Anyone who knows us knows that we’re big fans of TechHit products… insanely powerful and time-saving utilities (mostly for Microsoft Outlook) like TwInbox and FBLook, QuickJump, and, our personal favorite, SimplyFile.

If you missed our review of SimplyFile from way back when, the following is a snippet from that article as well as a brief overview of the software itself:

SimplyFile is designed to help you, well, simply file messages that are in your Outlook inbox into the appropriate folder. By using “an advanced algorithm to learn and adapt to your filing habits,” SimplyFile gives you a recommended folder destination as soon as you select a message in your inbox. By clicking on the SimplyFile button, the message immediately goes to that destination; thus saving you from dragging/scrolling through your folder structure and dropping it into the necessary folder once you’ve found it.

In addition to the all-powerful SimplyFile button mentioned above, the software also adds some much-needed Gmail-esque keyboard shortcuts for message management and for navigating complex folder structures – shortcuts that literally save me hours every single week. (Yeah, that’s no dramatization – it will literally save you hours of time every week if you’re an Outlook power user.)

Like I mentioned before, there’s a 30-day trial of SimplyFile available for download. If you download it, I’d be genuinely surprised if you didn’t purchase it.

The new release not only adds support for Outlook 2010 but also options to quickly file away all messages within a particular thread as well as messages from a particular sender – both great ways to achieve inbox:zero. Additional new features include batch filing and some interesting usage statistics.

SimplyFile runs $49 but, again, if you’re a serious Outlook user, it’s well worth it.

One of the (few) complaints I continually hear about Windows 7 is the lack of the Quick Launch toolbar for the taskbar. Sure, the icon-friendly new taskbar makes it easier to store multiple shortcuts but you still can’t store that many.

Enter 7Stacks and Jumplist Launcher. Both apps enable you to add shortcuts to folders/applications anywhere on your system… shortcuts that will be accessible via a right-click on the app icon in your taskbar. It’s something that I wish was built into Win7 natively but a 3rd-party app will do just nicely.

[Source: FreewareGenius.com]

Microsoft updated their line of LifeCam-series webcams last week with the introduction of the 720p Hi-Def LifeCam Cinema. Available for pre-order tomorrow (8/24) on Amazon.com with a suggested retail price of $74.95, the Cinema is the latest in the long line of the high-quality LifeCam-branded webcams – a quality to which I can attest. In addition, Microsoft also announced the introduction of the LifeChat LX-1000, a “headset with high-quality audio and a noise-canceling microphone.”

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The creators of the ever-popular </sarcasm> Zune music service & devices (that’s Microsoft for those of you who haven’t been paying attention) just announced an expansion of the existing Zune marketplace by extending “its video service to XBOX Live internationally this fall.”

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There at the very end of March, Microsoft decided to release it’s FrontPage-esque (shudder) tool designed for creating and managing SharePoint pages and content, SharePoint Designer 2007, all for the low cost of $0.00.

Here’s just a few of the benefits to the software listed on the official SP Designer site:

• Automate business processes such as document approval, custom event notification, and other collaboration tasks with the Workflow Designer.
• Create reporting and tracking applications using data views and forms to easily gather and aggregate data from outside your site and from SharePoint lists and document libraries on the Web site.
• Get started fast with pre-built Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Application Templates, which are fully customizable and extensible using Office SharePoint Designer 2007.
• Extend your solutions by building advanced interactive Microsoft ASP.NET pages. Insert and edit controls with the same powerful activity menus and control property grid previously found only in development tools such as Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.

Check out the SharePoint Designer 2007 download page to grab your copy. (You need to register first. No biggie.) Of course, you can also still purchase it for $259 if you’d like. It’ll, um, help the economy.