Smartphones posts - How To- Page 102

How to use Google Music with iOS devices

Google launched its own cloud music service today, Music Beta, allowing users to access and edit their music collections across multiple Android devices and computers without burdening their storage--everything is stored on Google's servers.

Android users can download and install the Music app on their phones immediately, but won't be able to access all the features, including the Music manager desktop app, until Google grants them an invitation.

Now, what about iOS users?

When Amazon launched Cloud Player, iOS users were also ignored, but the interWebs quickly found workaround. In the same spirit, here's how to use Google Music on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch.

Get a Google Music account: To request an invitation, go to music.google.com/music/.

Open Safari: Point your browser to music.google.com/music/ and enter your Google account information. Interestingly, this page is mobile-friendly.

Navigate as usual: Now the interface can be used in the same manner as the desktop browser version. Tapping play will play the music within the browser. (On Amazon Cloud Player, songs would open in the QuickTime Player.) To play a song, tap it, and press "Play" in the navigation bar at the bottom, or click the triangle to the right of a song name and select "Play Song."

Scrolling. To scroll through your music list, drag up or down with two fingers. Be patient--there's some lag.

How to rent movies from Google's Android Market

Google announced today that its Android Market will now begin renting movies in the U.S. Although flicks start as low as $1.99, Google said, most of the "thousands" of titles listed rent for about $3.99 each. The news and onstage demo came from Google I/O in San Francisco this morning.

For now, you can watch these movies online and on Motorola Xoom tablets that run the latest Android 3.1 Honeycomb update. Soon, you'll also be able to watch movie rentals on your Android 2.2 Froyo and Android 2.3 Gingerbread phones. … Read more

How to find downloaded files on Android

It's not always clear where e-mail attachments, text message files or files from the Web have been downloaded to on your Android phone. In this how-to, we'll show you where the files are and what app to use to find them.

Step 1: When you download e-mail attachments or Web files, they get placed in the "download" folder. To get to them, launch the Files app.

Step 2: Once the file manager opens, select "Phone files."

Step 3: From the list of file folders, scroll down and select the "download" folder.

Step … Read more

How to automate Foursquare check-ins with your Android device

Foursquare can be fun--but it can also start to feel like work. If you're the Mayor of your favorite coffee shop, holding onto that title can turn into a chore. The hundredth time you drag out your phone, pop open the Foursquare app, wait for it to figure out where you are, and then finally check in, the novelty may have faded a tiny bit. Fortunately, there's a sweet, free Android app called ToothTag that can automatically check you in at your favorite places, as long as they've got Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signals you can recognize. Here'… Read more

How to stream Amazon Cloud Player music on iOS devices

iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users can now access Amazon's new Cloud Player on their mobile gadgets, bypassing the initial lack of support for Apple iDevices. It doesn't work flawlessly, but if you follow the instructions detailed below, you'll be streaming cloud music to your iPhone in no time.

Unveiled late March, Amazon's cloud-based music player lets you play music purchased and downloaded from Amazon or uploaded from your own local music collection, providing a way to retrieve your various music libraries online.

Technically speaking, the Cloud Player is geared toward PC and Mac users as … Read more

How to connect your Android phone to an HDTV

Many Android phones have HDMI ports to output photos and videos to an HDTV. We'll show you how to connect your Android phone to your TV so you can view them on the big screen. The phone we'll use in this how-to is a Motorola Droid X.

Step 1: Connect the HDMI cable to your Android phone and your HDTV. The Motorola Droid X has a micro-HDMI port (type-D connector) that connects to the regular HDMI port (type-A connector) of your HDTV.

Step 2: Launch your Android phone's Gallery app and select the photo or video you'… Read more

Upload Android videos to YouTube in five steps

Now that you've taken videos of family fun, playful pets, or other social situations, it's time to share the good times with others. The integrated YouTube uploading feature on your Android phone fits the process into five easy steps.

Step 1: After taking a video, select it in the Gallery and press the Menu button.

Step 2: Now select Share and then YouTube from the pop-up menu.

Step 3: Give the video a title before uploading, so that it's easy to find.

Step 4: Open the More details area. Make sure the privacy settings and account being … Read more

How to choose the best Android screen lock

How secure do you want your Android device to be? The screen lock is your first line of defense against those who want to abuse your data--and they're out there--so it's best to see it less as an annoyance and more as a very small price to pay for data insurance. You've got three options baked into Android:

Pattern: This is undeniably cool (a gamer friend calls it his "sigil of entry"), easy to remember, and by far the simplest to use every day. Unfortunately, it's also by far the simplest to crack, most … Read more

How to send pictures directly from Android camera to Dropbox

Dropbox is one great way to share pictures, video clips, and other files across devices and between people. Its Android app has a sneaky feature that lets it take over your camera, camcorder, voice recorder, or text editor to create a file that is saved directly to the appropriate Dropbox folder. It's terrific for sharing media quickly with groups or just for making life easier when it's time to edit or send your files. Here's how to do it:

If you haven't already done so, pick up a free 2GB Dropbox account and install the Dropbox app … Read more