5 great apps to customize your Android home screen experience

Nova Launcher Prime

There are a number of launcher applications that let users override the standard look and feel that comes with the phone's out-of-box experience, but Nova Launcher Prime ($4.00) is one of my favorites. Don't like the preset shortcuts across the bottom of your handset? Not a fan of the app drawer setup? You can change all that.
In a nutshell, Nova Launcher alters the way your phone behaves when tapping the Home button. Specifically, you can define how many panels you have, the number of icons that fit on the home screen, scrolling effects, and much more.

Among Nova Launcher Prime's options is selecting the grid size (number of rows and columns), placing a persistent Google Search bar, and tweaking margins. I love using the launcher's revolving door effect. It looks much cooler than a simple slide. Additionally, users can opt to remove icon labels, allow for widgets to overlap, and lock the desktop in place.
I also appreciate the way I can sort my app drawer, hide unused titles, and organize content into tabs. Other minor touches include infinite scrolling panels, custom grouping, menu transparency, and transitions. Suffice it to say, I'm constantly backing up and restoring fun layouts all the time.
A particularly fun, and easy, way to spice things up is to replace the icons representing apps and games. There are innumerable icon packs or themes that one can download to adjust the overall aesthetics. Some of the more popular ones I've encountered along the way are Tersus, Snack Pack, and MIUI 5. Again, hit up some forums or search Google Play and you'll find some rather inspiring stuff.
Nova Launcher Prime isn't the only option for those looking to customize the home screen; the free version is a great way to take advantage of most options and settings. At nearly 5 million installs, the free Nova Launcher is a popular and feature-rich home screen launcher. Others you may enjoy include Go Launcher EX, Apex Launcher, and ADW.Launcher.

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Windows 8.1 to let you secure folders with your fingerprint

 

Windows 8.1 will have a couple of tricks up its sleeve for people who use fingerprint readers.
One of Monday's sessions at Microsoft's Tech-Ed conference highlighted the support that Windows 8.1 will offer for fingerprint recognition, as described by The Verge. Prior versions of Windows handled fingerprint readers through third-party software. But Windows 8.1 will be the first edition of Windows to natively support the technology.
Users will be able to log into their PCs via a Microsoft Account, purchase apps, and open different programs with a swipe of the finger. They'll even be able to lock down certain folders so they're accessible only through a fingerprint.
Microsoft is "working very closely" with two or three manufacturers to outfit Windows 8.1 with the necessary fingerprint support, according to The Verge. The company is also asking more manufacturers to outfit their laptops, tablets, keyboards, and mice with fingerprint readers.
"You'll begin to see these be more pervasively available just to make it that much easier to log in to Windows," Microsoft's Stephen Rose said, The Verge added.

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ShaPlus Bandwidth Meter

If you really need to watch your Internet bandwidth, you need ShaPlus Bandwidth Meter. Unlike online bandwidth meters, ShaPlus monitors your Internet bandwidth instead of testing your connection speed. ShaPlus is designed to stay open in the Windows system tray, with a more detailed (but still compact) display for the notification area or anywhere on the desktop you care to drag and pin it. This free tool keeps track of your bandwidth use for the current session, the day, and the month. You can set it to track your billing period and even to stop tracking between specified times. Recent updates include the ability to display bandwidth in gigabytes, a counter reset option on the tray menu, and better stability in Windows 7 and 8.
ShaPlus Bandwidth Meter's installer offered the option to stay open in the system tray. If, like us, you choose this option, we recommend clicking Customize and making the icon permanent in the tray. Hovering over the tray icon shows current bandwidth use; clicking the icon opens a menu with options such as transparency and whether to display bandwidth in KB, MB, or GB. A Settings sheet offers more options, including a list of all our system's network interfaces to choose which ones to monitor and basic program options such as Start with Windows and Always on Top. We could also set the monthly start date and enter Do Not Track times for a 24-hour cycle. The three-part meter display will probably be the program's most useful feature to the majority of users. It showed our bandwidth use for Now, or the current session; Today; and This Month. A neat little feature let us change the meter's transparency right from the interface.
ShaPlus Bandwidth Meter is the perfect tool for those users who must keep track of every byte of network bandwidth, whether it's Internet use or any of your system's connections. It won't test your Internet connection speed, but there's no lack of free Web-based bandwidth meters that can do that job. For its rather more specialized function, ShaPlus is the best tool we've tried so far.



http://www.shaplus.com/bandwidth-meter/    click the link for the official website

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Panna

Panna is the first-ever video, cooking magazine for the iPhone, iPad and iPad mini. You receive one free recipe inside each issue, whether or not you choose to buy the full issue. A year subscription gives you access to our current issue as well as the next five bi-monthly issues.
An entirely new resource for the home cook, Panna merges beautiful high definition video technology with the expertise of established master chefs including Rick Bayless, Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirscheimer, Anita Lo, Seamus Mullen, Nancy Silverton, Michael Tusk, and Jonathan Waxman. Panna also includes a department with New York Times food writer and recipe developer, Melissa Clark. She shares her knowledge of kitchen equipment from a seasoned home cook's perspective, offering recipes that will expand and refine your cooking repertoire.

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