Google is a type of search engine that gives the facility of browsing from various devices such as the laptop, mobile etc. Recently, Google developed material design so that it can unify the experienced users to use various Google platforms. The aim of this unification is to improve the overall technological experience of a user by making the interaction easier, simpler and more intuitive. Most people believe that the recent material design plan of Google surpassed iOS design. In the present writing, I will share my thoughts about this issue.
iOS design and Google's material design:
iOS is a mobile operating system manufactured by Apple Inc. It develops an adaptive layout so that your design can work from multiple devices. Two years ago, it has changed its design manual and has made it simple and user-friendly. It allows its designers to focus on animations and function rather than intricate visual details. Here UI or your user interface should be stripped down to the core aesthetic. The present iOS apps ensure perceptible feedback in response to every user's action. As a result, UX or user experience design of iOS develops and improves the quality of interaction between a user and all facets of the company. It's UX design helps to enhance customer's satisfaction and loyalty by improving the usability, ease of use, and pleasure provided by the interaction between the customer and the product.
On the other hand, recent Google's material design also helps its users' in various ways. The design of Google aims how Google can improve your life by making their technology smarter. It is said that the material design of Google surpassed iOS design in the sense that it provides more facilities and simple user-friendly attitude. It is not just a new UI rather a whole Google UX. The great features of this new design are-
• Great interaction with various technologies:
One of the main features of any material design is how it interacts with various technologies. The present material design of Google has a very seamless flow between interactions. For example: you are writing a very important article on your laptop but do not finish it and left it open. Don't worry, you can continue this writing from your watches, mobile, tablet or other technological devices because of Google's new material design.
• A seamless information flow between devices and smarter technology:
Another advantage of Google's material design is its quick and seamless information flow between devices and technologies. As a user, you do not need to worry that your messages or files are synced to a device, or you do not need to be bombarded with work emails while you're at home - and vice versa, pictures and text messages sent to you from last night won't be popping up while you're at work.
In short, Google's material design aims to unite Google's expansive product line under a rich set of design styles and principles. It exceeds the design of iOS in various levels. It helps its users to use technology in a very comfortable and homely way.
The world has gone Mobile. The number of smart phone users globally has grown exponentially over the past 5 years. The number of Android & iOS devices sold globally has crossed a billion mark each. Hence, it is no longer sufficient to have only a website for your business. Any business, small or large must have a mobile app. Let us look at some of the most important reasons why you should opt for a mobile app for your business:
1. Branding - A mobile application is the best way to create brand awareness for your business. You can use your logo, your business's tag line or a message that you would like your customers to connect with your business to create a brand recall. Every time a customer who has downloaded your mobile apps sees your logo in the form of the mobile app icon on their screen, they will recall you.
2. Increased Reach - Because of the sheer penetration of mobile phones and other mobile devices like tablets and the improved Internet connectivity in most parts of the world, the number of people you can reach through a app has increased tremendously. It is easier for your existing as well as potential customers to find out the right information about your products or services through your mobile app.
3. Create Customer Database & Profile - It is easier to collect customer data in terms of phone number and email id through a mobile apps. You can also allow your app users to login via their social media accounts like Facebook or Google. This will give you access to other valuable data like their areas of interest, their lifestyle choice, their shopping preferences, etc. This data can then be used by your marketing team to send out the right communication.
4. Increased Engagement - By building the right features in your app you can utilize it as a powerful way to increase engagement with your existing and potential customers. You can include features like social sharing and a help desk (for sales and service queries) in the app to improve direct communication with your customers. This will in turn help your business to connect closely with your customers.
5. Push Notifications - This is one of the biggest advantages of having a mobile apps. You can ask your Mobile App Development Solution provider to integrate a push notification feature in your app which will help you with your on-the-go marketing. Through this feature, you can send bulk messages to all the app users or specific messages to a sub-set of your app users based on the message. You can also communicate about the latest offers or discounts you are offering to your customers regularly through push notifications. Best of all, it doesn't cost you a penny to send out these messages, unlike SMS or Email marketing.
With the above advantages of having a for your business in mind, it is imperative to identify the right Mobile App Development Solutions provider for your business app. Solution Analysts has been helping small businesses globally with their Mobile App Development Services to create great which will add value to their businesses. To get a free quote for your Mobile Application or to know more about us, please visit our website today.
I am Cris, A great artist, Love to develop mobile application. I am working with Solution Analysts as Mobile Application Developer and have expertise in developing iBeacon, iOS Swift, Android, ionic, PhoneGap. Solution Analysts- A premier mobile Application Development Company in India, delivering Hybrid & Native and Mobile App Development Services across the globe since 2011.
Mobile has revolutionized the entire IT industry during the past few decades. It has become a center of discussion for businesses owing to its power to increase sales substantially. Mobile apps are being used by individuals as well as employees for accomplishing various tasks. Enterprise applications have gained popularity off late for bringing together the entire workflow.
Organizations wish to implement mobile solutions that have a two ways effect. One is they must be able to enhance business growth. Two is the application must be utilized by the target user base readily without any hassles. Companies are now focusing on investing more in sales technology. However, prior to jumping into the sea of mobile solutions, it is essential to understand its importance. It is important to know how it will help your users.
Despite the novel technologies introduced to help customers communicate with sales force, target or prospective customers always prefer to have personal communication with sales people. However, it has been viewed that direct interaction derives the desired results only if the sales person is offering information which the customer cannot derive solely. The way technology can power a sales person, it can also provide a plethora of information to buyers. Focus must be placed of customer's buying cycle.
Organizations, thinking to go for mobile apps development, to empower their sales team should consider the following steps in advance.
Consider The Sales Field
To truly come up with a solution which can drive your sales team to achieve more targets and perform effectively you must consider the challenges that they may be facing out in the field. You must understand the hindrances they face on a routine work day. This will give you clear idea about your requirements to be fulfilled by the application and also the mobile apps development company you wish to hire.
Creative Design
Implementing new technology successfully requires you to create a user-friendly interface which urges the end user to interact. Change is always met with resistance. Sales team always has a clearcut process and specific tools. If the mobile solution, you are going to implement, is going to make things complex, sales team may not embrace the solution for a long time. User experience is critical to the success of the application. A simple and intuitive solution which is akin to previous sales tool can help you implement the new application successfully.
Be Just and Fair
No matter which device or program is promoted by the organization, user mobile device should be considered important. If most of the sales force is using iOS then it is wise to go for an iOS sales enablement application rather than an Android application.
Provide a Holistic Solution
A sales enablement solution should help a sales person to complete the entire sales cycle. Right from getting in touch with or reaching the target customer to completing a sales call, a sales application should cover everything. A sales person may require a number of things for providing info to the customer. A holistic solution is one that powers the sales man with all that is required to close a deal. The solution must be in tune with the current sales methodology and deliver high value. The entire sales cycle must be evaluated and then instilled into the mobile solution you are going to offer.
Testing
Testing the solution before it is launched can help you identify bugs and clear them. Also, it helps in enhancing the current design. Observing users using the application can also give some insights into any needed changes. Testing the prototypes and initial versions of the application with few members of the sales team can help you understand if the design and features are perfect.
Organizations wish to implement mobile solutions that have a two ways effect. One is they must be able to enhance business growth. Two is the application must be utilized by the target user base readily without any hassles. Companies are now focusing on investing more in sales technology. However, prior to jumping into the sea of mobile solutions, it is essential to understand its importance. It is important to know how it will help your users.
Despite the novel technologies introduced to help customers communicate with sales force, target or prospective customers always prefer to have personal communication with sales people. However, it has been viewed that direct interaction derives the desired results only if the sales person is offering information which the customer cannot derive solely. The way technology can power a sales person, it can also provide a plethora of information to buyers. Focus must be placed of customer's buying cycle.
Organizations, thinking to go for mobile apps development, to empower their sales team should consider the following steps in advance.
Consider The Sales Field
To truly come up with a solution which can drive your sales team to achieve more targets and perform effectively you must consider the challenges that they may be facing out in the field. You must understand the hindrances they face on a routine work day. This will give you clear idea about your requirements to be fulfilled by the application and also the mobile apps development company you wish to hire.
Creative Design
Implementing new technology successfully requires you to create a user-friendly interface which urges the end user to interact. Change is always met with resistance. Sales team always has a clearcut process and specific tools. If the mobile solution, you are going to implement, is going to make things complex, sales team may not embrace the solution for a long time. User experience is critical to the success of the application. A simple and intuitive solution which is akin to previous sales tool can help you implement the new application successfully.
Be Just and Fair
No matter which device or program is promoted by the organization, user mobile device should be considered important. If most of the sales force is using iOS then it is wise to go for an iOS sales enablement application rather than an Android application.
Provide a Holistic Solution
A sales enablement solution should help a sales person to complete the entire sales cycle. Right from getting in touch with or reaching the target customer to completing a sales call, a sales application should cover everything. A sales person may require a number of things for providing info to the customer. A holistic solution is one that powers the sales man with all that is required to close a deal. The solution must be in tune with the current sales methodology and deliver high value. The entire sales cycle must be evaluated and then instilled into the mobile solution you are going to offer.
Testing
Testing the solution before it is launched can help you identify bugs and clear them. Also, it helps in enhancing the current design. Observing users using the application can also give some insights into any needed changes. Testing the prototypes and initial versions of the application with few members of the sales team can help you understand if the design and features are perfect.
Developing an app is an accomplishment. With so much time and effort involved in the entire process of development, test and launch, devising an effective marketing strategy would be the last thing in the mind of a developer.
In the App market, there exists the 'problem of abundance'. With a surge of mobile apps in various app stores, success is not guaranteed even if your newly developed app has 'everything' in it. This is further aggravated with the high failure rate of various nicely developed apps at the app stores. The truth is, no matter how fantastic your app is, a solid marketing strategy is what ultimately sells it. The marketing of 'promised value' can act as a key differential.
It is essential to create a marketing plan before the launch for promotion and brand awareness. After all nobody is going to download an app that doesn't s have buzz around it.
What is the strategy to create the marketing buzz?
1. Promotion Before Launch: Even before the launch of the app, various promotional content should be finalized - content development, reviews by various influencers, opinion makers and bloggers and banner designing for advertising, news releases, etc. Correct medium (portals and publications) can guarantee that the promotion is targeted to the right audience. This is facilitated by making an online presence through social media networks. Demo testing with a target group spreads awareness amidst the right audience.
2. Optimizing the App: Optimizing the app to search engine by providing the correct keywords in its title and description is important so that users can locate it easily. App optimization during the development process should be an essential step for discoverability in search query at the app store. (1)
3. Releasing Unique Features Early: To grow a user base, it is essential to release early, which draws investor attention. Releasing the primary features would help early adoption - setting the stage for growing user base in the future. Enabling a social sharing facility can further lead to enhancing user base. Adoption is typically fast if a unique feature is introduced at an early stage. For example a messaging app that has the capacity to target 50 or more people at time would attract interest. (2)
4. Get Discovered: With a plethora of apps in the same market segment you are operating, at the highest frequency is essential to make your presence felt. The audience wants to know that how your app makes their task easier and that is ready to be downloaded. Create a landing page and an email subscription option for the app. Focus should be to create awareness to drive traffic to the page. A multi-channel marketing strategy such as email marketing, banner advertising, and viral marketing can help promote apps across various channels. To garner maximum visibility the marketing process should continuous.
5. Make Users Your Marketers: Attaining the top position in the chart is difficult but once achieved, users can act as the marketer for your 'great app'. Users can use the shareable features of the app to spread brand awareness among friends. They can use the app to share content, and social media to create the buzz around the app. Relationships can be forged through the shareable aspect of the app. Social media can be used to create profiles of the targeted users who can be engaged and re-engaged through content, value description, offers, and feature capabilities. Once convinced your true marketers do the viral marketing for the app. (4)
6. Revenue Model: It is essential to develop clarity over the revenue sourcing model. The most appropriate revenue model should be chosen. The app can be a paid app or an initially free and chargeable later on. The various monetizing sources of the app that can be explored include purchase options, advertisements, subscriptions, and product/service selling.
7. User Retention and Engagement: Retaining customers can be just as difficult as acquiring them. Push notifications serve as a source of user engagement. A solid user experience is essential to engage and retain customers. Feedback on user experience through ratings and reviews on the app page/app store are definite ways to boost credibility, retain existing customers, and acquire more. Allowing people to contact directly from the app through a mail or social media can help build engagement. Any negative review about a bug, problem, crash or additional feature requirement should be sorted immediately. Successful handling of user request leaves a happy customer and leads to positive reviews. (5)
Positive reviews increases app credibility as people download apps with higher positive recommendations.
Well planned pre-launch promotion, precise optimization, releasing unique feature early, enhanced discoverability, viral marketing, and positive review through high credibility are some of the killer strategies to fight competition and top the charts in the app market.
References
(1,2) Kimbrell, Gideon. "Five Killer Marketing And Distribution Strategies For Your App." 18 July 2014. Forbes Website. 19 February 2015
(3) Dholakiya, Prateek. "3 Strategies for Winning In the Hyper-Competitive Market for Apps." 6 February 2015. Entrepreneur.com. 19 February 2015
(4) "The iOS app Marketing Strategy Guide." Apptamin.com. 19 February 2015
(5) "Marketing your new mobile app." 10 October 2014. Smart Insights.com. 19 February 2015
In the App market, there exists the 'problem of abundance'. With a surge of mobile apps in various app stores, success is not guaranteed even if your newly developed app has 'everything' in it. This is further aggravated with the high failure rate of various nicely developed apps at the app stores. The truth is, no matter how fantastic your app is, a solid marketing strategy is what ultimately sells it. The marketing of 'promised value' can act as a key differential.
It is essential to create a marketing plan before the launch for promotion and brand awareness. After all nobody is going to download an app that doesn't s have buzz around it.
What is the strategy to create the marketing buzz?
1. Promotion Before Launch: Even before the launch of the app, various promotional content should be finalized - content development, reviews by various influencers, opinion makers and bloggers and banner designing for advertising, news releases, etc. Correct medium (portals and publications) can guarantee that the promotion is targeted to the right audience. This is facilitated by making an online presence through social media networks. Demo testing with a target group spreads awareness amidst the right audience.
2. Optimizing the App: Optimizing the app to search engine by providing the correct keywords in its title and description is important so that users can locate it easily. App optimization during the development process should be an essential step for discoverability in search query at the app store. (1)
3. Releasing Unique Features Early: To grow a user base, it is essential to release early, which draws investor attention. Releasing the primary features would help early adoption - setting the stage for growing user base in the future. Enabling a social sharing facility can further lead to enhancing user base. Adoption is typically fast if a unique feature is introduced at an early stage. For example a messaging app that has the capacity to target 50 or more people at time would attract interest. (2)
4. Get Discovered: With a plethora of apps in the same market segment you are operating, at the highest frequency is essential to make your presence felt. The audience wants to know that how your app makes their task easier and that is ready to be downloaded. Create a landing page and an email subscription option for the app. Focus should be to create awareness to drive traffic to the page. A multi-channel marketing strategy such as email marketing, banner advertising, and viral marketing can help promote apps across various channels. To garner maximum visibility the marketing process should continuous.
5. Make Users Your Marketers: Attaining the top position in the chart is difficult but once achieved, users can act as the marketer for your 'great app'. Users can use the shareable features of the app to spread brand awareness among friends. They can use the app to share content, and social media to create the buzz around the app. Relationships can be forged through the shareable aspect of the app. Social media can be used to create profiles of the targeted users who can be engaged and re-engaged through content, value description, offers, and feature capabilities. Once convinced your true marketers do the viral marketing for the app. (4)
6. Revenue Model: It is essential to develop clarity over the revenue sourcing model. The most appropriate revenue model should be chosen. The app can be a paid app or an initially free and chargeable later on. The various monetizing sources of the app that can be explored include purchase options, advertisements, subscriptions, and product/service selling.
7. User Retention and Engagement: Retaining customers can be just as difficult as acquiring them. Push notifications serve as a source of user engagement. A solid user experience is essential to engage and retain customers. Feedback on user experience through ratings and reviews on the app page/app store are definite ways to boost credibility, retain existing customers, and acquire more. Allowing people to contact directly from the app through a mail or social media can help build engagement. Any negative review about a bug, problem, crash or additional feature requirement should be sorted immediately. Successful handling of user request leaves a happy customer and leads to positive reviews. (5)
Positive reviews increases app credibility as people download apps with higher positive recommendations.
Well planned pre-launch promotion, precise optimization, releasing unique feature early, enhanced discoverability, viral marketing, and positive review through high credibility are some of the killer strategies to fight competition and top the charts in the app market.
References
(1,2) Kimbrell, Gideon. "Five Killer Marketing And Distribution Strategies For Your App." 18 July 2014. Forbes Website. 19 February 2015
(3) Dholakiya, Prateek. "3 Strategies for Winning In the Hyper-Competitive Market for Apps." 6 February 2015. Entrepreneur.com. 19 February 2015
(4) "The iOS app Marketing Strategy Guide." Apptamin.com. 19 February 2015
(5) "Marketing your new mobile app." 10 October 2014. Smart Insights.com. 19 February 2015
So how can you ensure that your business survives and flourishes in this race to get noticed? How can you ensure that your brand's identity remains distinguishable?
The answer to this lies literally on your hands! Confused? Don't stare at your palm, I am not checking horoscopes. See the mobile phone that you hold? Like you, millions of others may probably be holding their respective phones this very moment. They may be communicating with each other using messengers apps, using social media apps like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Also, they may be doing shopping using certain special "mobile apps".
Now that is your answer; a mobile application highlighting your brand name. So what is this application? It is simple, an application that can be installed on mobile devices, with internet access. A single app for your business can increase sales manifold. Yet, an app may have its own distinctive purposes and features. An individual mobile app can be designed for each of your products and services.
Fine! You have the idea and an urge to design a mobile application. So what do you do next? What do know about it? Even if you have the programming knowledge, how do you make it look professional? For this, you go to a mobile development company!
The first thing you will be asked to decide is if you wish for a native app of a specifically a mobile web app.
Native App
A native app is meant for a particular mobile phone, tablet or mobile device. It is installed directly in the device at the time of manufacturing. However, they can also be acquired from the websites of phone manufacturers or online market places such as the App Store and Google Play.
The development process for these apps are unique to each mobile device. The normal programming languages used to design such apps are Java (Android), Objective-C (IOS), and Visual C++ (Windows Mobile). The standard development kits are normally provided by the manufacturers of the device.
Mobile Web App
A mobile web app indicates an internet enabled application that can be downloaded through the mobile device's default web browser. They need not be installed and are only temporary apps. Each of these applications have their own distinctive features. This app does not need any standard development kit.
A mobile application development company will take your choice and design an app idealistic for your brand. Precaution should be made to not create an app that already exists in the market. Originality is a big factor that makes a firm extremely successful, while leaving its competitors behind.
The answer to this lies literally on your hands! Confused? Don't stare at your palm, I am not checking horoscopes. See the mobile phone that you hold? Like you, millions of others may probably be holding their respective phones this very moment. They may be communicating with each other using messengers apps, using social media apps like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Also, they may be doing shopping using certain special "mobile apps".
Now that is your answer; a mobile application highlighting your brand name. So what is this application? It is simple, an application that can be installed on mobile devices, with internet access. A single app for your business can increase sales manifold. Yet, an app may have its own distinctive purposes and features. An individual mobile app can be designed for each of your products and services.
Fine! You have the idea and an urge to design a mobile application. So what do you do next? What do know about it? Even if you have the programming knowledge, how do you make it look professional? For this, you go to a mobile development company!
The first thing you will be asked to decide is if you wish for a native app of a specifically a mobile web app.
Native App
A native app is meant for a particular mobile phone, tablet or mobile device. It is installed directly in the device at the time of manufacturing. However, they can also be acquired from the websites of phone manufacturers or online market places such as the App Store and Google Play.
The development process for these apps are unique to each mobile device. The normal programming languages used to design such apps are Java (Android), Objective-C (IOS), and Visual C++ (Windows Mobile). The standard development kits are normally provided by the manufacturers of the device.
Mobile Web App
A mobile web app indicates an internet enabled application that can be downloaded through the mobile device's default web browser. They need not be installed and are only temporary apps. Each of these applications have their own distinctive features. This app does not need any standard development kit.
A mobile application development company will take your choice and design an app idealistic for your brand. Precaution should be made to not create an app that already exists in the market. Originality is a big factor that makes a firm extremely successful, while leaving its competitors behind.
When people are choosing a guard for their fan, they need to consider what foreign objects could get into the fan and damage it based on the area that it will be located in. The wire 120mm fan guard is a very useful option. It is durable and comes in many different styles.
Choosing the right style is not based on what looks good. It should be based on what is the most effective for the situation at hand. Technicians that work with the electronics in the cabinet will be able to understand the process and figure out what the necessary fan guard will be.
The guard should allow enough air flow through the fan to cool as well as being able to protect the fan from debris and other things. Every situation is different and will expose the fan to different types of things. This is why there is a variety of different types of them that will fit on a variety of different fans.
Not all of the fans are going to have a possible exposure of things that are going to hit the fan and damage it though. The placement of the fan will have a lot to do with this too. Just because there will not be a big risk of this does not mean that the fan can be left wide open without one.
If a fan guard is not on there, it is going to be a safety risk to people that will be working around it. This is something that people need to understand also. Just because people do not intend to put their hand in a fan does not mean that it could not accidentally happen.
When someone is working, they need to be careful, but if there is a chance that people can be protected, like this, they should take every opportunity to do it. Working with electricity, people can get a small shock and jerk back. If that happens, they may not realize where there hand is going to end up.
There are many metal ones that are used every day. They are easy to clean and will blend in with the cabinet fan that it is being used with. For some people, they need everything to look great. Other people are simply looking for something that is going to work great.
In a cabinet, it will be important to keep the cords away from these fans too. This is something that people may not realize could even get into a fan. If they end up in that fan, it can create a big mess and possibly ruin the cords and the fan.
This can be expensive if the electrical cabinet has to be rewired. It is not going to be a quick fix, more than likely. When this happens, it is possibly going to shut down the devices that are housed within it. This can cost the company to repair it as well as for the downtime caused by this.
There are many things to think about when putting electronics in a cabinet. It is not something that is going to be an easy fix, but it is something that is going to be an important fix. There are many styles and sizes of fan guards that are going to be able to prevent this.
Choosing the best 120mm fan guard will be a good option for many reasons. There are several different choices for each application and when technicians figure this out, they will purchase what they need. The best style and size will depend on the cabinet, the current fan and many other things.
Choosing the right style is not based on what looks good. It should be based on what is the most effective for the situation at hand. Technicians that work with the electronics in the cabinet will be able to understand the process and figure out what the necessary fan guard will be.
The guard should allow enough air flow through the fan to cool as well as being able to protect the fan from debris and other things. Every situation is different and will expose the fan to different types of things. This is why there is a variety of different types of them that will fit on a variety of different fans.
Not all of the fans are going to have a possible exposure of things that are going to hit the fan and damage it though. The placement of the fan will have a lot to do with this too. Just because there will not be a big risk of this does not mean that the fan can be left wide open without one.
If a fan guard is not on there, it is going to be a safety risk to people that will be working around it. This is something that people need to understand also. Just because people do not intend to put their hand in a fan does not mean that it could not accidentally happen.
When someone is working, they need to be careful, but if there is a chance that people can be protected, like this, they should take every opportunity to do it. Working with electricity, people can get a small shock and jerk back. If that happens, they may not realize where there hand is going to end up.
There are many metal ones that are used every day. They are easy to clean and will blend in with the cabinet fan that it is being used with. For some people, they need everything to look great. Other people are simply looking for something that is going to work great.
In a cabinet, it will be important to keep the cords away from these fans too. This is something that people may not realize could even get into a fan. If they end up in that fan, it can create a big mess and possibly ruin the cords and the fan.
This can be expensive if the electrical cabinet has to be rewired. It is not going to be a quick fix, more than likely. When this happens, it is possibly going to shut down the devices that are housed within it. This can cost the company to repair it as well as for the downtime caused by this.
There are many things to think about when putting electronics in a cabinet. It is not something that is going to be an easy fix, but it is something that is going to be an important fix. There are many styles and sizes of fan guards that are going to be able to prevent this.
Choosing the best 120mm fan guard will be a good option for many reasons. There are several different choices for each application and when technicians figure this out, they will purchase what they need. The best style and size will depend on the cabinet, the current fan and many other things.
If you feel your mobile devices are eating up too much of your time, and even your life, then read on. If you love your always-on connection and feel no problem, then read no further.
One of the most important steps you can take is to reclaim your home, and the concept of placement can help here too. Your home is a number of spaces. A house has various areas such as kitchen, dining and living room, bedroom, bathroom, garden etc. Even a studio apartment has several spaces. These spaces do not all need to become the territory of always-connectedness. In fact, "sacred" spaces are an important aspect of reclaiming your home from the Dance with Spiders.
Your mobile phone need not serve as your alarm clock beside your bed as you also text before sleep and check in to Twitter as soon as you wake up. Sleep is such a fundamental process in our lives. But sleep begins when we enter our bedroom, when we begin the process of settling down for the night. Sleep restores us. Our dreams help us resolve the day, and "work through" restlessness in our dream life.
Sleep restores body and mind. We'll take into our sleep the spidery-fingertip activity of texting and microblogging if it is the last thing we do at night. It is well reported that computer gamers see the after image of games in their visual space of closed eyes when they try to sleep for the night. They still see the movement of the boom boom or zap zap of the gun. In the very first days of computer games, when Pong was the rage - a game of virtual and simple tennis - addicted gamers couldn't get the image of the little moving white dot out of their minds as they lay down for a nights' sleep. This interferes with this vital human process. It is far healthier to clear the decks before sleep, to spend half an hour without such interruptions, to turn to our partner (if we have one) and share a goodnight with them. It can be healthy to listen to the sounds of the night outside through a small open window, or wind down to some relaxing music, to play back the day in our thoughts gently, or to just tune into our breathing as we relax into tiredness.
The sleep space - the bedroom - is the first sacred space we should remove the mobile devices from. Charge them up overnight in another room. Even putting them away, under the bed, behind a desk, or even in a pocket, supports their undeserved right to be in your sacred sleep space. Banish them. And enjoy the act of banishment. The banishment need not be a dramatic gesture. It is simply like putting the car away in the garage. The car has its proper place, and it isn't to be parked the living room, on in the driveway with the engine always on.
The place for the mobile devices is not in the bedroom - that is a place for sleep. And waking up needs to be a little more gentle and sacred too. We come from a very specific state when we sleep and transition into wakefulness. Shaking someone awake who is having a nightmare can be dangerous and traumatic. Equally, when we wake up, listening to the sound of birds, kissing our partner good morning, and lying there for a few minutes before exiting the bedroom, all of these are gestures of value to ourselves. We do not need always-connectedness in the bedroom.
Diary entry November 2010...
I've decided to keep my iPhone out of the bedroom where I sleep with my partner. It lasts for a couple of days and then seems to have found its way back to its place, charging up, right next to my head, after a short compromise of trying to plug it into a plug point further away. I try again. Back it is again, there doesn't seem to be a natural home for it in the spare room nor downstairs. Excuses. And the habit of checking it at night and first thing in the morning is too strong. Wishes and not enough will. I look at my partner as she is sleeping. Several times the last thing I have seen is not her smile, but the messages page on Facebook. She deserves better. I plant another resolution into very weed-ridden ground. The devices exert some kind of pull.
Some people leave the devices outside of the bedroom, charging up in the hallway. The first thing they do on leaving the bedroom is to take the device and check it. Ideally, mobile devices are better checked after three primevally important activities: awaking from sleep, washing, and eating. Only after these activities should we pick up the device and check it if we need to.
This challenges the will to be strong and we can stumble to achieve it. If we do succeed, great health benefits can result: more will power, a more motivated and happier start to the day, and less tiredness. We get more will power because we assert our will through the placement of the mobile device in both space and time - we reassert mastery over it. We feel more motivated because we have valued some prime things as most important to us and, in doing so, we have valued ourselves over the demands of devices. We feel more motivated because we have taken control and prioritized the energizing nature of the morning ritual of waking and preparing for the day. Thirdly, we are less tired because we have gone to sleep and woken up properly, in a way that allows us to enter and exit the sleep stater without distraction, and more in tune with nature.
Try it. You'll see, although, as I said, you may stumble on the way. You'll need to persevere with it.
Placement is all about putting the mobile device in a place chosen by you, and in a way that prioritizes your need for undistracted transition into and out of restorative sleep. In the book, The Artist's Way, you are encouraged, on waking, to write your morning pages - some free flow writing of your thoughts - you may capture dreams, thoughts for the day, reflections, worries, fantasies and impulses. The key thing is that the ritual is renewed each morning and activated by you, by your will power. The need to check in on your mobile device is inherent in the device itself - you are drawn to it - the will impulse is maybe 5% yours, and 95% the corporation that created the pull in the device.
Diary entry March 2011...
We've moved into a new home, a three bed-roomed house. The back room on the ground floor is becoming the office room for the house. This will be the place where mobiles are placed. And computers. But we haven't got that room straight yet and it is a bit of a store room. The mobile finds it way, in the new home, into the bedroom in which we sleep and the living room, becomes iPad and laptop territory. And yet the living room always feels better, and paradoxically, a firer of my muse and creativity, when it is free of plugged in connection beyond its borders of wall, window and chimney. It is bedtime story time. Why on earth would I ever reach for my smartphone to see who has retweeted me when a glorious seven year old is asking me if Harry Potter is a real person? How could I have ever let my gaze wander during that priceless time?
Placement in the home involves assigning consciously and wilfully the physical and temporal place for a mobile device. You decide where it sits. You decide when it is on and when it is off. You reclaim most of your home as sacred and you place the device somewhere were you will it it be. For some this is a little office space, an armchair near an electric plug point It can be comfortable. It can be in a hallway, or in a spare room. When the phone rings, you go to it. If you like walking around whilst talking on the phone or texting, or even slouching on your bed, then do that, but then return the device to its "place". It is the act of will each time that reclaims the will power lost in being trapped in an always-on addicted state.
I'd like to suggest that, as important is the bedroom, is the kitchen or the spaces where you cook and eat. Eating, preparing food, tasting, these are all about the life processes that keep us healthy. Some health experts believe we should not even be reading while we are eating. It's mostly anecdotal evidence to back it, but the idea is that we should really savour our food, taste it, and allow ourselves to digest it properly. A cup of tea or some water to follow. A walk to let our meal go down. Digestion is important. Actually our will is involved in our digestion. We don't will ourselves to digest, just as we don't usually will ourselves to breathe.
Our will is the faculty that is least conscious to us. It only usually comes into consciousness when we choose to focus attention on it, often if something is wrong. But when we eat properly, prepare our food with loving attention, it is a bit like making an unspoken agreement with our will. When we taste our food properly, it does us more good, we get more out of it. When we support the process of digestion, our digestion tends to be better for it. Our unconscious will tends to respond favourably to conscious acts of will aimed at us eating healthily. Just as if we prepare well for sleep, and allow ourselves to wake up properly, then we tend to sleep more soundly, and we are all the better for it!
Now, when we are "always on" - reading alerts, texts, pokes, likes checking, email, responses, we are constantly ingesting content. If we do it while we are eating, we are multi-tasking and potentially overloading our will. As the will attempts to digest the virtual content, it can begin to neglect digesting the physical content - our food. This can be the beginning of nervous indigestion, and even ulcers. It's easy to eat a sandwich is a minute whilst talking on the phone.Some people are skilled at doing both at the same time. Others end up writing a half-hearted, shorthand text and not chewing their food properly resulting in both misunderstanding, follow up clarifying texts and trapped wind. Eat your sandwich. Taste it. Let it go down. THEN text. It is only in recent years, as part of a family, that I have come to really value the sacredness of the kitchen table, where we sit together and eat our meals. I'm not being old fashioned when I say that the meal table is no place for the spidery-reach of mobile connectedness. I'm actually being a futurist. Timothy Leary said that, in the future, physical meetings would become more rare, and more sacred. As families we spend less time together. Many families do not eat together at all. Yet food is the affirmation of life. Food comes from the earth and it is our connection with it. Distraction breaks that connection. Does that matter? I think it does, because, if we use placement to leave the mobile devices out of our meal times, we are making another act of will - to allow ourselves to fully enjoy those things which keep us alive, and give us the energy for the day. When we say to ourselves "The smartphone can wait" we are affirming the importance of digesting our food and, if the meal is with family, we are also focusing our will on prioritising a healthy rhythm - instead of connecting with disembodied presences online, we are connecting with those we love, showing wilful interest in them, and the togetherness combined with the focus of our will on maintaining this rhythm really does do two things - it makes the food taste better, and it makes us feel physically and soulfully connected with people in our sacred spaces.
Diary entry November 2011...
The last thing I see at night is the smiling face of my love. The mobile phone is next door in the spare bedroom and it has remained there now for a few weeks. The bedroom is now a sacred place for sleep and intimacy. When I wake in the morning I do not rush to check the mobile next door on my way to the bathroom (as I did in October). The plan is to declutter the office downstairs and then that will become the assigned place for being virtually connected. We have no mobiles or devices in the bedroom and none at mealtimes. The iPad and laptop still grace the living room. We just need a decent chair for the desk. We have all the right plugs for a dedicated charging station. That room will be the portal to the digital world, with a lovely view of the garden with double doors than can be opened when it is warm enough. But there'll be no other doors into the digital world from our home. The rest of the house will be ours, and ours alone. Meanwhile I sit in the living room, a shared space, sharing my attention with faceless colleagues in New York with the all too real and half neglected questions of a quite rightly curious seven-year old would-be wizard.
When we really do practice placement, something else can happen too. We can actually start to value the mobile devices MORE. We can look forward to using them and we are actually investing a deeper and more profound value in them too. They now have a place - in space and time - and we are investing our will in upholding those places and spaces. We then are also valuing the unique properties and possibilities of those devices in their assigned and proper places. We start to have a certain time of the day when we check in on our emails - it can even be a lot of times of the day - it just isn't ALL day. We can look forward to and enjoy emailing time. Reading the queue of texts can almost be like opening presents on a birthday.
We start to go into the virtual "zone" all the stronger because we know we have the ability to will ourselves out of that zone. If you love the feeling and possibility of being always connected, if that perpetual buzz turns you on and gives you a high you want to repeat, then good luck, and put this book down. I even believe you might be an evolutionary prototype, a person ahead of your time.
You might be the sign of people to come for whom always-on will be natural. It may even be hardwired into people who will be connected by tattoos and cyborg technologies attached to nerve endings. But if you feel that the always-on buzz, in your life as it is now, it too distracting, invasive, and that you feel the wish to reclaim your life from it, then placement will benefit you greatly.
So, in summary, we create assigned, willed places in our home for our mobile devices, and we banish them from meal and eating places, and from the bedroom. We also assign them places in time - specific times when we connect and then disconnect. We choose rituals that always precede the virtual connection - waking up properly, cleansing ourselves, eating and talking with family, and those times remain free of the always-on pull.
Here's the first thing: you'll notice that your productivity and efficiency online actually goes up not down. You'll notice that you experience the digital world in a more conscious way and you'll feel less tired at the end of the day. You'll become more able discern what is necessary and what is actually empty connection. You'll find being "on" a richer experience when "on" is a choice rather than a compulsion. Some people make the home a place for no virtual devices at all. Others have one room for it. If this all seems like a big leap, then try a few smaller steps. Just try keeping the device out of the bedroom for a couple of weeks - see how that goes. Set up a charging station in a spare room, and don't plug in anywhere else in the house. Try an hour at home with the device completely off. Start with small steps and watch what happens.
Placement is literally when you put control back into your hands, and then you place those hands at the service of your will. Just because social media platforms WANT you to be always on, doesn't mean you have to be and, ironically, there is no productivity benefit - personally or professionally, to be 24-7 connected anyway. You'll actually be more effective and efficient if, as with food or sleep, you'd don't do it all the time! What is also powerful about placement is that it is gentle, like the gesture of putting the bread back in the bread bin. It goes there because it isn't needed for a while, and the bin will keep it fresh and all the better for the next time you feel hungry. Placement isn't about dramatic gestures, it's a simple, clear gesture that will warm up your will. And once that will is back in the hands that it should be - yours - you'll find you can start to realize your dreams again.
Diary entry February 2012...
I'm using the devices more away from home than ever before. I still lapse and we still haven't properly assigned the back room for being connected. But meal times and sleep times are now our times. I love our meal times together. I still eat too quickly but not as quickly as I once did. We talk. We laugh. There is no feeling of pull from the devices. Sleep is better. Preparing for sleep is lovely. Waking up is lovely. The dance with spiders is now becoming one in which I choose many of the steps.
Now, you may be reading this and saying - Yes. Yes. This all sounds perfectly reasonable and I want to reclaim my home! You'll then sigh an outer or inner sigh and carry on as you did before. This occurs when there simply isn't any spare will power left to even embark on the journey to reclaim your home. So how do you start at all? Let me tell you the secret of this. It can usually only be done with gentleness. Not with dramatic big bang change. If big bang change works for you, then great. If it doesn't and you often run out of steam, have some faith in the long run.
Take a small step. Then another. That's how it works. So, today, leave the mobile outside of your bedroom. Have breakfast or a shower before you even look at your phone. Eat supper and then have an hour's relax without looking at your device. See if you can do it two days in a row. Then three. Then a week. Take a little step and see if you can maintain it. If you falter, don't beat yourself up. Just try again. Do it gently. Computers are binary beasts - they are either on or off. You are either logged in or you aren't. They are based on ones and zeros underneath all the lifelike interface.
But you aren't binary. You can choose to leave either-or behind and be either-and! So, small steps, a gradual change. Sometimes the middle way isn't the way of compromise - sometimes it is the way of gentleness, of hopefulness, and of success in the longer run.
One of the most important steps you can take is to reclaim your home, and the concept of placement can help here too. Your home is a number of spaces. A house has various areas such as kitchen, dining and living room, bedroom, bathroom, garden etc. Even a studio apartment has several spaces. These spaces do not all need to become the territory of always-connectedness. In fact, "sacred" spaces are an important aspect of reclaiming your home from the Dance with Spiders.
Your mobile phone need not serve as your alarm clock beside your bed as you also text before sleep and check in to Twitter as soon as you wake up. Sleep is such a fundamental process in our lives. But sleep begins when we enter our bedroom, when we begin the process of settling down for the night. Sleep restores us. Our dreams help us resolve the day, and "work through" restlessness in our dream life.
Sleep restores body and mind. We'll take into our sleep the spidery-fingertip activity of texting and microblogging if it is the last thing we do at night. It is well reported that computer gamers see the after image of games in their visual space of closed eyes when they try to sleep for the night. They still see the movement of the boom boom or zap zap of the gun. In the very first days of computer games, when Pong was the rage - a game of virtual and simple tennis - addicted gamers couldn't get the image of the little moving white dot out of their minds as they lay down for a nights' sleep. This interferes with this vital human process. It is far healthier to clear the decks before sleep, to spend half an hour without such interruptions, to turn to our partner (if we have one) and share a goodnight with them. It can be healthy to listen to the sounds of the night outside through a small open window, or wind down to some relaxing music, to play back the day in our thoughts gently, or to just tune into our breathing as we relax into tiredness.
The sleep space - the bedroom - is the first sacred space we should remove the mobile devices from. Charge them up overnight in another room. Even putting them away, under the bed, behind a desk, or even in a pocket, supports their undeserved right to be in your sacred sleep space. Banish them. And enjoy the act of banishment. The banishment need not be a dramatic gesture. It is simply like putting the car away in the garage. The car has its proper place, and it isn't to be parked the living room, on in the driveway with the engine always on.
The place for the mobile devices is not in the bedroom - that is a place for sleep. And waking up needs to be a little more gentle and sacred too. We come from a very specific state when we sleep and transition into wakefulness. Shaking someone awake who is having a nightmare can be dangerous and traumatic. Equally, when we wake up, listening to the sound of birds, kissing our partner good morning, and lying there for a few minutes before exiting the bedroom, all of these are gestures of value to ourselves. We do not need always-connectedness in the bedroom.
Diary entry November 2010...
I've decided to keep my iPhone out of the bedroom where I sleep with my partner. It lasts for a couple of days and then seems to have found its way back to its place, charging up, right next to my head, after a short compromise of trying to plug it into a plug point further away. I try again. Back it is again, there doesn't seem to be a natural home for it in the spare room nor downstairs. Excuses. And the habit of checking it at night and first thing in the morning is too strong. Wishes and not enough will. I look at my partner as she is sleeping. Several times the last thing I have seen is not her smile, but the messages page on Facebook. She deserves better. I plant another resolution into very weed-ridden ground. The devices exert some kind of pull.
Some people leave the devices outside of the bedroom, charging up in the hallway. The first thing they do on leaving the bedroom is to take the device and check it. Ideally, mobile devices are better checked after three primevally important activities: awaking from sleep, washing, and eating. Only after these activities should we pick up the device and check it if we need to.
This challenges the will to be strong and we can stumble to achieve it. If we do succeed, great health benefits can result: more will power, a more motivated and happier start to the day, and less tiredness. We get more will power because we assert our will through the placement of the mobile device in both space and time - we reassert mastery over it. We feel more motivated because we have valued some prime things as most important to us and, in doing so, we have valued ourselves over the demands of devices. We feel more motivated because we have taken control and prioritized the energizing nature of the morning ritual of waking and preparing for the day. Thirdly, we are less tired because we have gone to sleep and woken up properly, in a way that allows us to enter and exit the sleep stater without distraction, and more in tune with nature.
Try it. You'll see, although, as I said, you may stumble on the way. You'll need to persevere with it.
Placement is all about putting the mobile device in a place chosen by you, and in a way that prioritizes your need for undistracted transition into and out of restorative sleep. In the book, The Artist's Way, you are encouraged, on waking, to write your morning pages - some free flow writing of your thoughts - you may capture dreams, thoughts for the day, reflections, worries, fantasies and impulses. The key thing is that the ritual is renewed each morning and activated by you, by your will power. The need to check in on your mobile device is inherent in the device itself - you are drawn to it - the will impulse is maybe 5% yours, and 95% the corporation that created the pull in the device.
Diary entry March 2011...
We've moved into a new home, a three bed-roomed house. The back room on the ground floor is becoming the office room for the house. This will be the place where mobiles are placed. And computers. But we haven't got that room straight yet and it is a bit of a store room. The mobile finds it way, in the new home, into the bedroom in which we sleep and the living room, becomes iPad and laptop territory. And yet the living room always feels better, and paradoxically, a firer of my muse and creativity, when it is free of plugged in connection beyond its borders of wall, window and chimney. It is bedtime story time. Why on earth would I ever reach for my smartphone to see who has retweeted me when a glorious seven year old is asking me if Harry Potter is a real person? How could I have ever let my gaze wander during that priceless time?
Placement in the home involves assigning consciously and wilfully the physical and temporal place for a mobile device. You decide where it sits. You decide when it is on and when it is off. You reclaim most of your home as sacred and you place the device somewhere were you will it it be. For some this is a little office space, an armchair near an electric plug point It can be comfortable. It can be in a hallway, or in a spare room. When the phone rings, you go to it. If you like walking around whilst talking on the phone or texting, or even slouching on your bed, then do that, but then return the device to its "place". It is the act of will each time that reclaims the will power lost in being trapped in an always-on addicted state.
I'd like to suggest that, as important is the bedroom, is the kitchen or the spaces where you cook and eat. Eating, preparing food, tasting, these are all about the life processes that keep us healthy. Some health experts believe we should not even be reading while we are eating. It's mostly anecdotal evidence to back it, but the idea is that we should really savour our food, taste it, and allow ourselves to digest it properly. A cup of tea or some water to follow. A walk to let our meal go down. Digestion is important. Actually our will is involved in our digestion. We don't will ourselves to digest, just as we don't usually will ourselves to breathe.
Our will is the faculty that is least conscious to us. It only usually comes into consciousness when we choose to focus attention on it, often if something is wrong. But when we eat properly, prepare our food with loving attention, it is a bit like making an unspoken agreement with our will. When we taste our food properly, it does us more good, we get more out of it. When we support the process of digestion, our digestion tends to be better for it. Our unconscious will tends to respond favourably to conscious acts of will aimed at us eating healthily. Just as if we prepare well for sleep, and allow ourselves to wake up properly, then we tend to sleep more soundly, and we are all the better for it!
Now, when we are "always on" - reading alerts, texts, pokes, likes checking, email, responses, we are constantly ingesting content. If we do it while we are eating, we are multi-tasking and potentially overloading our will. As the will attempts to digest the virtual content, it can begin to neglect digesting the physical content - our food. This can be the beginning of nervous indigestion, and even ulcers. It's easy to eat a sandwich is a minute whilst talking on the phone.Some people are skilled at doing both at the same time. Others end up writing a half-hearted, shorthand text and not chewing their food properly resulting in both misunderstanding, follow up clarifying texts and trapped wind. Eat your sandwich. Taste it. Let it go down. THEN text. It is only in recent years, as part of a family, that I have come to really value the sacredness of the kitchen table, where we sit together and eat our meals. I'm not being old fashioned when I say that the meal table is no place for the spidery-reach of mobile connectedness. I'm actually being a futurist. Timothy Leary said that, in the future, physical meetings would become more rare, and more sacred. As families we spend less time together. Many families do not eat together at all. Yet food is the affirmation of life. Food comes from the earth and it is our connection with it. Distraction breaks that connection. Does that matter? I think it does, because, if we use placement to leave the mobile devices out of our meal times, we are making another act of will - to allow ourselves to fully enjoy those things which keep us alive, and give us the energy for the day. When we say to ourselves "The smartphone can wait" we are affirming the importance of digesting our food and, if the meal is with family, we are also focusing our will on prioritising a healthy rhythm - instead of connecting with disembodied presences online, we are connecting with those we love, showing wilful interest in them, and the togetherness combined with the focus of our will on maintaining this rhythm really does do two things - it makes the food taste better, and it makes us feel physically and soulfully connected with people in our sacred spaces.
Diary entry November 2011...
The last thing I see at night is the smiling face of my love. The mobile phone is next door in the spare bedroom and it has remained there now for a few weeks. The bedroom is now a sacred place for sleep and intimacy. When I wake in the morning I do not rush to check the mobile next door on my way to the bathroom (as I did in October). The plan is to declutter the office downstairs and then that will become the assigned place for being virtually connected. We have no mobiles or devices in the bedroom and none at mealtimes. The iPad and laptop still grace the living room. We just need a decent chair for the desk. We have all the right plugs for a dedicated charging station. That room will be the portal to the digital world, with a lovely view of the garden with double doors than can be opened when it is warm enough. But there'll be no other doors into the digital world from our home. The rest of the house will be ours, and ours alone. Meanwhile I sit in the living room, a shared space, sharing my attention with faceless colleagues in New York with the all too real and half neglected questions of a quite rightly curious seven-year old would-be wizard.
When we really do practice placement, something else can happen too. We can actually start to value the mobile devices MORE. We can look forward to using them and we are actually investing a deeper and more profound value in them too. They now have a place - in space and time - and we are investing our will in upholding those places and spaces. We then are also valuing the unique properties and possibilities of those devices in their assigned and proper places. We start to have a certain time of the day when we check in on our emails - it can even be a lot of times of the day - it just isn't ALL day. We can look forward to and enjoy emailing time. Reading the queue of texts can almost be like opening presents on a birthday.
We start to go into the virtual "zone" all the stronger because we know we have the ability to will ourselves out of that zone. If you love the feeling and possibility of being always connected, if that perpetual buzz turns you on and gives you a high you want to repeat, then good luck, and put this book down. I even believe you might be an evolutionary prototype, a person ahead of your time.
You might be the sign of people to come for whom always-on will be natural. It may even be hardwired into people who will be connected by tattoos and cyborg technologies attached to nerve endings. But if you feel that the always-on buzz, in your life as it is now, it too distracting, invasive, and that you feel the wish to reclaim your life from it, then placement will benefit you greatly.
So, in summary, we create assigned, willed places in our home for our mobile devices, and we banish them from meal and eating places, and from the bedroom. We also assign them places in time - specific times when we connect and then disconnect. We choose rituals that always precede the virtual connection - waking up properly, cleansing ourselves, eating and talking with family, and those times remain free of the always-on pull.
Here's the first thing: you'll notice that your productivity and efficiency online actually goes up not down. You'll notice that you experience the digital world in a more conscious way and you'll feel less tired at the end of the day. You'll become more able discern what is necessary and what is actually empty connection. You'll find being "on" a richer experience when "on" is a choice rather than a compulsion. Some people make the home a place for no virtual devices at all. Others have one room for it. If this all seems like a big leap, then try a few smaller steps. Just try keeping the device out of the bedroom for a couple of weeks - see how that goes. Set up a charging station in a spare room, and don't plug in anywhere else in the house. Try an hour at home with the device completely off. Start with small steps and watch what happens.
Placement is literally when you put control back into your hands, and then you place those hands at the service of your will. Just because social media platforms WANT you to be always on, doesn't mean you have to be and, ironically, there is no productivity benefit - personally or professionally, to be 24-7 connected anyway. You'll actually be more effective and efficient if, as with food or sleep, you'd don't do it all the time! What is also powerful about placement is that it is gentle, like the gesture of putting the bread back in the bread bin. It goes there because it isn't needed for a while, and the bin will keep it fresh and all the better for the next time you feel hungry. Placement isn't about dramatic gestures, it's a simple, clear gesture that will warm up your will. And once that will is back in the hands that it should be - yours - you'll find you can start to realize your dreams again.
Diary entry February 2012...
I'm using the devices more away from home than ever before. I still lapse and we still haven't properly assigned the back room for being connected. But meal times and sleep times are now our times. I love our meal times together. I still eat too quickly but not as quickly as I once did. We talk. We laugh. There is no feeling of pull from the devices. Sleep is better. Preparing for sleep is lovely. Waking up is lovely. The dance with spiders is now becoming one in which I choose many of the steps.
Now, you may be reading this and saying - Yes. Yes. This all sounds perfectly reasonable and I want to reclaim my home! You'll then sigh an outer or inner sigh and carry on as you did before. This occurs when there simply isn't any spare will power left to even embark on the journey to reclaim your home. So how do you start at all? Let me tell you the secret of this. It can usually only be done with gentleness. Not with dramatic big bang change. If big bang change works for you, then great. If it doesn't and you often run out of steam, have some faith in the long run.
Take a small step. Then another. That's how it works. So, today, leave the mobile outside of your bedroom. Have breakfast or a shower before you even look at your phone. Eat supper and then have an hour's relax without looking at your device. See if you can do it two days in a row. Then three. Then a week. Take a little step and see if you can maintain it. If you falter, don't beat yourself up. Just try again. Do it gently. Computers are binary beasts - they are either on or off. You are either logged in or you aren't. They are based on ones and zeros underneath all the lifelike interface.
But you aren't binary. You can choose to leave either-or behind and be either-and! So, small steps, a gradual change. Sometimes the middle way isn't the way of compromise - sometimes it is the way of gentleness, of hopefulness, and of success in the longer run.
If you're the kind of power user that goes out and buys the latest flagship phone every year you may be thinking of getting the Apple's new iPhone 6 Plus. Before you do however, it is a good idea to give some serious thought to the 6 Plus' slightly smaller sibling, the plain vanilla iPhone 6.
The media frenzy and people's attention have all been for the huge 6 Plus because it has been such a long wait for a phone this size from Apple. Smartphone users who were stuck on iOS either because they loved it or because they were tied in to Apple's ecosystem, have glazed with gadget envy for a long time, upon huge phablet phones like the Samsung Galaxy Note.
This fact has not been lost on the Korean smartphone maker either. With savvy marketing and some really slick, funny advertising, Samsung has repeatedly hammered home on the fact that Apple does not have a large screen phone and that is what Apple phone users hope for every year.
All that changed this year however, with the launch of the iPhone 6 Plus, a 5.5" screened giant of a phone that is too large for most people with regular sized hands to use single handedly and that is the crux of the matter.
The iPhone 6 Plus may have a huge, gorgeous screen that is widely regarded as the best screen currently shipping on a smartphone but that comes at the cost of practicality. One handed use is out of the window for anyone unless you are over 6 feet tall and have the hands to match your height.
Even Apple acknowledges this fact because one of the few bits of custom software on the 6 Plus is the ability to slide the entire screen down so you can reach screen elements in the upper half without having to use a second hand.
The 6 Plus is also difficult to fit into pockets due to its size. A recent story about the Chinese cellphone provider giving away free pocket enlargement alterations with sales of the iPhone 6 Plus, sounds like satire but it is a true story.
For people who do not realise it, the iPhone 6 has not stayed the same size as the previous generation either. Even it has grown by half an inch to clock in at around 5" now so you can still have a large iPhone without having to go all the way to the 6 Plus.
The iPhone 6 allows for much easier one handed use and much easier fit in your pockets and clothing due to its smaller size, even with one of the many iPhone 6 cases on it. You might even get slightly longer battery life due to its slightly smaller screen that chews through a little less power than the 6 Plus.
There is also the matter of price, the iPhone 6 is a considerable amount cheaper than the 6 Plus and that money could be spent on a nicer pair of earphones than the ones Apple provides with the phone or cool designer cases at site like daily objects.
The upshot is, even if you are looking to upsize your iPhone on your next upgrade, for many people the iPhone 6 may actually be a big enough increase in size.
No one wants to get stuck in the limbo of mundanity, so why should you iPhone 6 Cases should look ordinary or like the ones that millions of other people are carrying. With a fabulous range of iPhone 6 cases that we offer you can give it a nice makeover. iPhone 6 Custom Cases is the another option for people who would want to give a real personal touch to their phone.
The media frenzy and people's attention have all been for the huge 6 Plus because it has been such a long wait for a phone this size from Apple. Smartphone users who were stuck on iOS either because they loved it or because they were tied in to Apple's ecosystem, have glazed with gadget envy for a long time, upon huge phablet phones like the Samsung Galaxy Note.
This fact has not been lost on the Korean smartphone maker either. With savvy marketing and some really slick, funny advertising, Samsung has repeatedly hammered home on the fact that Apple does not have a large screen phone and that is what Apple phone users hope for every year.
All that changed this year however, with the launch of the iPhone 6 Plus, a 5.5" screened giant of a phone that is too large for most people with regular sized hands to use single handedly and that is the crux of the matter.
The iPhone 6 Plus may have a huge, gorgeous screen that is widely regarded as the best screen currently shipping on a smartphone but that comes at the cost of practicality. One handed use is out of the window for anyone unless you are over 6 feet tall and have the hands to match your height.
Even Apple acknowledges this fact because one of the few bits of custom software on the 6 Plus is the ability to slide the entire screen down so you can reach screen elements in the upper half without having to use a second hand.
The 6 Plus is also difficult to fit into pockets due to its size. A recent story about the Chinese cellphone provider giving away free pocket enlargement alterations with sales of the iPhone 6 Plus, sounds like satire but it is a true story.
For people who do not realise it, the iPhone 6 has not stayed the same size as the previous generation either. Even it has grown by half an inch to clock in at around 5" now so you can still have a large iPhone without having to go all the way to the 6 Plus.
The iPhone 6 allows for much easier one handed use and much easier fit in your pockets and clothing due to its smaller size, even with one of the many iPhone 6 cases on it. You might even get slightly longer battery life due to its slightly smaller screen that chews through a little less power than the 6 Plus.
There is also the matter of price, the iPhone 6 is a considerable amount cheaper than the 6 Plus and that money could be spent on a nicer pair of earphones than the ones Apple provides with the phone or cool designer cases at site like daily objects.
The upshot is, even if you are looking to upsize your iPhone on your next upgrade, for many people the iPhone 6 may actually be a big enough increase in size.
No one wants to get stuck in the limbo of mundanity, so why should you iPhone 6 Cases should look ordinary or like the ones that millions of other people are carrying. With a fabulous range of iPhone 6 cases that we offer you can give it a nice makeover. iPhone 6 Custom Cases is the another option for people who would want to give a real personal touch to their phone.
The iPhone is probably one of the biggest products of the past decade. It was the first phone to jump on to the smart phone bandwagon and it introduced an array of different features that were previously unknown to most. As a result, it quickly rose to the top of the industry and became a massive hit in the industry. The iPhone 4 and 4s were also major hits in the industry, and sold millions of units.
However, the iPhone 5 and the 5S were major improvements over their predecessors, featuring more powerful processors, better cameras and much more importantly, a larger screen size. Now, as is known to all, the iPhone is a pretty expensive product. Encased in premium metal and other fine products, this is a product that retails for a very expensive price. As a result, most people aren't very willing to discard their iPhones just like that. Instead, they are selling off their iPhone 4 as well as 4S in order to generate finances to buy the newer models.
Privacy Protection
The iPhone integrates quite deeply with all of your internet accounts, such as Facebook, Gmail, Outlook and various others. Most people even use PayPal and other applications on it to transfer funds, which means that the iPhone automatically keeps a lot of your information handy. Hence, before you sell off your phone, the first and foremost thing that you need to do is to make sure that you clean it up thoroughly. It is important to remove all personal photos, emails, any remaining data that might be present on the phone before you hand it over to the buyer.
If you fail to do so, people are likely to use your pictures, emails, text message numbers and even your contacts in order to harass them. Most people believe that just deleting information off their phone is enough, but it is not. Information that has been deleted off your iPhone can be recovered as long as the same clusters on the iPhone's hard drive have not been used already.
So in order to remove all related personal information, you need to do the following things in order to protect your privacy:
First, you must remove your SIM card. The SIM card can be used in your new phone and also it includes all your important contacts.
Second, you should use the 'Default Erase Setting' on your phone to clear all data. You can do so just by Settings > General > Reset > Erase all Content and Settings.
Third, as it mentioned above, The Default Erase option is designed to clear your phone completely and to make it as good as new from the inside. However, your data can still be recovered by somebody who uses sophisticated software programs. This means that you need to make use of a professional software program like PhoneClean or SafeEraser if you wish to permanently remove the data from your iPhone 4 or 4S.
Finance Burglary
People can use your account in order to steal information, make purchases and even gain access to your bank account information, creating a major compromise. The worst part is that they won't even have to insert a password, as the iPhone saves passwords automatically. Hefei Newspaper in China reported that people used Alipay linked with the lost iPhone to run out all the money about RMB 300,000 in the owner's card. So before selling your iPhone, you should erase all data and check all your bank accounts that you have ever used on your iPhone. And then disable all bank account related settings.
Selena Lee is a Senior Editor from Wondershare Software. Mrs. Lee has rich knowledge in the PC utility field. She mainly writes some useful tips on how to recover data, optimize data space, password protection, data protection and privacy protection.
However, the iPhone 5 and the 5S were major improvements over their predecessors, featuring more powerful processors, better cameras and much more importantly, a larger screen size. Now, as is known to all, the iPhone is a pretty expensive product. Encased in premium metal and other fine products, this is a product that retails for a very expensive price. As a result, most people aren't very willing to discard their iPhones just like that. Instead, they are selling off their iPhone 4 as well as 4S in order to generate finances to buy the newer models.
Privacy Protection
The iPhone integrates quite deeply with all of your internet accounts, such as Facebook, Gmail, Outlook and various others. Most people even use PayPal and other applications on it to transfer funds, which means that the iPhone automatically keeps a lot of your information handy. Hence, before you sell off your phone, the first and foremost thing that you need to do is to make sure that you clean it up thoroughly. It is important to remove all personal photos, emails, any remaining data that might be present on the phone before you hand it over to the buyer.
If you fail to do so, people are likely to use your pictures, emails, text message numbers and even your contacts in order to harass them. Most people believe that just deleting information off their phone is enough, but it is not. Information that has been deleted off your iPhone can be recovered as long as the same clusters on the iPhone's hard drive have not been used already.
So in order to remove all related personal information, you need to do the following things in order to protect your privacy:
First, you must remove your SIM card. The SIM card can be used in your new phone and also it includes all your important contacts.
Second, you should use the 'Default Erase Setting' on your phone to clear all data. You can do so just by Settings > General > Reset > Erase all Content and Settings.
Third, as it mentioned above, The Default Erase option is designed to clear your phone completely and to make it as good as new from the inside. However, your data can still be recovered by somebody who uses sophisticated software programs. This means that you need to make use of a professional software program like PhoneClean or SafeEraser if you wish to permanently remove the data from your iPhone 4 or 4S.
Finance Burglary
People can use your account in order to steal information, make purchases and even gain access to your bank account information, creating a major compromise. The worst part is that they won't even have to insert a password, as the iPhone saves passwords automatically. Hefei Newspaper in China reported that people used Alipay linked with the lost iPhone to run out all the money about RMB 300,000 in the owner's card. So before selling your iPhone, you should erase all data and check all your bank accounts that you have ever used on your iPhone. And then disable all bank account related settings.
Selena Lee is a Senior Editor from Wondershare Software. Mrs. Lee has rich knowledge in the PC utility field. She mainly writes some useful tips on how to recover data, optimize data space, password protection, data protection and privacy protection.
Having a gadget like an iPad or iPad Mini at your disposal is not just for maintaining a status in society or for playing cool games. The real purpose of a gadget like an iPad is to simplify your life. Most people download a number of apps but most of the times are they barely make good use of them to organise their work. This article will serve as a guide for you to make the maximum use of your iPad, so much so that you will never feel the need for a human executive assistant again!
Jack Up the Memory of Your iPad
Your iPad comes with its internal memory for sure, but you should also make an attempt to increase the memory of your device by making best use of cloud sharing. Do make maximum use of apps such as Evernote, Dropbox and iCloud. For only a few dollars a month, you can use the apps to sync all your data and important files on cloud. You can also sync all your data with your other devices on a real time basis. This will eliminate your worries of losing data in case your laptop crashes.
Managing Your Projects On The Go
Are you a business owner or a senior level officer in an organisation who needs to travel often? In that case, project management on the go can become difficult. But you need not worry anymore if you own an iPad. You can use your device to keep a hawk eye of all your projects in progress. You can use an app like Basecamp that can serve as a great project management tool. It has file sharing facilities, offers to-do lists, web based document correction facilities and a tracking and messaging system.
Attend Meetings On The Go
Do you need to attend client meetings constantly over video conferences? Your iPad can be a great tool to help you host such meetings then. You can use the inbuilt face time or use apps like Skype or GoToMeeting to make video calls anytime. With an excellent 10 hour battery life and easy wireless facilities you can literally carry your office with you anywhere and host meetings without a worry.
Saving Articles To Read Later
It's not for anything that we said that your iPad can serve as your faithful executive assistant. You can use an app called Instapaper that like a faithful executive assistant makes a note and saves all the articles and web pages you would like to read in leisure. You can have them saved and read them when you are commuting or waiting in line to get something done. There is also an Editor's pick feature in this app that gives you access to the most popular reads in the week.
Your iPad or iPad Mini is not just a high-end gadget; it is a great hand held device that can make your life much easier. Use these tips to maximize the productivity of your iPad.
Jack Up the Memory of Your iPad
Your iPad comes with its internal memory for sure, but you should also make an attempt to increase the memory of your device by making best use of cloud sharing. Do make maximum use of apps such as Evernote, Dropbox and iCloud. For only a few dollars a month, you can use the apps to sync all your data and important files on cloud. You can also sync all your data with your other devices on a real time basis. This will eliminate your worries of losing data in case your laptop crashes.
Managing Your Projects On The Go
Are you a business owner or a senior level officer in an organisation who needs to travel often? In that case, project management on the go can become difficult. But you need not worry anymore if you own an iPad. You can use your device to keep a hawk eye of all your projects in progress. You can use an app like Basecamp that can serve as a great project management tool. It has file sharing facilities, offers to-do lists, web based document correction facilities and a tracking and messaging system.
Attend Meetings On The Go
Do you need to attend client meetings constantly over video conferences? Your iPad can be a great tool to help you host such meetings then. You can use the inbuilt face time or use apps like Skype or GoToMeeting to make video calls anytime. With an excellent 10 hour battery life and easy wireless facilities you can literally carry your office with you anywhere and host meetings without a worry.
Saving Articles To Read Later
It's not for anything that we said that your iPad can serve as your faithful executive assistant. You can use an app called Instapaper that like a faithful executive assistant makes a note and saves all the articles and web pages you would like to read in leisure. You can have them saved and read them when you are commuting or waiting in line to get something done. There is also an Editor's pick feature in this app that gives you access to the most popular reads in the week.
Your iPad or iPad Mini is not just a high-end gadget; it is a great hand held device that can make your life much easier. Use these tips to maximize the productivity of your iPad.
Are you planning to upgrade your tablet to the latest generation iPad with Retina Display? Each device brought out by Apple generally gets a great deal of attention by users eager to lay their hands on the latest technology. While this is without doubt a very popular tablet, but it is best to do the necessary research before buying it. There are many types of tablets available in the market these days since people increasingly prefer using them for education and entertainment since they can be carried anywhere.
Following is the broad overview of the pros and cons of the iPad with retina display:
Pros:
The tablet has a high tech dual-core A6X processor that enables it to work very fast, especially when it comes to opening apps. Its 9.7 inch LED backlit display is very impressive and detailed thanks to its 264 ppi resolution. The screen also has an oleophobic coating that makes it resistant to fingerprints. The iPad's FaceTime camera takes 1.2 MP photos whereas the iSight camera takes 5 MP photos. The video quality is quite stunning and FaceTime is especially good on this device.
The device also has excellent connectivity. It has very sturdy construction and can withstand a fair amount of rough use. It also has excellent battery life; you can use it to surf the web for 9 to 10 hours depending on whether you use Wi-Fi or a mobile data network to access the net.
Cons:
Even though the iPad is a very impressive device, it has to be admitted that it has quite a few drawbacks. For starters, most users complain that it is not much of an upgrade to the iPad 3. After all, it has the very same screen as the previous generation tablet. In fact, most buyers were hoping for the phone to be lighter than previous ones and they have been disappointed.
The iPad with Retina Display is quite a costly phone when compared to other tablets available in the market even though it is not the most expensive one offered by Apple. However, many reviewers agree that its many advantages outweigh its disadvantages. Even so, it is best if you examine the device in detail before you buy it so that you are absolutely certain that it is the right one for you. You should also buy it from a reliable seller who offers it at the best possible price.
Following is the broad overview of the pros and cons of the iPad with retina display:
Pros:
The tablet has a high tech dual-core A6X processor that enables it to work very fast, especially when it comes to opening apps. Its 9.7 inch LED backlit display is very impressive and detailed thanks to its 264 ppi resolution. The screen also has an oleophobic coating that makes it resistant to fingerprints. The iPad's FaceTime camera takes 1.2 MP photos whereas the iSight camera takes 5 MP photos. The video quality is quite stunning and FaceTime is especially good on this device.
The device also has excellent connectivity. It has very sturdy construction and can withstand a fair amount of rough use. It also has excellent battery life; you can use it to surf the web for 9 to 10 hours depending on whether you use Wi-Fi or a mobile data network to access the net.
Cons:
Even though the iPad is a very impressive device, it has to be admitted that it has quite a few drawbacks. For starters, most users complain that it is not much of an upgrade to the iPad 3. After all, it has the very same screen as the previous generation tablet. In fact, most buyers were hoping for the phone to be lighter than previous ones and they have been disappointed.
The iPad with Retina Display is quite a costly phone when compared to other tablets available in the market even though it is not the most expensive one offered by Apple. However, many reviewers agree that its many advantages outweigh its disadvantages. Even so, it is best if you examine the device in detail before you buy it so that you are absolutely certain that it is the right one for you. You should also buy it from a reliable seller who offers it at the best possible price.
More and more companies are developing mobile Apps to improve the functions and activities that users can access from their phones. Mobile application development is focused on areas such as accessing information with ease, using multiple features to use information and also transfer it along with data.
Drivers for Growth:
The forecast for the mobile application market is really good till 2016 - one of the many drivers is the rising number of tablet computers and smart phones. With the increase in these numbers, it is only natural for the number of applications and downloads to rise exponentially. The demand for free mobile application development is also rising.
Business Applications:
As far as companies and the mobile application market is concerned, organizations look forward to using applications like WebEx meeting developed for the iPhone. It makes video conferencing easy especially with the built in camera and available mobile broadband connection. With such innovations and many others in the pipeline, companies are finding it easier to hold meetings and conferences from different locations with ease. The number of applications being developed for Businesses are now in the range of 12 -15%. The demand for business mobile apps will only rise further to keep pace with the demand in enterprise application.
Challenges in Mobile Application Development:
Currently, one of the biggest challenges in the market is the inability of software development companies to come up with mobile apps which will work across different OS platforms. Most applications are being developed for a specific OS platform. There are quite a few studies which offer insights into different aspects of the mobile apps market, along with an analysis of what vendors should invest in. Some of the key vendors who dominate the current market are Microsoft, Google, Apple, Nokia and Blackberry. Other vendors who play an important role are Archos AppsLib, Amazon Appstore, Crackberry Store, Dell Mobile Apps Store, Handster, Pocket Gear and the Samsung Apps Store.
Important Questions to consider:
Drivers for Growth:
The forecast for the mobile application market is really good till 2016 - one of the many drivers is the rising number of tablet computers and smart phones. With the increase in these numbers, it is only natural for the number of applications and downloads to rise exponentially. The demand for free mobile application development is also rising.
Business Applications:
As far as companies and the mobile application market is concerned, organizations look forward to using applications like WebEx meeting developed for the iPhone. It makes video conferencing easy especially with the built in camera and available mobile broadband connection. With such innovations and many others in the pipeline, companies are finding it easier to hold meetings and conferences from different locations with ease. The number of applications being developed for Businesses are now in the range of 12 -15%. The demand for business mobile apps will only rise further to keep pace with the demand in enterprise application.
Challenges in Mobile Application Development:
Currently, one of the biggest challenges in the market is the inability of software development companies to come up with mobile apps which will work across different OS platforms. Most applications are being developed for a specific OS platform. There are quite a few studies which offer insights into different aspects of the mobile apps market, along with an analysis of what vendors should invest in. Some of the key vendors who dominate the current market are Microsoft, Google, Apple, Nokia and Blackberry. Other vendors who play an important role are Archos AppsLib, Amazon Appstore, Crackberry Store, Dell Mobile Apps Store, Handster, Pocket Gear and the Samsung Apps Store.
Important Questions to consider:
- What is the market outlook over the next 2 years? What growth rate can be expected?
- Key Market trends and market drivers
- Key vendors and their role
- What opportunities and disadvantages are being faced by key vendors and what should be expected?
- What are the visible strengths and weaknesses of key vendors?
Whether the business houses are related to IT or not, majority of them own websites! And that is the need of present time. To gear up your business, you need to have online appearance. Microsoft MVC development is a unique way to build the latest websites.
Innovations have been taking place every hour 24/7 in 365 days in a year. So, to place your niche in the industry is very much essential. And it can be done with the creating alluring, user-friendly and mobile compatible website. Well experienced and professional MVC developers help you build responsive websites using three major components: the Model, the View and the Controller.
MVC development is one of the open source frameworks for building present-day websites with attractive features and appropriate applications. MVC architecture makes websites that are RIAs (rich internet applications) friendly. And this new technology has redefined the web applications with rich programming and awesome designing and is compatible for Silverlight technology and Flash 4.
MVC development offers features that facilitate TDD-friendly and fast development for the websites and Windows Mobile Application development. With the aid of MVC implementations, smooth and engaging websites can be created to ease the process for the customers and clients.
MVC architecture offers kink-free solutions to the websites and Mobile App development. Also, they are adjustable to any of the latest modern technology. Because of these features and elements, the users go for MVC architecture to simplify the processes.
Why MVC development implementation is important is because it gives end solutions to your needs. For example, if one does require a pie chart of the data, a pie chart can be generated with the help of native model without requesting to the server. In the same way, if a user wishes to see the data in the form of a bar graph, a bar graph can be generated by using the native model. In simple words, the users of MVC development get rid of sending request to the servers for every action.
For highly testable presentation framework, MVC development is one and the only solution. This new MVC architecture implementation provides quality of work effectiveness for both the personal and professional websites. It designs pattern for websites that require master pages and membership based authentication. Above all, MVC assists in creating different aspect of applications such as UI logic, business logic and input logic. Also, it administers the intricacy just by its dividing application of the Model, the View and the Controller.
With the help of MVC development, creates high resolution web applications for websites and windows mobile apps and accelerates your business brand all over the world.
Innovations have been taking place every hour 24/7 in 365 days in a year. So, to place your niche in the industry is very much essential. And it can be done with the creating alluring, user-friendly and mobile compatible website. Well experienced and professional MVC developers help you build responsive websites using three major components: the Model, the View and the Controller.
MVC development is one of the open source frameworks for building present-day websites with attractive features and appropriate applications. MVC architecture makes websites that are RIAs (rich internet applications) friendly. And this new technology has redefined the web applications with rich programming and awesome designing and is compatible for Silverlight technology and Flash 4.
MVC development offers features that facilitate TDD-friendly and fast development for the websites and Windows Mobile Application development. With the aid of MVC implementations, smooth and engaging websites can be created to ease the process for the customers and clients.
MVC architecture offers kink-free solutions to the websites and Mobile App development. Also, they are adjustable to any of the latest modern technology. Because of these features and elements, the users go for MVC architecture to simplify the processes.
Why MVC development implementation is important is because it gives end solutions to your needs. For example, if one does require a pie chart of the data, a pie chart can be generated with the help of native model without requesting to the server. In the same way, if a user wishes to see the data in the form of a bar graph, a bar graph can be generated by using the native model. In simple words, the users of MVC development get rid of sending request to the servers for every action.
For highly testable presentation framework, MVC development is one and the only solution. This new MVC architecture implementation provides quality of work effectiveness for both the personal and professional websites. It designs pattern for websites that require master pages and membership based authentication. Above all, MVC assists in creating different aspect of applications such as UI logic, business logic and input logic. Also, it administers the intricacy just by its dividing application of the Model, the View and the Controller.
With the help of MVC development, creates high resolution web applications for websites and windows mobile apps and accelerates your business brand all over the world.
Use to be that a cell phone was just to make voice calls, now however, they are a computer in your hand and are getting more features with each new phone version. Smartphones today can go on-line, send text messages, send and receive email, interact with Facebook and twitter, plus much more. You can do all these things on your desktop or laptop and you probably have very good internet protection. Do you have the same for your smartphone?
The smartphone has a very big security problem... it is a very easy target for the bad guys to steal and once they have it they have ALL your information, contacts, passwords and maybe even your bank accounts. Did that get you a little worried, it should have!
If all of this isn't enough, consider this; the bad guys can load software on your phone that will allow them to operate your phone's camera. Think about that. Where do you take your phone, bathroom, bedroom: how would you like that all over the internet?
The nature of smartphones and the apps available for them make this a problem that you can do something about. Both iPhones and Android Phones have apps in their stores that can cut your risk and give you a little piece of mind. Many of these apps are from major internet security companies. They offer both free and paid versions of their smartphones apps. This is one app that you should really look at paying for; you get additional security features that make the money paid worthwhile. Their paid versions are usually less than $20 per year. Some internet security companies will give you their paid version for free if you buy their desktop security software.
Security Features for Smartphone Apps:
With most of us doing banking on our smartphones today, you should make sure that your bank accounts are protected from prying eyes. The security apps for your phone should have the above features.
Common Sense is your most important security feature, think of your smartphone as a wallet or purse; you always know where those are... don't you.
George Uliano is a security professional with law enforcement and security experience. He earned a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice and Business graduating with honors. George holds 3 patents on different Padlock and Cam Lock designs. This combination gives George and His Company Locking Systems International Inc the unique ability to provide "The Right Lock" with The Right Security" at the "Right Price".
The smartphone has a very big security problem... it is a very easy target for the bad guys to steal and once they have it they have ALL your information, contacts, passwords and maybe even your bank accounts. Did that get you a little worried, it should have!
If all of this isn't enough, consider this; the bad guys can load software on your phone that will allow them to operate your phone's camera. Think about that. Where do you take your phone, bathroom, bedroom: how would you like that all over the internet?
The nature of smartphones and the apps available for them make this a problem that you can do something about. Both iPhones and Android Phones have apps in their stores that can cut your risk and give you a little piece of mind. Many of these apps are from major internet security companies. They offer both free and paid versions of their smartphones apps. This is one app that you should really look at paying for; you get additional security features that make the money paid worthwhile. Their paid versions are usually less than $20 per year. Some internet security companies will give you their paid version for free if you buy their desktop security software.
Security Features for Smartphone Apps:
- Virus and malware protection (checks all apps for viruses and malware)
- Scan apps that you download (before you install them)
- Browse the web safely
- Locate your phone (can be used with Google GPS or another smartphone GPS)
- Wipe all your information on phone (resets your phone to its default settings)
- Lock down your phone (no one can use it)
- Scan SD cards
- Reverse photo (you can remotely operate your camera and see who stole it)
With most of us doing banking on our smartphones today, you should make sure that your bank accounts are protected from prying eyes. The security apps for your phone should have the above features.
Common Sense is your most important security feature, think of your smartphone as a wallet or purse; you always know where those are... don't you.
George Uliano is a security professional with law enforcement and security experience. He earned a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice and Business graduating with honors. George holds 3 patents on different Padlock and Cam Lock designs. This combination gives George and His Company Locking Systems International Inc the unique ability to provide "The Right Lock" with The Right Security" at the "Right Price".
iOS 6 is considered as one of the best operating systems for some good reasons. Making a place for oneself in such a competitive market is not a cake walk. Let's have a glance at the most exciting features of iOS 6.
Share Photo Stream
One of the most admired features in iOS 6 is the shared photo streams, which allow users to share sets of photos with friends through iCloud. The procedure is quite simple. Users just have to select the photos to be shared, tap the share button and select the recipients. The iOS 6 will take care of the rest. The albums of Shared Photo Streams can throw photos automatically to other iOS 6 devices. Those albums can also be viewed on Apple TV or the internet. Also the users are allowed to comment on any individual photo shared via this feature.
Facebook
The integration of Facebook throughout the entire iOS has made sharing easier than ever. You can share photos to Facebook directly from your camera or photos. Also you are allowed to post your location just from the map. Birthdays and events will be showing right in the calendar and the contact details of your Facebook friends will be integrated into your phonebook.
Passbook
This new app from Apple is an easy way to store all your passes in just one place. You can keep your tickets, boarding passes, movie tickets, store card apps like Starbucks etc. and can organize them conveniently. And when you reach the location where you require any of the stored passes, iOS can sense and provide the pass through a pop up on your locked screen. The best thing is that the cards are live, i.e. if your gate changes when you are at the airport, the passbook updates according to the change automatically.
Maps
This version of iOS features a new Maps app which is integrated with vector-based map elements. It makes the graphics and text smooth. It also makes it easy to pan, tilt and zoom. It's now equipped with turn-by-turn navigation which can guide you to the destination with spoken directions. The never before Flyover feature offers realistic interactive 3D views. It provides real time traffic updates which make you determine the duration of your travel and also suggest you alternate routes which can save your time.
Enhanced Siri
Siri in iPhone 4S allows users to use their voice for sending messages, scheduling meetings, placing phone calls and so forth. But the new enhanced Siri in iOS 6 offers a lot more than that. It can now provide score of a game, player stats, restaurant info, movie info etc. Besides, users can also make Siri launch apps.
These magnificent features of iOS 6 are making the whole world crazy about it and it's a very good opportunity for various businesses to launch iOS apps. iOS application development pays very good returns. It's a very good way to interact with clients. But for good results it's imperative for business owners to select a perfect iOS app development company.
Share Photo Stream
One of the most admired features in iOS 6 is the shared photo streams, which allow users to share sets of photos with friends through iCloud. The procedure is quite simple. Users just have to select the photos to be shared, tap the share button and select the recipients. The iOS 6 will take care of the rest. The albums of Shared Photo Streams can throw photos automatically to other iOS 6 devices. Those albums can also be viewed on Apple TV or the internet. Also the users are allowed to comment on any individual photo shared via this feature.
The integration of Facebook throughout the entire iOS has made sharing easier than ever. You can share photos to Facebook directly from your camera or photos. Also you are allowed to post your location just from the map. Birthdays and events will be showing right in the calendar and the contact details of your Facebook friends will be integrated into your phonebook.
Passbook
This new app from Apple is an easy way to store all your passes in just one place. You can keep your tickets, boarding passes, movie tickets, store card apps like Starbucks etc. and can organize them conveniently. And when you reach the location where you require any of the stored passes, iOS can sense and provide the pass through a pop up on your locked screen. The best thing is that the cards are live, i.e. if your gate changes when you are at the airport, the passbook updates according to the change automatically.
Maps
This version of iOS features a new Maps app which is integrated with vector-based map elements. It makes the graphics and text smooth. It also makes it easy to pan, tilt and zoom. It's now equipped with turn-by-turn navigation which can guide you to the destination with spoken directions. The never before Flyover feature offers realistic interactive 3D views. It provides real time traffic updates which make you determine the duration of your travel and also suggest you alternate routes which can save your time.
Enhanced Siri
Siri in iPhone 4S allows users to use their voice for sending messages, scheduling meetings, placing phone calls and so forth. But the new enhanced Siri in iOS 6 offers a lot more than that. It can now provide score of a game, player stats, restaurant info, movie info etc. Besides, users can also make Siri launch apps.
These magnificent features of iOS 6 are making the whole world crazy about it and it's a very good opportunity for various businesses to launch iOS apps. iOS application development pays very good returns. It's a very good way to interact with clients. But for good results it's imperative for business owners to select a perfect iOS app development company.
Tablets and smartphones have simplified our lives to a great extent. You can access the internet, click photographs, watch movies, listen to music and also complete last minute school work irrespective of the time of the day or place. You only require the right app. However, despite this, there have been complaints. The most common one with regard to Apple devices has been the inability to print documents from an iPad because neither the iPad nor the iPhone has USB connections. Thus, it was difficult to transfer documents directly from the iPad to a printer.
Apple was quick to realize this major design flaw and resolved it in the later versions of its operating system. iPads powered by the latest version of iOS can use the AirPrint technology to print documents directly from an iPad by enabling a transfer to an AirPrint-compatible printer.
The AirPrint feature was one of the major upgrades that shipped with the iOS 4.2 version. This Apple feature prints via Wi-Fi. It was developed in partnership by Apple Inc and HP. For this reason, most of the HP laser models are compatible with this printing technology. This is a wireless system. You do not have install any drivers or download any software. Another important advantage of this system is you can continue using the iPad to click pictures, surf the internet, play games and watch videos while it continues printing in the background.
How to print from iPad using AirPrint?
The procedure is easy. We have listed the steps below.
The AirPrint technology is one of the methods to print documents from your iPad. The use of third party applications is an alternate method. They can be downloaded for free or purchased at the Apple Store.
So now, you no longer have to wonder how to print from an iPad. AirPrint and various other third party applications help print pages directly without having to first transferring them to other devices.
Apple was quick to realize this major design flaw and resolved it in the later versions of its operating system. iPads powered by the latest version of iOS can use the AirPrint technology to print documents directly from an iPad by enabling a transfer to an AirPrint-compatible printer.
The AirPrint feature was one of the major upgrades that shipped with the iOS 4.2 version. This Apple feature prints via Wi-Fi. It was developed in partnership by Apple Inc and HP. For this reason, most of the HP laser models are compatible with this printing technology. This is a wireless system. You do not have install any drivers or download any software. Another important advantage of this system is you can continue using the iPad to click pictures, surf the internet, play games and watch videos while it continues printing in the background.
How to print from iPad using AirPrint?
The procedure is easy. We have listed the steps below.
- The first step involves connecting a wireless printer compatible with Air-print technology to your Wi-Fi network. Not all printers, especially the old models, are compatible with this printing technology. HP has a range of AirPrint-enabled printers. The procedure of setting up the entire system varies depending on the make and the model. You should read the instruction manual provided or the manufacturer's website for instructions.
- Once the setup is complete, turn on the printer. Wait for the printer to detect and connect to the Wi-Fi network. On most models a small light blinks as soon as the printer establishes connectivity with the Wi-Fi network.
- An "Action" button will be displayed on your iPad. Click this button.
- After this, tap the button that reads "Print".
- When prompted, select the "Select Printer" option. Select the printer you are using.
- A dialogue box will open up on your screen. Make the necessary changes such as the pages to be printed, double-side printing and number of copies. When you're done, hit the print option.
The AirPrint technology is one of the methods to print documents from your iPad. The use of third party applications is an alternate method. They can be downloaded for free or purchased at the Apple Store.
So now, you no longer have to wonder how to print from an iPad. AirPrint and various other third party applications help print pages directly without having to first transferring them to other devices.
Probable Reason behind Windows Phone development
A bulk of credit to the popularity of this mobile development domain goes to the extension of the Windows Phone 8 OS to multiple devices, such as HTC, Nokia Lumia and Huawei, which has also worked actively in motivating the professionals to develop exclusive Windows Phone apps. Yet another prominent factor in this regard is Voice command, which is the latest feature addition in the Windows Phone family. This feature helps users to operate the phone and apps using voice commands. They can call, make Bing search queries, send messages and much more by merely speaking instead of typing. As obvious, it acts as a significant booster in glorifying the Windows Phone app development industry
Prominent Windows Phone app Categories
Entertainment: The Windows App store is home to a number of entertainment apps related to movies, ringtones, HD Wallpapers, painting, etc. Flixster is a widely popular application in this context, which is perhaps the best one to enjoy movie trailers, get information about show times and read out films reviews by critics. The newly introduced features of the free App also let users set movie posters as lock screens. The voice command facility is a further plus that lets the users to search information about their movies by merely speaking to the phone while the app is up and running.
Lifestyle: This is the section everyone looks forward to. Sophisticated mobile applications that could help you maintain an exquisite lifestyle are always greeted by open arms, Magic Mirror is one such noteworthy app. As the name suggests, it lets you experiment your looks with a host of fresh and fascinating color variations, hairstyles and more. You may often use it for fun or for checking out various options to choose an enticing one finally for a party. It is available at a nominal cost, engages less space, works on Windows 7.5 and 8. and leaves the users with maximum exhilaration.
Travel: The travel industry is wide and rich, and so are its apps. You can have robust tools that provide detailed info on tourism, on the other hand, some may also fetch valuable details regarding flight, metro train or bus ticket availability, stations, stops, etc. Delhi Metro App from Finoit labs is a decent Windows Phone to fit the bill. It provides all the tidbits that one can gain about first of its kind modern public transportation system in India. Users can seek its help to know about tourist places, restaurants, hotels, metro train timings, fare, smart card info and so on. It works perfectly offline and is free of cost.
Finally our wait has paid off. iOS7 is due out fall of 2013. The main differences are the security features as well as a new and improved operating system. Some of the new features are as follows:
Auto update - Apple has always been known for its ability to fight off malicious malware and now it is able to update silently and automatically. This is an important function since in the past coders were able to trick users with update notifications and having them download malicious malware.
Activation Lock - Stolen devices were a large concern for users. The new activation lock prevents theirs from wiping the device clean or deactivating the find my iPhone feature. The iPhone will stay in Lost mode when you lose your phone and are forced to remote wipe it.
Safari's "Do Not Track" -This allows users to request that servers not track them - nice to have.
Per app VPN control - A VPN feature will be offered in the upcoming IOS7. The apps will configure automatically to a VPN once opened. This is nice since the data for the app will be transferred whereas other data will not.
Key chains - Thank goodness for this feature!! Password management in iCloud that will create secure passwords. Synchronization across devices is allowed for not only passwords but other confidential data. I don't know about you but my password management is less than optimal. Will this be better? We shall see. I feel as if I waste more time here than anywhere. Yes it is important, I got that, but make it easier for the user!
Improved mail- Seriously? I hope so, I have tried more and more mail clients on my Mac and still never found the right one to work well with my Mac. This will allow Microsoft Exchange 2010 users to sync notes with Outlook on their Mac or PC.
Caching Server supports iOS7. This results in faster download speeds. Updates and purchased content will be cached on a local Mac server. This will increase download speeds but double the amount.
Audio-only: FaceTime calls. This be a built-in VoIP and allow free long distance and international calls. You will be able to voice chat over Wi-Fi without a phone plan. I am sure Verizon and Att&t will not be pleased.
Inclinometer: Previous versions of iOS brought software support for the gyroscope and accelerometer; now it looks like iOS 7 will get the latest in 3D space-tracking technology: an inclinometer. Not sure if I will use this!
Call blocking: iOS 7 will have the ability to block phone numbers and email addresses.
Siri updated: Siri will be updated in many ways. She will be able to answer more questions and complete more complex tasks such as a full twitter integration and system service options. I personally never use Siri... we don't get along.
Improved notification sync and natural language: IOS 7 will sync all of your devices and in addition it will present your daily activities in natural language. Kinda like having Siri tell you your day ahead.
Faster: Caching Server supports iOS7. This results in faster download speeds. Updates and purchased content will be cached on a local Mac server. This will increase download speeds double the amount.
Auto updates for apps: With OS7 you will not need to manually update your apps. They will automatically update.
Developer APIs: There will be 1500 new developer APYs in iOS7.
60fps video: The new video will supposedly shoot at 60 frames per second.
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