Facial, voice, and hand gestures are the way of the future for controlling our devices, and even gaming consoles like the Xbox One have incorporated them. Unfortunately, our Nexus 7 tablets have not. We're currently limited to using soft keys for most actions, but we can inch closer to the future by replacing one critical action with a simple touch gesture—going back.
One of many cool features in iOS is the ability to listen to your Music app and have the player options, as well as album art, available on your lock screen. While that's super convenient, it's not all that easy on the eyes. The player is placed over a blurred version of whatever your lock screen wallpaper is.
Google Chromecast is only 35 dollars. That's about 2 and a half drinks at a decent bar in Los Angeles. So, my roommates and I looked to make the investment. The small box arrived in the mail and the setup couldn't be easier. Simply, plug the Chromecast into the HDMI port on your TV and pair the two devices. Done and Done. Having the ability to stream anything on our computers or cellphones right to the TV was the main reason for getting Chromecast. Now, for streaming through the Chrome browse...
In the wake of its 20th anniversary, the folks over at Eltechs have released Original DOOM, a full shareware version of the revolutionary first-person shooter DOOM for Android, available for free on the Google Play Store. It's unmodded and unaltered from the original FPS classic.
The holiday season brings together three of my favorite things—presents, time off, and drinking. And in order to enjoy all of these things in peace, you have to make sure to put your work behind you.
Let's be honest, some days call for a new wallpaper to match your mood. If I'm upset, I could use a nice, uplifting wallpaper to alleviate my low spirits. Even in a day and age where everything is literally at our fingertips, I get too lazy to deal with going in and selecting a new wallpaper, cropping it, and setting it (pathetic, I know).
Newsstand was the most hated Apple app when it was first introduced, mainly because you could not delete or hide it inside of a junk folder. That's because it acted like a folder itself, with magazine and newspaper apps contained within.
With the camera usually being pretty simply in the past iOS versions, iOS 7 has seen a few major changes—built-in filters, Instagram-ready square photographs, zoom-in during video recording, and more.
Katie wanted to make a difference in the world, and thanks to the ACUVUE 1-DAY Contest, and Disney Channel star and singer, Bridgit Mendler, her dream became a reality. Watch ACUVUE's video below and check out our tips on how you too can begin the transformation and motivate others to make a difference.
While there were many highlights during Apple's keynote address at WWDC this year, the new advancements to the sassy personal assistant Siri in iOS 7 were amongst the most talked about—and something I was eager to test drive myself. Currently, there are ways to improve Siri in iOS 6, like making her play Spotify music or adding more commands, but those aren't easy tasks.
There has been much talk about how unsecure the cloud is because of PRISM’s newfound ability to demand all of your data without any resistance. This has spin doctors in the Cloud Storage industry losing their mind. They suddenly went from a central hub for 10GB of your files, to an easy window for Big Brother to track you through. Centralized cloud storage is no longer a safe way to keep your files, but we still need a way to access our files anywhere we go.
There's absolutely no shortage of flashlight apps on Google Play, so when one comes around that sports uniquely different features than the rest—it should definitely be noted. That's why I bring to you Ambient LED Flashlight, a new app for your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 by Android developer Jie Huang.
Electronic devices seem to have an uncanny ability to make noise at the worst possible times. It's always during an important meeting, a quiet study session at the library, or a biology final that your laptop or smartphone decides to play some obnoxious or embarrassing sound.
When it comes to multitasking, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is the master of all smartphones, thanks to its huge screen size and many features. The phablet's display compliments its multi-window mode, which lets you run two apps simultaneously side by side Another cool feature is floating apps, which makes multitasking even better. So, with all of these cool features, what else could possibly be added to the Note 2's arsenal that it doesn't already have?
Apple's power adapters have had their fair share of criticism. Some users complain that the magnets aren't strong enough, others say the adapters overheat and just stop working, and there was even a class action lawsuit over fraying issues.
As most everyone knows, Android and Apple don't get along so well. Even the users don't get along well, with Android and iPhone users constantly berating and insulting each other online—any chance they get. I should know, since I was one of them, but I'm now rare breed who's learned to appreciate both. People just need to realize that they have their own unique strengths—Android with its customization and Apple with its simplicity.
While the increasing superiority of smartphone cameras is great, they can be a double-edged sword. Sure, we get great images that are crystal clear, but at what price? Storage space on your devices ends up paying the price for this luxury, filling up quickly due to the high-quality images and their grotesquely large size. Not only that, but most photo editing applications only make it worse. Adding a few filters, changing the hue/saturation, or adding some text across the picture can all incr...
The great thing about Android's customization is that you can either clutter up your home and lock screen with an infinite amount of awesome features and tweaks—or choose more of a stripped down minimalistic look. If you're someone who leans more towards a minimalistic look, a new mod by XDA member enryea123 will show you how to hide the status bar at the top of the phone, while still retaining its full functionality and ability to swipe it down.
Who doesn't hate Auto Correct? There's nothing worse than hitting 'Send' only to realize that your phone betrayed you by changing a word so that your message doesn't even mean the same thing anymore—especially when it's going to someone like your boss or parents.
Samsung bucked the trend and threw hard keys onto the Galaxy S3 while most manufacturers are going the soft key route. This hack will add on-screen buttons to your TouchWiz-based ROM. You'll need a root file manager with a system writable text editor—I recommend ES File Explorer for this, but feel free to use whatever you want. If using ES, hit Menu, Settings, go down to Root Settings, and check Root Exploerer, Up to Root, and Mount File System.
Cassette tapes, much like the boombox, Walkman, and record player, aren't used much anymore. With the ability to put music on our smartphones, most of us don't carry tapes or CDs around because it now seems inconvenient.
I love YouTube for listening to music I don't already have on my phone or in my iTunes library, but there is one very simple thing that you think they would've figured out by now—the ability to have your video continue to play outside of the app!
I can't say that I'm a huge Tweeter, but I'm definitely a good follower. Having the ability to follow comedians, brands, and athletes helps me stay up to date on the things I'm interested in, and I appreciate being thrown a good joke every now and then.
As someone who writes an extreme amount, it's a necessity for me to have an organized and multifunctional text editor. The stock iPhone Notes application is useful to an extent, but it sorely lacks in features and design. Writing and text editing applications are nothing new to the iPhone, but many of them are overloaded on features, making it even harder to keep organized. Here are just a few alternatives that I find helpful in my day-to-day writing.
If you've got old game consoles lying around and aren't sure what to do with them, there's no shortage of projects you can undertake. From turning a Game Boy and Wii Remote into an Android phone gamepad to combining a GameCube and N64 to make a hybrid console, there's something for everyone.
In yesterday's tidbit, we learned that across the planet women seek material wealth in their mates. This stems from our hunter-gather past in which females depended on male hunters to provide them and their children the meat necessary to support their large brains.
Facebook has been revamping its Messenger apps these past few months, trying to lure in more users. Competing in an already crowded market of third-party messaging applications, Facebook Messenger just upped the ante, by introducing voice messaging.
I think most people can agree that advertisements are just annoying. There is only one day out of the entire year when commercials and advertisements are actually welcomed, and that's the Super Bowl. But, since it can't be the Super Bowl every day (if only), those ads that float around on your Microsoft Surface's screen are just obnoxious. Luckily, there is a way to get rid of them, on Facebook at least. Facebook is one of the most visited sites in the world, so having the ability to hide ads...
Google is constantly adding new ways to do things quicker on its devices. Everything from multi-screen capabilities to lock-screen widgets has been added to the new updates of the Android OS, making its devices very powerful and efficient. Something that Android hasn't paid much attention to, though, is the ability to access applications easily from places other than the home screen. So, XDA Developers member Cyansmoker decided to take matters into his own hands creating an application that a...
After everyone updated their shiny Apple devices to iOS 6 a few months ago, they were shocked to find that their beloved YouTube app was missing. As it turned out, Apple decided to kick YouTube off their list of pre-installed stock apps. The new YouTube app (found in the iTunes App Store) is definitely better than the native one from iOS 5, but it's lacking a direct upload to YouTube option. Sure, you could upload videos from your iPhone's Camera Roll, but the options are limited as to what y...
When I heard that Google finally released a maps app for Apple's iOS 6, I almost cried. After upgrading to iOS 6 from iOS 5.1 on my iPhone 4, I was sad to realize that Apple Maps was the new default map app. I don't even have to explain why having Apple Maps as the native mapping program was a terrible terrible thing.
Feeling nostalgic for Super Mario Kart, but don't want to fire up the old Super Nintendo? Never fear, with a free Flash-based emulator called SNESbox, you can relive the 90s and play all your favorite games right from your browser, without having to install anything. With 1,861 games, if there's something made for the Super Nintendo that you want to play, they almost certainly have it. Sure, there are tons of emulators you can use, but SNESbox is different in that it gives you the ability to ...
Depending on what mobile device you own, you'll see something that says "via device name" next to the date of your post on Facebook. If you're device is not recognized, you'll simply see a "via Mobile" note, which is what happens when I post from my phone. If you allowed your iPhone to be called iPhone when you logged into the app, it'll show up as a recognized device on Facebook, and will post "via iPhone." Same thing goes if you have a Samsung Galaxy S3 or Nexus 7 or iPad. It could also jus...
Apps are now very much integrated with social media, especially with your Facebook profile. Pretty much every app these days lets you log in using Facebook, while some actually force you to, giving you no other option. But, the most annoying part is that these apps leave notifications all over your Facebook timeline, cluttering the hell out of it. So, how can you completely banish all of these apps from being able to access your Facebook?
Having the ability to decipher any song that plays over the radio or during a commercial is a must for any music-loving fiend. That's what made Shazam so popular.
Android devices are known for their USB and Wi-Fi tethering abilities—rooted or unrooted—which comes in handy for those that travel and need internet on their laptops in areas that don't have any Wi-Fi networks available, but have a strong cellular signal.
The most recent update for Android's Jelly Bean has some pretty cool new features, like better panoramic photos, gesture typing, and wireless sharing. From a security standpoint, though, the best new feature is the ability to add multiple users to one device. You can create up to 8 different accounts on Android tablets like the Nexus 7 or Nexus 10, so besides saving time hiding or protecting sensitive data, it could also save you some money. You can share a device with your family, kids, or s...
If you've spent most of your life in one geographic location, you're probably pretty familiar with the weather there (unless you're a hermit). If you live in a tropical climate (and haven't done much traveling), maybe you've never even seen snow.
Having the ability to stream music or video from practically any internet-capable device is a thing of wonder—especially at the airport. I don't know how many times Netflix has saved me from watching something like CNN for 5 hours straight at the gate during long layovers. But streaming video sites like Netflix only work in North American and few other regions. So, if you're a U.S. subscriber currently in Australia or France or any other international location, Au Revoir to your streaming cap...
Facebook has always been notoriously difficult to customize. Personally, I think this is an improvement over MySpace's totally open platform (some people should not use code), but users should still have the option to change a few things if they want. While you'll never be able to choose your own background image or add an obnoxious number of aWeSoMe quiz results to your profile, there are a few browser plugins that let you at least change the color scheme.
