14 DAY TRIAL // This year we had lots of new and free software added to our database that also made it into the Softpedia Mac Freeware Picks of the Week. Out of all the entries I tried to eliminate as many as I could so that you could have the chance to get your hands on the crème de la crème, and, as you can see for yourselves from the title, I managed to come up with only three applications.
I consider these three Mac apps to be the most innovative and useful of all the free software that made it into the Softpedia Mac Freeware Picks of the Week, mostly because any Mac user should have them and use them on their Mac.
The three are resonance, Polly-B-Gone, and Flv Crunch, a free ambient sound music mixer, a 3D platform game that proves to be equally addictive and annoying at the same time, and a video converting Swiss knife that will allow one to easily convert between a whole lot of video formats (no strings attached).
Let’s start with resonance, one Mac app that will not only allow you to mix any sounds on your machine with sounds from its internal library, but it will also help you relax and free yourselves from the stress you’ve accumulated during the whole day. Being a binaural tone generator too, resonance is the tool that you will always turn to when in need of some relaxing ambient that will put you back on track.
As its developer says on the app’s home page, “The resonance program contains over fifty natural sounds and music – each one selected for its ability to help focus your thoughts inward. You are able to play and mix these sounds together as well as add effects to them such as reverb, pitch-shift, and echo – all in a straightforward, non-technical way. It is also possible to import your own sounds.”
The second one is Polly-B-Gone, a free 3D platform game that will only work on Leopard-powered Macs. The reasons that made me consider Polly-B-Gone worthy of being in the top three free apps we’ve had the chance to test since the beginning of this year are its addictiveness and capability of being customized.
After starting playing you will quickly find yourselves wanting to go further and further trying to help Polly (the robot you are playing as) escape from Dr. Nurbs’ laboratory. As you will keep playing you will have to overcome harder and harder challenges in order to free Polly. And the best part is that, once you free it, the game is not entirely over: you can create your own levels with custom music and lightning by editing the world.xml file.
Be warned though: if patience is not one of your strengths, Polly-B-Gone might prove to be a nightmare. If you constantly hurry to finish a level and stop paying attention to your moves, you will find yourselves falling into never-ending pits. Sure this will be fun the first 10-15 times but right after the 16th time you will definitely consider you had enough. That being said, there is only one thing left to be done: download it and give it a spin. And don’t blame it on me if you get hooked on it.
Flv Crunch is the third application and it is a powerful tool that all Mac users should consider using. It is basically the only tool you will need when converting between video formats: you will be able to quickly move video content between your Mac, Apple TV, iPhone, iPod or any other device you use to watch it on.
Flv Crunch can accept as input: MPEG 1 (.mpg), MPEG 2 (.vob), MPEG 4 (.mp4), QuickTime (.mov), Cell Phone videos (.3gp), Windows Media Player files (.wma, .wmv), RealPlayer files (.ra, .rm) *rv10 video codec only, Divx AVI (.avi), Digital Video (.dv), MP3, and AAC files.
Flv Crunch can convert input files into: MPEG 1, MPEG 2, MPEG 4, Quicktime Mov, 3GP, Digital video, Windows Media Video (wmv), Divx AVI, MP3 (audio only), and AAC (audio only).
And don’t be fooled by its simple interface because, once you give it a try, I’m sure that you will recommend it to all of your friends. Why? Because Flv Crunch will convert your video files as fast as any other piece of video conversion software out there, and the best thing about it is that it will do it without you having to pay for it.
These are the free applications that I considered to be unique, fun to use and downright must-haves for my Mac. Do you know of any other free app that should have been mentioned here? Share your opinion with us and the rest of the readers in the comments.