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8 Google Products That Were Shut Down in Last Few Years

Anwer Khan
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8 Google Products That Were Shut Down in Last Few Years

From Google Search to YouTube, we all love Google Products, we all use its products and they make our lives better, both actively and passively.

Whether it’s Gmail, which is the email service of choice for many people, or if it’s the Google Plus. Okay, not Google Plus.

Not every product of Google becomes successful and stay alive forever. While this list is about counting Field Products of Google, but we will talk about the Products that have been shut down by Google. Some have been terminated, some have been replaced by a better service and some became history.

Let’s take a look at 8 Google Products that were shut down in last few years.

 

Google Nexus Series

Google Nexus was launched in May 2010, it ran on Android 2.1 Eclair, and the purpose of Nexus was to provide users with pure Google Android experience, these were the first in line to get the Android Updates.

All was Good until Nexus 6P, which was a 5.7-inch smartphone, offering best of the specs at the time in September 2015. it eventually became the last Nexus device Google offered.

Google Nexus series have been replaced by Pixel Phone launched in 2016. Google Pixel offers pretty much the same Pure Android Experience but it could not win the hearts of Nexus Fans, perhaps because of it’s sky high prices.

Google is looking forward to continuing with the Pixel Series.

Google Picassa

PC users of the 2000s know about this cool Photo Organiser called Picassa, it had pretty exciting features to play with, such as making Collages, and adding thick borders to the photos to make it look like physical photos.

There was also a photo sharing/storing website by the Same name. The company was acquired by Google in July 2004.

On February 12, 2016, Google announced it was discontinuing support for Picasa Desktop and Web Albums, effective March 15, 2016, and focusing on the cloud-based Google Photos as its successor

Project Ara

Google bought Motorola Mobility in 2011, it also created a team under the new company which looked at making Modular Phones, the Project Ara was announced in October 2013.

The Goal of the Project was to make Smartphones Modular and Affordable to everyone. Google intended to make the phone available at $50, and more Modules could be added to it later as per the user’s requirements, just you do on a PC.

But the Project Ara was shut down by Google in September 2016.

Self-Driving Cars

As futuristic as it sounds, the self-driving cars, or the auto driving cars were developed by Google X, a facility at Google that works on technological advancements.

It was in the news several times raising safety concerns, and eventually has been shut down in June 2017.

Google Glasses

Google Glasses, developed by Google X, was a uber cool piece of tech anyone could wear and feel like a cyborg, it contained a camera which would record videos and take photos from your prospectives.

The Google Glass was announced in April 2012, Google sold some prototypes under the ‘Glass Explorers’ program, and it became available to the public in 2014 and was shut down in January 2015.

Google Hangouts On Air

Not a standalone feature but was a part of Google most ambitious Social Network Google Plus in 2012, it was once used by Obama and the Pope.

The Google Hangouts wasn’t actually shut down but was shifted to YouTube as Live Streaming in September 2016.

Google’s Nexus Q

It was a streaming device that connects all the home devices, more like a Chromecast for Audio. It was unveiled at the Developer’s Conference in 2012 but never released to general public.

People who pre-ordered it got the device for Free. And the product was short down in January 2013.

A similar functioning device was later released by Google, the Chromecast, which is currently in its 3rd generation in 2017.

Google Helpouts 

Google Helpouts worked pretty much like Google hangouts, the only difference was, it let users connect with experts in live video sessions where they could learn a skill or get advice, the users had to pay something to get connected to the experts.

It was officially shut down on April 20, 2015, just two months after it’s launch.

Facebook Will Soon Allow Pages to Monetize Their Videos by Playing Ads in the Middle

Asif Ahmed
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Facebook Will Soon Allow Pages to Monetize Their Videos by Playing Ads in the Middle

If you own a page on Facebook and it’s got a fair amount of engagement, start making videos now, because Facebook will soon let you make money from it.

If you’ve been on Facebook for a while you might have noticed the number of Videos appearing in your Newsfeed is quite on the heavier side.

Facebook is aggressively pushing videos on its platform, it has already tweaked its algorithm to favour Videos uploaded on Facebook over Text or Images. Anything that’s moving, gets a favour to appear in your newsfeed.

I couldn’t get the updated data, but according to Techcrunch, Facebook was getting 8 billion views per day as of November 2015, we can only imagine how many folds it might have increased today just by looking at our own Newsfeed which his 70% Video.

Facebook Ad on a Video on Desktop

And to make it more impactful, they make the videos play automatically, which means you tend to watch them even if you are casually scrolling your newsfeed.

I’ve written about how badly Facebook is trying to take YouTube down by promoting video content on its platform, and it was obvious that it will be bringing the Ads to it eventually, which it did.

Facebook Ad on a Video on Mobile

The Ads on the Videos start playing in the middle of the video, once you are engaged in the content. Currently, I noticed the Ads playing in Videos that from the USA.

Which means it’s available for Business Pages in the US, but it’s a strong signal that it will soon be rolled out globally.

One thing to notice here is that the Ads are shown to me despite my location being India. This is because Facebook has already been asking advertisers from all over the world to create Video ads and they currently appear in the Newsfeed (Mobile & Desktop), Instagram (if they are under 1 minute) and Instant Articles.

So Facebook has already got the Ads and since it started favouring videos on their platform, a large number of Facebook Pages have already started creating videos.

I have seen a lot of pages uploading their videos on both YouTube and Facebook, even when there is currently no option to monetize it on Facebook, what they are doing is, making sure to increase engagement on their page and be future proof for the upcoming video ads.

So, Facebook’s strategy of bringing publishers on board has been successful. The only factor which still needs to be addressed is some kind of system to check the plagiarism and stop Facebook Pages from stealing other people’s videos.

I’ve written about it in detail that how a few Facebook pages simply download other people’s videos Natively on Facebook and gain millions of views, likes and page likes.

How to increase your Mobile battery life by 40%

Asif Ahmed
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How to increase your Mobile battery life by 40%

No matter how better the Camera is getting on the smartphone, how powerful they’ve become in the last few years, one thing we will always crave for in a smartphone is the battery. At least I do.

Don’t hate me for the Clickbait but the solution for longer battery life I’m going to give you is little is something you are already aware of and it might be tough for you if you are a social media freak.

So the solution is, Uninstall the Facebook app from the smartphone.

At first, it might seem a bit aggressive but if you think again it’s really not that tough, and moreover, it’s really not the most important social network anymore.

Instagram on a smartphone is getting more traction and you have fewer relatives them,  at least as of now.

A lot of people are leaving Facebook. 

But I’m not a teen, how I’ll live without Facebook.

I understand this article is not for everyone, but for people who want to be more productive and need to get their stuff done.

And yes, those who don’t want their phones dead before its dark.

I want to tell you why I did it.


There isn’t really much use of Facebook on my phone, since all my friends are already on Whatsapp, and they are sharing their Stories on the new WhatsApp status, I can know about them from one app.

And Facebook, which was once all about staying connected with friends, is filled with Memes and random videos that auto play and pull me in the loop of more random videos for a few dozens of them before I realise I’ve been wasting time and battery laughing at the epic fail of a random dude.

I still browse it on my Computer, it’s still the enemy of productivity there but at least it’s not draining the battery.

If you’ve got business pages on Facebook you can use Facebook Page Manager, there a separate app for Ads Manager, and you can also keep the messenger app if you like to keep the communication going on the go.

It’s been only a few days but I’m really missing it, at times I see myself searching for the Facebook icon, but then I remember why I installed it in the first place, and it kind of helps me as somehow my mind gets a signal not to overuse/over browse other apps else they will also be thrown out of my phone.

If I have to report on the battery life, it’s really great to see how less the phone usage has become, it seems all the time I spent on my phone was mostly browsing the Facebook.

And now some part of the time is spent using other apps like Google docs and writing full articles like this one on my smartphone. BTW, the 6.44inch Xiaomi Mi Max ️is quite amazing for writing on the go.

If you liked this post, please do let me know in the comments below, I’d like your feedback. Thanks.

Chrome for Android is Getting Some Cool New Features Here’s You Can Try it Right Now

Asif Ahmed
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0
Chrome for Android is Getting Some Cool New Features Here’s You Can Try it Right Now

If you are a Chrome user on Android, you must be aware of how life gets easy with all your Chrome Browser tabs from your computer is accessible from your Phone, your browser history, passwords and autofill data makes life so much easier.

Now Google for Android will soon be getting some new features that are pretty cool and will make you use Chrome even more.

One big change in the User Interface is that the Address bar on the top moves to the bottom, making it easy to access with your thumb.

If you have more than one tab open at once you can simply switch between the apps by swiping on the address bar. Pretty cool no? 

Another nice feature is to swipe up from the address bar to go to the Homepage and easily access the most recent websites (presented in icons), and Articles suggested by Google based on your browsing history.

You can browse the article recommendations, click on the one you want to read, it starts loading in the background.

You can use this new feature right now.

These new features can be enabled right now in Google Canary, which is pretty much like Chrome for Android but is meant for experimenting new features.

Google mentions that it’s quite unstable but I have been using it for months and it’s not like it crashes every time you open it. You can figure out yourself by reading the reviews on Play Store.

So once you install the app on your phone from Play Store.

You need to enable the feature by typing this in the address bar. (see the image)

chrome://flags/#enable-chrome-home

Once you enable it, Relaunch the Google Canary browser and you will notice the changes.

7 Best Keyboard for Bloggers and Writers We Have Used So Far

Asif Ahmed
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7 Best Keyboard for Bloggers and Writers We Have Used So Far

It is said that the Pen is mightier than the Sword. In this Digital Age, we can Replace the Pen with Keyboards, they are equally important. For writers, a keyboard is a tool to helps them flow the words on an empty document page.

Being a Digital writer myself, I am always in search for a better keyboard as it speeds up my writing. I am listing 5 of the best Keyboards I have come across so far.

Dell 104 Quiet Key

I am putting this one on the top though this list is not sorted on the basis of performance, this keyboard is the one I am writing from. The keys are quiet and feel soft, you don’t have to press a key too hard to type the letters.

It has a minimalist design which you are going to love while writing. Initially, I had the accuracy issue with this keyboard but once you get used to it, which could take a week or so, it’s fine.

➤ Buy from Amazon

Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo

This one is a wireless keyboard + wireless mouse combo, the keyboard is beautifully designed and has all the shortcut buttons for music, calculator, volume controls etc.

The keyboard looks sleek and looks beautiful. I won’t say that the keys are harder but they aren’t soft either. I’ve used it for one year and I found that once you get used to it, you will love it, my typos were 20% when I started using this keyboard.

The mouse is little bulky but the blue tracking technology lets you use it one any surface even on Glass.

➤ Buy from Amazon

Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750

I had used a cheaper one from Logitech so my faith in them for creating quality product had died until I came across this one, it’s a sleek environment friend keyboard and is a pleasure to type.

It’s a solar powered keyboard which means you don’t have to worry about the battery getting in the way of your writing.

➤ Buy from Amazon

Logitech Wireless Illuminated Keyboard K800

Another nice keyboard from Logitech, this one has illuminated lights which make it easy to type when sufficient light is not available, I can count the number of times I was in that situation.

The keys are soft and other features of Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750. The price is little on the high side, but if you care about design, it’s worth the price.

➤ Buy from Amazon

Apple Wireless Keyboard

Not only this keyboard boots your writing but also makes your desk clutter free by taking less space, it’s the sleekest design you will ever come across, the keys are responsive and crisp.

The design is beautiful like all the Apple products, and yes, it does work with Windows Based PCs as well.

➤ Buy from Amazon

Keyboards Suggested by Our Readers 

When I sat to write this list a few weeks ago, I thought I am the only guy who has expertise in telling which keyboard is best for a writer. But then many experiences people came to know about this post and suggest the best Keyboards they have come across. Many readers also expressed their surprise that this list doesn’t include a mechanical keyboard, Well, now it does. 🙂

So, I thought let’s extend this list of best keyboards and put their favourites on this list as well.

Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard

“I’m a big fan for MICROSOFT Sculpt Ergonomic Desktop.” – Bambang Est

Bambang Est shared his favourite in the comments, I quickly lookup for the keyboard and found it quite a decent keyboard. Look at the image below.

Microsoft L5V-00001 Sculpt

By the looking at the photo, I am sure that palm rest area makes long writing sessions very comfortable.

➤ Buy from Amazon

Razer Chroma Clicky – Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

I use a “gamer keyboards” specifically the razor chroma. I know it sounds odd, but it feels amazing to use. They designed gamer keyboards for speed and placement so that u can sit and play for hours. (I don’t play games with it, only write) I love my keyboard, thank God I foun it. Did i mention the beautiful lights it has? – Isaac

This comment from Isaac made me curious, when I looked at the Keyboard’s image, it really had the beautiful lights.

Razer BlackWidow Chroma Clicky

Razer Chroma is a mechanical keyboard, and it looks cool. I did try a mechanical keyboard but It was a local brand, and it ruined my experience of using a mechanical keyboard. This one looks cool and I would love to try this.

➤ Buy from Amazon

If you are looking for a Laptop with nice keyboards, I’ve curated a list of 8 of the best Ultra think laptops that are under $1000. These laptops have MacBook style keyboards so you can also call it a list of Best Macbook alternatives that costs under $1000.

This article was originally published on Asiogroup.net

Stay Away from WhatsApp Scam that Asks You to Pay or WhatsApp will Stop Working

Asif Ahmed
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Stay Away from WhatsApp Scam that Asks You to Pay or WhatsApp will Stop Working

The fastest way to spread rumours is WhatsApp, and sometimes it’s the scams that float to reach a billion users the app has.

It seems there is a new kind of scam that has been floating over the app. The scam is tricking people into believing that their WhatsApp will soon stop working, and in order to keep using the service, they need to pay a certain amount.

“Your subscription has expired,” reads the message. “To verify your account and purchase a lifetime subscription for just 0.99 GDP simply tap on this link.”

We have recently seen a worldwide attack of Ransomware, which took several computers on hostage and demanded money to spare their important files.

This WhatsApp scam is, however, not that big of a threat but it’s better to be safe and not click on any suspicious link, even if it sent by a known contact.

Earlier this year, another scam was floating on WhatsApp that claimed to make Jio Free until 31st December 2017.

Usually what these apps do is, they ask you to install an app or two for which they are paid on the basis on per installs. But if it asks to you install an app from a source other than Play Store, you should better stay away from it.

WhatsApp used to charge a certain fee $0.99/year after one year of Free usage, but it has become completely Free ever since Facebook bought it. So you won’t have to pay anything to use it.

Educate yourself with all the cool WhatsApp tricks. Check out the post.

Xiaomi Redmi 5 Leaked Images Started to Appear on The Internet

Asif Ahmed
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Xiaomi Redmi 5 Leaked Images Started to Appear on The Internet

It has been a few weeks since the launch of Redmi 4 in India after it was launched in China a few months ago.

It’s just a day we have published the review of the Redmi 4, which is a huge upgrade to the Redmi 3S, the news about leaked images of the Redmi 5 has started to appear on the Intenet.

IT seems Xiaomi has started working on the upgrade of the amazing Redmi 5. There are several leaked images that surfaced the internet since yesterday.

The images shared are little blurry (don’t know why all the leaked images are low quality) but give some details on the design changes in the Redmi 5.

For example, a LED flashlight can be seen near the front camera, and the fingerprint scanner is missing at the back.

I tried finding more details about the specs but it’s different on different sites. The only things that are clear are the size of the phones that will remain 5 inches and the display will remain HD (720×1280).

Another change that is visible from the leaked images is the logo placement that is now on the front of the phone, which looks a little distracting.

The logo on Redmi 4 is at the back and is barely conflicting with the overall design on the phone.

Other things that are rumoured are the processor that is said be of 1.4Ghz Octa-Core and the phone will be powered by the Android 6.0 OS, which seems false since it’s going to be more than

Which seems false since it’s going to be more than2-year-oldd OS and by the time Redmi 5 launches, most of the new devices would be coming with Android o.

This post is developing and will be getting updated with more details. Keep coming back to check out more, turn on the Notifications to get notified

How to Upgrade to SSD without Reinstalling Windows OS

Asif Ahmed
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How to Upgrade to SSD without Reinstalling Windows OS

Got a slow computer? the problem might be the slow Hard Drive. Upgrading to SSD might solve the problem, it’s one of the steps you can take if your computer is slow, else read the article how to fix your slow computer.

Can you upgrade without having to reinstall the Windows? Not talking about still keeping the Windows OS on your Hard Drive and just adding the SSD, because then, there is no point in upgrading.

The answer to the original question is, yes, it’s possible to upgrade to SSD without losing data or reinstalling Windows OS.

The best, and perhaps the easiest thing you can do is, clone your current Hard Drive to the SSD.

Obviously, your HD would be having a lot of data than the capacity of the SSD, so you can start by moving all the data to another drive, and try keeping only the OS on the drive, or your stuff on the C Drive.

This way you keep the data size on HD as minimal as possible so that it’s easier to clone it to the SSD.

Once you have cloned the OS, you can always move back data to the Hard Drive and keep it connected to the PC and format the OS files ( which would probably be residing in D Drive now)

I have my OS on the SSD and rest of the files are on my older 1TB HD.

If you are using a Laptop, you will face some decision-making issues, like whether to buy an SSD with a larger capacity or buy an External Hard Drive since there will be no option to connect two Drives like there is in the Desktop PC.

I’ve also got a 1TB External HD which is pretty cool, and it is readable on both PC and Mac.

You can use any Data Backup Software that has Cloning feature, like this one

Opera Browser Gives Direct Access to WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger

Asif Ahmed
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Opera Browser Gives Direct Access to WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger

Though we all love and praise Google Chrome about its versatility, the Browser that is bolder and innovative when it comes to features, is the Opera Browser.

It gave us the Speed Dials, the Tabbed Browsing, Turbo Mode to faster browsing on slower internet connection and much more.

Now it brings another amazing feature, for particular app users though, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp, both of which have more than 1 billion users.

It gives faster access to WhatsApp Web and Facebook Messenger

Though, Facebook Messenger has a dedicated web aggress for desktop users (Try Messenger dot com), WhatsApp, which is a mobile messaging services, expanded to WhatsApp Web last year.

But you still have to either install the WhatsApp Application on your Mac or PC or type web.whatsapp.com to access WhatsApp from your Browser.

You can either set up bookmark so that it is available, but it was still open in the browser tab, which means you will have to switch between the tabs, which is not productive things to do.

Why is the Direct WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger access in Opera browser better than web.whatsapp in a new tab?

The Direct Access of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger a panel over the top of other tabs meaning you do not have to switch to another tab to access it and it is always available in the left sidebar of Opera browser.

You can click on the WhatsApp icon from any tab and view your messages without leaving your current tab.

So are you an Opera user? would you switch to it for this feature? let us know in the comments.

Free VPN Built into the Opera Browser

This is another great feature of the Opera Browser is that it offers free VPN, which is built into the browser.

You can turn on the VPN feature from the settings of the browser and then it will be available right from the address bar.

If you don’t know about the benefits of using a VPN, you can check out this article where we have talked about it in detail.

Find more articles on our blog related to Opera browser and its features

How to Read Web Articles 3x Faster on Your Mobile

Asif Ahmed
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How to Read Web Articles 3x Faster on Your Mobile

Maybe you never gave it a thought, but it can save a lot of time if you can read 3x your current reading speed. You can either read 3x more pieces of content in the same amount of time or finish the same article 1/3rd of the time.

I am a slow reader, so even if the webpage says it’s a 3-minute read, it takes me more than 6 minutes to finish it.

I have built a system that lets you read faster. In this post, I’ll share how to read web articles faster. That is the articles from your favorite websites.

I often read stuff from Medium, or anything Interesting that lands in my Facebook newsfeed. 

Before I tell you the trick, I want to clarify that it needs to be reading at 3x speed. It’s a mix of Reading + Listening to the article.

There is a simple fact that we tend to read faster if we hear the words. This is why it is said that we read it out loud to read faster.

But my trick goes one step further, and I use the Smartphone’s voice assistant for reading the articles.

What you need to read 3x faster

  • Chrome for Android Browser (or any browser will do)
  • Pocket App

The combination of the two apps will help you read faster. Don’t believe me? Keep reading further. 

When you have the Pocket app installed and have set it up for Reading to use, open any article you want to read, usually the text-heavy articles that are long.

Step 1: Tap on the share icon, and save it to the Pocket app.

Step 2: Once you have saved it to the Pocket App,

Step3: Launch the Pocket App, either from Quick Actions or by going to the App Drawer.

Step 4: You will find the Articles Saved in the Pocket app,

Step 5: Tap on the top right corner, and then tap on the ‘Listen to Article’.

I keep the reading speed on Faster, but you can keep it as you like.

Use earphones to listen to the article while reading it, and the Pocket app will automatically scroll to the next paragraph so that you can keep reading.

You can also listen to the article in the background and do other stuff also, and the Audio player can be controlled from the Notification Panel

If you are looking to read a Book faster? you should check out this article on how to read anything 3x faster.

9 Killer Google Chrome Features to Make You Super Productive

Asif Ahmed
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9 Killer Google Chrome Features to Make You Super Productive

Google Chrome is a cool browser, loved by millions of people, and the love is growing. I am in love with it since 2009, one year after it was released, it took me one year to learn about things that make Google Chrome a super productive tool for me.

I am sharing few killer features that will help you become more productive.  So, take some time out from your busy schedule, sit down and read through, I guarantee you will be a wise man after the end of this article.

1. Pin Tab your Important websites

Pin Tab Chrome Feature

Google Chrome offers a clever feature right from the inception of the browser, and it is the Pin Tab, which turns any website into a permanently opened (as if it’s a part of the browser), no matter you restart your PC or the Google Chrome, your pinned tabs remain there and are opened as soon as the Google Chrome is launched.

Pin Tabs also take less space so you might want to Pin Gmail, Facebook, or any other website that remains open throughout the session. You will love it once you start using it.

2. Drag n Drop Tabs in Separate Browser Windows

Drag n Drop Chrome Tabs

You can drag a tab to turn it into a separate window, or between to different browser windows.  Just drag the tab from one Windows to the other windows and it gets stitched to it. This is pretty useful when you want to group the websites you are working on, in a separate window so that it is easy to switch between them.

You can also drag multiple tabs at one, Press Shift ⇧ key, click on the first tab and then click on the last tab you want to more, then drag the tabs to the Separate window.

3. Make Site Search from the Address bar

Site Search Chrome

Whenever you make a search inside a website, for example, you do a lot of searched inside YouTube. Now, the Google Chrome browser adds these to their custom search engines, so that the next time you want to make a search, you can do directly from the Address bar, just type initial letters of the website and then hit the Tab ⇆ key.

You will enter into the custom search engine and now anything you type here, will lead you to the search page of that particular website.

You can also add/remove or modify the custom search sites manually from the Settings page (opens the  settings link in Google Chrome)

4. Sign in into Google Chrome to Sync Bookmarks, Browsing History, Auto-fill and Passwords across various devices.

Sync Chrome

This one is a life-saving feature, I literally cannot imagine my work without it, it lets me take my entire browsing history, auto fills, passwords with my on all my devices.

Just sign in into Google Chrome using your Google Account on all the device and you will never to have remembered your passwords, website data anymore. Do it from the settings (opens settings in Google Chrome)

[easy-tweet tweet=”Google Chrome Tricks You Should know to Get work done Faster http://tippr.in/1Q6jVpQ” user=”Techtippr” hashtags=”#Chrometips”]

5. Use Chrome Tabs as a Notepad

Browser Notepad

All you have to do is, type data:text/html, <html contenteditable> in the address bar and hit Enter. You will be able to write anything, comes in handy to write something down. You can bookmark it on the bookmark bar so that it’s just one click away.

*Do remember that your notes won’t get saved.

6. Use Google Chrome for Setting up Timers and Reminders

Google Timer

Type Timer in the Address bar of Google Chrome and you will be able to set a timer right on the search page of Google. Very useful for things like taking a break after 15 minutes or call someone.

7. Open the Tabs you Accidently Closed

Open Closed Tabs Chromne

Ctrl + Shift ⇧ + T will get your closed tab back to life, this saves lives, especially when you are doing something life-changing inside the tab, such as watching a funny cat video or reading something important, this feature will take you exactly where you were (well,  it works most of the time)

8. Optimize your browsing experience using Google Chrome’s Task Manager

Task Manager Chrome

You may often find yourself in a situation where you have a lot of working going on with a lot of tabs open, Google has put in a nice taskbar for you to look at how your PC’s RAM is distributed among different processes of Google Chrome, you can then end the ones you think you do not want.

Tab Ended using Taskbar

Ending a process of a Tab is different from closing it, as the tab remains open and it’s just not loaded into the memory, so, you can always reload it when you want to work on it, a clean and easy way to get some extra memory to do your work smoothly.

More Google Chrome optimization tips are waiting for you on the other page.

Keep Google Chrome’s Memory Usage in Limits & Prevent Your PC from Sowing Down

9 Enhance the Functionality of Google Chrome using Extensions

Chrome Webstore

Google Chrome has a Chrome Web Store which lists super useful extensions and apps that can turn your browsing into a fully working PC.

The extensions are so powerful that Google introduced an OS based on entirely on Chrome to power Machines that works just like any other PC and are called Chromebooks.

I’ve used Chromebook as my primary machine during my travels and was successful able to work on my business entirely inside a browser, yes, Google Chrome. thanks to the awesome chrome extensions.

How I keep my life sorted with my smartphone 

Asif Ahmed
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0
How I keep my life sorted with my smartphone 

Today I want to take some space and talk about how my smartphone is helping me keep my life sorted.

I use simple tools on a daily basis for things as small as boiling the milk to as important as taking my two months old baby for vaccination.

Or paying bills, or servicing or repairing home appliances.

I use apps like Any.do, Google Calendar, Evernote, Google Keep etc to keep a track of things. Let’s break it down into categories so that you can pick what you find useful and leave the rest.

Quick Reminders: No More Spilling the milk

I am that person who always forgets to switch off the stove after 15 or 20 minutes. So now I’ve started using Google Now to get quick and short reminders like these.

Turn off the stove after 15 minutes or turn off the (water pump) motor after 2 hours, and many other things, It’s small but it saves a lot of time and brain effort in trying to stay aware of them.

Google now is also helpful for various other things, like currency conversions, sunset-sunrise timings of simply weather reports. You can learn about more Google tips to make your life easy.

Repetitive Tasks: Never forget Paying Utility Bills on time

Repetitive tasks such as Paying Electricity bill, Broadband bill, EMIs etc that occur every month can be reminded of easily by setting repeat reminders in Google Calendar.

google_calendar_reminders

Google Calendar lets you repeat a task, weekly, monthly, or yearly. You can also choose to be reminded on every first, second, third, or fourth, Sunday (or any day) of every month.

Apart from Utility bills, I also use Google Calendar for B’day (set on repeat every year)

You can sync Google Calendar and B’days of your Facebook could appear in the calendar automatically. But not every friend has set their Date of Birth viewable to friends.

Temporary Repetitive Tasks: Medicines, Workouts etc

I have some repetitive tasks that are temporary or you can say are seasonal, like Cycling or Working Out (Though I try to exercise throughout the year, like everybody)

For these, I use Any.Do app, It reminds me to go for Cycling every day at 5PM. Any.Do has also a reminder for Taking my Medicines when I am not well.

I am also using this app as my shopping list. And I have a repetitive reminder of grocery shopping on every Friday.

Any.Do app is for personal things mostly, It is a great help for managing things around my home, like If I need to fix something in the house, I put it in Any.Do and give it a time slot.

Tracking the Milk Supply: A Simple Kitchen Hack

I and my wife share a Google Spreadsheet for Calculating the Milk Delivered. We both enter how much supply we get every day and what days we didn’t get the milk delivered.

The Spreadsheet automatically calculated how many liters of milk we got every month and what’s the total amount to be paid to the milkman. It’s pretty cool, you can learn about it in this detailed post.

Never Miss Any Receipt or Service Date

Finally, the most painful talk of keeping track of every receipt of electronics, home appliances, the service receipts and their dates is managed easily by Evernote.

Evernote is not just a note taking the app for me, It’s the place where all my receipts and important documents are.

I save Service receipts with a reminder when the next service is due. Like my Purifier needs service every six months, so the I take a picture of the receipt and put a reminder for the next service.

My Bike’s Insurance needs to be renewed every year so Evernote is a great relief because it never forgets to remind me about it.

I keep my other Documents stored in Evernote, in case I need them I can always print them from anywhere. Evernote mobile app lets you set a pin code to open the app, so you can also keep some sensitive information like bank account information etc.

You can learn about more cool things Evernote can do by reading this post.

Quick Notes that can be accessed from any Device

I’ve also installed Google Keep to note down random stuff that I need to note down when I am out. Thinks like name or a place I need to visit, something I need to look up on the internet later.

Mostly it’s all random, but it is available on my PC as I can access the notes from the browser itself by going to keep.google.com (using same email account on both phone and computer)

Google Keep is also an amazing app that does more amazing things and I also use them when I have to. You can check out this detailed post about amazing features of Google Keep.

Get Mobile Notifications on your PC

Not a lot of people would use it but it saves a lot of time for me, I don’t have to check my phone every time it makes a notification sound. Pushbullet app shows all the Mobile notifications on the PC itself.

Apart from using notifications, I use it to send something to my mobile (or vice versa), I’ve written about Pushbullet in detail here.

I can go on and on and on but then the post is going to be longer. So, I’ll just stop here, I’ve covered almost all the important things I do that save a lot of my time and help me keep my life sorted.

I hope you like this, and if you did, Please share it with friends on Facebook and Twitter.

Read Next: 22 Awesome Tips to Get Work Done, Faster

Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows 10 You Should Be Using Everyday

Anwer Khan
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Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows 10 You Should Be Using Everyday

I hope you are now on Windows 10, if not, then please do yourself a favour, Upgrade. It’s worth it, by far the best OS from Microsoft. After they goofed up a bit in Windows 8.

Also Read: How to Upgrade to Windows 10 for Free Without Any Issues

Anyway, assuming you are on Windows 10 or will be on it in few weeks or so, here are some of the keyboard shortcuts you should be using on a daily basis to get your work done faster.

Windows Key-Q / Windows Key-S: There are few shortcuts which didn’t make it to Windows 10. CTRL +Q made it, though. You can search for apps, file etc by that as it might take a few clicks to get to the app you are looking for.

KeyboardShortcuts01

Windows Key-Tab: When you’ve got too many apps opened on your PC, Press Windows Key-Tab Key to get a preview of the windows, then you can click on any app you want to work on. It’s quite helpful in switching between apps quickly.

Bonus Tip: You can unclutter your desktop by moving a few apps to the new desktop (which can be added from the bottom right or using Windows Key-Ctrl+D). It is Something like grouping the apps. 

Alt-Tab: When we talk about switching between apps when you press Alt-Tab, you can preview all the active windows as well as switch between the windows, keep pressing Alt-Tab to move to the next app, Press Alt-Shift-Tab to move backwards.

Tip: If you use Alt-Ctrl-Tab, you won’t have to keep the keys pressed and can switch between apps by pressing Alt.

Windows Key-Home: This will minimize all the App/Program Windows except the Active one. If you find yourself in a situation where you need to minimize everything else and just focus on the stuff you are working on, Use this Keyboard Shortcut.

Note: Few Keyboards and Laptop will have the Home key with Function (Fn) key.

KeyboardShortcuts02

Windows Key-C: This keyboard shortcut Launches Cortana on Windows 10 in Listening Mode.

Note: If the Cortana is not enabled on your Desktop, you can change your Country to US by going to the ‘Region & Language‘ section under ‘Time & Language‘ from Settings (view the image)

Windows Key-E: This combination launches the Windows Explorer. I have been using this Keyboard shortcut a lot these days. You can further press F4 to go to the address bar in the Windows Explorer and use the Arrow keys to scroll between different windows. It makes accessing files faster.

Windows Key- Print Scr: IF you have to quickly grab the screenshot of something on your PC, this keyboard shortcut is pretty standard. You can check out this post on How to take screenshots on PC for more customized screenshots. Check out How to Take Screenshots on PC

Read Next: Keyboard Shortcuts in Mac You Should Be Using Every day

Watch YouTube without Buffering on Slower Internet Connections on Mobile

Anwer Khan
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0
Watch YouTube without Buffering on Slower Internet Connections on Mobile

The fast average Internet in the world is available in South Korea, and the next best Internet is found in Japan. If you are living in either of these countries, then please leave.  You don’t need our help. For the rest of the world, please carry on reading.

Not that every other country would need this advice but the ones who are not blessed with a faster Internet, will thank me at the end of this post, because I will help you watch your favourite videos of funny cats and dogs on YouTube without any interruptions.

Yes, that’s possible.

There are mainly two methods

1. Lower the Video Resolution

The HD videos may have become common in the last few years, but remember the time when YouTube only had videos with a resolution of 240p, then they got 360p. It was so easy to browse them on my 256kbps Internet Connection.

Lower_YT_Resolution

So, if you are watching a video on your mobile, you can turn down the resolution from the Quality control. 360p is fine, but you can do 240p if your connection is too slow.

Use Opera Max

Opera Max is a data management app from Opera, it will compress the media files by 50%, which means you videos will be half in size without much loss in the quality. It works really well for both Images and Videos.

Just install and enable Opera Max and it will do the rest. You may continue Watching YouTube videos inside the App or in your Mobile browser.

You can also combine these two methods to watch more videos by spending less bandwidth.

➤  Here is how you can save more mobile bandwidth

The Writer Chrome App is my new Writing App I am Addicted to

Asif Ahmed
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0
The Writer Chrome App is my new Writing App I am Addicted to

I had actually reviewed the Writer app a few years ago when I discovered it. Trying out the chrome app after a long time, it seems a lot has changed from the last time when I used and reviewed it on the blog.

Years later, it feels like it is the writing app I always wanted.

To be honest, I ditched Writer app for the Calmly app when I discovered it weeks later, Calmly is still there on my Mac, but I find myself using it less.

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great app, It had a lot of restrictions, like, I could not see the files on my Mobile phones, which is with me all time and I like to make use of the little chunks of time by writing on mobile when I am out travelling or waiting in a queue.

Though all it’s features, from text formats to focus mode, to full-screen mode are quite similar to Calmly, the sync with Google Drive is better in the Writer app.

The Writer app can open Google Docs files also, which makes it easier to continue writing on the Docs that you created using the Google Docs app on your mobile. Calmly saved the files in a different format and did not support Google Docs.

The Writer app is feature rich, loved the Coffee Mode

Writer mixed my two of my favourite apps into one. It included a Coffee Mode, which gives you a nice ambience of a coffee shop/cafe when enabled,

I used Noisli for the Ambience noise and Calmly for writing in a distraction free fullscreen mode.

Writer app including best of both apps meaning I need to take care of one instead of two apps.

The Writer app is the best writing app for Chromebook, and since it’s a Chrome app, it’s best for Mac and Windows as well, I use a Windows PC, a MacBook and a Chromebook, the Writer app is great for giving the same experience on every platform.

Like Calmly, the Writer app is free to try and costs $3 whereas Calmly costs $5, but you can still use calmly, there will be an annoying message appearing on bottom left if you don’t upgrade (which I still haven’t upgraded)

➤ Install Writer App on Chrome Browser

Is Your PC Running Slow? Here’s How you can fix it

Asif Ahmed
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0
Is Your PC Running Slow? Here’s How you can fix it

A slow computer is 2017 is a curse, because we now have smartphones faster than the computer were in 2010.

So the computers to today have to be more powerful that that tiny thing in the pocket (I’m talking about smartphones)

if you’ve bought a machine lately, and it was super smoother, booted quite fast when it was new. And now it is no the case at all, this post might help you.

But if your PC has been from the 2010s, then I’m afraid to say that your smartphone, indeed, is faster than your PC.

There are two aspects of figuring out why a PC is slow, one is Hardware and the other is Software.

In this post, we talk about the Software tweaks or optimisations you can do by doing a number of things which you can read below.

Reboot

Reboot is your best friend, Rebooting your PC might solve the problem. It has, in 90% of the cases, people use it as a Smartphone, keeping it turned on for days, and only turning on the standby (sleep) mode when to are not using it.

Sadly, computers still are not as smart as the smartphones, or maybe it’s because of the usage and the amount of control the PC applications have, they tend to slow down your computer over time.

Rebooting it every once in a while can really help retain the smoothness.

I’ll suggest you turn it off every night (or after you are done for the day working)

Limit Background Programs

One of the main reasons for a computer to slow down is the number of programs running at any given time.

If you think you have opened just two programs, and they are the only programs that are taking up computer resources, you are wrong, there are many programs running in the background just because they start right when you start your PC.

Most of these programs run in the background so that you get a smoother experience or the applications you open can launch quickly. But you may not need them to automatically start. And you can turn it off.

The easiest option is via CCleaner, I’ve written about it in the past. It’s an excellent application. It has an option of letting you enable/disable automatic startup of applications at startup.

You can download CCleaner, install and decided which programs you want to start automatically when your PC starts.

CCleaner can help you sort more issues like

  • Cleaning Temporary files, Browser Caches etc,
  • Fixing Registry Files Errors,
  • Uninstalling unwanted programs from Computer

Find that Notorious Process & Kill It

Sometimes there is just one process that is making the entire system slow down.

You can find it out by pressing CTRL+Delete+ALT

The task manager will pop up where you can see which process is taking most of the memory, if it’s just one process, kill it.

Stay Safe from Viruses & Malware

If you have a habit of downloading pirated content from random websites, STOP it before it’s too late.

If your computer is running slow because of that, you are lucky you haven’t been attacked by a Ransomware.

These Viruses and Malware usually get into your Computer via Cracked Software or Infected Flash Drive.

Keeping your Computer Updated, running an Anti-Virus and staying aware of such software can help you stay safe.

Limit Google Chrome’s memory usage

Despite taking all the measures mentioned in this article, your computer is slow every time you are trying to work on something.

Then it could be because of Google Chrome, it’s a huge memory hogger, each Chrome tab takes computer resources of their own, the more tabs you have open, the more resources it will take and the slower your computer will run.

You can try using another Browser. Opera is promising, with their new innovative features (Read articles about Opera Browser).

But if you can’t live without Chrome, because of its extensions and Google Services, try these Chrome Extensions to limit memory Usage of your PC, I’ve been using them myself and they are quite helpful.

Maintain Suitable Room Temperature

While this demands of a dedicated post around taking the heating issues, it plays an important role in the performance of a PC.

My PC starts making loud noises in the summers because the room temperature goes 40 Degree Celcius, I have to keep running the Air Conditioner throughout the time my PC is turned on so that it can run smoothly.

So the room temperature also plays an important role in the performance of a PC.

A good PC cabinet can help in taking the heat issues, and clean your PC from inside out in every few months or so can greatly help.

Few Hardware Fixes for  fix a Slow Computer

Last year I installed an SSD on my 5-year-old PC which previously had 1TB of HD.

While I still keep the 1TB HD connected, I reinstalled the Windows 10 on SSD by making it a single partition of C drive.

My PCs boot time improved from 45 seconds to less than 10 seconds.

SSDs are quite amazingly fast, giving a transfer rate of over 500MB/sec, which is 5x the speed of normal HDs.

This one change drastically improved the performance of my PC.

You can get a 120GB SSD for as low as $60. Though if you are upgrading your Laptop, you should get a higher option like a 250Gb or a 500GB, which will cost a little more, but the investment is totally worth it.

➤ Check out SSDs on Amazon.com

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