Computer or Gadget

Speed: IE9 RC, as the release candidate is officially labeled, starts more quickly. It opens Web pages, even Javascript-laden interactive pages like Facebook, in a split second, assuming you’ve got broadband and a recent PC. As a result, you’ll reach for the Internet more often, and spend less time impatiently waiting for pages to load.

Screen Space: One of the biggest annoyances with Internet Explorer has been that its controls take up a lot of vertical space at the top of the browser window. On IE9 RC, Microsoft has trimmed the top of the window down radically, so that by default the controls use even less vertical space than the minimal set on Chrome. (If you’ve installed toolbars on your browser, which take up even more space, ask yourself if you really use them. Reclaiming the top of the window may be a better idea.)

Browser Tabs: If you open lots of browser tabs while Web surfing, even the beta version of IE9 was frustrating, because it crammed the tabs into the limited space to the right of the browser’s address bar, where the URL you’re currently looking at is displayed. With IE9 RC, you can fix that with two clicks. Open any Web page. IE9 will create a tab to the right of your address bar. Right-click on the tab, and choose the option “Show tabs on a separate row.” That tab and all others will appear on their own row below the address bar. This layout option takes exactly as much vertical space as the default version of Chrome, which is to say not much. Also, it’s easier to read and click your tabs on their own row, rather than having them crammed to the right of your address bar.

HTML5 support: Web developers have been moving toward a new technical standard called HTML5, which has been gradually making sites more powerful and less buggy, as well as removing the need for plug-ins, Flash players, and other extraneous software. Last year’s IE9 beta version choked on HTML5 pages including some of Microsoft’s own sites (that’s why they call it a beta)—but IE9 RC has been rock-solid on every site I’ve tested.

ActiveX off switch: As the Web moves to HTML5, there’s less and less need for Microsoft’s downloadable ActiveX controls, which security experts have long criticized as the source of malware attacks, since ActiveX can reach further into your PC’s operating system than the browser itself is allowed to do. On IE9 RC, you can disable ActiveX by default, then turn it back on for specific sites.

It took about two months for Samsung to roll out the much-needed GPS fix for the Captivate, and now, a mere seven months after Google pulled a handle on the machine and twirled up a big cone of Froyo, that phone is finally getting a spoonful. Samsung has released an Android 2.2 update and the full instructions plus the download are on the other end of the source link below. Hopefully it isn’t too frostbitten after all this time.

We’re seeing some rather unattainable prices for many of the sexiest Android tablets to be unveiled at MWC and CES this year, but thankfully HTC’s Flyer looks to be coming in a little lower than most. It’s just popped up on Amazon.de at €669. Subtract the VAT and run that figure through a currency converter and you’re looking at a price of around $730. A bargain? Hardly, but better than some others we’ve seen. Sadly it’s still nicht verfügbar, but if you hurry you can jetzt vorbestellen.

LG announced at CES that it was breaking from other TV manufacturers to push its own FPR technology for 3DTVs and now they’ve started shipping in Korea including the LW5700 pictured above. LG’s new approach means placing a special film over the LCD screen (no plasmas, although OLED versions are planned in the future) letting users use cheap «flicker free» passive 3D glasses instead of keeping a conventional display and using more expensive active shutter 3D glasses. LG’s new TVs with the screens should start arriving in the US in March, although Vizio is already selling one Cinema 3D TV over here with the technology and plans to deliver a slew of new models soon. Of course, the main downside to this approach is that it halves the resolution delivered to each eye when wearing the glasses, but — if you hadn’t already guessed from its tablets and phones — LG is betting big on 3D this year, we’ll see if it pays off.

At his personal blog, Chen describes how Google Voice saved his job interview when he was having problems with his cellphone and with his internet. The quick solution he used to make sure his potential employer-to-be could still reach him: He quickly set up Voice with one of his friend’s phones, and when the call came, he was ready.

I had a similar «Thank god for Google Voice moment» a week ago: I had scheduled a phone call with a company to get a little more information about a pretty great new feature they were rolling out, and in the middle of the call, AT&T thought it would be fun if we all sounded like robots.

The quick solution: I moved the call to Google Voice inside Gmail. The call was remarkably clear (actually much more so than my cellphone ever is), and we were able to finish the call without any more hiccups.

Now we’re back to highlight the most popular VPN service according to Lifehacker readers.

WiTopia led the pack with 19.3% of the vote, followed by VyprVPN with 17.9% and StrongVPN with 14.1%. Bringing up the tail end was proXPN and Ipredator.

Have something you’d like to see us tackle in the next Hive Five? Shoot us an email at tips@lifehacker.com with «Hive Five» in the subject line.