By Chris Scott Barr

Whenever I build a new computer, there are certain pieces of software that need to be installed. Things like VLC, iTunes, OpenOffice, Flash, .NET and a host of others are essential to my everyday computing. Generally I’ll take some time to install each of these individually just after the OS is loaded. I’ve always thought it would be nice if there was an easy way to just install all of them at once. It seems that my wish has come true.

Ninite is a small piece of software that lets you install up to 59 different pieces of software in the background, with almost no interaction from you. All you have to do is head over to the Ninite website, select which programs you want and download the installer. It will automatically install the software you selected (while saying ‘No’ to any extra toolbars or other annoying add-on programs). This is definitely one of the coolest discoveries I’ve come across in a while.

[ Ninite ] VIA [ Dvice ]

Being able to trim clips was a nice addition to the iPhone 3GS’ video recording capabilities, but sometimes you just want to do a bit more before sending your videos off to YouTube for the world to judge them. Now before the original iPhone was released there were rumors that a stripped down version of Final Cut Pro might be secretly included, but that never came to fruition. But the ReelDirector app from Nexvio looks like a pretty decent alternative.

It lets you do everything from adding titles and credits, to editing and re-arranging clips on a timeline, to adding transitions, but what better way than a video to show you what a video editing app is really capable of?

ReelDirector is available on the App Store right now for a mere $7.99.

[ ReelDirector ] VIA [ Twitter @steverubel ]

By Chris Scott Barr

I used to work in retail for several years selling computers and such. One of the things that always seemed to surprise customers was just how much Microsoft Office really cost. They would usually get frustrated with me, since I was in charge of Microsoft’s prices. Usually a lot of them qualified for a Student and Teacher edition, which saved them a good bit of cash. Of course once OpenOffice came out, I would generally recommend that they download it, and not pay a dime. About half of them would, and since I didn’t make commission, we would both be happy.

I’ve been using OpenOffice for a long while now, and have few complaints. There is really very little that makes me want to turn back to Microsoft’s offerings. I mean you can’t beat free, right? As it turns out, they’ve been thinking along the same lines and will be offering a free version of their suite dubbed ‘Office Starter 2010′.

As you would imagine, this is not a free as in beer version. This particular edition will be given to OEMs to install (at their discretion, so not all will necessarily have it) on new computers. The programs will be ad-supported, though we don’t know exactly what that will entail.

Users will have access to full versions of all the Office programs, minus Outlook and PowerPoint. I’d imagine PowerPoint was left off to entice students and office workers to pony up the cash for it. If you do end up wanting to purchase the full Office suite and get rid of the ads, you can go to your local retailer and purchase an activation code which will unlock it.

I’ll definitely have to commend Microsoft on this decision. In a world where Google Docs and OpenOffice are making real headway, they needed to do something. People love free stuff, and as long as the ads aren’t too obtrusive, people will have little reason to turn to other alternatives. Either way, customers win.

[ Microsoft ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Chris Scott Barr

With a rise in netbooks and a new version of Windows on the way, there are plenty of users who find themselves in a bit of a pickle. Sure, you can go out and buy an external optical drive just for installing the OS, but who wants to do that? Besides, discs are too easily scratched and otherwise damaged. So why not instead use a flash drive to load Windows?

WinToFlash looks as though it would be a great solution for those with a netbook, or any other computer that’s not equipped with an optical drive. Basically, this free utility transfers your Windows installation disc to a bootable USB drive. Then when you’re ready to install your OS, just pop it in (make some BIOS adjustments if your computer doesn’t boot from USB by default) and you’re on your way. If it works like they claim, I might just start loading Windows from a flash drive. I hate dealing with discs when I don’t really need to.

[ WinToFlash ] VIA [ Lifehacker ]

We don’t cover a lot of software here at OhGizmo!, but once in a while we come across an app that we feel is worth mentioning. Like Sudoku Grab for the iPhone, which is the perfect tool for those who like to tackle Sudoku puzzles, but never seem to have any success in solving them. You just take a shot of the puzzle using the iPhone’s camera (obviously the 3GS probably provides better results) and the application will automatically solve it in just a few seconds. You can also choose to actually play the puzzle on the iPhone first, once the numbers have all been converted, but why put up with all that frustration? $1 available from the iTunes App Store.

[ iTunes App Store - Sudoku Grab ] VIA [ Fosfor ]

By David Ponce

Here’s all I really know. There’s a laser. And it’s doing a pretty good job of following the contours of random Sharpie markings on a sheet of white paper. But then there’s some kind of sound mated to all the goings on. The YouTube page lists a bunch of people involved with what seems to be some kind of project… but details are scant.

It’s trippy, that’s for sure, which is why I’m writing about it. Lasers, some kind of software, trippy sounds… what’s not to like?

VIA [ Geekologie ]

Google has announced the development of an operating system (totally separate from Android) called Chrome OS, designed to be a fast, lightweight, kinda web-based system for mobile computing that we should see showing up netbooks in the second half of 2010. Chrome OS will leverage Google’s experience with cloud-based computing by heavily integrating the operating system with the web browser in much the same way that Google Applications currently do. If you’ve ever used Google Docs, for example, you’ve got the functionality of a word processing application, except it’s running in a browser environment.

There are certainly going to be many advantages to this approach, one of which is a start-up time of “a few seconds” from off (or some approximation thereof) to the internet. Applications will operate more like browser plug-ins, making them easy to develop and distribute and streamlining cross-platform compatibility. And thanks to the cloud, my guess is that nearly everything you do on your computer running Chrome OS will live, to some extent, on a Google server somewhere, safe and accessible and benevolently monitored.

It’s not likely that Chrome OS will offer much in the way of competition to Windows, and in a way, they’re not really comparable operating systems. For many people, all that they use Windows for is internet and email and probably some media, and in that case, the fact that Windows is Windows is largely irrelevant: it’s just the thing that runs the web browser. Chrome OS has a chance to be great at this, since what it really is is a web browser, as long as it stays true to what it should be, and doesn’t get bogged down with what it isn’t.

Details from Google, after the break.

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we’re already talking to partners about the project, and we’ll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems. While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google.

We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files. Even more importantly, they don’t want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates. And any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet.

[ Announcement ] VIA [ BBG ]

It’s hard to deny the popularity of tweeting when people are actually writing Twitter clients for ‘ancient’ hardware like the Commodore 64. BREADBOX64 was written by Johan Van den Brande for the C64/128 and uses the Contiki embedded OS as well as an MMC Replay cartridge with the RR-Net add-on for actually connecting to the internet. The Twitter timeline is automatically refreshed every two minutes, and though it might not be as graphically pleasing or robust as other PC clients, the basic functionality is there should you ever find yourself stuck with only an old C64 and a desperate need to microblog.

And BREADBOX64 is available as a free download on Johan’s site, just scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the link.

[ Vandenbrande.com - BREADBOX64 ] VIA [ Slashdot ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Unless you’re running a Mac (yes, I went there), it’s almost a necessity to be running some sort of anti-virus on your machine. There are plenty to choose from, most of which cost a decent bit of money for a yearly subscription. Free ones also exist, but they always seem to be lacking a few important features. Well it seems that there will soon be another company tossing its hat into the ring of free anti-virus providers.

Microsoft is currently gearing up for a closed-beta of their new free anti-virus service, code-named Morro. It is described as a stripped-down version of their Live OneCare service. It’s hard to say a lot of bad things about a free anti-virus, so provided that Microsoft doesn’t find some way to royally screw things up, it should likely appeal to those that wouldn’t otherwise bother installing such software. No word on when they are planning to officially launch Morro.

[ Reuters ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

It’s an understatement to say the iPhone’s built-in camera isn’t the greatest, but that doesn’t mean the phone itself can’t be a useful tool for serious photographers. A company called Pixelexip has a couple of apps currently available on the App Store for $0.99 each that might come in handy, even if you’re shooting with thousands of dollars worth of professional camera equipment.

LightSource turns your iPhone (or iPod Touch) into a customizable light panel for accenting still-life or low light photo shoots. In reality the app is nothing more than another flashlight, but it features a wide array of settings for specific light sources like fluorescent or gaseous lights, and it could be just the thing for adding a distinct catch light in your subject’s eyes, or adding a specific tint to a scene.

GrayCard is basically the same idea, another glorified flashlight, but it turns your iPhone into an adjustable gray card for white balance reference and corrections later on. You simply select how your scene is lit, daylight or tungsten lighting, as well as a cool or warm setting depending on how you want your shots to turn out. Now I’m actually a little skeptical as to how well this app would work when using a flash, given the iPhone’s reflective glass screen and limited viewing angle, but in certain situations it might be better than carrying around 20 different filters.

Thanks Wook!

[ Pixelexip - LightSource & GrayCard ]