time, and you can read in more depth in the guide to what’s new in iOS 6 we published after Apple’s WWDC 2012. A full, final list of every change can be found on the Apple iOS 6 site.

But what are the changes in the new operating system that will really make a difference to our day-to-day use of iPhones and iPads? We asked the mobile experts from across Softonic’s international network of sites to explain the new iOS 6 that will have the biggest impact on their usage of Apple products.

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Hands on: Steam’s new Big Picture mode

For months there has been speculation that Valve would bring their cloud gaming platform, Steam, to the living room. With the newest Steam beta, Valve is launching its assault on the console gaming market. Valve is now testing a new feature called ‘Big Picture,’ which gives the desktop version of Steam a TV and controller friendly interface.

PC gamers are some of the most passionate, investing thousands of dollars in expensive computer equipment but most people value the convenience and low cost of console gaming. A gaming console is much cheaper than a gaming PC and doesn’t need to be upgraded, especially if users want the latest and greatest graphics cards. While Valve isn’t attacking console gaming on the hardware front, Steam and its Big Picture interface is definitely attacking consoles on the software front.

Let’s take a look at how Valve has transformed Steam to work on the television. Continue reading “Hands on: Steam’s new Big Picture mode”