Power user tips and trick: How to capture screen shot in the HTC One X

Taking screenshots of a mobile phone interface is one of the most regularly done things by the users, no matter if they are a general user or a developer. There are several reasons for taking the screenshots, especially when you are trying to capture anything in the interface or messages as a record, or are trying to share your highest score in a game to flaunt about that amongst your friends, or are sharing the screens to teach someone how things are done in the device. We won’t list out more reasons, but would actually explain how the screenshots are taken in the HTC One X without any usage of the applications.

There are two ways of taking screenshots, and these are both included in the Instructions manual too, but users usually ignore that part. The screenshot capturing can be done in either the HTC way or the Android way. And to make the confusion lesser, the screenshots are stored in different folders.

Capturing screenshot in the HTC One X – HTC Method

The screenshots when taken in the HTC’s trick, would be stored in the camera folder directly, i.e. in the DCIM folder. This would be a little annoying as HTC is including these screenshots in the folder where all the captures from the camera are located. To capture a screenshot in this method, you need to press down the Power/Lock key and along with that, you need to press the Home key (the 2nd touch sensitive key in the bottom).

 

Capturing screenshot in the HTC One X – Android Method

Many might already be knowing about this one, the standard volume down along with the Power/Lock key and this would put the screenshot into a separate folder named “Screenshots” and this would appear separately in the file manager and gallery.

Quality won’t be different in both the ways and it would be the best quality, the format being the PNG one. These images are of 1280 x 720 pixels quality. It totally depends on the users and the accessibility on the way they want to get it done but we would still go for the Android 4.0 way, as it would involve the physical keys and the images are placed separately and not amongst the camera captures.

If you want to have something using the Android apps, there are several of them and most of them would work when the phones are rooted. Rooting is not usually suggested, so you would have to cash out a few dollars to get the paid apps which help in taking screenshots without rooting the device, but when we have the direct tricks of capturing the screenshots, looking for something else would be of no much use.

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How to maximize your HTC One X, 1X's battery life?

The HTC One X is a beast of a device. It is arguably the best Android smartphone around right now. But no device is perfect, and neither is this one. It seems a little issue with a large consequence slipped through HTC when making this device, and now the battery is draining faster than it should.

 

It seems the issue is that an app called NvCPLSvc.apk was placed in the wrong directory. It should be under the system\app directory, and it is located at system/bin, instead. The fix is relatively simple: one needs to move the file to the right place and change the file’s permissions.

This is possible via ADB, and instructions can be found at XDA Developers’ site. Users have been reporting a 10%-20% increase in battery life, so this little trick might very well be worth a shot. Extra juice is always good.

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Some Hidden Features of the Galaxy S3 you might not know about....

Shed some light with a slide

We’re often adjusting the brightness of the Samsung’s huge SAMOLED plus screen, if not to read it outside, then to reduce battery wear and tear.

Now, instead of using the power management options deep inside the settings menu, there’s a clever shortcut you can get to from any app or menu on the phone; you can quickly adjust brightness by holding your finger on the status bar at the top of the screen; slide to the right to increase, to the left to decrease the screen brightness.

The Galaxy S2: The secret code

Key in *#0*#, and you’ll have access to the inner test functions of your phone. There’s actually not much to see here, but it’s worth trying if you want to check to see if all your pixels are functioning. The sensor button is pretty fascinating too, you’ll see all the data the accelerometer, magnetic and proximity sensor picks up.

Phonebook and contacts tricks

Get into the keypad on the phone app, and type in the first few numbers, and the Galaxy S2 will cross-reference your bulging contacts book, and suggest who you’re trying to ring. You can also ‘type’ the name, in 90s retro style. Tom, for example, would come out by pressing 866.

Post-call extras

Ever forgotten that vital last detail in a business call, or forgot to warn someone that you’re running low on milk when they go to the local shop?

When you finish calling someone, look back to the screen, and you’ll notice you have the option to redial, videocall (!) or send a text message to the person you were just speaking to.

Quick-calling from contacts screen

Slide your finger across to the left to immediately call a contact. You can also slide to the right to open a text message window.

Button bonuses

We’ll start with a feature that went viral; several new Android phones can now take ‘screengrabs’, snapshots of whatever is currently displayed on your phone. The Galaxy S2, naturally, has the new feature, just press the home button in the middle at the same time as the power button on the right edge. You’ll hear a shutter sound, and a picture will appear in your gallery. Presto!

Holding the button: task manager

Holding the home-button for a few seconds will push you into the task-manager, with shortcuts to the recently used apps. You’ll also find a link to the task manager, where you can kill any apps you don’t need and stretch your battery life a little longer.

Fly into flight mode

Looking to lock-down your phone’s wireless connections? Hold the power button for a moment, and alongside the option to shutdown the phone, 3G data, or silent mode you can switch immediately to airplane mode.

Two-for-three. You can still search

You may notice the Galaxy S2 only has two Android buttons alongside its home button. It’s missing the search button. Fear not; generally speaking you can get the search button functionality by holding the menu button on the left.

Screen-lock for video

Fed up of your phone shutting down during long videos? Press the power button and you can lock the screen on. Press it again, and it’ll be unlocked. We’d love to see this feature on YouTube and the BBC iPlayer.

Wider widgets

One of the best features of Android phones is ability to add larger widgets to your homescreen, displaying more information than an icon, like weather forecasts, your calendar and music playlist.

We suspect you may have gone a little widget happy, like we have, but we were relieved to find that several widgets can have their size adjusted; perfect for fitting into those important first few screens.

Hold onto the widget then release without moving it, and you should see a yellow frame work appear, and you can stretch and adjust the widget to fit.

It works on most of Samsung’s own widgets, but you may find the likes of Spotify are less willing to have their size tinkered with.

If you’re still having trouble getting between homescreens, pinch the screen to see an overall view of all your home-screen. Tap on one to be taken immediately to it.

Pinch-to-zoom will also work on your monthly calendar, drawing out into an annual view. If in doubt, give it a pinch, there’s often something hidden there.

One final way to zoom between those seven home screens; use those smalll grey dots at the bottom of the home screen. Whilst you can tap to go immediately to a specific page you can also swipe across the screens in record time.

Galaxy in motion

The Galaxy S2 has several motion settings that may have been ignored when you first got the phone. (They appear when you first open apps and features that can use motion gestures.)

Go into the settings menu to turn some of the one; several are well worth making the effort for. Our favourite is ‘turn over’ which will silence your phone mid-call. Very useful if you’re in the middle of a conversation or somewhere that appreciates silence.

‘Tilt’ works by using two fingers to hold a picture or webpage, and arching the phone towards or away, acting as a zoom function. We found it was ideal for group photos when you’re looking to spot faces.

Choose those four sticky apps

You may not be satisfied with the four app shortcuts that stay at the bottom of the phone screen, but these can be changed.

It’s slightly more complicated than adding and removing icons for your homescreen, but tap on applications in the bottom-right corner, then tap the physical menu button on the left of the phone’s main button. You can now rearrange both the four ‘main’ apps and reorganise all the apps on your phone.

Tap on the applications icon and choose list to get them organised into a very easy-to-navigate alphabetical list.

Camera cunning

The high-end camera on the Galaxy S2 also has some hidden features; you can use the volume keys to act as zoom, whilst holding the menu button down will allow you to customise all the camera options you see on-screen.

There you have it; a load of secret tips and tricks hidden inside the Galaxy S2. We haven’t seen this many secret shortcuts and hidden features since the iPhone 4. And we're exhausted.

Alright, one last easter egg; go into settings, then about phone. Tap on Android version bar, several times, very fast.

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Yeah, we have no idea why either.

Some helpful Samsung Galaxy S2 Tips and Tricks (repair, unlock, drmobiles.co.nz)

Shed some light with a slide

We’re often adjusting the brightness of the Samsung’s huge SAMOLED plus screen, if not to read it outside, then to reduce battery wear and tear.

Now, instead of using the power management options deep inside the settings menu, there’s a clever shortcut you can get to from any app or menu on the phone; you can quickly adjust brightness by holding your finger on the status bar at the top of the screen; slide to the right to increase, to the left to decrease the screen brightness.

The Galaxy S2: The secret code

Key in *#0*#, and you’ll have access to the inner test functions of your phone. There’s actually not much to see here, but it’s worth trying if you want to check to see if all your pixels are functioning. The sensor button is pretty fascinating too, you’ll see all the data the accelerometer, magnetic and proximity sensor picks up.

Phonebook and contacts tricks

Get into the keypad on the phone app, and type in the first few numbers, and the Galaxy S2 will cross-reference your bulging contacts book, and suggest who you’re trying to ring. You can also ‘type’ the name, in 90s retro style. Tom, for example, would come out by pressing 866.

Post-call extras

Ever forgotten that vital last detail in a business call, or forgot to warn someone that you’re running low on milk when they go to the local shop?

When you finish calling someone, look back to the screen, and you’ll notice you have the option to redial, videocall (!) or send a text message to the person you were just speaking to.

Quick-calling from contacts screen

Slide your finger across to the left to immediately call a contact. You can also slide to the right to open a text message window.

Button bonuses

We’ll start with a feature that went viral; several new Android phones can now take ‘screengrabs’, snapshots of whatever is currently displayed on your phone. The Galaxy S2, naturally, has the new feature, just press the home button in the middle at the same time as the power button on the right edge. You’ll hear a shutter sound, and a picture will appear in your gallery. Presto!

Holding the button: task manager

Holding the home-button for a few seconds will push you into the task-manager, with shortcuts to the recently used apps. You’ll also find a link to the task manager, where you can kill any apps you don’t need and stretch your battery life a little longer.

Fly into flight mode

Looking to lock-down your phone’s wireless connections? Hold the power button for a moment, and alongside the option to shutdown the phone, 3G data, or silent mode you can switch immediately to airplane mode.

Two-for-three. You can still search

You may notice the Galaxy S2 only has two Android buttons alongside its home button. It’s missing the search button. Fear not; generally speaking you can get the search button functionality by holding the menu button on the left.

Screen-lock for video

Fed up of your phone shutting down during long videos? Press the power button and you can lock the screen on. Press it again, and it’ll be unlocked. We’d love to see this feature on YouTube and the BBC iPlayer.

Wider widgets

One of the best features of Android phones is ability to add larger widgets to your homescreen, displaying more information than an icon, like weather forecasts, your calendar and music playlist.

We suspect you may have gone a little widget happy, like we have, but we were relieved to find that several widgets can have their size adjusted; perfect for fitting into those important first few screens.

Hold onto the widget then release without moving it, and you should see a yellow frame work appear, and you can stretch and adjust the widget to fit.

It works on most of Samsung’s own widgets, but you may find the likes of Spotify are less willing to have their size tinkered with.

If you’re still having trouble getting between homescreens, pinch the screen to see an overall view of all your home-screen. Tap on one to be taken immediately to it.

Pinch-to-zoom will also work on your monthly calendar, drawing out into an annual view. If in doubt, give it a pinch, there’s often something hidden there.

One final way to zoom between those seven home screens; use those smalll grey dots at the bottom of the home screen. Whilst you can tap to go immediately to a specific page you can also swipe across the screens in record time.

Galaxy in motion

The Galaxy S2 has several motion settings that may have been ignored when you first got the phone. (They appear when you first open apps and features that can use motion gestures.)

Go into the settings menu to turn some of the one; several are well worth making the effort for. Our favourite is ‘turn over’ which will silence your phone mid-call. Very useful if you’re in the middle of a conversation or somewhere that appreciates silence.

‘Tilt’ works by using two fingers to hold a picture or webpage, and arching the phone towards or away,acting as a zoom function. We found it was ideal for group photos when you’re looking to spot faces.

Choose those four sticky apps

You may not be satisfied with the four app shortcuts that stay at the bottom of the phone screen, but these can be changed.

It’s slightly more complicated than adding and removing icons for your homescreen, but tap on applications in the bottom-right corner, then tap the physical menu button on the left of the phone’s main button. You can now rearrange both the four ‘main’ apps and reorganise all the apps on your phone.

Tap on the applications icon and choose list to get them organised into a very easy-to-navigate alphabetical list.

Camera cunning

The high-end camera on the Galaxy S2 also has some hidden features; you can use the volume keys to act as zoom, whilst holding the menu button down will allow you to customise all the camera options you see on-screen.

There you have it; a load of secret tips and tricks hidden inside the Galaxy S2. We haven’t seen this many secret shortcuts and hidden features since the iPhone 4. And we're exhausted.

Alright, one last easter egg; go into settings, then about phone. Tap on Android version bar, several times, very fast.

Yeah, we have no idea why either.

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The top ten tips for the Samsung Galaxy S3 (III), i9300 (Google Android, Smartphone, unlock, repair, Auckland)

(1) Do not touch or cover the area around the antenna (top left corner when looking at back of phone) with your hands or other objects while using the GPS functions.

(2) You use the power button to reset the device (press and hold for 8-10 seconds).

(3) You can use the menu button to launch the search application (press and hold).

(4) You can use the home button to launch the S Voice application (press twice).

(5) Pick up the phone after not using it for a while or when the screen has turned off. The phone will vibrate if you have missed calls or new messages.

(6) While viewing call, message, or contact details, pick up and hold the phone to your ear to make a voice call.

(7) Shake your phone to search for Bluetooth devices.

(8) Shake your phone to update the list of email messages or information from Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, or AccuWeather.

(9) Double-tap the top of the phone to move to the top of a list of contacts or email messages.

(10) Place the phone screen down to mute ringtones, pause media playback, or mute the FM radio.

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Top 10 Smartphones With The Longest Battery Life Read more: http://www.gizmocrazed.com/2012/06/top-10-smartphone-with-the-longest-battery-life/#ixzz1xCjUb6FD

Battery is one of the most crucial part of a smartphone, and can seriously let down a top-class smartphone. Consumers these days are more attracted with those phones, which are capable of going through a day of moderate use. Smartphone manufacturers such as Sony,HTC, Samsung and Motorola seem to be the first ones paying attention to this major problems having recently churned out a lot of phones with batteries which can keep up.

1. Motorola Droid Razr Maxx

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx, the bigger brother of the Droid Razr, is easily the top smartphone in the market when compared battery wise. Containing a monstrous 3300 mAh battery, this phone can easily get you through a couple of days on moderate usage. It has got nearly a day of talk time, 20 hours and 24 minutes to be exact, which is just incomparable and is almost 8 hours ahead of the 2nd smartphone with the best battery life. While the browsing time is also a big 7:23.

2. Samsung Galaxy Note

The big 5.3 inch-screen phablet by Samsung is no slouch in battery performance. Despite a gigantic screen, it also has a giant battery: 2500 mAh. The big battery is enough to power up the huge-phone, as well as giving it excellent battery performance with 12 hours and 14 min of talktime, though it was a bit marred by abysmal performance in the browsing area because of the gigantic screen, only 3 hours and 35 minutes.

3. HTC One X (AT&T Version)

The LTE-version of HTC One X managed it very well with it’s medium-sized 1800 mAh battery. The Snapdragon S4 processors used in this seems to be a lot more power-efficient than the Tegra 3 one used in the international version. This smartphone got 10 hours and 35 mins of talktime and a moderate 5 hours and 35 minutes of continuous browsing.

4. Samsung Galaxy S III

The new-king of Android smartphone, Samsung Galaxy S III, which was released last month is almost the perfect smartphone, including an excellent 2100 mAh battery. Despite a huge 4.8 inch screen, a quad-core processor and some other capabilities, the S III still touts a talk time of 10:20 as compared to 5 hours and 17 minutes of browsing.

5. HTC One V

Despite being the underdog in the One family, the HTC One V fairs a lot better than the other “Ones”. With a mild-1500 mAh battery, the HTC One V can give up to exactly 10 hours of talktime. While the One V has an excellent browsing time of 6 hours and 49 minutes.

6. HTC One X (International Version)

The international Tegra 3-version of the HTC One X isn’t bad after all. With the same 1800 mAh battery, it is just a few paces below it’s AT&T-specific brother. The One X can give you up to 9 hours and 57 minutes of talk time and 4 hours and 18 minutes of continuous browsing.

7. HTC One S

The best competitor of the One X(excluding the Galaxy S III) is none other than HTC’s own One S. It has a 1650 mAh battery, which can deliver a solid 9 hours and 42 minutes of talk time while the browsing time is is 4 hours and 3 minutes.

8. Samsung Galaxy R

The medium-speced Galaxy R by Samsung managed to prop-up for the 8th best phone with the longest battery life. The Samsung Galaxy R has a moderate 1650 mAh battery. The Galaxy R can easily deliver 9 hours and 40 minutes of talk time and a maximum browsing time of 5 hours and 7 minutes.

9. HTC Sensation XL

The Beats audio touting smartphone, HTC Sensation XL has got a 1600 mAh battery, compelling it to give a talk time of 9 hours and 30 minutes and a browsing time of 5 hours and 20 minutes.

10. Nokia Lumia 710

The Nokia Lumia 710 managed to become the first Windows Phone smartphone to be in the top 10 smartphones with the longest battery life despite it’s small, 1300 mAh battery. It gave a good 9 hours and 5 minutes of talk time and 3 hours and 51 minutes of continuous browsing.

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WARNING!! Anal Penetrating Chair Kills Teen

A fourteen-year old boy in China was killed when a chair he was sitting in exploded. Chunks of metal pierced the boy’s rectum resulting in extensive and fatal bleeding.

This is not the first time such a thing has happened, but it is the first fatality.

The boy was alone when the accident occurred, sitting on his computer chair. Bravely, he managed to make one last phone call to his father despite being in horrific pain. An ambulance was immediately summoned, but it took an hour to get him to the hospital and he died enroute.

The “killer chair” was a common gas-cylinder-based chair the height of which can be altered via a cylinder located at the base of the chair, which contains highly pressurized gas.

Allegedly, energy created by the seat cushion caused the explosion.

The fact that three similar incidents were reported at a hospital in the last month alone, suggests an influx of malfunctioning chairs. Back in 2007, such a chair propelled a metal part into the rear of a 68-year-old man, who suffered a severe wound but survived.

In all of the incidents three factors were implicated:

• Non-nitrogenous gases contaminated the cylinder of the chair.

• Deficient materials in the cylinder reduced the durability of the part.

• The cylinder was not completely airtight.

Although oil-based hydraulic devices are said to be safer, most such chairs on the market today use gas cylinders and the majority of them come from China.

So all you computer workers with adjustable height chairs better watch your butt…
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Parents Allow Four-year-old Child to Drive Car!

In Jinan, Shandong Province, China, the driver are getting younger and younger, much to the chagrin of the police.

Authorities are unable to act legally against the parents of a four-year-old girl whose parents made a video of her driving “adventure,” as she traveled along the highway in front of horrified passing drivers and pedestrians. 

 For two terrifying minutes, the little girl was at the wheel driving at speed and even overtaking several vehicles while the parents kept reminding her to concentrate.

The child’s father sat behind her sans safety belt and her mother was in the passenger seat.

Our little lady of the road made at least one potentially dangerous error. (Of course, how many does a fatal accident require?) She lined up for a traffic light in the wrong lane. She did, however, within a few breathless seconds manage to maneuver the vehicle into the correct lane.

The parents had adjusted both the brake and the accelerator pedals so that their tiny daughter could reach them.

Children are not allowed to drive in China, but according to the law, tickets cannot be issued to children under 14 years of age.

The most the police could do is educate the parents and hope that they would compensate any injured parties should an accident occur.

On the other hand, maybe letting children drive is an innovative approach to controlling the over-population in China!

Go figure.

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Chinese Firefighters Use Apple iPhone to Help Rescue Trapped Toddler

Here is a story that would likely have made Steve Jobs proud, as a toddler’s life was recently saved completely due to an iPhone.
  

Firefighters in Mengzi used the iPhone to help them figure out the best way to get the young boy into the harness they were using after the boy got stuck at the bottom of a 40-foot well.

Based on the reports, the rescuers were having a hard time slipping the harness onto the boy since it was made for adults. To add to the difficulty, the well was very narrow.

Using the iPhone’s camera function, the rescuers were able to see up close how they would need to get the boy into the harness and eventually to safety.

In the end, the successfully pulled the toddler from the well.  The boy is said to be recovering well and had not sustained any injuries. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOHstEcPUNU

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Campaign Posters From Indonesia!

Every country has elections and legislative issues it wants to see elected and voted through. This normally leads to speeches, commercials, and campaign posters.

Here are a few of the funnier campaign posters from Indonesia:

Revive our national identity by making ‘eating and drinking with your right hand’ a daily habit…

Notice in this election poster below, that one of the candidates is missing. The individual second from the left has been blurred out and in the box below, it is written that the candidate has already passed away.

Of course, sometimes the best selling point for a potential candidate is the celebrities and world leaders they happen to know:

Nothing could be better than having one of the most powerful wizards in the world in your corner…

Or the man who can end the battle between Osama and Obama?

Last, but not least, if all else fails… just pop in a phone booth and become the super candidate.

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