How to Send MMS Messages from Apple iPhone

Apple iPhone device supports MMS sending feature which means that you can always send a Multimedia Message with Photos directly to someone using the device. You need to make sure of the following points before you get started implementing this.

• Compatible Phone : Before you Send an SMS to your friends you need to make sure that the other person who is going to receive this Message also has a compatible device in order to receive the MMS file. If its a normal phone which is not supported then there are chances that the message would be rejected.
• Sending Charges : Whenever you send a SMS the carriers would charge you very less amount of money but when its the case of MMS the charges are very high and it ranges from Rs 15 to Rs 30 [~$0.50], hence you will have to first confirm the costs of sending these kind of messages prior to sending the same.

Next in order to get started with sending this message you will have to tap on the 'Messages' application in your iPhone. You will show you the current SMS Messages in your device. Tap on the 'New Message' icon located on the top right side.
Here in you will be asked the 'Contact Personal Name' or the 'Phone Number' in the top section. On the left side there is a small camera icon which you will have to click.


You will have a option of either 'Take Photo or Video' or 'Choose Existing' out of which you have to select one.

Next once you select one of the Picture from your Photos Gallery, you will be asked to either use the same or else Retake the same picture.

The pictures small thumbnail would be added to the Message Compose box following which you can add some text message before and after the picture.

That's it, now tap on the send button and the MMS Message would be sent to your friend instantly..

Thursday, September 23, 2010 | posted in How To, iphone | 0 comments [ More ]

Moving Your Website from Google Pages to Google Sites

Jaya Prabahar from TCS asks: "How can I easily migrate my web pages, images and other files from Google Page Creator to Google Sites?"

Google Pages was an awesome web hosting service where you could create a good looking website from scratch in minutes but unfortunately, Google is phasing out Page Creator in June to be replaced with Google Sites.

Automatic Migration to Google Sites

The migration from Google Pages to Google Sites will begin in May and all your pages from Page Creator will be automatically imported into Sites.

You won’t lose any existing web traffic because, after the move, all your existing pages on Page Creator will point to their new location on Google Sites so none of the old links will break and search visitors to a googlepages.com site will automatically land on the corresponding sites.google.com page.

How to Backup your Google Page Creator Files

However, unlike Google Page Creator, Google Sites is not a web hosting service so files like CSS, JavaScript, PDFs, web images, etc. that you may have uploaded on to your Google Pages site won’t be transferred to Google Sites. The same is true for any custom HTML web pages that you may have put on Google Pages.

Therefore it may be a good idea to download all your content from Google Pages locally or export it to another web hosting service before Google Pages is shut down permanently. Here’re the steps involved:

Step 1: Go to digitalinspiration.com and type the address of your existing Google Page website. Don’t forget to use a slash after the URL as in this example:

http://sarasvati96.googlepages.com/

Step 2: The tool will create a list of URLs of all files that are currently hosted on your Google Page Creator account. Copy this list to the clipboard and save it in a text file (say pages.txt).

Step 3: Download wget (if you don’t have that already) and execute the following command:

wget -i pages.txt

If you find wget a bit too geeky, install Flashget, press Ctrl+L and specify the location of the pages.txt file. Within minutes, all files from Google Pages will become available on your local drive.

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BlackBerry eBook Readers – Read Books & Office Documents on the go!

Got a BlackBerry? Here’s a round-up of some free BlackBerry apps that will turn your mobile phone into a proper eBook reader – not like Kindle or Sony Reader but close. Later, we looks at workarounds to help you catch up with business documents, downloaded web pages, PDFs, etc. on your BlackBerry from virtually anywhere.

Review of BlackBerry e-Book Readers

Following is a list of eBook readers currently available for BlackBerry – they are all free software and support most BlackBerry models including the latest ones like BlackBerry Bold and Storm.

1. eReader Pro – This eBook software from Barnes & Noble will help you browse and download books directly on to your BlackBerry device. It can read any of your existing eBooks that are written in the PDB format or you may download one of their free titles to get started.

Just connect the BlackBerry device to you computer, copy the PDB files on to the phone’s memory card, disconnect and you can now read this eBooks inside BlackBerry. The eReader software includes a handy search function, you can bookmark pages and it automatically remembers where you left off.

2. Short Covers – This is a unique online book store that provides both a desktop and a mobile interface for reading ebooks. That means you can buy an eBook from Short Covers and read part of that book on your desktop browser and the remaining part on your BlackBerry or another computer. These mobile and online interfaces are always in sync so you can pick up from where you left off on the previous device.

The first chapter of any ebook / magazine available on Short Covers is always free so you can easily decide whether you want to make the purchase. You can also upload your own Word Documents or HTML web pages to Short Covers and either sell this content as other ebooks or distribute it for free under a Creative Commons license.

The BlackBerry Reader software of Short Covers is not perfect yet though their online store and reading interface is pretty nice.

3. MobiPocket Reader – This ebook reader is from Amazon, the same company that develops the popular Kindle e-ink reader. With MobiPocket, you can read files of virtually any format in your BlackBerry including PDF documents, CHM Help files, HTML web pages and Microsoft Office formats (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

The eReader software supports annotations (or text highlighting), you can copy text from an eBook into the BlackBerry’s clipboard (useful for emailing snippets), add notes on individual pages, the layout margins are adjustable and you can quickly navigate around the book with simple keyboard shortcuts. Just perfect.

Using BlackBerry as a PDF Viewer

To read Adobe PDF files in your BlackBerry, you can simply send that file as an attachment to your own email address and then use the built-in PDF viewer of BlackBerry’s email client to read that document. The same idea may be used for reading Office documents, such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, on the BlackBerry.

That’s one approach but if you have multiple PDF documents on your computer that you want to read on a BlackBerry, you may consider buying a standalone PDF viewer like the Documents to Go or Beam Reader. These apps can handle both PDF attachments and PDF documents stored on the memory card of your BlackBerry but they cost money so here’re some free alternatives.

Read PDFs & Office Documents on a BlackBerry as eBooks

Amazon owned Mobipocket eBook Reader comes with a free Windows application to help you manage your entire eBook library from the desktop. This app has a built-in tool to convert Office Documents, PDFs, HTML pages, etc. into eBooks that your BlackBerry ebook reader can understand.

So all you have to do is import documents into the Mobipocket Reader bookshelf (see screenshot) and connect the BlackBerry to the computer. It can’t get simpler than this.

Save HTML Web Pages as BlackBerry eBooks



With Stanza Desktop, you can open any web page directly in the application and export it into a format that can be read on most mobile devices. It support epub, Palm PDB, Microsoft LIT, Adobe PDF and most other popular ebook file formats.

Unlike Mobipocket, Stanza formats web content (and Office documents) like a real book (sans any distracting elements) and you are therefore very likely to enjoy this layout for reading. You may transfer these Stanza ebooks into BlackBerry via MobiPocket Desktop.

How to Create eBooks for BlackBerry from Scratch

The tools and techniques discussed about are more about conversion but if you like to create an eBook from scratch for reading on a BlackBerry, check out Mobipocket Creator.

It’s a free application that lets you create eBooks from scratch using text files, PDFs, Word documents and images. You may preview the eBook in a local simulator before publishing it to the world.

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The Different Ways to Backup your Home Computer

There are a couple of ways by which you can backup your documents, photos, emails and other important files that on your home computer. For instance, you may:

1. Use an external drive – You can attach an external hard disk to your PC or Mac through the USB port and use the built-in software to backup all your important files and folders automatically. These devices are sleek, portable and some even have FireWire ports so the data transfer happens at a much faster rate.

2. Clone the computer – You can use disk imaging tools like Acronis True Image or DriveImage XML (free for personal use) to create an exact mirror image of your hard-drive. The tools will even backup your system files and program settings so you can easily restore the computer to a working state in case your hard-drive crashes.

[*] If you are using Windows 7, you don’t really need any of these tools as the OS itself has a backup tool that will let you create system images at any point of time. You can store these snapshots on another partition of the same hard-disk or you may use an external drive.
3. Backup to another computer – If you have two or more computers connected through a home network, you can use the hard disk of one computer to store the data of another computer and vice-versa.
Microsoft Sync Toy is an excellent program that can help you keep folders across computers in sync with each other and thus can be used an indirect backup tool.
Alternatively, you may consider using desktop based backup software programs like FBackup or GFI Backup that are free for personal use and allow you to easily backup your files to any other computer on the home network (LAN). You can even schedule backups so that they run automatically at pre-defined intervals.
While FBackup has a more clean interface, GFI Backup offers both differential and incremental backups which are naturally faster than full backups. Both software programs can compress files on the fly so that your backups occupy less space on the network drive.
4. Create a Virtual Machine – Microsoft offers a free utility called Disk2vhd to help you create a virtual machine of your Windows PC.
You can copy the virtual machine file to another computer and access programs, documents and other files using Microsoft Virtual PC or any of the free virtualization software.
5. Use Offsite Backup – All the options discussed above make data backup easy but they obviously are not hands-free. You may therefore consider storing your data in the cloud use an online backup service.

Monday, September 20, 2010 | posted in How To, Tips n Tricks | 0 comments [ More ]

How to make calls using Gmail (video)

Earlier this week, Google introduced a feature that lets you make VoIP phone calls to landlines and mobile phones from within your Gmail account (and iGoogle). The calling service, which is available to U.S. Gmail users, integrates with the Google Talk chat app that you can find on the left-hand sidebar in Gmail.com.

Google's "Call Phone" feature has so far made a splash, inspiring 1 million calls in its first day--even before all Gmail users received the notification that they could activate the feature.

A favorable response is good news for Google, whose last opt-out Gmail feature, Google Buzz, only incited ire and demands to make it easier to disable Google Buzz. In addition to staying in consumers' good graces, Google's VoIP service in Google Talk is a potential moneymaker for the company. It's currently free to make calls inside the U.S. and Canada; however, to make inexpensive international calls you must buy credit through Google Checkout.

Google's Gmail call feature is undoubtedly a dangling carrot that can boost Google's formidable bottom line and reinforce some of its other services. If it's heavily adopted, as we suspect its convenient placement in the in-box will warrant, the company's dominance as a trusted, go-to brand will surely continue to grow.

Watch the video below for a step-by-step tutorial on how to make calls from Gmail to get started.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 | posted in How To, Videos | 0 comments [ More ]

Type n Walk - iPhone App that lets you type while walking

Texting on your mobile phone while driving is considered risky but the same activity when performed while walking on the street in not that safe either.

There have been numerous reports in the media of pedestrians walking into traffic, tripping on steps or even running into other people just because they were busy writing a text message or replying to an email on their cell phone when the accident happened.

When you can’t stop texting while walking

Since it’s hard to convince people to change their texting habits, some developers have come up with creative mobile apps that can make texting while walking a little more safer.

These apps basically turn your phone into a transparent glass so you can see what’s happening on the other side even while you are staring at the phone screen.

How? Well, they switch on your phone’s camera and add the email /texting functions on top of the live camera feed so you can type as before and still not run into anyone on the street. The following video should give you a better idea:

The iTunes App store lists quite a few such apps for your iPhone including Type n Walk, iType2go (they have a free version as well), Email n Walk and Text Vision. The latter even offers an option to publish tweets while walking.

Android users have Road SMS but unfortunately, this app is currently only available for Samsung Galaxy S phones. If your phone is running the Bada OS, your choices are Walk n Write and Type n Walk.

I have been hunting for similar apps for other platforms like Symbian and BlackBerry but no luck so for – if you know of one, please do share in the comments.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 | posted in iphone, Phones, Tips n Tricks, Videos | 0 comments [ More ]

How to Type Faster on Your iPhone

Check out the tutorial on how to type faster on your iphone.

Check Out the Video

Step 1: Use landscape mode

Whenever possible, type in landscape mode, which offers a larger keyboard and more space between keys. Landscape is available in all major applications if you have an iPhone 3G S or have upgraded to the newest operating system.

Step 2: Type with both thumbs

Using your index finger to type is for beginners. Increase your efficiency by using both thumbs to tap the letters on your virtual keyboard. With some practice, thumb-typing will become automatic.

Step 3: Look at what you're typing

Instead of looking at the letters as you type, look at what you're typing -- it will increase your speed and accuracy. Once your thumbs know where the keys are, it won't take long to adjust.

Tip: If you touch a wrong key, slide your finger to the correct key. The letter isn't entered until you release your finger.

Step 4: Use shortcuts

Learn basic shortcuts. When starting a new sentence, simply double-tap the space bar to add a period and a space and switch your next letter to upper case. To turn caps lock on, enable Caps Lock in keyboard settings and double-tap the shift button; tap it again to turn it off.

Step 5: Learn the ABC-to-123 trick

Switching between the alphabetical and numerical keyboards takes time. Instead, press and hold down the Number key, and drag your finger to the number or punctuation mark you want to insert. When you let go, your key will be entered and you'll automatically go back to the letter keyboard.

Monday, September 13, 2010 | posted in How To | 0 comments [ More ]