Feb 11
Almost no one likes Gmail Contacts. They’re difficult to find, merging them is tedious, and sometimes people just disappear without a trace. Well, now we have a good idea of why the experience is so bad.
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Jan 23
There are plenty of situations that warrant using your phone’s vibrate-only mode. But that buzzing in your pocket won’t tell you if someone important is calling. Luckily, this is easy to fix.
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Dec 25
Android is a fine OS, but the lure of a new iPhone may be too much to resist. If you’re going to make the switch, you won’t want to leave any scrap of your precious mobile identity in Android’s cold robotic embrace. Here’s how to pack up everything you’ll need to bring to your new life in Apple’s walled garden.
Nov 25
What really sucks about losing your phone—besides losing the phone—is that you also lose a whole bunch of your data. But to help ease that pain, a iPhone thief in China copied down a list of all his victim’s contacts (by hand!) and returned it to its rightful owner. All 1,000 of them.
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Jul 31
Windows Phone users who want to use Google Sync for contact and calendar integration had better act quickly: today is the last day that they can link their handsets to the service before Google pulls the plug. From August 1st onwards, Google Sync will only work on a given Windows Phone if it’s already configured. The GDR 2 upgrade keeps syncing alive through CalDAV and CardDAV support, although many users could go without that support for some time — to date, Americans can only see the OS refresh on the HTC 8XT, Lumia 520, Lumia 925 and Lumia 1020. If you’re not in that group and miss the Google Sync deadline, you’ll just have to sit tight while Microsoft finishes rolling out the GDR 2 update this summer.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Microsoft, Google
Via: Neowin
Source: Google Apps
Jul 23
For a good portion of the population, remembering both names and faces is a task too astronomical to even conceive of. You meet a fun, new person, and you don’t want to be rude—but chances are, as soon as they walk away, you’ve already forgotten what they look like. The problem only exacerbated when you’ve downed a few drinks to lubricate the mingling process, which is when you meet the most potential new friends and romantic interestes, anyway. NumberSnap is a clever, if not slightly creepy, way to to make sure you never forget a face.
What does it do?
Just open up the app when you need to enter a new number, pass it to your new future best friend, and as they enter their contact info, the app will snap a pic with your phone’s front-facing camera, putting a name with a face forever. And assuming that you don’t want the app alerting your new peer that their photo is being taken whether they like it or not, you can turn on "stealth mode," which is creepy, yes, but also helps make sure you don’t call a relationship before it even starts.
Why do we like it?
Rarely do we take the time to assign photos to new contacts. What’s more, it’s pretty off-putting for someone you just met to command you to smile as they snap a pic for posterity. This way, you can appear to be a normal human being and still make your name/face flashcards to prepare for the next meeting. Everyone wins. The only downside is that the app doesn’t work with the Android contact forms, so when your new friend is entering their number, they’ll see the word "NumberSnap" above the entry lines. Chances are, though, that if you’re both drunk or overwhelmed with a number exchange, no one will even notice. Hopefully.
NumberSnap, Download this app for: Android, $1
The Best: Automatic, discreet pictures of new contacts
The Worst: Doesn’t use Android’s contact entry
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Jul 03
Yahoo must be starting the summer with an acquisition spree: it bought Qwiki yesterday, and it’s buying Xobni today in a deal that AllThingsD estimates is worth $30 million to $40 million. The acquisition gives Yahoo a developer with experience in creating automatic, connected address books — a perfect fit for a web giant that has been revamping its email and social services. Neither of the new partners is talking about what they’ll create together, although Xobni is no longer accepting new customers for its paid services and has pulled downloads for both Smartr Contacts on Android and Xobni for BlackBerry. It’s a gentler transition than we’ve seen with other takeovers, although we wouldn’t get too comfy when most of Xobni’s services go dark after July 2nd of next year.
Update: Our colleagues at TechCrunch hear that the acquisition price may be over $60 million.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet
Jun 28
Google Search field trial adds Gmail contact info to your search results, promises Google+ profile support soon
Posted in: Today's Chili
If you’ve already signed up to Google’s experimental field trials, you might have started to notice people you know appearing within search queries. Expanding on shipping and flight results offered previously, Google’s pulling that information from your Gmail account, meaning that you’ll be able to poll for contact numbers, addresses (and more) through the search box. Of course, only you will be able to see the results and the beta feature can even link up to voice search. It currently supports all of your Gmail contacts, while Google+ connections are in the pipeline for future field tests. You can sign up to the trials at the second link below.
Source: Google (Google+), Google Field Trial
May 09
BlackBerry isn’t done with improving the BlackBerry 10 editions of LinkedIn and Twitter — not by a long shot. The company has once more upgraded the two social apps, this time with an emphasis on search. LinkedIn now lets users import contacts to find people they already know; in Twitter, meanwhile, universal search now shows photos, profiles and tweets on a single page. There’s more than just these two upgrades, of course. LinkedIn reveals more about companies and carries a slew of minor UI tweaks, while Twitter keeps content fresher with automatic caching. If the new versions are tempting, they’re waiting at the source links for Q10 and Z10 owners alike.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Blackberry
Via: Inside BlackBerry, Phone Scoop
Source: BlackBerry World (1), (2)
Mar 30
Those of you using Skype in Windows 8 will be happy to know that Microsoft’s just bumped the app to version 1.6. It’s been a few months since the last update, and this revision brings more features to the table, including contact blocking and a slew of performance tweaks. You’re now able to block users, with an option to remove or report the offending party. Speed and reliability have been improved, especially when loading contacts, and a number of bugs have been fixed, including one where the outgoing video was not always displayed after switching cameras. The update’s available in Windows Store, so what are you waiting for?
Filed under: Microsoft
Source: Skype Blogs
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