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.

Humble Bundle Inc have released another set of games, but this time also for Android and it's a typically excellent selection.

The Humble Bundle is a collection of games where you pay what you want, supporting developers and charities.

This means that you can pay almost anything for the three games that are part of the sale: Osmos, EDGE, and Anomaly Warzone HD are the three games that Humble Bundle is offering.

If you pay more than the average purchase price, you also get World of Goo included, one of the best indie games ever made. Additionally you get the same games on PC, Mac, and Linux as well as the soundtrack to each game.

Reckless Racing 2 is released Thursday 2nd February for for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. The highly-anticipated sequel to one of the most popular mobile racing games cranks the action up a gear in what is a deeper and more ‘grown up’ experience.

This week we’ve been testing a preview release of Reckless Racing 2, and have loved every second of it. It boasts the same top-down Micro Machines-style gameplay as the original, only with lots more game modes, improved multiplayer and lots of upgradeable items.

Reckless Racing 2 tones down the hillbilly theme of the original, and the presentation is much more polished. In fact, it feels like developer Polarbit has spent a lot of time playing Gran Turismo during development of Reckless Racing 2!

iTunes is the main app for controlling iOS devices on your computer.  But when you're not near the computer that contains all your music and need to copy music from that device, iTunes can't help. Even manually managing an iOS device on another computer doesn't allow for exporting files.

The solution is very simple - use Sharepod: a free program that can access any iOS device. I recently replaced my iPod 3 Gen and used Sharepod to export my entire library off my old iPod to reload through a new computer. Here's a step by step guide:

1. Connect the device to your computer with the USB cable. Sharepod will load the device.

2.Select the files you want to export and click "Copy to computer."

Sharepod gives you options of where to save and the formatting of the folders for music.

3. After completing your options, click "Ok" and Sharepod will begin exporting the files. Export times vary on the size of the library, but with patience you will have your entire library available on your computer.

Sharepod is a great free tool for music and video backups and much simpler than iTunes! I tested it with my iPod Touch 3rd Generation, iPad 1, iPad 2, and iPhone 4S and after the computer installs the initial driver, music and video files are accessible.  Sharepod can't export apps, but it can export a selection of files or backup entire music libraries.

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.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is one of the most popular online multiplayer games around. When the game launched, Activision started an online service that aggregates multiplayer data from matches played. Called Call of Duty ELITE, it is now available on iOS with an Android version set to be released in the near future.

As you can see in the screenshot, the iOS version of Call of Duty ELITE features the same information you can get on your browser or console, but rearranged to fit the touchscreen better. Read our Call of Duty ELITE review and download the app here.

Read more »

Devices supporting Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) gain a useful standard feature: data usage controls. Built into Settings, data usage aggregates how the Android device and Ice Cream Sandwich use data over both a carrier's data network and Wi-Fi.

Carriers now set data caps so knowing which applications are consuming precious bytes is important. Here is how to locate and monitor the use of data on Android 4.0 devices.

1: Access the Settings panel and enter "Data usage."

2: Set Data limits. In Data usage, you will see a graph that highlights a range of days and the amount of data. By selecting "Set mobile data limit," you can cap your data (turn off data when it reaches the limit) and set a warning for a specific amount of data used. Since Wi-Fi is free of caps, limits cannot be set, but you can see the applications that are using the most data.

Android prospered in 2011. Developers are getting smarter by programming apps to work among the variety of devices, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich could unify the operating system in 2012.

Games are no longer sub-standard clones from iOS and productivity apps are excellent additions on Android devices. The landscape for apps is expanding quickly, and 2012 will undoubtedly be another great year of growth.

There are some incredible apps and games that came out this year.  Here is Softonic’s list of the best Android apps in 2011.

Skitch, the popular image annotation and screenshot tool for Mac, is now available as an iPad app. That means more possibilities for personalizing photos and sharing with friends and family, no matter where you happen to be.

In August Evernote purchased Skitch and has subsequently been adding features to the program to prep it for its release on iPad. This version of Skitch has a useful home screen that gives you a multitude of different options. You can edit an image on your iPad or snap a new photo, capture a screenshot, annotate a map to make directions even more understandable or even just sketch on a completely blank canvas. Skitch also has its own web browser with handy features that make marking up webpages quick and simple.

In addition, Skitch for iPad has numerous drawing tools that are all easy to make use of. You can move around objects on the image with your finger, draw arrows to highlight certain aspects of the picture, add in shape or text, crop the canvas as you like and use your finger for freehand drawing. When you're done, you can save your new drawings and annotations to Evernote and share via email, Twitter and more.

Best of all, Skitch for iPad is completely free and very easy to use. Sharing and editing images on the go has never been easier.

Last week, we revealed our top iOS apps of 2011. Now it’s time to turn our attention to games, as we round-up the best titles of the year for all mobile platforms.

We’ve played so many great mobile games this year that this blog post could have easily been a top 100. Luckily, though, we were able to get the list down to the top ten mobile games of 2011:

10. Tiny Tower (iOS & Android)

Tiny Tower was our favorite of all the freemium, ‘build ‘em up’-style games this year. Your objective is to build a huge tower complete with apartments, shops, offices and more. Tiny Tower’s cute pixel art graphics and laid back elevator music make it a really charming strategy game. What’s more, its Game Center integration allows you to find other ‘Bitizens’ to challenge online.

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.

Back in September, we covered and discussed the new features Facebook planned to roll out, as announced at the F8 event in San Francisco. One of the most talked about features was Timeline, a totally revamped look for Facebook profiles.

Timeline is a user interface revision of Facebook's profile page. Its aim is to let users easily access older content they've shared or posted. This is done by streamlining the profile page into a layout that's broken up by year. Simply click on the year you want to access, and you'll be able to view it.

To begin with, Timeline was only available to preview by developers. Now it's going live for everyone. Facebook users currently have the ability to opt in to the change for the next week. Facebook is calling this their 7-day review period. This means you're allowed to make changes and tweak your profile, without people on your friends list being able to see it just yet. You can choose to publish your new profile whenever you like, but after the week is out Timeline will automatically become visible to your friends.

The new profile can also be viewed currently in the official Facebook app for Android and via mobile sites.

In addition, there's also greater integration with apps on the new Timeline profile. A great example of this is how listening to music in Spotify shows up on your new profile.

Recent Spotify music will show up just like shared links and status updates, within the main interface of your profile. Mousing over a specific song will give you more information about the track, as well as allow you to comment on it, like it or even share it with other friends.

As with all changes Facebook implements, this one will take some getting used to for many users. The 7-day review period will help ease users into the new features though, and make it possible to customize your profile to perfection before the big reveal to friends and family.

Grand Theft Auto 3 has been released today for mobile devices, promising  iOS and Android users all the fun, action-packed gameplay of the controversial original game. Its release is designed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the original launch.

As you can see from the trailer, GTA 3 for mobile is a very faithful conversion of the original for the small screen. You play as Claude, a career criminal who must work his way up the crime ladder of Liberty City in order to get revenge on his ex-girlfriend who betrayed him during a heist.

Full of great 3D graphics,  fast cars, fun storylines, and brazen violence, Grand Theft Auto 3 is well worth the five bucks it costs from the app store. Find out more by reading our review of GTA 3 for iOS and Android.

Google's newest project aims to add a social element into your search for local offline activities. Called Schemer, this new service lets you create a to-do list of activities (schemes) you want to take part in.

Schemer's ultimate goal is to help users find things to do in their local region. From Google's announcement:

Whether it's exploring a new city, checking out a friend's movie recommendations, or just finding new activities for your weekends, Schemer lets you discover new things to do, share schemes with friends, and make the most of your day.

So far, Schemer is in a private, invite-only beta phase, and many of the available schemes aren't actually location specific yet. Ones I've listed on my own profile so far include "get a massage," "become a bestselling author" and "buy an Android tablet," for example. Each scheme has a webpage of its own where like-minded schemers can comment and offer tips on how to achieve the scheme in question, which is where the social aspect comes in. The ultimate goal is to be able to check off each scheme on your to do list as it is completed. Then it's up to you to discover new schemes to add on.

As more users join the service, it's likely that the schemes will more frequently come attached with locations where they can be completed, such as restaurants, downtown venues and outdoor arenas. Google has already teamed up with media properties such as Entertainment Weekly, Lifehacker, National Geographic and Bravo to link with relevant schemes. Schemer users may also opt to create an original scheme if it hasn't already been made, as well as share schemes with friends.

Ultimately, Schemer is another example of Google+'s connectedness with other Google services, making it easy to share schemes among friends and search out activities to add to an ever growing list of activities to do, this time away from the internet.

Schemer is also available as an Android app to those who already have an web-based Schemer account.