Hot Gadget Hacks Posts
How To: Android Device Manager Now Available on Google Play to Find, Lock, & Wipe Lost Devices Easier
While the Play Store has a plethora of apps available for finding lost Android phones, Google came out with its own web-based application, Google Device Manager, earlier this year to help you keep track of all your Android devices and remote lock, erase, ring, and track if need be.
How To: 10 Surefire Ways to Speed Up & Fix Your Family's Mac OS X Computer During the Holidays
If you're marginally inclined towards computers, you've probably been approached at some point by a family member who wants you to "fix" their system during a visit home. With the holidays coming up, these opportunities (or ambushes) are even more likely.
How To: Get CyanogenMod's New Secured Text Messaging Without Rooting or Installing a Custom ROM
In spite of the degree of difficulty it is to install, CyanogenMod has steadily climbed the ladder to become one of the most popular third-party firmwares for Android devices.
How To: Google Play Store Improvements Rolling Out on Android: Here's How to Get Them Right Now
If you have an Android device, you most definitely have the Google Play Store. It's the main hub for finding and downloading apps, games, music, movies, and more, as well as updating them. It's where all the magic happens, but you're not getting the full effect unless you're running the latest and greatest version of the Google Play Store app.
How To: Shake Your Nexus 7 Tablet for a New Wallpaper Whenever You Want One
Let's be honest, some days call for a new wallpaper to match your mood. If I'm upset, I could use a nice, uplifting wallpaper to alleviate my low spirits. Even in a day and age where everything is literally at our fingertips, I get too lazy to deal with going in and selecting a new wallpaper, cropping it, and setting it (pathetic, I know).
How To: Shake Your Way to a New Wallpaper on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
Change is something everyone needs every now and then. President Obama used it as his campaign slogan and adult movie stars use it to hide their real identifies. Change is in itself versatile. You never want to have the same thing day in and day out, and that's why us Android users appreciate the massive amount of customization available.
How To: Unlock the Hidden Battery Percentage Status Bar Icon in KitKat on Your Nexus 7 Tablet
Much like the built-in screen recording tool on Android 4.4 KitKat, hidden features like the new battery Status bar icon must be manually unlocked on your Nexus 7 tablet. This is both exciting and annoying.
How To: Turn Your Samsung Galaxy Note 3 into a Personal Ambient Weather Station with These Apps & Widgets
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.
How To: The Ultimate Guide to Using Google Now as Your Personal Assistant in Android 4.4 KitKat
The launch of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean was also the launch of Google Now, a service that was supposed to one-up Siri, the resident personal assistant for iOS devices. Google Now offered enticing features, but its launch went unnoticed by a great many Android users.
How To: Improve Your Nexus 5 Camera with the Android 4.4.1 Update Right Now
Good news, everyone! If you own a Nexus 5, then you know your main camera shooter is just north of "meh." Luckily, Google has been on the case, and has just released an Android update that is designed to improve overall camera performance.
How To: Unlock Your Samsung Galaxy S4 Using Customizable Swipe Gestures
As far as lock screens go, your Samsung Galaxy S4 and other Android phones offer quite a few options. You can use the classic PIN unlock, the novelty facial recognition, or the reliable pattern lock. But what if you get tired of entering the same old PIN or pattern every day?
How To: Switch Between Running Apps & Games Faster on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Quickness and efficiency should always be a fundamental aspect of the experience when using any Android device. Anything less, and we've got a problem. As app development continually progresses, these adjectives become much more refined and polished, making the use of a smartphone a flawless affair of swipes and gestures.
How To: Get Rounded Screen Corners on Your Nexus 7 Tablet for a More Comfortable Display
Like a beautiful woman, curves can enhance the appeal of certain things, so why not your Nexus 7 tablet? If you're tired of the uniformity of right-angled corners on your screen, add a little character by rounding them out.
How To: Become Master of Your Tunes with This All-in-One Android Music Player for Your Galaxy Note 3
There are a lot of great music apps available on Google Play for your Android device, each usually specializing in one feature or another, and we’ve shown a bunch of them. There's everything from floating controls to equalizers to deeply integrated streaming, but what if you want all of those features jam-packed into a single app?
How To: Get the Exclusive Google Nexus 5 “Experience” Launcher on Your Nexus 7 Tablet
If you're like me, then you were a little disappointed after updating your Nexus 7 to KitKat and realizing that not much has changed. The old Jelly Bean look still occupied your home screen, and there wasn't really anything noticeably new overall. All of that waiting and anticipation only to be left high and dry.
How To: The Trick to Listening to YouTube in the Background on Your iPhone or iPad
As an avid music fan, Spotify and Pandora only partially satisfy my needs on a day-to-day basis. When there's a certain obscure or underground band that I want to listen to, I'm relegated to using YouTube as my main music player source.
How To: Completely Customize the LED Notification Colors on Your Nexus 5 Without Rooting
One of the many perks of being a Nexus user is that Google bakes in all sorts of goodies for use on its dessert-themed OS. From an easily unlocked bootloader, to a smooth and well-crafted "stock" UI experience, to being one of the first devices to receive updates straight from Mountain View—team Nexus is the team to beat.
How To: Prevent Friends from Snooping Through Your Galaxy S3 When Showing Them a Photo
If you have friends like mine, letting them check out one photo on your phone means they're going to check out all of the photos on your phone. Before you realize what they're doing, it's too late, and they're sending out perverted emails to your coworkers, making you look like a newb at Candy Crush Saga, and viewing your Snapchats for you.
How To: Make Your Nexus 7 Help You Fall Asleep at Night Instead of Keep You Up
Are you staying up longer than you want to? Do you fidget with your tablet late at night before bed? Maybe you're using it to read or to watch something to help you knock out. If so, this may actually be keeping you up.
How To: Make Your Own Smartphone Camera Stand
This is how I made my smartphone camera stand using everyday items laying around in my garage. This is also a great rainy day project for anyone who uses a smartphone for their youtube or social media videos. It cost me almost nothing to build since I already had most of the items. This is a great project for anyone looking to start out on since it is really simple. It literally took me only 10 minutes to build.
How To: Customize Your Android Device's Homescreen Buttons by Using Your Own Graphics
Many people are bored of the typical square-ish icons arranged in a uniform grid on their Android homescreen. I dislike looking at grids of buttons and sometimes I would like to have some really HUGE buttons for the applications that matter the most at any given time.
How To: Turn All the Pics on Your Galaxy Note 2 or Note 3 into a Mosaic of Your Favorite Photo
As precious as we like to think that all of the photographs on our smartphones are, they're really not. Every time I rummage through my extensive index of pictures, I quickly realize how many one-off pictures I have, which served their purpose a long time ago and are no longer important.
How To: Use the "Okay, Google" Hands-Free Search Directly on Your Computer
Google hasn't let the throne make them complacent. The king of search has brought one of its newest and most popular mobile features to the desktop. Folks with the latest 4.4 KitKat software available on the Nexus 5 (or those who've installed the awesome APKs we covered for the Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S3) have had the "Ok, Google" search feature for a while now.
How To: Text More Accurately by Handwriting Messages on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
I can't say that my handwriting skills are the best, and my cursive is even worse. I mean, I still don't know how to write a capital L in cursive, but who really cares when I do all my everyday writing with a keyboard now. I've gotten pretty fast at typing on my computer, but those tiny buttons on the Samsung Galaxy S3's keyboard is a totally different thing.
How To: Measure Mobile Data & Wi-Fi Speeds on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 or Note 3
As the protectors of all things good, the Federal Communications Commission is usually busy behind the scenes pissing off Slim Shady, giving out fines for indecent nipple exposure at certain halftime events, and warning the NSA about losing any "confidential" phone information they steal from us.
How To: Play Your Favorite Game Boy Advance Games on Your Nexus 7 Tablet
How do you begin to explain the nostalgia that's felt when you play a game from your childhood? You can't. The only thing that will alleviate this feeling is experiencing it again.
How To: Turn Your Favorite Pics from Instagram, Tumblr, & More into Daydreams on Your Galaxy Note 3
Initially introduced as an Easter egg deep within Android's operating system, the Daydream screensaver feature turned official in the release of 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. Now, it's been out for a few months, which means developers have already figured out how to take advantage of it in their own ways.
How To: Auto-Start Your Favorite Music Player When Plugging Headphones into a Galaxy S4
Like many smartphones nowadays, your Samsung Galaxy S4 comes bundled with a headset for you to listen to music, watch videos without disturbing others, and even make phone calls. I personally only use it for music, whether it's Play Music, Pandora, or streaming from YouTube.
How To: Play Flash Videos & Games on the Nexus 5 (& Other Android 4.4 KitKat Devices)
So, you've finally scored the coveted upgrade to chocolaty KitKat deliciousness, or you've managed to get your hands on a Nexus 5, the freshest thing from LG and El Goog. Satisfied with your new lease on life, you direct your phone's web browser to catch up on your Amazon Instant Video library, but not all is well—there are errors to be found. Much of the internet utilizes Adobe Flash, and Amazon Instant Video (who does not have an Android app) is just one such example. It simply won't work u...
News: Making a Low Cost wall.e Robot
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How To: Add a Gesture-Based Launcher on Top of Your Samsung Galaxy S3's Current Launcher
I could write about a new launcher everyday, because there are so many options out there for Android users, but one of my favorites it Everything Home. You probably have your own favorite, but what if you could actually use two launchers together, taking advantage of each one's awesome features?
How To: Speed Up & Fix Your Family's Windows Computer During the Holidays
It's officially the holiday season, which means everyone will soon be traveling home to spend time with loved ones. And anyone who has any knowledge whatsoever of computers knows what else that means—family members left and right asking you to fix their various technical woes.
How To: Lock Your Nexus 7 Directly from the Home Screen with an Invisible Locking Shortcut
Overall, I love the Nexus 7 tablet, but one thing that I truly dislike about it is having to press the Power/Lock key to lock my screen.
How To: Create Folders in Your Gmail Account
Folders help you to organize your mail in your Gmail account. In this tutorial, we are going to learn how to create these folders.
How To: Get Rid of Spam in Your Gmail Account
Spam emails are emails that are sent to you without your permission. They can quickly fill up your email account if you don't do anything about it. Each email server deals with spam in a different way. Gmail is good at separating the spam for you so that you can get rid of it more quickly. It is easy to delete the spam and if you want to take it a little farther, you can get some of the spam to stop coming all together.
How To: Open a New Gmail Account
Gmail is a free, advertising-supported email service provided by Google. Users may access Gmail as secure webmail, as well as via POP3 or IMAP4 protocols. Gmail initially started as an invitation-only beta release on April 1, 2004 and it became available to the general public on February 7, 2007, though still in beta status at that time. The service was upgraded from beta status on July 7, 2009, along with the rest of the Google Apps suite.
How To: A softModder's Review of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3: "Way Better Than the Note 2"
My first encounter with a phablet was late last year with the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, having never touched or even seen its highly-acclaimed and pioneering predecessor. Initially, I was a bit overwhelmed by the enormous screen and taken aback by the dated stylus, which brought up ugly memories of my dad using his ten pound PalmPilot.
How To: Turn Your Samsung Galaxy S4 into a Wireless Shutter Release Remote for Your DSLR Camera
From amateurs to professionals, DSLR cameras are the standard weapon of choice for most photographers. If you own one, then you probably know how expensive of a hobby photography can be. A good starter camera can run between $400 and $500. Then there are accessories like tripods, lenses, filters, and memory cards that can slowly empty out your wallet.
How To: The Cool New Features in iOS 7.1 for iPad, iPhone, & iPod Touch
The newest update for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch is near, and I've got a firsthand look of what's to come in the new iOS 7.1, the first major update since iOS 7 was released.
How To: De-Clutter the Chaotic Status Bar Icons on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2
Keeping your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 clean and neat can become a hassle, especially if you're an app whore. As the amount of applications on your device goes up, so do your notifications, which will clog up your Status bar with icons alerting of recent news and tasks.