Hot Gadget Hacks Posts

How To: Root Your Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini Smartphone

While the Samsung Galaxy S3 is the world's best selling smartphone, there a few people that find the device just a bit too large. With a 4.8 inch display and 136.6 x 70.6mm dimensions, the phone can be slightly large for kids—and adults with small fingers. It can even be a hassle to put into your pocket, so that's why Samsung decided to release the Galaxy S III Mini. With a smaller frame, the phone is perfect for those that want all of the Galaxy S III features but want a more compact size. J...

How To: Design Your Own Custom Foldable Papercrafts on Your iPad

In the papercraft world, nothing is beyond its reach. Anything from a Rolex watch to PSY doing his famous Gangnam Style horse dance has been converted to papercraft. That's great and all, but what if you want to make your own custom papercraft? Foldify, which releases next week in the iTunes App Store for the iPad, allows users to create their own custom foldable papercrafts in real time 3D.

How To: Silence the Annoying Camera Shutter Sound on Your Samsung Galaxy S3

SNAP. That's the sound of your Samsung Galaxy S3's camera going off. Not that big of deal, unless you're trying to take some top secret pics or some candid shots of your friends. The shutter sound gives you away, and the next thing you know, you're deleting pictures. On most other smartphones, if the users turns the phone on silent or vibrate, the shutter sound is killed. If that doesn't do the trick, usually muting the shutter sound itself in the settings will do the trick. But for some of y...

How To: Get Instant Alerts for When the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 Are Back in Stock on Google Play

There is nothing worst then having to wait for something you really want. It doesn't matter how old you are or what the item is, the fact that you have to wait for it makes you want it even more. It's the love-hate relationship I have with Amazon and anything I order, and when that anticipation is for a new smartphone, it's amplified by about a thousand. The LG Nexus 4 has received great reviews and is one of the most sought after phones this holiday season, but it's a hard one to get a hold ...

How To: What You Need to Know Before Voting on Facebook's Proposed Policy Changes This Week

A few weeks ago, Facebook published a blog post called "Proposed Updates to our Governing Documents," which outlines a few changes in their policies and user voting system. These changes would essentially take away users' right to vote on future changes to Facebook's data use policy while also taking away Facebook's responsibility to alert users of those changes. If the new policy is enacted, the vote will be replaced with "a system that leads to more meaningful feedback and engagement," what...

How To: Fix the Apple TV 5.1.1 Update Bug

Last week, an update was released for second- and third-generation Apple TVs. The update included stability and performance improvements along with support for the Up Next feature in iTunes 11. A lot of users have been reporting issues upgrading, saying that the update failed or, in some cases, that their Apple TV refuses to boot after trying to install the update. Luckily, it looks like the solution is rather simple. TidBITS found that the Ethernet update is the problem. All you have to do i...

How To: Show Your Instagram Feed on Your Android Home and Lock Screen with GramWidget

Even though Instagram has been available to Android users for about 8 months now, there are a scarce amount of widgets out there for it. And by scarce, I actually mean none. There was BlinxBox, an Android home screen widget that displayed your Instagram feed, but that app no longer exists. That means there are no Instagram-centric widgets currently available for your Android device, except...

How To: Get All of Your YouTube Videos Back from Google Using Takeout

While putting content and information online gets easier every day, it seems like getting it back is only getting harder. In a lot of cases (we're looking at you, Facebook), once you upload something, it's forever in the hands of someone else. That's where The Data Liberation Front comes in. Believe it or not, The Data Liberation Front is a team of Google engineers who work to make it easier for users to take their stuff back whenever they feel like it.

How To: Make a Totally Geeky LED Pocket Watch That Tells Time in Colors

The cell phone may have replaced the pocket watch, but thanks to some clever mods and hacks, "old-fashioned" time telling is making a comeback. Smart watches that connect to your mobile device cannot only tell you what time it is, but also change the song you're listening to and let you know how many Facebook notifications are waiting for you. Frank Zhao, an electrical engineering student at the University of Waterloo, decided to do something a little different with his LED pocket watch. It h...

How To: Put Google's Search Tools Back on the Left Sidebar

Last month, Google changed the placement of search options from the left side of the page to the top, right above the first result. In theory, this shouldn't be such a bad thing—it's just looks, right? Well, not quite. Turns out, it actually got rid of a few of the options as well, and a lot of people were not too happy about it. The problem is that the change gives you less functionality, and makes the options that are still there harder to get to. One of the most frustrating changes was how...

How To: Make Trippy EL Wire Headphones That Dance to the Beat of Your Music

At one time or another, we've all enjoyed the visualizations that came stock in Windows Media Player. I remember spending hours listening to my favorite album, putting the graphic equalizer on full screen, and getting lost in the flurry of colors that would dance across the screen. Well, now thanks to the imaginative mind of Instructables user yardleydobon, you can now recreate this rainbow-colored music visualizer right on top of your freaking head—with these trippy EL wire headphones, which...

How To: Make Your Favorite Song Last Forever with Infinite Jukebox

The first album I ever bought with my own money was Nirvana's MTV Unplugged in New York. It featured mainly lesser-known songs and covers, but was on constant repeat on my Walkman. While the whole album was fantastic, there was one song that stood out the most to me—"The Man Who Sold The World." The song (originally written by David Bowie) kept me under a spell, which had me replaying the song over and over and over and over. As I got older, I found myself sharing this relationship with a han...

How To: Use Sony's New PlayStation Mobile on Any Rooted Android Device

Early last month, Sony released PlayStation Mobile, bringing PlayStation games to the PS Vita and other certified phones and tablets. The list of certified phones isn't as extensive as it should have been, consisting of only Sony devices (a few tablets and Xperia) and a couple of HTC ones. For anyone with a supported device, you can head over to the PS Store for the download and installation instructions.

How To: Unlock the Hidden Daydream Easter Egg 'BeanFlinger' in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

Android's newest Jelly Bean 4.2 update comes with Daydream, a feature that allows you to run screensaver-like apps while your Android device is docked or charging. While the feature comes with several stock 'daydreams' available, there's a hidden Easter egg one that you can unlock! The 'daydream', aptly titled BeanFlinger, is hidden inside of Android's 4.2 Jelly Bean. In order to unlock it, you'll have to go to the phone's Settings and click on About phone. From there, you should come across ...

How To: Speed Up Your Lagging Nexus 7 Running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with This Quick Fix

A lot of Nexus 7 users have been experiencing a long list of issues after upgrading to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. From random reboots to abnormal battery drainage, people have had plenty to complain about. One of the most common (and annoying) problems is lag. If you're one of the unlucky users experiencing slowness after upgrading, there's a quick fix you can try, discovered by XDA member fishingfon. Turns out, Google's news application, Currents, could be causing the issue. After changing one ...

How To: Upload Your Photos to Instagram—Without an Android or Apple Device

Instagram allows us to vicariously live through others, experiencing their moments with them. It's an enormously popular application and has already garnered 100 million users, but it has only been made available for download on Android and Apple devices. Sure, there are third-party apps where you can browse, like, and comment on other people's Instagram photos—but they don't give you a way to upload your own pictures. So, what about all of the other people who want to share their lives, but ...

How To: Enable the Hidden 4G LTE Feature on Your Google Nexus 4

When the specs for Google's Nexus 4 came out, most critics were more than thrilled. A very fast processor, lots of RAM, a big display with very high resolution, and an 8MP camera made it the media darling of the smartphone world. It climbed the ranks of the best smartphones available, but couldn't quite reach to the top due to one reason—no 4G LTE. Samsung's Galaxy S III and Apple's iPhone 5 both come with 4G LTE, so why couldn't the LG Nexus 4? While there are many reasons, Google was stated...

How To: Enable the Hidden Facebook Chat and Notifications Feature in Firefox 17's Toolbar

As enjoyable as Facebook can be at times, it can also be a great distraction and even better deterrent of getting work done. A quick "Oh, let me check my notifications" can turn into hours and hours of Facebooking, and before you know it, you're already on your 7th Wikipedia page, all thanks to that status your friend posted. The reason I mention this is because Firefox's new 17.0 update includes many features, but the one that's been making the rounds online is the integration of Facebook Me...

How To: Unlock and Root the Verizon Droid DNA by HTC

Last week, HTC released their new Droid DNA smartphone in hopes of gaining more traction in a smartphone world currently dominated by Apple and Samsung with their popular iPhone and Samsung Galaxy lines. The new Droid DNA boasts a 5-inch 1080p display—the highest resolution for any smartphone on the market. It runs Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense software, and has may other typical features, such as NFC and wireless charging.

How To: Set Up Multiple Users on Your Android Jelly Bean 4.2 Tablet

The most recent update for Android's Jelly Bean has some pretty cool new features, like better panoramic photos, gesture typing, and wireless sharing. From a security standpoint, though, the best new feature is the ability to add multiple users to one device. You can create up to 8 different accounts on Android tablets like the Nexus 7 or Nexus 10, so besides saving time hiding or protecting sensitive data, it could also save you some money. You can share a device with your family, kids, or s...