Speed

Track your family with a new app

If you're a parent with some overly active children, you may want to consider the SecuraFone application.

SecuraTrac, a company more used to creating small personal emergency alarms for senior citizens and patients, is trying its hand at a mobile application called SecuraFone. It plans to launch the app--which will be available for the iPhone, as well as on Android, and eventually on BlackBerry and Windows Phone smartphones--later this month. The service will cost $8.95 a month.

SecuraFone doesn't break new ground with its features, but it does bundle them together in a tidy package. The application … Read more

Dolphin Browser splashes onto the iPad

First popularized as an Android app, the Dolphin Browser has just swam its way onto the iPad.

Initially hitting the iOS market for the iPhone in late August, the new app, dubbed Dolphin Browser HD, takes full advantage of the real estate of Apple's 9.7-inch tablet and offers a few tricks not found in the mobile Safari app.

In Dolphin, you can hide the tab and address toolbars to see a Web page full-screen. … Read more

Dexim releases iPhone-controlled Monster Truck

You know the saying, there's an app for that. Well, now there's an app to wirelessly control a mini Monster Truck.

Yes, Dexim has developed a new line of AppSpeed iOS-controlled vehicles, with the $69.99 Monster Truck now available as the first vehicle. The AppSpeed Monster Truck comes with an RF adapter for your iOS devices (it's compatible with all recent iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch models) and then you download the free AppSpeed app and you're good to go.

As with some iOS games, you actually have two control options. You can go with … Read more

Give your connection a boost with Internet Cell Boost

Most Internet users probably feel resigned to the speed of their connection, whatever it may be; there's no obvious way to improve it short of giving even more money to your ISP or getting new hardware. Internet Cell Boost questions that assumption by promising to increase Internet speeds by optimizing your network configurations. Although we can't swear that it will work for everyone, it did indeed show a definite improvement for us.

Before we tried Internet Cell Boost we ran a couple of online speed tests to get a baseline for our download and upload speeds. We launched … Read more

Speed test your CPU with CPU Speed Professional

CPU Speed Professional tests your PC's processor and compares its results against other users' CPUs and systems via an online rankings site. This free tool stresses your CPU with a variety of tests designed to reveal strengths and weaknesses, but it doesn't hurt or change anything. It's basically foolproof to use and compatible with both Intel and AMD processors.

This software's user interface resembles a car's analog instrument cluster, with tachometer-style displays for both % CPU and MHz. A menu offered controls for initiating the scan and viewing and sharing the results. We ran the test, … Read more

Thorough thumbnails

Anyone who's used Google Chrome for any period of time has likely encountered its "Most Visited" landing page, which displays thumbnails of your most visited Web pages for quick and easy access. Speed Dial is an extension for Firefox that mimics this feature of Chrome--sort of. Instead of displaying your most visited sites automatically, Speed Dial lets you create your own sets of thumbnails. It's a great way to organize your favorite sites and access them quickly.

The extension installed without issues but, like all Firefox extensions, required us to restart our browser. A small configuration … Read more

Clean the bad apps from your Mac

If you're looking for a Mac uninstaller with a little extra under the hood, CleanApp offers all the features you need to get rid of unwanted apps once and for all.

With CleanApp, you drag and drop apps to the interface, and then you can view them and their associated files before you decide what to do. But unlike other uninstall utilities for Mac, CleanApp offers a few extras across the top of the interface, so you can zero in on what you want to uninstall. The Applications button displays all installed apps; a System Accessories button lets you … Read more

High-speed rail to get $336 million more from feds

Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Wednesday announced his office is dispersing an additional $336.2 million in funds toward the massive U.S. high-speed rail public works project underway.

This time, the money is going for the trains themselves.

Including this latest release, $782 million has been dispersed for purchasing 33 locomotives and 120 bi-level train cars for California, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington.

The federal government has now allocated a total of $10.1 billion, set aside via the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, for the introduction of high-speed rail as well as updates … Read more

Broadband subscribers mostly get what they pay for

Good news for U.S. broadband customers: On average major Internet service providers are delivering up to 80 percent of advertised broadband speeds, according to a study by the Federal Communications Commission.

This is a big improvement over 2009 when the FCC noted as part of its preparation for the National Broadband Plan that actual download speeds for broadband service were often about half of what broadband providers advertised as their maximum speeds.

"Most major ISPs are providing service close to what they're advertising," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in prepared remarks at a Best Buy store in Washington, D.C., today, … Read more

3DS price drop

RIM releases the "more social" BlackBerry Messenger 6 service to share apps, the BBC launches a paid version of its iPlayer service for the iPad, and Nintendo dramatically drops the price of its 3DS handheld game device after lackluster sales.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded: