The telecommunications industry has come a long way since Ma Bell opened the first telephone exchange in the late 1800s. With the advent of fiber optics and wireless broadband technology, we no longer have a need for a dedicated phone connection, as today's data networks can c ...more
When you misplace your Android device, finding it with the Android Device Manager, or even better, Whistle Me, can help you find it no problem. But what about when your phone is not just hiding under the couch cushions? Your worst nightmare just came true. It's officially gone ...more
In a previous how-to, I showed how to send and receive text messages by wirelessly syncing them from your phone to your Nexus 7 tablet. Some eagle-eyed users may have notice that the Nexus 7 with 3G actually has a SIM card slot. Now, syncing messages over to your tablet may b ...more
Prepaid phones are becoming more and more popular, and tons of people can see the benefits of switching now that some companies are offering prepaid services that are on par with the big players. For a lot of folks, the only thing keeping them from switching is the huge early ...more
Did you know that you can use Gmail to make free phone calls to anywhere in North America? We're not talking computer to computer, but actual free phone calls to cell phones and home phones. All you need is a Gmail account, a microphone, and speakers plugged into your compute ...more
I am writing this quick post in response to the recent earthquakes and tsunamis that are affecting Japan. As soon as the news broke, and we began to hear of tsunami warning for our area, I immediately realized how under prepared I was for a natural disaster. The thing that dro ...more
The iPhone 4 for Verizon is already old news, thanks to Sprint's unveiling of the Kyocera Echo smartphone last Monday. Sprint's Kyocera Echo is the world's first dual-screen Android device, with a 3.5-inch 480 x 800 touchscreen display hidden beneath the same-sized main displ ...more
It's 1976. The hottest arcade game on the market is Blockade (or Blokade), an 8-bit maze game for 2 players. You and your opponent must move your characters around the screen in 90-degree angles, leaving a solid line behind them. Whoever runs into one of the solid lines first, ...more
In this Electronics video tutorial you will learn how to use Bluetooth connectivity to share cell phone files. You are not hacking in to other people's phones as you need their permission to access their phones. You can change ringtones and pictures or share them with your fri ...more
Systm is the Do-It-Yourself show designed for the common geek who wants to quickly and easily learn how to dive into the latest and hottest tech projects. They will help you avoid pitfalls and get your project up and running fast. In this DIY episode, see how to safely wire an ...more
This Null Byte is the first part in a mini-series on the art of Social Engineering. I will be teaching you how to effectively defend yourself against it. What is Social Engineering? Social Engineering is the art of hacking humans. It's when a person is manipulated into doing ...more
Gone are the days when you had to carry a clunky DynaTAC to make phone calls, pocket phone book for you contact list, Sony Discman for your tunes, and wallet for you cash and credit cards. Today, all you need is your smartphone. To be specific, Google's Nexus S 4G on Sprint. ...more
Giveaway Tuesdays has officially ended! But don't sweat it, WonderHowTo has another World that's taken its place. Every Tuesday, Phone Snap! invites you to show off your cell phone photography skills. Submit your best shot to our weekly competition for a chance to win an awes ...more
Difficulty Level: If you have eyes, you can do this. Ambient light is often called available, natural or existing light. Lots of professional photographers have quotes on lights, but this is my favorite: "I only shoot available light. Any damn light that’s available." I wish ...more
Giveaway Tuesdays has officially ended! But don't sweat it, WonderHowTo has another World that's taken its place. Every Tuesday, Phone Snap! invites you to show off your cell phone photography skills. Submit your best shot to our weekly competition for a chance to win an awes ...more
Giveaway Tuesdays has officially ended! But don't sweat it, WonderHowTo has another World that's taken its place. Every Tuesday, Phone Snap! invites you to show off your cell phone photography skills. Submit your best shot to our weekly competition for a chance to win an awes ...more
Every key on a telephone keypad has its own sonic signature, a sort of calling card composed of two distinct tones: one high, one low. While it's easy to tell the difference between the individual pitches in a single row—see, for example, this article on using your cell phone ...more
Send a text message to a landline? You can! If you're on a Verizon or Sprint network, you can write the text message and include the landline number. This will convert your text to a voicemail, and ask for approval before sending.
Final Fantasy 14 the MMO is now live. The special edition priced at $75 enables people to play eight days earlier than people getting the regular edition, which comes out on September 30th. Mine arrived yesterday and here are some pictures of what's inside the special edition ...more
Whether you're a proud owner of the Verizon ZTE Salute cell phone or are merely considering picking one up, you're sure to benefit from this video tutorial, which presents a reasonably thorough overview of the device's various features and functions. For more information, incl ...more
In this video, we learn how to do a free reverse cell phone look up for call records. This will work for some cell phones, but not all of them. First, go to the website Your Spying Eyes. This is a great search tool where you can look through records of cell phones to find out ...more
We've seen wearable electronics before, but we've yet to see a dress that dually operates as a cell phone. The idea is interesting, though not especially pragmatic (yet). "The M-Dress is an elegant silk jersey dress that is also a functional soft electronics mobile phone. Th ...more
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to send a text message on a cell phone. This task is very easy, fast and simple to do. Begin by opening the text slider. Then select the message icon from the menu. To compose a new message, click on New Message. In the To field, type ...more
In 2000, the U.S. Joint Command Forces, a sort of think tank within the military, began planning a war game named Millennium Challenge. The scenario of the game was as follows: a rogue military commander had broken away from his government somewhere in the Persian Gulf and was ...more
Iowa firefighter Pete Lilja has modded the software of a Canon powershot to record images of Earth, from as high as 85,000 feet! Lilja's hack requires the following: 1 basic point-and-shoot consumer camera attach camera to a GPS transmitter (+ a phone number just in case the ...more
No matter what Android enabled mobile device you have, if you want to add a contact to it, it's easy and the process of adding contacts (phone numbers, names, email addresses, etc) is practically the same. But how do you do it? Best Buy has answers. The Best Buy Mobile team ex ...more
Are you a major networker with a cell phone full of digits? Are you horrible at remembering names and often times look at incoming calls with a look of confusion? There's a way to remember them from this day forward. Once you get a number, snap a picture of them and set it up ...more
With the Android platform on a large amount of mobile phones today, chances are you have one. Sometimes messaging on the phones can be a little confusing, but there's a simple explanation for texting your friends and family. Best Buy has answers. The Best Buy Mobile team expla ...more
In this video, the instructor shows us how to tell if a device (cell phone or other device) is tethered or un-lockable. Before you begin, you must download a tool called f0recast onto your laptop or desktop computer. After the application is downloaded, you must plug in your d ...more
First open up system preferences, select Blue Tooth and click the plus at the bottom. Make sure that your phone has Blue Tooth on and wait for your phone to pop up. Click continue and enter the number 71057113 onto your phone in the space provided. Once your phone is connect t ...more
This video shows you how to bypass expensive texting charges and use this free and easy way to text people without the need to download apps, go to websites, or jailbreak your device. Works on basically any cell phone. No need to ever pay $20.00 for unlimited texting with AT&T ...more
Not exactly sure how to get a hold of a death certificate? Whether you need a death certificate to trace your family history or to make a legal claim, follow these steps to get the record you need. You Will Need: • Information about the deceased • Internet or library access ...more
So you don’t need to have a full on conversation but you do want to relay some information to someone. A text message the perfect option to get a short message across using your cell phone or even just to say hi. Text messaging makes it easy to communicate with friends and fa ...more
This is probably not the best touchdown celebration but certainly would be the most annoying. Touchdown celebrations are notoriously egotistical so if you want to keep with the tradition you can try out some of these your next touchdown. You’ve built a reputation for the dept ...more
Apple AirTags are super helpful for keeping track of your keys, backpack, and other frequently misplaced items, but there are some pretty clever things you can do with them beyond finding your stuff. Apple's $29 Bluetooth beacons definitely drew some inspiration from Tile's l ...more
If your current cellular provider costs too much, has poor reception in your area, or doesn't support features you'd like to use, switching to another carrier is the obvious move. But can you bring your current iPhone or Android phone? In most cases, your current smartphone w ...more
The signal bars in your iPhone's status bar are great visual indicators for knowing how good your cellular reception is, but they're not very accurate. Instead of showing the actual amount of signal you're receiving, they just give you a general range, and you'll have no idea ...more
Amber, emergency, and public safety alerts on an iPhone are loud — startle-you-to-death loud even. They can happen at any time, day or night, and sometimes back to back when you're in a big city. Those blaring sirens can wake you from sleep, interrupt an important meeting, or ...more
Your Galaxy uses information from your SIM card to communicate with nearby towers and facilitate a connection. Which LTE bands you are assigned depends on a number of factors, including available bandwidth and your device's supported signals. But if speeds aren't great on your ...more
Almost 20% of the US population (about 60 million Americans) live in rural areas where mobile reception is weak or nonexistent. In times of crisis, these Americans can't rely on the internet to communicate with loved ones or receive new information. This is why being able to i ...more
In many urban areas, GPS doesn't work well. Buildings reflect GPS signals on themselves to create a confusing mess for phones to sort out. As a result, most modern devices determine their location using a blend of techniques, including nearby Wi-Fi networks. By using SkyLift t ...more
Smartphones are inherently bad for privacy. You've basically got a tracking device in your pocket, pinging off cell towers and locking onto GPS satellites. All the while, tracking cookies, advertising IDs, and usage stats follow you around the internet. So no, there's no such ...more
When it comes to sniffing Wi-Fi, Wireshark is cross-platform and capable of capturing vast amounts of data. Making sense of that data is another task entirely. That's where Jupyter Notebook comes in. It can help analyze Wi-Fi packets and determine which networks a particular p ...more
In the case of Apple Watch v. Fitbit, the winner comes down to the judge at hand. Apple currently offers two smartwatches — the Series 5 and the Series 3 — while Fitbit offers three models — the Fitbit Versa 2, Fitbit Ionic, and Fitbit Versa Lite. Whatever your assumptions abo ...more
The worlds of augmented reality and virtual reality are closely linked in many ways. That means it's smart for AR insiders to keep a close on new developments in VR. If you have been paying attention, you know that Oculus CTO John Carmack is one one of the most important think ...more
|Choose Your View: Quick Bullet Points | Detailed Descriptions Android's newest major update is a special one — it's the tenth full version of the world's most commonly used operating system. The latest release, dubbed simply Android 10 (codename Android Q), was first showcas ...more
The wait wasn't so long this time. Apple released public beta 3 for iOS 13 on Thursday, July 18, just one day after the release of developer beta 4. For context, Apple took five days to seed public beta 2 after releasing dev beta 3, so it's a pleasant surprise that the latest ...more
Did you know that the YouTube app can tell you how much time you've spent watching videos? If you're like me, you'll be surprised to know exactly how much of your life is spent inside the popular app. You can get a specific breakdown of how much you YouTube you consume. The a ...more
You can forward your Skype audio calls to your cellphone or landline. This way, you'll still receive calls when you have no Wi-Fi, and you don't have to worry about always being logged into Skype. If you've ever missed a Skype voice call because you weren't on Wi-Fi or becaus ...more
Does your iPhone always ring off the hook, with each call nothing more than a robocall, spammer, or scammer? It's not just you. Auto-dialing systems and phone scams are a growing issue that anyone with a phone number is likely experiencing throughout the United States. But App ...more
Creating a digital spreadsheet by hand can certainly be tedious, especially if you're copying a printed paper table word for word, number for number. Instead of typing information that's already there, however, use Microsoft Excel on Android or iOS to snap a photo of that prin ...more
Silence spreads over these mountains like nothing I've ever felt. If I didn't have Moby blasting in my earphones, there'd probably be no other sounds around. Well, except for someone, Phil probably, murmuring in a nearby tent just low enough to make his words indiscernible. W ...more
There's never been a better time for streaming videos on your phone. With so many options available (including a potential mobile-only Netflix tier) and so many new smartphones having large screens, there's a good chance you know someone who mainly use their phone for videos. ...more
Unlike the realm of virtual reality, augmented reality is less about losing yourself in some fantasy environment, and more about getting things done in the real world. So while we've seen some great games that capture the imagination on devices like the Magic Leap One and the ...more
In case you hadn't heard, Google is now a legit cell service provider. Google Fi has its pluses and minuses, but the biggest upside is in the pricing. Depending on how much data you typically use, there's a good chance you could save a lot of money without sacrificing coverage ...more
You can mod every aspect of your phone's software with root, but if you want to make changes at the hardware level, you'll need a custom kernel. If you've looked into custom kernels before, one name undoubtedly kept coming up: ElementalX. It's easily the best custom kernel out ...more
Rooting. As an Android user, I'm sure you've heard the word once or twice. According to Kaspersky, 7.6% of all Android users root — but for the 92.4% who don't, we wanted to talk to you. Rooting allows you to remove barriers and open Android to a level of unprecedented contro ...more
The most common Wi-Fi jamming attacks leverage deauthentication and disassociation packets to attack networks. This allows a low-cost ESP8266-based device programmed in Arduino to detect and classify Wi-Fi denial-of-service attacks by lighting a different color LED for each ty ...more
One could argue that, at least for the moment, software development is more important to the augmented reality experience than hardware. Since a viable augmented reality headset has yet to emerge for the broader, mainstream consumer market, currently, the same devices that mak ...more
The next big iOS version for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch was revealed by Apple at WWDC 2018 and dropped for everyone on Sept. 17, 2018, less than a week after Apple revealed the new iPhone lineup. We've rounded up all the big picture items and secret features and changes we c ...more