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Showing posts with label iphone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iphone. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

How to maintain your iphone: 25 iPhone tips and tricks you need to know

How to maintain your iphone, tips
iPhone
What's the only thing better than 25 ways to master your iPhone? 25 more.

In case you missed our first round-up of 25 assorted iPhone tips and tricks, be sure to read these simple ways you can get more out of your smartphone investment.

In the first post we covered everything from how to dry out a wet iPhone and fixing those dang "autocorrect" issues to using the phone cord to take a picture (and why) and making your own ringtone without having to pay your carrier.

And now we've got another 25 awesome things to try with your iPhone, many of which you weren't aware of.

And hey, if you have any tips of your own to share, be sure to leave them in the Comments section at the bottom — so you can get credit where it's due.

Here we go:

Turn iBooks into audio books: Like most smartphones, the iPhone has a number of accessibility options. One feature is called VoiceOver and it can read aloud any text on the screen. While designed primarily for the seeing impaired, anyone can take advantage of this feature if they want to turn an e-book into an audiobook. Now you can listen while commuting to and from work, while closing your eyes in bed or when jogging down the street. To activate it, go to Settings, then General, followed by Accessibility. Finally, swipe to change VoiceOver from Off to On. You'll also be able to tweak settings, such as the speed of voice reading to you. She sounds like the voice of Siri, by the way.

Quick access a draft email: You probably know you can start an email and save it as a draft to finish or review at a later time -- if not, when you're typing an email, tap Cancel and then select Save Draft — but here's a super quick way to access your message draft when you're ready to continue working on it: Open up the Mail app, touch and hold the Compose button (the icon of the small pencil in the square) and after a second or two it'll automatically take you to your last saved message draft. Neat, huh? Otherwise, you need to open Mail, select the email account, select Drafts and then find the message.

Send multiple photos at the same time: To send multiple photos to the same contact (say, in an email or iMessage), open the Photos app and then tap on an album, such as Camera Roll. Now tap the Select icon in the top right of your iPhone screen. Now you can tap to choose any photo you'd like to send to someone. Once you've selected the desired pics, tap Share in the bottom right of the screen and you'll have three options: Email, Message or Print.

Tell Siri the entire email: iPhone 4S owners probably go through a lengthy back-and-forth with Siri just to compose an email. Most people say the person's name and then, when prompted, the subject line, and finally, the body of the email. But did you know you can do it all in one fell swoop? For example, hold down the home button and say "Remind my wife about the party and say don't forget to pick up a bottle of red wine tonight." Siri will know who your spouse is (or will ask you once) and place that in the To: field, and because you said "about" the party, Siri knows you want that in the Subject (Re:) field. You also said "and say," which places words you said after that into the body of the email. This will all save you time.

Close open apps to save battery life: Make sure apps you're no longer using are not open and draining the battery. Do this by double-tapping the Home button and you'll see all the recently used apps running in the background along the bottom of your phone -- such as a GPS app you no longer need because you've reached your destination. Press and hold an icon and they'll all jiggle, which means you can tap the X to close the open apps at the bottom of your iPhone.

Tweet from any app: If you scour comments and message boards on the web you'll find iPhone users who complain the integrated Twitter support isn't working for them. Chances are it's because they didn't know they had to sign in first — but it's only required once. Go to Settings on your iPhone, select Twitter (look for the little white bird on a blue background) and enter your Twitter handle (or email) and password. Now, you can tweet directly from apps like Safari, Photos, Camera, Maps and YouTube. Also remember that you can start typing a friend's Twitter handle and the iPhone will autocomplete the rest.

Undo the Bluetooth "ignore" command: If you've ever paired Bluetooth products with your iPhone then you're likely aware you can also choose to "Ignore This Device." There are different reasons why you'd want to do this, but sometimes you tap this option accidentally or you might change your mind after the fact. Now you won't see the wireless gadget you want to pair with. What to do? To have it show up on the list again, simply turn off your iPhone by pressing and holding the power button (on top of the phone) for a few seconds and then swipe to shut down. When you boot back up again you'll see the Bluetooth device you previously ignored.

Siri can handle Facebook, Twitter: The iO6 update will add native Facebook and Twitter support this fall, but until then, you can still use your voice to tweet or update your status. It involves setting up these popular social networking services to work with text messaging. For Facebook, text the word "hello" to 32665 (which spells FBOOK on a traditional keypad). You'll get an automated reply on your phone with a link to click to finish the setup. Finally, add the short code to your address book and rename it "Facebook." Now you can tell Siri "Text Facebook," followed by your status update. It's the same process for Twitter, as you'll want to enable mobile updates by sending a short code to Twitter. Then you'll add the short code to your Contacts, name it "Twitter" and then instruct Siri to send a message there. To get going, text the word "start" to 40404 (U.S.) or 21212 (Canada).

Lock the screen orientation: Does it drive you nuts to have the iPhone screen flip around when you rotate the phone? You can prevent this from happening if you have no desire to swap between portrait and landscape view. Simply choose the orientation you prefer by tilting the device and then double-click the Home button. This will bring up the multitasking interface at the bottom of the iPhone. Now swipe from left to right and you'll see a "portrait orientation lock" icon at the very left of this string of apps (it has a circular arrow on the icon). Tap it once to lock your orientation and you'll see a padlock appear. Turn it off by tapping it again.

Add PDFs to iBooks: You don't need to spend money on apps that let you read Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Instead, if you get a PDF as an attachment in an email, or see one on a website in Safari (or another iPhone browser), simply press and hold the PDF icon or link and you'll see an option appear called "Open in iBooks." Select this and you'll be able to read the PDF in the iBooks app. In fact, all your PDFs will now be stored here. Simply tap the word Books in the iBooks app (top, center of screen) and now select PDFs to see them all on the virtual bookshelf. You can delete them from this screen, too, if desired.

Master the keyboard: In the first 25 Awesome iPhone Tricks post we cover how to add your own shortcuts and quickly accept or refuse autocorrect suggestions. But here's a few other keyboard related tips: tap the space bar twice and the iPhone will add a period and capitalize the next word; quickly capitalize a word by pressing on the Shift (arrow) button and dragging your finger to the first letter of the word; to enter a number or symbol quickly, touch and hold, then select the key you want (lifting your finger returns you to the alphabet keyboard); and touch and hold a letter to reveal a list of special characters, such as à, á, â, ä, æ, ã and å, when you press and hold on "a." Hey, now you can type "Mötley Crüe" properly.

Siri is a verbal calculator, too: You might know Siri on iPhone 4S can give you facts and definitions on-demand but "she" can also solve math problems for you, too (this is where students, off for the summer say "so NOW you tell me"). Just give Siri a verbal task, be it addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, equations or fractions — and you'll see (not hear) the answer on the screen. Better yet, this is very handy when figuring out tip at a restaurant. For example, say you're out with three friends and the bill comes to $300. You can ask Siri something like "What's a 20 percent tip on $300, for four people?" and Siri will tell you everyone owes $15.

Swipe to delete messages: This one is pretty simple, but you'd be surprised how many people do it the longer way: to delete an unwanted email, text message or voicemail without opening them, just swipe across the message from right to left when you see it in list view and tap the red Delete button. Instead, many iPhone users waste time by opening up each and every message and tapping the small trash can at the bottom of the screen. On a related note, you can delete unwanted emails in bulk rather than deleting one at a time: In your Inbox, simply click the Edit button and check off the emails you want to delete with your finger and then choose Delete.

Tap to focus the camera: Those who regularly use the iPhone as a camera might know this simple trick: When you're snapping photos or shooting video on your iPhone — and seeing the subject on your screen as you line up the shot -- tap the screen where you want to iPhone to focus and it'll adjust the exposure and white balance automatically for that area. For example, you might want your friend's face in perfect focus or might opt for a more artsy shot of the sushi they're holding in their chopsticks by focusing the camera on the food. You get the idea.

Manage your camera time: Here's another tip when using the camera. Unless you're running out of room, never delete unwanted photos from your iPhone when you're out. Why? You really don't know what the photo looks like until you see it much bigger on a computer monitor (it may be better than you think and/or fixable with software). Plus, spending time deleting photos on your smartphone right after you took them means you might miss an awesome shot because you're not paying attention. And finally, deleting photos and videos off your iPhone unnecessarily drains the battery.

Add folders to the dock: Since iOS 4, you've been able to create a folder to store many similar apps on your home screen — this helps you better group your programs and find them easier. (Just press and hold an app until they squiggle, then drag and drop it onto another app). But did you know you could also create folders and add them to your dock at the bottom of the iPhone? Once you've got your folders created — and you can create or edit the name for the folder by pressing and holding the icon — simply drag it to the bottom of the iPhone screen for easy access. You can only have four icons at a time, so you might gave to move one there to your homescreen to make room.

Hold your iPhone like a camera: If you don`t like take a photo on your iPhone by pressing the virtual shutter button on the screen — after all, it's not the most comfortable and could cause the iPhone to shake when you snap the picture — then remember you can now take a photo by pressing the volume button on the side of your iPhone, which will be on top — in the same place as a shutter button on a regular camera!

Preview that picture: On a related note, if you want to preview the photo you just took, just drag your finger from left to right in the Camera app for a preview. Most people will tap the icon in the lower-left of the screen and open up the photos manually. If you haven't taken any photos or videos lately, swipe from left to right in the Camera app will start to show your Camera Roll, from newest to oldest, as you continue to swipe along.

Easily control your music: When you're listening to music on your iPhone and using the earbuds that shipped with them, you might be aware you can press once on the small controller in the middle of the headphone cord to pause the music, and press again to play. But did you know you could quickly double tap to skip to the next song and triple-tap to listen to the previous song? Also, iPhone 4S users can use Siri to play music, such as saying "Play Jay Z" or "Play other music like this" or "Play playlist workout mix."

Quickly add a calendar entry: You might've noticed when reading an email in the Mail app it'll automatically underline anything related to date and time. For example, you're typing to your buddy something like "Don't forget we're hooking up for drinks on Friday afternoon." iPhone will detect this is a date or time and will convert it to a link -- your friend will see "on Friday afternoon" underlined and in blue — and they could tap the link to add the event to their calendar.

Sync it all: Computer? What computer? You need not connect your iPhone to your PC or Mac every again if you activate the iCloud service. Automatically back-up your iPhone information to iCloud by going to Settings, iCloud and finally Storage and Back-Up. Also, be sure to select what gets synched over Wi-Fi (or if you prefer, 3G, too, though be aware of data costs). You can choose to sync Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Bookmarks, Notes, Photos and more. You get 5GB of free storage through iCloud, but can pay for more if you like. Also, while here, activate "Find My iPhone" so you can track your phone if missing or stolen (see here).

Enable restrictions: Whether it's on your iPhone or your child's iPod touch or iPad, you can block inappropriate content from your kids (such as music with explicit lyrics), prevent them from buying apps (or in-app purchases) and block YouTube, Safari, FaceTime and more. To enable restrictions — and then customize what they're able to access -- go to Settings, General, Restrictions and tap "Enable Restrictions." You will first be promoted to select a 4-digit passcode before choosing which content and apps can be accessed.

Delete your memory-hogging apps: Beginning with the iOS 5 update, you can see how much space your apps are taking up on your iPhone and delete them from your device — even a bunch at once. To do this, tap Settings, followed by General and finally, Usage. From here you'll see a list of all your apps and their file size. If you see that Max Payne game is 1.3 Gigabytes and you don't play it anymore, tap to delete it. You can always reinstall it later of via iCloud, App Store or your computer.

Save battery by turning off "pushed" data: Another way to prolong battery performance is to off push notifications in email, instant messaging and other applications that constantly ping a server to push real-time notifications to your smartphone. That is, if you don't need to know this kind of information right away. In Settings, select the option that says Mail, Contacts and Calendars, tap "Fetch New Data" and change it from Push to Every 30 Minutes, Hourly or Manually.

Turn on the "Emoji" (emotions) keyboard: Ever notice how some of your friends have cute little emoticons in their emails or text messages. You know, like a little yellow face with hearts for eyes, teddy bears, Christmas trees, and so on? By default, your iPhone doesn't give you access to these emotions and other graphics — but it is stored on your phone and ready when you are. To enable the Emoji keyboard, go to Settings, then General and finally Keyboard. Once inside, tap International Keyboards and "add" new keyboard. Select "Emoji." Now, when typing an email or text, tap the globe key near the space bar for these new options. Tap it again to return back to English.

News by Yahoo

Read current news at http://bbc-cnn-worldnews.blogspot.com

Monday, April 30, 2012

JoeyBra: The Perfect Under-the-Shoulder Smartphone Holder

JoeyBra-bikini an iPhone holder
JoeyBra
A night out dancing is always so much better when you don’t have to hang on to a clunky purse.

College girls want to avoid carrying items to parties at all costs. Two Washington college students have created a pushup bra specifically for carrying a smartphone, credit cards, IDs, money and keys. The JoeyBra features a pouch on the left side of the bra underneath a woman’s left armpit. The creators compared the pouch to a kangaroo’s. A phone and other small items easily fit into the pocket and can be covered by clothing.

Mariah Gentry and Kyle Bartlow, both junior business students at the University of Washington, said the JoeyBra was inspired by the school’s “vibrant Greek system.” Bartlow said on the site that he has seen too many girls asking for contact information on Facebook after they lost or destroyed their smartphones during a weekend out on the town.

“From our own personal experience, we know that women hate taking purses to dances, bars, or dance clubs,” the JoeyBra creators said on their website. “Leaving these items at home can pose a safety risk, but with JoeyBra women will never have to worry losing or damaging their valuables again.”

The duo launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $4,000 in funding by May 19. So far, 60 people have backed the JoeyBra and the campaign has raised $3,145. Those who donate $30 or more will receive a JoeyBra.

So, ladies — would you wear a JoeyBra? I think this gadget is great for drunk college students, but maybe not for professionals. Reaching under my arm to check a text or grab cash may look weird, and pulling my iPhone out of my bra at a professional event doesn’t seem classy. Tell us what you think in the comments.


News by Mashable

Read current news at http://bbc-cnn-worldnews.blogspot.com

Saturday, April 28, 2012

How Samsung Became The World’s Top Handset Vendor

latest samsung mobile
Products by Samsung

It sounds like Nokia’s classic ringtone just got a few octaves lower and sadder. Friday, Strategy Analytics revealed the Finnish phone-maker had been ousted from its lofty position at the top of the cellphone food chain. Samsung just became the leading shipper of mobile phone handsets in the world. How did this happen? The same way a runner in any race pushes to the front: He speeds up, or the other guy slows down. Sometimes both happen at once.

There’s a kind of morbid fascination involved in watching a formerly great goliath stumble: we’ve seen it over the past few years in the mobile space with RIM and Palm (and then HP), but seeing Nokia trip over itself has been akin to witnessing a revered grandfather fall down the stairs. Nokia practically created the mobile phone industry; until recently its brand name was unassailable in most parts of the world, with the curious exception of the United States.

The nature of their missteps has been well-documented, but suffice to say that Nokia CEO Stephen Elop made some difficult choices. He made these choices rather publicly in his “burning platform” memo of February 2011, which, depending on who you ask, either told some hard truths or needlessly eviscerated Symbian sales at a critical point in the company’s history. Whichever view one takes, the fact remains that Nokia didn’t start shipping devices built on its new OS of choice, Windows Phone, until much later in 2011. Perhaps it was unavoidable, but that delay cost them dearly.

As is usually the case with platform wars, the data isn’t exactly clear regarding all the factors surrounding Nokia’s decline. It’s true that the Windows Phone platform has been slow to gain traction, but Nokia was also woefully behind in developing a replacement for Symbian -or even in realizing that a replacement for Symbian was needed- before Elop showed up. To anyone paying attention, the decline seemed inevitable, given the company’s lack of agility.

Seeing Nokia reinvent itself, with the accompanying beautiful design work coming from its hardware division, has been truly incredible; speaking personally as a consumer, the N9 and its derivatives are the reason I started noticing Nokia. But beautiful design and the most interesting innovations, while an indicator of potential greatness, are lousy at arresting downward momentum. A fall from grace was overdue, and it’s finally materialized. After watching storm clouds gathering on the horizon for months, a massive 24% decline in handsets shipped year-over-year is Nokia’s barometer finally crashing into the basement.

So it was only a matter of time before Nokia lost the number-one spot. But the king who loses the crown is only half the story. What steps did the new guy take to snatch it from his head?

Samsung’s current lead over Nokia is in part a byproduct of its war with Apple. In an editorial a while back, I talked about the voracious appetite of second-place companies. There, the conversation was smartphone mind-share, and the leader was Apple, but the second place contender was still Samsung:

    “… Marketing head Younghee Lee recently said, ‘Especially in U.S., people are obsessed with Apple … It’s time to change people’s attention.’ One need only look at the recent patent and advertising war between the two giants to confirm it: Samsung covets Apple’s leading mindshare position in that special way that only a second-place contender can. They’ve got their eye on the prize, and they’re fighting for it.”

Samsung’s approach to satiate that hunger for success has been unexpectedly multifaceted: instead of focusing its efforts on innovation, marketing, or emulation, it’s done all three.

Look at what Samsung has released in just the past year and a half. The Galaxy Note, initially considered a novelty item or a target of mockery by many (myself included), sold 5 million units in five months. It carved out a new “phablet” category not just for itself, but for a host of imitators. “Note”worthy indeed, and not bad for a device many thought was DOA.

The company brought the same zeal to the second coming of its popular Galaxy S smartphone series, once again blasting carrier after carrier with premium versions and midrange derivatives. Where the original Galaxy S devices still suffered a tad of stigma from “regular” consumers associating it with an iPhone knockoff, the growing brand prestige of Samsung had eliminated any such comparisons by the time the Galaxy S II line debuted.

Apple, much more potent a competitor than Nokia but equally as sluggish, refused to incorporate larger AMOLED displays, giving Samsung some purchase for easy visual differentiation. Once buyers’ eyes were attracted by the larger devices, they were drawn in further by the promise of the Android ecosystem and the more advanced capabilities of the Samsung devices, further reinforcing the Samsung brand perception.

At the same time, that brand was being heavily pushed by an aggressive marketing approach. Samsung was taking jabs at — and in some cases openly insulting — iPhone users, a controversial tactic it continues even today with its “The Next Galaxy” teaser. The company isn’t afraid to ruffle some feathers in the name of increased mindshare, and judging by its new title, it hasn’t hurt them much.

Even the “bad press” seems to be working in Samsung’s favor. I’ve talked before about my lack of enthusiasm for some of Samsung’s “me-too” products; sometimes it seems like they’re brazenly copying the competition. Some elements of the competition seem to think so too, as Samsung’s been the target of numerous lawsuits recently. But all the accompanying exposure in the media is doing something invaluable: it’s keeping their brand name on people’s screens and in their minds. Ironically, the alleged untrustworthy conduct (copying) is working in concert with its impressive product portfolio to cement the Samsung’s brand name as a trusted one, at least when it comes to mobile phones.

These massive upheavals don’t happen often. They’re the result of years and years of hard work and determination on the part of one company, and stagnation or mismanagement on the part of another. The last time the number-one spot on mobile handset vendors list changed was 1998, when Nokia dethroned Motorola. Fourteen years is an impressive run.

That’s not to say this change is permanent; it’s a volatile and unpredictable market. Nokia and Samsung are very different companies who couldn’t possibly be taking more disparate routes to success. And at the moment, the results they’re seeing are very different, as well. But the fact that Samsung is now the market leader shouldn’t be perverted into a reason to condemn Nokia’s new strategy; Nokia’s midstream shift was violent, and will take a long time to recover.

The longer it takes, though, the more opportunity Samsung has to continue leveraging its considerable advantages to stay on top. Given the uncertainty surrounding Nokia, it’s anyone’s guess when or if we’ll see it on top again. But judging by past performance and looking at who’s sneaking up behind Nokia (a certain Cupertino company), we may see a shift in the second- and third-place slots before we see another change in the first.


News by Mashable

Read current news at http://bbc-cnn-worldnews.blogspot.com

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Apple sells 16,000 iPhones per hour

Apple's iPhone
Apple's latest iPhone
Hong Kong (CNN) – Apple, the world’s most valuable company, nearly doubled its profit in the last quarter based on stronger-than-expected iPhone sales, according to CNNMoney.

The company beat analyst predictions thanks to 35.1 million iPhones sold worldwide from January through March. To help put that figure into perspective, CNN’s Katy Byron spoke to Gene Munster, a senior analyst who covers Apple at Piper Jaffray. A quick breakdown:

    * Apple sold an average of 385,000 iPhones per day the past quarter
    * That’s 16,000 handsets sold each hour a day
    * An average of 5,400 Apple’s iPads left the shelves per hour


As the Financial Times notes “even Tim Cook, Apple’s new chief executive, appeared taken aback” by the huge quarterly growth. “It is mind-boggling that we could do this well,” he said during a conference call with analysts on Tuesday.

The reason? In a word – China. Sales from China – where the iPhone 4S went on sale – were $7.9 billion, or 20% of the company’s total revenue. “Growth in China for iPhones was 500% year-over-year overall iPhone sales 88% year-over-year worldwide,” Munster told CNN.

And there’s room for Apple to grow in China this year. The iPhone launched on China Unicom and China Telecom this past quarter, but still is only available with 25% of phone carriers in China. “China Mobile still missing – which is like AT&T and Verizon combined here in U.S.,” Munster said. “They'll get that when iPhone 5 comes out (likely) in October 2012.”

Moreover, the strong quarterly results shows strong growth in the developing world as a whole – an area where many wondered whether Apple’s premium line of products could find success. “They've proven that they can sell in emerging markets,” Munster said.


Thursday, January 05, 2012

5 Surprising Causes of Acne

acne solutions
Acne free face
Can't determine what's triggering your breakouts? Check out these sneaky pimple producers — and find out which acne remedies will clear your complexion.

Solve Your Breakout Mysteries


It’s easy to blame your breakouts on stress or those three slices of pizza you ate last weekend, but that parade of pimples might instead be due to some lesser-known causes of acne.

You probably already know that there are several culprits behind acne: a collection of skin bacteria called P. acnes; overactive oil glands; and pores that get blocked by dead skin cells, according to dermatologist Bruce Katz, MD, director of the Juva Skin & Laser Center in Manhattan. But what brings on this breakout storm isn’t always so obvious.

Here, we identify undercover pimple triggers — and show you the best ways to zap those zits.

Your Cellphone

Taking too many calls on your iPhone could cause a pimple big enough to become a topic of conversation all its own. Pressing your cheek and chin against your phone causes pimple-producing oils to collect. Those oils, as well as acne-causing bacteria, build up along with any bacteria already on your mobile.

“It’s called ‘acne mechanica,’ ” explains dermatologist Eric Schweiger, MD, clinical instructor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. “It happens to violinists around the chin and football players with the chin strap — it’s [caused by] not letting the pores breathe, and the repetitive motion causes friction. Now we’re seeing it with cellphones.”

Redness relief: Clean your phone regularly by wiping it with the same cleansers you use for computer and TV screens. “When you talk on your cellphone, try not to keep it against your face or on the same side each time,” Dr. Katz suggests. Or simply keep clear by using a hands-free device.

Your Hairstyling Products


Styling products may fight frizz and leave your locks silky soft, but they can also cause breakouts, called “pomade acne,” along your hairline. “The acne comes from oil-based products and cosmetics,” Dr. Katz explains. “A lot of women don’t realize it’s not always their cosmetics causing the breakouts, but their hair product that rubs against their face when they’re asleep. It’s comedogenic, and is like putting oil on your skin.”

Redness relief: Look for oil-free pomades and gels (even natural oils can block pores, Dr. Katz notes). Also, scan the ingredients label for other acne-triggering additives, including the emulsifier Laureth-23, silicone and petrolatum. When applying styling products, be sure to avoid your hairline and skin, then wash your hands before touching your face, Dr. Schweiger suggests. Another smart move: Wash your pillowcases regularly. They absorb oil, hair products and dirt, all of which can activate acne.

Your Makeout Partner


If you can’t pin down what’s triggering your pimples, being cheek-to-cheek with your partner might be to blame. There’s even a name for breaking out after making out — “consort acne.” If your guy is wearing hair gel and you cuddle up, the gel can get on your face and cause acne, according to Dr. Katz. “Or, if someone has a lot of oils in their hair and you’re sharing a pillow, the oils can get on your skin and cause breakouts,” he says.

Redness relief: Ask your partner to use non-comedogenic products and oil-free hairstyling products. That will help keep the pimple-producing ingredients from rubbing off on your skin.

Your Toothpaste


Although a dab of toothpaste is often recommended as an on-the-spot pimple fighter, some people find that fluoride toothpaste actually triggers zits. “We see this when patients switch toothpastes and notice that they’re breaking out,” Dr. Schweiger says. Ingredients such as fluoride and sodium lauryl sulfate may cause irritation and produce pimples.

Your Water

Hard water often leaves a mineral residue on skin. This film can clog pores and bring on breakouts. “There are certain minerals in high concentrations in hard water, which may cause irritation like acne or eczema,” Dr. Schweiger says.

Redness relief: Save face by installing water filters or purifiers, such as Jonathan Product Beauty Water Shower Purification System ($95). Filters reduce the concentration of heavy metals in water, which can help prevent pimple-causing residue and irritation. (Bonus: The filtered, pH-balanced water will also leave your hair silky smooth.)

News by dailyglow


Read current news at http://bbc-cnn-worldnews.blogspot.com



Tuesday, December 20, 2011

HTC Android Phones Are Being Banned from the US Next Year

apple
Apple VS HTC
Apple just won a big court victory against HTC that could force HTC to stop selling its Android phones in the United States. The United States International Trade Commission ruled that HTC was infringing on an Apple patent that effects HTC Android devices running Android 1.6 to 2.2.

The devices that may be banned from being sold in the U.S. is basically a who's who list of Android phones: Droid Incredible, Evo 4G, T-Mobile G2, Nexus One and a bunch of older Android devices. The patent that the courts ruled HTC was infringing on (#5,946,647) is potentially a big one. According to Fortune, who took a deep look at the specific patent, it works like this:

When an iPhone receives a message that contains a phone number or an address — e-mail, Web or street — those bits of data are automatically highlighted, underlined and turned into clickable links.

Click on the phone number, and the iPhone asks if you want to dial it. Click on the Web address, and it opens in Safari. Click on the street address, and Maps will display it.

That's huge, not only because it's an important feature in smartphones but because it could mean Apple could go on to attack other Android phone makers because it's the OS that's infringing the patent, not the hardware. However, if HTC Android phones removed that feature (unlikely) or implement it in a different way (which we expect HTC to do), they could keep on selling. And that's pretty much what HTC expects to do, HTC, which has responded to this decision with rainbow colored unicorn tears, reached out to us with this statement:

This decision is a win for HTC and we are gratified that the commission affirmed the judge's determination on the ‘721 and ‘983 patents, and reversed its decision on the ‘263 patent and partially on the ‘647 patent. We are very pleased with the determination and we respect it. However, the ‘647 patent is a small UI experience and HTC will completely remove it from all of our phones soon.

Yes, the patent in question is a fixable problem but I'd hardly categorize the court's decision as a win for HTC. If HTC doesn't fix this issue however, the ban on HTC Android phones in the US is set to take into effect on April 19, 2012. That's not winning.

There are still some real moves left for HTC to make to avoid the import ban (a Presidential veto is an option) but this is sure setting up for a major stateside war (thermonuclear, even) between Apple and Android phone makers much like with what's happening with Apple and Samsung Tablets in Europe and Australia.

News by Gizmodo