Cool Android Smartphone Apps 2

1. QR Droid

Barcodes seem like a thing of the past. Welcome QR(Quick Response) codes. These are black squares and lines you see printed in a product as a replacement for barcodes in a white background. Info's encoded can made up of any kind of data. See QR Droid page by scanning the code below!

You'll gonna need a QR code reader or scanner to translate this code into something that can be understood. In my android phone, I use "QR Droid", just search for it when you are at market place. It is very easy to use. it uses your existing camera to scan. Blinking blue lights will guide you into the best distance between the object and your camera. Instructions on how to use is also included with the download.

Please see video tutorial below on how to use it!

With the application, you can make a QR code with contacts, websites, notes, etc. etc., which you can store it as codes. Cool!

2. Norton Mobile Security Lite

Tips tο avoid trojan attacks, especially fοr those οf уοu whο hаνе Android phone like me. Android devices аrе expected tο become thе mοѕt vulnerable tο Trojan bесаυѕе іt іѕ open source, not only to trojans but other malwares. This is a bad news for Android users! A study shows that 99 percent of Android phones are vulnerable to a security attack which allows hackers to access their Google accounts!

Symantec's free app will protect your android device against malware and minimise the damage from loss and theft. An automatic virus scan will dtect and remove threats from downloads and can also check your SD cards. It can also be used to remotely lock your device in case it is stolen simply by sending a text.  Get it by scanning the QR code at the right, or you can search at the market place by searching for Norton Mobile Security Lite

Watch video below.



3. Unlock with wi-fi

 PIN's are good in securing your phone againsts theft and unauthorised use. But sometimes it can be a pain tapping in your passcode everytime especially in places you do not need to lock your phone, at home.

Good news is, you can use your wi-fi to disable the PIN feature when the phone is in range with your home router.  The app is called "Unlock with wi-fi".

 Screen shots below

Watch related video below.

Top of the rest free phone apps

Smartphones are not smart without applications. Clever apps make the device standout whether it is an apple, android, blackberry, symbian or windows operating system. Below are FREE apps you can download to make your phone smarter, practical to use and a must have to unleash your phones full potential.

TuneWiki

For android, apple, blacberry, symbian

If you like to sing along to songs while you're out and about, TuneWiki is a must-have. It streams tracks with synchronised lyrics from music sites, and has Social Music Player that lets you hear what your friends are listening to.

Viddy

For apple

This app lets you create mini-movies from the videos you capture. You can edit with effects and sounds on clips of up to 15 seconds, and share the result on social network on the move!

Memonic

For android, apple

This is a note taking tool which makes it easy to share and organise your thought along with other personal content. You can take photos within the application and you can save web pages you can open and read while off l  no internet connection

Speedtest

for android, apple

If your internet connection seems consistenly too slow get to the bottom of it by using this app. It checks your internet speed over wi-fi or your network.

Boat Browser

for android

I use the default browser or the  opera mini for my android while surfing the net. Boat browser is new and packed with useful features for web browsing. Your most visited sites are stored on the home page. And if you are struggling to find screenshoot punction on HTC, this browser has it but with limitation, it can only make a shot on web pages.

Shoparazzi

for apple

For the shopper addicts, this little app will be useful in finding bargains for you it can find you things like:

• Store Finder: Maps, opening hours and phone numbers for over 15,000 UK fashion retailers

• Label Finder: Maps and store locations for over 2,000+ fashion labels

• Sale Finder: Find out where the best sales are!

Team Viewer

for android, apple

This app lets you transfer files to and from laptop or PC. You can use your phone to access documents, photos and videos stored on your hard disk as long as your PC or laptop is connected into the internet.

Battery Update

for android

If your android phone drains battery very quick, this app will let you tweak the settings and kill apps easily to conserve battery.

Facebook will be charging? ..the real score..

Got this message from your FB friends?

"FACEBOOK JUST RELEASED THEIR PRICE GRID FOR MEMBERSHIP. $9.99 PER MONTH FOR GOLD MEMBER SERVICES, $6.99 PER MONTH FOR SILVER MEMBER SERVICES, $3.99 PER MONTH FOR BRONZE MEMBER SERVICES, FREE IF YOU COPY AND PASTE THIS MESSAGE BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. WHEN YOU SIGN ON TOMORROW MORNING YOU WILL BE PROMPTED FOR PAYMENT INFO... IT IS OFFICIAL IT WAS EVEN ON THE NEWS. FACEBOOK WILL START CHARGING DUE TO THE NEW PROFILE CHANGES. IF YOU COPY THIS ON YOUR WALL YOUR ICON WILL TURN BLUE AND FACEBOOK WILL BE FREE FOR YOU. PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ON IF NOT YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE DELETED IF YOU DO NOT PAY"

This message or similar message about FB's soon to be a pay site has been in circulation way back 2007.

See similar claim here,

here,

here, 

and here.

 IT IS A HOAX!

You might ask why they even make this warnings. Some even made groups within FB to spread the rumours. The origin of this message has a bad idea behind this warning. It is one of the following reasons or might be all of the following.

1. They want to spread malwares.

 As emails has been "taken over" by social networking sites, this is the best medium to spread viruses, trojans, spywares, rootkits, etc. etc, through page likes, using programs within Fb or even playing games.

I was a victim myself years back when I used an app that can make a fun video about christmas using photo's, It was fun but after installation I noticed that the app installed 2 more apps, something for th browser and an auto updater! And I can't put the updater into manual mode, meaning it is always updated when connected into the internet and that's not good. I found out that it changed the default home page, it added another apps that attached itself to the browser, that no matter how many times you change your default homepage and default search engine, it will always revert to the same hijacked state.

If you suspect that the apps you have downloaded and been using or the game that you have been playing is doing this, you need to remove it into your FB apps list. See tutorial on how to do this at http://prakticality.blogspot.com/2011/07/facebook-page-like-scam.html

If you have downloaded it and installed into your computer,  removing it from your FB apps list doesn't mean it is already uninstalled, You need to manually uninstall it using add remove programs from control panel. Sometimes there are stubborn apps. There's a free version of REVO uninstaller that can do the job. check it out  http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

Have you ever experienced sending something to your FB friends without your knowledge? Then you have experienced malwares!

2. They want your email address and your friends email addresses as well.

The program writers do not get your email addresses for nothing. And you did not suspect them using your email for advertising or for spreading nasties. Other programmers do, that's one of the ways they earn money, by selling email addresses to spammers.

Botnets or "robot" computer networks controlled by spammers, pass malwares  into email addresses of an infected machine. And you might not suspect you are a part of a botnet. To check if your IP address has been flagged before as a botnet, see simple instructions at  http://prakticality.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-to-check-if-your-computer-is-part.html

3. Or simply they want to scare you away from facebook!

A piece of advise, it is not true FB will be charging soon or sometime, do not help spread the rumour , be careful on the apps you click like so you can stay away from any inconvenience.

How to speed up internet without breaking the bank

Does your internet connection seems slow? And do not have a clue what happened and what to do? There are settings that can be tweaked, but tweaking is for the more experienced user. There are sofwares that can do this for you but come with a price. Rather than trying to get your hands dirty or making a hole into your pocket, this software is free and do the dirty job to make your connection a bit better.

Here's how its done.

Check internet speed

1.Before going any further, it is useful to know your actual internet speed by going to http://www.speedtest.net/. Just wait for the speed detection window to completely loaded before you click the test. There is nothing to download or scan at the moment so do not be tempted to press scan now!

2. The resulting speed test below.

Download and install AUSLOGIC INTERNET OPTIMIZER

1. Download it from http://www.downloadcrew.com/article/23452-auslogics_internet_optimizer !

Note: at the download page there are some download links for other programs that are rather confusing, just refer to the screen shot below where to click.

2. Download and install the application.

Note: at the installation, the installer will give you the option of installing their toolbar and changing your home page. You can opt not to do that by unticking the boxes. Anyway you can disable the toolbar later or change your homepage back if you happened to tick them.

3. Now you are ready to launch the optimizer. The program analyze your system to see the settings it will recommend to be optimised. You need to tick your known connection speed as you've determined before the download.

4.  After analysis, the recommended settings for programs  that are related to internet usage will be shown

5. Click run or proceed with the optimization, in the process you neeed to close down programs that are using the internet.

6. After the result, you need to restart your computer.

7. Then go to the speed test page again to see if there's any improvement. http://www.speedtest.net/  Here's what it did to my system.

How to use find my mobile on iPhone or iPad

There's an aplication on iPhone  and iPad that can track the location of your device, just in case it got lost or stolen. This app lets you know where your device is at real time, provide your device is turned on or online. You can also send a message to the device, lock it up, especially when got stolen, or wipe out the contents you have put into your iTunes account access. It is easy and straight forward. Here's how!

1. In your device set up mobile me by going to SETTINGS, MAIL CONTACTS CALENDAR, then ADD ACCOUNT

2. Choose Mobile Me

 3. Set up account using your iTunes account

4. Go to your email for itune's log in and verify your account by clicking the verify button

5. Go back to your iPhone and turn on FIND MY IPHONE

6. In your computer, go to https://me.com and log in to using your iTunes account, the next page will show the devices connected to your account which are "online" at the moment.

7. Click on the device you want to locate, it's location will be shown and you can choose to  send a message or wipe out it's data and lock it in case it is stolen. In this case I've chosen to send a message

8. There will be a confirmation when the message is sent and your device will make a sound for at least 2 minutes while the message is shown on the screen as an urgent message.

Same instructions when you have iPAD assuming you have created your account at me.com

1. FIND, CREATE MESSAGE,

2.MESSAGE SENT

How to stream videos from laptop to iPhone

Yes you can stream your videos from laptop , pc, mac, or macbooks to your ipad, iphone, or ipod using your wireless home router! Both devices should be connected wirelessly with the same wi-fi hotspot or router.  It is easy and most of all it is free. From set up to streaming took me 10 minutes or less using an iphone and a Windows Vista laptop.



Here's how it is done.

1. On your laptop, pc or mac machine, go to http://hobbyistsoftware.com/vlcstreamer and choose the  VLC helper software compatible to your device. In this case I have chosen Windows version.

2. Once downloaded and installed, you will see the icon of the software at the bottom right corner of your laptop

And if you click on it, server running should be ticked.

3. On your iphone, ipad or ipod download software called VLC streaming. Just search for "VLC streaming free" from itunes.

 

4. After initializing the software, it will ask you to enter your email 

5. After pressing OK, you should be able to see your laptop which the VLC helper is running as a server.

6. Tap the device name and tap ADD A MOVIE

6. The VIDEOS directory from your computer will show and you can choose the folder and the movies within the folder to stream, in this case Johnny English!

This is the same file from my laptop

7. Then from your iphone, you need to determine the streaming properties of the movie, which in this case I've chosen low quality and resolution. Then press watch and then wait for the movie to start streaming!

8. After a while I am enjoying Johnny English on my iPhone!