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вторник, 27 октября 2015 г.

Black Screen of Life can help extend Android

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There are lots of big power-saving tweaks that can help extend Android battery life, but even small tweaks can add up. Here are three quick tips for squeezing even more battery life out of your devices.
1. Install Black Screen of Life (BSoL). It’s an Android app that allows you to “listen” to music videos with the screen turned off. Just play any video in any app, then block your phone’s proximity sensor (usually located near the ear piece) by placing the phone face down or inside your pocket.
BSoL does the rest, turning off the screen while keeping the audio on. If you’re having trouble with the app, double-check that you’re blocking the right sensor. If it’s still troublesome, enable Compatibility Mode in BSoL’s settings.



These next two tricks only apply to devices with AMOLED displays. An AMOLED screen doesn’t require light to display black pixels, i.e. it “turns off” black pixels. So any tweak that forces the screen to display the color black will potentially save power.
2. Use Blackle instead of Google. Blackle is a black-themed version of Google. It does lack Google’s advanced options and filtering tools, but it’s fine for basic searches.
3. Switch to a solid black wallpaper.This not only saves battery, but also helps prevent screen burn (the permanent imprinting of images onto AMOLED screens). Here’s a ready-to-download black wallpaper from our archives that you can use.
Remember, only true black functions as a battery saver. Dark-colored wallpapers won’t work because they still require pixels to be turned on.
Which power-saving tips have made a considerable difference to your phone’s battery life? Share them with us in the comments!
Image Credit: Hand showing a battery low icon by cunaplus via Shutterstock

USB Flash Drive Guide: 5 Things to Know When Buying One

USB Flash Drive Guide: 5 Things to Know When Buying One

Cloud storage is great, but the humble USB flash drive is tried and true — and it isn’t going anywhere just yet.
From backing up your data to installing operating systems, it’s still incredibly useful. But there are some things you should know before you purchase your next flash drive so that you can get the most out of it.

1) Similar Specs Can Be Deceiving

If you find yourself with two similar flash drives and asking, “Both of these have USB 3.0, are made by the same brand, and have 64GB of storage. Why does one cost more?”, the answer is quality of components, which dictate how well your drive will perform.
usb-flash-drive-Sandisk-extreme-usb-3
Two things determine the speed of a flash drive: the USB port itself and the flash drive’s components.
USB 3.0 is much faster than USB 2.0, but the standard must be supported by both the USB port and the drive itself. If your flash drive is USB 3.0 but your computer’s port is USB 2.0, transfers will happen at USB 2.0 speeds. (Roughly speaking, USB 3.0 transmits data at 100 MB/s while USB 2.0 transmits at 15 MB/s.)
The other thing that affects speed is the type of flash memory and controller used in the stick. The best drives use the same types of advanced controllers and quality of memory that are found in solid state drives (SSD) while cheaper drives use cheaper components, which aren’t as good at transferring and storing data.
SanDisk Extreme 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive With Speed Up To 190MB/s- SDCZ80-064G-G46
Super-Fast Transfer Speeds (up to 190 MB/sec for USB 3.0 enabled host)
Price: $28.83
Here’s an example that illustrates: the Sandisk Extreme USB 3.0 drive writes at around 200MB/s while most other USB 3.0 drives transmits at 100 to 110 MB/s. They might seem like “the same” on the surface, but you get nearly double the speed. Worth it? You bet.

2) Smaller & Thinner: Not Always Better

One problem with most flash drives is that their bodies are so big that they make it troublesome to use adjoining USB ports when plugged in. The good news is, flash drives tend to follow Moore’s law, which means that they’ve become smaller and smaller over the years.
USB-flash-drives-transcend-jetflash-slim
The trade-off for size, though, is speed. Smaller flash drives are convenient and portable, but once they get too small, they can’t fit those quality components that were mentioned above.
Better components usually require more physical space, and cutting size means compromising. As Moore’s law picks up in coming years, we’ll eventually see thinner and smaller flash drives that offer the kind of performance you see on higher-quality drives — but they aren’t here yet.
Transcend JetFlash T3 Series 16 GB Ultra-Slim Metallic Flash Drive (TS16GJFT3S)
Refined zinc alloy body and stainless steel protection plate
Price: $10.66
So if you need convenience and portability, a smaller drive is fine, but if you want a powerful drive, then you may need to settle for bigger. Need a flash drive that’s small enough to carry around anywhere, looks good, and isn’t expensive? We recommend looking at the Transcend JetFlash Ultra Slim.

3) Limited Lifespans, But That’s Okay

On average, flash drives last for 3,000 to 5,000 write cycles. Seeing a hard number after which your flash drive will stop functioning might cause panic, but don’t worry. That’s a lot of cycles, and most flash drives won’t ever last that long. (For comparison, most flash drives last for millions of read cycles.)
usb-flash-drive-lives-limited
You’re much more likely to damage your flash drive’s connector while inserting/ejecting it, or even end up losing it. At the bare minimum — 3,000 write cycles — that’s still more than four years of life if you use that pen drive twice every single day.
The only situation where you need to be slightly worried is if you’re using a flash drive as a portable PC, in which case those cycles will run out faster. But even then, you’ll be fine as long as you keep regular backups of your data.

4) MicroUSB Ports: When They’re Useful

Android users are always tempted by flash drives that have both a normal USB port as well as microUSB port, like the Kingston Micro Duo. “I can transfer stuff from my PC to my Android phone so easily!” Well, kind of.
Kingston Digital 32GB Data Traveler Micro Duo USB 3.0 Micro USB OTG (DTDUO3/32GB)
USB OTG (on-the-go) - a standard which enables host functionality in certain phones/tablets with microUSB ports, enabling connectivity to USB devices like Kingston's DT micro Duo
Price: $12.95
You still need to check if your Android phone supports USB OTG (On-The-Go), a standard that allows your Android to read external flash drives. The easiest way to figure that out is to check your phone’s box, your manufacturer’s website, or just Google it.
If your device doesn’t support USB OTG, then buying a flash drive with a microUSB port is pointless. However, if your phone does support USB OTG, then it’s a nifty way to add some extra storage.

5) Rugged & Secure Flash Drives

Several flash drives are designed specifically for users who want to keep data safe on their person at all times. Rugged drives offer protection from physical damage, like when you leave it in your pants and throw it into the wash. Secure flash drives offer protection from humans who want to hack or steal your data.
Is your data so sensitive that it must be encrypted in addition to being password-protected? If yes, then buy a secure USB drive, such as the ones offered by IronKey or the Aegis Secure Key, which actually has a physical keypad for entering a password.
USB-flash-drives-aegis-keypad
Apricorn Aegis Secure Key 120 GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive (ASK3-120GB)
FIPS 140-2 Level 3 Validated
Price: $245.12
Honestly though, most users don’t need this level of security and can save a lot of money by getting a regular flash drive and password-protecting the USB for free.
As for rugged drives, they aren’t as useful. Cloud storage is cheap enough to create backups of whatever non-sensitive information you are putting on your flash drive, and in case the drive gets crushed or demolished, you’ll still have the data. If that happens, just buy a replacement and transfer the data onto it.

So, What Should You Buy?

We looked at some of the best USB flash drives a while back, and most of those recommendations still hold true today:
SanDisk Extreme 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive With Speed Up To 190MB/s- SDCZ80-064G-G46
Super-Fast Transfer Speeds (up to 190 MB/sec for USB 3.0 enabled host)
Price: $28.83
Silicon Power Marvel M50 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Read 90MB/s Write 60MB/s, Champagne Gold (SP032GBUF3M50V1C)
Aluminum surface with modernistic wavy design
Price: $157.34
PQI i-Mini 32GB Super High-Speed USB 3.0 Flash Drive
World's smallest USB3.0 COB Pen Drive, 32GB
Price: $25.00
LaCie XtremKey 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive (9000300)
Fast: up to 230MB/s
Price: $53.38
IronKey 64GB Windows To Go (WGHA0B064G0001)
IronKey 64 GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive
Price: Too low to display
That being said, you might want to wait because a new wave of wireless USB flash drives is coming in. So far, we’ve only seen the SanDisk Connect, which works across different devices and connects to phones and tablets wirelessly. Kingston and others are working on similar technology, but haven’t released products yet.
SanDisk Connect 32GB Wireless Flash Drive For Smartphones And Tablets- SDWS2-032G-E57
Wirelessly store, share, stream movies, photos, music, and documents across your smartphones, tablets and computers
Price: $32.95
USB flash drives have been around for years now, so tell us which ones you’d most recommend. And truthfully, how many have you lost over the years? Share in the comments!

Laptop Is Overheating?

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fix an overheating laptopLaptops have undergone an incredible amount of development over the past couple of years. A steep increase in performance was facilitated by chips that are ever more densely packed with transistors. In parallel, the amount of processors was multiplied, the hardware was put into slimmer cases, and better graphics cards enabled bigger screens with higher resolutions. These developments, however, come at a cost: heat.
The greatest threat for your laptop, except for your your coffee mug, is overheating. It can cause hardware failure and permanent damage. In this article I will introduce ways that you can prevent or fix an overheating laptop and thus improve the performance and the extend the lifespan of your laptop.

How Do You Know Your Laptop Is Overheating?

A sure sign that your notebook gets too hot is when your fan always runs at maximum speed. You may also experience reduced performance because the CPU cuts back its clock speed to escape heat pressure. Moreover, the fail safe software may trigger a sudden shutdown to prevent hardware damage.
fix an overheating laptop
Refer to the article 3 Laptop Computer Temperature Monitor Apps That Could Save Your Hard Drive to find out how you can measure the actual heat values inside your laptop.

What Causes Overheating?

In two words: insufficient cooling.
The reasons include dust blocking intake grills or exhaust ports, a clocked up fan, or a degenerated thermal grease (aka thermal compound) between the heat sink and the CPU.

How Can You Prevent or Fix an Overheating Laptop?

There are several hardware fixes that can cure overheating.

1. Fix Internal Cooling

The first and most important thing you need to do when your laptop is overheating, is to clean the fan/s that provide/s cooling to the CPU and graphics card. Over time they build up layers of dust and dirt that slow them down and block flow of air. Consult your laptop’s manual or manufacturer to find out how you can open the laptop to access and clean these parts.
Before you attempt to do any cleaning, however, follow these steps:
  • shut down the computer.
  • remove the battery.
  • unplug the power strip.
  • ground yourself
Carefully clean the fan/s with a cotton swab dipped in a drop of alcohol. Make sure the alcohol has completely evaporated before you reconnect the laptop to the power. You can also use a vacuum cleaner to remove the dust and dirt that clocks up the fan/s. To prevent damage to the fan, do not let it revolve in the wrong direction. If you want to use canned air to clean the fan, arrest the fan by holding it down.
laptop keeps overheating
Next, you can clean the exhaust port by sucking out air with a vacuum cleaner. The exhaust port usually sits on the side of the laptop. It’s the opening that blows out hot air.
The intake grills are small openings that allow air to be sucked into the laptop by the revolving fans. They can sit on the sides or at the bottom of your notebook. To clear the intake grills, spray them with canned air.
Finally, you can apply fresh thermal grease to the interface between the CPU and its heat sink. Again, please consult the laptop’s manual or manufacturer to obtain instructions on how to disassemble these components.
Inside My Laptop has some great tutorials on how to fix your laptop, including How to apply thermal grease on laptop processor.

2. Keep The Laptop On A Hard & Flat Surface

Most laptops suck in cooling air through their bottoms. If the laptop sits on an uneven surface like a blanket, pillow, or your lap, the flow of air into the laptop is disturbed. Subsequently, the cooling is not optimal, heat builds up, the surface becomes hot, the temperature of sucked in cooling air increases, and eventually the laptop overheats.
This scenario is easily avoided by keeping the laptop on a hard and flat surface. You can use something as simple as a tray or get a special laptop holder or lap stand.

3. Invest In A Laptop Cooler

Laptop coolers are meant to provide additional cooling. However, getting the wrong cooler can actually make the problem worse. Before you purchase a cooler, you need to understand the flow of air into and out of your laptop.
fix an overheating laptop
As mentioned above, most laptops suck in air for cooling from the bottom. This makes sense because warm air rises upwards. However, a cooler that sits underneath the laptop and sucks air away from it, does not contribute to laptop cooling and rather causes a more rapid overheating.
If your laptop has intake grills at its bottom, purchase a cooler that blows cool air upwards, i.e. into the laptop. You can also get a passive cooler that does not consume power and merely absorbs heat.

What Are Potential Software Fixes?

If none of the hardware fixes result in lasting improvements, you can also revert to software fixes that address the performance and power usage of your laptop. However, addressing excessive heat with a software fix means you give up performance in favor of preserving the hardware.
You can either reduce the brightness of your screen or reduce the CPU clock speed. In Windows, underclocking or undervolting is done in the BIOS, but can also be controlled through software tools. Consult the Undervolting Guide on the Notebook Review forum for more information about this procedure.

The Top 3 Signs Your Laptop Is Overheating

Finally, let’s lighten this up a little. This list was inspired by a Top 11 list on BBSpot.
  • You’ve downclocked the CPU so much that the Commodore 64 team is overtaking you on Folding@Home
  • Frodo tosses the one ring into your keyboard.
  • Al Gore shows up to kick your ass.
How often do you clean your laptop to prevent it from overheating? Do you have any additional tips and tricks to share?
Image credits: Steve CukrovSergej Khakimullin,  Olga PopovaJiri Pavlik