On the seemingly eternal search for the killer app, we have weekly covers on some of the new and exciting applications for iPhone.  Although that killer app may be ever-elusive, you may be able to find a killer app to last you through the week.  Read on for this week's list of great iPhone apps that you may want to try.

Fonolo

Have you ever tried getting in contact with a company or customer service hotline only to find yourself spending an entire day on hold or talking to numerous people, none of which could answer your needs?  Fonolo is an iPhone app that seeks to prevent such situations by providing you with a complete and comprehensive directory of company support phone numbers.  Get the number of the exact person that you want to speak with, call them, manage your contact information, take down notes, and listen to call recordings, all in one nifty app.  The best part is, Fonolo is free.

NBC Olympics

Definitely worthy of the title for killer app of the week, NBC Olympics is an app that gives you an overview of the 2010 Winter Olympics.  The Winter Olympics is currently ongoing, hosted in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  This international multi-sports event began on February 12, and it will be on-going until the end of the month, February 28.  The NBC Olympics app gives you great coverage of the competition, providing you with a total listing of the sports events, schedule, and results of the 2010 Winter Olympics.  This free app is definitely worth downloading if you are into winter sports, would love to follow the Olympics, or are simply a nationalistic individual who wants an app to follow your nation's progress in the Olympics and perhaps even do a little trash-talking through the app's social features.

Sky Siege

You know those times when you're just sitting around or walking around with nothing much to do?  Sky Seige is a great iPhone game that can help you pass time or simply have some plain, good fun.  This augmented reality first person shooter will have you aiming your iPhone in the air, shooting down helicopters, blimps, and planes.  It's an easy game to pick up and play, it has good graphics, and it's tons of fun.  Grab it for your 3GS at $3.

Doom II

Another great game currently in the market is a rehash of the classic game Doom.  Instead of the traditional first person shooter style of the Doom franchise, the Doom II app is a role-playing game that has translated well into its new genre.  Similar in gameplay to the Wolfenstein RPG app, gamers will have lots of fun with this app.  Grab it from the app store for $3.

One of the most practical and convenient things that you can do to breath some life into your home entertainment system is to connect a computer to it and create a home theater personal computer.  Now, home theater personal computers are nothing new, but gizmos and gadgets are becoming more affordable and more accessible, making it easier than ever to turn your living room into a home theater with all of the perks of computer technology. One of the central components that you will need for your computer-powered home theater is a piece of software called a media center.  Media centers are basically pieces of software that offer a streamlined, integrated, all-in-one solution for managing, viewing, and listening to your media on your television, speakers, and over your wireless network.  This article will cover the advantages and benefits of three of the most popular media centers currently available: Boxee Media Center, XBMC Media Center, and Windows Media Center.

Advantages of Boxee

-  Boxee is a great media center because it comes with built-in Netflix and Hulu.  If you use either Hulu or Netflix, then Boxee will ensure that you have quick and streamlined access to these services.

-  This media player also has good support for various files and it makes use of a rehashed Firefox browser, which can practically play practically any sort of web video on the Internet.

-  Boxee's directory of web content applications is also growing, making it a great, all-in-one media center.

Advantages of XBMC

-  Perhaps the biggest advantage of XBMC is its open-source nature that allows for high customizablility by developers, coders, and hackers.
-  Another advantage is that XBMC doesn't take up too much system resources, but it is still a quick, responsive, and smooth program.
-  XBMC also makes file management easy with the use of meta-data and file-recognition features.  Add a new media file to your hard drive and XBMC will know where it is, what it is, and it can even grab reviews and ratings from the Internet.

-  Finally, XBMC has support for a wide variety of files, meaning that you won't have to fuss with converting files just to view or listen to them in XBMC.

Advantages of Windows Media Player

-  This media center has a free and easy-to-use digital video recorder (DVR), unlike other DVR services that require monthly fees.
-  There is a wide variety of Windows Media Player remote controls in the market.  Because of the wide variety of products out there, you can easily find the perfect remote control for your needs.

-  Networking is also quite simple and easy on the Windows Media Center, especially when connecting Windows-based systems.
-  Finally, the interface is navigable and easy on the eyes, even on high-definition resolutions.

Now, many of you have probably had dreams of making your own operating system that suits each and every of your needs and operates flawlessly while looking beautiful and sleek.  Anyone could probably think of one or more things that they would like to change about Windows 7, Snow Leopard, Linux, or any other operating system out there.  While many of us spend time dreaming and wishing that an operating system could be perfect, there are other people out there who are actually taking the initiative to make the perfect operating system.  One such person is a man named Barton Smith.  Late last year (2008), Barton Smith published his conceptualization of the future of operating systems.  He has dubbed his operating system Locus (unrelated to the Unix-based operating system of the same name developed by UCLA in the 1980s).  This article will cover some of the Locus features that are worth drooling over.

Combining cutting-edge technology with a cutting-edge operating system

These days, networking is all the craze.  Whether it has to do with local area networking, wireless networking, or wide area networking, the technology world is becoming increasingly interconnected.  Smith takes advantage of this fact by turning Locus into what he dubs a "location-based operating system".  Basically, the Locus operating system taps into Wi-Fi and GPS mapping systems to locate where the user is, seamlessly switching to user-set profiles depending on the location of the user.  For example, you can have profiles for your kitchen, living room, office, car travel, airplane travel, or any other location or activity.  When the operating system "senses" that you are in a particular location or partaking in a particular location, it will change to the corresponding profile or "panel" (as they are called in Locus) that you have made.  You can also change the panel whenever you want, so you have complete control over your operating system and your device.

Smooth and beautiful interface

One of the major pluses of Locus is that it not only has some amazing features, but it also looks beautiful.  There are currently videos of the Locus operating system concept that detail its design and functions.  Locus makes use of a system called Documents Explore, which makes for an integrated and seamless desktop experience.  Instead of opening various applications in different windows (much like the operating systems and programs of today), Locus allows users to simply touch or select documents which will then zoom to the front of the screen and the editing tools will fade in to allow you to work on the document.

With all of the great features that Barton Smith has thought up for his Locus operating system, it would be an understatement to say that this is something worth waiting for.  Personally, we can't wait for this operating system to come out (if it ever does).  Let's just hope that Smith's ideas don't get stolen before he can fully develop Locus into a working operating system.

New iPhone applications are coming out every day and it's no surprise, what with the huge user-base of the iPhone and other Apple products.  This article will cover some of the iPhone applications that are definitely worth checking out this week.  Whether you want an app for gaming, productivity, utility, or you simply want to keep your iPhone up to speed with the latest and greatest of apps, this article will give you a good idea of where to start.

Gaming:  Assassin's Creed 2

Assassin's Creed 2 is one of the most anticipated games recently released for consoles and the PC.  Ubisoft just recently released an iPhone version of Assassin's Creed 2, called "Assassin's Creed II Discovery".  You can grab the app for a reasonable price from the Apple App Store, but it's important to know that the game is 147mb in size and it has rather awkward controls.  Still, it's worth a try, especially if you're a big fan of the franchise.

Lifestyle:  Siri

Siri is perhaps one of the most useful applications currently in the app store.  This handy app makes use of voice recognition, search engines, and online concierge services to deliver a streamlined app that not only works great, but is free too!  All you have to do is say a command, such as "Book a table for two at Outback Steakhouse" and Siri will take care of the rest, responding with a confirmation or lack of availability.  Now, take into consideration that Siri connects with popular online services such as TaxiMagic, CitySearch, StubHub, OpenTable, and MovieTickets, and you can just imagine how useful this little app can be.

Useful:  Where Is My Phone

One of the most common problems that people have with their mobile phone is that they misplace it.  If you are one of those people who tends to misplace your iPhone, then you may want to get Where Is My Phone?  This is an affordable application that plays back one of the pre-recorded sounds (or a recording of your own) when it recognizes your whistle.  The developers claim that their app can hear your whistle from over 10 meters away, making this a very useful app, even if it's just for playing pranks by setting off the "fart" sound under the seat of an unsuspecting friend.

GPS:  MotionX GPS Drive

A new and improved version of MotionX GPS Drive has been released and this app is definitely worth grabbing.  This app has been deemed by some sites as one of the best and most affordable GPS apps out there.  The app is very reasonably priced and you can make it even more useful by subscribing to the turn-by-turn voice service that is definitely within your budget. This app is definitely worth checking out for GPS navigation.

It can be easy to forget to keep your computer tidy.  While some people get quite obsessive compulsive about keeping their computers clutter-free, many computer users are guilty of procrastinating basic computer cleaning tasks, such as deleting unneeded files, duplicate files, and other junk data that can (and probably should) be cleaned from their computers.  For this reason, someone thought it would be a good idea to schedule a "Clean Out Your Computer Day" on the second Monday in the month of February.  As such, February 08, 2010 was officially "Clean Out Your Computer Day".  If you didn't know there was such a day and you were unable to clean out your computer, it isn't too late and there is no better time to start cleaning up your computer than now.  Here are some great tips to clean up your computer to remove malware, free up disk space, and perhaps even improve performance:

1.  Start with your files

Perhaps the most gruelling computer cleaning task is finding files that can be erased.  Whether it's duplicate files, 0-byte files, or any other file that you no longer need, you can drastically increase your free hard drive space by giving your entire file system a thorough evaluation.  Open up your file manager and go through each folder with personal data, such as images, documents, videos, audio files, downloads, etc.  Erase everything that you no longer need.  You may want to delete these files to the recycle bin (if applicable) before permanently deleting them from your system.  This way, you can go over the files in the bin and undo any files that you deleted by accident, then you can permanently delete the rest.  Also, take this opportunity to organize your files if you haven't done this yet.

2.  Your inbox may need cleaning too

Those who are frequent email users often have hundreds or even thousands of email messages in their inbox.  If you are one of these people, you may want to take some time to go through your email inbox and delete any of the messages you no longer need.  You can also take this opportunity to organize your messages into folders so that your email account is spic and span.

3.  Get rid of malware

Viruses, spyware, and other malware can cause serious problems on your computer.  If you don't run scans regularly, now is the time to run full computer scans to catch and delete any and all unwanted malware. New antivirus software like norton 360 and ESET smart security is updated instantly from a signature database and stays fresh to protect your computer from threats.

4.  Backup your data and reinstall your operating system

Perhaps the best thing you can do to give your computer a fresh start is to backup your data and reinstall your operating system.  Oftentimes, operating systems can get bogged down from data and registry entries remaining from uninstalled programs.  Reinstalling your operating system can drastically improve your computer's performance.  Just remember to backup your data so you don't lose it in case you need to format your hard drive when installing your operating system.

5.  Hardware needs cleaning too

Finally, if you want to take Clean Out Your Computer Day seriously, you may want to open up your computer and give it a good cleaning.  Just make sure that you know what you're doing because you can easily damage your hardware if you aren't careful.  If you aren't sure about how to clean your computer hardware, you may want to have it done by a professional.

Managing your music files can be quite difficult and frustrating, especially if you're the type of person who makes use of multiple devices, such as computers, mobile phones, tablets, and portable music players.  Let's say, for example, that you bring a portable music player for that commute from home to the office.  It can be difficult keeping your portable music player synchronized with the latest audio files from your home computer.  Furthermore, you may want to keep your office computer synchronized with your music as well.  Keeping your music libraries synchronized across these platforms can be difficult, but there is a relatively new service that will help you out.  This service is called AudioBox.  Read on to learn about how AudioBox can change your life.

Store your files in a cloud

Online "cloud" storage is becoming quite popular these days and AudioBox is just another service that takes advantage of online storage.  With AudioBox, you can upload your files into a cloud, which you can then access through the Internet from various Internet-capable devices.  You can ensure that your files are kept private and secure, as they are only accessible through your account.  This means that your files will be safely backed up on the Internet, so you won't have to worry about deleting or misplacing your files on your devices.

Streaming made easy and convenient

The best part about AudioBox's services is that it allows you to stream your music to any Internet-compatible device.  You can access the files in your AudioBox cloud and stream them to any computer, mobile phone, portable music player, or any other device that can connect to the Internet.

Get media player functionality in a sleek package

AudioBox also makes use of a feature-rich media player that allows you to play your music straight from your Internet browser.  Aside from allowing playback, the online web application also allows you to create and delete playlists, filter your music by various categories (such as artist, genre, or song name), or change playback settings with the use of repeat or shuffle.  Best of all, the app makes it easier than ever to organize your files with the use of drag-and-drop controls.

Give it a try

AudioBox is currently in its beta stages, so you can try out the AudioBox services for free in the meantime.  The maximum file size you can upload to the server is 50mb, and you get a total of 250mb, which isn't huge, but it's good enough to get a steady library going.  When AudioBox is finally in its full version, users will get to choose between various pricing plans with bigger storage and the ability to upload even larger files.  AudioBox also has plans to expand their services in the future for the storing, viewing, and streaming of videos.

Windows 7 has been hailed as one of the best, if not the best, operating system. Among the many changes to Windows 7 that have made it such an excellent operating system are those made to the taskbar, most of which have been well-received by critics and the general Windows 7 population alike.  A wide range of graphical and functional changes have been made to the Windows 7 taskbar, making it perform much better, smoother, faster, and more intuitively, all while looking good at the same time.  Still many people prefer to have an application launcher dock in place of the taskbar. This article will cover some of the best Windows 7 compatible application launcher docks, as well as a nifty way to get rid of your taskbar to make your application dock the star of the [desktop] show.

Windows 7 compatible application launcher docks

*  RocketDock -  RocketDock has made a name for itself among the many application launchers and docks out there.  Aside from its primary application dock and application launching features, Rocket Dock also allows for full customization, a drag-and-drop interface, PNG and ICO icon support, auto-hide and pop-up features, positioning and layering options, portable application configuration, and support for a wide range of languages.

*  XWindows Dock -  This is an application dock that takes its cue from the Mac OS X dock. Some of the great features of this dock include customizable icons appearance and placing, support for numerous customized stacks, monitor folder options, and window minimizing features.

-  Circle Dock -  This is a great Open Source application launcher that has virtually limitless customization options.  The dock can be configured to pop out from your mouse cursor, or centered on your screen.  You can drag-and-drop files, rotate the wheel with your mouse wheel or keyboard arrows, change the look of the icons and skin of the dock, make use of customizable hotkeys, and much more.  This dock also supports compatibility with icons and skins from other docks, such as RocketDock and ObjectDock.

Eliminate your Windows 7 taskbar the easy way

Now, considering the rave reviews about the Windows 7 taskbar, it's hard to think of a reason why you would want to get rid of it.  If one of these application docks is good enough reason for you, however, you can grab the new Taskbar Eliminator 2.6 from Aviassin.  This is the simplest and easiest way to eliminate your taskbar.  All you have to do is download and install the application, then choose between the following options:

-  Hide taskbar
-  Show taskbar
-  Start with Windows
-  Don't start with Windows

The Taskbar Eliminator also has a hotkey default of "Alt + T" to show or hide your taskbar, or "Control + Alt + T" to show the Taskbar Eliminator preferences.

The iPhone has long been deemed by consumers as one of the best mobile phones in the market.  Aside from its phone functions, it also has a large touchscreen, Wi-Fi and wireless connectivity, relatively powerful hardware, a compact design, and a highly intuitive interface.  All of these features work great for phone usage and Internet browsing.  However, the iPhone has also become a powerful gaming machine thanks to these features and the many developers who make gaming software.  One of the biggest and most anticipated gaming apps soon to be released for iPhone is Sega's Ultimate Collection console emulator.  This article will cover some of the basics about this emulator and how you can get your hands on it.

What is a console emulator?

A console emulator is basically a piece of software that emulates a gaming console.  Some of the most popular console emulators include Nintendo, Super Nintendo, GameBoy, and Playstation 2 emulators that have been released for computers and other gadgets.  However, pne of the main problems is that most of these emulators were created by rogue programmers and developers who have no official backing from the companies that created the consoles, such as Nintendo, Sony, and Sega.  Because of this, legal disputes have always been an issue when it comes to console emulators and the read-only memory (ROM/ROMs) games that are run on the emulators.

In the past, Apple has been rather hands-off when it comes to gaming console emulators, specifically because of the fact that they can cause legal issues for the corporation.  There have been other console emulators released for the iPhone, but most of these have been pulled from the Apple App Store to avoid legal problems.  When it comes to the Ultimate Genesis emulator, however, Apple is all for it because the app has been fully and officially backed by Sega, the company behind the old gaming console called the Genesis.

How can you make use of the Ultimate Genesis emulator?

The Ultimate Genesis emulator app for the iPhone has not yet been released, although it is due for release in early February.  The app comes free from the Apple App Store and it comes with Space Harrier II.  After downloading and installing the app, you can then start playing Space Harrier II, and to play other games you will have to buy them from the Ultimate Genesis Collection.  Some of the games that are currently available include Sonic the Hedgehog for $5.99, Ecco the Dolphin for $2.99, and Golden Axe for $4.99.  What makes the Ultimate Genesis emulator so great is that the games will experience a boost in speed and performance, thanks to the fact that the emulator runs separate from the game, unlike some of the stand-alone Genesis titles that have been released as an emulator and game running simultaneously.

As ever, the browser war is in full effect with great, new updates on some of the most popular Internet browsers available.  When it comes down to judging between browsers, there are many different factors to consider, including customizability, user- and developer-friendliness, extension and add-on support, and the basic design of the browsers.  Aside from these factors, however, speed and performance are also essential to make a browser stand out from the rest.  This article will go over some of the speed and performance tests conducted on Firefox 3.6, Opera 10.5, and Chrome 4.

Overview of the browsers

These three browsers have long been favorites in the industry.  Firefox 3.6 has just recently been released, featuring a number of speed and performance increases, as well as support for a new theme system and new developer functions.  Chrome 4 is a highly-customizable, lightweight, and fast Internet browser that has won over many of its fans because of its simplicity, effectiveness, and efficiency.  Opera 10.5 is near its release date, but you can already try out the pre-release version of this browser, which has a number of intuitive and innovative built-in features.  Apple's Safari 4 will also be included in the testing. This is the newest version of the browser, which includes developer tools, website favorites, cover flow browsing, and some other great features.

Performance test results

*  Boot-up and warm loading -  So which browser will load the fastest from the time you open it to the time that it is fully up and functioning?  The fastest browser in both boot-up and warm loading tests was Opera 10.5 Beta, followed by Chrome 4, Firefox 3.6, and Safari 4.

*  JavaScript testing -  JavaScript is an essential component to any browser, which allows users and developers to get the most out of their software.  The best performer in the JavaScript testing was Opera 10.5 Beta, this time blowing the competition out of the water.  Coming in second is Chrome 4, then Safari 4 in third, and Firefox 3.6 in last place.

*  Tab loading -  These days, it isn't enough to have just one window open for browsing, which is why tabbed browsing has become a standard.  For this test, nine tabs were loaded on browsers that had clean histories, caches, and cookies to see which would load all of the tabs the fastest.  Chrome 4 took the cake, beating the competition by cutting the nine-tab load speed to nearly 50% of Opera 10.5 Beta's nearly 10-second load time.  In third place was Safari 4 and in last was Firefox 3.6.  There was little difference in loading times between Safari, Opera, and Firefox, however.

*  Memory use -  Memory usage is a big factor when it comes to the efficiency of any software.  When it comes to browsers, it's important to run a number of memory tests.  The first memory test was done on clean installs of the browsers, with no extensions.  Firefox 3.6 came in first place for the no extensions memory test, followed by Safari 4, Opera 10.5 Beta, and Chrome 4 in last.  In the browser war for memory use with extensions, Firefox 3.6 won out with the smallest memory footprint, while Chrome 4 came in second.

*  Overall ratings -  Overall, Opera 10.5 Pre-Alpha got the highest ratings, followed closely by Chrome 4.  Firefox 3.6 took third place, and Safari 4 was in a close fourth.

Wireless connectivity has quickly become a technological standard in new gadgets and gizmos.  Consumers like you and me expect pretty much every gadget we buy and own to be able to wirelessly connect, communicate, synchronize, and work together seamlessly.  One of the best uses of wireless connectivity is the ability to use your mobile phone to control your computers or laptops.  Hardware manufacturers have long been making wireless mouse and wireless keyboard technology, but now the new trend is is in mobile apps designed to allow you to use your mobile phone as a wireless keyboard and mouse for your other hardware.  In this article, we will cover three mobile apps that offer you some great functionality and features for complete, mobile, remote control of your computers.

Apps for the iPhone and iTouch:  Mobile Air Mouse Pro and Logitech Touch Mouse

Logitech has long been one of the leading hardware manufacturers for computer peripherals, especially when it comes to keyboard and mouse peripherals.  Just last week, Logitech released their Logitech Touch Mouse application on the iTunes App Store.  With this app, your iPhone or iTouch can connect to your computer or laptop through Wi-Fi.  You can then use your device as a multi-touch trackpad with some of the following options and functions:

-  Two- or three-button mouse emulation
-  Two-finger scrolling
-  Keyboard
-  Landscape or portrait mode
-  On-screen text display while you type

Like most remote mouse and keyboard software, you will have to install the Logitech Touch Mouse Server on the Mac or PC that you want to control.  The best thing about this software is that you can download it straight from the App Store, free of charge.

Mobile Air Mouse Pro

Another great remote control app for your iPhone or iTouch is Mobile Air Mouse Pro.  Mobile AIr Mouse Pro costs $1.99, but it comes with a number of extra features that can't be found in Logitech Touch Mouse.  Some of the great features on Mobile Air Mouse Pro include the following:

-  Trackpad with either vertical or horizontal orientation
-  Media keys (i.e., eject controls and volume controls)
-  Support for custom-scripted media and web remotes
-  Remote keyboard with function, arrow, and modifier keys
-  Programmable hotkeys
-  Foreign language support

Apps for the Android:  Gmote

For the Android, there are also a number of applications available for remote controlling your computer.  One of the most popular is Gmote.  Gmote is a free application that you can download and use in three, easy steps.  All you have to do is download and install the Gmote client for your Android device, then download and install the Gmote server for your computer, and finally launch Gmote from your phone and use it to connect to and control your computer.