IT DEVICES: Phones

Setup an Additional Phone Number on an Android Smartphone or iPhone

If you currently use your main 
phone number for everything under the sun, you might have noticed that 
those annoying telemarketing calls have started appearing on your cell 
phone. If you have a home phone, you will be bombarded with marketing 
calls no matter what, but cell phones have been mostly immune to this 
problem until recently.
Unfortunately, if you use your main phone number when signing up on 
Craigslist or Airbnb or when applying for a credit card, the number may 
eventually find its way to these telemarketing companies. Luckily, you 
can add a second phone number to your current phone that you can use 
anytime you don’t want to share your main number.

In this article, I’m going to talk about several apps that basically 
add a second line to your phone. The prices range from free to close to 
$10 a month. The more money you’re willing to spend, the more features 
you’ll get. The paid options are mostly for freelancers or people who 
run small businesses from home.

<h2>
Second Number Apps</h2>
There are basically only five recommendations I have for apps: Google
 Hangouts, Sideline, Burner, Skype and Line 2. In terms of cost, Google 
Hangouts is free, Sideline is $3 a month, Burner is $5 a month, Line 2 
is $10 a month and Skype varies depending on the number.

In my opinion, you should start with free first and go from there 
until you find the app that works best for you. If you’re not running a 
business of any kind, then Hangouts will probably be more than enough 
for most people.

<h3>
Google Voice/Hangouts</h3>
<a href="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/google-hangouts.png"><img alt="google-hangouts" class="lazy size-full wp-image-59841 aligncenter" data-original="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/google-hangouts.png" height="201" itemprop="image" src="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/google-hangouts.png" style="display: block;" width="600" /></a>

To be clear, you actually create a Google Voice number and then use 
Hangouts to make calls and send SMS messages. The first thing to do is 
go to <a href="https://www.google.com/voice" target="_blank">Google Voice</a> and get it connected to your main number. Once you have done that, click on the gear icon at the right and choose Settings.

You should see an access number for your voicemail and next to that, you will see a Get a Google Voice number link.

When you click on the link, you’ll have to choose whether you want a 
new number or if you want to use your mobile number. Obviously, if you 
want a second number, choose I want a new number.

On the next screen, you can get a number by area, zip code or city 
and enter a word or phrase or number if you want something specific. 
Keep going until you have your new number setup.

When someone calls on your Google Voice number, it will ring in 
Google Hangouts by default. However, you can go into the settings page 
on Google Voice and have the calls forwarded to your main number if you 
like. This way the phone will ring like a normal call.

In addition, you can record your own voicemail greeting and your 
name. You can forward text messages and voicemail to your email also. On
 the Calls tab, you can setup call screening so that 
unknown callers will have to speak their name before being connected to 
you. Google Voice also lets you record calls, switch between calls and 
do conference calls.

The great thing about Hangouts is that it works on several platforms including iOS, Android, and Chrome. If you go to <a href="https://hangouts.google.com/" target="_blank">https://hangouts.google.com/</a>, you can send text messages and make audio and video calls from the web.

Another nice advantage to Google Voice is that you can still receive calls on your phone even without Hangouts being installed.

The only downside that I have run into so far is that sometimes the 
number is not accepted on certain websites, especially for use in two 
factor authentication. Most of the time it works, but sometimes you’ll 
get a message stating you can’t use that number, in which case you’ll 
have to use your real number. However, this issue isn’t just limited to 
Hangouts, but occurs will all second number apps.

As with all other apps, except Sideline, Hangouts is a VOIP app, 
meaning it uses data in order to work. If you don’t have a large data 
plan and you’re not connected to WiFi, this could cause problems for 
some users. Sideline is the only app that uses your carrier network to 
make and receive calls, thereby reducing data usage. However, it uses 
your cellular minutes just like when you are making calls from your 
carrier number.

<h3>
Sideline</h3>
<a href="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/sideline.png"><img alt="sideline" class="lazy size-full wp-image-59847 aligncenter" data-original="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/sideline.png" height="295" itemprop="image" src="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/sideline.png" style="display: block;" width="680" /></a>

For $3 a month, Sideline gives you a second local number with less 
features than Google Hangouts. You can create a custom voicemail 
greeting, but that’s about it. By default, the app has ads, which is 
annoying. In order to remove the ads, keep the number permanently and 
enable WiFi calling, you have to spend the $3 a month.

But even with those features, it still doesn’t offer anything on par 
with Google Hangouts. For example, when receiving a call to your new 
second number, it shows some generic number in Sunnyvale, CA rather than
 the number of the actual person calling. You have to open the Sideline 
app to see the actual number of the caller.

<h3>
<a href="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/sideline-app.png"><img alt="sideline app" class="lazy size-full wp-image-59848 aligncenter" data-original="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/sideline-app.png" height="855" itemprop="image" src="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/sideline-app.png" style="display: block;" width="500" /></a></h3>
Texting is free and there doesn’t seem to be any limit. If your cell 
phone plan allows you to call anyone at any time, then you can use your 
Sideline number similarly. You’ll also be able to port your number out 
eventually with the $3 a month plan.

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sideline-free-phone-number/id1012032539?mt=8&" target="_blank">Sideline – iTunes App Store</a>

<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sideline.phone.number&" target="_blank">Sideline – Google Play Store</a>

<h3>
Burner</h3>
<a href="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/burner-app.png"><img alt="burner app" class="lazy size-full wp-image-59849 aligncenter" data-original="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/burner-app.png" height="265" itemprop="image" src="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/burner-app.png" style="display: block;" width="680" /></a>

The Burner app’s purpose is slightly different than all the other 
apps mentioned here. For one thing, the numbers are supposed to “burn” 
away after a set amount of time. You can get a premium line, which is 
the $5 monthly fee I mentioned above, with unlimited texts, pictures and
 minutes.

Otherwise, you can choose from a wide variety of burners, like the 
Mini Burner, which will give you 60 texts, no pics, 20 minutes calling 
and auto-burns in 14 days. You can check out all the different <a href="http://support.burnerapp.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1070877-types-of-burners-and-extensions" target="_blank">types of burners here</a>.

In order to buy the burners, you have to use credits. You can 
purchase credits inside the app. 3 credits are $2, 8 for $5, 15 for $8 
and 25 for $11. This is a great app if you need new numbers often. If 
you just want a single number for a long period of time, get the Premium
 line for $5 a month.

One interesting feature of Burner are integrations or connections to 
other apps. For example, you can connect to Evernote and create a SMS 
auto-reply bot. Doesn’t make sense? Check out the <a href="http://www.burnerapp.com/#tabs-1" target="_blank">video</a>.
 It’s actually pretty cool and could be very useful for some people. In 
addition, you can log text messages to Google Sheets or save voicemail 
to Dropbox.

The app doesn’t have very many features, but works well. You can also
 set your own voicemail greeting for each burner number you create.

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/id505800761?mt=8" target="_blank">Burner – iTunes App Store</a>

<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adhoclabs.burner&referrer=adjust_reftag%3Dcs8Gg49LKVYDn%26utm_source%3DWebsite%2B%255BAndroid%255D" target="_blank">Burner – Google Play Store</a>

<h3>
Line 2</h3>
Next, there is <a href="https://www.line2.com/" target="_blank">Line 2</a>,
 which is definitely geared towards freelancers and business owners. 
I’ve used Line 2 in the past for my local computer repair business and 
it was definitely worth the price. They have a personal version for $10 a
 month and a business version for $15 a month. You can see the 
difference between the two services right on the home page.

For a real business, the auto-attendant, toll-free number, multiple 
lines and after hours call handing features are a big plus. Obviously, 
it’s a lot more expensive and not something I would recommend unless you
 are trying to run a business out of your home, etc.

For me, I used a service to record a professional-sounding business 
greeting and then enabled the auto-attendant feature. This made a big 
difference in perception when my clients called in. It was way better 
than me picking up the phone and saying “Hello?”

Line 2 also has an excellent app and web dashboard for managing all 
your calls, voicemails, forwarding rules, etc. It’s a bit expensive, but
 the cheapest option for a business that needs some extra features.

<h3>
Skype Number</h3>
If you already use Skype, you may want to check out getting a <a href="https://www.skype.com/en/features/online-number/" target="_blank">Skype Number</a>.
 The cool thing about Skype is that you can get International numbers 
also. Pretty much all the other apps above work only with U.S. and 
Canada numbers. The cost for a number in the US is around $6 a month.

Along with the Skype number, you get all the benefits of using Skype 
like video calls, group video calls, SMS messaging, screen sharing and 
file sharing. With Skype, you basically buy credit that you can use for 
international calls, international SMS, etc.

Overall, it’s really easy to get a second or third or fourth number 
for your phone without much work. There are a lot of options out there 
and the best one for you will depend on your usage scenario. The great 
thing is that you can cancel all of these services whenever you want if 
you’re not satisfied. If you have any questions, feel free to comment.

Phones TIPS Troubleshooting Setup an Additional Phone Number on an Android Smartphone or iPhone

If you currently use your main phone number for everything under the sun, you might have noticed that those annoying telemarketing calls h...

How to Update a Nexus Device OTA to Android N (7.0) Beta

1:02 PM Unknown 0

If you have a Nexus device and 
love playing around with the latest versions of Android, then you might 
be happy to learn that you can update your device to the beta version of
 Android N over-the-air (OTA). The only devices you can do this for are 
the Nexus 6, Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, Pixel C and 
General Mobile 4G (Android One).
With one of these devices, you don’t have to worry about unlocking 
the bootloader or flashing your device using a system image. All you 
have to do is sign for the Android Beta Program, enroll your device and 
you’re good to go!

I’ll walk you through the steps in this article, but remember that 
pre-release versions of Android are normally unstable, so don’t do this 
on your primary device. If you do it and regret it later, there is a way
 to revert back to the last stable version of Android, which I will also
 explain below.

<h2>
Join Android Beta Program</h2>
The first step is to join the beta program and enroll your device. Visit the <a href="https://www.google.com/android/beta" target="_blank">Android Beta Program</a> website and login with your Google account credentials. Use the same account that you are using on your Nexus device.

You should see a list of your eligible devices towards the middle of 
the page. If you don’t see your device, make sure it’s not hidden in 
Google Play. Click on the Enroll Device button and accept the license agreement.

<h2>
Install Android Beta</h2>
The device will be enrolled and you should get a message on your 
phone fairly quickly, indicating that an update is now available for 
your phone.

Tap on the notification and you’ll see a message with a link to download the latest version of Android onto your Nexus device.

The message also mentions a couple of the new features for the beta 
version of Android. For Android N, new features include multi-window 
support, direct reply for notifications and more. Once the beta has been
 fully downloaded, you’ll get another notification to install it.

The install process will take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes, 
depending on your device. Once installed, you should be able to login 
into your device normally as long as everything went well. You might 
also have a bunch of app updates ready.

You can always verify that you are running a beta version of Android N by going to Settings and then tapping on About Phone all the way at the bottom.

Finally, scroll down to the bottom again and you’ll see the Android build number.

If the build number starts with NP, that means it’s a beta version of
 Android N. If you are having problems with the beta version of Android 
on your device, you can always roll back to the latest stable version.

In order to do that, just log back into the Android Beta Program website and you’ll see an Unenroll Device button.

When you click on that, you’ll get another notification on your 
device to download an OTA update that will wipe everything on your phone
 and install the latest public stable version of Android.

Overall, it’s a great program for those who have a Nexus device. If 
you don’t have a Nexus device, the process is far more complicated and 
prone to errors and failures. With the Beta Program, anyone can check 
out the latest version of Android with just a new taps and clicks. In a 
future post, I’ll talk about some of the new features in Android N

Phones Softwares How to Update a Nexus Device OTA to Android N (7.0) Beta

If you have a Nexus device and love playing around with the latest versions of Android, then you might be happy to learn that you can upda...

How to View & Take Photos in Widescreen (16:9) on iPhone

1:00 PM Unknown 0

If you have any of the newer 
iPhones, you have probably noticed that when you take a picture with the
 camera, it always has black bars on either side of the image. The 
iPhone screen has different aspect ratio than the photo and therefore 
the image doesn’t fill up the entire screen.<div class="entry-content" itemprop="articleBody">
<div class="KonaBody">
For someone like me, this is just really an annoyance. Yes, there are
 advantages to the way Apple does it, which I will explain below, but it
 is still frustrating that I can’t enjoy a full widescreen shot on my 
iPhone.

Luckily, there are a couple of ways you can take and view your 
already taken photos in widescreen format on the iPhone. In this post, 
I’ll show you how to edit photos so that they can be widescreen and how 
to take a photo in widescreen, though the latter option comes with some 
caveats.

<h2>
Aspect Ratios</h2>
Before we get into the details, let’s try to understand why photos 
taken on the iPhone will have black bars on either side of the photo 
like shown below:

The iPhone takes photos with an aspect ratio of 4:3. Why? Well, 
apparently that is the preferred ratio in still photography because it 
captures more pixels in the picture and is the preferred format for 
print, etc. If they were to use a 16:9 ratio for photos, then you 
wouldn’t be able to capture as much in each shot.

Have you ever noticed that when you switch from photo to video on the
 iPhone, the camera zooms in? That is because HD video is shot at the 
16:9 aspect ratio and therefore fills up the entire screen. The downside
 is that the shot has to be cropped and the field of view is 
considerably less.

In my opinion, Apple should have added an option to take 16:9 photos 
also and just given a warning to users that the resolution would be less
 than the max resolution possible with a 4:3 ratio picture. In my tests,
 a max resolution photo in 4:3 format from my iPhone 6S Plus was 4032 x 
3024.

In iOS, there are two ways to get your photos into 16:9 widescreen 
ratio: either by editing the photo or by taking a picture while you are 
taking a video. If you edit a 4:3 photo and convert it to 16:9, the 
resulting resolution is 4032 x 2268. If you take a 16:9 photo 
while taking a video, the resolution ends up being 3840×2160.

So what does that mean? Basically, if you like the widescreen format,
 just keep taking photos in the standard 4:3 ratio and simply edit them 
to 16:9 at a later point like I did above. You’ll have to crop the image
 a little bit (height-wise), but you’ll get the highest resolution 
photo.

<h2>
Widescreen Images on iPhone</h2>
OK, so now that you understand the mechanics behind how the photos 
are taken and displayed on your phone, let’s talk about the two ways to 
get widescreen photos. The first way is the simplest, but it requires 
you to take a video.

Open the Camera app and switch to video. When you 
start taking a video, you’ll see a white circle appear at the bottom of 
the screen. This allows you to take a picture while recording a video.

There are a couple of reasons why this isn’t the best way to get a 
widescreen photo. Firstly, you have to take a video in order to take the
 widescreen shot. Obviously, you can just delete the video later, but 
who wants to keep taking videos every time they want to take a photo?

Secondly, like I mentioned earlier, the resolution of the photo taken
 while in camera mode is less than if you simply edited the 4:3 standard
 photo. So let’s talk about how to edit a photo. Open the Photos app and tap on the photo you want to edit.

At the top right, go ahead and tap on the Edit link.

Now tap on the first icon towards the top, which is for rotating and cropping the image.

A few more icons will appear along with a wheel sort of thing that 
you can use to rotate the image. In our case, we need to tap on the 
aspect ratio button at the bottom, right next to the Cancel button.

Now you’ll get a popup with several different aspect ratios to choose from. You need to scroll all the way down to find the 16:9 ratio and tap on it.

Finally, you have to crop the image by moving it around with your 
finger. The portion that is inside the box is what will become your new 
widescreen photo.

Tap Done and your photo will now be in widescreen 
format! That’s about all there is to it. Unfortunately, there is no way 
to do this on a batch or set or photos in one go. You have to manually 
edit each photo that you want in widescreen format.

<h2>
Camera+</h2>
If that sounds like too much of a pain, then you can download an app from the App Store called <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/camera+/id329670577?mt=8" target="_blank">Camera+</a>. You can change the shooting mode to 16:9 and have the images automatically stored in the normal camera roll.

Just tap on the little plus icon next to the big white circle button 
and then choose the widescreen icon in the menu that pops out. To save 
images to your camera roll, tap on the little hamburger icon (three 
lines), then tap on AutoSave and choose Camera Roll.

This is probably the easiest way to ensure that all your photos are 
taken in widescreen format without having to manually do anything else. 
The resolution of the image was also 4032×2268, so it’s also the max 
resolution possible in that format. You can do a lot of other great 
stuff with that app, so it’s totally worth the cost if you like 
widescreen images all the time.

Hopefully, these tips will help you understand and enjoy the photos 
you take on your iPhone. If you have any questions, feel free to 
comment. Enjoy!

</div>
</div>

Phones How to View & Take Photos in Widescreen (16:9) on iPhone

If you have any of the newer iPhones, you have probably noticed that when you take a picture with the camera, it always has black bars on ...

Safari Running Slow on Your Mac?

12:58 PM Unknown 0

Apple touts Safari as the fastest
 browser out there, which may be true on iOS, but I regularly use Chrome
 on my Mac because Safari is just too slow. Sometimes a webpage won’t 
load or I won’t be able to navigate back and forth between pages or I 
can’t scroll without lagging.<div class="entry-content" itemprop="articleBody">
<div class="KonaBody">
It’s extremely frustrating considering Safari comes included with OS X
 and you expect it to just work. When it does, it’s a great browser, but
 when it doesn’t, you literally have to switch to a new browser.

In this article, I’ll mention all possible ways you can go about 
trying to speed up Safari on your Mac. If you have your own suggestions,
 feel free to let us know in the comments.

<h2>
Method 1 – Cache, History, Extensions</h2>
If you’re a heavy web user and you don’t have a lot of space left on 
your Mac, it might be worth emptying the cache, disabling extensions and
 clearing up the history to ease the load on Safari. In order to do 
this, you first have to go to Safari and then Preferences.

Click on the Advanced tab and then check the Show Develop menu in menu bar box at the bottom of the dialog.

Exit the Preferences dialog and click on Develop in the Safari menu. Go ahead and click on Empty Caches. Once the cache is empty, click again on Develop and choose Disable Extensions.

Finally, click on Safari and instead of Preferences like we chose above, click on Clear History.

In the drop-down box, make sure to choose all history and then click the Clear History button.

<h2>
Method 2 – Manually Clear Cache.DB File</h2>
The above steps should clear the cache in Safari, but if something is
 not working properly, it may not do so properly. In this case, you can 
manually do it. Open Finder, then click on Go and Go To Folder at the bottom.

Now copy and paste the following path into the text box and click Go.

<pre>~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db</pre>
<a href="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/safari-cache.png" rel="attachment wp-att-59527"><img alt="safari cache" class="lazy size-full wp-image-59527 aligncenter" data-original="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/safari-cache.png" height="127" itemprop="image" src="http://11986-presscdn-0-77.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/safari-cache.png" style="display: block;" width="429" /></a>

Finally, right-click on the Cache.db file and choose Move to Trash. Make sure Safari is closed when you are doing this step.

<h2>
Method 3 – Install Latest OS X Version</h2>
I’ve noticed that quite a few people who purchase Macs simply do not 
update their systems to the latest version of OS X. Even though we are 
on El Capitan right now, I have friends running on Mountain Lion, 
Mavericks, Yosemite, and even Snow Leopard!

If you don’t update OS X, you won’t get the latest version of Safari 
either. This means you could be stuck several versions behind and will 
be missing out on all the improvements and optimizations of the newest 
version.

The simplest way to upgrade is to go to the App Store and click on 
the link for the latest version of OS X, which is usually on the 
right-hand side.

<h2>
Method 4 – Turn Dashboard Off</h2>
If you’re still using an older Mac (2010 or earlier), you might have a
 graphics card issue. You can try something simple to see if it helps in
 Safari. I’m talking about disabling the Dashboard feature in Mission 
Control.

To do this, open System Preferences and then click on Mission Control. In the drop-down next to Dashboard, select Off.

This is not some surefire fix, but it has worked for some people, 
including myself. I have a Mid-2009 MacBook Pro and the dashboard was 
definitely slowing things down.

<h2>
Method 5 – Change Search Settings</h2>
Another thing you can try is to change the search settings in Safari. Open Preferences in Safari and then click on the Search tab.

Try changing the search engine to Bing, restarting Safari and see if 
there is any difference in the speed. Change it back to Google and then 
check again. You can also try unchecking all the options like search 
engine suggestions, Safari suggestions, quick website search, preload 
top hit, etc. to see if that makes a difference.

Sometimes on a very slow Internet connection, all of these extra features may cause Safari to be even slower.

<h2>
Method 6 – Change Network Service Order</h2>
If you have a machine that is connected to both WiFi and Ethernet, 
your issue could be caused by being connected to the network in two 
different ways. To see your connections, go to System Preferences and then click on Network.

You could try disconnecting one network source and seeing if that 
makes a difference or not. Switch to only the other one and test too. If
 you want to keep both connected, read on.

By default, one connection will get priority over the other. As you 
can see above, my WiFi connection was getting higher priority than the 
Ethernet connection. You can change this by clicking on the little 
settings icon (gear) at the bottom of the list box.

Click on Set Service Order and another popup will appear where you can reorder the connections by dragging and dropping.

I moved Ethernet to the top and then clicked OK. After that, make sure you click Apply to on the System Preferences dialog.

<h2>
Method 7 – Delete Preferences File</h2>
This probably won’t make much of a difference, but it’s worth a shot. Go to Finder, click on Go and then Go to Folder.  Type in the following path:

<pre>~/Library/Preferences</pre>
Scroll down the list till you see com.apple.Safari.plist and delete that file.

<h2>
Method 8 – Use Different DNS Settings</h2>
Sometimes it may not be Safari causing the issue, but your DNS 
settings. By default, you’ll be using the DNS provided by your ISP, 
which is fine most of the time. However, using a public DNS might result
 in faster browsing.

My favorite is Google Public DNS, which I use on all my computers. Check out my article on the <a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/cool-websites/free-dns-server/" target="_blank">best public DNS servers</a> you can use for free.  To change the DNS server for your connection on OS X, you need to open System Preferences, click on Network, select the connection and then click on Advanced.

Go ahead and click on the little + icon and then type in the IP 
addresses of the new DNS servers. Using Google has sped up my browsing 
not only in Safari, but also other browsers.

<h2>
Method 9 – Log Into Another Account</h2>
Sometimes the problem is with the user account you are currently 
using. It’s worth creating another user account (takes 1 min), logging 
into that account and then running Safari. If it’s suddenly faster, then
 there is a problem with your user account. You can try to fix the 
problem by using Disk Utility. You can go to Spotlight and type in Disk 
Utility to open the dialog quickly.

Click on your hard drive in the left hand pane and then click on the First Aid tab. You’ll be asked if you want to run First Aid on your hard drive, so click Run.

<h2>
Method 10 – Reinstall OS X</h2>
This may sound a little extreme, but it’s kind of similar to how you 
have to reinstall Windows every year or so because it becomes so 
bloated. Unfortunately, OS X suffers from some of the same issues, 
especially if you have always kept upgrading to the latest version of OS
 X without doing a clean install.

I upgraded from Mountain Lion to Mavericks to Yosemite to El Capitan 
before doing a fresh install of El Capitan, which made things 
significantly faster. It’s definitely worth a shot because it also made 
every other app load a lot faster too.

Those are about all the possible solutions I could find to fix a slow
 Safari problem. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to let us 
know in the comments.

</div>
</div>

Phones Softwares Safari Running Slow on Your Mac?

Apple touts Safari as the fastest browser out there, which may be true on iOS, but I regularly use Chrome on my Mac because Safari is just...

Micromax Launches Canvas Sliver 5, ‘World's Slimmest 4G Phone', Weighing Just 97 Grams

11:16 PM Unknown 0

Micromax Informatics Ltd on Thursday launched a 5.1mm thick 
smartphone in New Delhi, claiming that it’s the world’s slimmest 
4G-enabled phone when measured ‘end-to-end’. 
Priced at Rs 17,999,
 the company announced ‘M! On-site Care’, a 7 day doorstep service 
policy. The phone is bundled with a free 4G SIM from Airtel, with a 
double data offer that doubles the 4G data cap upon activation for the 
first three months. 
<img alt="micromax canvas sliver 5" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3087814/thumbs/o-MICROMAX-CANVAS-SLIVER-5-570.jpg?7" /> 
Specs
 wise, the Sliver 5 has a aircraft-grade aluminium body and a 4.8-inch 
720P HD AMOLED display sheathed in Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The Sliver 5
 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, with 2GB DDR3 RAM, 
16 GB of storage, and a 2000 mAh non-replaceable battery. The Sliver 
doesn’t have a second SIM card slot, nor does it have expandable memory.
 On the OS front, it comes loaded with Android Lollipop 5.0. 
The 
Sliver 5 is fitted with a 8MP AF rear camera, based on an SONY IMX219 
sensor, and uses a 4P Largan Lens. The selfie camera is a 5 megapixel 
shooter, with intelligent beauty modes incorporated into the software. 
Two
 existing smartphones will contest Micromax’s slimmest title - the 
Vivo's X5Max is just 4.8 mm thick, while the Oppo R5 is just 4.9 mm 
thick. Micromax CEO Vineet Taneja pointed out that the Slivery 5 still 
is the slimmest ‘end-to-end’ phone, while the slimmer phones have a 
protruding camera lens. 
The phone will be marketed with high 
impact campaign with Hugh Jackman, who wasn’t present at the launch 
event. The Sliver 5 will be available on all retail channels starting 
first week of July. 
 
Specs At A Glance 
• 97 grams 
• 4G LTE Enabled 
• Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 410 1.2GHz Quad Core; 64 bit & 2GB DDR3 RAM 
• Glass and Metal Body fortified with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 
• 4.8-inch HD AMOLED display 
• Dirac HD sound and NXP Smart Power Amplifier -louder sound and deeper bass 
• Android Lollipop 5.0 
• 8MP AF rear camera and 5MP FF front camera 
• 2000 mAh battery; Talk Time- 8hrs and stand-by of 344 Hours 
• 16 GB ROM 
• Sensors- Light Sensor, Gravity Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Magnetic Sensor and Accelerometer Sensor 
• Applications: Scandid, Swiftkey, Hotstar, Quikr, Cleanmaster, Snapdeal, and many more 
 
<img alt="MICROMAX CANVAS SLIVER" data-img-path="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3087830/images/n-MICROMAX-CANVAS-SLIVER-Pinterest.jpg" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3087830/images/n-MICROMAX-CANVAS-SLIVER-large570.jpg" />

Mobile Gadgets Phones Micromax Launches Canvas Sliver 5, ‘World's Slimmest 4G Phone', Weighing Just 97 Grams

Micromax Informatics Ltd on Thursday launched a 5.1mm thick smartphone in New Delhi, claiming that it’s the world’s slimmest 4G-enab...

Now You Don't Need To Add Zero Before Dialling An STD Mobile Number

10:56 PM Unknown 0

<img alt="MOBILE INDIA" data-img-path="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/2972318/images/n-MOBILE-INDIA-Pinterest.jpg" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/2972318/images/n-MOBILE-INDIA-large570.jpg" /> 
Indian telecom operators have started the process of removing the 0 and 91 STD prefix for dialling a mobile number. 
The technical changes seem to have rolled out by operators this week; we
 tested this on Vodafone and Airtel numbers based out of Delhi and are 
getting reports of the rollout from other parts of the country as well. 
 
The changes are in compliance with DoT’s (Department of Telecom)
 deadline on implementation for full mobile number portability (MNP), 
which was extended by two months from May 3 earlier this month. 
The DoT had approved TRAI’s recommendations on MNP on November 2014, and had fixed an implementation deadline of six months. 
Full
 MNP will allow subscribers to retain their mobile number in any part of
 the country even when they change their operator or state. At present, 
MNP allows subscribers to change mobile network while retaining their 
number in the same telecom circle. 
Telecom operators will be 
spending around Rs 200-300 crore to upgrade their networks to implement 
full MNP across India, reported <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/full-number-portability-telcos-to-fork-out-rs-200-300-cr-115050400010_1.html" target="_hplink">Business Standard</a>. 
TRAI
 had reported a total telephone subscriber base of 996.49 million users 
at the end of March 2015, out of which a 3.84 million subscribers had 
submitted their requests for mobile number portability.

Phones Now You Don't Need To Add Zero Before Dialling An STD Mobile Number

Indian telecom operators have started the process of removing the 0 and 91 STD prefix for dialling a mobile number. The technical changes...