Mobile phones, cells – Android, Samsung, LG, Apple, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Phone 7 (and 8) BES, and BIS news and how tos
If you have an Android cell phone or more specifically and Samsung cell phone, you will likely see an white ‘N’ in an Orange circle on the 3 dot settings icon of your MESSAGES app. The ‘N’ is an indication there is something NEW for you to look at. Today that is likely trying to get you to enable the new and awesome feature named Chat. Chat is what consumers will call Rich Communication Services…
In the most direct terms, Rich Communications Services (RCS) is a Google developed, global standard for enhanced texting. We were recently asked “What is RCS Rich Communication Services” so we decided to write up this very quick ‘top 10’ of what everyone should know about it: RCS is designed to compete with What’sApp, WeChat, iMessenger, Telegram and other add on apps that chew up your data plan. RCS/Chat is not supposed to cost extra or…
As of spring 2018, the following telco’s has signed on to support RCS (Rich Communication Service). If you want to very quickly get up to speed on RCS, click HERE for our Top 10 Things Everyone Should Know About RCS. Advanced Info Service (AIS) – Thailand Airtel – India América Móvil – Mexico AT&T – USA Axiata – Malaysia Beeline – Russia Bell Mobility – Canada China Mobile – China China Telecom – China China…
If you have not heard of Harmony it is a renaming of Huawei’s Linux based operating system that will replace Android on Chinese made products to comply with both the Chinese Government demands and US President Trumps banning of the export of Android. In previous internal iterations Harmony was named Hongmeng or Ark OS, but now they have settled on a decidedly less Chinese sounding brand name. In our sister site’s article titled The Future…
A recent update to Google Widget search bar changes the voice search mic icon to a Google Lens four cornerned icon. When you click that icon, Google Lens appears instead of the expected voice search. Google Lens (which turns your camera on and performs searches for things it sees) is a fine product but we seldom want to use it and we want Voice Search back. Unfortunately, once you have approved the change there is…
This video and the instructions below it show you how to enable and disable Developer Mode on an Android based Samsung S8 S9 or S10 . Enable Developer Mode Swipe down from the top Click the SETTINGS cog Scroll to the bottom and click ABOUT PHONE Click SOFTWARE INFORMATION Click the BUILD NUMBER 7 times Disable Developer Mode Swipe down from the top Click the SETTINGS cog Scroll to the bottom and click DEVELOPER SETTINGS…
On our sister site PartisanIssues.com we recently wrote The Rational Case Against Huawei . We provided a simplified explanation of the different generations of networks: While 5G (meaning 5th Generation) is technically nothing more than the next iteration on 4G (4th Generation) cellular networks, it is in fact quite transformative. As you can see in the chart to the right: 1G is basic cellular connectivity for voice calls 2G added texting 3G added basic internet data 4G…
Samsung Bixby is a personal assistant that I would get to like if it did not jump in my face so frequently. Bixby starts most often when I accidentally click the Bixby button on the left of my S9 near the volume buttons. There was no easy way to block this in the past without getting an app which usually adds junk to your phone. Android 9, released a few months ago, has a new…
Gestures can be really useful, especially for those that embrace them and learn to get around the qwerks. They can be particularly useful to someone with a disability, but for others gestures can be exceptionally annoying. Android 9 wants to dial when you swing my phone, if there is a number on the screen. Specifically if you have a text message or contact open and you swing your phone (to your pocket, or head, to…
If you have an Samsung S9 or S10 and you have found that is stops recording video after 10 minutes, it is because you are recording at a rate above 1920 x 1080 30 frames per second. Here are the limitations: 5 Minute max – UHD 60 FPS 3840 x 2160 10 Minute max – UHD 30 FPS 3840 x 2160 10 Minute max – FHD 60 FPS 1920 x 1080 Limited only be storage…
The Huawei P10 Lite was released on March 27, 2017 but is still a good device today in 2019. We recently tested a Google / LG Nexus 5X and have very little good to say about that units build quality. We just bought a P10 used and want to show you how to get through a few configuration issues, like hiding unwanted apps and bloatware from the home screen and setting the wallpaper to not…
If you have a Huawei cell, like P10 or P20 Mate / Lite you will find that having all of the app shortcuts on on the “home screen” like an Apple iPhone, makes it difficult to use. Fortunately, there is an easy way to hide / remove the apps / bloatware you do not want to see by enabling what Huawei calls their App Drawer. We show you how to hide / remove less used…
In this video we show how to use your Google and Samsung Accounts to manage, locate and unlock your Android cell phone using our Samsung Galaxy S9 demo unit. This is especially useful if you have lost your cell or think it was stolen. If your cell has not been wiped out and is powered on, you can likely: Locate it on a map Make it ring Send a message to it Backup your messages…
If you are worried about security on your Android cell, you need to make sure that a thief or hacker cannot easily get around your PIN code to unlock it. We show you how to protect yourself on our Samsung Galaxy S9 demo unit. The idea is to EASILY encrypt the phone and have it decrypted on boot. Without your PIN code being entered before the unit boots up, it will not display calls, alerts…