How to Copy Articles From Flipboard

Flipboard is a useful app for mobile users who love to read. It kills boredom especially during long travels or waiting for transport that is taking forever to arrive. It is even more useful for researchers or copywriters who are looking for interesting story to work on, as the application can be modified to which topic it will show to the reader.

The only problem is, the mobile application does not allow users to highlight the text which makes it impossible to copy a portion or all of the text.

But there's a practical trick to do just that.

This post will show you how to get around this restriction, enable you to highlight the text that makes copying of the article possible,

• On android device

1. Tap the menu button at he top right of the screen,
2. Select "view on web"
3. Long press on the text and position the slider to the desired position
4. Then press copy.

Now you can paste it to anywhere you want like in a document you are working or note. You can also share the entire article by pressing the share button next to the copy button and you can email the whole article without copying it.

• On iOS device

5. Long press on the article until the built in menu shows then press "open in Safari". 

6. Long press to select the information you need and press copy!

How to Watch Satellite Subscription Programs Free Of Charge

Entertainment comes with a price. Even the very basic of home entertainment using TV is not free. In my location we pay a license to own one and another subscription to top up the free to view channels to watch decent programs. And depending on the package, it could mean a hefty chunk of the monthly budget.

But with the high speed internet already available, coupled with gadgets and brilliant apps makers, it could mean some savings to your monthly entertainment budget for some popcorn during a marathon movie night.

Here's what you need and how to set-up.

• An android tablet or mobile phone with at least OS 4.1 (Jellybean) or above. The latest is better. You can check the OS by going to Settings>General>About Device>Android Version

• Using your android mobile phone, download the application at https://www.mobdro.com/ . Do not stray away from this site as the others will lead you to a never ending link of advertising. See screenshot of the site below and click download the app.

• Once dowloaded and before hitting install, make sure that your device is authorized to install unknown applications by going to Settings>General>Security>and tick Unknown Sources

• And also make sure that the minimum requirement Android 4.1 or above is onboard your mobile or tablet.Otherwise a parse error message will display and the installation will not be complete.

• Successful installation will not ask you for additional setup and will work straight away. Now you can enjoy a wide variety of cable and satellite programs from movies to sports and other international channels for free.

• Enjoy and merry xmas to all!

Speed Up Android Phone Using Developer Options

No doubt the android phone lags through time. It needs tidying up from time to time, as it seems like drawing it's last breath when it is not "cleaned" by a dedicated app cleaner. But even though how thorough it is being  scrubbed every tidying up period, the phone is still so slow to process every taps.

The Developer Options.

Under the hood, the android phone has a built in diagnostic task meant for the developers and usually it is not enabled natively. This means the user needs to invoke this by pressing the build number (2) repeatedly until the prompt says it is alreadyenabled.(3). You can go to the buld number by going to settings and hitting "about device"(1).

Tweaking how to handle apps.

 

 We like to be more productive and do many things at once. That's why many manufacturers lure users that this can be achieved by introducing multitasking, split screen and more RAM to handle the issue. But most of the time for a regular user, this is practically an unchartered map of how they use their mobile and just a hype to show off that this can be acievable but unpractical, because of very small screen. Plus the performance is affected.

So why not do things one at a time and leave an application when you start another one? This will save the resources to tackle the next task and not to allocate it with the previous ones. Here's how it is done.

Once enabled, go back to settings where the "developer options"  can be configured(4).  Enable it by sliding the button(5) to the right. Then scroll down at the very bottom ofthe page under "apps". Tick "do not keep activities"(6). Then go next to the "limit background processess" (7) and choose "no background processess"(8) before you exit!

This made the lag on my phone bearable and have not noticed any misbehaving application whilst this is enabled. If this affects any of the appication you use, it is easy to reverse the whole process by just disabling "developers options"(5).

Bluetooth Not Working

Bluetooth is a straight forward interface of transferring data or service from a device to another. Pairing is easy and as long as they are in range, within 10 meters or depending on the type of the device, file transfer is just a push away.

Last night, the should be easy task of transferring a Christmas carol from my phone to a better sounding mobile phone was failing. I tried many times and the result was still the same, it could not recognise the other bluetooth recipient, although both were paired properly.

What went wrong? I was already giving up of what could be the culprit was. Investigating further, the music file was loaded with the music player, and the bluetooth button there is not for transferring files but for play output service to another external bluetooth speaker! No matter how much I would try would not detect any bluetooth device with bluetooth multimedia playback as  my other phone  doesn't have this kind service.

I just realised that not all bluetooth buttons are the same, I got out from the music player and navigated manually to the music files (My Files), checked the file to be shared then tapped the share button(1),  the correct bluetooth file transfer button appeared(2), and the bluetooth recipient (3) with the right protocol service (file transfer) was detected.

These Could Be Slowing Down Your Old Mobile Phone

I am back to my old Samsung S3 when I lost the Note 3 late last month. The S3 was my reliable mobile phone 4 years ago and handed it down to my son for 2 years. It's operating system remained unchanged as the latest JellyBean variant 4.3 and can still handle the basic of calls, text messages and internet based messaging. The only thing that I annoys me is it is very slow to respond on touches. Sometimes it takes at least 10 seconds to show the dialer window when I want to make a call. The same with the camera, it takes sometime before it is ready to take a shot. The native messaging application makes the screen black and sometimes it does not recover so I am forced to restart the phone by pressing the on/off button and it I am not patient, I take off and put on the battery to speed the restart process. It is not only the the messaging application  that's making this thing happen, but all application has their own moments to turn off the device.

 Whatever is happening these things come to mind causing the havoc.

1. Too much item is in the cache.
2. Apps hogging on resources
3. The processor can not cope up with the application demand.

To address these problems, I need some free tools to help me and make the old phone at least a second chance to be of service.

Delete the cache.

Cache are pieces of information  that the mobile device copies from the web you are visiting for faster loading in case you visit the same page in the future again. But like computers, these data could be outdated and no longer  relevant. And this causes the problem that can cause the browser stops working.

Applications do the same as well, they start collecting and saving files for later reference, for that application to show where you left up the last time you use it. It can really save you data, but it can also be corrupted causing problems.

It is not only the corrupt cache file that becomes the problem but the amount of  space that it is occupying.

There is a built in tool to delete the cache by going to the application information. But if you are talking about  every application, then you do need a tool to help you with this. There are many free applications that can do this but I usually use ccleaner for the job. They are intuitive and so easy to use. Just be very careful where you download it from. To be on the safe side, always use the play store to get your free application.

Kill resource hogging applications

Sometimes the problem lies with the applications we have downloaded. There are applications that can excessively use the CPU power leaving the resources low for others to use. This will result in the sluggish response to touch or even failure to launch.

But the problem is it is hard to pinpoint which one is a resource hog among other running applications as the running apps can be needed in the operation of the mobile phone. It is not just as easy as clearing out the RAM of ongoing processes only to be disappointed that it does not do any difference or worse.

This problem can be addressed by monitoring the run-away applications that are causing the CPU grind into halt. I use one of these apps called Watchdog Task Manager(Lite Version) to monitor which applications are going out of bounce and notifies user to either kill it or ignore by pressing the whitelist. The applications can also be manually killed by visiting the CPU tab(1) and a long press on the apps reveals the selection actions. The CPU treshold(2) is highly customizable even with the lite version. The default setting is  50% (3) meaning when an app does hugs the 50% CPU power, the watchdog  warns you about it and let you make the necessary decision.

With the phone processes ticked(2), it will also notifies(4) and  shows you what Android system task (5) has been taking much of the processing power. 

The processor can not cope up with applications.

Applications are becoming sophisticated these days, specially gaming. They require much computing power and does not slowdown for slower processor. They just grind to a halt. That's the reason why the moments of characters are just like caught up in a stop and go traffic. The processor tries to manage but it can't, causing the phone to increase it's temperature and the battery being hot to touch. It's not only the battery that is having the fever, the processor as well. At this point, there's nothing I can do but to uninstall the games which I do not play anyway.

Not only games that are the culprit in here, there are also applications although might look like harmless and very light uses the phone's resources to operate, like it uses the GPS monitor, bluetooth, camera etc. If you have this kinds of apps, then be sure to exit them properly, otherwise the resources will still be on and continue to run thus making your phone very slow.

Answer Your Phone Using A PC

Mobile phones are for our convenience. They help us juggle our busy lives, organize our schedule, notify us with timely messages. They do serve us 24 hours but like us who do need tea breaks, the charging time is also their downtime. Keeping the charger close is possible but sometimes it is inevitable to miss a call because we are engage to something using our PC's.

If you have a samsung mobile with at least Android KitKat (4.4) or higher operating system, you can seamlessly connect your phone to your pc to receive notifications or make and receive calls and texts. The SideSync is compatible with windows PC (XP or  later versions).

How to set up?

 Download and install SideSync on your from

 http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/convergence/sidesync/ 

and from your mobile device, get SideSync  from Play store.

How to use it?

1. You can use SideSync straight away. Both devices should be connected to the same wi-fi access for this to work. Wi-fi has a wider coverage and more stable than other short range connections, this means there is no problem even your phone is charging upstairs and you are working on your computer downstairs, you can still receive notifications from your phone.

2. Launch SideSync on your PC(1) and mobile(2). This takes a few seconds to connect.

3. When connected, the notification window with any alert if there is will show(3). If this is the first time to connect both devices, the screen mirroring may not automatically activate, so click phone screen(3) and it will begin to output the phone screen(4) to your PC(5).

4. Once it is mirrored  on your PC, you can control your mobile from the virtual phone(5)  using mouse clicks. The phone's screen will turn off whilst it is mirrored on the PC. Pressing the home button or the power button will disconnect the mirroring and the phone's screen will become active.

5. Whilst being mirrored, you can call(6), send text(7), access your files(8) by clicking the icons, play music and see notifications.

6. You can do file transfer(9) by clicking and selecting a file(a) holding the left click button(b) until a file transfer icon appears(c)  and dropping it at the desktop(d). The default location for the file is located at the desktop.

You can also do file management like file deletion and creation, and many more!

The Android Lollipop Experience

I was in holiday vacation when the OTA Lollipop update for the Note 3 was pushed to my device. Lollipop is already around for a while and has been adopted by newly built android devices but in my case I have not experienced it first hand. I was still with the KitKat operating system which I consider it as better than it's predecessor. And knowing that  the Lollipop is the latest version, I have high expectation on the latest android offering and excited to try it out.

Installation

The Lollipop update arrived as a reminder. Clicking the reminder made the device download the necessary files followed by installation. There was no problem during the installation, the device restarts after the installation is finished. Then the optimisation of the downloaded applications followed. Unfortunately, not all applications I downloaded are optimised or compatible with Lollipop. This make them crash randomly. So I did uninstall them for a while.

First impression.

Honestly, I do not like the looks of it. The native icons look bland and even the colours a little unpalatable. Though there are colourful native wallpaper to compensate. The notification interface is paper flat style stack(A) on each other like a 3D(B) rendition. Though I do not like it visually, functionally I find it very good.

Application icons are in their proper places and inherits their default looks except for the native samsung and google applications. All apps do not need restarting except the kaspersky internet security that needs you to allow it's access to the phone's resources.

Widgets that are active before the update stays the same except the S planner that needs to add to the screen again.

Problems after installation.

The first problem I noticed is the battery life. It seems like it lost half of it's holding capacity. Before the update, the battery lasts twice as much. The active applications button also show many apps being active from time to time. Although I do not remember starting them on.  I also noticed that the wi-fi service does not wake up as quick as before. I need to turn it off then on again to connect to the home wi-fi. There is also a noticeable lag when I use mobile internet. But this could be a network issue that sometimes it goes terribly bad.

Some applications can be problematic. The chess game I usually play to kill time gave me two queens in the middle of a game and then randomly crashes. A ringtone maker does not recognise the mp3 file that it usually does!

Lollipop after a week.

The battery problem seems cured after a week, and the applications showing from the active applications button became lesser. Although I still need to terminate some of them from time to time. This could be due to an update to the applications themselves making them more adaptable to the new operating system. Though the wi-fi and internet data are still problematic. If this is a network issue or a bug in the operating system, then at the moment there's nothing I can do but to wait for the update that can resolve this.

On the bright side.

Like other new operating systems, they get better through time. There might be bugs that affect the way the device works, and some incompatibility of programs that are downloaded, updates are soon available to address these issues.

Lollipop like other android operating system, hides an easter egg within. But this time, it is not only graphic animation but a game. You can access this by going to the settings>general>about device>then tap "android version"(1) repeatedly until the lollipop icon appears> tap and hold the lollipop icon(2) until the game starts(3)! Enjoy!

Find An Android Phone Without Any Apps!

It was a busy week for me the last three weeks, both from work, my kids extra curricular and their school. Additional function as a "taxi driver" and "event organizer" has somehow had an effect in my memory in terms of concentration. This made me forget many things specially where I kept my wallet, keys and phone!

I could function without a wallet but without my phone could be difficult because my activities are organised within it and also includes important data which I have compiled for years. I could not imagine starting all over again! This is hard to imagine but this happened in one of the school rush. After sending my daugther to  school, I was caught in a traffic jam going to work. I was allowed to come in late, because the oncall was busy during the night but it seemed that the traffic was pushing my time further. I know that I would not make it on time and tried to dial my worlk's number. To my dismay, I do not have my phone. This is the first time I forgot to bring my phone and do not know why it was not in my backpack pocket.

During my free time, I tried to log on to find my mobile, to see at least the last place it was. The problem is I could not remember my samsung account password. I have been relying the data I have stored in my phone and the auto log in to the site. And even when I was home, I could not manage to log in because of my password.

Android Device Manager

My search with google took me to Android Device Manager. This can track, wipe and lock an android device using GPS and internet connection. The miinimal requirement is a google account. If you have already set up a google account on your phone, then there is no need to download the application. Using it is staright forward and very easy.

1. Go to https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager and log in to the gmail. If you have multiple gmail account you need to use the one your set up(1) your device with.

2. Once log in, you can see the devices that are connected to your gmail account and choose from the dropdown list.

3. After choosing your device, the application will try to locate(3)  your device using GPS. If your device is online,you can ring it(4) straight away, lock and erase. 

Your device will ring for 5 minutes even if your phone is set to "mute" and the device's location access is turned off. It just needed to be online! Turn off the ringing by pressing the power button. The event is also recorded(5) on screen.

4. In the event that your phone is not online(6),  you can still request to ring the device(7) and once online, it will ring!

How To Uninstall Fake Privacy Guard

Just a few moments ago, my mobile antivirus (Avast) has been detecting a trojan infection on my mobile. I was not aware of installing any unusual application other than the cleaning tool to reclaim more space to my already depleted microsd card. In the process, I think I have chosen the wrong application and in the process had encountered a trojan, a program that looks harmless until it bites later on.

The cleaning app is not a problem at all, but the bundled  "privacy guard app". I can say that it was bundled because I did not remember downloading it.  This app mimicked the legit app LEO Privacy Guard and it copied it's logo as well.

The problem begins

Avast antivirus keeps on detecting it and flashing a notice to uninstall it. What makes it real annoying is I have uninstalled it many times then after 2 to 3 minutes on every uninstallation, it reinstalls itself. Avast antivirus detects it and tells me to uninstall again. I was thinking a false positive and installed AVG but the same result and warning persisted.

Can't find a solution even on google

I have googled for a solution on how to uninstall it but all it is showing was the legit application LEO Privacy Guard. It seems like this infection is new as I have not encountered anyone with the same problem as I have.

Temporary solution

At the time of this post, I am not yet  not able to get rid of it, but I managed to stop it from installing itself by disabling USB debugging. Access this going to Settings>General>Developer Options>Untick USB Debugging. This feature is off by default, I just let it on because I usually connect and transfer files to my laptop. It proved that this is not really a  good idea to always  set to on.

If you do have a tip on how to remove this, then it would be much appreciated!

Update: 14.May.2015

The fake Privacy Guard application stopped to automatically install itself after 3 days. I did not do anything special but I have added another internet security in my system. Although Kaspersky did not detect anything suspicious after the first scan, the rogue application did not manage to appear in the scan results even after using AVG and Avast with the USB debugging on!

3 Must Have Apps For A Rooted Android

Installing apps is easy, and sometimes because it is free, we tend to install every app that catches our curiosity. It might not kill a cat but certainly can affect the phone's performance especially when there's a shortage of storage which in the long run will inevitably come when we do not scrutinize if we really need the app or not. This is more an issue when you do not have a restriction like in a rooted phone.

As the phone can do more that when it is not rooted, there are powerful programs that can be downloaded to unleash the power of the android which I've been dreaming to try, like revealing the saved wi-fi pass code, snooping on online activity of your kids in real time, and to disconnect their internet access without them knowing when they are in an inappropriate site . So here's a few list of tools for the rooted phone that I consider very useful.

1. Wi-Fi Connection Manager:  Reveals Wi-Fi Passcode

I wanted to have an app that tells me the wi-fi pass code. You just do not know when you need it. Although the best alternative is to write it down in a piece of paper or type it in the phone's note application, sometimes you just need to access it quick specially when a house guest is asking for it. Or when you yourself becomes the guest and your host types the passcode for you, you just want to know the asterisk value! In this case, wi-fi connection manager is very helpful. Non rooted devices can install this but the reveal passcode function(1) will not work.

2. IntercepterNG: Spy on your kids

The internet is a great place for information specially for school works. But not all information are suitable for everybody. They can be a threat to kids and influence their way of thinking and social upbringing. The only thing that we as parents can do is to block these sites manually using browser's preference using keyword filtering or through our ISP's. As kids are curious, we can not prevent them from their venture to sites that usually not well known that pose similar threat or could be worse. In this way, we do not know what sites they are accessing. Kids are well versed of cleaning their surfing footsteps by just cleaning internet caches and histories.

This is where InterceperNG is useful. Any device that uses the same Wi-Fi access(2) can be a target. 

It records every traffic that passes through the Wi-Fi connection in the form of numeric ip address(3). You can just type the ip address in your browser or go to the cookie icon(yellow) and tap the cookie entry to view the viewed website(4).

3. Wi-Fi Kill: Disconnect discreetly internet connection.

Sometimes it is hard to directly say stop what you are doing, specially when you find out(using IntercepterNG) that they are accessing inappropriate sites. This is where Wi-Fi Kill comes in handy. It displays all connected devices to your router(5). From there you can choose to select a device(6) by tapping it or you can select all. Once selected, you have the choice of grabbing it's traffic(7) where you can see what sites he's been or to kill it's connection(9).The target device will not lose connection but will not get data traffic because your rooted android tricks the grabbed device into thinking that your phone is the router. As your phone is not sharing internet connection the grabbed device can not access the internet.

How To Root An Android

I have not rooted any smartphone before until today. The reason I had no guts in doing this is, smartphones are expensive that I can not afford to turn into a paper weight, just in case I make a mistake. And the fact that I am happy with the device's restrictions as I do not have further idea of what to make use of it when in case I am successful in breaking it free from the walls of android.

Why do I decided to root my phone then? Honestly, the unit is old, an S3 which I have handed over to my daugther that she managed to crack the screen that also rendered a fault in it's microphone. That's where the gut came from and also the desire to use restricted applications like pocket snoopers, those programs that can steal passwords in a non secured free wi-fi or those who browse with http instead of https.

Kingo Android Root

This is the software that I used for this post. Why? this is the first one on the list when I asked google how to do it. In fact at the start I do not know what I was doing. As rooting the phone will require sometime for the transformation here are the things needed which should be available handy.

• Kingo Android Root program. This should be downloaded and installed in your computer. Get this free software at http://www.kingoapp.com/android-root/download.htm

• USB cable. If possible, use the original usb cable supplied with your device.

Advert:
Buy S3 USB cable

• Power. The phone is recommended to have at least 50% battery power. Just plug it in to the mains before rooting it or your laptop and begin when it reaces 50%.

• USB debugging on. This should be turned on to facilitate read and write operation of files. To turn this on, go to settings>more>developer options>tick USB debugging.

• Launch Kingo Root application and connect your phone with the USB cable. If at this point the program does not recognize your phone, it is either you have a loose connection or broken USB cable, but most possibly USB debugging is not enabled. 

• If the connection is established, you can proceed and click the root button. Your phone screen will show the applications interface (5) and the ongoing events (6).

• Be patient as the process will take sometime. The phone would turn blank then turn on and may say downloading items many times that it seems like just doing the process in a loop. Once finished, your computer will say the rooting is successful(7) and so with the phone's screen(8). You may now restart your mobile phone!

Last Words:

Now that my old phone is rooted, there are more things that I can do. I can install softwares that are only for rooted devices. Some examples are apps for intercepting data, "discreetly unsharing your home wi-fi connection"(9), overclocking your phone, deleting bloatwares and many more.

Remember that this is just for instructional purpose and not an encouragement to root your device. As when you do, your warranty becomes void and could not update (10)your device normally!

The Note 3 and the Riddle of the 'Always On' Wi-Fi

My note 3  smartphone has been giving me a slight problem. It's Wi-Fi is always on! Even when I switch off the Wi-Fi button. The Wi-Fi button is off as it shows in this screen shot but I still see it active when I take a glimpse of what's using the battery power ( access it at settings>general>battery>then tap battery graph(1)). Note that the Wi-Fi entry remained active as shown by the continuous blue line(2).

• ALWAYS ON WI-FI

Although there is no issue regarding the performance of the device itself, it could be obvious that it plays a part in shortening the battery life. So this must stop.

I tried many things to stop this like restarting the device, deleting and disabling applications and widgets that I thought could have caused the Wi-Fi button active. I thought of this because when the device was new, this problem has not presented itself yet. Major culprits are the widgets displaying weather, temperature etc., and everything that refreshes itself by using the internet. But unfortunately, it failed. At this point, I was already being tempted to put the device into factory setting, which is the last resort I could think of.

• THE WI-FI SETTING

But before doing the final long way, I tried once more in scouring the setting I have not touched, the Wi-Fi button itself.

Embedded deep inside it, is a setting I have ignored or I have not explored before. Or it could be an additional function and has been added after the updates.

You can access this with the following taps; settings>connections>then tap Wi-Fi (3, not the Wi-Fi button). At this point it seems that there is no more options rather than choosing which SSID to connect. But tapping the left most soft key (4) reveals additional options, tap advanced.

• DISABLING WI-FI BUTTON EFFECTIVELY

The next window has given a clue why it is on all the time.  A menu of 'keeping the Wi-Fi button on even when the device sleeps' is set to 'always'(6). Tapping the > symbol let's you choose option to never or only when 'plugged in'. I think the second option (7) is better and could do no harm to the battery as it only does it when plugged in(8).

Going back to the battery after turning off Wi-Fi button for 45 minutes reveals a good sign, the Wi-Fi strip meter did not spend a single drop(9) of power.

• LAST WORDS.

I always thought that the Wi-Fi button is off when turned off from the simple toggle switch at the settings connections window.  But deep inside the Wi-Fi menu still has a sub-menu that overrides this. It is easy to  overlook this and could remain uncovered unless users notice this 'flaw' under what's using the battery power!

This problem could present itself on other android devices and if so, the solution could be the same.

Cheap Mobile Internet Whilst Visiting the Philippines

Just back from our holidays in the Philippines and I admit this one is more enjoyable than the previous, specially in terms of food (how I love theVikings from SM north ) trip and other activities (swimming to the max at Ilocos). There was no problem encountered except the usual internet connection whilst on the move specially when the kids want to update their social statuses or get the latest gossip from their friends. This need to be solved to avoid unnecessary mobile data expenditures that always victimizes unsuspecting holiday makers that potentially rake up a bill of hundreds or even thousands of pounds.

How not to overspend on data tariff whilst on vacation?

This is a complex question but with a simple solution! It is complex in the sense that there are many tariffs available and if you are not familiar with MB's and GB's of data, you will not be able to choose the best tariff, specially if you use the internet everytime. If there are 4 parties to use the internet, you do not need to buy 4 SIM cards and 4 tariffs to enjoy unlimited internet. In fact you can internet power at least 4 devices with just 50PHP a day, with unlimited traffic. Here's how.

a. Buy a local sim card

If your smartphone is SIM free you can buy a local SIM card and replace it with your home SIM.

How to know your phone is SIM free? If your phone is with contract and it is not an iPhone, then it is 100% SIM free. iPhone tends to be network locked even if it is with a contract. But you can ask your operator to give you the unlock software over the air (OTA). You can request this at anytime and depending on your network's policy.

A local sim card plus a load of 500PHP under Globe network is available when you get out from the plane. Just ask at any desk and they can point you to a nearest vending machine or sales representative that sell sim from any network. I use globe network because almost all of my contacts in the Philippines are using globe network.

Most of the SIM cards available are with the old form factor (full size). This means it is not compatible with the newest iPhone variants (iPhone 5) and other mobile phones that use nano SIM card. If this is the only phone you have, you might not easily find this kind of SIM inside the airport. And if your phone takes micro SIM card, it is best to buy a SIM card cutter before you travel.

I always bring along my card cutter with me as my Samsung uses micro card. You can buy this from below.

b. Setting up the globe SIM card. 

To reload airtime to the Globe SIM card, follow the following steps

• Dial 223 and press SEND.
• Enter the Call & Text Card No. and press #.
• Enter the Call & Text Card PIN and press #.

A voice prompt will then confirm that the reload attempt is successful.

c. Set up mobile internet.

Once the airtime is available, you can activate internet settings by buying surfing allowance.

• Do this by dialing *143# then send
• Choose 3 Surf Promos>send, 6 Supersurf>send, 1 Supersurf 50>send

*Supersurf 50 is an unlimited internet tariff, tethering included, for one day for 50PHP only. If you are tethering for other devices, this is the best tariff for you.

• Choose 1 subscribe> a confirmation message will be received. The internet settings should be automatically set up at this point.
• If the internet settings is not automatically set up, dial *143# then choose 3 and send, then choose 8 Get Internet Settings and send. This will show you how to go through the settings.

• You will know that the internet settings is working if you have this icon at the top.

• If this it is not active, make sure your phone's mobile data usage is turned on. On android, swipe the top of the phone downwards and check if it is turned on.

d. Share your internet connection

Here's where the savings is. Imagine for 50PHP, roughly 69pence, you can internet enable at least 4 persons in one day without limit. This is usable when the parties using it do not stream videos. To enable this, turn on the phone's tethering service.

• On an android phone, tap tethering and portable hotspot then turn on portable WIFI hot spot. For easier access with other devices, just adjust the security to open, then save.

e. Use MAC filtering to limit connected devices

Although the connection do not have security, you can control which device to connect by choosing connection type to "only allowed devices". You can then configure which device by entering manually the name of the device and the MAC address to gain access to the portable hotspot. For me, this is easier to manage than setting and giving out passwords. To do this, follow the following.

• Tap the name of your connection(1) and configure it to allowed devices only(2).
• Then configure it (3) to open(4). This will be easier for the allowed devices to connect. 
• Add the devices to connect by tapping Allowed Devices(5), tap the + sign to add a device.
• Enter the Device Name by finding the name at about device, and the MAC address(7) can be seen by tapping status and scrolling down to the WIFI MAC address.

You can add up to 4 devices or more, depending on the usage of every connected device, you can add more and get unlimited internet for a day for the cheap price of 50PHP.