Android 5.0 battery life: what's new, and what it can do for you

The most useful thing about Android 5.0 Lollipop isn’t the new look: it’s the improvements that mean your device’s battery will last a lot longer. Here’s why Lollipop will last for ages.

Android 5.0 Lollipop delivers real improvements in battery life. / © ANDROIDPIT

Mobile technology is getting faster, cheaper and more impressive every year - the tech in a Google Wear smartwatch would have seemed amazing in a full-sized smartphone just a few years ago - but the Achilles' heel of any mobile device remains the battery. It’s not that battery tech isn’t improving; it’s that our ever-growing list of demands (faster broadband, bigger screens, MOAR PIXELS and so on) cancel out those improvements.

That’s why most smartphones still need to be charged every day, why smartwatches are lucky to last until it gets dark and why tablets are essentially enormous battery packs with touch screens glued to the front of them.

Wouldn’t it be great if upgrading your operating system gave you a better battery too? That’s exactly what Android 5.0 Lollipop promises. It turns out that Android’s codenames are pretty accurate: where you can lick all the chocolate off a KitKat in no time at all, Lollipops can be licked for an awful lot longer.

Power to the people: Android 5.0 Project Volta

Project Volta set out to make Android much less power hungry. / © AndroidPIT

The most significant change in Android 5.0 is Project Volta, the successor to Project Butter (which was designed to make Android’s interface run more smoothly) and to Project Svelte (which was designed to make Android work with less RAM). This time the focus is on battery life, and there are several key changes that should make your device less demanding.

One of the things Google discovered about Android was that just waking a device from sleep for a single second burned through two whole minutes of standby time. That’s because waking didn’t just turn the screen on: the processor wakes up too, and the radio goes on to check for incoming data. Project Volta created a new “JobScheduler” API that’s designed to reduce that by scheduling housekeeping and low-priority tasks more efficiently.

ART for ART’s sake

In tests, the Android 5.0 L preview delivered 36% more battery life than KitKat. / © Google, ANDROIDPIT

The second important part is ART, the new runtime for Android apps. ART is faster and more efficient than the Dalvik runtime it replaces, and of course that means the device doesn’t have to work as hard - which in turn means it requires less power.

The excellent Ars Technica website decided to test Google’s claims with the Android L Developer Preview, and they found that for once, a tech firm wasn’t telling big fibs. With Battery Saver disabled - more about that in a moment - and Android L running on a well-used Nexus 5, battery life was up by a very impressive 36%. That’s a whole two hours more battery life.

The reason Ars didn’t enable Android L’s Battery Saver was because it has an effect on overall performance. When you enable it and your battery reaches 15% (or if you prefer, 5%), Battery Saver essentially applies the brakes to your device to eke out more battery life: it dims the screen, limits vibration and disables most background data so that apps don’t automatically update. Google reckons that on average, upgrading to Android 5.0 Lollipop and leaving Battery Saver on (it’s enabled by default) should give you an hour and a half of extra battery power.

Android 5.0’s big bad battery bug

Android's battery bug was bad enough to delay the launch on Nexus devices. / © Google

Given the many improvements to Android 5.0’s battery life, it’s a shame that the launch was almost immediately overshadowed by reports of a big battery bug: with Wi-Fi enabled on a Nexus 5, the bug would start sucking battery power like a thing that sucks things very hard. The good news is that the bug was reported as fixed on 6 November.

Doing it for the devs

One of the most important battery bits of Android 5.0 L is the one you won’t see unless you’re a developer: it’s called Battery Historian, and it gives app developers detailed information on how their apps will affect particular devices’ battery life. The hope is that instead of ignoring that information, developers will then ensure that their apps aren’t unnecessary power hogs. *cough* Facebook! *cough*

Other ways to boost battery life in Android 5.0 Lollipop

Messaging apps can be particularly heavy on battery life. / © ANDROIDPIT

Android itself can only do so much: the biggest effect on battery life is of course the apps you use and how often you use them. Facebook isn’t the only battery botherer, although it tops the list of battery-draining Android apps put together by security firm AVG: manufacturers’ own apps tend to be battery hogs, as are social networking apps and games. AVG would quite like to sell you an app to help solve that problem, although of course you can address it yourself by being really selective with the apps you install (or keep, in the case of pre-installed ones) and what you let them do.

What do you think? If you’ve upgraded to Lollipop, has it delivered on its power promises?

 

Source fromhttp://www.androidpit.com

110+ Google Now Voice Commands You Can Use

Google Now is Google’s answer to Siri. It is a smart, virtual, voice-enabled personal assistant developed by the search giant and acts as a handy add-on to the pure Android experience. It integrates well with Google’s services to provide you with updates and other information as per your preferences.

With Google Now, you become ‘Aladdin‘ while it is the ‘Genie of the magic lamp‘. All you need to do is say “Okay Google” to your device to open Google Now. Then, you say one of the magical voice commands to Google Now just as you were Aladdin making a wish. The microphone icon starts pulsing – giving you an indication that your phone (powered by Google Now) is listening. You give a command, and it does the required actions to complete the given task.

Let’s have a look at the collection of over more than a 100 ‘magical’ voice commands which provides you with touch-less control for your Android phone or tablet. The Voice commands below are categorized accordingly for easy navigation.

Recommended Reading: 8 Tips & Tricks To Get The Most Out Of Google Now

General Information

• “Search for [WordPress hosting]?


• “Say [where is the movie theatre] in [French]?”


• “How do you say [hello] in [Spanish]?”


• “What is [Android]?”


• “Who invented [the computer]?”


• “Define [contemporary]“


• “What is the meaning of [world]?”


• “Who is married to [Barack Obama]?”


• “Stock price of [Google]“


• “What is [Twitter] trading at?”


• “Author of [Da Vinci Code]“


• “How old is [Tom Cruise]?”


• “Where was [Martin Luther King Jr.] born?”


• “Show me pictures of [the Taj Mahal]“


• “Post to Google+ [I'm loving it]“


• “Post to Twitter [Google Now is awesome!]“

Applications

• “Open [Calendar]“


• “Launch [Hangouts]“


• “Take a [picture / photo / selfie]“


• “Record a video”

Notes & Reminders

• “Remind me to [buy groceries] at [6 PM]“


• “Remind me [when I get / next time I'm at] [home / work / other location] [to call John]“


• “Note to self: [My password for Google.com is 123456]“

Alarms & Calendar

• “Set an alarm for [6 AM]“


• “Set a timer for [30 minutes]“


• “Wake me up in [2 hours]“


• “Create a calendar event: [Party with Colleagues] [Sunday at 9 PM]“


• “When’s my [next meeting]?”


• “What is my schedule for [tomorrow]?”

Time & Date

• “What time is it in [San Francisco]?”


• “When is the sunset [in London (optional)]“


• “What is the timezone of [Hong Kong]“


• “Time at [home / work]“

Communication

• “Call [Sara]“


• “Call [the Asian Art Museum]“


• “Call [mom / dad / wife / uncle / aunt ...]” (Relationship must be added for your contacts)


• “Send [email] to [Storm], [Subject: Meeting], [Message: Re-scheduled to 5PM]“


• “Send [SMS] to [Sam mobile], [don't forget to buy movie tickets]“


• “[Contact name]“


• “Find [Sam's] [phone number / email / address]“


• “Listen to voicemail”


• “When is [Mary's] birthday?”

Weather

• “Weather”


• “What’s the weather like?”


• “Do I need an umbrella today?”


• “Is it going to rain [tomorrow / Monday]“


• “What’s the weather in [California]?”


• “How’s the weather in [New Jersey] on [Thursday] going to be?”

Maps & Navigation

• “Map of [London]“


• “Where’s my hotel?”


• “Find the [Eiffel Tower]“


• “Where is [the Louvre]“


• “Show me the nearby [shopping mall] on map”


• “Navigate to [London] on car”


• “How far is [Washington] from [California]?”


• “Directions to [address / business name / other destination]“


• “What are some attractions in [New York City]?”

Calculations & Conversions

• “[arithmetic expression] equals”


• “How much is [10] times [15]?”


• “What is [32] percent of [1024]?”


• “Square root of [441]“


• “What is the tip for [90] euros?”


• “Convert [currency / length ...] to [another currency / length ...]“

Sports

• “How are [the New York Yankees] doing?”


• “When is the next [Los Angeles Lakers] game?”


• “Show me the [Premier League] table”


• “Did [Bayern Munich] win their last game?”

Flight Information

• “Flight [AA 125]?”


• “Flight status of [AA 125]“


• “Has [LH 210] landed?”


• “When will [AA 120] land / depart?”


• “Show me my flights”

Web Browsing

• “Go to [Tech Crunch]?”


• “Open [hongkiat.com]“


• “Show me [android.com]“


• “Browse to [aksingh.net]“

Entertainment

• “Listen to / play [Gangnam Style] by [PSY]?”


• “YouTube [how to cook chicken]?”


• “Who acted in [Clash of the Titans]?”


• “Who is the producer of [Gladiator]?”


• “When was [The Last Airbender] released?”


• “Runtime of [Avatar]“


• “Listen to TV”


• “What’s this song?”


• “What songs does [Britney] sing?”


• “Play some music”


• “Watch [Toy Story 2]“


• “Read [the Aesop's Fables]“


• “What movies are playing [tonight]?”


• “Where is [Thor] playing?”

Others

• “Help me”


• “Where’s my package?” (tracking confirmation must be in Gmail)


• “Show me the menu for [Los Cubanos]“

Easter Eggs

• “When am I?”


• “Do a barrel roll”


• “What’s the loneliest number?”


• “Make me a sandwich!”


• “Sudo, make me a sandwich!”


• “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.”


• “Beam me up, Scotty!”


• “Tilt / Askew”


• “Up up down down left right left right”


• “Tea, Earl Grey, hot” (That’s a hard one)


• “Go go gadget [app name]“


• “When does the narwhal bacon?”


• “What is the Bacon number of [random actor]?”


• “What does the fox say?”


• “What is the nature of the universe?”


• “Who’s on first?”


• “Lions, and Tigers, and Bears…”


• “Who are you?”


• “What is the answer to life, the universe and everything?”

Conclusion

Voice commands are not only useful in various situations, but they also prove to be fun sometimes. You can even experiment with various commands by using different phrases, and you’ll be surprised at how much Google Now understands you. Start using voice commands on your Android device and take a leap forward to the future of mobile technology.

 

Source fromhhttp://www.hongkiat.com

16 Premium Plugins Designer and Developer Should Consider Using

Crafting websites for all sorts of clients is an art. Like all art forms, it takes perseverance, open-mindedness, and an acute sense for aesthetics. Web developers and designers know this, along with the fact that all project outcomes are only as strong as the resources that stand behind them. In other words, the choice and use of creative assets can either undo your websites, or help you deliver flawless results.

Tons of plugins are currently available to you. Yet, you should always make sure to acquire up-to-date premium plugins, which are best equipped to assist your goals. Here, we’ve got 16 handy premium plugins for designers and developers. Ranging from plugins that assist with slides to e-commerce tools, you might discover that these could really help you out.

Recommended Reading: Fresh Resources For Web Developers – November 2014

1. LayerSlider WP

The first plugin is LayerSlider, which scores high marks in my book, as it proved useful on more than one occasion. You can use this to make slideshows, image galleries, and content sliders.

Administrators are met with 13 clean skins, a drag-and-drop builder, as well as timeline view, and a real-time preview function for every move you make. There are many ways to establish the look and feel of your sliders.

You can choose any of the available 2D and 3D slide transitions (there are 200 preset options to speak of), not to mention that it has a fabulous transition builder to help you come up with custom animations.

LayerSlider guarantees device responsiveness and is SEO-ready. Plus, users are at liberty to add any type of content: HTML, Google Fonts, text, images, and videos (from Vimeo, Youtube, or self-hosted HTML5).

2. Multi Store Creator for Prestashop

These days, more people are looking to set up their own online store. If you decide to create a website with Prestashop, consider using this savvy plugin. It makes no difference if you need to get a gadget store, or a beauty shop for women, up and running.

Read Also: Ultimate Guide To Setting Up Your First Online Shop

Multi Store Creator can handle everything you throw at it, is easy to grasp, and gives you a semi-automated front-end that will make the task at hand seem like a breeze. Among its offerings are mobile responsiveness, a plan chooser, multi-language support, Paypal integration, and AJAX validation for existing user and store.

3. Parallax Module for Joomla

Parallax scrolling can enhance a user’s experience of any website. Why not yours?

The Parallax Module for Joomla has a simple method of adding an image and establishing the parallax background for your website. In addition, it promises a 100% responsive layout, and also delivers a handy text area, so you can add content.

4. Support Ticket System for Opencart

If you’re used to a platform like Opencart, then it probably occurred to you that it would be nice to have a way of incorporating a proper help desk into your web store. I have recently discovered a plugin that is able to help you out with managing and monitoring online support requests.

It’s a piece of cake to create any number and type of tickets, search through them, set up as many custom departments as necessity dictates, assign them tickets, and toggle their status to ‘resolving’ or ‘resolved’ – and ultimately delete them.

5. LegalPages

There’s more to website creation than actual development and design. Ask yourself the following question: do your websites uphold the law to the letter? You need to make sure they do, or the consequences could be unpleasant enough for you, their author.

WP LegalPages can help protect you in this way. It offers a total number of 17 pre-designed templates, so you need only invest a few minutes to take care of your privacy policy, affiliate disclosure, TOS, etc. The plugin includes a lock-down feature, and is faithful to EU cookie regulations.

6. Checkout Discount Code for Magento

Online shopping is supposed to be a more comfortable alternative to visiting life-sized stores. However, whenever you’re building a virtual shop, remember that the devil is in the details. As people proceed to check-out on Magento-based websites, they might also have a discount code that they’ve neglected to include on the basket page.

Wouldn’t it be great if they could insert the code simply upon checkout? With this extension that’s easy to install. You can do so and add that precious extra step to the Magento Onepage check-out process.

7. Monarch

Monarch is a promising WordPress social plugin which was recently launched by Elegant Themes. One word to describe it would be versatile.

This plugin lets you choose from as many as 40 social networks and it gives you the option to position it in no fewer than 8 different locations. Monarch is responsive and it boosts a plethora of other options that you should check out.

8. Chimpy – MailChimp WordPress Plugin

Email marketing is a vital component for any website that cares to draw in new visitors or keep the interest of existing ones alive. Thus, MailChimp was invented. Yet, the level of its integration with your website is a different matter, entirely.

Read Also: 20 Free And Essential Email Marketing Tools And Resources

Chimpy is a plugin that rises to the challenge. Use it to devise great-looking sign-up forms and display them in the form of compelling pop-ups. Furthermore, Chimpy enables you to display comment forms, synchronize all WordPress users with MailChimp, and make the best content on your website available to visitors after they’ve subscribed.

9. Lizatom Shortcodes Plugin

Need shortcodes to lighten up the load? Then, you should move forward with a competent plugin. Lizatom Shortcodes Plugin discloses over 5000 shortcodes for many uses and is stacked full of features like tooltips, info boxes, pricing tables, and CSS3 buttons.

To give a few examples, Lizatom presents a simple route to customize ordered lists, reveal text with accordions, add pricing tables to online stores or blogs and even give images a fancy 3D shadow effect.

10. UserPro

Regardless of the type of website you’re making, the user experience associated with it ought to be a primary concern. UserPro is a plugin meant to enhance user interaction on your sites.

Read Also: A/B Test Results And Case Studies For User Experience Design

Use this excellent profile management tool to create site member directories with myriads of display options. Feel free to strike up registration forms and assign them roles, as well as integrate to popular social networks with ease.

11. Subscriptio

If you plan on crafting WooCommerce websites that offer subscriptions, you could use a little bit of help to configure and oversee the entire process of dealing out subscriptions.

Read Also: 30 Beautiful & Responsive WordPress E-Commerce Themes

One such assistant is Subscriptio, a handy extension. With it, you can easily complete tasks like setting the length of suspension periods, establishing how often reminders should be sent, and more. Plenty of developer-focused filters and hooks for devising awesome WooCommerce subscriptions are available on the admin interface.

12. Timeline

You might feel like an ordinary layout for website content is not enough. Website visitors don’t have a large attention span, and require incentives to keep them continuously engaged. Compact website content can sometimes appear stuffy. A timeline, on the other hand, is bound to decompress user experience.

Content Timeline is a responsive plugin that comes with 11 customizing options to display content neatly by date, or other criteria. Add countless groups and numbers as well as activate 30 element places on the left and on the right side of your timeline.

13. FrontEnd Page Builder

Working on the front-end of a website is easier. If you want to set up a great WordPress website without having to delve into the code aspect, give this plugin a go.

FrontEnd Page Builder comes with loads of pre-made elements that can be altered in any way. What is more, if in trouble, you can always ask for help; the technical support for this plugin is pretty amazing.

14. iMapper

Do you know what can really take the images in your content to a whole new level? Try pinning them with information, especially if they are part of a web store. Product images that sport a map with various details might be more appealing to the public at large. iMapper allows you to choose pre-designed pins (or style them up according to your taste) and place them on any given part of an image.

15. Live Broadcast Countdown Module

A website for upcoming live events should express the enthusiasm that leads up to them. What better way to achieve that effect than with a real-time countdown? Get your hands on the Live Broadcast Countdown Module and you’ll be able to create the right setting for any recurring live events based on Joomla.

16. Chat X

Interaction between readers of a website and its administrators can be facilitated with a plugin for communication. Chat X is a WordPress plugin for sales and support.

It includes chat logs, and has SSL integration, so all messages are encrypted. A total number of 10 operators and 40 visitors can chat simultaneously, and more than one admin is able to respond to a reader.

Conclusion

Whatever functionality you seek to implement in your websites, chances are there’s probably a series of premium plugins that have been created to respond to whatever needs you have.

Do let us know in the comments section what other plugins you find handy and if you like the ones mentioned above.

 

Source fromhhttp://www.hongkiat.com

10 Skype Tips & Tricks Everyone Should Know

Since it was founded in 2003, Skype has become a regular form of communication for most people out there. Millions of people use Skype for holding conversations via text messaging, voice calls and video calls at no cost at all. You can even call mobile phones and landline numbers with just a small little fee.

Despite the recent advent of Google Hangouts, Skype is still popular among people for voice and video calling. To make your Skype journey more of a breeze, we’ve put together 10 interesting tips and tricks related to Skype. Who knows maybe you’ll discover more of your own?

Recommended Reading: Backup Your Skype Chat & Audio Conversations Online With Simkl

1. Transfer Your Skype Account Contacts

You can easily backup all of the contacts in one Skype account to be transferred into another. To do so, head to the main Skype window, click on “Contacts”, click on “Advanced” and finally click on “Backup Contacts to File”. It will generate a .vcf file which you can save on your computer system.

Now sign into the second Skype account where you want to upload all these contacts into. Once you are signed in, click on “Contacts”, click on “Advanced” and finally click on “Restore Contacts from File” which is exactly located below “Backup Contacts to File”.

2. Re-edit Your Last Message

Suppose you have sent a message which contains a mistake and you want to edit that message and resend it again? You can do this simply by pressing the Up Arrow Key on your keyboard. The last message that you’ve sent earlier will appear. Just make the changes you want and resend the edited message.

3. Make Calls Directly From Your Contact List

You can make calls to Skype contacts immediately by double clicking on them directly from Skype Contact List. To do so, head to the main Skype window, click on “Tools” followed by “Options”. Then, go to “General Settings” and tick the check box “When I double-click on a contact start a call”.

However, this will restrict you from opening the IM Window directly by double clicking on a contact.

4. Hide the Moving Pencil

When you are chatting on Skype with someone, you can see a moving pencil when the other person is typing or deleting something. Of course, this function also works both ways. If you rather not have them be privy to whether you are typing (or not), you can actually turn this option off.

To hide the typing indicator, head to the main Skype window, click on “Tools”, then “Options”. Go to “IM & SMS” and click on “IM Settings” followed by “Show Advanced Options”. Finally, tick the check box “Show when I am typing”.

5. Clear Your Chat History & Define The Time Frame For Storing It

You can clear all of your chat history on Skype and you can also define the time frame for storing the chat history. To clear your chat history, head to the main Skype window, click on “Tools” followed by “Options” then “IM & SMS”. From there, proceed to “IM Settings”and then “Show Advanced Options” before finally clicking on the “Clear History” button. It is also in “Show Advanced Options” that you can select the time frame for storing your history from the drop down menu.

Be careful, once you click on “Clear History” then you will lose all your chat messages that have already taken place in previous conversations with the contacts in your Skype account.

6. Get Keyword Notifications

You can also choose to get notifications only when particular words are mentioned by the other person in a personal IM window. To set up the keyword notifications, start by opening up the personal IM window of a contact you want to set up keyword notification for. Click on the “Conversation” menu then “Notification Settings” and finally click on the radio button “Notify me only if these words are mentioned”.

Write down all the words that you want to be notified of in the text box provided. However, these settings will disable the notifications for all other messages apart from specified keywords, so there is a chance that you may miss out on an important message.

7. 25+ Hidden Emoticons & Smileys

There’s actually a collection of emoticons and smileys that are not visible in the emoticons set for Skype but you can still use them if you know their shortcodes. The keywords (left to right) are written for generating smileys (left to right). Each keyword is encapsulated within a () as well.

Below is just a brief list of the hidden emoticons and smileys. If you want the full list, take a look here :

• Poolparty – (poolparty)


• Talking – (talk)


• Headbang – (headbang)


• Drunk – (drunk)


• Toivo – (toivo)


• Bug – (bug)


• Broken heart – (u)


• Mail – (e) (m)


• Skype – (skype)


• Smoking – (smoking) / (smoke) (ci)

8. Pause Animated Emoticons

If you don’t like the animated emoticons and just want to pause them so any animated emoticon in your IM window will appear as a still emoticon without any movement. To pause the animated emoticons, head to the main Skype window, click on “Tools”, click on “Options”, click on “IM & SMS”, select “IM appearance” and finally uncheck the “Show animated emoticons” checkbox.

9. Enable Keyboard Shortcuts (Hotkeys)

You can enable hotkeys to use keyboard shortcuts for frequently used functions. There are default keyboard shortcuts for a few functions, which you can change as per your preference.

To enable keyboard shortcuts, head to the main Skype window, click on “Tools”, click on “Options”, click on “Advanced”, select “Hotkeys” and finally click on the “Enable keyboard shortcuts” checkbox.

10. Set Up Your Caller ID

If you make Skype calls to either landlines or mobile numbers then you might want others to see your original number whenever you call them rather than an unknown number that will most likely appear.

To set up your Caller ID, go to the main window of Skype, click on the “Skype” menu and finally click on the “Account” button. It will open up a webpage in your default web browser where you’ll get more information related to calls. Click on the “Caller ID” button and on next page select “Country/Region” and “Phone number”. Now all you need to do is click on “Verify Number” and you’re set.

Recommended post – 10 WhatsApp Tips »

Source fromhhttp://www.hongkiat.com

Folder iChanger: Change Folders, Hard Drives and Flash Memory Icons Permanently

Windows is the most popular OS because it supports customization and users can change the look and feel of Windows using some third party customization tools. Although Microsoft does not offer any customization tool to make any changes in Windows, there are lots of third party tools which can be used to change most of the things in Windows. Today, I am covering a freeware utility which lets you change icons of folders, hard drives and flash memory without any manual customization. It works permanently basis, it means icons will not change it case you moved your folder to any other computer. The application is called Folder iChanger, an easy to use GUI based application which offers various icon customization options.

When you start Folder iChanger, you will see that all the options are well categorized and you can choose icons with different pixels as well as dimensions. To change the icon of any item including Folders, Hard Drive and Pen Drive/Flash Memory, just drag & drop the item on the application’s main interface and choose the icon that you want to set as default for that specific item. You can add a single icon for multiple items which can save a lot of your time and effort. Add folder or directory option is also available at the top of application to change icons. Once you successfully add the item, click on Import or choose icon option and choose the favorite icon that you want to set for your hard drive, folder or flash memory.



Folder iChanger comes with pre-added icon packs and you can choose from any of these icons. You can also add your icon; as of now application supports ICO file formats. One more feature which is pretty interesting is that you can extract the icon from any exe file. Just drag & drop the executable file over the application and it will grab all the icons that are contained in that particular executable file. There are some more features available with this application like for instance, you can save any icon as icon file or image file. Save icon as image file supports various image formats like PNG, JPG and BMP. Changing folder icon is effective instantly but you need to restart the system in case you change the system drives’ icons. To restore the original icon of any folder or drive, you can choose the Clear icon for selected items option.

Folder iChanger needs .Net Framework 4.0 to run and it works on all Windows operating systems including Windows 8 as well. On its download page, you will get two download links – first with .Net Framework (use it if your system does not have .Net Framework 4.0) and use the second download link in case your system has .Net Framework 4.0 installed.

[Download Folder iChanger]

 

Source fromhhttp://www.techfeb.com

Facebook Messenger For PC (Windows 7/8/XP)

Facebook is the all-time favourite socializing network that we are perpetually logged in to, whether at work or at home checking updates and loading snaps. It lets us stay in touch with friends from childhood days and with family in far off places. You could connect with them, you could leave a message for your contact on their profile/inbox for them to read later, and what not.

Now, with the Facebook Messenger for PC, one can stay connected with our contacts all the time in a more efficient and time saving way. The app was initially designed for mobile platforms like Android, Windows phone, iOS, Blackberry and Symbian, thus officially not available for personal computers or laptops. Though, BlueStacks, an Android  emulator can make it available for your PC or laptop.



Must Read: Download SnapChat For PC

The installation procedure is as simple as installing BlueStacks on your device and searching for Facebook messenger on PC through it.

Features Of The Facebook Messenger

There are many new features made available on Facebook Messenger, which works quite differently as compared to main Facebook site. Some of the features are listed below.

• Instead of uploading a picture/video from a file saved on your device, you can instantly click a snap or load a video directly from the camera attached to your device, which is extremely convenient.

• From a drop down menu within the messenger you can search for snaps relevant to the subject of discussion, which could have been time consuming and tedious if you had to switch to a search engine and save the snap and load. This is a more hassle free feature that is welcomed.

• Voicemails have been replaced by the audio notes that can be sent just like an instant message. A voice calls from Facebook contact to other Facebook contacts are still available, and which can be done by connecting external mic on your PC.

• Additionally, it lets you display your geographical location on the map, which sometimes is convenient though not very relevant considering that the messenger shows a stagnant position of a PC or a laptop unlike in case of a mobile phone. Emoticons have become a second mode of expression other than language itself and Facebook messenger on PC has incorporated them well along with stickers.

Must Read: Hike For PC (Windows 7/8/XP)

You might think that you already have the Facebook app on your device so why would you need the Facebook messenger on PC? Considering how much time it saves by keeping you away from the constant news feeds that you get stuck on when you were on Facebook only for the purpose of staying connected with your contacts on the chat, it is appears to be a viable option, as everything can be managed from PC itself while working. Initially Facebook launched the PC version, but then called it off.

But hey! Not to worry, as BlueStacks can still help you get access to this amazing time saving social network messenger to your favouriteFacebook.

 

Source fromhhttp://www.techfeb.com

Why you should buy a Galaxy Note 4 instead of a Nexus 6

Last week my pal Scott Adam Gordon wrote a pretty persuasive article entitled Why you should buy the Nexus 6 instead of the Galaxy Note 4. While he made some salient points, I'm not entirely sold. He even called me out in advance, knowing that I would have to respond. So here's my argument for why you should buy the Galaxy Note 4 instead of the Nexus 6.

The Nexus and Note series have never been so close as they are now. / © Google, Samsung, ANDROIDPIT

• Galaxy Note 4 vs Nexus 6 comparison

Full disclosure: I have not yet used a Nexus 6, so these opinions are either based on educated guesses or generalities, not on actual first hand experience with the device. And before the fanboy name calling begins, I'll remind those of you that aren't regular readers just how much of a Nexus fanboy I usually am, and how often I am accused of being a Samsung hater. This is why my love for the Galaxy Note 4 is as surprising to me as it was to Scott.

The S Pen stylus and Note 4 software is unbeatable by any other  Android. © ANDROIDPIT

The Nexus ain't no Note

This is one of the most obvious points to make: that despite the Nexus 6's ''phablet'' scale, it's missing the one feature that makes the Note series so indispensable: the S Pen stylus. Sure, a massive screen is good for multi-tasking, media consumption and all-round phone operation. But you know what makes multitasking, media and phone operation even better: the precision and flexibility of a stylus.

Anyone who's ever used a Note and then done similar things without the S Pen would know just how clumsy, awkward and imprecise the whole thing feels when you revert to using your fingertips. Like an animal. The Nexus 6 doesn't even give you the option. You're stuck clumsily thumbing the screen while Note 4 users are writing notes with a calligraphic S Pen.

While I like Material Design, it makes stock Android look like a manufacturer skin. © AndroidPIT

The Nexus 6 ain’t pure no more

The original reason I bought a Nexus 4 was the price and stock Android. The reason I bought a Nexus 5 after that was the price and stock Android. But now stock is starting to look more like a manufacturer skin with Material Design everything and groovy animations and Google Everything. Android 5.0 Lollipop is hardly the clean white canvas on top of which the nasty manufacturers ladle their terrible artwork anymore. No, Android 5.0 is more like a pre-made painting that manufacturers have the option of painting over, but it's anything but ''pure'' in the sense it used to be.

• Everything you need to know about Android 5.0 Lollipop and our Android 5.0 Lollipop review

Plus, stock Android is now jam packed full of the kinds of stuff I used to turn to custom launchers, OEMs, third party apps or custom ROMs for. So the customization options of stock are less attractive than they used to be too. So if stock is becoming more and more like an OEM skin, then why not just deal with an OEM skin and be done with it? Heck, even Motorola is doing ''stock plus'' these days, so stock Android is hardly the domain of the Nexus series alone. And if Samsung has Android 5.0 out for the Note 4 in December then the update delay is practically moot too.

Nexus devices used to have price going for them, but not anymore. © Google

The Nexus 6 ain’t cheap

As I just mentioned, a large part of the Nexus allure for me was the price. I loved getting a rock solid specs beast for a low price. But if the Nexus 6 costs only $100 less than a Galaxy Note 4, which I firmly believe to be the best Android smartphone so far this year then why not just cough up a little extra and get the absolute best that Android has to offer? Look at the Motorola Droid Turbo for example: it's cheaper than the Nexus 6 and it has a better camera and much larger battery. If bang for your buck is top of your priorities then spending an extra Benjamin on a Note 4 seems obvious to me.

The list of extra features on the Note 4 is staggering. And this time they're almost all useful. © ANDROIDPIT

• Best cheap Android phones


• Best Android phones

The Nexus 6 ain't feature-packed

The Nexus 6, despite adding a battery saving mode, Guest Mode, Knox sand-boxing, Google Fit and a few other nice tidbits, the simple fact is that the Note 4 already has these. Plus, the Note 4 has tons more too: heart rate monitor, S Pen software, finger scanner, microSD expansion, removable battery, Download Booster, IR blaster and plenty more. There's even heaps less bloatware on the Note 4. Admittedly, the Nexus 6 is water-resistant and the Note 4 is not, but the list of added extras on the Galaxy Note 4 puts the Nexus 6 to shame.

• Everything you need to know about the Nexus 6 specs and features

Sure, the Nexus 6 is a pretty great device and I fully expect to be impressed when I get one in my hands. But the simple fact is that in many ways it is still a base device. Want more storage? Tough. Want a higher resolution camera? Tough. Want more battery life? Tough. The Note 4 has a better camera, microSD expansion and a replaceable battery, meaning that if it's not already better than the Nexus 6 it can be easily made that way. And if you simply hate TouchWiz, then buy a Note 4 GPe or flash a custom ROM on it.

While the Nexus 6 is surely a great phone, the Galaxy Note 4 is just a better one. © ANDROIDPIT

Conclusion

There will always be good reasons to buy Nexus devices and I doubt my Nexus honeymoon is over, but for the first time the Nexus seems to be kind of aspiring to Galaxy Note status. At the same time the design of the Note 4 has improved, the bloatware is lighter, the interface is cleaner, the gimmicks are largely gone and the basics are rock solid. So if the Nexus and Note, two devices that were previously polar opposites, suddenly start meeting on more common ground, you know that only one of them is coming out alive. And perhaps for the first time, the Nexus 6 has bitten off more than it can chew.

Which phone would you buy? Which offers better value for money?

 

Source fromhttp://www.androidpit.com

10 reasons Android 5.0 Lollipop is so special

Google has finally unveiled their new Nexus devices and simultaneously lifted the veil that has been hanging over the next version of Android since March of this year. Android Lollipop still hasn’t been officially released, but the latest pre-release version shows us a nearly complete version of the latest Android updates. We have it installed on our Nexus 5 and will show you today some of the major features and design changes.

10 special features in Android 5.0 Lollipop. / © ANDROIDPIT

Before we get going, we need to be clear: we are referring to the preview version of Android 5.0 on the Nexus 5 and some features may still change when the final version is released. However, we do know that Android 5.0 is going to be one of the largest and most comprehensive updates in Android history. Material design gives the system a completely new look and is more than just flat icons and new color-coding. In addition to fresh animations, some new features have also been added in. Lollipop offers a completely new experience and after our initial test with the alpha version we know one thing already: you’ll love it.

• Which phones and tablets are getting Android 5.0 Lollipop and when


• Android 5.0 Lollipop: find out everything you need to know about Android 5.0 here

1. More options during initial setup

Already in the initial setup it becomes clear how much the new Android differs from its predecessors. The color-coding is bright and friendly whereas in the past, it was much darker. The icons in the status bar have seen a fresh update as well. Through the initial setup, the user is guide step by step and you can now transfer over data, apps, and other settings from an old phone via NFC. This function is called Tap & Go.

As well, it is possible to select certain apps and data which has been associated with your Google account to help make the tradition smoother and to prevent you from inadvertently bringing old data and apps that you no longer use into the transition.

2. Lock current screen

You can lock the current screen with a specific app or screen without giving access to the rest of the phone. This is handy when you want to share something on your phone with somebody else, but don’t want them to have access to other things that you have on your device. In order to use this, you’ll need to turn it on first in Settings > Security > Screen Pinning. Once turn on, you just need to hit the app switcher button and then you’ll scroll up a bit and a pin icon will appear. If you touch this, Android will pin this to your screen and then you can lock your device with a unlock pattern.

You can lock your phone's screen on onen app with the Lollpop Pin function. © ANDROIDPIT

To unpin an app or screen, simply hold the back and app switcher buttons at the same time.

3. Flappy Droid, an Easter egg game.

There were a bunch of Easter Eggs in older versions of the Android and Lollipop is no exception. In fact, they’ve pushed the boundaries a bit with this latest Easter egg. If you head into About Phone and then tap on the Android version a bunch of times, you’ll be surprised with a lollipop graphic. From there, if you do a long press on this graphic a mini-game will pop up.  As a tribute to one of the most popular, and frustrating, games of the last year, you’ll be treated to a Flappy Bird clone with the Droid as the playable character.

A hidden mini-game: In Android Lollipop there is a Flappy Bird adaptation. / © ANDROIDPIT

4. Multi-users: multiple users, one device.

With Android Lollipop it is incredibly easy to create multiple user profiles on your device. Besides the main profile for the owner of the unit, you can set it so that other people can log onto the device and create their own profiles with their own wallpapers, ringtones, apps, and settings.  Of course, this is also handy if you’re the only person using the device as you can set up different “accounts” for different settings such as a work profile and an at home profile.

CAPTION – REPLACE ME! / © ANDROIDPIT

5. User profile images

In addition to the general settings, you can also upload a picture of yourself or take one from the device that will be associated with the profile. This image will be displayed in the top right hand corner of the status bar and you can easily tell which profile is currently in use at a glance.

 

6. Clock background that changes based on time of day

This may seem a bit superficial, but it is definitely visually appealing: depending on the time of the days, the background on the clock changes the color from a friendly blue during the daytime to a dark purple during the night.

A small yet cool feature is how the clock changes color as the day goes on. / © ANDROIDPIT

7. Fresh transitions, animations, and colors depending on apps.

The new Android update showcases a full compliment of new animations, transition effects, and color effects. This really cannot be captured well in screenshots, but believe us, they’re there.

As well, Material Design is already largely incorporated in this release of Android Lollipop. The new design laws are particularly evident in system apps such as the dialer.

The dialer supports the new Material Design. / © ANDROIDPIT

8. Do not disturb: avoid interruptions

If you adjust the volume, Android Lollipop will also give you the option to set certain periods where you can specify that you don’t want to be disturbed. This is convenient for during the night, if you want a quick break from your device, or also for periods of times where you don’t want to be contact such as meetings or that special anniversary date.  Of course, you can also list exceptions to these rules and allow certain calls or notifications to come through regardless of whether or not you’ve got the do not disturb enabled.

Android Lollpop allows you to block interruptions and set priorities in regard to who can get in touch wth you. / © ANDROIDPIT

9. Battery Life: optimized energy savings mod

Power savings modes have long been consistent with different manufacturers, but they were missing from stock Android. Now with Android 5.0, it has been properly implemented and limits the functionality of the device when turned on. When enabled, you’ll notice an orange-red notification and navigation bar, a different colored user interface. This may seem strange at first, but it’s an easy visual way to know that the device is in power savings mode and, for example, background data has been disabled.

The Battery Saver with Lollipop will extend the battery and shut off quite a few features to get you through more hours of use./ © ANDROIDPIT

As well, battery information is more accurate than previous versions: it will show you the battery capacity in mAh and the remaining charge will also be shown.

10. Refreshed Google Now

Google’s voice assistant has seen a significant update with Android 5.0. The Google Search bar is now fixed and accessible from any home screen.

Google Now gets an update with Android 5.0. / © Google

Preliminary conclusion

As already mentioned, Lollipop still isn’t quite finish and there might be a change or two to the things that we mentioned here before the final version is released. However, our impressions from the build tell us that this is most likely a nearly complete version of the software and only a few small tweaks will be made before the general release. From what we’ve seen, we really enjoy the fresh design and the new features incorporated within.

(originally by Johannes Wallat of AndroidPIT.de)

 

Source fromhttp://www.androidpit.com