Ever heard of Google's GPS-tracking app called My Tracks? What about its bucket-list-like service called Schemer? In fact, you may be surprised to know that Google has actually developed several dozen Android apps, many of which you've never heard of. Here, we take a look at four such titles that are all incredibly interesting and can be surprisingly useful.

My Tracks A great tool for outdoors enthusiasts, My Tracks records your path, speed, distance, and even elevation while you walk, run, bike, or do anything else that a GPS signal can follow. Visually, the app is a snoozer, but to make up for it, My Tracks is easy to use and comes loaded with a number of convenient features. It even lets you analyze your treks after they've been recorded, using charts, statistics, and a nifty Google Earth-powered playback feature.

As useful as it is, though, My Tracks does not offer many of the training-specific features that some users might be looking for. There's no goal setting, personal record tracking, or built-in audio coaching. The app can, however, connect with a few third-party Bluetooth biometric sensors, including Zephyr HxM, Polar WearLink, and ANT+ monitors. Overall, My Tracks may not be the best option for serious athletes, but it is certainly a fantastic solution for general... [Read more]

Steam defines itself as "the ultimate entertainment platform." Its software, available for PC, Mac, and mobile devices, allows people to "play, connect, [and] create." Its gaming library has more than 2,000 titles and it has approximately 40 million users. If you're one of those 40 million, you know what a pain it can be to wait for a game to update or for a new one to download -- it's not the speediest process.

Here's how to make the wait time a little less painful:

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET )

Open the Steam settings page. This can be accessed by right-clicking the Steam icon in the system tray and selecting Settings from the menu that appears.

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET )

In the Settings window, there will be many tabs full of all sorts of options and settings that you can play with. The settings we're interested in are under the Downloads + Cloud tab.

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET )

Two of the settings here can help increase your download speed. First, make sure the drop-down labeled "Approximate speed of your Internet connection" is properly set to, well, the approximate speed of your Internet connection.

... [Read more]

Sharing a panorama taken with iOS 6 on your iPhone is easy, but takes some work on the recipients end to view. The photo isn't all that tall, it's wide and only provides a general overview of the entire photo unless you pinch and zoom. Then you'll need to swipe back-and-forth until you can view the entire photo. It works, but it's not fun.

The next time you have a great-looking panorama you'd like to show off, use TourWrist, a free iOS app (download link) available in the App Store. Once you sign up and begin using the app, you'll be able to upload your panorama photos, no matter the source, to share with friends and family members. The coolest part about viewing panoramas uploaded to TourWrist is the fact it uses the gyroscope of the iPhone or iPad, allowing you to move your device to pan around the photo.

Click to view full image.

Uploading a panorama photo to TourWrist takes a few seconds. Just give it a name and category and upload it. The photo will go through processing and then be posted to your account. Once it's available (you can find your panoramas under Explore > My Panos), you can view a... [Read more]

Enough with having separate Web programming tutorials from Google, Apple, Opera, Mozilla, and Microsoft.

These five major browser makers, along with Facebook, Adobe Systems, Nokia, and Hewlett Packard, have become stewards of a new effort to centralize developer resources at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This Web Platform Docs project will include not just help on to use a bewildering array of new Web technologies, but also will detail which ones are accepted standards, how well the various tools work across multiple browsers, and how stable the standards are.

"A key part of this project is that it will be a wiki, and we are announcing it as early as possible in the process so that the community can contribute and feel some ownership," said Doug Schepers, the W3C Developer Relations leader. "Part of that contribution is expected to be importing content from Mozilla Developer Network and other open sources of Web development information."

Along with countless independent sites, Web programming resources can be found at Opera's developer site, Google's Chrome developer site, the HTML5 Rocks site Google organizes, ... [Read more]

Microsoft recently issued a takedown notice to Google, citing several sites that allegedly infringe its intellectual property. But there's just one problem: many of the URLs it cited have nothing to do with its business.

According to a document obtained by TorrentFreak, Microsoft pointed to several legitimate Web sites in its request for URL removals related to Windows 8 infringement. In addition to seemingly legitimate links featuring Windows 8 downloads, Microsoft lists a BBC URL linking to the 45th day of the Olympic torch relay. The company also asked Google to remove a Wikipedia entry on the 45th Fighter Squadron and a Real Clear Politics page showing the current Ohio presidential polls.

Not even the government could escape Microsoft's grasps, as the company asked to remove an Environmental Protection Agency page.

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