One of the biggest disappointments for users of Intuit's popular Quicken personal finance suites, was finding that the program would not work in Apple's latest OS X Lion operating system.

Quicken 2007 and earlier versions are built extensively off of code that is specific to the PowerPC processor, and since Apple's switch to Intel-based computers, Intuit has relied on the Rosetta translator included in Leopard and Snow Leopard to keep its programs running. Quicken ran well with Rosetta, but unfortunately Apple removed it as an option from OS X Lion, which in turn prevented Quicken 2006 ad 2007 from running. While Intuit has released Quicken Essentials that will run in Lion, the program lacks a number of features that were present in older versions.

This finding has prevented a number of people from upgrading to Lion, and has also had others searching for alternatives to Quicken for their personal finances. There has been a rumor that Intuit was looking into getting Quicken 2007 running on Lion, and today the company officiated these rumors with an e-mail statement to its customers and a new FAQ on its Web site.

The good news is Intuit is now promising that Quicken 2007 will be coming to OS X Lion, and that it will be available by ea... [Read more]

Chrome is within striking distance of Firefox for second place in worldwide browser usage, but that hasn't stopped Google from throwing its financial weight behind the non-profit browser.

Don't let the StatCounters and the NetApplications of the world fool you: despite stagnant and even slightly negative market share growth, Firefox and its default search box is still extremely valuable to Google.

How valuable? The three-year default search deal that Firefox's nonprofit parent company, Mozilla, just inked with Google is worth nearly $300 million per year, according to unnamed sources who spoke to AllThingsD.

In a statement to AllThingsD, Google's senior vice president of search, Alan Eustace, said: "Mozilla has been a valuable partner to Google over the years and we look forward to continuing this great partnership in the years to come." To those who spend a lot of time observing Mozilla, ... [Read more]

Before and after shots of AdBlock Plus, using the right panel of my Facebook page as an example.

AdBlock Plus is a Chrome or Firefox extension that does just what its name suggests.

Odds are you have become skilled at ignoring Internet ads. But every year, advertisers get more invasive creative at inserting ads in places where they are harder to ignore. As soon as next month, for example, ads will appear in your Facebook newsfeed. It's too soon to say whether AdBlock Plus will remove these forthcoming newsfeed ads, but the extension does an admirable job of removing the current advertising from Facebook and other sites.

Simply install the extension (here for Chrome or here for Firefox) and it automatically starts running (Firefox requires a restart first). In Chrome, you'll know it's running because a small ABP stop-sign icon gets added to the right side of your URL bar. If you consider that an ad, you can remove it in AdBlock Plus's settings. Go to Window > Extensions. Click on the new tab that opens, click the Options link for AdBlock Plus, and cho... [Read more]

Owners of the WD TV Live Hub and WD TV Live Streaming box just got an early Christmas present from Western Digital.

Editors' note: This post was updated at 3 p.m. December 22, 2011, to add information that the Android version of the WD Remote app is also available.

The WD Remote app includes a volume control, a function that's not available on the hardware remote control of the WD TV players.

The company released the latest firmware for the two players that adds a slew of improvements and support for a number of other streaming services, including Vudu, SnagFilms, and Flixster.

However, the biggest addition is the fact that, together with the new firmware, WD also released the much-anticipated WD TV remote app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android devices. This app allows you to control the WD TV Live Hub or the WD TV Live Streaming via Wi-Fi signal on the same network they are connected to.

This app was initially planned to be released back in October, when ... [Read more]

The Animoog is loaded with features

When Robert Moog originally pioneered the modular voltage-controlled analog synthesizer in the 1950s and 1960s, I don't think he could have imagined the instrument's tremendous impact on music.

Moog's synthesizers continued to evolve, and his Minimoog became the most popular monophonic synthesizer of the 1970s; it was embraced by bands such as Yes and Tangerine Dream.

Robert Moog passed away in 2005, so I wonder what he would have thought of the Animoog, a fully featured synthesizer designed for the iPhone 4 and 4S. According to the Moog Web site, "The Animoog captures the vast sonic vocabulary of Moog synthesizers and applies it to the modern touch surface paradigm, enabling any user to quickly sculpt incredibly fluid and dynamic sounds that live, breathe, and evolve as you play them." You can record a performance and overdub new layers, play along live, and transfer recordings between Animoog and any other apps that support copy/paste. The Animoog is jam-packed with features.

The Animoog app has an introductory price of 99 cents, but the price will go up to around $10 in the near future.