The Latest from Gadget Hacks: Page 251

When the HTC One was announced, the fact that its IR transmitter was a side note more than a main feature made me dismiss it. When Samsung included one in the GS4, it became even less impressive. However, now that I actually have a One, I find that the "TV" app is way more than just one of Samsung's "S"-gimmicks.

Rooting your Samsung Galaxy S4 has many advantages; theming, free wireless hotspots, deleting system apps, and generally being ahead of the curve when it comes to updates. It's also great for simple things like centering your clock or freezing apps.

Watch this video tutorial, and learn how to turn an ordinary inexpensive webcam into a hidden home security system, viewable anywhere in the world from your cell phone! With a cute and cuddly teddy bear and a cheap webcam, you can make the perfect homemade security camera, or just a camera to spy on your sister and her friends during sleepovers. Follow along with the steps in this how-to video and learn how to set up this spy system. Note: this video is NOT recommended for people who are...

Dropbox lets you store anywhere from 2 GB to 18 GB of data for free, but if you want more cloud storage you're going to have to pay. Even if you do, Dropbox only gives you 500 GB for a pro membership. So how do you get more cloud storage without paying a dime? Start using Flickr.

Hi, can I use my Ubuntu laptop to root my Nexus 7?

delete this content.

The first thing I do when I get a new phone is ditch the USB cable. At least, when it comes to data transfer. My brand new HTC One came with a USB cord that feels sturdy, but like any other cable, it will eventually fall apart from overuse. It will probably still charge just fine, but at that point it will be unreliable for transferring data.

Previously, if you missed a call or text on your old Samsung Galaxy S3, there was a white LED notification to let you know. It's a nice feature that most smartphones have, but wouldn't it have be nice to know what kind of notification it was before picking up the phone?

I found this application being a solution for automated task without draining your battery. The logic is simple, there is rule which contain trigger, action, and the name of the rule itself.

Writing longhand may boost learning and goal achievement, but that doesn't mean squat if you don't have pen and paper on you.

The new Samsung Galaxy S4 may be the only phone to include temperature and humidity sensors, but your Galaxy Note 2 has a few weather-detecting features of its own.

Lag has been a serious issue on Android devices since the very beginning. Even the Nexus 7's quad-core processor can't stop it from happening. That's because the pauses and long responses are coming straight from the Android OS itself, not the hardware.

The new Samsung Galaxy S4 has something no other phone has ever had before—weather sensors.

HTC's Sense 4 may be leaner and faster than previous versions, but one thing my EVO 4G LTE sorely lacked was the "Quick Settings" option that Sense 2 and 3 had. Developers were able to port it to Sense 4 for Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), but the only way to get this feature was to install a custom ROM.

Sense appears on over forty Android devices, but HTC's notorious GUI was actually designed with a completely different mobile OS in mind—Windows.

The most recent version of the iPhone Software (iOS 5) has the ability to utilize emoticons by use of the native keyboard and software, no third-party app or jailbreak required. Just follow these simple steps for unlocking the emoticon keyboard:

Written news was first delivered by an elaborate courier service used by the Pharaohs nearly 4,500 years ago. About 2,300 years later, Romans would post public announcements via bulletins carved in metal or stone. Fast forward 1,600 years to the first monthly handwritten gazette published in Venice, the forefather of modern newspapers, which didn't become commonplace until the early 17th century.

I'm sorry your mom hates you now, but it's pretty hard to forgive someone who forgets to say "Happy Mother's Day." Your poor ole ma could've spent anywhere from 10 to 20 hours popping you out, so the least you could do is set aside two minutes every year to say thanks. If you live to be 90 years old, that's only 3 hours over your entire lifetime!

An average of 140,000 hard drives crash in the United States each week, according to online backup service Mozy. Additionally, 70 percent of Americans have lost a laptop, smartphone, or tablet, and the average person now loses 1.24 devices each year—less than half of which are ever recovered.

Arcades, Nintendo, Sega, and 16-bit graphics ushered in a new level of gaming that was leaps and bounds ahead of the early Pong days. I remember loading quarters into the machines and playing 2D fighting games until all my money ran out.

Rooting a mobile device may not be a big deal these days, but not being able to root definitely is. Even the Library of Congress, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and White House can agree on that.

Your HTC EVO 4G LTE has been lying to you. It will tell you when you're connected to a 4G network, but it will say 3G even if you're connected on 1X, which is a 2G CDMA network!

What's the most installed Android app in the world? Facebook? Gmail? Maps? While those all have well over 100 million installs, the one that takes the cake—and always will—is Google Play.

Last month, Alexander Heit drifted into oncoming traffic after being distracted from the road. His sudden correction forced his vehicle to roll and flip over. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital shortly thereafter. All because of a freaking text message. He was only 22 years old.

"Ahoy-hoy."

Why is transferring contacts from an old smartphone to a new one still insanely difficult? I can check my bank account, upload a picture to Instagram, email someone across the globe, and check the weather forecast on my phone—all in under five minutes.

This is a illuminated pen holder that I made out of a couple recycled hard drives. The LEDs receive power from the standard USB cable connected to a computer.

Your new Samsung Galaxy S4 is fast, but it can definitely be faster. One issue that carried over from the Samsung Galaxy S3 is Home button lag. Instead of it being an instantaneous response, it takes a split second for the action to take place—and a split second is enough to irritate the best of us.

Ready to start rooting your Samsung Galaxy S4? For those of you with the GT-i9500 model GS4, this quick video will walk you through the entire rooting process using Odin and CWM.

One of the coolest features on the all-new Samsung Galaxy S4 Android smartphone is the Group Play feature that allows you to wirelessly connect multiple Galaxy S4 smartphones together to create an instant, surround-sound boombox or play multi-player games like Poker

Last time, I showed how to start putting together an AC arc welder from scavenged microwave parts, focusing on the transformer modifications. Now, I'll show you how to finish up your DIY stick welding machine by fixing up the electrical system and performing the finishing touches.

In a previous article, I demonstrated an Arc Welder made using parts from old microwave ovens.

For those needing to replace old controller hardware on cutting mills, those into native retro gaming, or for those who want to see what all the fuss was about in the 1980's, or for those who just want a play with old but great technology, this tutorial shows you step-by-step processing getting the breakthrough desktop operating system running on the latest greatest hardware.

The biggest complaint I have with my Nexus 7 is the lack of support for different types of media files. I have a lot of movies and music that I've downloaded off the web, in many different formats, and I want them on my tablet.

At one point in the '90s, about fifty percent of the CDs produced worldwide had an AOL logo. About fifty percent of the CDs in my home still have that AOL promise of 500 free hours on them. Though they never got me to join their internet service, I did get a lifetime supply of coasters.

In a previous article, I pointed out a few criticisms of the Google Play Store, mostly about how unpolished and inefficient it is. To give you a better idea of what I mean, here are just a few of my complaints with the Play Store:

As we all know, our attention spans are much shorter now that we're accustomed to getting information and news in tiny snippets via text messages, tweets, instagrams, and other constant updates.

In early 2000, at the age of 19, Noah Kalina began taking a photo of himself with the same facial expression—every single day. Six years and over 2,000 photographs later, Kalina turned his project into a time-lapsed montage on YouTube. In just one day, his video received over a million views.

Direct current (DC) by definition flows in one direction. Alternating current (AC), on the other hand, periodically changes direction, or reverses polarity. It is indeed possible for a portion of a circuit that is normally DC to periodically change direction, or reverse polarity like an AC circuit.

Know how to set your browser home page in your PC. There are many popular browsers available for internet browsing, like Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, but Internet Explorer is the most popular among Windows users, that's why the video tutorial shows how to set the home page in IE.