How To

How to access your PC via iPad: LogMeIn Ignition

If you've found a new travel companion in your iPad, you are no doubt charmed by its various entertainment features, from its prowess at playing movies, music, and games to its roles as e-reader, photo viewer, and news gatherer. The iPad, however, can be more than an entertainment device. There are a number of remote desktop apps, for instance, that let you use the iPad to tunnel into your PC or laptop. So, in addition to Angry Birds Rio HD, use can use your iPad to gain control of your Mac at home or your PC at work. In this tutorial, I will walk you through using LogMeIn Ignition.

You may have used LogMeIn before to access a remote PC from another PC via a Web browser; Ignition is the company's iOS app that lets you use an iPhone or iPad. Priced at $29.99, LogMeIn Ignition is one of the more expensive apps you'll find in the app store. Considering its many features and the fact that it doesn't necessarily saddle you with a monthly subscription cost, the $30 charge begins to look reasonable. For this tutorial, I used an iPad 2 and the latest version of Ignition (2.1.299).… Read more

5 apps for benchmarking your Android device

Benchmarking apps are useful for measuring the performance of your device and comparing the scores with similar devices. They test the performance of processors, graphics systems, Web browsing, and more. Here are five benchmarking apps for Android devices that you can use to see how your device measures up:

Quadrant Standard Edition Quadrant Standard Edition tests CPU, I/O, and 3D graphics. After running through the tests, you're required to submit the score to the company's servers in order to see the results. The bar chart shows your overall score and compares it with other devices.

Linpack Linpack … Read more

Monitor your Windows, Linux computer from a smartphone

Maybe you just need to see how a download is progressing, or maybe you need to kill a process that's eating your network alive. If you're on-site, it's easy, but if you're working remotely, you need a solution. PC Monitor lets you check in with and exert control over your Windows or Linux machine from almost any smartphone. Here's how to get started with it: 

Download and install PC Monitor on your computer and on your smartphone. Run PC Monitor on your computer. (You will need to set up an account the first … Read more

5 tips for maximizing your Android screen space

No matter how tricked-out your Android layout is, you'll always find something new you want to do that takes one click too many to reach. Just as all projects go over budget, all your favorite apps and bookmarks are sure to spill over beyond your home screen. There's no one perfect solution for everyone, but there are a few habits and tools that can help keep your digital life close at hand.

Be ruthless. Clear your device of any applications you don't use, and clear your home screen of everything you don't either use every day (… Read more

3 tricks to using less data when browsing on Android

You've got access to the world wide Web in your pocket. Now you want to start looking up info and reading sites. Unfortunately, you must keep your data use within your data plan's limit, or having a smartphone could be prohibitively expensive. No problem. Check out these three tips to keep your data usage in check while Web browsing.

Tip 1: Make sure you're on mobile Most Web sites have full and mobile versions. The differences between the two are their layouts and amount of content. Generally, the mobile version has far fewer page elements to load … Read more

Clearing the browser history on Galaxy Tab 10.1

Keeping your browsing history from prying eyes is difficult on a device that you may share with family or friends. Whether you're shopping for a surprise present or an engagement ring or surfing the Web for some other personal reason, you may want to keep your activities private. If you're looking to erase the sites you've visited from the memory of your Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, follow these quick steps:

Step 1: Open the Web browser on your Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Step 2: Click on the menu in the top right corner, and choose Settings.

Step … Read more

10 ways to improve iPad battery life

The iPad 2 offers excellent battery life--it lasted nearly 12 hours in CNET Labs testing--but after so many charges, battery life invariably begins to fade. How can you extend the life of your iPad 2's aging battery? Let us count the ways:… Read more

Mirror iPad 2 on your TV with iOS 5, AirPlay

In our never-ending quest to prep our faithful readers for iOS 5 we cover an amazing new iPad 2-specific feature in iOS 5: mirroring. Mirroring via AirPlay and an Apple TV (which will also have to be running iOS 5) will allow you to display your iPad 2 screen on any TV with an HDMI port.

Sending your iPad 2's screen to your TV is as easy as:

Entering the fast app switcher dockSwiping left-to-rightPressing the AirPlay iconSelect AppleTV and toggle the Mirror switch

What do you think? Is this something you will use on a regular basis? Or, … Read more

Start recording video faster with your iOS device

Quick, grab your phone, we should be recording this!

If you have a toddler who is learning to talk or walk or reach other video-worthy milestones, you've either heard or uttered these words frequently and recently. Same goes for owners of hilariously curious cats, I'd imagine.

Even if you have your phone in hand, you can still miss a shot, as you mistakenly take a still shot with your iPhone's camera app, then scramble to move the slider over and start recording video. Well, no more! The recently released Swift app by CodeGoo lets you start capturing video faster. Granted, it saves only a few seconds compared with using the iPhone's native camera app, but sometimes only a few seconds is the difference between getting the shot and missing it.… Read more