15 ways to improve your iPhone's battery life by Zack Whittaker for Between the Lines

Summary: While the iPhone is booming in popularity, its battery still isn't that good. But by applying Making the most out of your iPhone's battery Enterprises and business users love the iPhone because of its back-end management and security features that allow employees to bring their own from home (BYOD) and use it in the workplace. The one thing that lets the device down from full marks is its battery life. Compared to the old business favorite BlackBerry, the iPhone's battery life is far from comparable. Here are 15 simple things you can do to make your iPhone run that little bit longer. Turn off auto-brightness Some, including Apple, believe that the iPhone's "auto-brightness" feature...

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Seven reasons to buy the new Google Nexus 7 By Matthew Miller for The Mobile Gadgeteer

Yesterday Google announced the new Nexus 7 device that leapfrogs the iPad Mini, for now. I own The new Nexus 7 comes in 16GB ($229) and 32GB ($269) WiFi models that will be available on 30 July. A LTE model that works on T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon will be available in the future for $349. With my smartphones now all having tethering capability I went for a 32GB WiFi model that you can pre-order at Best Buy now, but am still considering the LTE model too. Reason #1: I need Android in my life I use Gmail, Google+, Google Play Movies, Google Maps Navigation, and more Google services on a daily basis and have now integrated their services into my life. I love my HTC One, but as a smartphone...

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Hands-on with Chromecast, Google's $35 streaming gizmo by Jeremy A. Kaplan

The challenge: Over 200 billion videos are watched online every single month, accounting for much Google wants to change that, with a new gadget called Chromecast. It’s likely one of the easiest ways you’ll ever find to pump videos, photos and whatever from a cell phone, tablet or laptop onto that ultrahigh-definition HDTV you plunked all that cash down on. And at just $35, this marvelous Google gizmo is a steal. The device, essentially a thumb drive with a big head on one end, plugs into a spare HDMI port on your television. The fat end has a Micro-USB slot: Plug the included cable in and link it to one of the USB ports in back of your computer (trust me, you’ve likely got one) and the...

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3 solutions for people who hate Windows 8 by Kim Komando

Q. I really can't stand Windows 8, Kim. I've had my new computer for about three months and I just don't get it. I still haven't figured out how to do half of the things I need to do and the stuff I have figured out makes zero sense to me. I've stuck to using my old Windows Vista desktop to get things done instead. There has to be something I can do to make Windows 8 less of a pain in the keister, right? - A. I hear you, Lara. Windows 8 has no shortage of annoying layout quirks and confusing new features. I would know; I wrote the book explaining the new stuff you have to learn with Windows 8! You don't have to tackle this alone, though. Microsoft and independent developers alike have made...

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The Metro hater's guide to the Windows 8.1 Preview

Summary: Are you a desktop diehard? If you've got no use for the Start screen and Metro-style apps, I have some good news for you. Windows 8.1 has a handful of interface tweaks you can make that will put the Windows desktop back in charge. Here's what you need to do to make the preview work like Windows 7 (almost). By Ed Bott for The Ed Bott Report | July 23, 2013 -- 02:00 GMT (19:00 PDT)  In announcing the release of the Windows 8.1 Preview, Microsoft executives said, “We’re listening to feedback.” That’s a polite way of saying they were trying to avoid being splattered by a barrage of rotten tomatoes. Some of the most vocal complaints—sorry, feedback—came from longtime Windows users...

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Apple Back to School Offer

Apple Back to School by Carl Tho...

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Sobering Crash Video Test Between "Older" Car and "New"

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Modern Entrepreneurs Cut Costs with Mobile Offices

By Matthew O'Connell, IDG Creative Lab    In order to thrive, entrepreneurs need to stay determined, agile, and under budget.  When you’re building a business from the ground-up, brick-and-mortar office space can be more of a barrier than a benefit.  There are a lot of overhead costs to maintaining an office, and many entrepreneurs have found that they can do just fine without it.  Some get by with little more than an Intel inspired Ultrabook™ and a solid work ethic, while others require a bit more of a presence. Mobile offices provide a range of cost-effective alternatives to leasing office space while retaining a lot of the benefits.  The most common...

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Timer 2.0.1: Replacement for iPhone Clock App?

Timer 2.0.1 If the iPhone Clock app's single timer is too limited for you, Timer is an elegant, easy-to-use app that lets you configure and customize multiple timers, quickly accessing any of them with a tap. Dan Frakes  The iPhone’s stock Clock app is versatile, offering instances of a world clock, an alarm clock, a stopwatch, and a single timer. Unfortunately, each of those features is pretty basic: For example, the timer mode offers just a single timer.  I don’t know about you, but I often need more than one timer—when I’m cooking, for instance, I need to keep track of multiple dishes, each with its own schedule. Similarly, while I occasionally need a timer with an arbitrary...

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Make a fake email address to avoid spam by Kim Komando

There are many reasons to create a fake email address. Maybe you want to avoid spam, or want to sign up to play an online game without receiving its newsletters. Or perhaps, you simply don't trust any site with your personal information. You could create a second email address to give out in these situations. But then that's another inbox to check and manage. If you've ever dreaded giving out your email address, look no further than MailDrop. It's a site that lets you create a fake, temporary and disposable email address to ensure your personal security. Better yet, you can make up whatever email address you want to give out. You could be something simple like nomorespam@maildrop.cc, or pay...

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Switch to Mac: Buying your first Mac

Christopher Breen @BodyofBreen   You’ve thought long and hard about it and have decided to make the switch from your Windows PC to a Mac. The hard part’s over, right? You just traipse down to a promising-looking electronics boutique, slap down your credit card, learn the secret handshake, and you’re a Mac owner. Not exactly. There are still questions to be answered. Where are Macs sold? Why would you choose one store or another? Should you skip retail stores altogether and purchase the thing online? Is it possible to purchase an older model for less money? And are post-purchase protection plans worth the money? Read on for the answers.  Where can you buy a Mac? Unlike...

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Passwords aren’t dying any time soon. Here's how to manage them effectively.

Tony Bradley @bradleystrategy  It’s tough to keep track of all of your passwords. In spite of advances in biometrics, and increased attention on the value of two-factor authentication, passwords remain the primary means of digital security. They're also one of the weakest links in the security chain. If we can’t get rid of passwords, we need a better way to manage them.  Remember when passwords were going to die out? Bill Gates told an audience, "There is no doubt that over time, people are going to rely less and less on passwords. People use the same password on different systems, they write them down and they just don't meet the challenge for anything you really want to secure."  That...

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Our top five Dropbox tricks

Macworld Staff @macworld (This article is Mac OS specific) If you asked Macworld editors to name the technologies they can't live without, you’d inevitably hear about Dropbox. This file-synchronization service lets you access your files from anywhere—not just your Mac, iPad, and iPhone, but also any Web browser. It provides easy cloud-based backup, too. But all that’s just the beginning. Here are five of our favorite ways to use it:  1. Share big files Anyone who passes around photos, videos, or other big files has most certainly discovered the puny file-size limits of most email servers. Dropbox can help. First, make sure you’re running the very latest version of the app by...

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How to get started with AirPlay

Dan Frakes @danfrakes  AirPlay (formerly called AirTunes) is Apple’s technology for streaming media over a local (usually in-home) network. It lets you stream audio from any Mac or iOS device to any AirPlay-enabled audio system, or video from a Mac (of recent vintage) or an iOS device to an Apple TV (also of recent vintage).  AirPlay works over any modern ethernet or Wi-Fi network (for video over Wi-Fi, that ideally means a fast network using 802.11n technology). The sending and receiving devices also need to be compatible with AirPlay.  How you set up and use AirPlay depends on the devices involved and on whether you’re streaming audio or video. Here’s how you can...

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