Gadget Hacks Features
News: Schoolboy Invents Burglar-Deterring, Post Office-Friendly Doorbell
He may have just started his teenage years, but Laurence Rock's future is looking pretty good after inventing an ingenious doorbell device called Smart Bell. He's already sold 20,000 units to telecoms giant Commtel Innovate, and is securing a second deal with an unidentified company that will land him £250,000. That's over $400,000!
PSA: Tapping Control Center with 3 Fingers Will Freeze Your iPhone (But There's an Easy Fix)
Bugs are usually bad news for phone owners, ranging from mild annoyances to downright dangerous. Sometimes, the patch released to fix the problem messes things up even more. An iOS bug discovered Monday might not fit into any of these categories, as it is difficult to activate. Nevertheless, it will still freeze your iPhone.
How To: Set Nicknames in Your Facebook Lite Chats
Facebook Messenger Lite is more than just a battery-friendly version of the full-fledged Messenger app for Android. It's still packing some pretty neat features and it's so much snappier than its bloated counterpart. All of the essentials are present, down to the ability to give your contacts nicknames.
How To: Put your Linkedin badge on your Facebook profile
In this video, we learn how to put a LinkedIn Badge on a Facebook profile. First, go to the top right hand corner search box in Facebook. Type in, "my LinkedIn profile" and click "search". Once you do this, results will show and click on the correct one. Once you are on the page, click to become a fan and click on "application". It will now ask your permission for the application to show up on your Facebook. Now, type in your profile URL and click "add to profile". Once you do this, the badge...
News: All the Pros & Cons to Facebook Messenger's New Features
Facebook really wants us to use Messenger. For the most part, they've succeeded; theirs is one of the most popular messaging apps right now. And with yesterday's announcement of new features, Facebook is only going to make their flagship chat application better.
News: Angry Birds Now on Chrome (Plus the Epic Battle Between Man and Robot)
Rovio's highly successful Angry Birds game has generated a slew of wannabe Angry Clones and dominated nearly every device and platform known to man—iPhone, Android, PSP, Xbox 360, Windows—and now, for the first time it's available for play directly on the web (for free). It was specifically designed for Google's Chrome OS and their new Chromebook line of laptop computers, but can play on any device in almost any web browser (like Firefox).
How To: Disable COVID-19 Exposure Notifications on Your iPhone
In iOS 13.5 and later, developers can create and release contact tracing apps for iPhone, which could help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus in the U.S. With these apps comes COVID-19 exposure notifications, which you may or may not want to receive. If you don't want to get these alerts, you can disable them.
How To: Dictate your thoughts into an email with Google Voice
In this clip, you'll learn how to use the automatic transcription feature of Google Voice. For more information, including a complete demonstration, and detailed, step-by-step instructions, as well as to get started using this trick to record your own thoughts, take a look.
News: The LG G6 Is a Tank in JerryRigEverything's Scratch, Burn & Bend Test
We've been dying to see how the new LG G6 stands up to wear and tear, with its near bezel-less display and glass construction, ever since the device was announced at Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona.
How To: Sunrise Gives Your Android a Hybrid Agenda/Calendar View
If you're anything like me, you rely heavily on your calendar to keep on track throughout the week, month, and year. While Android's built-in Google Calendar provides an excellent cloud-based solution for keeping our schedules properly maintained, it's not perfect.
How To: Make a foxhole radio
During World War II, GIs in the field built really amazing simple radios to listen to. These were made with materials that they could get their hands on and were small enough to carry around in a big pocket. You can modify this design if you want to set it up so that it's tuneable too! To see all the plans, go to makezine.com/podcast!
How To: Get Rid of Emoji Suggestions in the New Version of Swype for Android
As the granddaddy of all gesture-based keyboards, Swype has seen quite a few updates in its day. A recent version bump, however, added a feature that has been universally panned by Swype users.
How To: Root Motorola's Droid X cell phone from Verizon
It seemed like an impossible task. No one could figure it out. Only God himself knew the answer. But the impossible has become possibly after only a week of trying. The Droid X has been rooted.
PSA: Use the PlayStation App for iPhone or Android to Get Free Games Every Month
Sony offers a set of free games to its PlayStation Plus subscribers every month, but it's easy to miss out if you're not constantly around your console. Perhaps you're traveling, or maybe you've stayed up one too many nights playing Uncharted, leading to a period of PlayStation detox. No matter what the case is, the good news is that you can use the PlayStation app for Android or iOS to claim these monthly free games without getting up from your seat.
How To: Remove advertisements from sites in Mozilla Firefox
In this tutorial, we learn how to remove advertisements from Mozilla Firefox. First, click on "tools", then "add ons". After this, type in "adblockplus" in the search bar. Now, click "add to Firefox", then download and install this add-on. When finished installing, go to the website where you want images blocked. Once on the site, click on the adblock icon and select "open blockable items". Now, right click and click on "block this item", then "add filter". When you click on this, the images ...
HowTo: Stay Safe Using Public WiFi
For travelers on-the-go, or penny pinchers who like to surf the web for free in public places, there are necessary precautions one must take when accessing sensitive information over a public WiFi connection. For advice on doing this safely, check out Glenn Fleishmann'sguide to staying protecting your private information. Fleishmann outlines how to:
How To: Play YouTube Videos Locally to Save Bandwidth, Skip Ads, & Always Watch in HD
Real suffering is sitting through a thirty-second ad to watch a fifteen-second video, or watching your favorite music video in three-second fragments. Real suffering is this: “An error occurred, please try again later.” If you’re a modern human and multitask with multiple tabs while you're on YouTube, you don’t have to sacrifice your bandwidth and sanity. There's a simple way to watch YouTube ad-free and lag-free.
News: Here's What You Need to Run ARKit 3 on Your iPhone or iPad
If you've been putting off upgrading your iPhone or iPad, you might want to start shopping for a current-generation device to take advantage of the latest capabilities in ARKit 3.
How To: Cut, copy and paste on the Apple iPhone 3G
Right out of the box, iPhone is incredibly easy to use. If you want to get the most out of every feature, you’ve come to the right place. This video tutorial straight from Apple will teach you how to cut, copy and paste on the Apple iPhone 3G. The iPhone redefines what a mobile phone can do.
How To: Sync iTunes on your Droid
If you're like most people, the only music program you want to deal with is iTunes. But you can't use your iTunes music unless you have an iPhone, right? Wrong! Don't go around thinking you need an iPhone to use iTunes on your mobile device. You can sync up iTunes with your Motorola Droid too! This video tutorial will show you how to sync iTunes on your Droid.
How To: Lock Files in a Private Folder with the Files by Google App
Android has not had the best reputation for privacy and security, though Google has made strides in those departments in recent years.
News: Apple Releases iOS 13.4 Developer Beta 2 for iPhone, Has New TV Options & Updated Mail Toolbar
Last week, Apple released the first iOS 13.4 beta with fun and useful new features, such as new Memoji, an upgrade Mail toolbar, and the ability to control your NFC-compatible car via CarKey. To add to that, Apple just released iOS 13.4 developer beta 2, but does the update have any more new changes to be excited about?
News: Anyone in the World Can Order Magic Leap One NOW (But There's a Catch)
Although the Magic Leap One: Creators Edition is currently officially available in only six US cities, those living outside of Magic Leap's designed US cities now have a roundabout way to order the device.
News: Waze & Mr. T Team to Give 'Fools' Directions
Listen up, fool! You can now get a (loud) nudge in the right direction by Mr. T, thanks to Waze. The navigation app has incorporated a few well-known voices over the past few years, but none have had us more excited than the addition of this beloved fixture of the 1980s. Waze made the announcement that Mr. T's voice would be joining the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Morgan Freeman via their company blog. That's the great news. The bad news is that Mr. T is only available for Waze users i...
News: iOS 11.3 Beta 4 Released for iPhone with Under-the-Hood Improvements
The fourth beta for iOS 11.3 was released by Apple to developers and public beta testers on Monday, March 5. The update comes just under two weeks after the company released beta 3 on Feb. 20, which mostly added bug and stability patches. It appears that beta 4 is much of the same, but we'll learn more as we sink our teeth into it.
News: Take Advantage of These Free Movie & TV Deals Before It's Too Late
It's not so difficult to stay at home during the coronavirus lockdown when there's so much free entertainment to take advantage of. That seems to be the M.O. for many studios and streaming services, as they've made so many shows and movies available to the public for free. That said, they aren't running charities here. These deals won't last forever, so make sure to jump on board before it's too late.
How To: Include images & custom fonts in your Gmail signature
Interested in fancifying your Google Gmail signature by including custom fonts and images? This clip will show you how it's done. It's simple! So simple, in fact, that this home-computing how-to can present a complete, step-by-step overview of the process in just over a minute and a half. For more information, including complete, step-by-step instructions, take a look.
How To: Replace iPhone headphone earbuds
How to take off the iPhone earbuds and replace them with whichever ones fit your ears and sound best. This can help because you keep the button and the 1/8" jack that slips into your iPhone. You need a soldering iron to remove the earbuds.
News: LG G7 ThinQ Comes Packed with Notch, Super Bright Display, Impressive Sound & More
After delaying its launch by four months, LG revealed its 2018 entry to the flagship market on Wednesday, May 2. After years of an underperforming mobile division, the LG G7 ThinQ is the first product since a shakeup within the division to get things back on track, and it brings a number of upgrades over its G6 predecessor.
HoloLens Dev 101: Building a Dynamic User Interface, Part 9 (Moving Objects)
So after setting everything up, creating the system, working with focus and gaze, creating our bounding box and UI elements, unlocking the menu movement, as well as jumping through hoops refactoring a few parts of the system itself, we have finally made it to the point in our series on dynamic user interfaces for HoloLens where we get some real interaction.
How To: Use Skype 3.0 for iPhone to Make Video Calls
We've all been waiting for it, and now it's finally here— Video Skype for the iPhone 4. It's no longer just a voice over the phone, now you can finally see those rosy-red cheeks of your fellow Skyper, and maybe even their underwear. Check out the official Skype for iPhone - now with video commercial: So how do you do the Skype iPhone video? It's so easy, I'm sure you can figure it out.
How To: Access Bitcoin Gambling Sites from Your Phone — Even if They Ban Your Country
Bitcoin, the decentralized cryptocurrency notorious for its status as the currency of the dark web, seems to be shedding its shady past and is now enjoying soaring highs not seen since 2014. The highly volatile online commodity reached parity with an ounce of gold back in March amid speculation of a pending ETF approval from the Federal Trade Commission. Since then, Bitcoin has doubled in value and analysts predict a bitcoin could reach $100,000 in value in 10 years.
News: Apple Releases iOS 14 GM (Golden Master) for iPhone
Apple just seeded developers and public beta testers the GM (golden master) for iOS 14 on Tuesday, Sept 15. The update (18A373) comes just after Apple's "Time Flies" event, and six days after Apple released iOS 14 beta 8 for both developers and public testers.
News: Unity Builds Developer Bridge Between ARKit & ARCore Apps with AR Foundation Tool
A new set of APIs for Unity promise to make it easier for developers to publish apps that support both ARKit and ARCore.
News: Apple Is Using a Sneaky Gimmick to Get You to Share Their Mother's Day Ad—Don't Fall for It
Celebrating Mother's Day just got more exploitative with Apple's Mother's Day ad. Their original Mother's Day ad shows photos and videos of mothers shot on an iPhone and uses the “Shot on iPhone” marketing line:
How To: Everything You Need to Know About Apple's 4th Beta for iOS 7.1 on the iPad, iPhone, & iPod Touch
Well, that was quick. A little over a week after releasing the third beta for iOS 7.1, Apple presented a fourth build to developers.
How To: Customize the home screen on the HTC Droid Incredible
You can customize the seven home screens on the HTC Droid Incredible cell phone by adding widgets, changing the live wallpaper, and creating scenes to fit your lifestyle. Live wallpapers move and respond to your touch and changing scenes is a quick way to match the Incredible to your current status. Verizon Wireless shows you how to personalize your phone.
How To: Make a cheap iPod wall charger
If you would like an iPod wall charger, but don't want to spend all of that money at Apple, just watch this video tutorial to see how to make a cheap iPod wall charger with just an old cell phone charger and a USB extension. There's no need to spend a bunch of money, just use the junk that's lying around your home. Electrical tape always comes in handy too, so remember that. Scissors, too.
How To: Cancel the Apple News+ Auto-Renewal Before Your Free Trial Ends
News+ is Apple's new digital subscription service for written media that costs $9.99 per month. There is a free trial offered for one month, but you'll start getting charged the monthly fee as soon as your 30 days are up. While it's not very obvious, there is a way to cancel the auto-renewal right before you get charged.
How To: Control iTunes with your iPhone
All you need to remotely access your computer's iTunes library is your iPhone. Control itunes with your iPhone with this Howcast guide.