10 best web services of 2009

Andrew Blackshire  Tuesday 29 December 2009

All the excitement of Christmas has passed, and all you have left is a half-eaten selection box to look forward to. Well, never fear – prise yourself away from the Bond omnibus and get downloading some of the best web tidbits of 2009…

Sockrush Not going to be wearing those Christmas socks once the week’s out? Then Sockrush is for you. The idea is pure genius. Stump up US$19.99 for a pack of four socks and they’ll be delivered to your door. The best bit? You can have them sent at regular intervals, so whenever an odd one appears, you’ll have a new pair in the post.

Graze This food delivery service sends parcels of healthy food to your door, from just £2.99 a pop. The packages are letterbox sized and include nibble or fruit options. You can specify what you fancy or Graze will choose for you. And they’ll even drop the posh nosh off at your desk to stop those trips to the vending machine.

Swapgame.com Think of Swapgame like Lovefilm for your console. Sign up from just £4.99 a month and you can get unlimited game rentals. Build a list of your most-wanted titles, get the ones you want and send back the ones you’re done with, with no late fees. And you can even keep your favourites for a knockdown fee.

Dropbox Being organised isn’t glamorous, but Dropbox at least makes it easy. This free storage solution is ace, working across Mac, PC and Linux. Download it for free, fill it with files and it’ll sync all your content in the cloud, letting you access it wherever you are. You can even share folders with your pals, so getting photos of your recent holiday is a breeze.

Rollip Classic Polaroids are making a comeback in 2010, but if you want to turn your regular snaps into classic instant pics, Rollip is where it’s at. Just choose a filter, upload a pic and there you go. There are loads of looks to choose from, including classic black and white or pencil drawing.

Foursquare Billed as an “urban mixtape”, Foursquare is a way to tell everyone about the hottest places to hang out in your town. Download the mobile app for iPhone and Android (or use the mobile site), ‘check-in’ at a venue and get deets on what’s going down from other users. Best of, you get points for visiting new places and recommending them. In future, venues will be involved too, so you can get discounts.

The Purveyor The Purveyor stocks wines and spirits from all over the globe that you can’t find in supermarkets and off-licences. Make up your own case of unique of wine or just grab a bottle of single malt to keep everyone happy at New Year.

Snailmailr Thanks to electronic mail (or “email”), the art of letter-writing is dying out. But Snailmailr is here if you want to ensure your correspondence is converted to the traditional format. Just enter the address you’re sending to, type your lengthy missive and hit go. Snailmailr will do the rest, sorting postage and sticking your letter in the mail.

Sendsocial We’ve got a real thing for Sendsocial. The idea is ace. Give it the Twitter ID of a pal you want to send a parcel to and it’ll ask them for address details without handing you that info. It’s a great way to give presents, or just weird out your virtual pals with real-life pressies.

Tunechecker Downloaders’ best friend, Tunechecker is the brain child of Moneysavingexpert’s Martin Lewis. It scans iTunes, 7Digital, Amazon, Play, HMV and Tesco for the best deals on MP3s. And best of all, anyone who dabbles in DRM doesn’t get a look in. So if that Christmas LP is already driving you loco, log on and get downloading now.