Which Type Of Apps Are Mostly Used by Smartphone Users?

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How To Launch Parental Control On Different Platforms

With so many apps available for all mobile device platforms your children can find software solutions that can be really helpful in their everyday lives. There are a lot of educational applications that can help your kids in their school assignments, apps that can make it easy to always stay in touch with their parents or even some that can, for example, read them a story if your work prevents you from doing it yourself. On the other hand, many of those “useful” apps are a perfect bait for kids to spend money and do all sorts of expensive in-app purchases. You also can think of installing some tracking software like GPS handyortung to monitor your kid's location instantly.

A recent class act lawsuit against Apple that involved these in-app purchases made it clear that without proper monitoring, kids can make serious financial damage to their parents when they use mobile devices irresponsibly. Apple even paid 100 million dollars as a compensation for accidental purchases and started to use an "Offers In-App Purchases" disclaimer for these apps. This just proves you that irresponsible use of mobile devices by your kids can lead to serious financial and other consequences.If you don’t want to be one of those parents that learned about responsibility in mobile phone use the hard way you should consider using a monitoring app for your children’s mobile devices. This way you can see and control all activities on a desired phone and act in time to stop all types of phone use you find inappropriate. Fortunately, monitoring software can be found for all mobile phone platforms and installing it will only take a few minutes of your time. Here are some guides on how to implement these monitoring apps.

Apple:

Apple makes it possible to restrict all in-app purchases for apps used on their devices.

To do this simply follow the below steps,

• Go to your device Settings menu.
• Then click General and then Restrictions.
• Click on Enable Restrictions.
• After that you can choose a PIN for changing these settings.

Keep in mind not to share this PIN with your kids. You can also make some other restrictions here like restricting your kid from listening to explicit music and more.

Further below you’ll find a In-App Purchases option which you can turn off, and make sure your kid will not make any unauthorized purchases. To change any of these options you can always come back and open this menu with the PIN you previously chose.

Recommended: Parental Tools For Keeping Your Child Safe Online.

Android:

In Google Play Store, used for buying apps on an Android phone, you can set up a password that has to be entered before making any type of purchase.

You also have an option to filter content shown in Play Store so you can make it show content rated for Everyone, Low Maturity, Medium Maturity and so on. If you use the phone yourself then you don’t have to change these options but if you share it with your kid, or if the phone in question is the one you kid uses then you should definitely use purchase password and content filtering.

Kindle:

Kindle devices have a very useful preinstalled app called FreeTime. You can use it to create accounts for your kids and choose the content they will be able to access. This great feature can also let you define how much time your child can use certain content or apps, so if you want to limit them to play one hour of games daily this is a great way to do it.

You can also subscribe to a FreeTime Unlimited service that offer content based on your child’s age. This way you can be sure that all the games, books and other content available to your child is appropriate for them. To get out of the FreeTime mode and use the device regularly you have to enter a password.

Nook:

Barnes & Noble readers and tablets will offer in-app purchase services in the future, so they still didn't announce any details about parental controls for this service. For now, you can create a user profile for your kid and choose the content he or she can access. They allow you to limit their access to Nook store and internet browser.

Windows 8

Windows 8 enables you to set up a profile for your children called Kids Corner and choose content they can or cannot access and things they can do with the device. For some apps like music players Kids Corner will automatically filter content that is inappropriate for your kids and stop them from accessing it. For the time being Kids Corner lets you set up only one user profile.

Image Credit: David .

5 Bestselling Tablets In India

Android tablets may seem to dominate the global market but they aren’t the only ones out there. Nowadays, Apple, Blackberry, Acer, Dell, Asus, and Lenovo computer tablets come installed with different OS. But what makes a tablet the best? Is it just the OS or performance or sleek design? Or everything mixed in right proportion to create the best? Apple made it to the news for its elegant and classy design and that in turn gave birth to the futuristic concept of ergonomics. Nokia was probably the only company that had unique designs far more futuristic than any, if you remember their 80s and 90s mobile models. Some were even beyond weird. But that aside, let us discuss the best selling tablets in the Indian market.

Google Nexus 7 (2012)

Google is a search engine, as we all know. They introduced their flagship Nexus back in 2009. Nexus devices garnered the attention of a lot of people. After all those years, Google still attracts that kind of attention for economical yet exclusive, beautiful and fast smartphones and tablets. Nexus 7 was one of the best selling tablets in India and gained a lot of positive reviews for offering a lot at a budget price. Asus manufactured the tablet that comes with a 7-inch IPS LCD display screen with 1280*800 resolution at 216ppi. Powering it is Nvidia Tegra chipset with quad-core Cortex-A-9 at 1.3GHz CPU, Nvidia GeForce twelve-core at 416Mhz GPU and 1GB RAM. Internal storage comes with 16GB or 32GB capacity and support for external storage up to 32GB. Making it run is a Li-Ion 4325mAh battery that lasts for 9.5 hours. You can connect via Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth or USB. Best part? It comes with the latest Jelly Bean OS.

Apple iPad (4th Generation)

Apple has been in the spotlight for years now for their smartphones and tablets. You may find it hard to believe but they have been around in this market only since 2007. So, what made them so famous? If I have to say, they offered a different kind of a smartphone design with a technology that has never been integrated before – multi-touch. In the early 2000s, we had the first modern multi-touch device made by Mitsubishi and in the late 2000s Apple introduced to the world its first touch smartphone overshadowing Microsoft’s PixelSense and CUBIT. What does iPad offer that makes it one of the best selling computer tablets in India? It comes with a 9.7-inches IPS LED display with 2048*1536p resolution at 264ppi. Now, that is some display. The processor is a 1.4GHz dual-core A6X CPU, quad-core PowerVR GPU and 1GB RAM. We also get a 1.2MP front camera with 720p HD video recording and 5MP rear camera with 1080p HD video recording and other camera features. This one comes with internal storage options from 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB. The battery is a huge 11,5660mAh giving at least 10 hours of web browsing and watching videos. You can connect via Bluetooth, USB, and Wi-Fi or choose the one that supports 2G and 3G. We also get the latest iOS6 with this device.

Samsung Galaxy 10.1

Undeniably, Samsung’s Tab 10.1 is one of the best selling tablets since it offers a lot of features to a variety of customers. The latest tablet comes with upgraded hardware and software now. This computer tablet is a 10.1-inches LCD display with 1280*800p resolution at 149ppi. It has a quad-core ARM Cortex A-9 CPU and 2GB RAM. Internal storage options are from 16GB up to 64 GB and this tablet also supports external storage capacity up to 64GB. The front camera is 1.9MP with 720p HD video recording and rear camera is 5MP with 1080p video recording. Power is at 7,000mAh that gives a good enough web browsing and video playback time. Though it comes with Android 4.0.4, it is upgradeable to Android 4.1 The connectivity options are Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB, and optional 3G.

Asus EEE Transformer Pad:

Asus has long joined Google, Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, Lenovo, and Dell to become a part of this ever-growing smartphone industry. Known for their Notebooks and PCs, their advent in the smartphone and tablet market is not inconspicuous to us at all. In fact, they have manufactured devices with Android and Windows pre-installed. But this one, EEE Transformer Pad, was released 2 years back with Android OS pre-installed and has become one of the best selling tablets due to its amazing and premium design, detachable screen and IPS display. This tablet comes with a 10.1-inches IPS display screen with 1280*800p resolution at 149ppi. Nvidia Tegra powers the 1GHz dual-core CPU and 1GB RAM. Internal storage comes with 16GB or 32GB and unlimited Asus Web storage for a year. We also get a 1.2MP front camera and 5MP rear camera with high quality stereo speakers. The 24.4Wh Li-Ion battery gives 10 hours of playback time and 16 hours with dock. Since it is an older release, it comes with Android 4.0 and there is no news of future updates.

Blackberry PlayBook:

Blackberry is making a comeback with their products and even with the intensity of increasing competition brought to us their PlayBook tablet a couple of years back. The initial sale response was very lukewarm as there were others in the market that offered more at the price PlayBook was priced at. It was after the reduction in price that the sales increased marginally but they still have very low market share since most of it is dominated by the likes of Apple, Google and Microsoft. But that didn’t deter Blackberry so let us see what makes this tablet stick around in the market. This one comes with a 7-inches LCD WSVGA display screen of 1024*600p resolution at 169ppi. The processor is a dual-core 1GHz Cortex A-9 CPU, PowerVR GPU and 1GB RAM. It comes with 32GB internal storage and no external storage. We also get a 4,800maH battery that is kind of average battery life. But this tablet has Blackberry’s OS installed and offers good number of applications if not equal to Android or iOS.

Author Bio:

Rohit Reddy is the editor of GadgetResearch. He is a gadget and technology enthusiast and loves blogging about them. In his free time he likes to follow the latest tech news and share it with his friends.

How Consumers Can Minimize Identity Theft

The Internet is a popular channel for identity thieves looking for easy opportunities to take advantage of unsuspecting victims. People with ineffective online security measures may quickly find themselves in a situation millions experience annually. One of the most critical safeguards in keeping personal information out of the hands of malicious parties is the use of consumer passwords. Sadly, however, many employ vulnerable credentials, making it easy for identity theft to occur unimpeded.

Forbes contributor Liz Davidson recently highlighted ways in which consumers can protect themselves from becoming victims of identity theft. Anyone with online accounts must use strong passwords for these channels. The writer encouraged people to avoid having identical phrases for all of these accounts and employ security questions that cannot be answered by looking at public forums like Facebook.

According to Davidson, phishing attacks are all too common, whether they occur through emails or phone calls. Malicious parties ask victims for passwords, Social Security details and account numbers through these channels.

Electronic devices also demand effective password security. Davidson noted that all consumer PCs and smartphones should be secured with such credentials. These products should also have firewalls, antivirus and spam-filtering solutions installed to defend against sophisticated attacks.

Given the dangers associated with identity theft, people must realize that ineffective passwords are no longer an option if they want to protect personal information. Rather than fret over remembering dozens of unique credentials for all of their online accounts, consumers can receive the protection they desire through innovative tools like a password manager. These solutions generate complex passwords that are difficult for cybercriminals to crack. Also, password managers always update user credentials, ensuring that safeguards are never stagnant.

2012 was significant year for identity theft
In 2012, many Americans fell prey to identity thieves, who were immensely successful in taking advantage of unsuspecting victims. A Javelin Strategy & Research report said that nearly 13 million Americans suffered from such incidents last year, increasing more than 1 million from previous studies.

The research firm also said that identity thieves cost victims more than $21 billion in 2012, the highest mark since 2009. Jim Van Dyke, CEO of Javelin, said last year was a success for criminals, causing consumers and organizations to band together.

"Consumers and institutions are now starting to act as partners - detecting and stopping fraud faster than ever before," Van Dyke said. "But fraudsters are acting quicker than ever before and victimizing more consumers. Consumers must take data breach notifications more seriously and maintain vigilance to safeguard personal information, especially Social Security numbers."

In addition to Social Security numbers, identity thieves also targeted consumers' credit card information, passwords and user names last year, the report said.

As Davidson suggested, Javelin encouraged people to maintain updated software on their PCs and mobile devices to protect against potential theft. The research firm also explained that consumers should shred documents containing sensitive information, employ direct deposit for payroll checks and only connect to WiFi networks that are well known and trusted. Identity thieves can prey upon people in so many ways that it can be difficult for consumers to avoid becoming victims. However, there are several tips they can follow to safeguard personal and sensitive data from being obtained by malicious parties. As industry professionals and research have shown, passwords cannot be neglected, regardless of device used or account accessed. A password manager is an effective solution to help users improve their online security wherever they access the Internet.

Mobile Technology's Swift Rise

Over the years, mobile technology's swift rise has made quite a splash on the world. From the clunkier mobile phones that date back to the 1980s up to today's Apple iPhone and Samsung's famed Galaxy line, no other technology has spread as quickly on a worldwide scale to saturate the market to such an extent. The statistics don't lie, and mobile technology has risen to epic proportions over the years. It is worth exploring it in detail.

At this point in time, there are an overwhelming 6.8 billion cell phone subscriptions across the world. This has been a huge and consistent climb since the earliest days of cell phones. Generally speaking, the first mobile phone devices can be traced back to 1918, when these items were used in German military trains. The German Reichsbahn and mail service in 1926 then offered mobile phones to train passengers riding first class. By 1931, there was a children's book composed by Erich Kastner, who included a future utopia with mobile phones in its description. In the 1940s, in large United States cities, mobile phones were available in luxury cars. In 1961, Soviet engineer Leonid Kupryanovich introduced a handheld mobile phone. Motorola, a well known company today, produced its first mobile phones in 1973. Five years later, in 1978, 1G service began. By the 1990s, 2G service was begun and took off in a huge way. In 2001, 3G service got its start, and then by 2009, 4G service began.

For every 100 people on earth, there are now 96 cell subscriptions. Mobile saturation by continent can be measured in subscriptions per every 100 residents. There are 63 cell subscriptions for every 100 residents of Africa, the continent with the least of these subscriptions and 170 throughout North America. Surprisingly, the rural poor from the developing world are leading the charge in terms of individuals who are signing up for new cell phone subscriptions. More of these people are using mobile broadband as well. In fact, 20 percent of the saturation of mobile broadband in the developing world reside in sub-Saharan Africa and in the Asia Pacific area.

One quarter of mobile phone users now do their online shopping from their phones. One fifth of these users rely on their mobile phones with which to do their shopping in general. Mobile payments increased from $105.9 billion in 2011 to $171.5 billion in 2012. The mobile companies are thriving as they are reaping the rewards, which include millions of new cell subscriptions on a daily basis.

For Better View: Right click the below infographic and select "Open image in new tab"

Source: Best Computer Science Degrees.

How Safe is Your Home Network Against Computer Virus?

In spite of what we see on Hollywood movies or television shows, hacking into a computer or a home Internet network isn’t that hard, so long as both are left unprotected. So, if hackers can make it through, how much more for those nasty computer viruses?

Don’t be surprised to learn how easy it is for hackers or computer viruses to enter a computer network and into your computer. Many computer networks are practically defenseless to intruders because they are allowed to be in that state. Users are often completely unaware of the dangers they can encounter if they don’t properly secure their network.

With the right tools and knowledge, you can minimize the chances of having your security compromised by computer viruses.

Generally, a home network is a system composed of two devices connected to each other and to the Internet. Computers running on Windows operating system are more at risk from virus attacks than Mac computers. This is to be expected since Windows dominates the market and is a much bigger target for exploitation. It would be a good idea to have an online virus removal service at hand for extreme emergencies.

First, you need to activate your firewall. You can either run a firewall application or purchase a physical firewall device. Most firewalls have security settings so choose the most restrictive settings because these are the safest.

Recommended: How Firewall Works?

Second, when using a wireless router, change the default username, set a new password, and enable encryption. Never leave a wireless network unprotected at this stage. Use either Wireless Encryption (WEP) or Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), though the latter is more secure.

Third, and your most important line of defense, is anti-virus software. No matter how careful we are surfing the web, something will eventually slip by. An anti-virus program helps keep your computer safe. It helps isolate and neutralize malware. Likewise, in order for anti-virus alerts to remain effective, you need to keep it up to date. Most programs have auto-update features since your computer is regularly connected to the Internet.

Fourth, other useful applications to combine with your anti-virus software are anti-spyware and anti-adware programs. Some anti-virus software are sold with these already included. Take advantage of this all-in-one package. Be sure to run your protective software at least once a week to keep your system safe. Also, be sure to install updates and patches for your operating system when they become available. These patches help seal up vulnerabilities on your computer.

Should something penetrate this far into your defenses, there are companies that offer superb online virus removal service to get rid of stubborn viruses, worms, malware, and adware not recognized by your protection program.

Image Credit: Stuart Miles.

Guide For Repairing Some Common Computer Problems

Repairing computers involves appropriate knowledge of composition and software. However, certain concerns can be solved by the user himself if he knows the right process. Understanding of the basics is an essential aspect since dependence on computers has increased immensely these days. Those who cannot do without a computer can save time and money through thorough study. Below are few problems with better solutions that a person must consider whenever he faces any issues.

1) Problem: System Freezing!

System freezing is a common problem that occurs due to faults in software or hardware. Therefore, one must be able to diagnose the problem properly. Such issues either emerge when the user attaches peripherals like scanner, printer etc. or due to driver conflicts. If one finds that the hard drive is the cause behind it, then it is definitely due to excessive heat or insufficient power supply. The solution to this problem is:

1. The computer should be turned off for a few minutes and then plugged in again. This allows resetting the hardware and clearing the memory.
2. If the system gets too hot, then one might have to open the computer. The user must first unplug the system and then open it.
3. After opening the system, one must check the temperature of a component called metal chassis. Also, one must test the fans on rear and front side and ensure that there is no dust at all. One can use a clean cotton cloth for this purpose.
4. If an additional hard drive has been installed in the system, one must avoid placing them adjacent to each other. This can lead to heating issues. If one desires extra storage, the hard drive should be installed in slots which have DVD or CD ROM drives. Also, one can opt for mounting brackets.
5. After completing the work, one should always check the cable connections and close the cabinet without exerting much pressure as this might damage the motherboard.
6. There are situations where system downloads a wrong driver during the Windows update process. This is why it is essential to monitor the status on regularly. After checking everything, one must switch the system on and check it is working fine. If the problem continues, it is advised to restore the computer to the previous configuration which might be helpful.
7. The process of restoring is: Start option- Programs- Click on accessories- Choose system tools- Click on restore. This will restore all the settings that one has changed.
8. It is also recommended to check the hard disk since over time it gets cluttered. This has a direct impact on the speed. The bad programs must be eliminated to get enhanced performance.

2) Problem: Loading Program and Applications!

There are instances when a program or application does not load properly. This is termed as the Blue Screen of Death. One must always delete such programs and scan the system with a reliable anti-virus.

3) Problem: Errors in Registry!

All the information related to settings of software as well as hardware is stored in the Windows Registry. Sometimes, the Registry is corrupted due to harmful programs. This can be solved in two ways; either by editing Registry or manually. You can also download PC Optimization software to do it for you. Or hire an expert in this and must always take back up before taking any action.

Image Credit: debspoons.

Author Bio:

The author works for www.axisdigitalworld.com and is an expert in computer repair Canberra. He can solve all kinds of computer problems within a short time span. Those who are not able to repair the systems can contact him and get the issue solved.

Gecko Monitor (Computer Spying/Monitoring Software) Giveaway! [Expired]

Hi my dear Friends! For the first time I am conducting a Software Giveaway contest on our blog Daily Tips Nd Tricks. First let me tell you about the software on which this Giveaway is based on!

The software which you are about to get through this Giveaway is Gecko Monitor. This software is priced to about $40 on their site http://geckomonitor.com.

But through this Giveaway 10 winners are about to grab a lifetime licence of this software worth $40 for FREE!!

What Can Be Done with Gecko Monitor:

Gecko Monitor is a "Computer Monitoring Software" to monitor everything that happens on your PC when you are away. If you are a parent you can monitor your child's activity such as The websites he/she visits, Applications he/she runs, keystrokes he/she types, etc... This software is a boon to Bosses who wants to monitor their employees computers.

In my case: As i am a student, It is a boon to me as i can install it on my College systems and Get my friend's/Staff's password by recording the keystrokes typed by them in the hidden mode offered by this software :D

Features:

A screenshot of trial version! (Click for better view)

• Takes screenshots of all windows & websites.
• Logs every application used and tells you when it was used.
• Logs every website visited and tells you when it was visited.
• Reports what was typed into every application & website.
• Monitors all printed documents, including times printed.
• Emails reports to you remotely & secretly, at times set by you.
• Innovative timeline feature - an easy to understand timeline of events.
• Monitors all file activity, including saved, opened & deleted files.
• Does all of this completely hidden, un-hides with a secret key combo.

Enter into the Below Giveaway and Get this software for FREE!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tips To Win This Giveaway:

• Your points are calculated in entries. entries earned shows the points you earned for that day.
• Options such as Share on Facebook, Share on Google+, Tweet, Pin To Pinterest, Answer this Question are Re-Doable (Once per day), So Bookmark this page (Click Ctrl+D ) and do those options daily to increase your entries.
• If you need any further clarification, Leave then in the comment box below! I will reply you as soon as Possible :)

Fascinating Facts about Ebay

Ebay is a brilliant place where you can find every weird and wonderful thing imaginable. Here are some fascinating facts about this weird and wonderful space:

• There is a car sold every 2 seconds on Ebay! Not toy ones – the real deal!
• Another popular item sold on Ebay is ladies handbags, one handbag is sold every 3 seconds on Ebay.
• A fascinating item sold very frequently on Ebay an Mp3 player, one is sold every minute. We didn’t think they’d be so popular but they are!
• The most expensive item sold on Ebay so far is a Gulfstream jet which went to the highest bidder at $4.9 mil!
• There is also a wedding dress on sale which is modelled by the seller’s ex-husband. If the model doesn’t put you off – it is a gorgeous dress!
• If you’ve always wanted a cornflake in the shape of the state of Illinois then you are in luck! For $1.350K that cornflake can be yours!
• In total Ebay has over 300 million items for sale with over 1 bn items accessible at any time!

If you’d like some more fascinating facts about Ebay then check out our infographic which is full of them!

UK Packaging created this infographic.

Types Of Backlinks That Google Hate

Nowadays, No one in this world would exist without knowing Google. Today, everyone make use of the search engine to fulfill their needs. Every SEO services are running behind it to know its latest updates in order to make the website available on the top of the search engine as the Google often update its link schemes in order to stop the spam. The peoples who know well about the SEO would have known about backlinks which plays the major role in making the website fly high in Google. The most important thing that should be marked in SEO is “SEO tactics will always get re-energized”, so some of the link building techniques must be updated often in order to build the links in the way that Google recommends. Below is the list of backlinks that Google hates from a website,

Get avoided from paid links:

Backlinks should be obtained naturally; it should not be attained by buying or selling the links in order to share the page rank as this provides the great chance to cause negative result for the website’s in search results.

Don’t prefer too much link exchanges:

Exchanging links with other websites is a common thing that most of the SEO services follow. If the cross links are excessive, then Google might think the backlinks as unnatural and may even make your website to be penalized while updates.

No bulk guest posts:

Alright, getting links through guest posting is a perfect white hat technique, but just keep in mind, don’t do too much guest posts. Try to contribute your articles, if it is in high quality.

Avoid automated services:

Don’t make use of the tools and services that provide hundreds of backlinks at a time, always remember automated works may sometimes provide error and in result may make your website to be banned from search engine.

No follow attribute for text ads:

If you are interested or tend to avail text ads on other websites, make sure it is in rel=nofollow attribute, as if it is available as other types of attributes, Google may consider it as unnatural backlink. Be sure, as it might later generate penalty for your website.

Avoid optimizing the keyword as an anchor text:

Don’t optimize your direct keyword using anchor texts as it might insist the Google’s spam algorithm to look at your website.

Don’t build links in low quality sites:

Avoid building links in low quality directory and bookmarking sites as these links will not help greatly in improving Google’s ranking.

Get rid from forum signatures:

Most of the forums make use of the tools that automatically generate signature links to the website. Avoid these kinds of links as these are considered as artificial links.

These are some of the strategies that you need to consider while building backlinks to a website. Always keep track of latest techniques in order to use ethical tactics that pumps the website to the top in search engine result page.

Image Credit: Stuart Miles.

Author Bio:

Layla Poppins is a professional content writer in Edinburgh SEO services. She is very much interested in ghostwriting, web content, EBooks and SEO articles. Writing content is not simply her job, it’s her craze and she breathes for it!

Five Great Reasons Why Your Kid Should Have A Mobile Phone

Is your child always complaining about getting a new mobile phone? You're not alone. Kids nowadays seem to expect to have a phone by the time they're a certain age. And it's not unusual to see eight year olds with cute pink mobile phones in the school playground. Whilst there are some solid reasons not to let your child have a phone, there are some pretty compelling reasons why they should. So before you dismiss the matter out of hand, you might want to think about some of these things first...

Phones Can Keep Kids Safe...

This is the number one reason that most parents give in and buy their kid a phone, and it's a good one. In an emergency, when the school bus is missed, when you forget about football practice, whatever, you can contact your child and he can contact you. This is a big deal. Plus, there are advantages to having GPS enabled phones too. A simple downloadable app will let you trace your kid wherever they are, as long as their phone is charged and switched on. The security of knowing where your child is, and of knowing that no matter what they can contact you is a great reason why you should think about buying your kid a phone.

Phones are Convenient...

You're going to be ten minutes late to after school pick up? Your daughter's piano teacher just cancelled? The convenience of having a mobile phone works both ways. You can get in contact and change plans or schedules whenever you need to. Plus, there's more chance that your kid is going to call you when their plans change too.

Phones are Cheap...

Mobile phones are simply not the luxury items that they were in the past. You can get a decent hand set for next to nothing, and a few pounds credit a month will do the job. Getting your kid a phone nowadays really isn't about financial concerns at all, it's a lot more about convenience and peace of mind. For the price of a few pounds you can know that your kid is a phone call away, and that's pretty invaluable.

Phones Teach Responsibility...

If it's about time that your kid learned a little personal responsibility, then a cell phone might be the way to teach that. Learning about how to keep track of one' own things, how to take care of something that's precious, will be a lot easier when it involves something that your kid has wanted for a long time and now doesn't want to be without. Plus, it's a good way to learn financial responsibility too, particularly if you choose a pay as you go model...

Phones Encourage Communication...

Teens find it a lot easier to communicate through text than face to face. By letting your kid have a phone you're keeping alternative methods of communication open, and increasing the likelihood that you'll know what's going on at any given time.

So, if you are weighing up the options, then these are some reasons that you might come down on the side of going out and getting your child a smartphone.

Image Credit: Ambro.

Author Bio:

Phil Turner can understand why girls want pink mobile phones. What he fails to understand is why so few manufacturers actually make them.

How to Convert PDF to Word for Free

The two most popular file formats used on a regular basis in the digital world are probably the PDF format and the Microsoft Word format. They are used in the office, at school and at home by just about every computer user for a large variety of purposes.

PDFs are used because they are universal and compact. This is what makes them great for sending information between people. However, they are hard to edit, which is one of their main downfalls. MS Word files, however, are easily editable. When people receive information as a PDF and they want to edit the information, converting the file into an MS Word file is one of the quickest and easiest ways to do so.

Thankfully, there are some great online converters that can take care of this for you - one is Convert PDF to Word. This online tool is completely free to use and it gives you high-quality conversions that maintain the form and structure of your PDF when converting it into a Word file.

The conversion can be performed with this online tool in three easy steps, with no need to download any type of desktop software.

1. Click “Browse” to select the PDF you want to convert.

2. Enter your email address.

3. Click “Send”.

A link for downloading your newly converted MS Word file will be sent to your email address.

It’s very reliable and quick, and of course, it is completely free. Anyone who needs to perform a quick and accurate conversion from PDF to Word should definitely try out Convert PDF to Word as a highly recommended free online option.

I Want Super-Fast Broadband - Can I Get It?

Fiber optic broadband is sometimes classified as super-fast broadband. It’s the fastest broadband available to residential consumers and is an incredible service for most. Fiber optic broadband does come in different package speeds. In this article, we’ll look at whether you can get it in your home and the speeds attainable through some different providers.

The Speeds of Fiber Optic Broadband:

Super-fast fiber optic broadband is up 100Mpbs for residential consumers. Virgin Broadband offers incredible speeds that can be enough to do the highest intensity activities and for multiple people to engage with the internet at the same time. With the slowest connections, you tend to get up to 24Mbps or up to 38Mbps as with Sky Broadband. These connections still are very fast considering the fact that you get almost the speed that is advertised.

ADSL Broadband:

With ADSL Broadband you only get a fraction of the speed advertised in some cases. This is because the copper cables of the BT infrastructure are not very good at allowing the internet data to pass and therefore there are bottlenecks and slowdowns along the journey. With fiber optic cables they are optimal for internet transfer. Therefore you get close to your advertised speed especially on fiber-to-the-home offerings.

Fiber-to-the-home is where the entire internet journey is over the fiber optic cables. With fiber-to-the-cabinet, the final leg of the journey is over copper cables of the BT infrastructure. Therefore, with fiber-to-the-cabinet you tend to lose a bit more speed.

How important is speed?

Speed of broadband is crucial to many of the activities you do. If you’re looking to do high definition movie streaming, you may need 5Mbps connections. Indeed, with standard definition movies you may well need between 0.5Mbps and 2Mbps otherwise you’ll end up waiting around while the connection buffers the stream and you may even end up with breaks in your connection during a movie or a video event. It’s important therefore that you have enough download speed to handle the challenges.

Have a look at: Factors That Affect Your Broadband Speed.

What about upload speed?

With upload speed you can be seriously impacted if you haven’t got enough. If you are sending photos to Facebook and there are pretty large files, you could end up waiting for ten minutes for them to upload and not know whether it’s actually progressing or not.

Indeed, if you’re uploading large files to a web server or to Google docs again you could wait for hours and hours. Upload speed tends to be much lower than download speeds. If you have an up to 16Mbps download speed you may only have 1Mbps upload speed. Indeed, with performance issues you may even get much lower speed on upload than this. This can mean waiting around for hours and hours.

Business connections can have symmetric connections, for example, symmetric DSL, SDSL, as opposed to ADSL. With symmetric connections you have the same upload speed and download speed meaning that you can do the things that you want to do upstream just as fast as you want those that you want to do downstream. This is a great benefit for businesses that spend more time sending data than receiving it.

Of course, as residential broadband consumers, we do spend more time browsing, downloading, and generally interacting with data that’s coming to us than sending data away. However, it’s important for you understand your particular activity so you ensure that you get the upload speed that you require.

Latency and Ping Speeds:

Latency or ping is the amount of time it takes to get response from the server. It isn’t the speed of data transfer; it is the speed of response. The ping speed is important for certain activities such as multiplayer gaming, online video chat, and even sometimes video streaming. If you have poor latency speeds you can end up with a jittery and generally poor quality performance of certain activities. It’s therefore important that you have a good ping speed.

This is somewhere that fiber optic broadband can fall down. The fiber optic cables aren’t always the best at getting the best ping rates and where you may get 35milliseconds on ADSL, you may get double or more this on fiber optic broadband. It’s important to consider this when you’re looking at the activities you want to do and it may be that you want to choose an ADSL connection if you are looking to do certain activities.

Can I get fiber optic broadband?

Many of us are wondering whether we can get fiber optic broadband in our area or not. The cables are being run all the time and it may have changed since we last checked. The best way to check is to do a post code search. If you search online for "Can I get fibre optic broadband?" you’ll get a number of search results offering you tools to find out. All you have to do is pop in your postcode and you’ll be shown the providers that are servicing your area.

If they are servicing your area, you’ll also probably be able to see the package details, costs, speeds, and so on. You can then look at the small print, fair usage policies and traffic management to decide whether a particular deal is for you.

It’s also well worth looking at the speed test results that people have done in your area.

Have a look at: Free Softwares To Increase Your Internet Speed.

Speed Test Results:

Whenever someone does a speed test on their connection, they are normally provided with the opportunity to share their results. These results go into the back end of a system where you can search on a map and find out what connection speeds different providers are attaining in your neighbourhood. This is a great way to see actual speeds of fiber optic and ADSL broadband without having to rely on advertised speeds.

Generally, fiber optic broadband gets very close to the advertised level. However, we’ve seen that Virgin Broadband are best on this measure and sometimes you may get 10Mbps slower if you are a long way from the cabinet or if you have a poor infrastructure in your home. It’s therefore really crucial that you do a variety of tests to ensure that you get the best broadband connection available to you.

Do also consider your usage profile to ensure that you manage to get a connection that is appropriate and not superfluous to your requirements. You just end up wasting money if you get an unlimited top level connection and you don’t end up using your broadband for doing anything other than browsing and checking e-mail.

Image Credit: pakorn.

Author Bio:

Sam Jones’s son wanted to make sure his fiber optic broadband was working at its maximum potential. Sites like uSwitch told him how he could do this and saved him a lot of time.

How Do You Access Facebook?

According to a recent article by The Guardian, four out of five Facebook users log on daily using their smartphone or tablet. Did you know that 24 million people use Facebook every day? Which means that 83% of those people are using Facebook on their mobile. Have a look at How do we spend time online (Infographic) to check how facebook dominates other sites!

Mobile Growth:

The use of mobile phones is growing faster and faster than ever before. There has been a massive shift towards mobile phone use and people are accessing the internet on their phones on a daily basis.

How do you access information on the web? What do you use? The chances are you are accessing websites whilst shopping, on the train, at work or waiting in line at your local coffee shop. Your mobile phone is a pretty important piece of kit. It is what connects you with the world, it is what enables you to find out what is going on in the world of social media and the greater world that is out there. It links you to friends, to family, you can check your bank balance on it, transfer your rent and even check the latest football results.

You can update your Facebook or your Twitter to share your opinions with the rest of the world. You can inform the world of your pending nuptials whilst you are busy being proposed to and you can take a photo of what you ate and where and load it to Instagram in a matter of seconds.

Your mobile phone is a powerful communication tool that is more than just your ability to chat to your friends or to text them as to where you want to meet them.

But is your phone insured? Do you have mobile phone insurance? Have you just come down off your mobile-phone-buzz and thought of what would happen if you lost your phone or if someone stole it?

If your mobile phone is an essential part of your life, an extension of your body and a vital part of who you are, then it is of paramount importance that you have it insured. Mobile phones can be costly if they are not insured. And, if your phone is lost, broken or stolen, it also means that you could be without your phone for a long time.

By insuring your phone you are making sure that you are never really without one. Mobile phone insurance can be the difference between being lost and missing contact with your friends to having a new and replacement phone within a matter of hours. Have a look at Protecting Your Mobile Phone.

Your mobile phone is a key part of your daily life. Whether it be for work, personal use or both, can you really imagine being without your mobile phone?

Well, if that is the case then isn’t it high time you had your mobile phone insured? From cracked screens and lost phones to stolen phones and unauthorised calls, you will want to make sure you are covered.

And, it starts from as little as the cost of a loaf or bread. Go on, use your loaf.

Author Bio:

Bill Turner is a techie at heart, loving the rate at which gadgets come out and how helpful they are, his home is stuffed full of the essential gadgets.

No Signal On Your Phone?

Sometimes for no reason at all there is no signal on your mobile phone. It could be that you are in an area where the signal is very bad, it may be there is a temporary problem with your nearest cell tower but sometimes the signal just drops off and does not come back. There are a few things you can do to try to get your signal so you can make a call.

Try moving around. It is possible that you have a dead spot in your house where there is just no signal at all, but a few steps either side you might have full signal bars. Stand near to windows and doors to see if that makes a difference. It may be that you will have to go outside to get a signal. If the lack of signal is a constant problem then you may need to change your network provider. It could be that your current provider no longer covers the region where you live, or has reduced the number of cell towers they have in the area so coverage will become intermittent.

Call Your Network:

If you find that this is happening to you, call your network provider to see if they have made any changes to their coverage. If they have and the changes are temporary, maybe work is being done to your local tower, and then they may be able to offer compensation for the lack of network availability. If the change is going to be long term, explain to them that you will need to change your provider and check to see what notice period is required to end your contract.

Search Manually:

You can also try manually searching for your network. This is done through the menus of your phone, but depending on the brand and the model, the instructions will vary.

In your menu there will be a settings icon. In there should be a network option. By clicking on the select network option you will be given the choice of Automatic or manual. Choose the manual option and the phone will search for all available networks in your area. Once the networks come up, choose your provider and the signal should return to your phone.

This is also used to find a network when aboard if one is not automatically selected on arrival in your destination country. If you check with your network provider before travelling, they will have a list of rates for calls and texts from abroad and the network available. That way when choosing the networks you will already know which one offers the best deals.

Change Networks:

If you have tried everything and still have no satisfactory signal then changing provider is really easy. If you are still in contract you may be able to come to some arrangement with your current provider, particularly if the signal problems are their fault. If your contract has expired then you can give notice and join with your new network at your own convenience. Just ask your old network for a PAC number and you can then port your number to the new network provider so that business contacts, family and friends do not need to learn your new number.

Image Credit: FrameAngel.

Author Bio:

Phil Turner has always found that getting a PAC number from his network has been very simple and he changes his network whenever he finds a better deal.

How To Take 36 Hours Instead Of 24 From Your Day

In the age of modern life, everyone faces short of time problem to do various tasks within 24 hours. As many tasks are required to be completed every day in just 24 hours, and sometimes this time limit seems insufficient. One may need more than 24 hours accomplishing all the tasks successfully. With the growing use of computers and their applications, various tasks can be completed in a short time. The latest innovation of iPad and its applications helps one out of such a tricky situation.

Evernote Application: Organization and Keeping Track of appointments

It seems to be of great help when your daily routine is busy, and one is not able to keep track of appointments. You have to struggle not to miss any appointment. The freely available software, Evernote helps you stay perfectly organized and not miss any appointments. This program is easy to use by voice recording of notes, appointments etc.

Accessing your files:

It acts as a file organizer by adding files to the Dropbox and then sharing your files, photographs, documents and videos with anyone whom you give access. Full safety of the data is ensured by this free application, with 2GB of storage space.

Reminders-Basic edition:

This software helps you in remembering your appointments, by saving a memo with beep time. Basic version is free and limited to three reminders, upgrading to the full version costs $1.99.

Last Time : Track your important events

It helps in categorizing, your time on critical issues. It is done in terms of time management and gets balanced in all areas. It costs $1.99.

Awesome Note HD : To do a calendar

It helps in keeping track of your thoughts and ideas, remembering birthdays. Along with Evernote, it is a substantial attraction with password protection costing $4.99.

Complete workspace:

It helps in organizing your tasks by power to stay on time and guides by indicating set start and due date reminders. It costs $39.99

Personal Finance:

This free application tracks the spending of your money by simply linking your bank accounts. It monitors and sets the budget.

Amazon Mobile:

It is a perfect application for guiding you in purchasing gifts/presents with an instant access to the shopping cart, payment options and tracking delivery schedule. It costs $0.99.

MSpy Mobile app:

The mSpy mobile tracking application allows users to monitor calls, text messages, chats, emails, internet browsing history, videos, images, scheduled events, and notes on a particular device. Its integrated GPS feature allows users obtain an accurate location of the device. This makes it easy to locate the device in case it is stolen or gets lost. Its remote data wipeout and phone locking features guarantees that personal data will not be compromised in case the device is stolen.

Travel Organizer:

This free application is a trip organizer tool and wonderfully helps out with the finalization of the finances and gift options in control; you may be planning for a trip. 

Sticky Notes for iPad:

This application is a very energetic and convenient way to stay organized. It comes in different bright colors and fonts with voice dictation. It costs $0.99.

Habits Pro - Organizer for Goals, Tasks and Health Tracking:

Habits Pro software, with password protection, assists you in living a healthy lifestyle and is as organized as you want.

WiFi Finder:

The WiFi finder application requires you to explicitly click the button to call the WiFi site to search and access for free WiFi anywhere in the world.

(RTM)

Remember The Milk is everywhere you are and feature packed program is able to perform the to-do list organizer the way you need to do with priorities. You can also look at the tasks nearby and plan the exercise in the best possible manner.

250,000+ Recipes and Grocery List:

BigOven, with more than 250,000 recipes, is the perfect cooking tool. It has been awarded the "Best Applications for Foodies, for New Moms and for Eating in", award by well-known publications. It can be used all the time for menu planning, grocery shopping and cooking in the kitchen. The beauty of the software lies in the fact that you can make your own hand written recipes.

Author Bio:

Post by Susan Hampton . Ad coordinator for Mspy , blogger who writes about different useful apps, software and methodology for better and easier life.