Every year, tech companies use April 1st as a means to prove that they have a sense of humor. Sometimes their jokes are good for a chuckle, other times the gags backfire disastrously. For the most part, however, we'd be better off without the bulk of these annual antics.
Modern smartphones are packed to the brim with low-power sensors like accelerometers and gyroscopes, which means they're capable of precisely measuring almost any type of movement. So why is it that when you just want to get walking directions somewhere, your device still uses its battery-sucking GPS connection to track your progress?
The first White Hat Award for Technical Excellence tutorial contest ended last night at midnight! We had many excellent articles submitted, once again re-affirming what an incredible community we have here at Null Byte! We had quite a flurry of great articles in the last few days. Thanks to all of you who submitted such high quality material to our community. Your efforts are appreciated and you have the undying gratitude of our community. We will not forget your efforts. I'll be reading and ...
While iPhone sales are expected to dip for the first year ever, Apple is reportedly planning to release a souped-up, 4-inch iPhone 5 in hopes of boosting sales for users who prefer a smaller handset.
Sony announced that it is releasing its flagship Xperia Z5 and Z5 Compact handsets to the United States on February 7th, a first for these flagship devices.
Nowadays, it feels like you can't talk about eating healthy without bringing up quinoa. Quinoa (KEEN-wah) has been the "superstar" of the health movement for a while; 2013 was declared the International Year of Quinoa by the United Nations, and has only continued to grow in popularity with both health nuts and culinary experts alike through the past few years. The true testament to quinoa's success has been its eventual integration into our everyday lives. Quinoa is now very accessible to fol...
Here on nullbyte we always hear mention of hacking being used to shut down power grids or attacking SCADA and other such cyber warlord activities, but ive never seen a TDos post come up.
I'm back. School's an ass. On my quest for knowledge, which started approximately 3 years ago, I can upon an interesting little artifact. It is called the Arduino.
A fire snake, also referred to as a black snake or sugar snake, is a classic science experiment you can do right in your own kitchen using a baking soda and sugar mixture and a fuel to ignite the reaction.
It has become a popular and must-have beauty essential—the bath bomb. Not only does it bring an aromatic and calming feel to bath time, but it also leaves your skin soft and will make you smell wonderful for a whole week!
It would be an understatement to say that Supercell hit it big with Clash of Clans. The game has topped both Google Play and the iOS App Store for years and shows no signs of ever slowing down.
It's nice that most apps ship with multi-language support, but if you only need to utilize one, those extra language packs are doing nothing more than taking up space on your computer. And when you're getting close to filling up your hard drive, every little bit counts.
It's already that time of year again—LG has unveiled its latest high-end smartphone, dubbed the G4. In past iterations, LG released its flagship devices in the fall. But slowly over the course of the past 2 years, the release schedule has been bumped up to be more in line with HTC and Samsung's springtime releases, and further away from the sales-sucking iPhone event each fall.
One of Android's biggest strengths relative to iOS was the ability to switch to a third-party keyboard. While Apple has finally included this feature in its latest OS and leveled the playing field a bit, the variety of options still pales in comparison to what's available on Android.
With 16 megapixels and optical image stabilization technology, it's safe to say that the Samsung Galaxy S6 is well-equipped to take badass pictures. Packed with additional camera modes, like Panorama, Selective focus, and Virtual shot, there's always a way to capture an image as intended.
We're big champions of exotic and surprising ingredients, but we'd be the first to admit that they're not necessarily for everyone, especially people with timid palates.
Android has a system-wide user dictionary file that any third-party keyboard can utilize, if it so chooses. This file contains all of the words that you've added to your keyboard manually, and of the big-name players, Minuum, TouchPal, and the Google Keyboard call on this file to determine their user dictionaries.
With the release of various new and updated Samsung Galaxy S6 apps and features, like Smart Switch, Smart Remote, and wallpapers, something that's a home screen staple for most Android users was still missing.
Google's Chrome Web Store is packed to the brim with extensions that do everything from letting you customize Facebook to improving your Google+ experience. While there are thousands of extensions for basically anything you can think of, the problem is sifting through them all.
When you're expecting an important call or text, it's pretty annoying to hear or feel your phone go off just to find out it was your reminders app telling you that you need to buy more contact lenses. Not quite as annoying as phantom phone vibrations, but it's up there.
With over 1.5 billion people on this planet without electricity, it's hard for those of us in developed nations to even fathom how anyone can read, write, repair, or do anything else that we take for granted without any lights. While some of our First World problems pale in comparison, they remain issues nonetheless, one of the biggest being constant battery drain from portable electronics.
The lack of Xposed support on Android Lollipop has left modules like GEL Settings incompatible with my Google Play Edition HTC One, so I've had to find a new launcher to meet all of my needs. While I can safely say I will never find the perfect launcher for me, Blinq comes pretty damn close.
With most of HTC's staff working on getting Sense updated to Android Lollipop, their piecemeal approach to individual app updates now comes to their Gallery app. The new update is available for all HTC devices running KitKat, but if you have the HTC Service Pack installed, it will run on any Android device running 4.4 or above.
Third-party keyboard support, introduced earlier this year by Apple with iOS 8, was initially pretty awesome. I loved playing around with all of the different options available in the iOS App Store, including SwiftKey, TouchPal, GIF Keyboard, and Swype.
With countless images and messages packed into one small device, security is always a high priority amongst iPhone users. For this reason, we've previously shown you how to make your iPhone's passcode match the current time, which made figuring out your passcode a lot more difficult for wandering eyes.
I love the holidays, but man am I sick of receiving oversized sweaters as Christmas presents. As well as people think they know us, their gifts often say otherwise. Instead of stocking up on useless items and articles of clothing you'll never wear, it's high time to create a wish list that's easily sharable amongst family and friends, and it's incredibly easy to do on Android.
While the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is sure to get an Android 5.0 Lollipop update, there's no official confirmation on when exactly that will happen (rumors state January). In the meantime, there are a number of ways to get some of Lollipop's features on your KitKat device right now, but today I'll be focusing on the looks with a Lollipop-themed launcher.
While change is good, it isn't always welcomed. All software updates with radical redesigns and brand-new features bring at least a few complaints from those accustomed to previous versions. iOS 7 got a lot of flak from iOS 6 users, as did iOS 8 from iOS 7 users.
Lollipop's imminent release should be cause for excitement with Google bringing out new features, a huge redesign, and under-the-hood changes. Unfortunately, the Nexus line of devices will be the first to receive the Android 5.0 update, leaving the rest of us to wait on manufacturers and carriers to release their skinned, bloatware-packed builds.
While your iPhone may have a built-in time-lapse feature, it's nowhere near as smooth as Instagram's newish Hyperlapse app, and it doesn't give you any speed control like the latter does. If you haven't tested out Hyperlapse yet, check out the short promo video to see just how well its stabilization algorithm works.
Star-Lord may not have been a household name prior to the release of Guardians of the Galaxy, but you can sure count on a flood of kids and adults alike wanting to dress up as Chris Pratt's character this year for Halloween.
Sometimes, when it comes to Halloween costumes, the easiest ones to make are the best. They require little effort, but can pack a punch and look even more authentic than complex character replications.
We're a little citrus-obsessed, and with good reason: lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit: Mother Nature really packed those babies with flavor, from peel (which you can zest without special tools) to juice. Now executive chef Amanda Freitag of Empire Diner has come up with a way to make those lemons and limes give up even more flavor by applying a lot of heat.
The latest software update to the Amazon Fire Phone packed a lot of new and enhanced features, one of which makes the Carousel (a favorite feature of mine) much more useful.
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I'll freely admit that I'm a SwiftKey diehard. I've used the keyboard since its inception in 2010, and it was one of the first apps I ever paid for back in the days of my beloved Sprint Evo 4G. Since then, I've kept up with all its beta iterations, and have unabashedly installed it on various friend's devices.
I don’t buy socks—I get a pack from my parents on Christmas Day, so I’ve got to make sure they last all year. Other than losing them mysteriously in the dryer, the biggest threat to my limited sock collection is a stretched out cuff. Nothing's more frustrating than a loose sock sliding down into your shoe.
The new HTC One M8 is barely two months old, and we've already got a leak on its predecessor. Dubbed as the M8 Prime, or more likely the One Max (Two?), the larger, faster device should debut sometime in the fall (September is most likely), not too far away from the M8 Mini that's set to release later this month with degraded specs.
Winterboard for iOS 7 allowed us to use some pretty great-looking themes. Circulus and Space BlueBerry are both great, but a little too "fun" for me. If you want something serious, yet appealing to the eye, then M'flat is for you.
Holidays can be challenging, especially around Christmastime—but not if you invoke your inner MacGyver spirit. In my latest "life hacks" guide, I show you 10 amazing tips and tricks that'll hopefully make your holiday season a little more merry.
