As much as app developers would like to simplify things with icons and visual cues, text is still a huge part of a smartphone's interface. Much of our media consumption is text-based, and while Google's Roboto font is a beautiful typeface, a little variety here and there certainly wouldn't hurt.
There are several reasons why restaurant food tastes so good. One is that the cooks know how to make reductions, which involves cooking down large amounts of liquid until it becomes a pool of thick, glossy sauce. While this technique isn't hard to learn, it can be time-consuming.
The Android lock screen interface is an integral part of our everyday use. For those of us who use lock screen security, it functions as a barrier between the sensitive data contained within our smartphones and potential outside access. Even if you don't use a pattern or PIN to secure your phone, you still interact with the lock screen every time you go to use it.
Yes, I know. Nexus owners aren't exactly the biggest Apple fans out there. That "Pure Android" experience was one of the main reasons we bought our Nexus devices. But give the other side some credit—the iPhone's operating system has come along way, and is still the champ when it comes to aesthetic design (at least until Material Design dethrones it this fall).
Sometimes when non-Asians go to ramen bars, they're mildly weirded out by watching the patrons eat. To the uninitiated, the eating behaviors can seem kind of extreme. Why are people hovering over their bowls like animals at a feeding trough? Why do they let endless lengths of noodles dangle from their maw as they slurp—very, very loudly—over their bowls of broth?
If you keep sensitive data on your phone, you've surely considered a "lockout" app before. There are many such apps that can add an extra layer of security to other apps within Android. For instance, you can require a PIN or password before anyone is able to launch a particular app.
The new preview build of Android is out, and it looks good. But if you're not quite ready to install Android L on your phone, there's still another way to enjoy some of these new visual elements on your Nexus device.
Let's be real, browser histories are virtually useless. Trying to find something you passed up a week ago is like, pardon the cliché, finding a needle in a haystack.
This week, Google sidestepped their usual "Update Wednesday" strategy by dropping a huge update to their Maps app for both Android and iOS. We're accustomed to seeing new features and bug fixes to their stable of apps on Wednesdays, but today's Maps update was presumably big enough to get its own release day (it's Tuesday, folks).
It's time to trip out with your tablet. If you're not looking to drain that precious battery life with a fancy-looking live wallpaper, then apply an optical illusion that appears to be moving on your Nexus 7 (or any other Android device) instead.
You can read at 500 words per minutes. Don't believe me? Here, see for yourself. This amazing technology comes from the startup Spritz, and they're ready to unleash it onto the smart device world, starting with the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Galaxy Gear line of smartwatches.
Sometimes you need more than just your brain to split the bill at a restaurant or to calculate how much your cable company is ripping you off.
The Xperia Z1, Sony's flagship device, has been extremely popular overseas, so much so that it has made its way into the U.S. market as the Xperia Z1S, a modified version of the original. Known more commonly as the "waterproof smartphone," the Xperia Z1 packs one of the most powerful cameras on the market, with an impressive 20.7 megapixels. Since the device is only available for T-Mobile here in the States, unless you currently have that carrier, the chances of you getting your hands on Sony...
The majority of Android devices have built-in sensors underneath the hood that measure motion, position, and several environmental parameters that provide data needed to monitor your movements and adjust accordingly.
The debate over whether to deep-fry or roast a Thanksgiving turkey can get pretty heated. Both have their merits, but it's hard to argue with that crispy, golden brown skin and moist texture that the fryer gives. But what's better than a deep-fried turkey?
YouTube may have started out as a video-sharing site, but these days a lot of people use it as a source for music. When I'm browsing the internet on my desktop, I usually have a YouTube tab open in the background playing some music.
Walking into a bar or crowded dinner party can be intimidating. Being surrounded by a bunch of people you're unfamiliar with or trying to impress the smokeshow at the bar is no easy task...for most of us.
If you've never played with a Nexus 10 tablet, then you probably have no idea that your Nexus 7 actually has a different user interface. For some reason, Google decided it was better for the Nexus 7 to use a phone UI instead of a tablet one, but luckily for us, we don't have to accept that.
You can find a ton of live wallpapers for your Android device on Google Play, but the more alluring interactive ones are a harder to come by, which can bring your home screen to life using a few finger swipes and taps.
Apple is set to release its latest operating system for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch this fall, and if you haven't noticed yet from our iOS 7 softModder guides, it's going to be pretty slick.
Welcome back my fellow army of hackers! Today we'll be hacking a website. Hacking is technically not the right word used here. It should be defacing! So we are going to deface a website...
All across the world, Nexus 7s have been secretly living a double life. The clean, simple look of the stock Holo user interface is nice if minimalism is your thing, but to softModders like me, Holo is bare, lacking style, overly blue, and an eyesore. It gets the job done, but I want something more customizable and visually stunning.
"Cheating is for losers" is only something that losers like to say. If you want to smash your friends and fly up the leaderboards, though, sometimes you have to go that extra mile.
As the holidays approach, so does that wonderful Autumn day where loads of people happily camp out in freezing weather in front of their favorite stores to save a few bucks on their favorite electronics. And yes, that day is near... Black Friday brings the biggest markdowns of the year, and that includes slashed prices on many of our favorite touchscreen devices, including the Kindle Fire HD, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, and Nexus 7. Want to get your hands on an Android tablet for cheap? Below are a...
An internet connection has become a basic necessity in our modern lives. Wireless hotspots (commonly known as Wi-Fi) can be found everywhere!
What's nice about Minecraft 1.3 is that it makes minecart stations so simple. Before, you needed redstone and buttons and powered rails in order to make a good minecart station. Now you hardly need anything at all! That said, if you want to be snazzy, all of the minecart stations we covered in this earlier article are still completely functional. You may also want to check out this article on how to make empty minecarts come back to you, if you want some extra bells and whistles.
I feel like doing a bit of chemistry today, how about you? To my knowledge, thermite is the hottest burning man-made substance. Thermite is a pyrotechnic composition of a metal powder and a metal oxide that produces an exothermic oxidation-reduction reaction known as a thermitereaction.
Learn how to make a fused pendant from sheet glass. This video shows the visual procedure of creating fused glass pendants with a torch and a kiln. You can fuse pieces of glass together with a torch and then bake the designs to perfection. While there are certainly more laborious details involved in the process, this video provides a helpful visual overview.
If you need a little advice about film sound and music, these tips should help you out. Find out a good place got get royalty free music to add to your low-budget film and see when not to use music with vocals. Watch this video tutorial to learn how to improve your moviemaking music and sound skills.
Today is the 10-year anniversary of the death of Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs. To commemorate the occasion, Apple has posted a message and a mini-documentary on its website.
On Monday, the social media giant Facebook suffered a massive outage that, as of this writing, is still in effect.
Shark Week, which debuted in 1988 as a week of programming on the Discovery Channel dedicated to the titular predatory fish, has grown into a cultural beast of its own.
When it comes to the future of AR smartglasses, DigiLens has one word for you. Just one word. Are you listening? Plastics.
Now that Snapchat has extended its virtual try-on powers from the face and feet to the wrist, Samsung is leveraging the new capability, along with an interactive twist, to sell its smartwatches.
The future of the HoloLens 2, according to Microsoft, is all about enterprise use cases. But that doesn't mean some of the more creative-minded HoloLens developers won't bend the top-tier augmented reality device to their own designs. The latest example of this trend comes from Japan.
In response to Apple's implementation of LiDAR sensors in iPad Pro and iPhone 12 Pro models, Google is looking to leverage the dual-camera setups in recent flagship devices as depth-sensing components.
You won't have to ask Santa for holiday-themed augmented reality experiences, because practically any social and shopping app that offers AR effects has them available now.
Whenever a new, category-defining Apple product is in the works, we usually get a series of creative concept designs to accompany the rumors swirling around the prospective launch.
While many of you were off surfing and lounging on some sandy beach or trying to figure out how to balance work with sky-high summer temperatures, I've been talking to all the companies that make augmented reality what it is today.
Because augmented reality is still so new to so many people, there are a number of would-be experts opining online, often repeating basic facts anyone with a spare 15 minutes can find on their own. That's why it's important to point out when someone delivers what could be considered the ultimate cheat sheet for ramping up your AR IQ if you're unfamiliar with the finer points of the space.
