Why Your Smartphone and Your Tablet Should Always Be Your Companion

The world has gone digital and things thought to be previously impossible on smartphones and tablets are now possible, even video editing and conversion. Everything has gone wireless and device-to-device communication is now faster and easier. This means easier communication between colleagues and co-workers. And with the improvement of portability, battery life, and reduction in power consumption rate in these devices you get better user experiences and longer usage times, meaning you don't have to have your laptop with you to be able to email or send a high quality video to your co-workers at work. This also means you can record high quality videos if you don't have your camera with you. And, using the right software, you can create and edit 3D models on your smartphone or tablet. These mobile devices also give you the ability to watch high quality movies on netflix and related sites since they offer super fast processors to display the videos smoothly. You can also play high quality 3D games in cases where you need to play some games and there are no game consoles lying around. Your smartphone and tablet can also serve as faster and easier links to files in your cloud drive in case you need to quickly download some files from your drive. Quick picture editing and audio streaming also gets easier using your smartphone's touch interface and HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) connectivity respectively. Downloading extra software on your smartphone and tablet also expands their usability so you find more use for them for each additional software installed.

How To Increase Download Speed On Your PC

If you are into downloading large files from the internet or if you often find yourself unable to complete downloads because of failed downloads in your browser's in-built download manager (which is usually very basic and often slow) then you need to download either one of the software listed below (BitComet and IDM preferably). They are download managers capable of maintaining stable connections with download servers. And they increase your download speeds to up to 20 times your browser's download speed. BitComet Internet Download Manager (IDM) Orbit Downloader The software listed above can also be used to download videos from video sharing websites like youtube and vimeo and metacafe.

Two Cheap Smartphones You'll Definitely Want to Buy

If you've been look for a cheap smartphone but haven't been able to find one, here are two which you might be interested in.

1.     Samsung Galaxy Pocket
        This is a super cheap Android smartphone from Samsung. It is very basic and still possesses the qualities of a good smartphone. It comes with bluetooth 3.0, HSDPA (3.6 Mbps), GPS, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi with WiFi Hotspot support, 2 megapixel camera, accelerometer, a 2.8" 240 x 320 TFT display.

     The phone runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and also comes with an 832 MHz ARM 11 processor and 289MB of RAM, with an internal Memory of 3GB.

2.     Nokia Lumia 610
        This is a cheap smartphone from Nokia. It runs the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango OS and comes with an 800 MHz ARM Cortex A5 processor, 256MB RAM, 8GB internal memory, bluetooth, WiFi (802.11 b/g/n), HSDPA (7.2 Mbps) and HSUPA (5.76 Mbps). The phone also has GPS support, 5 megapixel camera and a 3.7" 480 x 800 LCD display.

Some Useful Android Apps You Might Need

After playing games and running some apps like music and video players on your android device, there are still a lot of things you can do on your android device that will make you like it more. Of course this things require that you download some apps to do them. Browse through the list of apps below to see if you might find one that you like. BitTorrent BitTorrent is a torrent downloader application used for downloading .torrent files from torrent download websites like ThePirateBay and other torrent download sites on the internet. It has a Windows version, and an Android version which you can download from Google Play. This app is particularly useful for you if you download torrent files often. Video Converter Android Yeah. Don't sweat it. That's actually the application's name although it actually installs itself as "VidCon" after downloading it from Google Play. The app is capable of converting between common audio and video formats like AVI, mp3, mp4 and 3gp. Converting between some file formats in the app requires activating its pro features, meaning you have to pay to unlock convertion between those formats. But apart from that the app is very good at what it does. The developer's name is roman10 in case you need to spot the app more quickly on Google Play. One more thing -- you need to download the app's codec pack after installing. The app itself will do the job of bringing it up on Google Play after opening it. Pixlr Express Pixlr Express is a great free photo editor by Autodesk. The app allows you to edit photos already on your phone or take a picture with your phone's camera for editing. The app contains literally more than 100 effects you can apply to your photos -- like a super instagram app. The app is availble for download on Google Play. Groove Mixer Groove Mixer is an audio mixer application. With it you can create soundtracks on your own and of your choice. It's really easy to use. You could get addicted to using this app if you are into music or soundrack related stuff. Also available on Google Play. Easy Unrar Lite Easy Unrar Lite is a zip utility for extracting data from zip and rar archives. It is lightweight and works effectively. I've never had a problem with it. Ringtone Editor Pro Ringtone Editor Pro is an audio editor used for cutting out smaller portions of larger audio files for use as phone ringtones. It has an easy tow use interface and works like a charm.

Truth Be Told About Firefox OS

Firefox OS is an operating system currently under development by Mozilla. The OS is designed to run on mobile devices and is based on HTML5 web technology. This means that all Firefox OS apps will be written in HTML5. That sounds odd since HTML5 is a language used for writing web apps and creating websites. The truth is it isn't. It's like writing apps for Firefox OS devices in HTML5 just like Android apps are written in Java. This gives more development opportunities to web developers to write "native HTML5 apps" for the Firefox OS platform apart from developing web apps and websites.

Your Phone Plus your Phone's USB Cable Equals an External SSD.

If you have a smartphone like the HTC Desire x or  Samsung Galaxy S III (could be any phone. Even a Nokia C1 will do) you can use it as an external solid state drive with your PC since these smartphones offer significant storage capacities of up to 64GB and additional expandable storage via a micro SD card slot. This allows you to be able to have a total of up to 128GB of storage space on your smartphone. This literally means your phone can be used as a flash drive or an external solid state drive. All you need is a USB cable to connect your smartphone to your to start moving/copying files between your smartphone and your PC. Lower-end phones like the Nokia C1-01 are also capable of doing this since it supports memory card of up to 32GB of storage capacity, so is the lumia line of Nokia phones. and other phones that support the use of a memory card (for expanding built-in memory) and a USB cable for connecting them to PCs. So you might not have to buy that 64GB flash drive or that external external SSD unless you find it necessary.

The Media Player you Probably Never Knew of

There are a lot of media player software out there, each with different special features and functionalities. Obviously, some have more extended uses than the others and some support more codecs than the others but VLC media playerseems to be able to perform any media related task thrown at it. Apart from supporting virtually all audio and video file formats you can think of VLC media player can do all sort of things like: Open live network streams (audio and video) Broadcast a video or audio stream from your computer over the internet Take snapshots of videos while watching Convert between different audio and video formats using the in-built media converter Cut/record segments of a video and save it as a seperate video file I have also mentioned that VLC supports most audio and video formats computers use (which is the main reason why you get it). Point your browser here to download the software.

Four Reasons Why The Chromebook Pixel is Not Worth Buying

Google's newly released Chromebook Pixel might seem like an awesome product when you consider the technical specifications/configuration. But when you look at it from the right perspective it's not worth wasting your money on. Of course the Chromebook Pixel's specifications are really impressive for a cloud based PC considering it has 4GB of  DDR3 Random Access Memory and an Intel Core i5 processor clocked at 1.8GHz along with its impressively high touch screen resolution of 2560 x 1700 compressed into a 12.85 inch screen. Sure you would think that with the specs mentioned above, the Pixel is definitely worth spending your money on. But is it? You never know. Let's find out some of the reasons why the Chromebook Pixel is not worth it below: Note: The points you are about to read below are not condemning the Chromebook Pixel but are just showing what it lacks and why it is not a good choice for you if you don't already have your first Notebook/PC. 1.     It is a Cloud Based Device                 Google's Chromebook Pixel runs Chrome OS, a linux-based operating system designed specifically for use with the internet. This means you are only able to to perform most tasks like editing and saving a document, presentation and others only when you're connected to the internet. This also means that you have to rely on internet availability to work which is pretty bad since internet connection is not available everywhere. Imagine trying to work with your Chromebook Pixel while on a camping trip. An iPad and a keyboard dock, or better yet, a windows 8/7 notebook/netbook would do the job. 2.     The Price Tag                 For a small device like the Chromebook Pixel, the price tag of $1299 for the 32GB version and $1499 for the 64GB LTE version is too high for cloud based device. Since, basically, the device is a computer with a browser and a 32GB hard drive it shouldn't be that pricey. 3.     It Offers Too Limited Functionalities Compared to Windows 8 Notebooks                On Windows based Notebooks and (sometimes) Ultrabooks, video editing, native programming (Python, C, C++, Java, e.t.c.) are possible. So are tasks like running a Virtual Private Network, running a remote desktop and playing graphics-intensive video games like Call of Duty: Black Ops II. You can even perform tasks like developing CGI models for animation using a software like Autodesk's Maya or Blender. This means more productivity while you are still able to browse the internet with a Windows based notebook. But on Pixel's side, none of these is possible. The Chromebook Pixel's impressive tech specs are just there for you to use about 10% of their total abilities (unless you like streaming up to 10 1080p quality videos at once). 4.     Security                 I shouldn't spend too much time in this since everyone knows how insecure the internet is. Your data can be highjacked during transmission especially if you spend too much time in the internet. So can your login information and others. The Chromebook Pixel could be an easy target for hackers since it needs an internet connection to perform tasks. The Chromebook Pixel is really a nice product if you want to acquire one to add to your collection of PCs. But if you're thinking of getting one as your first personal computer, you're thinking wrong. Go for a Macbook Air instead (at least), but prefferably a Windows machine.

How to Make Your Low-End Android Phone's Battery Last Longer

Android phones are an awesome line of cell phones reguardless of the fact that some of them are low end phones (meaning they offer less functionalities compared to their higher end counterparts). And since low end android phones usually come with low capacity batteries often around 1200mAh and TFT display technology which is the perfect battery drainer they tend to consume the phones' battery charge very quickly. To make sure you get more hours of use with your low end andriod phone here are some tips you might want to follow. 1.     Reduce The brightness of your Phone's Display         Since the display in your mobile phone is a top energy drainer, followed by your phone's radio, you should try reducing the brightess of your phone to about 30% or zero if your display is still visibe at that level. This is guaranteed to give your phone 50% more usage time before the battery runs out. 2.     Always Close Applications After Use         Leaving applications minimized and running in the background drains your battery power as more running applications means more work for your phone's CPU. So always remember to close applications that are not in use on your phone to avoid exessive power drain from your phone's battery. 3.     Don't Leave The GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi on your Phone on While Not in Use         The WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth chips on your android phone are also energy drainers. Always turn them off when they are not in use to prevent unnecessary drain of your phone's battery power.