Mediaboss Marketing

I mentioned a lot of "free" applications in this column over the years. When it comes to technology these days, it's surprising how much good free stuff there is -- and it just keeps getting better.

When looking at all the websites and web services, it's hard to not recommend the Google suite of applications. Google Docs (docs.google.com), Google calendar (calendar.google.com) and e-mail (gmail.com) are all free (supported by ads) and work well together. Most important, they work across devices from various vendors. That means, for example, you can use Google products on computers with Microsoft operating systems and phones with Apple operating systems.

Google's upcoming "Inbox" product looks promising, too. Although still in beta , it is starting to get into the hands of users to try its new "smart" features, such as bundling and "snooze."

If you prefer to still run your applications on your computer, you might want to check out LibreOffice (http://www.libreoffice.org). The software has seriously got the chops now to go up against Microsoft Office for the day-to-day word processing and document handling most of us do. There is a word processor, database, spreadsheet, drawing application and more. And it is all completely free.

There are now many free video games, especially on phones. The latest offering from Digital Leisure (digitalleisure.com) is available for free on all kinds of platforms, including the iPhone, Android, Steam and Windows Store (PC). It is even free on consoles, like the PlayStation Vita, and is coming soon to Nintendo's Wii U. IThe game is called "Get Off My Lawn!" (lawn.digitalleisure.com) and is developed right here in Canada. The tag line is: "Free to play, difficult to Master!" And it certainly is!

There are often free offers for tangible products, which can be overwhelming sometimes to keep track of. So, why not just visit http://www.totallyfreestuff.com? Each day new items are added to the site. It's amazing what is available out there.

On your iPhone , one of the best free apps is from Microsoft. It's called Photosynth (http://bit.ly/1oRWkQv). Although the latest phones have pretty good "stitching" capabilities built in to create wide panoramas, Photosynth works on older phones, too, and creates amazing views of the world around you. The technology was actually used in an episode of "CSI: NY" a few years ago and it holds up well today , especially with the updates they continue to do.

One of my favourite free tools to use is HandBrake (https://handbrake.fr/). It allows you to convert video to and from multiple formats. Perfect for reformatting a DVD to fit onto a portable device, like a tablet or phone, or to use with a personal video server, like Plex (plex.tv, also free). Handbrake is one of those programs that you don't truly appreciate until you have used it a few times and wonder how you got along without it.

Finally, I'll recommend Wikipanion for the iPad and iPhone. I love Wikipedia.org. This App on the phone, when paired up with the geolocation capability, is a real winner. When you are in a new place (or even where you live) ,the app will show you locations of significance around you with the coinciding Wikipedia entry. What a great way to discover a new area or get to know an existing area better! If you are like me, apps like this try to quench that everlasting thirst for knowledge and it does it so well.

There are many other great free things out there on the web of course, so why don't you share your favourites with me? Perhaps I'll put together a list of reader choice freebies. Sometimes the best things in life are truly free.

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Free stuff just gets better