Manage & Control Android Devices Wirelessly With AirDroid

We all love our smartphones and tablets, but sometimes there’s only so much you can do with the single screen view and limited screen size. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to manage all your data on your Android device like you could on the laptop? With AirDroid, you can.

AirDroid lets you connect your Android device with a desktop PC or laptop where you can then access files, send/recieve SMS, install/uninstall apps, and manage bulks of data in your Android smartphone or tablet. Oh, and it lets you do this wirelessly.

Getting started with AirDroid

In order to begin using AirDroid, you must ensure your desktop PC or laptop is on the same (wireless) network as your Android device. This is to link up your mobile device with your desktop PC or laptop.
On your Android device, go to Google Play and download and install AirDroid. Run the app.
On your desktop PC or laptop, navigate to web.airdroid.com or key in the IP address shown on your Android device.

Login to AirDroid

You can login by scanning the QR code or punching in a 6-digit code.
To enter via QR Code scan: tap the camera button in the AirDroid app. Scan the QR code shown on your browser.
To enter via passcode: input the 6-digit passcode you see on your Android device onto your web browser.

Once you have successfully logged in, you’ll see icons, and other relevant information about your device. Your devices are now connected. Let’s get to work.

What You Can Do With AirDroid

After you have logged in, you can click on any of the icons to start managing and controlling your Android device from your desktop PC.
Here is the list of icons and a short description of what they do:

• Messages – Create, receive or reply SMS messages.
• Music – Manage and upload music content to your device.
• Contacts – Manage and edit contact details.
• Apps – Manage apps installed on your device or install an app with an APK file from your desktop.
• Ringtones – Manage and upload phone, notification and alarm ringtones.
• Frequent Contacts – Shows contacts you frequently communicate with.
• Files – File explorer similar to exploring files when your device is plugged into your computer.
• Videos – Manage, view and upload video files.
• Screenshot – Take screenshots of your Android device (rooted devices only).
• Call Logs – View or delete details of incoming, outgoing or missed calls.
• Photos – Manage and upload photos on your Android device.

AirDroid Browser ‘Widgets’

There are more things you can do with widgets found on your browser, widgets like the Clipboard and URL Opener, and the Search Bar.
The clipboard allows you to control the clipboard of your device. This is good for transferring a long string of text or digits you may want to transfer from your computer to your device.
The URL opener opens the copied link on the default browser of your Android device.

And lastly, the Search Bar lets you look for apps on the Play Store or on Quixey.
There are also 5 buttons on the right of the search bar which allow you to:

1. Enable "multiple desktops" for better multitasking (see below)
2. Compose a text message
3. Install apps
4. Upload files
5. Return to the AirDroid main page.

Once you’re done using AirDroid, you can tap the Disconnect button on your device and quit the app.

10 iPhone Apps That Can Help Manage a Family Move

Moving is almost always a complicated, time-consuming, and all around inconvenient task. When you’re single or are a couple who doesn’t yet have children, the hassles of moving tend to be a bit less overwhelming than they are after children enter the picture. Once children are involved, however, moving a house full of an entire family’s belongings can become an almost unmanageable task. Thankfully, the mobile device in your pocket has the capability to dramatically streamline the moving process for you and your family, thanks to the power of the Apple system and the talent of the developers that stock the App Store.

These 10 apps can help you manage every aspect of the days leading up to your move, the big day itself and the ensuing aftermath.

To continue reading this article please go to:FindANanny.Net.

New Tech Makes the World Your Touch Screen

Disney Research's new capacitive touch technology can make everyday objects like a doorknob touch-sensitive. CREDIT: Disney ResearchView full size image

Forget touch screens. Think touch everything. A technology developed at Disney Research will bring touch gestures to everyday objects, including plants and your body.

Called Touché, the technology requires you to connect only one wire to an object to make it touch-sensitive.

Capacitive touch sensing is used in most mobile devices today, like smartphones and tablets. It relies on interactions with your body's electrical properties, which is why you can't work your smartphone with regular gloves on. Traditional capacitive touch handles only two states: on (touching) or off.

Touché allows a wider variety of interaction than what is currently offered. The technology is able to detect five different states: no touch, one-finger touch, a pinch, circle and a grasp. When paired with software that knows what to do with these inputs, it allows people to more precisely control devices. For instance, the developer of the technology, Ivan Poupyrev, demonstrated a doorknob equipped with Touché that is able to register how someone is touching it.

E-Textbooks Report Student Study Habits

Students may no longer enjoy the luxury of slacking off in privacy because of new electronic textbooks that report their study habits.

Teachers can track the time spent reading e-textbooks and see the notes or highlights made by students through the new service offered by CourseSmart Analytics. Three U.S. universities and colleges have signed on to test the e-textbook service before it becomes widely available in 2013 — a way to identify students who need help and gauge the e-textbooks that hold student interest.

“With the CourseSmart dashboard, professors will be better able to fine-tune lesson plans, critique student performance, and even tailor suggestions for specific students on how to study more effectively to help them stay on track and stay in school,” said Ellen Wagner, executive director at the Cooperative for Educational Technology (WCET).

Such a service represents the latest possibility for using digital learning to get better feedback on how well students are doing at all times — even when those students are studying on their own without teachers or parents. The information could allow professors and teachers to fine-tune lesson plans and focus efforts on struggling students.

Some digital textbook services already track the study habits of users, but the CourseSmart effort makes the information readily available and useful for educators.

“We have long believed in the benefits of analytics as a means to improve learning outcomes, increase retention and graduation rates, and help lower the costs of higher education,” said Sean Devine, CEO of CourseSmart.

The first three educational institutes testing the idea include Texas A&M University in San Antonio, Villanova University and Rasmussen College, according to an announcement made at the EDUCAUSE 2012 conference on Nov. 7.

But some students will likely find it creepy to have textbooks keeping an eye on their study habits. The new pilot program may at least allow educators to navigate the privacy issues or concerns that can arise from deploying the digital textbook service.

Taken from : Mashable.com

Wallet TrackR App

Losing your wallet is the ultimate inconvenience — credit cards, I.D., money are all gone in an instant.
The Wallet TrackR and accompanying iPhone app aim to prevent this problem through the power of tech. Here’s how it works: Place the “TrackR card,” a rectangular Bluetooth device, into your wallet; when it gets separated from your iPhone or iPad, the app alerts you. In case you don’t hear the alert, the app also photographs your wallet’s location at the time it was lost.
For those prone to losing their phones, the technology works both ways: Your wallet can also alert you if you’re leaving your phone behind.
Wallet TrackR works with the iPad mini, the iPhone 4S and 5, as well as the latest iPad and iPod Touch.
Its official website looks similar to a Kickstarter page, with the company asking for $250,000 in funding with “27 days left.” So far, Wallet TrackR has raised just over $9,200.

Five Great Questions That Will Improve Every Blog Post You Write

Five Great Questions That Will Improve Every Blog Post You Write Posted: 14 Nov 2012 01:51 AM PST Have you ever published a blog post that just sank? Maybe you got one or two tweets and comments … or perhaps nothing at all. The best way to avoid this happening in future is to ask yourself five key questions. Get into the habit of asking these about every post you write – and you’ll get great results every time. The best time to ask these first three questions is while you’re planning your post: Question #1: “Does this post have one key topic?” Your blog posts should have one topic – not several. Of course, you can still make sub-points – but those all need to relate to a bigger picture. In this post, the key point is “improve every blog post you write” and that’s broken into five questions. Question #2: “How will this help my reader?” Rather than just writing about whatever’s on your mind, think about what your readers want. That could be a “how to” or tutorial, or it might be a list of tips or ideas. Even if you’re promoting a product (or service), you can give value by pre-empting readers’ questions, or by writing an article on a related topic that mentions your product and links to the sales page. Question #3: “How will this help me / my business?” Although your readers matter, you should have goals for your blog (or your business) too – otherwise, it’s going to be hard to make progress. A great way to ensure that the post benefits you as well as the reader is to add a call to action at the end (e.g. “click here to sign up for my newsletter and get my free ebook”). This works best when you can tie the topic of your post to the call to action. These final questions are great ones to ask during the editing stage: Question #4: “Have I used formatting effectively?” Your post needs to look attractive on the screen. That means subheadings, bold text for key points, and perhaps bullet-points or blockquotes to help add visual interest and white space. Formatting can make a dramatic difference to whether or not your post gets read: it’s well worth spending a couple of minutes adding it in. Question #5: “Will my title grab readers’ attention?” If readers come across your post through a social network, they may only see the title before deciding whether or not to read it. This means your title is the most important part of your post – and it needs to be engaging enough to grab readers’ attention. Great ways to do that are with numbers and adjectives. Your turn! Which of these questions is the one that could make the biggest difference to your blog? Let us know in the comments … and if you have any great questions to add to the list, let us know those too. Ali Luke writes on content creation for DailyBlogTips. Grab your copy of her ebook Ten Powerful Ways to Make Your Blog Posts Stronger here (along with other great blogging/writing goodies). Original Post: Five Great Questions That Will Improve Every Blog Post You Write

Zapd Creates Instant Websites Using Your iPhone

What are your options when you want more than a 140-character tweet, but have no interest in maintaining a blog or building a website? Zapd, a free app for iPhone, lets people create mini-websites from their phones in about a minute.
The simple, blog-like sites are places to post images, text and links. For example, you can quickly create a “Zap,” a site where everyone at a party can post their own photos and commentary. But you can also use it to chronicle a hobby without the risk of overwhelming friends’ Instagram or Pinterest feeds. A Zap can hold a few hours a few hours’ worth of stories or those collected over a lifetime.
The company recently released an updated version that includes collaboration among friends (the previous version allowed only the account-holder to post), as well as a newsfeed to help users discover sites created by others.
While Zapd’s easy posting features are similar to Tumblr’s, a Zap resides at its own Web address and is unassociated with other users’ content. Sharing is as simple as sending a link to a family member that they can open and view in a single page without having to learn to navigate a new platform. Zaps can only be created on a smartphone, but can be viewed on any Internet-connected device.

How to Make a Zap

No design experience or coding is required to create a Zap. To get started, open the app, tap the three-bar navigation icon and tap “My Zaps.” Choose a theme from one of nearly 50 options, such as a striking black background or one with a folksy gingham border.
While all themes will automatically adjust to the screen they’re viewed on, Zapd has added two groups that scale up better for screens larger than those on smartphones. Six grid themes are available that show a single column of picture and text blocks when viewed on a phone, but up to three column blocks when displayed on a tablet or computer, much like Pinterest. Marquee themes have a large cover image at the top and smaller ones below, similar to a Facebook Timeline page.

There are three post types: text, link and photo. You can take pictures in the app or pull them in from your iPhone’s camera roll. You can do simple edits, such as applying filters and cropping. (Zapd uses Aviary, TND’s top pick mobile photo editing app.) Descriptions can be added to photos or placed in their own text-only boxes. Zapd offers a simple on-off privacy option found under “Settings.” When privacy is switched on, a “cryptic string” is added to the Zap’s URL, which would make guessing the address very difficult to do. Only those you share the link with would be able to view the website. Turn privacy off and the extra string of characters is dropped. When privacy is on, your website URL looks like this: http://kelly-smith.zapd.com/vintage-porschesTy3cFPQtm; turn it off and its shortened to this: http://kelly-smith.zapd.com/vintage-porsches.
Once you’ve created a Zap, you can choose to send the link to your Twitter or Facebook account, along with emailing the URL to others.
Zapd is available for iPhone in the App Store, and an Android app is under consideration.

Google Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 Now Available in Australia and Europe

Google’s new Nexus 4 smartphone and Nexus 10 tablet are now available in the Google Play store in several countries, including Australia, UK, France, Germany and Spain.
The 8GB variant of the Nexus 4 is priced £239 ($379) in the UK, while the 16GB version costs £279 ($443). The Nexus 10 tablet will set UK shoppers back £319 ($506) if they choose the 16GB model and £389 ($617) if they go for the 32GB variant.
Availability is reportedly sketchy, though, as some variants of the devices have already been sold out in some countries. Furthermore, some users are experiencing very slow load times for the Google Play store.
The Nexus 4 is an Android 4.2 smartphone sporting a 1.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2 GB of RAM and an 8 megapixel camera. The Nexus 10 is a 10.1-inch tablet with a 2560×1600 pixel resolution, a 1.7 GHz dual-core Cortex-A15 processor and 2GB of RAM. It’s also powered by Android 4.2 or Jelly Bean.
The devices aren’t yet available in the U.S. Google Play store, but will likely show up there soon.

32 Mobile Apps That Online Students Love

It just plain makes sense that students who dig incorporating technology into their academic pursuits would likely make mobile computing via tablets and smartphones an integral life component. Taking advantage of everything these applications have to offer streamlines the largely autonomous process behind enrolling in an online course. Some, of course, prove a little more useful than others, but the following offer a nice enough start!

1. Dropbox:

   With one Dropbox account, students enjoy access to their files while on the go, so they never accidentally miss a deadline again … because of computer issues, anyway.
   

2. Bento:

   Available on iDevices (because of course), Bento makes organizing solo and group projects much, much easier by providing users with their own personal databases for storing contacts, drawing up calendars, and taking notes.
   

3. Blackboard Mobile:

   Because so many online courses rely on Blackboard for distributing the necessary materials and conducting the necessary assessments, downloading the app should be essential for remote students.
   

4. TED:

   While classes themselves might not use TED as a supplement to lessons, students (both online and off) undoubtedly benefit from tuning into what the experts are saying about the latest ideas and innovations.
   

5. Evernote:

   Never forget an important project point with Evernote, an amazing scrapbook application for keeping everything organized and on hand, no matter the medium.
   

6. Instapaper:

   Perfect for online students who just can’t recall the websites consulted for research purposes, this resource saves pages so they can read them anywhere and everywhere.
   

7. Wikipedia:

   Because everyone uses Wikipedia, even if they aren’t supposed to admit it in an academic setting. Don’t cite it in a bibliography, but definitely check out the sources used and start researching from there.
   

8. Wolfram Alpha:

   Forget Google. Wolfram Alpha works as an amazing search and computational engine specifically for scholastic pursuits, bringing back returns regarding pretty much everything students need to know about their desired subjects.
   

9. Google:

   We lied about forgetting Google. Don’t forget Google. Especially since its mobile app allows for voice searching.
   

10. Wi-Fi Finder:

    Obviously, online students should probably know where to look for wireless Internet in their areas — especially if their connections at home go all kablooie.
    

11. Quickoffice:

    Create and edit Microsoft Office documents from anywhere and, most conveniently, see them saved across all linked devices when paired with a cloud application.
    

12. StudyBlue:

    Create, store, and share notes and flashcards online and via a mobile application perfect for studying from pretty much anywhere.
    

13. Dictionary.com:

    An indispensable resource for online students needing both a dictionary and a thesaurus. There’s even some fun little word games available as a welcome distraction!
    

14. myHomework:

    Even though an online education grants more autonomy than the traditional classroom structure, students still need to stay organized and on top of their homework assignments.
    

15. Cliqset:

    Social media forms a major component of many online classes, and Cliqset makes it super duper easy to update and keep track of them all in one convenient spot.
    

16. Kindle:

    Download and read books and textbooks teachers may require for the class, conduct research, or receive a little extra help on the side.
    

17. Dragon Dictation:

    This speech-to-text program helps students take verbal notes, send e-mails, and work on projects on the go without wearing down their thumbprints.
    

18. GPA-mE!:

    As one can probably glean from the name there, online students can use this application to calculate their grade point averages as they go along rather than waiting on their teachers.
    

19. Howcast:

    Learn how to do pretty much anything thanks to detailed step-by-step videos; they offer up information on multiple educational topics, meaning students will likely pick up some interesting tidbits here.
    

20. Astrid:

    One of the most popular productivity apps available acts as a veritable personal assistant, with to-do lists, reminders, and organized collaboration.
    

21. Zwoor:

    If a research project or a class requires any sort of polling, Zwoor makes collecting the data from friends, family, and total strangers a breeze.
    

22. Pulse:

    Stay on top of relevant blogs and other online reading resources needed for projects through simply organized lists on iDevices and Androids.
    

23. Study Tracker:

    Presented by McGraw-Hill, Study Tracker makes it cake for students to keep track of their grades and time spent on assignments and create comparisons for better academic management.
    

24. Mint:

    Online and offline students alike definitely need to keep track of their personal finances, especially if they’re taking classes requiring tuition.
    

25. CourseSmart:

    Another popular option for students who prefer purchasing and reading textbooks digitally rather than lugging one around.
    

26. Documents To Go:

    This full Microsoft Office suite allows for creating and editing files while out and about without requiring a cloud to sync everything up.
    

27. SimpleMind+:

    Online students in possession of an iDevice use SimpleMind when mapping out papers and projects before getting started.
    

28. iAnnotate:

    iAnnotate provides iDevice users a painless, easy method of marking up and taking notes on PDF files needed for classwork.
    

29. Cash4Books:

    Use the iPhone or Android’s barcode scanner and learn how much those textbooks and other reads will fetch when sent over for other students to buy and use.
    

30. Quora:

    When stuck on a critical research question, some students (and even professors!) head to Quora and directly ask experts about their fields.
    

31. Chegg:

    Rent the necessary textbooks from the comfort of the iPhone (sorry, Android and Blackberry users!) through this popular money-saving service.
    

32. Open Culture:

    Who said online students have to enroll in formal classes to learn something? Open Culture provides one of the Internet’s largest repositories for free educational materials – especially open source courses!