Why do we still need to plug in our phones to charge them? Wireless charging exists, and has for quite some time, but most manufacturers don't include it in their devices. When it comes to the Samsung Galaxy S4, you can buy a QI-compatible wireless charging kit, but between the charging pad and the battery cover, you're looking at around $90 or more.
When you have to take four different freeways to go twelve miles, Google Maps becomes a very close and dear friend—especially in Los Angeles. Without my trusty Samsung Galaxy S3, I seriously don't know if I could make it back home half of the time. Of course, you'd probably get better directions using a Garmin, TomTom, or other GPS device, but when you already have a smartphone like the GS3, dedicated GPS units become nothing more than a luxury item.
For being an inexpensive tablet, the Nexus 7 packs a 1,280 x 800 pixel resolution into a relatively small display, offering a very sharp-looking 216 pixels per inch. What does that mean? It's one of the best e-readers on the market.
The Jelly Bean update brought a lot of cool features to the Samsung Galaxy S3, but one nasty bug remained. Something was causing "Android System" usage to be consistently high. Of course, the percentage of this process that is used is dependent on what you're doing at any given time, but it shouldn't be anywhere near this level with "standard" use (calls, texts, emails, light browsing, etc.).
Inductive charging is already a reality on popular smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S III and Google Nexus 4, and Apple has recently published a patent that would make inductive chargers a reality for the iPhone. There are also several phones that have the capability for wireless charging, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note II.
Texting is a godsend to mobile devices, but it also has its caveats. Sending a text to someone requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention—looking at what you're typing, holding the phone steady, and thinking about what you're trying to say. So, texting while doing pretty much anything else is not a wise move.
Here's a technique I used to whip up a batch of super cheap and easy to make smoke flares! WARNING: Ignition of an incendiary or explosive material may not be legal in your area, so check local laws before attempting. Use of this video content is at your own risk.
Want to spice up your origami cranes? MIT's High-Low Tech Group made two electronic origami cranes that flap their wings when you squeeze their tails.
In the following video, I demonstrate how to create a device capable of charging the body of anyone who wears it with static electricity, allowing a powerful shock to be discharged into anything that is touched. This grants the wearer the ability to do some pretty amazing things, some of which are shown in the first segment of the video.
Tired of playing games and draining the battery on your laptop? This video will show you how to play games without a disk and also helps save your laptop battery. Remember, this should own be done if you own the game. You'll learn everything you need to know to download your games, and all the while saving your laptops battery. The video you shows you and extensive step by step easy to follow instructions to finally find a solution to using a disk.
This is part 1 of 2 on how to hack a PSP without a Pandoras Battery using ChickHEN. You will need to ensure that you have firmware version 5.03 ChickHEN R2 in order for this hack to work.
In this article, I'll be showing you how to make a simple yet effective static electricity generator. Basically, this device allows you to carry a constant static charge on your body and discharge it on anything grounded or of opposite polarity. The electricity generated is around 8-10 kV, at a very low current. The shock is enough to startle your friends, just like a static shock from a trampoline or carpeted room. You'll need a little experience in soldering and circuit design to build the ...
Flash video. It's what all smartphone users have been waiting for. Why has it taken sooo long? And why is Apple still resistant?
R/C car manufacturer Losi just recently released the LOSI 1/10 TEN-T TRUGGY RTR, which is apparently the world's most advanced radio controlled car.
Need a little help with your Mac? Has your battery been failing you again and again? Will it not hold a charge? Well, it might be time for you to replace the battery, no?
Once you've reached an age where sparklers are no longer fun, it's time to upgrade to science and steel wool. It may be basic chemistry, but as you'll see in the video, simplicity can amaze more than complexity, as well as create some really impressive fireworks that are perfect for the Fourth of July.
Bid Whist can be a fun game for family or friends. It's challenging enough for adults, but enjoyable for kids too. Bidding and predicting wins are what make playing Bid Whist fun and exciting, whether you win or lose.
Infiniti is like no other car, it has emotion, it has soul, it inspires. There's a difference between being physically transported and emotionally moved, and you can tell them apart when you sit inside this magnificent automobile. Although the Infiniti is like a dream car, it has its problems just like any other brand of vehicle. There's maintenance, minor repairs, major repairs, needed replacement parts, oil changes, headlight adjustment, low tires, transmission and everything else you can t...
Now you see it, now you don't! Team up with the science sleuths of A-TV to make your own invisible ink.
To etch copper, an acidic solution of copper chloride and hydrochloric acid may be used. Gather copper etching materials with tips in this free electronics video. Etch copper - Part 1 of 15.
Learn how to make the the simplest homopolar motor there is with just a regular battery, a small watch battery, and a formed copper wire. This is really as simple as a homopolar motor gets. Two batteries and some wire... that's it!
Learn how to use some acids to melt a plastic doll in a jar.
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to solder copper pipes. Steps:
Use a little bit of sulfamic acid to peel a raw egg so that you can see inside of it.
This video is a tutorial. The video shows how to recharge batteries in a battery charger. It may help people who have lived in a cave and have never been exposed to civilization.
Making your own circuit boards can be a daunting challenge. You have to design a schematic, test it on a breadboard, design the board layout, and then after all of that, you still have to print and etch a board!
You see the status bar nearly everywhere on your iPhone, and it almost always looks the same. But you can use a few tricks to spice things up a bit — without jailbreaking your iPhone.
With plans to compete with Niantic and other augmented reality game developers, game developer WarDucks has closed a $3.8 million funding round.
After months of waiting, it looks like HMD has finally answered the call. Nokia's parent company is finally releasing a true flagship phone — one that isn't just an enhanced version of a previous phone and actually brings something new to the table. That phone is the Nokia 9 PureView.
After publishing two batches of videos from its L.E.A.P. developer conference, Magic Leap has made the session on Seedling from Insomniac Games available to the public.
Magic Leap's recent L.E.A.P. conference was free to all who registered in time, but if you weren't able to make the trip to Hollywood, the company just released video of some of the sessions that took place over the course of two days.
Enterprise augmented reality software provider Upskill has raised $17.2 million in its latest round of funding, led by new investors Cisco and Accenture.
Clumsiness is the great equalizer when it comes to smartphones — it makes no distinction between the most expensive flagship handset and cheaper mid-range models. A hard drop onto pavement will usually result in a shattered screen, regardless of how pricey your device is. And with a smartphone breaking every two seconds, we're truly our own handset's ultimate nemesis.
As augmented reality becomes more and more integrated into the mainstream, people have been wondering the future of AR is going to look like. Jay Samit has a pretty clear idea.
Nauto, which develops driver-monitor cameras and algorithms for autonomous vehicles, is among a growing list of driverless startups able to attract tens of millions of dollars in funding after raising $159 million in its latest round of financing.
Like Russian Matryoshka dolls, the features on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ often have hidden components within them that add to their functionality. The phone's flashlight is a great example of this since there's a hidden shortcut within the "Flashlight" Quick Settings tile that lets you adjust its brightness level.
If there's one thing entertainment companies love, it's rebooting aging franchises. But design firm Globacore Interactive Technologies appears to have taken rebooting to the next level by remaking the classic '90s game Lemmings specifically to work on the HoloLens, Microsoft's mixed reality headset.
The notification light on phones and tablets is slowly disappearing. The once staple feature is now only found on a few devices, and a bevy of other notification systems have sought to fill the gap. The most popular of these systems is Ambient Display, which has grown in popularity with OEMs over the last couple of years; even Google's own Nexus line of phones have made the plunge.
I'm the type of person that rarely has an audible ringer enabled on my phone. Haptic feedback (vibration) is enough for me... most of the time. When my phone isn't in my pocket, I become the type of person who frequently misses calls and texts—and no one likes that person.
There's an ongoing debate about whether or not it's safe or even desirable to rinse meat before you cook it. Many fall into the anti-rinsing camp, saying that it's not effective at dislodging bacteria, especially on poultry, as we've discussed before. Meanwhile, some argue that rinsing certain meats, like bacon, could be beneficial since it possibly prevents it from shrinking.
