Even though it's an old app, Google Talk continues to be a really popular app. It's no wonder - it's reliable, easy to use and much simpler than some of the more flashy IMs out there. If you're just getting started with the app, or you have a few doubts, we've answered the top questions about Google Talk below. Take a look...

How to sign up

This couldn't be easier. You need a Google Account, which you can get here. If you have an email address that ends with gmail.com, googlemail.com or you've got a personalized Google domain, then you don't need to do anything - your login details are also your Google Talk login information.

Then, download and install the Google Talk desktop client. The installation process is very easy, and when you see the login screen appear, just enter the login details mentioned above. That's it! As soon as you see the main interface appear, you're free to start chatting!

The desktop version of Chrome is one of my favorite browsers. Considering that I'm entrenched in Google with Google+, Gmail, Google Music, and my Android phone running 2.3.4 (Gingerbread represent!); it's nice to have everything connected.

On Android devices, depending on the hardware maker, the stock browser is bad. Meaning almost worthless to view anything. My 4G LTE connection doesn't even help. Third party browsers like Dolphin Browser HD are great alternatives, but even they have loading issues.

Now Google has Chrome in Beta, I'm very interested if the speed of the desktop program can be matched on Android 4.0.

Even in beta, Chrome is almost perfect.

There are three simple ways to check and control uTorrent remotely: two browser-based, and a little Android app that is just as easy to use as the uTorrent desktop client.

First of all, you need to open Preferences in uTorrent, click on 'Remote', then enable remote access. Give your computer a name and associated password and you're ready to go:

To connect remotely, use one of the following three methods:

There are now thousands of apps and extensions for Google Chrome. I've selected ten of the most interesting and useful to get you started. As you'll see, browser customization is no longer a Firefox-only affair, and Chrome makes installing apps and extensions incredibly easy, so try them out!

Evernote Web Clipper

Much easier than searching your history, and much more flexible, Evernote is an excellent way of keeping pages, links and articles you like. Evernote is like a well-organized web scrapbook, and can quickly become something you rely on. Download here.

M86 Security Secure Browsing

Have you or any of your friends ever been caught out by clicking a scam link on Facebook or elsewhere? This extension checks links on a page and tells you what is genuine and safe. Download here.

Awesome Screenshot

There are many reasons you might want to take a screenshot of a webpage, and Awesome Screenshot makes it really easy. It also features an annotate and edit function, so you can highlight or point to the important areas of the page. Download here.

Boldy going where many MMORPGs have gone before, Star Trek Online goes free-to-play this morning.

On its original release, Cryptic Studios' take on Star Trek had a generally lukewarm reaction. Despite the huge possibilities that the Star Trek universe offers, it felt bland and lacked character. Thankfully since then there have been lots of updates and episodic content to play through.  The Space combat was exactly what fans wanted, but down on planets, Star Trek Online felt like a bit of a grind. I was surprised by this, as Cryptic's super-hero MMORPGs are some of the best in the genre, and great fun to play.

We'll be taking another in-depth look at Star Trek Online later today when the Free to Play version is released - lets hope more fun has been injected into the game, as the camp humor of the series should be able to differentiate it from po-faced Star Wars The Old Republic!

You can sign up for a free Star Trek Online account here. Cryptic Studios' other MMORPGs, City of Heroes Freedom and Champions Online Free for All are still available to play for free, and are highly recommended!

Smartphone users can now listen to free music through Grooveshark on their device thanks to the launch of a new mobile web app from the music streaming service.

Grooveshark’s native apps were removed from both the Apple App Store and Android Market last year due to record label complaints. However, Grooveshark has now launched an HTML5-based music streaming service – effectively bypassing the app store owners since approval is not needed.

The Grooveshark web app can be accessed through many mobile web browsers, supporting iOS, Android, BlackBerry and HP devices. To use the service, simply visit html5.grooveshark.com from your mobile and start listening.

You can use the Grooveshark web app to search for and listen to a particular song or artist, or hear playlists generated by genre through the Stations section. The Popular tab lists the most searched-for tracks of the moment. The Grooveshark web app has a compact and easy-to-operate user interface, although it lacks the range of features and functionality that the short-lived native Grooveshark app had.

Think back to the last time you used Facebook at someone else's house or an internet café. Now ask yourself, did you remember to sign out? Are you sure? Here's how to log out of Facebook remotely.

If you forgot to log out of Facebook while on a different computer to the one you normally use, the consequences can be catastrophic. If your account is logged in at your friends' house then 'you' suddenly might start posting some strange updates about yourself indicting you for various embarrassing things you haven’t actually done. Worse still, if it was on a public computer, all of your personal details, photos and messages are accessible to complete strangers. Still sure you signed out?

Luckily for you, there's an easy way to check wherever you are signed into Facebook – and close active sessions remotely. Even if you're 99% certain you've signed out it’s worth checking by following the process below – you might regret it if not!

1. Account settings

Click on the little down-facing arrow in the top-right of your Facebook page and choose Account Settings.

2. Security

Now click on the Security option in the left-hand menu.

3. Active sessions

Click the Edit button that appears next to Active Sessions, which you'll find at the bottom of the Security settings window. Here you can see the current session you're logged in on (which should be the computer you’re using). Crucially, you can also see information about all other sessions where you'e currently still logged in. Click the End Activity button to close down a session and prevent access to your account from that machine.

Via OnSoftware Spain

Tumblr's on the move again when it comes to adding new features. This time it's a new way to privately message other users.

Called Fan Mail, this new features allows Tumblr users to send stylized messages to blog users they're following. Currently there are two skin options for the message body and three font choices, one of which looks like actual handwriting. Just type in the username of the blog you want your message sent to, pick your style options and write your message.

According to Tumblr founder and CEO, David Karp, you'll be able to send unlimited private messages via Fan Mail, which can be accessed through your Tumblr inbox, the avatar drop-down menus of the users you follow and on the top corner of the main page on each blog you follow. Unlike the current messaging system, you can't post Fan Mail messages publicly on your blog without the use of a screen capture program.

Tumblr has a history of adding new features and making big changes to the dashboard interface, so this new feature isn't necessarily a surprise. What might surprise some users though is that Tumblr developers have chosen to focus on this particular feature. Tumblr already has a private messaging system that, until recently, allowed unlimited messages (asks) to be sent. In the past few months, however, this feature has been limited, both by restricting the number of daily messages you can send and limiting the characters each message can contain. While Fan Mail does look neat, some users might find it a little redundant or wonder if it's meant to replace the current ask feature altogether.

What are your thoughts on Fan Mail? Does it have potential or is it just plain unnecessary?

The recent news that Google was inadvertently promoting it's own browser Google Chrome to the top of Google rankings highlights concerning issues for software users, developers and the integrity of the blogosphere.

If you don't know the story, Google were employing PR firm Unruly Media to promote Google's own browser Chrome. Nothing wrong with that but unbeknown to Google, Unruly Media were paying bloggers to promote Google Chrome on blogs. To be fair to them, the posts did state "This post is sponsored by Google" in the search results but they helped rapidly improve Chrome's search engine rankings which is strictly against Google's code of ethics on paid links.

When search engine specialist sites SEO Book and Search Engine Land spotted what was going on, Google - to their credit - immediately took action and are now "punishing" the rankings of their own browser for the next 60 days.

The incident highlights three main points of concern.

1. Potential conflict of interest

This incident was largely out of Google's control and to some extent, it has simply become a victim of it's own success. Over the past ten years, it has gone from a simple search engine company to one that develops its own software. The battle for browser supremacy is so intense - and so incredibly lucrative to the winner - that it's perfectly understandable that Google employed a PR firm to try and help boost Chrome rankings in its own search engine. The problem is exactly that however - that the battle is taking place in its own search engine and Google is caught between a rock and a hard place in how to conduct the battle. The company have to tread a very difficult line between promoting their own product Chrome, but not unfairly "favoring" it in Google rankings through various means.

2.Pitfalls of outsourcing marketing

The problem is that once Google has relinquished some marketing control over its products, it's not as easy for it to check if is living up to its own code of ethics. Presumably, any company that enters into a marketing agreement with Google has to agree to abide by the company's ethics code. However, it's obviously not as easy for Google to keep tabs on absolutely every marketing campaign being used by PR firms it works with. The result may be an unfair playing field for developers trying to develop competing products and a bum deal for users who aren't necessarily getting the best product for their needs when they perform a Google search.

3. Reliability of the blogosphere

When blogs first appeared, they were an outlet for people to express their feelings and thoughts on whatever issue took their fancy without any commercial influences and as such, have built up a highly trustworthy reputation. Today, blogs that look highly personalized may be heavily tainted by advertisers or corporate funding making it hard for users to know whether the information they are reading is trustworthy. The result is "personalized" blog posts that don't reflect the user's opinion - exactly what happened in this case as is amply highlighted here. This kind of problem has been brewing for some time and Frederic Filloux wrote one of the most thoughtful articles about it in "The Blogosphere's Soft Corruption" following the TechCruch-Arrington saga.

Of course, you can always rely on us here at OnSoftware to bring you our honest opinions and thoughts on software, and check out our reviews of Google Chrome for Windows and Mac.

[Image courtesy of Search Engine Land]

Mozilla has released the latest Alpha version of Firefox - Firefox 11 Aurora. Most of the major changes in Firefox 11 Aurora are in the Android version, which now finally supports Adobe Flash and has a native Android interface. Syncing has been temporarily removed, however.

For Windows and Mac users the User Account Control panel has been withdrawn after installation and you can now import bookmarks from Chrome.

Other changes are mainly under the hood, including more support for HTML5 and Google's SPDY protocol for faster site loading can now be tested. In addition, there's support for 3D web page visualization and HTML5 video controls have been redesigned. There are no major changes to the appearance.

Note that Firefox 11 Aurora is an developmental release and therefore can be unstable and may not work with many add-ons. If you want the stable version (version 9), you can download it here for Windows and Mac.

Download Firefox 11 Aurora for Windows or Mac.

Facebook has launched a beta version of Facebook Messenger for Windows which allows you to chat with your contacts from your desktop. At the moment, it is only available to a small number of selected beta testers.

Facebook Messenger for Windows not only lets you communicate with your Facebook contacts but also gives you access to your news feed and message notifications giving you access to all the essential tools of Facebook.

The interface of Facebook Messenger for Windows is very clear and divided into two separate windows. One is dedicated to contacts and feeds like the right column of Facebook and the other opens chats. Any notifications appear as pop-ups on your desktop.

Note that although this is the first official Facebook desktop app, there are already several programs that allow you to chat with Facebook contacts including Digsby Trillian Astra, Nimbuzz and Skype.

Download Facebook Messenger for Windows

Mozilla has released the final version of Firefox 9 beta meaning it won't be long before it is confirmed as the next stable version of Firefox.

The latest update features improvements to Javascript that Mozilla claims boosts performance by over 30 percent. Mozilla has also tweaked Javascript with something called Type Inference for faster loading times. The other improvement is greater theme integration and swipe navigation for Mac OS X users.

Mozilla's frequent update policy still isn't popular with users - especially because they don't seem to deliver major improvements and break add-ons. Let's hope when the final version of Firefox 9 is confirmed, the transition will be smoother and the improvements more noticeable.

You can download Firefox 9 beta final for Windows and Mac or just wait for it to update automatically.

There are a lot of great photos online, and Pinterest aims to be the place where you save all the online images you like. Never lose a picture you enjoyed somewhere on the internet again!

Pinterest is a social photo sharing service that lets you create folders to organize content you find online. Called pinboards, these folders can be tailored directly to your interests and even organized into more specific sub-categories to make them searchable to other users.

You can easily add images you find online to your pinboards, either manually or in Chrome with a one-click add-on. Alternatively, you can also upload images saved on your computer directly to the site. Just be sure to add a link back to the original source or credit the author by name if possible. If you find something you like within Pinterest's website itself, there's a feature that lets you "Repin" an image and add it directly to the pinboard of your choice. In this way, Pinterest is a kind of hybrid between photo sharing website We Heart It and microblogging platform Tumblr that allows users to reblog other peoples' pictures and posts. Simply liking an image, as well as commenting, is also possible.

Currently, Pinterest is an invite-only service. That said, I requested an invite and it took about a week to receive notice back that I could create an account and join. You can log into Pinterest via either your Facebook or Twitter account once you've received an invite, which makes sharing even easier. There's also an app for the service available for iPhone. Even without an invite, you can freely browse the public pinboards that have already been posted up by other users, making it well worth a look.

A new web service has been launched that turns your Facebook profile into a book. Fonicle will take all your Facebook status updates, photos and comments and turn them into a publication.

The service has been created by the brains behind Twournal, which lets users print their Twitter timelines as a book. Fonicle users can get a PDF version of their Facebook book for free, or order a printed and bound copy either in color or black and white.

Fonicles can be customized with personalized covers and messages, making them an ideal Holiday gift for Facebook addicts!

Voddler has the potential to be a great film service although the lack of film choice in the Spanish pilot version and general usability still need much improvement for it to be really popular.

Just under two years ago we were on the first blogs to test and review video-on-demand service Voddler plus we brought you an exclusive interview with co-founder Mathias Tönnesson. We've now had chance to see how far it's come as Voddler starts a wider European-wide roll-out in Spain. Note that Voddler is still only available in limited regions.

Voddler started out as purely a desktop client but the company soon decided to integrate it with a web based service after numerous security breaches and complaints about usability from users.

To stream films in your browser, you need to download the desktop client. There is also an offline client available for download which allows you to play films you have paid for without a net connection.