S N Malleswara Reddy

Asus has been capitalizing on voice-calling tablets for quite some time. It launched the Fonepad 7 last year and followed it up with an improved version of the tablet. The Taiwanese giant has now launched a dual-sim version of the same tablet in the Indian market, priced at Rs 12,999. While there's demand for dual-sim phones (evident from a large number of companies launching them), it's difficult to guess if the same holds true for tablets. Asus is one of the first international brands to launch a dual-sim tablet and we put it to test to find out if it's worth your money.

Build and design

The tablet does not look very different from the earlier versions of the Asus Fonepad. It is essentially made of plastic and follows a conservative, utilitarian design philosophy.

The front of the Fonepad 7 is dominated by a 7-inch IPS display. The display is surrounded by a wide, black bezel sporting glossy finish. A chrome earpiece and the 1.2MP front camera are placed above the display, while the Asus branding is located below it. The slightly curved back panel sports a matte grey finish and looks good.



The 5MP camera lens is located at the middle, along with the silver coloured Asus logo at the back. Also located at the back are the Power and Volume Rocker keys, which are positioned on the left and sport matte finish; the keys offer good tactile feedback and are easy to reach despite the unusual positioning.

The right side houses a flap that hides the two micro-sim card slots and a microSD card slot. The plastic flap appears to be a little flimsy but does the job well and is not as fragile as it looks.

The speaker grill is located at the back of the tablet, towards the bottom. This leads to sound getting muffled when the tablet lies on its back, which is a problem area. We wish Asus had placed the speaker at the front, as is case with the single-sim Fonepad 7.

Display

The Fonepad 7 Dual Sim comes with a 7-inch IPS display with 1280x800p resolution. Despite not being a Full HD display, we did not notice much pixilation. We feel that the screen is not too bright and this reduces the sunlight legibility of the tablet. However, viewing angles were good, and images and text appeared crisp and sharp.

User Interface

Asus Fonepad 7 Dual Sim runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with a custom user interface running on top. Asus has skinned UI elements like the notification tray and has added another button with the three Android on-screen navigation keys for launching widget-like utility apps. The widget-like mini apps take advantage of the big display and can run on top of other apps.

The improvised notification tray offers quick settings toggles for Wi-Fi, mobile data, airplane mode, among others and these can be customized as well. We also found the floating apps/widgets to be handy.


Asus offers a number of pre-loaded apps with the tablet including an app to calibrate the display and tinker settings like temperature, saturation and hue, and App Lock utility to password protect apps (a very useful feature) and the Asus WebStorage app. Asus also offers 16GB cloud storage space with the tablet.

Some of the default apps such as Email are optimized for landscape mode and utilize the screen's real estate well when the tablet is tilted. Overall, the Fonepad 7 Dual Sim offers a good software experience, though not much has changed if you compare it with the previous iterations of the device.

Camera

Asus Fonepad 7 comes with a 5MP rear camera and a 1.2MP front-facing camera. There's no LED flash at the back making it difficult to take photos in low-light conditions.

The tablet ships with a custom Camera app that includes the ability to tinker with granular settings for attributes like White balance, ISO, and Exposure Value, among others. The app also offers burst mode and face detection.



The quality of pictures shot with Asus Fonepad 7 Dual Sim is functional at best. These pictures can be used for social sharing and casual use but nothing beyond that. The front camera is good for video chats and takes average quality selfies.

The rear camera can capture 1080p video and the quality of videos captured by the tablet was just decent enough.

Performance

Fonepad 7 Dual Sim is powered by a 1.2GHz Intel Atom Z2520 dual-core processor (Clover Trail Plus) and 1GB RAM. We did not notice any lag while navigating between the home screens or app launcher and switching between apps.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Fonepad 7 Dual Sim scored 14,749 in Antutu, 6,661 in Quadrant and 60.5 in Nenamark 2 tests. The scores are better than what the Nexus 7(2012) and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7 tablets clocked but we'd not recommend a tablet based solely on benchmarks as real world performance is different, at times.

The tablet offers 8GB internal storage, out of which 5.21GB is available to users. Storage can be expanded up to 64GB with the help of a microSD card. It offers Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS connectivity options. It does not offer FM radio.
Fonepad 7 Dual Sim offers good call quality and signal reception and we did not encounter issues while making calls even in areas where cell signal is relatively weaker. The tablet was able to lock to GPS without any issues.



The external speaker on the tablet offers loud sound output but its placement is awkward as the sound gets muffled when the tablet lies at its back.

The tablet was able to play HD video clips very smoothly, supporting all major video file formats.

Fonepad 7 Dual Sim comes with a 3,910mAh battery and will last you more than a day even if you put the screen brightness at the highest level and use 3G data all the time. You'll be able to make about 2-3 hours of phone calls, play some casual games and browse the web in this time period. The tablet can play video continuously for 7 to 8 hours.

Gaming

We were able to play games like Temple Run 2 and Subway Surfers without any hiccups. While playing graphics intensive games like Riptide GP2 and Asphalt 8(with Visual Quality set to High and Engine at 100%) we encountered a slight lag with minor frame drops.

Verdict

While more multinational brands are offering dual-sim variants of smartphones for emerging markets like India, it is interesting to see Asus launching a dual-sim tablet. A number of Indian brands offer dual-sim tablets but the Fonepad 7 is one of the few that boast of decent hardware specifications, good build quality and above average battery backup.

But do you really need a dual-sim tablet? If you're planning to use your tablet for voice calling as well as an internet access device then a dual-sim tablet gives you the option to choose a mobile operator that offers the best (read pocket friendly) mobile data plan while retaining your own phone number. If you're comfortable using it as a phone, even then it offers the convenience of easily juggling between two phone lines.

At a price of Rs 12,999, the tablet offers good value for money considering the connectivity options it offers along with relatively new software.

If you do not want 3G connectivity or voice calling then the Google Nexus (2012) tablet is a better alternative, if you can get your hands on one. It comes with a better display and the latest version of Android.

HTC decided last year to refocus on emerging markets with the launch of budget smartphones.But the company wasn't able to register its presence much. Its flawed marketing effort and pricing of the handsets prevented it from taking on rivals like Samsung, and even the local players.

It seems the Taiwanese giant is not ready to give up and has launched new budget smartphones, expanding its Desire lineup.

Desire 310 dual sim is one of them. The phone doesn't boast of bells and whistles seen in the company's mid-range and premium phones, but promises users an opportunity to own an HTC device at a low price. Does HTC Desire 310 dual sim deliver a good smartphone experience? Read our review to find out.



Build & Design
Being a budget smartphone, HTC Desire 310 dual sim has a very utilitarian design and is built from plastic materials. Barring a metallic earpiece that differentiates the phone from others, the phone looks rather plain. At 140gram, the phone is not very bulky. Although it includes a removable cover, we did not experience any squeaks or wobbles, and the phone feels solid.



The front panel of the phone features glossy plastic that surrounds its 4.5-inch display. There are no capacitive keys for navigation as the phone offers on-screen soft keys. There's a metallic earpiece grill located above the display that reminds us of the HTC One's front speaker grill. The VGA camera lens sits next to the grill.

The right edge of the phone features a volume rocker key and a power/screen lock key, while the left edge is barren. The keys offer average tactile feedback and we found them to be a bit soft. The micro-USB port and the 3.5mm headset jack are located at the top edge of the phone.


The back of the phone features a plastic, removable cover that sports matte finish. It features the 5MP camera lens and the HTC logo, along with a speaker outlet. Removing the panel reveals two sim card slots and a microSD card slot located just above the battery compartment. Overall, the Desire 310 dual sim does not stand out, but is nonetheless decent to lug around and use.

Display

HTC Desire 310 dual sim sports a 4.5-inch FWVGA( 480x854p) display and clearly, it's one of the weak points of the phone. While we can make peace with the low resolution given the low price of the phone, the display also suffers from other problems. It has poor viewing angles and lacks brightness.



Low brightness levels also lead to poor sunlight legibility and makes clicking pictures in the sun a cumbersome task. Colours do not look vivid and text does not appear sharp.

User Interface

HTC Desire 310 dual sim runs Android 4.2.2 and is the first budget HTC phone to come with on-screen navigation buttons, instead of the capacitive touch buttons. HTC has skinned the interface of the phone with a minimalist version of Sense 5.1. Interestingly, the phone features the BlinkFeed that aggregates news and social updates on the home screen.

The app launcher arranges app icons vertically similar to other HTC phones that offer Sense integration but app icons for all apps are the ones seen in stock Android. Even native apps such as the Phone app, Messaging, Gallery and Music app are stock Android ones and there's no customization from HTC's end.

Same is the case with the settings screen and the Notifications tray. HTC offers its Video Highlights interface for browsing videos as a separate app, instead of integrating it with the Gallery app. Even the app switcher UI is the stock Android one.

It looks like the company has removed its own apps and additional effects to prevent the phone from slowing down and to reduce the size of the system files as the phone offers only 4GB internal storage. We feel it's a sensible move.

The phone comes pre-loaded with Polaris office 5 office suite, WeChat and Facebook apps. While the phone doesn't include the latest version of Android, the software has been optimized for the phone, keeping in consideration the limited hardware resources.

Camera

Desire 310's camera has nothing much to talk about. In fact, it's functional at best. The 5MP rear camera is fixed focus and does not come with an LED flash.



Pictures taken indoors appeared grainy and dull, while the ones taken outdoors in daylight were average.



Colour reproduction and white balance were a bit off. The VGA front-facing camera can be used for video chats, but doesn't capture good quality selfies. The quality of videos recorded with the phone was also not that great.



Performance

HTC Desire 310 dual sim is powered by a 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6582M processor coupled with Mali-400MP graphics and 512MB RAM. Barring minor instances, we did not notice any lag while navigating through the phone's menu, launching apps and switching between them.

In synthetic benchmarks, the phone scored 16,757 in Antutu, 6064 in Quadrant and 69.5 in Nenamark 2 benchmark tests. It trumps the recently-launched Micromax Canvas Turbo Mini, although the latter has 1GB RAM. But we'd not recommend a phone based solely on benchmarks as real world performance is different, at times.

In terms of multimedia, the phone comes with FM radio with recording capability and the phone's built-in speaker offers decent sound output. The default video player supports a large number of multimedia file formats.



We did not encounter issues while making calls and while using two sim cards. We were satisfied with the phone's network reception. Voice clarity and loudness levels were also up to the mark. The phone comes with GPS and A-GPS for navigation and maps and was easily able to lock a signal.
HTC Desire 310 dual sim is backed by a 2000mAh battery with a claimed standby time of up to 852 hours and talk time of up to 11 hours. We were satisfied with the battery backup delivered by the phone. With moderate to high usage, including about one to two hours of making calls, playing games, clicking some pictures, listening to music and browsing the web, the phone will last you more than a day, if you put the screen brightness at the highest level and keep 3G turned on.

Gaming
We were able to play games like Temple Run 2 and Subway Surfers without any hiccups. While playing graphics intensive games like Riptide GP2 and Asphalt 8(with Visual Quality set to high and Engine at 100%) we encountered some lag with minor frame drops.

Although the phone has just 512MB of RAM, the graphics performance is better than a number of phones in the same segment. One downer is the low internal storage space (just 2.02GB) which prevents installation of games with bigger files.

Verdict

HTC Desire 310 dual sim had the potential to be a major rival to Motorola's much-acclaimed budget smartphone, Moto G. Unfortunately, HTC has cut corners when it comes to the display of the phone. The poor camera and less RAM worsen things further. Although the storage capacity of the phone can be expanded via microSD card, not all apps can be installed on it. At a price of Rs 11,700, we feel the phone is a bit overpriced and doesn't deliver value for your hard-earned money. By spending Rs 1,000 more, you can get the 8GB version of Moto G, or the Micromax Canvas Turbo Mini.

We are living in an age of cyberwar. Without your knowledge your computer might have been infected and remotely being controlled by a hacker. There's also the danger of data in laptop being accessed by cyber thieves. Here are a few simple ways to know if your computer has been infected: 

* The PC slows down, even when you haven't loaded lots of data in it. 

* Suddenly a browser or a popup window launches itself, without you having done anything. Even if you close them, they open by themselves. 

*Security ads pop up, warning you of your laptop getting infected and asking your to download security software. 

*You are redirected to a site which wasn't your destination. 

*Your friend tells you about an email that's unlike the one you send. Or social network shows posts you never posted. 

The first step to being safe is never use a pendrive without scanning for viruses. 

Two, never click a link unless you know it's genuine. Treat forwarded emails and links on social networks with scepticism. Test the link if it's safe by typing out URL on safeweb.norton.com/ or siteadvisor.com/

If you have many friends or followers on your social network, it's only natural that your news feed is cluttered. You are either swarmed with photos and videos; or you miss the all-important updates from the people you really care about. Social media makes better sense if you are organised. 

Be selective while accepting friend requests. There is no obligation to 'confirm', since even if you don't, he or she will remain subscribed to your public posts. 

On Twitter and Facebook, create lists. Facebook by default gives you two lists: 'Close friends' and 'acquaintances'. You can add more like 'colleagues', 'business partners', 'family', 'strangers', etc. 

In Facebook, contacts added to 'Close friends' show up more often on News Feed. The list shows up on the left pane of Facebook. In Twitter, click on the gear button on top right. Click on the lists to see the updates of people added to it. 

Besides, lists also ensure privacy while posting. Click on the dropdown to the left of 'Post' and decide who all should see your posts. It's an important security precaution, to guard your and others' privacy.

Whatever opinion you may have of the Windows Phone 8, there is no denying that their design interface is vastly better than the apps on the other ecosystems.

So, if you want to develop apps for the Windows Phone, Microsoft is quite friendly. The Windows Phone Dev Center has a number of software development kits and design guidelines.

The design guidelines are especially helpful and gives you the entire design philosophy of the Windows Phone 8. It also gives you tips, guides on how the flow of animation in apps should be; there are tips on navigation, controls and other design guidelines as well.

Senthil Kumar brought his first computer into India, hiding it in a microwave oven. Those were the days when "bringing in computers was a sin" .

He was just out of college and was tinkering around with computers, and had set up the first studio that ran computer graphics in Chennai.

Around the same time, in another part of the city, Jayendra Panchapakesan, a chemistry graduate who had dabbled in writing, was itching to move into something like audio-visual media and advertising . Jayendra bumped into Senthil one day in 1986, and the result was Real Image, a company that works on digital cinema deployment in India.

Housed in a nondescript building in Royapettah in south Chennai, Real Image is one of the five companies in the world with the DCI (Digital Cinema Initiatives) certification.

It evangelized the idea of digital cinema , was the first to bring in a series of innovations to India , and now has a suite of products used in creating every one of the 1,200 movies that are made in India every year. "Incidentally, our building , which housed a fancy audio studio rivaling the best in the world, was the studio that Beatles guitarist George Harrison chose for his secret recording with Pandit Ravi Shankar in 1995," says Senthil.

Cut back to film making in 1980. Movies and editing meant dark rooms, rolls of films, scissors and tape.

Computers were creatures you only saw if you lived abroad, and a 'mouse' was only a pest. Senthil and Jayendra wanted to bring in higher quality post-production techniques to India at low cost. They had tied up with Avid, a company making cinema software. They were worried they might be introducing something before its time, because the technology was fairly new to the world itself.

They needn't have worried. The Indian film industry enthusiastically adopted their cinema software. "India was cut off from the rest of the world and was so hungry to improve," Jayendra laughs. The ad film world took to non-linear digital editing first, movies joined soon after. "Kamal Hassan's Mahanadi was the first in India and fourth in the world to adopt the technology ," he says.

Senthil and Jayendra reinvested the money they made in the business, and started conducting classes on using the technology. "We had to first teach them how to use a mouse, and then teach them editing." Most of his 'students' , Jayendra says, were tea-boys who grew into editors.

They followed up Avid technology with digital surround sound through DTS (Digital Theater Systems) technology. Since cinema owners were not convinced about the need for DTS, they offered to install it at their own cost. This proved a successful strategy.

Soon after they decided that they should develop their own technology in order to have more control over their business . Thus Qube was born at the beginning of the new millennium. Qube was a comprehensive end-to-end solution for digital filmmaking and exhibition, and is today used by most cinemas and TV studios in the country. Qube, developed by the startup's 30-member development team, debuted in Rajinikanth's Chandramukhi.

Real Image received Rs 120-crore funding from Street Edge and Novastar (in 2004) and Intel Capital (in 2006). The company today earns close to Rs 200 crore in revenue and has 750 employees.

Senthil and Jayendra took plenty of risks along the way. "Our stint with DTS in 1995 was the hardest period. All our money was riding on it. We were confident of success , but had it failed, the company would have gone under," says Senthil.

Then there were rivals that tried to sabotage their business. "They came out with really bad copycat digital products simply to prove to producers that digital wouldn't work," Jayendra says. This, he says, set the company back by almost five years.

But their passion for the business helped them bounce back. The company is now the only company other than UFO that makes up the digital cinema distribution network in India.

So what's next? "It is something that will make sure you continue going to theatres , rather than watch movies at home," Jayendra says. Real Image is also working on a solution to curb piracy that today accounts for over 40% loss in film revenues.

"We are trying to develop a product to stop piracy in post production and this should be out soon. The product will enable you to find the source of leaks and take action accordingly.

India was cut off from the rest of the world and was so hungry to improve. Kamal Hassan's 'Mahanadi' was the first in India and fourth in the world to adopt the technology

There must have been times when you do not wish to share the password of your Wi-Fi connection, but have to share it. And if sharing the password is your biggest concern, then here is the perfect solution for you.

There was an instance when my neighbour barged into my room and asked if he could use my internet network. It looked like an emergency, so I could not refuse. Since then, I have been trying to find a way to share Wi-Fi network without sharing password. And below is the best way that I have come across.

Please note that this method is only useful when the other person is using Android, iOS or any other device that can read QR codes.

Apparently, we would be creating a QR code with the details like Wi-Fi network name, password, encoding type etc, so that the scanning of the code would be enough to get a connection.

I have tried it on a couple of online QR code generators, such as QR Zilla and ZXing. But you can use any of the QR code generator as well (provided, it lets you create a QR code for Wi-Fi connections).

Use any of the QR code generator and get going with the creation of a QR Code. Do mention all the details that are required It would include details like network name, password, SSID, encoding type etc.

Once done filing the details, just click on the Generate button to get the code.



Now whoever asks you to share internet connection, just ask them to scan that particular QR code and voila! That device would be connected to your Wi-Fi network now.

If you are wondering about disconnecting that device now, then just turn your router OFF for a couple of minutes and that is it. If that device needs the connection again, then it need to scan the QR code again.

In the era of Snapchat and Poke, self-destructing messages on smartphones and tablets are the new fad. However, such self-deleting messages are not limited to handheld gadgets only. You can now send self-destructing messages via good old email too. Yes, there are a number of services in the market that let you send messages to others which get deleted once they read it.

Here are three online services that enable you to send self-destructing emails.

OneShar.es

This is an easy-to-use service which actually gives you a URL for the whatever message you have typed. And once the URL is opened for the first time, it gets invalidated and no one can again use it. And this service promises that the message is deleted from their servers too, which makes it a trust worthy service.

Privnote

It's a pretty interesting concept on which it works. All you are supposed to do is go the website, type in the content that you wish to share, and click on Create Note button. Once done, it would give you a link which can be used in your email. The reader would click on this URL to read the message and once he/she reads it, the URL will get expired.

Self Destructing Message

This service lets you send mails anonymously as well as generate links for the messages. Then you need to click on the drop down and choose the seconds (number of seconds till which the reader can have the message open), type your message and click on Create Message button. Your self-destructing message is now ready.

Smartphones like HTC Butterfly and BlackBerry Z10 allow users to pick a few photos you have taken and add a song in order to create a video. Even if you do not have such top-end smartphones, you can create personalised videos with images and audio of your choice right at your desktop that too without paying anything.

Here are two easy ways to create videos with images for free.

Method 1

In this method, we would be using a software called Freemake Video Converter. This is a pretty handy programme which makes the whole video making business a piece of cake.

* Download and install Freemake Video Converter.
* Click on +Photo button and add all the images that you wish to include in your video.
* Once the images are added to it, click on your Slideshow button and arrange them the way you want them to be introduced.
* On the Slideshow editor, you can add the music you want, add effects (picture transition) and number of other things to customise your video.
* Now choose the output video format and get the video in any format that you want, including AVI, MP4, MPEG,MKV, WMV, iPad, Android etc.

Method 2

Just like the above method, we would using a software, Ezvid to get the job done. Lets get started with the actual steps now.

* Download and install Ezvid on your machine.
* Click on the Add Media button, select all the photos that you wish add to your video and click on Open button.
* Within few seconds, you will find all the selected images at the timeline where you can arrange them the way you want.
* Now add few details to you video like the title, description, adding song, category.
* It also lets you add text and your own voice.
* Click on the Play button once you want to check your video out.
* Once this is done, click on the upload to YouTube button to get it uploaded to YouTube.
* If you want a video copy on your local PC, then check out out YouTube section to find ways to download that video.

Email service providers limit the size of the files you can attach to 25MB. That becomes a problem if you have too many photos or videos to send. Most people get round the problem by sending the files in batches, though it is annoying for the sender as well as the receiver. 

Cloud-based storage systems have made the task easier. Users of Google Drive, SkyDrive of Microsoft and Dropbox can share files uploaded to them with another user. So no need to send any file. You can also attach a file directly from Google Drive to Gmail. 

SkyDrive offers free storage space of 7GB, Google Drive 5GB and Dropbox 2.5GB which goes up gradually as an incentive with usage. 

Yahoo recently tied up with Dropbox to make the task simpler. The attachments received on Yahoo Mail can be saved to Dropbox, and files in Dropbox can be attached to Yahoo Mail. Attachments more than 25MB can also be attached to Yahoo Mail but sent via Dropbox. 

YouSendIt is another popular cloud storage device. Users upload photos to it, and send the link to the receiver, who can click on the link and download the photos to his or her computer.

There are occasions when we send an email to a group of people. It may be a mail to our trekking friends about an upcoming outing, or to our relatives about a family function, or to colleagues about an official matter. Adding names one by one is not just tedious, we risk missing out on a few names.

Instead, create a group and just type out the name of the group in the 'To' field.

In Gmail, go to Contacts. Click on one or more contacts. Click on the third-from-left icon on top, which will show 'Groups' if you hover the mouse over it. You can either create new groups or add contacts to already-created groups. On advanced Android phones, these changes will reflect on the phone, allowing you to send a text message to the group as well.

In Yahoo, go to Contacts. On the left pane, you will see 'Lists'. Click on the 'plus' sign to create a new list. You can click on a contact and click on 'Assign to list' to add the contact.

In Outlook, click on the arrow beside 'Outlook' and click on 'People'. Click on 'Manage', 'Manage Groups'. You can create a group, by clicking on the 'plus' sign at the bottom. You can add a contact by clicking on it, and then on 'Groups'.

With the entry of Google+, there is a new social network to share your updates and pictures. However, going to each social network's website and updating status is a pain. 

A simpler way is to use the Circles feature on Google+. First, go to www.facebook.com/mobile, login to your account and on the right side of the page you will see an option to 'upload via email'. 

Underneath the text, you will see your account specific email address - copy it. Next, Open Google+ and go to Circles. Click on add a new Circle and call it 'Facebook Update'. 

Click on add a new person and paste your Facebook account specific email address and save it with any name. Now, whenever you update your status in Google+, simply add this circle in your list and it will automatically post the same status to your Facebook wall as well.

BERLIN: If you regularly check your Facebook account while travelling, be sure to use an encrypted connection. That way you can make sure no one is peeking at what you do on the online social network. 

Facebook does offer an https standard, but its activation is not automatic. To do so, users have to go to Account, then Account settings and then to Security. 

There, under Secure Browsing, pick the option to Browse Facebook on a secure connection (https) when possible. But https has two disadvantages: it makes the connection slower and it disables some Facebook functions.

I have Windows XP installed in my Home PC (Dell Inspiron 530i) and I use MS Office 2003. Please advise if I can use MS Outlook for my Yahoo & Gmail accounts. If yes, how can I configure Outlook? 
--Vivek Awasthi 

Launch Outlook and go to Tools>E-mail accounts. Click on 'Add a new mail account' and select POP3 as your server type. In the next screen, you will need to enter your name, email address and login information that you use for your Yahoo/Gmail account. In the server information box enter 'pop.gmail.com' for incoming server and 'smtp.gmail.com' in outgoing server box for Gmail. For Yahoo, enter 'pop.mail.yahoo.com' for incoming and 'smtp.mail.yahoo.com' for outgoing server. Now click on the 'More Settings' button and in the pop up box select the 'Outgoing Server' tab. Here, check on the box that says 'My Outgoing server requires authentication'. Next, click on the advanced tab and enter 995 as incoming server and 465 as outgoing server(same for Gmail and Yahoo). Click on ok to close the pop-up box, and then click on 'Test Account Settings'. Once the test is done, finish the new e-mail setup and you can send/receive mails using your Yahoo/Gmail account from Outlook. Note: For Gmail, you need to first login to your account on the browser, go to Settings > Forwarding and POP and enable POP for all mail. 

I am interested in buying a low-cost laptop for high speed Internet that provides good battery backup. Would a tablet serve my purpose too? If yes, can it also be used to play PC games? 
— Utkarsh Singh 

If your main requirements are high-speed Internet browsing and a good battery backup — you can either get a netbook or a full-fledged notebook, depending upon your budget. Check out the Samsung N150 netbook, which comes with a 10.1-inch display , 1.5Ghz Intel processor, 1GB RAM, 250GB storage and Windows 7 Starter. It offers a battery life of over 7 hours and is priced at just 17,990. If you want a full-fledged notebook, go for the Acer Aspire 5830T. It is powered by Intel Core i3 processor, 2GB RAM, Intel HD 3000 graphics, 500GB storage and has a 15.6-inch display with 6 hours of battery backup for 32,959. A tablet can serve your purpose as well. There are various options available such as Apple's iPad2, Acer Iconia, Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab 730 and 750. All of these offer great battery life, access to thousands of applications and superb Internet browsing using Wi-Fi or 3G (select models only). The tablets are available in sizes ranging from 7-inch to 10.1-inch display and are priced between 25,000 (Galaxy Tab P1000) to 46,900 (iPad 2 64GB Wi-Fi +3G variant). You can play a variety of games available through the respective application stores of the tablets, but they will not allow you to play PC games (unless a version of the PC game is available for that tablet). You can also consider Windows 7 tablets like the Acer Iconia that will allow you to play some basic PC games.

Question: I want to create a partition in my Windows 7 machine. Currently my system shows a single drive with 141 GB total space of which 27 GB is used. I want to create two more partitions without going through the process of formatting my system. How can I do this? 

Answer: There are various applications available that can solve your purpose. You can download Easeus Partition Master Home Edition from partition-tool.com or Paragon Partition Manager from paragon-software.com. Both are free and allow you to create, delete or resize partitions without the need to format the entire drive. 

Please make sure that you backup all your data before you partition your drive. Choose the option to resize the existing parition in both the applications and run the wizard to make the process simple. You will be required to enter the size of the new partition to be created so make sure to enter the exact size of the new partition. 

Although the application offers the option to make multiple partitions at one go, we would recommend that you create only one partition at a time to avoid any issues. Once the partition process has started, it should not be interrupted by a power failure or reboot — this may cause the hard disk to crash and become unusable. 

--Abhishek Aggarwal 

Question: I have recently bought an LG Optimus One. After setting up all the accounts I have noticed that my prepaid account balance gets deducted multiple times in a day without me doing anything. I am clueless as to why is it happenning. Kindly suggest a way to stop this. 

Answer: The Optimus One runs Google's Android operating system. Since the phone syncs with your google and other social networking accounts, it is constantly checking for updates online. Even if you do not start the GPRS connection on your own, the phone is set by default to check for new emails, notification and updates in the background. 

You can either disable background sync of the phone or just switch the GPRS connection off. To disable background sync, go to Settings > Accounts & Sync and on you will see options for 'Background Data' and 'Auto Sync'. 

Uncheck both options to completely disable automatic updates. You can launch an app and manually refresh to get updates. Although this limits GPRS usage, it will not completely switch it off. To switch GPRS off, go to Wireless & Networks >Mobile networks and disable Data Transfers. Simply enable data transfer by repeating the same steps when you need to access data. 

'Simple file-sharing for groups' is how Boxify describes itself — a description that couldn't be more spot on! When you first open www.boxify.me, all you have to do is click on 'Start'. 

You don't need to sign up or enter any information. Clicking the button creates a 'box' with a private URL. Share this link with as many people as you like and each of them will be able to upload and download the contents in the box. 

You can also rename the box to make it shorter and easier to remember. So http:// boxify.me/jsgTyehdn6538kjJuks can become http:// boxify.me/box/dossier — making it much easier to send it via SMS, for instance. Apart from this one customisation, there's not much else in terms of features — just plain and simple uploading and downloading of files (you can upload multiple files at one go to save time). 

There's no restriction on the type of files you can upload - video files, documents, HTML files, PDFs, images. There are no ads, no popups and no intrusive elements, only all the files that have been uploaded with a file name, an icon which indicates what type of file it is and a date-time stamp that shows when it was uploaded. 

A few downsides though: there are no security features — anyone with the URL can access all the files uploaded to the box. Plus, the service does not mention any file size limit or how long a box remains active. One can only assume that it remains active as long as it's in use. 

The uploader uses Adobe Flash, so you can't use it on every device. Finally, there's no telling how long such a service will be around — several similar services have been launched and have fallen just as quickly, so don't rely on the box contents as an online backup. Just make the most of it while it lasts.

The great thing about Web apps is that you can access your information on the go, and on variety of devices like mobile phones and tablets. 

However, there are occasions when you don't have an internet connection making you often fret on the utility of these apps. But, starting today you will be able to access Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs offline. 

Gmail Offline is a Chrome Web Store app that's intended for situations when you need to read, respond to, organise and archive email without an internet connection. 

This HTML5-powered app is based on the Gmail web app for tablets, which is built to function with or without Web access. After you install the Gmail Offline app from the Chrome Web Store, you can continue using Gmail when you lose your connection by clicking the Gmail Offline icon on Chrome's "new tab" page. 

Google Calendar and Google Docs let you seamlessly transition between on- and offline modes. When you're offline in Google Calendar, you can view events from your calendars and RSVP to appointments. 

With Google Docs you can view documents and spreadsheets when you don't have a connection. Offline editing isn't ready yet, but we know it's important to many of you, and we're working hard to make it a reality. To get started using Google Calendar or Google Docs offline, just click the gear icon at the top right corner of the web app and select the option for offline access.

Recently, news about two people getting electrocuted by counterfeit iPhone chargers made its way to the internet. Though Apple has officially started a programme to exchange fake chargers with genuiune ones (for a cost), many still prefer to use such third-party adapters to charge not only their smartphones and tablets, but also their laptops and other gadgets. 

But is it safe to use third party chargers (fake or branded) on a regular basis? Here's what you need to keep in mind... 

Make sure the plugs are right 

The first thing you really need to consider when you're grabbing a charger is the most obvious: if the connector fits. That means the plug on the end of the charger actually fits into your gadget properly. 

For something like a cell phone, this is usually a USB cable (of which various sizes exist), unless it's an Apple device with a special 30-pin or Lightning connector. Older phones might have a cylindrical connector. Likewise, laptops have all kinds of connectors, and many of them are proprietary to the manufacturer. In some cases, you'll need to order a special charger just for your device. 

What all this means is that if you have a charger that fits into your gadget, you're on the right track, but you're not done yet. It's time to look at the technical details. 

When voltage, amperage and wattage matters 

After you've figured out that you can actually connect the charger to your gadget, you need to figure out if doing so will make it explode or not. This means checking the voltage, amperage, and wattage on your charger to make sure it'll work with your device. 

On most chargers, you'll find the voltage listed somewhere on the power brick. Voltage is what pulls energy into the device. If the voltage is too high, you might end up shorting out your devices because you'll overload the circuits. 

For mobile phones and other mobile devices like the Kindle that charge with USB, the voltage is typically 5V. A laptop charger might be as high as 14V or 15V. You can usually find the voltage your device needs on the device itself, on the battery, or if all else fails, on the manufacturer's web site. You'll almost always find the voltage supplied by your charger on the charger itself. You want the the voltage on your device to match the voltage provided by the charger. 

Likewise, amperage is just as important. Amps are the current that's supplied to your device. Think of it like a river, and the amperage is how wide that river is. Amps are usually listed on your power supply as something like, 2.7A or 1A. This regulates how much power flows through from the power supply to your device. The amperage listed on your power supply needs to match or exceed the amperage required by your device. 

You will also often find wattage on your power brick, and that makes a difference as well, but it's not dangerous if your wattage doesn't match. Watts are supplied "on demand" to the battery that's being charged, so even if you're over the device's limit, it doesn't cause problems. 

For example, an iPad charger puts out 10W, whereas an iPhone charger puts out 5W. You can charge an iPhone with an iPad charger just fine, because the iPhone's battery will only take in 5W, even though the charger can supply 10W. A laptop will typically call for watts between 45 and 100. Not all chargers will list the watts, but if the amps and voltage match you're usually in the clear. 

As Popular Mechanics points out, there's a bit more to picking the right charger, but for most of us voltage, amps, and watts all we need to consider. As Extremetech points out, if you're using a USB charger it doesn't really matter because they're almost all the same, but it's still worth double-checking to make sure you're in the clear. 

When to stay away from knockoffs 

Chargers can be expensive for no good reason, but you're better off sticking with official chargers or off brand chargers as opposed to knockoffs. 

The reason is that counterfeit and off brand chargers are poorly made, and that means they put your device (and your house) at risk. Many ignore safety standards completely, but they also just don't charge your devices that well because they don't push the amount of power they're supposed to. This means you're spending more time with these devices plugged in, which causes a larger risk to your safety, as well as your device. 

That's about it. If you pick the right charger, your devices will charge as quickly as they're supposed and your house won't burn down. 

Before cleaning your mouse and keyboard, shut down your computer. Unplug the mouse and the keyboard. For keyboard: Tilt the keyboard upside down and shake it to remove the dust particles that might have accumulated inside. 

Use a cotton swab dipped in alcohol to clean the keyboard keys. For mouse: Turn your mouse upside down after unplugging it from the system. 

The rubbery feet at the back of the mouse usually gather dust. A cotton swab dipped in alcohol should be used to clean them. Use a different cotton swab to clean the central eye of the mouse. Wipe your mouse with disinfectant wipes to clean the remaining area.

It's the secret software that tech support engineers rely on.S N Reddy must-have tools that will keep your machine shipshape. Don't worry, they are all absolutely free and easy to use

1) The PC takes time to boot to the desktop; opening and searching for files and folders is slow. 

Solution: Auslogics Disk Defrag Free

Your computer's hard drive needs to be given a break once every month. The constant moving and deletion of files and folders results in data being stored in bits and pieces all over the hard disk. Accessing these fragments starts taking a toll on the drive's performance and longevity. Auslogics Disk Defrag Free (ADDF) is a light and effective tool that sets things straight; it does it while you're working on your PC (unlike the built-in Windows tool that requires you to stop all tasks while a defrag is in process). Additionally, ADDF can also strategically place system files on the hard drive where access times are the lowest, thereby improving performance. www.auslogics.com

2) The browser seems slow, and the PC becomes sluggish while connected to the internet. 

Solution: Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

There is a likelihood that your PC has been infected by malware - a trojan, worm, a rootkit, etc - that insidiously works in the background for all the wrong reasons, of course. They are meant to simply cripple your machine; turn it into a bot to relay information or steal login credentials of your various online accounts. Enter Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware , a software that uses its database and heuristics to deworm your PC to the pink of health. Just make sure you use this cleaner every week and keep it updated. www.malwarebytes.org

3 ) You accidentally deleted important files, permanently, and you need them back! 

Solution: Orion File Recovery Software

You will be pleasantly surprised to know that clearing the contents of the Recycle Bin does not necessarily mean that the data has been lost forever. What Windows has done is taken the record of the files' existence off its shelf. The files still exist on the hard drive, but only for a short while until they are replaced by other data. Assuming the location where the files were stored on your hard drive have not already been refreshed with new data, you can fire up Orion File Recovery and hunt them down. In fact, it can be used to scan memory cards and USB drives as well. And on the flip side, Orion can also be used to permanently delete "deleted" files. www.nchsoftware.com



4) You have no idea of your machine specs, and don't know whom to ask. 

Solution: PC-Wizard 

It is not important to know your PC
config by heart, but it is extremely useful to have a spec list handy, especially when you're seeking tech support from friends and your service engineer. There might be a time when you'll need to share details like the amount and kind of RAM, hard disk size and type of processor with your local tech support guy. CPU-ID's PC-Wizard is a simple info tool that scans and lists all the devices and components it discovers in your system. The list can be saved in various formats, including as an image, PDF, and HTML file. www.cpuid.com

5) You have uninstalled programs, but still see their folders in Windows Explorer. 

Solution: Revo Uninstaller Free 

Uninstalling software with Windows' built-in utility is good enough, right? Most of the times, yes. Sometimes, however, you might come across folders of software that you've uninstalled ages ago. Some programs do not remove all data unless explicitly instructed to do so via a check box. Others don't bother to offer such customizations and leave residual files that are usually of no use. Revo Uninstaller Free is your uninstaller on steroids; removing remnants and also including eight tools for more control over the clutter that's clogging your PC. These tools are neatly arranged in tabs and can be used to control the programs that are loaded on startup; remove junk files; and even permanently clear out data you thought you had deleted a long time ago. www.revouninstaller.com

6) Your PC keeps freezing, restarting or just crashing "randomly". 

Solution: WhoCrashed

Even though it might seem that your PC is randomly doing these bizarre things, most of the time there is a pattern before which it has a seizure. Even if you aren't able to put a finger on whether it locks up after you start playing music files, opening the browser or playing a game, you can try WhoCrashed and find out whodunit. The software reads the file that's created each time a PC crashes and throws up an inference to the errant device driver. While this may not always be completely accurate, it is a simpler way to get to the root of the problem. The resulting diagnosis can also be used in technical forums, if you need more guidance. www.resplendence.com

7) The hard disk is running low on space and you would like to get rid of files that are not required. 

Solution: CCleaner

Bloated temporary files and folders are a perennial problem, a problem that worsens if you prefer to use multiple web browsers. There is another issue that may arise from this problem - malware. The temporary internet files may harbour rogue files or cookies that are tracking your browsing habits and sending data back to servers on the sly. These activities not only hog system resources, they also slow the browser down. CCleaner is a one-stop shop where you can delete the temporary cache of files, cookies, and history from all your browsers - Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Opera. It will even scan the rest of the hard drive for files that it feels need to be cleared out and 'spring clean' the Registry for you. www.piriform.com/ccleaner

8) You would like to know when updates are available for the software and drivers on your PC. 

Solution: SecuniaPSI

An up-to-date system has its advantages - it means that all your hardware will be running current drivers; Windows will always be primed with the patches for any reported vulnerabilities; and all installed software will sport the latest version. But you will only get to know there is an update available when you specifically start looking for one. The easier way out is a tool that shows you a neat little dashboard with a list of all the installed hardware and software - and whether they need an update or not. This is where SecuniaPSI will come handy. It will notify you when security updates for Windows are available for download as well. If this is also too tedious a process, just set it to automatically do the dirty work for you and you are sorted. www.secunia.com

9) Taking a backup of all your important stuff with Windows' built-in backup utility is more tedious than you thought. 

Solution: FBackup

Windows does have a decent backup and restore system in place; unfortunately, it isn't intuitive or straightforward enough for the average user. Try Fbackup. The software lists simple backup and recovery actions that can be initiated at the click of a button. What's more - the software can be further configured with the help of free plug-ins that can also make a copy of program data and settings so you don't have to do it all over again after recovery. www.fbackup.com

I lost my tablet somewhere in my house and have been searching for hours. It's an Android device, which seems to have Wi-Fi-enabled (responds to pings), but doesn't seem to react to cloud-based messages. Furthermore, I have Cerberus installed on it, but cannot connect to it. Is there a way of physically finding the device by measuring the signal strength from different locations in my flat? I know it's theoretically also possible to triangulate a Wi-Fi signal, and even though I have four Linux based Wi-Fi receivers, I don't know any non-commercial software that is capable of doing so.

Plan B
Not a direct answer to your question, but Plan B app is specifically for situations where you've lost track of your Android device and didn't have any sort of "finder" app on it. Note: Plan B only works with Android 2.0-2.3.

airodump-ng
I know you can get the signal reception using airodump-ng (part of the aircrack-ng tool suite) if you have a compatible Wi-Fi card and a Linux distro up and running. You'll see something like this with the signal reception listed as PWR (in decibels). If you keep pinging the device throughout this, you should see the airodump-ng screen update much quicker with the MAC address of the device. You should then be able to move around with your laptop, trying to increase the PWR until you find the device.

Homing Cone
Something that may work: Go to the hardware store and buy some brass mesh and build a cone. You'll probably need to layer the mesh, then hold your phone in the middle of the cone. The brass mesh should block all radio signals, so if you get a signal, it's coming from the direction of the open area of the cone. In theory, you can use this to home in on the device. FYI, the brass mesh is one component in building a SCIF.

Ethernet & More
Some Wi-Fi routers have a signal strength measurement on them. I know DD-WRT has this. If yours does, then you can do something like this:

*Get a long Ethernet cord.
*Plug one end into the router and one into your cable modem, internet connection, etc.
*Move the router around your apartment and see where you get the strongest signal. (Keep in mind, water pipes, metal studs etc can all distortWi-Fi signals.)
*Another option would be to make your own directional antenna, kind of like this. You could also check out this page for some useful command line Linux Wi-Fi commands.

Triangulate
One-storied home? You can sort-of triangulate using signal strength alone. You have to assume that signal strength is proportional to distance from the transmitter, which isn't very accurate, but it could be accurate enough to help narrow down the search space. How to measure signal strength from 3 points in your house:

On a floor plan of the home, mark your three points, and with a drawing compass, swing an arc across the flat with a radius proportional to the signal strength so that the arcs enclose a fairly small space within the home.

If the assumption we made were true (and your measurements and drawing were accurate), your tablet should be within the space between the arcs. It's not quite true but hopefully not too far off either.

Start your search near that space. Hopefully its location will remind you of where you actually left the tablet. If not, search out from there, possibly repeating the above steps at a shorter distance from this location.

Multi-storied house? Same idea, only now plotting is more complicated by the third dimension. Easier would be to repeat the above for each floor. Now you have two or three more spaces to search but that'll be more information than you had before.

In the Compose tab of Gmail, as you start typing out in the 'To' field, you are prompted with probable email addresses. It's convenient, no doubt, especially when you can't recall the email ID. But it could lead to an embarrassment, when in a hurry you end up sending the mail to the wrong person. 

Gmail has an option, wherein within a specified period of time, you can recall the mail you sent. To enable this useful tool, click on the 'Gear' symbol on the top right of the email page, and go to 'Settings'. Click on 'Labs' in the series of options you see on the top of the page. 

Scroll down and look for the 'Undo Send' option. Click Enable. Scroll down and click on 'Save changes'. 

Click on 'General' in the top row of options. Scroll down and look for the 'Undo Send' option. Check 'Enable Undo Send', and choose from the options for cancellation period. The minimum is 5 seconds and the maximum is 30 seconds. Scroll down and Save Changes. Now, when you send a mail, it wouldn't go for the period of time you have selected, within which you can Undo Send.

This is designed to be a helpful guide - do not do anything you're not comfortable doing on your smartphone. UKMobileReview, it's partners, suppliers or shareholders are not liable for any damage or losses incurred by following this advice and you agree to these terms by reading further.

If you have mobile phone insurance, need to send your phone off for repair or for some other reason, you might be asked to find out your phone's IMEI number. The IMEI number is a 15 digit number that is unique to your device - each phone or tablet made has a unique IMEI number, across the entire world and this can be used to identify your device if lost or stolen.

find-my-your-IMEI-number

If your phone has a removable battery, you'll often find the IMEI number listed on the white label under the battery. For other devices, you'll often find the IMEI number printed on or near your SIM card tray <- the exact location varies according to your particular device.

However, there's a much simpler way - if your phone switches on, all you need to do to find your IMEI number is:

* Open your phone dialler

* Dial *#06#

* Your phone's IMEI number will be displayed on your screen.

That's it, that's how easy it is to find your phone's IMEI number. N.B. if you no longer have your phone, you can also look on your phone's box where the IMEI number is usually listed at least once.

When Google introduced the new tabbed interface for Gmail, it also brought along some new ads under the Promotions tab. 

The ads look a bit too much like legitimate emails, which is problematic for many users. However, they're also limited to the Promotions tab, which makes it super easy to turn them off if you want to avoid confusion. Here's how: 

Click the Settings icon in the top right corner of the Gmail tab. 

Select "Configure Inbox." 

Deselect the "Promotions" tab and click Save. 

Of course, if you want to keep the Promotions tab, there's not much you can do. You can also disable the tabs entirely by unchecking everything except ""Primary"" on this same menu, if you prefer.

It's not paranoia: Using public or open Wi-Fi networks without taking your security into consideration is a bad idea. You don't even have to crack the network's passwords to grab tons of data from unsuspecting users on the network-We've shown you how to do it, and how to stop it from happening to you. Now, dSploit, a security toolkit for Android, makes that process so simple anyone can do it. Here's how it works, and how to protect yourself. 

What is dSploit?
dSploit is actually a suite of security tools bundled together in one application. It runs on rooted Android (2.3+) devices, its code is freely available at GitHub, and it's actually a great utility if you're a security professional or otherwise enjoy the ins and outs of network security, hacking, and penetration testing. We want to be clear that we're not villainizing the tool here; unlike apps like Firesheep, Faceniff, and Droidsheep, dSploit isn't made for the sole purpose of cracking networks or hijacking user sessions. It can certainly sniff out passwords transmitted in plain text on an open network, and it can crack poorly secured Wi-Fi networks. It can also scan networks for vulnerabilities, crack keys on common routers, and of course, hijack browser, website, or social network sessions and hold on to them. You can see a full list of the tool's features here. 

For a security professional, an amateur looking for an affordable way to learn more about network security (or who's been tasked by their office to secure their Wi-Fi but can't afford professional pen-testers), or someone looking to protect their own network, dSploit can be a valuable resource. It can also be a valuable resource for people looking to steal your data. That's why we're going to talk about how it works and how you can protect your passwords and private data from anyone else using it. 

How dSploit (and other apps like it) work
dSploit makes it easy to do two things: Sniff out passwords being sent unencrypted, and hijack active browser sessions so you can masquerade as someone who's already logged in to a site or service. In both cases, they're really one-touch operations once you have the app installed. The former is easy to do. If someone is visiting a site, or logging in to a service without using HTTPS or SSL, your password is likely being sent in clear text. Anyone sniffing packets on a network can capture them without having to do any real kind of packet inspection, and once they have it, they'll try it on as many sites and services as possible to see if you use it for other accounts. The video above, from OpenSourceGangster, explains how the app works in detail, and how to use it. 

The latter is a bit more intricate. If you're not familiar with session hijacking, it's the process of capturing cookies to exploit a valid active session that another user has with a secured service in order to impersonate that other user. Since no sensitive data like a login or password is transmitted in the cookie, they're usually sent in the clear, and in most cases they're used by web sites and social networks as a way of identifying a user with a current session so the site doesn't forget who you are every time you reload. This is the most common attack vector for apps that sniff out passwords and sessions via Wi-Fi. We showed you how this works when Disconnect, one of our favorite privacy protecting browser extensions, added protection against widget jacking and session hijacking, if you want to see an example. 

dSploit approaches session hijacking in a similar manner to the other tools we've mentioned, mostly because it works well. The folks over at MakeUseOf explain how the app works in further detail, including some of the things you can do with it. Many web sites just encrypt your username and password, and once that handoff is made, everything else is unencrypted. While many sites have moved to HTTPS (and there are tools to help that we'll get to a little later), most require you to activate their HTTPS features. Many other sites haven't bothered moving to HTTPS universally at all. 

What's the real risk here?
The real risk from tools like this varies. The odds of you encountering someone in your local coffee shop running dSploit, Firesheep, or any other app like them to capture passwords and hijack sessions is pretty slim, but as we've mentioned, it only takes one person to ruin your day. 

Someone could just capture as many Facebook or Twitter sessions as they can (after which they can change a user's password and keep the Facebook account for themselves), hijack Amazon shopping sessions and grab address and credit card information, read your email and chats, and so on. The risk goes up with more and more tools available that are easy for anyone to use, and with the number of people out there who simply don't protect themselves by encrypting their data. 

How can I protect myself?
Protecting yourself from these tools like it is actually remarkably easy if you put in the effort to actually do it: 

* Turn on HTTPS on every site that allows you to connect with it, and install HTTPS Everywhere. This will make sure you're using HTTPS at all times, whenever possible, and none of your web browsing traffic is sent unencrypted. 

* Get a privacy-protecting browser extension like Disconnect, which also protects against widget jacking or side-jacking. Disconnect is our favorite, but it shouldn't be the only tool in your toolkit. 

* Use a VPN when browsing on public, free, or other open networks. We've explained why you should have a VPN before. We've even explained how to tell if a VPN is trustworthy. Using a VPN is the best way to make sure all of your data is encrypted and safe from anyone else on the same network, whether it's wired or wireless, public or private. 

* Use your head, and practice good internet hygiene. Hone your phishing and scam detection skills, turn your BS detecter up to max, and learn how to protect yourself from online fraud. Someone doesn't have to hijack your session or passwords to get to you-they could just as easily replace the website you're on with one that looks like it but insists you give it a ton of data first. Be smart. 

* It doesn't take much to use HTTPS everywhere you can, fire up a VPN if you're going to be working from the library, or just not to use public Wi-Fi and wait until you get home or tether to your phone instead (that's always another option). However, if everyone did it, unscrupulous use of tools like these wouldn't' be an issue and only the people who needed them would use them. However, as long as they're so effective, it makes sense for you to take the necessary steps to protect yourself.

Firefox 23 added a new feature that automatically blocks mixed content. Mixed content comes into play when browsing secure websites. (i.e. websites with "https"), when the webpage doesn't serve everything on the https protocol but serves some images on http.


Normally, this isn't really the big issue. However, if you are concerned about security and especially tracking, then you might want to prevent this happening. Firefox understands that and automatically blocks mixed content. When browsing a secure website displaying mixed content, you might view something like this. 

Firefox - Mixed Content Blocking 

As you note in the URL, browsing WordPress.org is likely to throw up this warning. This is because Firefox automatically blocks all active content like scripts that aren't also served on the https protocol. 

Hitting "Disable Protection on This Page" will fix it for the particular page. However, it won't respect this on other sites. If you're like me, this isn't a helpful feature but rather a pain! And, you'll want to disable this. 

Here's how you do it. 

Firefox has two parameters that control the blocking of content. These are: 

security.mixed_content.block_active_content (default is true) security.mixed_content.block_display_content (default is false) 
These default settings will block scripts but not images, which means you'll still be able to see most pages normally. If you want to change any of these settings, just open up a new tab and hit "about:config". Once you click through the warning, you'll be presented with the entire list of parameters that control Firefox. 

Simply search for "mixed_content" and you'll see the above two parameters. 

Firefox - Mixed Content Parameters 

In order to toggle the settings just double-click "block_active_content". 

Firefox - Mixed Content Parameter updated 

You'll note that the Status will change to "user set". Reload the page again and you'll notice that the scripts aren't blocked anymore. 

While there's no guarantee you'll recover your device, these tips and apps will put you in the best position to get back what you lost. Or, if it comes to it, to make sure no one can get at the information that's on there. 
Android Device Manager
Doesn't matter if your phone is lost behind the couch or somewhere in Tahiti, your most direct option for finding a lost Android phone is Google's newly introduced Android Device Manager (ADM) feature. Essentially an Android version of the iOS Find My iPhone service, ADM allows users to locate, track, ping, and, if need be, remotely wipe their devices-all from a web browser. 

The ping feature will ring the phone at maximum volume, even if it is set to vibrate or silent. If you figure you've dropped it somewhere outside of your immediate vicinity, log on to the ADM dashboard to see its location, anywhere in the world, to within a 22-meter radius. And if you discover you can't retrieve or recover the phone, ADM allows you to remotely wipe the device's contents (you will have to enable Factory Resets prior to losing the phone though). Plus, it's completely free and likely already installed. 

The one shortcoming? ADM does not offer a means of remotely locking your phone. Ring and full-on self-destruct are your only options. 

Bit Defender Anti-Theft
If you'd like a middle ground between doing nothing and obliterating everything on your phone from afar, take a look at BitDefender's Anti-Theft app. It allows you to locate and erase your phone, as ADM does, but throws in a remote lock as well. This keeps your phone secure against the prying eyes and wandering fingers until you pick it up. 

What's more, Bit Defender can only be uninstalled by authorized users. If someone tries to bypass that by swapping SIM cards, BD will text the new number to a phone of your choosing, force the phone to answer your call, and then remotely wipe the phone via SMS command. Once you get the thief on the line, you should probably yell something to the effect of, "IF I CAN'T HAVE HER, NO ONE WILL" just before sending the self-destruct text. Drama! Excitement! Destruction! 

These extra features don't come free; you have to pony up an annual subscription of $4. But given that the full anti-theft service extends to all your devices-laptops, phones, and tablets alike-that four bucks is a good investment. 

Lookout
Another solid freemium option is Lookout Security & Antivirus by Lookout Mobile Security. This total security suite protects your phone against loss or theft as well as provides continuous protection against a variety of nasty bits of online code. 

For $3 a month (or $30 annually), you get the antivirus service, backup and restore features to save and reload your Google contacts, photos, and call history, and a swath of sneaky anti-theft options. In addition to the standard map-based location, tracking and forced ringing features, Lookout also offers Signal Flare, which saves the phone's last known location when the battery dies, and the Lock Cam, which emails you a picture of anyone that incorrectly enters the lock screen combo three times. 

Plan B
Bit Defender's a great choice, but what if you've lost your phone without installing it beforehand? There's always Plan B. 

Plan B is a remotely installed, barebones tracker app. First, open a browser window and log on to Google Play. Install the app onto your phone via Play, wait ten minutes for it to download and install, then text "locate" to your number from another phone. The app will triangulate its position based on Wi-Fi and GPS signals and send you a single email if it's sitting still, or continuously for a duration of 10 minutes if the device is on the move. You just have to keep texting "locate" until you catch up with it (and hope that the battery's still going). 

Find My iPhone
The original lost phone tracking service for iOS is still your best option. This free app locates and tracks your lost or stolen Apple devices-not just iPhones but iPads and MacBooks as well-not to mention ringing the unit, displaying a message for whoever finds it, and remotely lock or wipe the device altogether. The app is free on iTunes. 
GadgetTrak
For a little more advanced protection, GadgetTrak offers remotely activated GPS location tracking, push notifications to trick a thief into giving away his position, and the ability to use your lost phone's camera to take a picture of whomever took it from the comfort of your home. It'll cost you $4, but that's peanuts compared to a brand new phone. 

I Can't Find My Phone
Not every lost phone situation requires a full-on app assault to resolve; it's just as often a matter of tracking down which pile of clothes your handset is hiding under. Open ICantFindMyPhone.com in a new browser window, enter your phone number into the text field, and the site will automatically ring your mobile. Just pray you didn't leave it in silent mode. Where's My Cell Phone performs a similar function as well. Both are platform agnostic. 

MissingPhones.org
This one's a little bit more of a long shot, but there is, in fact, a universal lost and found for smartphones. If you know your lost phone's IMEI (often found on the back of your device or on its battery, or dial *#06# to have it sent to you), you can register it here and hope that the kind stranger who finds it knows what MissingPhones.org is. And while it's a bit of a hail mary, it's not like it's any less effective than the last real-life lost and found you've rummaged through. 

An ounce of prevention
However useful these apps and services are, your best chances for success will come before you even lose your phone in the first place. 

Connecting people: Put your contact information somewhere on your phone that's easily accessible. Whether it's your email address engraved on the back (your resale value takes a hit) or putting it on your lockscreen (which doesn't do much if your battery dies) or both, you improve the odds of getting your phone back tremendously if you just give whoever finds it the means to get in touch. 
Use a drunk phone: Have an old handset laying around? Have a friend who's about to ditch theirs for an upgrade? Don't throw it out. Instead, keep it around for nights you might be more, er, primed to lose your phone, and put the SIM from your day to day device-the one you care about-into the beater. That way your friends can still reach you at your number on a wild night out, and losing it won't be (as much of) a hassle. 
Get registered: While it's not as much help right now, by November the national stolen phone registry will be up and running. Carriers will coordinate with the government both to track phones reported as stolen, and to deny them voice/data access. While it might not get your phone back, it'll at least increase your odds-and make sure that the thief doesn't use your smartphone to steal your personal info or identity. There unfortunately is no singular, perfect solution for recovering your phone. The apps and techniques described above will give you a fighting chance for recovery, though. Until then, keep your phone close and don't leave the bar without it.

If you don't want to go that far, or you only want to tweak specific parts of Android, you have another option: It's called the Xposed Framework, and you can use it to customize your phone from top to bottom, all without flashing a new ROM. 

Getting started: What the Xposed Framework is, and what you'll needThe Xposed Framework is a series of modules that allow you to control different aspects of your Android phone, all the way down to the system level. Instead of just installing apps to get features you want, or flashing a ROM, Xposed's modules give you the power to customize your phone -- and the apps you have installed-in a bunch of small ways. You can make ROM-style changes (like changing the font size and style, customizing the lock screen or launcher, modifying system text, and so on) without actually having to install a whole new ROM to get them. 

Imagine it: You can run stock Android, and then craft the perfect OS for you using the Xposed Framework and its modules. That way you get all of the great parts of your favorite ROM without the bloat or other rolled-in apps you don't want. Ready? Here's what you'll need: 

The latest version of the Xposed Framework A rooted Android phone running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or later (although there is an experimental build for Gingerbread) That's all, you'll need. Of course, you'll also need some Xposed modules once you have the framework installed, but we'll get to those a little later. 

How to Install the Xposed Framework and Modules Before you do anything, make sure to back up your phone first. If everything blows up, you'll have a backup you can revert to before you try again (or walk away like nothing happened). If you're already rooted (and you'll need to be to install the Xposed Framework), we still think Titanium Backup is your best choice for a backup utility. 

After you're backed up, head over to the Xposed Framework thread at the XDA Developer Forums. The latest version of the Xposed Installer is always posted there, and since Xposed isn't available at Google Play, you'll need to sideload it. You can visit on your phone directly, or download the APK (application file) and add to Dropbox or another storage service that you can access on your phone. 
* Open the Xposed Installer APK on your phone, and install it.
* Launch the Xposed Installer, then tap "Framework."
* Tap "Install/Update."
* After the actual framework is installed, reboot your device.
When it comes back up, the framework will be active, and you're ready to go! Keep the Xposed installer around -- you'll need it to install modules you'll download later, and you can always use it to update the Xposed Framework if there's a new version. You can always re-download it later if you lose it, but it's good to keep on your phone. 

Xposed modules come in the form of APKs, so installing them works the same way as regular apps. Some modules are actually available on Google Play, so you won't need to sideload them, but you should be ready to sideload the ones you're interested in. To install a module: 

* Download and launch its APK file on your phone (or install it directly from the Play Store).
* Open the Xposed Installer and tap "Modules."
* Check the checkbox next to each module you'd like to enable (you can enable more than one at once, so if you download a bunch, you can turn them all on at the same time).
* Reboot your device. When it comes back up, the modules will be active.
* As long as your device fits the criteria, installing the framework and adding modules is a quick and simple process, and you get a ton of customization out of it for your time and effort. Of course, your phone will need to be rooted, but of all the steps involved, that's probably the most difficult part. 

Seven useful Xposed modules to tryOnce you have the Xposed Framework installed, it's time to give a few modules a try. Like we mentioned, the Xposed Framework is a foundation upon which modules can build. Modules can give you an incredible degree of control over your device. The official Xposed module repository is a good place to start looking, as is this thread at XDA forums full of great modules developed by the community. 

Remember, modules are like apps: They're individually supported (or not so) by the developer who wrote them, so you should make sure the developer is accessible if you have problems, especially if it's a module you know you'll come to rely on every day. Here are a few of our favorites you can install to get started: 

Wanam Xposed tweaks your phone's visuals
Wanam Xposed is a module that offers a ton of visual tweaks and feature updates. For example, Wanam gives you the ability to record calls, changes your volume buttons into music playback controls (even in apps that don't normally support it), adds reboot options like recovery and hotboot to the power menu, the option to enable or disable volume increasing ringtones, and more. 

If it's visual controls you want, Wanam Xposed comes with a full color wheel to change the colors of system text across all apps or status bar text. You can also tweak text size across the system. For example, you can make the battery display larger so you can actually see it, or change the size and font of the lock screen clock to suit you.

You can also enable the camera on calls, push Hangouts calls to cellular if you're on Wi-Fi, and more. It's a great starter module, if only because it has a massive number of hacks and tweaks you can play with. If you have a Samsung phone, you can use it to get faster PIN unlock on your device, thanks to this tutorial at WonderHowTo. 

XHaloFloatingWindow brings Paranoid Android's Halo to any phone One of the cool things about the Paranoid Android ROM is its Halo pop-up, floating launcher that you can use to jump across apps, to open contacts, or open settings, no matter what app you're in. XHaloFloatingWindow brings that functionality to any device, as long as you have the Xposed Framework installed. You won't get the whole experience, but you can use it for notifications, shortcuts, and any other apps you have installed that work well with Paranoid Android's Halo. 

MoDaCo toolkit unlocks location-restricted apps
The MoDaCo Toolkit comes is another all-in-one tweaking toolkit that has a ton of options and tweaks you can play with, but it's also designed with some special tweaks in mind for the HTC One, your favourite Android phone. Once installed, MoDaCo can do things like force Amazon MP3 to behave like it's in the United States (which will get you around pesky location restrictions), disable Google Play app disabling based on location, allow you to rotate your phone in all directions (even if your device doesn't like being upside down), lets you hide the battery status meter when you don't want to see it, and more. 

If you have an HTC One, you'll also get the option to make your status bar transparent, enable ADB with a secure lock screen, wake your device with the volume keys, add a Blinkfeed icon in the launcher so you can get to it even if you're using a third-party launcher, hide Kid Mode when you long-press the power button, and more. 

Flashify makes backups a snap
Once installed, Flashify can make boot and recovery images without having to boot into recovery first. Just fire up the app, take your snapshot, and you're done. You can also flash ZIP files from inside the app, which is useful if you've gotten your hands on something like a ZIP of Google Now, for example, and want to install it without hassle. Flashify also supports backups and recovery to and from Dropbox.

Flashify is free, but you're limited to three flashes per day in the free version. If you want to unlock as many as you like, you'll need to pony up a few bucks via in-app payment. There's also a thread at XDA Developers full of information if you'd like to learn more about it. 

XPrivacy gives you complete control over app permissions XPrivacy gives you control over all of the permissions each app on your phone asks for. We've explained why Android apps ask for the permissions they want, but XPrivacy gives you granular control. Once installed, you can view all of your apps and their permissions individually, or filter them based on permissions required. From there, you can approve or deny permissions, or feed an app fake data.

If an app wants location, XPrivacy will give it purposefully incorrect location data. If an app wants access to your contacts list, XPrivacy will step in and give it an empty list. 

Of course, if the app needs location to give you the weather, or wants your contact list so it can schedule appointments with your friends, it's not a great idea, but XPrivacy does give you the option, and it can be useful for apps that want location data for what seems to be no reason, or just forces you to hand over contact details just to log in.

There's an XPrivacy Installer at Google Play if you don't want to sideload it from the XDA thread (since the app itself has been removed from Google Play). If you really like XPrivacy, you can drop $4 on the pro version, which includes crowd-sourced restrictions you can tell XPrivacy to implement for you automatically. That means if you install an app on the list, XPrivacy will automatically protect your data without stopping the app from working. 

Tweakbox optimizes your status barTweakbox is a collection of hacks and customization options that let you customize the status bar indicator, change the status bar background colour and appearance, and includes a few other goodies like vibrating when there's a call waiting, a setting to make your ringtone slowly increase in volume as it rings, and more.

Tweakbox works best on Samsung devices, and if you have one of the phones the developer has optimized it for, you can even do things like call recording. Check the forum thread for more details, and keep in mind that the dev has stopped actively maintaining Tweakbox, so while some of its customizations are useful, if they don't work for you, they aren't going to. 

XBlast tools gives your phone a personal touch
XBlast is a collection of personalization tools that largely let you control the way you interact with your phone, and how it looks and operates. If you want your phone to say "Good morning, Mr Bond" every time you unlock it, this is the module for you.

You can customize the clock size and text, add flavour text to the lock screen or the status bar, add your own fonts for other apps to use, make the notifications bar transparent (or at least translucent), customize specific contacts with colors and fonts so you can pick them out easily, change all of the colors for battery, Wi-Fi, and mobile data signal in the status bar, and more.

Most of XBlast's features are visual, so if you want to enter your tricked out homescreen in to be one of our featured home screens, this can help you do it. 

Again, these modules are just a few you should check out if you're getting started. If you have a specific device and want modules designed to enhance your type of phone, the XDA collection thread will give you some options to get started. With a little time and some experimentation, you'll have your Android phone looking and working just the way you want, without ever flashing a ROM. Plus, since all of these tweaks are easy to turn on and off, if you get tired of them, you don't have to flash a ROM to get rid of them-just deactivate the module in question and go about your business. 

That's the real beauty of the Xposed Framework. It's relatively low risk, and remarkably high reward when it comes to personalizing your device, and you can always back out of your changes if you don't like what you see or find something that works better.