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Archives for 12/17/12
Air View on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, it's one of the smartest things about this phablet, but what does it do and how do you use it?
One of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2's key selling points is its sensational S Pen. Why's it so sensational? Because it packs 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity and opens up a whole host of smart features exclusive to the Samsung Galaxy Note range, one of the coolest being Air View.
What is Air View?
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is so smart, it recognizes when you're hovering your S Pen over its screen. With no press necessary, a little indicator appears to let you know you're in hovering distance.
When coupled with compatible applications and menus within TouchWiz, this hovering previews information in a pop up window. This is Air View - easy to use and an incredibly rich means of interacting with your smartphone.
How do I enable Air View?
Air View is on by default, but if it isn't working on your Note 2, you can check to make sure it's switched on. In order to do this, your first port of call is settings.
To access settings, just pull down the notifications bar and tap the cog icon in the top right. Next, scroll down until you find an 'S Pen' option. This is underneath the 'System option'. Tap 'S Pen', scroll down and you will see an entire subsection titled 'Air View'.
Here you can toggle Air View on and off by hitting the switch to the right of the words 'Air View'. If you want to control specific Air View features, tap the actual words themselves. This will take you to a menu enabling you to activate / deactivate the following options: Pointer (a hovering pointer), Information preview (previews with a hover), Icon labels (labels appear with a hover over them) and List scrolling (pans list using hover).
What apps are compatible with Air View?
TouchWiz isn't so much an app, but the Samsung interface on the Galaxy Note 2. This is the first part of the phone that's compatible with Air View. When in any menu or your notification bar, if you hover your S Pen on the edge of a scrollable window, you'll scroll up, down, left or right.
Air View is also compatible with the Samsung Email client. By hovering over an email preview, a pop-up window will appear, showing off a sizeable chunk of the text, often saving you opening the full email.
When in your gallery, you can also take advantage of Air View by hovering over an album. This pops up a preview of the photos inside to save you opening up countless albums. Air view also works when viewing a video. If you hover along the video timeline, it will actually pop up a preview of the video at the time you're hovering over - while simultaneously playing the current time.
Finally, Air View works in your calendar - or S Planner as it's called on the Galaxy Note 2. In month view for example, just hover over a date to preview all your appointments for that day, letting you stick to just one view unless you really need to dip in.
Smart Stay is the smart tech from Samsung that enables your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 screen to stay on the entire while you're looking at your phone
If you've seen adverts on TV for the Samsung Galaxy S3, you may well have been made aware of some impressive marketing around a tech called Smart Stay. This is one of Samsung's many features that makes Samsung phones stand out from the crowd and you'll be glad to know it's available on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.
What is Smart Stay?
Smart Stay enables a Samsung smartphone to keep the screen on while you're looking at it. This prevents it from going to sleep and dimming the screen saving you having to worry about tapping your screen every 30 seconds.
If you're not looking at your phone, Smart Stay also switches off your screen saving battery in the process.
How does Smart Stay work?
Using the front facing camera on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Smart Stay, tracks your eyes. If it detects a pair of open eyes gazing into its lens barrel, it keeps the screen on, if not, it switches the screen off. While all front facing camera phones could technically have Smart Stay on board therefore, only select Samsung Galaxy handsets do, the Note 2 being one of them.
How to activate Smart Stay on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2
To get Smart Stay into gear, start off by jumping into your settings menu. This can be accessed by pulling down your notifications bar and pressing the cog icon in the top right hand corner.
Once in there, scroll down to the 'Display' option and tap it. Look for the sub menu titled 'Features' and underneath it you'll find a 'Smart Stay' option, next to which is a check box. Toggle the check-box to turn smart stay off and on.
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Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Complete Specification
We explain how to set up a lockscreen password on your Amazon Kindle Fire HD to ensure no one can get into it if it's lost or stolen
Although you may not be too worried about people stealing your Kindle Fire HD's data if it only has your books loaded onto it, there are loads of personal details on there too, because it's linked to your Amazon account, which even has all your card details saved.
To stay safe and protected, it's a very good idea for you to set a lock-screen password, so even if your housemates want to see all your pictures, browse the web on your device or listen to your dodgy music collection, they won't be able to.
To set up a Lock-screen password on your Amazon Kindle Fire HD, pull down the notifications bar at the top of your device, select + More, and head to Security.
Here, you can opt to set a Lock-screen password. Ensure the toggle is turned on and tap where it says 'Simple Numeric PIN' to switch between a PIN number-style code or a full password.
Type your preferred code in twice and tap Finish to set the protection.
If you want to change your password at any time, you can do so by coming back to this setting following the instructions above and entering your existing password, then the new details twice.
Hey presto - you're all set up.
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How to Set Up Email on The Amazon Kindle Fire HD
We explain how to set up POP, IMAP, Exchange and web-based email on the Amazon Kindle Fire HD
The Amazon Kindle Fire HD is first and foremost an Android tablet, skinned with Amazon's ultra-light overlay and without any bloatware.
Therefore, it acts the same as and Android tablet, allowing you to use email as you would on a Samsung Galaxy Tab, Note or any other Android tablet.
We explian how to set email up on your Amazon Kindle Fire HD.
First, navigate to the settings menu. This is located in the + More tab when you pull the notification bar down from the top of your Kindle Fire HD.
Now, select My Account and Manage E-mail, Contacts, Calendars.
Select Add account and chose the type of email you wish to set up.
If you're setting up a web-based account, such as Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo, you'll only have to enter your username and password; the Kindle Fire will be able to find the rest of the details needed to get set up.
If you're setting up and Exchange account, things get more complicated.
First, put in your name. This doesn't have to be your user name, just the name you wish your emails to come addressed from.
Next, enter your email address and password. The Kindle Fire HD will then try and connect to the server. If it cannot find the settings, you will need to manually insert them, so you may need to contact your IT department to find out what they are.
You will now be asked what you wish to sync and if your company has an IT security policy in place, you may be requested to give permission that they can control some features of your account.
Your email should now sync!
