If there's one gripe I have with Android Lollipop, it's the new volume menu. When Priority mode was introduced, the stock volume panel was revamped to accommodate it, and somewhere along the way a bit of functionality was lost.
Sweaty palms, stuttered speech, and terror blackouts: if you're someone who absolutely despises speaking before audiences, you've probably experienced side effects like these. No matter how well prepared we are, or how familiar our audience is, giving a presentation can be an experience more terrifying than death, according to psychologists. Unfortunately, it's impossible to avoid public speeches, but you can make these events less frightening with a few simple hacks.
Motorola changed the way users interact with their devices when they introduced their "always listening" feature on the Moto X. When I first saw it demoed, I couldn't wait to get the same functionality on one of my handsets, and now that has finally come to fruition.
As much as it pained me to lose lock screen widget functionality, I just can't bare changing out the sleek-looking lock screen that's standard on the OnePlus One. The latest OTA introduced a new transparent theme, and while that's a welcomed improvement, I need more options!
Nostalgia sometimes gets the best of us—hence the reason we geek-out when we see emulators for SNES on Apple devices or N64 on Android.
Fresh herbs can be delicate, and it's not always easy to figure out how to cut, crush, or muddle them to make the most of their flavors. Get too rough, and you have a bunch of bruised and muddy-tasting herbs, which is due to too much chlorophyll being released. Don't do enough prep, and the herbs don't release the essential oils and volatile molecules that are the foundation of their flavor.
Every now and then, you'll bite into the end piece of a perfectly good cucumber only to get an unwelcome bitter and acrid taste. This happened to me for years, no matter how carefully I selected my cukes, although I generally had better luck with ones I got from local growers and the farmer's market.
Restoring data is not always the easiest thing to do when you flash a new ROM on Android. Google can back up your contacts and Wi-Fi passwords, and various tools can back up your apps and data, but the rest is usually lost in-between ROM flashes. This leads to a lot of wasted time getting everything back into place, and it'll take a long time before your new ROM feels like "home" again.
Can you cook a steak or salmon filet that's straight out of the freezer and get good results? Ordinarily, I would say no. Usually your steak ends up a sad grey mass fit only for the family dog and the fish is burned on the outside with an icy, undercooked center.
Trying to explain something difficult over the phone can be pretty frustrating if the other person doesn't understand you. Using text messages can be useless for auditory learners, and a phone call won't do much good for a reading or visual learner.
Google's Android Device Manager makes it extremely easy to track down your phone or tablet, but while it's simple to set up and use, it does require your device to have an active data connection, which can be an issue in some areas.
Although your friends might roll their eyes every time you talk about playing Clash of Clans, Call of Duty, or Candy Crush Saga, your excessive gaming habits might actually be making you healthier than everyone else.
If you're anything like me, your day doesn't start until you've sloughed away your grogginess with a scalding hot shower. That perfectly-heated water can clear stuffed sinuses, relax the muscles, and make pretty much anyone feel squeaky clean. However, a cold shower can do even more for you if you can stand the low temperatures.
Clash of Clans is one of the most successful games ever to come out for Android and iOS. It has been downloaded over 50 million times from Google Play alone, and shows no signs of decline.
One of the coolest features of the Galaxy S5 is its IP67 certification. This means that the S5 is internally impenetrable to dust and can be submerged in water for thirty minutes at a depth of one meter. It's definitely a handy feature for folks who've lost a phone to a toilet in the past.
There are a lot of techniques out there for how to cook the perfect steak, from flipping it multiple times to applying a spice rub or dry brine to aging the beef. But it turns out that there's a super-easy way to make a great steak at home, and all you need is a good cast-iron skillet and some salt.
In photography, stereographic projection is a geometric technique that projects a sphere onto a plane, which is mostly used in the mapping of spherical panoramas.
Back in August, Google introduced Android Device Manager. This new service allowed you to locate, lock, or wipe a lost or stolen Android device from either a companion app or a web interface. Effectively, this is the "kill switch" that legislators are clamoring for.
The beauty of having a Google Play Edition HTC One is the ability to get as close to stock Android as possible while still getting some extra non-Google, proprietary HTC features. The newest version of Android, 4.4.3, has just hit the Nexus and Google Play Edition line of phones, but if you are rooted with a custom recovery, you will not be able to apply the OTA.
Just over a month ago, Google made its camera app available to all devices running Android 4.4 and higher. Originally exclusive to Nexus devices, the app got a UI overhaul and a new Lens Blur mode, but lost some features in the transition.
Amazon just signed a deal with HBO to host the cable channel's original content on its Instant Video service. For those of us with Amazon Prime accounts, this is great news—but there aren't any readily apparent options for playing it on Chromecast.
When I first started cooking, there were a few steps I always skipped in recipes. I never added zest to anything because it seemed like too much trouble, I rarely separated wet and dry ingredients in baking recipes because I was lazy, and I never let meat rest after it was done.
As I begin my move across the country, I find myself dodging all kinds of Craigslist scams, particularly in the apartments and housing classifieds. Fortunately, I've discovered a little trick that will tip me off to a scam before I lose $1,000 in a fake security deposit.
It's here... Update: May 1, 2014
As someone who's dependent on glasses to see on an everyday basis, losing or misplacing them is obviously a bad thing. I can't even see clearly enough to find the glasses that I just lost, so I'm pretty much blind now.
There's been a lot of discussion lately about the practical uses of Google Glass. Sure, you can use them for translating text instantly or further engraining yourself in social media, but how about saving someone's life? That's precisely what Dr. Steven Horng of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has says happened with a recent patient of his. After launching a Google Glass pilot program late last year, the device was seen as a critical factor in saving the life of a patient in January.
When our Nexus 7s upgraded to KitKat, one key piece of functionality was lost in the mix—Flash support. Of course, even before that we never had official support on the Nexus 7, but hacks seemed to do the job just fine. As it stands now, Google remains on the warpath against Flash, opting instead for HTML5 use, specifically in Chrome (where Flash never worked anyway), and of course Adobe stopped supporting Android long ago.
Ever wonder why when you defrost meat, there's all that pink liquid at the bottom of the plastic bag? That liquid is called "purge," and it's not good.
One draw that Samsung's Galaxy S line has had over the Google Nexus 4 and 5 and the HTC One (though the M8 appears to be following suit) is expandable storage. Pop a microSD card into the slot and you have extra storage for music, photos, and even apps themselves in some cases.
I still remember when I had to get up from my comfy spot on the couch to change the channel on my old television. So for me, the remote control may be one of the most underrated inventions of the last century. These days, remotes take on all sorts of shapes, not just the typical brick, but also in the form of watches and cell phones.
Seemingly lost in the fanfare of the numerous features and specs of the Nexus 5 were a few highly innovative and handy add-ons—a low-power step detector and step-counting sensor—useful for tracking fitness data.
February may be the shortest month of the year, but for iOS softModders, there were plenty of apps and tweaks to fill up those days. Whether patching major security holes or just a tweak to make speed dialing more efficient, there was a plethora of great mods for our jailbroken iOS 7 devices. These are our favorites from the month.
The newest version of Android, 4.4.2 KitKat, is making its way onto AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4s right now. Itching to try out the latest that Google has to offer? Keep an eye on your status bar for a notification letting you know that a system update is ready.
Last week, Apple issued an iOS 7.0.6 update that fixed a serious security vulnerability that could allow hackers to steal passwords, read emails, and get info from other SSL-encrypted communications.
If somebody really wants to gain access to your iPhone, they'll get in. Phone thieves (and mischievous friends) can easily figure out your passcode just from looking over your shoulder or tracing over the oily smudges on the screen. And if you're using popular passcodes, birthdays, and addresses on your iPhone, you might as well disable lock screen security entirely.
The lockout feature in iOS 7, which securely locks your device after a few incorrect passcode entries, can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.
Restrictions are inconvenient, and for this reason I've sought out softmods that loosen the constraints for many of the features on my smartphone. Things like adding favorite apps to the Pen Window drawer or choosing any app for Multi Window mode are now must-haves on my Samsung Galaxy Note 3—and should be on yours as well.
You know that feeling when your cell phone gets stolen and you figure it is pretty much lost forever. You could've used one of the millions of device managers and trackers, but ya didn't. And the Good Samaritan is not coming to your rescue.
We have shown you how to get CyanogenMod on your HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S3 in only a matter of minutes. But when modding your phone by installing custom ROMs, you'll often lose your access to Google Apps. Since Google's Apps are very useful (Gmail, Chrome, and Maps to name a few) most people will prefer to have these apps on their custom ROMs. While you can scour the internet searching for individual .APKs, it's hard to find the correct versions to work with your particular system (and do...
Whether it's because you have nosy family and friends or you're just cautious about losing your device, having a passcode on your Android smartphone is essential for protection. However, you don't always need or want a passcode, especially when you're home alone or in your car on the way to work.
