Access your computer remotely using LogMeIn

By Yara Omar, Janus Networks

LogMeIn Free is a powerful and secure web-based solution that gives you full control of your work or home PC from any computer with an internet connection. Being web-based, the application is far more easy to use than other alternatives. LogMeIn uses layers of security including end-to-end 256-bit SSL encryption, dual authentication and RSA SecureID; so you don’t have to worry about security issues while using it. The application has an easy-to-use interface for almost anyone.

You might choose to subscribe to LogMeIn Pro, which offers an additional set of features. LogMeIn Pro lets you seamlessly transfer files between connected PCs by Drag&Drop. You can synchronize files between PCs or share them instantly with others. This version provides Remote Sound (the ability to listen to music or voice mails from your host PC) and Remote Printing (the ability to print files from the remote PC to your local printer). LogMeIn Pro is priced on a per-PC basis ($12.95 per month) but there are discounts on annual or multiple-PC subscriptions. Check out both versions at https://secure.logmein.com.

You can contact the author at press@janusnetworks.com

Dell XPS laptops – Excellent performance and great reputation

By Yara Omar, Janus Networks

Dell’s XPS (Xtreme Performance System) line of PCs and laptops has gained a very good reputation over the years. We talk here about two of the latest XPS laptops available these days at very reasonable prices.

Starting with the 15-inch version, Dell XPS M1530 comes basically with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor (T8300: 2.4GHz/3 MB cache), a 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, a 160 GB SATA hard drive, a 128MB NVIDIA GeForce video card, a 2 MP camera, a DVD/CD read/write Optical drive and a Dell wireless 802.11g Mini Card. The system has a Genuine Windows Vista Home Edition at a starting price of $899.

The XPS M1330, also starting at $899, has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor (T5750: 2.0GHz/2 MB cache), a 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, a 160 GB SATA hard drive, an Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3100, a 2 MP camera, a DVD/CD read/write Optical drive and a Dell wireless 802.11g Mini Card. This laptop also comes with Genuine Windows Vista Home Edition included in price.

Of course, you can build your laptop with better options at a higher price. If you need a 17-inch laptop, you can check the XPS M1730 laptop which has a very good price as well. Check out these laptops at Dell’s website: http://www.dell.com/home/laptops .

You can contact the author at press@janusnetworks.com

Switch to VOIP using Vonage

By Yara Omar, Janus Networks

Calling over the internet is becoming more popular everyday; thats because its cheap, easy and provides almost all of the features regular telephony offers. Vonage is a VOIP service provider for home and business users with six different plans made to suit everybody’s needs.

Vonage’s Small Business Basic plan costs $39.99 a month for unlimited number of incoming minutes, 1500 outgoing minutes a month to the US and Canada and 3.9 cents per each additional minute. The Business Premium plan costs $49.99, offering an unlimited number of incoming and outgoing minutes to the US, Canada and five selected European countries.

Both plans offer a free dedicated fax line and competitive international rates. Both also offer 25 calling features like Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, 3-way Calling, Call Return, Voicemail and Caller ID. Vonage has a Network Unavailable Forwarding feature that automatically forwards incoming calls to your regular telephone in case your line or power goes down.

The service requires a high-speed internet connection. Vonage gives you a free telephone adapter that plugs in directly to the DSL modem or computer and a software tool that converts your computer to a phone. You can switch to Vonage and keep your phone number with no trouble at all. Sign up for free at http://www.vonage.com.

You can contact the author at press@janusnetworks.com

Art Explosion Publisher Pro 2.0 – your choice for desktop publishing

By Yara Omar, Janus Networks

Introduced by Nova Development, award winning Art Explosion Publisher Pro 2.0 provides the fastest and easiest ways to create documents with impact. The software has a set of professional templates for creating brochures, flyers, web pages, business cards, menus, calendars, posters, newsletters, etc… The program also has a great selection of business form sets for creating estimates, expense reports, fax covers, and more.

The software comes with 4 CDs of professional images to help you create your graphics without the need for any additional downloads. The package includes great easy-to-use tools for dealing with images and graphics.

For text handling, you will get 750+ fonts with the package. You can put text in columns or in any other irregular shape. You can also type text around any curve. Various effects, such as 3D, Bevel and Drop Shadow, could be easily applied to any text. Publisher Pro includes an as-you-type Spell Checker, a Thesaurus and a Proofreader.

The program allows you to create, import and edit pdf files. You can also adjust your project’s layout, color separations, prepress file information, crop marks, registration targets and more. The package is available for $99.95 at http://www.novadevelopment.com.

You can contact the author at press@janusnetworks.com

HP introduces new business PCs this month

By Yara Omar, Janus Networks

This month, HP unleashed a new business PC series, HP Compaq dc7900, with special design for security, dependability and energy conservation. The dc7900 series is now available in three sizes: Ultra Slim desktop, Small form factor and Convertible minitower.

This series comes at many configurations including Intel Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Duo, Pentium dual-core and Celeron single and dual core processors, memory configurations of up to 16 GB and 250- and 500- GB SATA hard drives. All the systems have a host of display ports like VGA and DVI. The systems also support the new digital display standard, DisplayPort. HP introduced support for dual-monitor display, out of the box, so that business owners don’t have to buy third-party cards.

HP has focused on lowering the operating costs when using the dc7900 series. The series comes with a software utility that lets business owner set up their power settings. HP presents power supplies that are up to 87% efficient which is quite competitive. All systems come with Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Home Basic and a collection of software tools such as HP ProtectTools security tools and HP Total Care Green to Gold CD. If you’re interested in this new series, you can get detailed specifications at http://www.hp.com/sbso/.

You can contact the author at press@janusnetworks.com

Backup your data with Mozy

Among PC World’s top 25 small business applications for this month, Mozy came first in the backup and recovery field. Backing up your data on one or more of your hard drives is essential; but what happens if they fail for some reason? Mozy is an online backup service that lets you easily backup your files to its servers.

Mozy is considered an affordable and a secure solution for everybody to backup their data. The service is available for both businesses and individuals. MozyPro is a business solution that offers some good features at a relatively small price. Backup could be automatic (backup is done whenever the pc is not use) or scheduled. You can also control how much of your upload bandwidth is used by Mozy.

Mozy has support for Windows XP and Vista as well as Windows 2003 and Windows 2000 servers. It also has the ability to backup networked or mapped drives. You can learn more about the service at http://mozy.com

 

By Yara Omar, Janus Networks

You can contact the author at press@janusnetworks.com

Time to try Chrome, the new browser from Google

By Yara Omar, Janus Networks

Chrome is the new web browser released by Google this September. Chrome comes with a very good set of features that makes it compete well with any of todays famous browsers.

First of all, Chrome can import your favorites and settings from any of the web browsers you were using before, so you don’t have to worry about switching to it. The most interesting features in Chrome are related to tabs. Chrome deals with each tab independently, so when a tab crashes you can end its process without affecting the other opened tabs. You can drag tabs out to be in separate windows and of course you can rearrange them anyway you want. When you open a new tab, you’ll see thumbnail previews of your most visited sites, your most used search engines and your recently bookmarked pages and closed tabs; all in one page so you can select any of them to start with.

Chrome also offers a new feature called “Incognito mode”. You can open a new window in this mode and all of the websites you’re visiting will not be recorded in the history. Chrome also offers safe browsing by warning you whenever you visit an unsafe site.

The new browser has a simple interface. Your downloads won’t start in separate windows. The download status will show up at the bottom of the current window. You can bookmark pages in one click with no extra dialog boxes showing up which makes it very easy to keep your bookmarks. The beta version of Chrome is available for download at www.google.com/chrome.

 

You can contact the author at press@janusnetworks.com