Friday 6 December 2013

How to Take a Screenshot on Android system

Taking a screenshot of your Android phone’s screen can be a bit confusing, since the process isn’t the same on every device. Here are the different ways to take a screenshot on Android.
screenshot

If You’re Running Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) and Above

If you have a phone with Ice Cream Sandwich or above, screenshots are built right into your phone! Just press the Volume Down and Power buttons at the same time, hold them for a second, and your phone will take a screenshot. It’ll show up in your Gallery app.

If You’re Running Android 2.3 and Below

Unfortunately, Android 2.3 and below doesn’t have screenshotting built-in. However, some devices (like many Samsung phones) do have these features, but it varies from phone to phone. for example, on many Samsung phones, you can press the Home and Power buttons at the same time to take a screenshot. Google around to see if your own phone has a built-in shortcut.
If your phone doesn’t have a shortcut built-in, you’ll need to use an app like No Root Screenshot It. You’ll need to install it on your phone and install its free companion app on your computer, which will enable screenshots. You’ll have to plug your phone back into your computer every time you reboot it, but you’ll be able to take screenshots directly from your phone which is great.

If You’re Rooted and Running Android 2.3 or Below

If you’ve rooted your phone, you have a few options. You can install an app like Screenshot UX, which will allow you to take screenshots through a variety of shortcuts, or you could flash a custom ROM that has screenshotting built-in (like CyanogenMod).
There are more screenshot methods than we could possibly list here, but these are some of the easiest (if you aren’t rooted but know how to use ADB, you can get a screenshot from the command line, for example). Check your phone and see what it supports out-of-the-box.

(via Lifehacker)

How to Unlock Your Android Phones If You Forgot the Unlock Pattern or Passcode

Forgetting your Android phone unlock pattern or passcode can be frustrating, and many users actually end up forgetting it at some point. While there are many solutions posted on the Internet about how to deal with this situation, only a few of them actually work. Some of the solutions that work require you to download apps and install them on your Android phone, others need you to sign in with your Gmail account, and finally, others will erase all of your data from the Android phone, returning it to factory settings.
Depending on your particular situation, you may want to choose a certain solution to bypass your unlock pattern or passcode. If you have just bought the Android phone and did not have time to store any information on it, erasing all of the data will certainly not be a problem. But if you had the Android phone for a long time and have many contacts and personal information stored in it, you may want to look for alternatives. Especially if you haven’t backed up your information anywhere else. Here are three simple solutions to unlock Android phones:
- Logging on to Android phones with the Gmail account
1. Type the wrong password or pattern for five times
2. After the fifth mistype, an option called ‘Forgot Pattern’ will appear in the bottom right side of the screen – click on it
3. Log in with your Google username and password associated with the respective Android phone
4. You can now draw a new pattern and confirm the change.
- Downloading Apps
1. Log in to the Android Market on your computer
2. Install the ‘Screen Lock Bypass’ App to your Android phone
3. Install another application – the application will run and disable the screen lock
4. The application runs each time you boot the Android phone and bypass the screen lock.
- Restoring the Android phone to factory settings
1. Switch off the Android phone
2. Press the volume button up and down
3. Press the power button and keep holding it with the volume up button
4. Keep pressing until the terminal interface appears on the Android phone
5. Navigate through the terminal using the home button
6. Choose the option to delete all user data
7. Your device will restart after several moments and it will reboot with factory settings.
Be careful if you want to use the last solution to bypass your Android phone’s code, as you will actually lose all information on it, including contacts. Only choose this if you have a backup for any personal or important information. The first option has been known to fail for some users, but others managed to use it successfully. The second option is optimal for most users, but it’s not a solution in itself, as it never changes the password, but it simply bypasses it every time you open your Android phone.

Wholesale Cell Phone News: There’s Still Life In Feature Phone Market

Luxury smartphones may be the in-thing right now, but there is an interesting market in wholesale cell phones that was thought to be dead but is really not at all – the humble feature phone.
feature phone
These so-called dumbphones and are often thought of as cheap, disposable pieces meant to be sold as packaged bulk phone orders. They are obsolete, lacking in power and nobody simply wants to buy them – or so most people think.
Feature Phones Fill An Oft-Ignored Niche
The major players in manufacturing premium phones – Samsung and Google in one camp, Apple in the other – are slugging it out in the high-end market. They are all struggling to outmatch in other in the extremely lucrative end of the mobile phone industry, with every one of them vying for customers with deep pockets.
Feature phones, however, are an ideal solution for wholesale cell phones in the entry-level market. The big players are so busy hunting for high rollers that they forget all the folks with tight budgets that have very specific needs from their phones. A well-informed consumer can easily find a lot of affordable bulk phones that meet their needs (like Internet access) without overpaying for features they don’t need.
Feature Phones Are Getting More Features
Another reason wholesale phones are becoming a force to reckon with is because they are actually getting more features while still keeping costs way down low. The feature phones of today are capable not just of handling calls and SMS but can also come with cameras, can hook up the Internet via web browsers and even handle social networks like Twitter and Facebook. There are even some with basic digital camera capabilities.
The best part is that these phones are still as low-cost as they were before, with many feature-rich feature phones well under the 50 USD mark. They’re still not as all-around as smartphones but they will definitely appeal to individuals with very specific needs in mind. This allows suppliers to stock the phones in bulk without worrying about costs going up over time to compensate for more essential features.
Huge Opportunities In Untapped Markets
Markets in South America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East are all markets that have a very high demand for feature phones. Low-cost wholesale cell phones with basic features will thrive in these markets where the consumer is much more mindful of his or her budget. It also helps that white label bulk phones will be hit the least by local customs and tariffs – a factor that makes expensive smartphones virtually unreachable for most people in developing markets.
An entrepreneur in these markets with links to suppliers of wholesale cell phones can make a killing with feature phones, especially if the local culture is one that embraces feature phones over the scattershot approach of smartphones. One solid example of culture impacting phone sales is in Japan. The people here have gotten so used to feature phones that it continues to dominate the market even when smartphones try to muscle their way in.
Feature Phones Can Thrive With New Mobile OS Players
Google’s Android mobile operating system is constantly under siege from Apple’s legal department, with both operating systems getting butchered by claims and counterclaims. Manufacturers of bulk phones are looking for new mobile operating systems that will not suddenly be pulled out because another company won a claim from the local courts.
This is where new players like Firefox come into the picture. Manufacturers of feature phones will be the first to embrace these new mobile operating systems – paving the way for wholesale cell phones to become ‘smarter’ without having to push up prices. This in turn is due to the low – even non-existent – costs of adopting these new mobile operating systems. They can even be better secured with rudimentary anti virus and anti spam software.

Monday 2 December 2013

Password Manager For Windows, Mac, Android & iOS

Antivirus and online security software maker F-Secure has now also launched its own password manager dubbed F-Secure KEY for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS. KEY lets you generate secure passwords and secure your existing user accounts by keying them all to one master password. Passwords can also be synced between devices, and are automatically filled out in login fields to make logging into websites a breeze.

F-Secure-Key_Sidebar

The information stored using F-Secure KEY such as Wi-Fi passwords, credit card details and user accounts information, is strongly encrypted to keep it safe from prying eyes. The built-in password generator is another plus, especially if you usually face difficulty coming up with secure passwords. Getting started with Windows version was a very straightforward process. The 10MB installer didn’t take much time to setup and soon, there I was at the welcome screen. After launching the app, the first step is to create a new master password by clicking ‘Create new account’.
As mentioned earlier, F-Secure KEY lets you synchronize your password details with your smartphone and tablet. To do that, click Connect device from the home screen sidebar (accessible via a menu icon), and just follow a few simple steps. The program also keeps you updated with major hacking and cracking incidents from around the globe. Lastly, F-Secure KEY lets you export and import login details to and from an XML file.

VIA

Edge-Activated Music Playback Controls On Android

One of the benefits of having multitasking support on smartphones is the ability to listen to music while browsing the web or using pretty much any other app. While most music players available for Android come with playback controls in the notification shade for pausing or resuming playback and skipping songs quickly without having to open the music player app itself, you still have to swipe down from the top edge, which can get a bit inconvenient when using a large device with a single hand. Also, you don’t just get to see the controls this way, but also the clutter of any other notifications that may be there. Another issue with these controls is that the notification bar isn’t available when you’re running a full-screen app. With SidePlayer, this problem will be a thing of the past. It’s is an Android app that brings up a minuscule side panel for music playback control, which you can reveal via simple edge gestures over any running app. The app carries a ton of features (although most of them are part of the paid version) and supports many popular music players. It’s also quite customizable, letting you select among different skins that fits your needs.

edge-player
The app’s default skin looks very minimal and includes three playback buttons: Next, Previous and Play/Pause. When enabled, SidePlayer can be activate via swiping from the right edge of the screen. Whether you’re on your home screen or using an app, SidePlayer works without any issue – even over full-screen apps. When you tap Play, music automatically begins playing in your default player. And when you don’t need the controls, you can simply swipe them out of your way.
The major downside of SidePlayer is its highly limited number of options in the app’s Light version. Other than simple music playback controls, you won’t find anything else to fiddle around with. The set of user-configurable options provided by the app’s Settings screen is very limited in the app’s free version. You can only toggle the Touch effect animation and vibration feedback upon control activation, specify the default music player to use with the app (if you have more than one music app on your device), and change SidePlayer’s dimensions.

The ‘ROCKI’ Wifi Music System Is a New Kickstarter Favorite

Rocki kickstrter
We have seen plenty of Kickstarter projects coming by, some more successful than other and after the success story of the Omate True Smart Watch which was able to pledge over 1 million USD, Kickstarter seems to have found a new favorite project.
Launched less than a week ago, ROCKI, a Wifi Music System, has already surpassed its funding goal of 50.000 USD and is currently backed by 1278 backers for an amount of 107.167 USD. This little colored box plugs directly to your speaker’s 3.5mm audio jack and enables any speaker to become wireless. On top of that, it comes with an app that lets you stream music to it over Wi-Fi. Because it uses Wifi (instead of Bluetooth), the ROCKI Wifi System is not limited by walls and can bridge much larger distances than Bluetooth. This way it can be used with multiple speakers in multiple rooms.
Roki Multi User
Covered by a silicone outer shell, the ROCKI looks fresh and comes in 6 different colors: ROCKI Green, Paint It Black, Submarine Yellow, Hot Chilli Peppers Red, Pink Punk Pink and finally Deep Purple.
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Using the app, you can send songs to the ROCKI and even friends and family will be able to queue their favorite tracks.
The ROCKI APP
The ROCKI APP
Want to see what the fuzz is all about? Head over to the Kickstarter page and support ROCKI

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