"Ain't No Sunshine" might just be a classic song to you, but for me and my Samsung Galaxy S3, it means so much more. For the most part, my GS3 does a decent job at automatically adjusting the brightness of the screen when I'm in normal lighting, but when I'm in little or no lighting, or there's just way to much, I usually have to switch over to manual to get the right balance. Luckily, we're not stuck with Samsung's built-in auto brightness feature. There are some really good third-party solu...
Anyone who uses a computer on a regular basis probably knows how to access the task manager to check system resources and usage stats. However, on a Samsung Galaxy S3 or other Android device, it may not be so obvious. There's no equivalent to Control-Alt-Delete, but it's still fairly easy to monitor running processes and battery usage.
The new Android 4.3 Jelly Bean has been out for a while already, and most of you already have it installed on your Nexus 7 tablets. Many of you softModders have also probably rooted your tablet so you can take advantage of some of the more popular root-only softMods, like speeding up performance, installing WhatsApp, increasing internet speeds, getting Beats Audio, etc.
Snapchat users upload a whopping 150 million pictures a day—which are deleted as just quick as they're sent. However, none of these images are coming from Android tablet users. If you try downloading Snapchat from Google Play on your Nexus 7 or other Android tablet, you'll get the "Your device isn't compatible with this version" message. Even those with the new Nexus 7 tablets that have the front and rear cameras are out of luck. Unless you're a softModder.
If any gamer knows their gaming history, one name is synonymous with starting the gaming revolution—Atari. Founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell, Bushnell helped kickstart the home video game market with their line of Video Computer Systems, or what we would call video game consoles. Old time favorites like Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Pitfall made the system a success among the public and cemented itself as a worldwide cultural phenomenon. Despite two updated consoles released (Atari 5200 and 78...
Even if you have the fastest internet connection in the world, it's not going to be fast if your Android device isn't optimized to use all of the bandwidth. I have pretty fast speeds at home, but every now and then my web surfing on my Nexus 7 tablet is halted in its tracks—for seemingly no reason.
For the most part, Xbox Live is amazing, but there is one thing that has been annoying for pretty much everyone, to say the least. Microsoft Points.
Plastic bags may be banned from retail stores in some cities, like Santa Monica, Seattle, and San Fransisco, and will be banned in Los Angeles shortly, but we still use billions of them every year. What else are we going to use for throwing away cat litter or picking up dog poop?
With so many cloud storage services out there, many people are starting to keep their important documents online, especially when they know they'll need to view them when they're away from their computer.
If you're anything like me, you'd like the ability to fully exit your iPhone apps to help free up memory, improve battery life, stop background processes, and fix unresponsive apps. The thing is, you can, with the help of the app switcher. Force-closing apps also helps keep your app switch clean and organized.
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.
Drilling holes in wall tiles is a fairly easy skill to master once you know how. Follow these simple steps on how to drill a hole in a tiled wall for a hassle free experience.
Rooting your Samsung Galaxy S4 has many advantages; theming, free wireless hotspots, deleting system apps, and generally being ahead of the curve when it comes to updates. It's also great for simple things like centering your clock or freezing apps.
One of the very first Photoshop skills we learned in my tenth grade photojournalism class was cropping the background out of images. I hated it. It was extremely time consuming, and the magnetic lasso tool never seemed to want to cooperate with me.
Any living creature will die if deprived of sleep for long enough. The longest documented occurrence of a person not fully sleeping and surviving is only 11 days. There is a rare disease where deep sleep is never achieved, affecting roughly 100 people worldwide. Patients usually only survive between 6 to 18 months after the onset of chronic insomnia, and only 3 to 9 months in a parasomnia state without any real REM sleep.
The new Samsung Galaxy S4 may be the only phone to include temperature and humidity sensors, but your Galaxy Note 2 has a few weather-detecting features of its own.
Cooking may be an art, but baking is a science. It requires precise measurements since the outcome is based on chemical reactions. Using too much or too little of one ingredient can be the difference between perfect, crunchy-yet-chewy cookies and the dreaded "one big cookie." That's why frozen cookie dough and pre-made bread and cake mixes are so popular. They're easy to throw together, and pretty much guarantee success every time. But what if you're feeling so lazy that you don't even want t...
Here's a quick and easy video tutorial on how to root any Qualcomm-based U.S. or Canadian Galaxy S4 Android smartphone.
I've taken a few photography classes back in the day, so I'm pretty confident in my abilities with a DSLR, but my iPhone is a completely different story. Lighting makes all the difference, so unless you're outdoors in the sun, it's hard to take a good snapshot with a mobile.
I've never been much of a runner. I've tried running alone, with a partner, on busy sidewalks, and back country roads, but I just never got it. There are a few other forms of exercise I genuinely enjoy, but have yet to experience that "natural high" that avid runners are always talking about.
Tired of your Samsung Galaxy S3 being a square? Make it more well-rounded by ditching those 90-degree corners on your screen for new adjustable round corners instead. It may be a minor tweak to your device, but the psychological effects of a more circular screen may help you feel more connected, safe, and, well…perfect. If you're the type that prefers the logic, order, and security of a sharp-cornered screen, then stick with your standard Android interface. Otherwise, keeping reading.
With the explosion of food blogs in the last couple of years, there are more recipes available at the tip of your fingers than ever before. Craving chocolate chip cookies or Sriracha-flavored anything? You're guaranteed to have several thousand versions to choose from. So that's how they did it before the Internet...
If the Nexus 7 wasn't your first Android tablet, you may have noticed something different with the user interface when compared to other Jelly Bean tablets. You may not know exactly what it is off the top of your head, but it's there.
So, you've flashed a bad ROM or ZIP file, and now your Nexus 7 won't boot up. Maybe it just went haywire for no reason. Whatever happened, the bad news only keeps coming—you didn't make a backup of your system, contacts, or apps.
A lot of people have problems with their cats urinating inside the house, leaving behind the retched odor of cat pee. Others get frustrated when feral or stray cats pee on their porch, patio, or anywhere else outside of their house, as it's not the most welcoming odor when guests arrive.
As a kid, there was nothing more fulfilling than sinking my teeth deep into the succulent flesh of an orange, savoring every drop of juice that wasn't busy sliding down your chin and onto your clothes. While my adulation for oranges never ceased as I grew older, the way I consumed the precious fruit did evolve with my maturity. Gone were the days of messy eating, and here I was now, peeling my oranges as a teenager, taking my precious time in separating each individual slice for a clean and t...
Are you constantly traveling? Well, as a Hilton HHonors member, you can enjoy special treatment at all of their hotels and resorts. It's free to register, but the difficulty lies in climbing up their membership level. To reach Gold elite status, Hilton HHonors requires that you have a minimum of 20 stays, 40 nights, or 75,000 base points—all in one year. While this may very will be easily attainable for those with jobs that revolve around traveling, it's almost damn near impossible for the re...
As much as I love my Samsung Galaxy S3, I'm always on the lookout for cool features I can borrow from other smartphones. One of the most recent "borrowed" features I've added to my S3 is the Galaxy Note 2's smart rotation feature, which uses the front camera to detect my face-to-screen angle, which then rotates my screen accordingly. But the S3 already comes packed with some awesome features, as well as some less-than-stellar ones. One of these less-than-stellar features is the task manager, ...
There's a lot going for the Samsung Galaxy Note 2—smart screen rotation, huge HD display, great rear camera—which makes it an awesome device for reading, watching videos, and taking pics. But all of those luxuries will end up hogging up your internal memory, which is one of the few things the Note 2 could use some help in. The device comes with 16 to 64 GB of internal storage, depending on your model, with the option of adding a microSD card for more space. Only problem is, everything automat...
For the most part, keyboard shortcuts are great. They save you some time and make it easier to do everything right from the push of a button. But like most things in life, there is always a caveat, and in this case, for me—it's a huge one.
The PlayStation 3 is a sweet gaming system, and even though Blu-ray discs didn't really live up to all the hype and there is still no HBO GO app available, I love my PS3. One of the coolest things about it is that you can customize it to look however you want. One of the most common ways to do this is by changing the wallpaper, but most people use their computers to transfer wallpaper images over.
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.
For many busy people, time is of the essence, and for others, it's simply just being impatient. But no matter what your vice, having your computer start up as quickly as possible is usually a plus for anyone.
With the ever-evolving technology that imbues photography, we are never short of fantastic awe-inspiring shots. Digital cameras can capture things that the naked eye only wishes it could see, like streaking lights, rapid movements, and faraway objects, and it's fairly easy to capture these things if you know the basics.
The new 007 film, Skyfall, comes out this Friday, and dreams of becoming a super-spy have taken over my mind. Only I can't afford any of James Bond's awesome gadgetry or amazing cars—and you probably can't either.
Microsoft's updated web browser, Internet Explorer 10, has only been out for a few days on Windows 8, and there is already a storm of controversy surrounding its launch.
Android has released a new application called ezNetScan, which is a free app that scans the wireless network you're connected to and gives you a full log of all of the devices connected to that network. This isn't new for smartphone users, let alone Android users. Fing has been around for a while and does practically the same thing that exNetScan does. It gathers information such as the IP and MAC addresses, device vendors, and ISP location. But while Fing is a great program, it does lack a f...
Firstly, I'd like to say that I have nothing against iPhoto; it's a great application that works wonderfully in Mac OS X. Unfortunately, when you no longer have iPhoto on your MacBook—and you don't want to pay for it—looking for an alternative is a necessary endeavor. I could sit here and try to explain to you how I updated to Lion and then inexplicably dragged the iPhoto application into the trash—and proceeded to empty said trash. I could tell you guys that story, but I fear you might judge...
If you're doing research that includes a lot of copy/pasting, it can get really tedious to open a new document every time you want to save something. Luckily, you can cut out the extra step and save text and images that are currently in your clipboard directly to a folder or your desktop—without the hassle of creating file after file. Here's how to do it on both Windows and Mac OS X. Windows