Cell Phones Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 01-13-2025

This cheat sheet gives you a rundown of some of the most useful features and apps so you can find what you need to customize your iPhone’s behavior. See how to get the most out of Siri (your iPhone’s virtual assistant), review some favorite apps for news and weather, and discover several of the most popular apps for multimedia.

Article / Updated 09-11-2024

Android Auto is a new feature available for your Droid smartphone. Because cellphone-related car accidents are on the rise, many major automobile manufacturers have decided to implement a safer way to use your smartphone while driving. Once your Droid is connected to your automobile, the phone’s screen will be mirrored on the display of your car stereo. Credit: Image courtesy of Android.com Android Auto gives you a hands-free option for operating your smartphone while driving. What do you need to use Android Auto? Before you can use the new Android Auto safety feature, you will need to take a couple of things into consideration. Do you have an Android smartphone running OS 5.0 or higher? The Android Auto safety feature is only available on 5.0 (Lollipop) and higher. If your smartphone is running an older Android OS, unfortunately, you will not be able to use Android Auto. Update your device (if applicable) to Android 5.0+. If your device is unable to update to Lollipop and you want this new feature, a new phone purchase may be required. Do you have a data plan through your cellphone provider? Because Android Auto uses data-rich applications such as the voice assistant Google Now (Ok Google) Google Maps, and many third-party music streaming applications, it is necessary for you to have a data plan. An unlimited data plan is the best way to avoid any surprise charges on your wireless bill. Do you have a compatible car or supported aftermarket stereo? Many 2016 automobile models and aftermarket stereos will support Android Auto. If a new car purchase is not in your near future, an aftermarket stereo is a great option. Check the Android Auto page to see if the car or stereo you wish to purchase is supported. What is included with Android Auto? The built in applications supported by Android Auto are listed as follows: Google Maps: The Google Maps app offers directions, road and traffic conditions, as well as travel time. Get directions quickly and accurately. Messages: The Messages application will read incoming text messages. You speak your response into the car stereo/microphone. Android translates your speech into a text and sends it to your recipient. Messages paired with Android Auto allow you to keep your eyes on the road instead of on your Droid. Music: The Music app allows access to the stored music on your smartphone. You can rock out to all your favorite jams directly from the car stereo. Home: Home is a shortcut icon that takes you directly to your Home screen. Here, you can quickly see all of your supported applications and safely make your selection while driving. Phone: The Phone app, paired with Android Auto, allows you to make and receive calls through your car stereo. When a call is coming in, your music or audio pauses and you will hear the ringtone instead. Take or reject the call and the music resumes as soon as you are finished. Applications such as Pandora, Spotify, Google Play Music, and many more are supported. Search the Google Play Store for additional applications. To access other supported applications while your phone is connected to Android Auto, you simply download the applications to your smartphone and coordinating icons will display on your car stereo. If no extra icons are displayed then no supported applications have been downloaded. Keep in mind that Android Auto is not an OS built into your car stereo, but is a feature that allows your phone to display on the screen in your car. Most Android Auto-supported stereos also support Apple CarPlay.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 11-01-2023

Your iPhone can be so much more than a communication tool to talk into. Aside from making calls and creating your contacts, you should make yourself familiar with the many options available on the iPhone touchscreen. You'll also want to be able to handle troubleshooting when your Apple device acts strangely or stops working. When you need a bit of levity, check out our 10 ways to have fun with Siri. And finally, if you have an iPhone with Face ID, you’ll discover how to put your iPhone into recovery mode.

Article / Updated 08-14-2023

Snapchat is a fun social media app primarily used for sharing photos. Popular for the effects that you can apply to your pictures, Snapchat is a great way to manipulate your images with wacky effects. Snapchat is available for iOS and Android. Here are a few ways you can apply effects to your photos using Snapchat: You can use Lenses to add effects (like the dog face) Filters lets you add colored tints to photos and decorate images with customized backgrounds You can add text, stickers, and emojis to your images Not sure what these mean? Check here for some Snapchat lingo. Launch Snapchat and let’s get started. How to use Snapchat Lenses If you have friends who use Snapchat, you have likely seen a familiar face transformed into an adorable dog. It’s fun to turn yourself into a friendly pup with a playful tongue and adorable ears. You accomplish this with Snapchat’s Lenses. Follow these steps to use Lenses: Switch the camera to selfie mode. Snap a picture.Wait for the white mapping to appear on your face. Once recognized, scroll through the circular icons at the bottom. Choose your preferred Lens. Follow any instructions provided.Some Lenses direct you to do things like “raise your eyebrows.” Doing so usually adds an effect included with a particular Lens. Snapchat is constantly switching up its Lenses. Don’t be surprised to see new Lenses come and go on a regular basis. How to use Snapchat Filters Snapchat also offers Filters for your photos. These overlay your photos with tints and other words. Many of the options use the location of your phone to offer geographically appropriate backgrounds. Here’s an example from Indianapolis. To use Snapchat Filters, follow these simple steps: Snap a picture using either camera. Swipe left or right through the filter options. Choose your preferred filter. If you want to save the photo, select the Save icon from the bottom left corner. How to add text, stickers, and emojis in Snapchat The fun of Snapchat comes with the ability to alter your photos to fit your personality. This wouldn’t be complete without the ability to add text, stickers, and emojis. You do this by using the icons on the right side of the screen. Take a picture with one of the cameras on your phone. A column of options will appear on the right side. Use this column to add effects to your photos. Here are your options: Select the T icon at the top right corner to enter text: Type your text and choose Done when finished. Tap the pencil to write on your image: This allows you to use your finger to add drawings by hand over the top of your photo. Adjust the color on the color palette or add a sticker by selecting the heart at the bottom of the palette. Choose the stickers button to add stickers: This gives you a broad array of emojis and other graphics to add to your image. Make your selection from the options. Use the Scissors icon to create stickers from images in your photo: Tap the scissors. Then use your finger to surround the image you want a duplicate of. Snapchat creates your duplicate sticker and you can reposition in your photo as necessary. The Paperclip icon lets you attach a website to your Snap: Type in the URL to select your site. The recipient of the Snap will see an arrow at the bottom. When selected, the recipient will see the attached website. Choose the Alarm Clock icon to choose how long friends can see your Snaps: Choose between one and ten seconds or the infinity symbol. Snapchat is always upgrading and adding features. Keep your eyes peeled for new fun ways to customize your photos. Check here to learn more about how to use Snapchat.

Article / Updated 08-03-2023

The first time you turn on your iPhone, it will probably have been activated and registered by your cellular carrier or Apple, depending on whom you’ve bought it from. Follow these steps: Press and hold down the side button (found a little bit below the top of the upper-right side of newer iPhone models) or the top button (on the first-generation iPhone SE and earlier models) until the Apple logo appears. A screen appears, asking you to enter your Apple ID. Enter your Apple ID. If you don’t have an Apple ID, follow the instructions to create one. Follow the series of prompts to set up initial options for your iPhone. You can make choices about your language and location, using iCloud (Apple’s online sharing service), whether to use a passcode, connecting with a network, and so on. You can choose to have personal items transferred to your iPhone from your computer when you sync the two devices using iTunes or Finder, including music, videos, downloaded apps, audiobooks, e-books, podcasts, and browser bookmarks. Contacts and Calendars are downloaded via iCloud, or (if you’re moving to iPhone from an Android phone) you can download an Apple app called Move to iOS from the Google Play Store to copy your current Android settings to your iPhone. You can also transfer to your computer any content you download directly to your iPhone by using iTunes, the App Store, or non-Apple stores. Meet the Multi-Touch Screen When the iPhone Home screen appears, you see a colorful background and two sets of icons, as shown in the image below. One set of icons appears on the dock, which is along the bottom of the screen. The dock contains the Phone, Safari, Messages, and Music app icons by default, though you can swap out one app for another. You can add new apps to populate as many as 14 additional Home screens, for a total of 15 Home screens. The dock appears on every Home screen. Other icons appear above the dock. Different icons appear in this area on each Home screen. You can also nest apps in folders, which gives you the ability to store even more apps on your iPhone, depending on your phone's memory. Treat the iPhone screen carefully. The newest models have Ceramic Shield, Apple's toughest screen ever for the iPhone, but it's still made of glass and will break if an unreasonable amount of force is applied. The iPhone uses touchscreen technology: When you swipe your finger across the screen or tap it, you’re providing input to the device just as you do to a computer by using a mouse or keyboard. You'll read more about the touchscreen in the next task, but for now, go ahead and play with it — really, you can’t hurt anything. Use the pads of your fingertips (not your fingernails) and try the following: Tap the Settings icon. The various settings categories appear, as shown in the figure below. To return to the Home screen, press the Home button or, if you have an iPhone without a Home button, swipe up from the very bottom edge of your screen. Swipe a finger from right to left on the Home screen. This action moves you to the next Home screen.The little white dots at the bottom of the screen, above the dock icons, indicate which Home screen is displayed. If you see the search field instead, just lightly move your finger on your iPhone’s screen and the dots will appear in its place. To experience the screen rotation feature, hold the iPhone firmly while turning it sideways. The screen flips to the horizontal (or landscape) orientation, if the app you’re in supports it.To flip the screen back, just turn the device so that it’s short side is up again (portrait mode). Some apps force iPhone to stay in one orientation or the other. Drag your finger down from the very top edge of the screen to reveal such items as notifications, reminders, and calendar entries.Drag up from the very bottom edge of the Home screen to hide these items. Then drag up (iPhones with a Home button) or swipe down from the top-right corner to the center (iPhone without a Home button) to display Control Center, which contains commonly used controls and tools. Say Hello to Tap and Swipe You can use several methods for getting around and getting things done in iPhone by using its multi-touch screen, including Tap once. To open an application on the Home screen, choose a field (such as a search box), choose an item in a list, use an arrow to move back or forward one screen, or follow an online link, tap the item once with your finger. Tap twice. Use this method to enlarge or reduce the display of a web page or to zoom in or out in the Maps app. Pinch. As an alternative to the tap-twice method, you can pinch your fingers together or move them apart on the screen (see the figure below) when you’re looking at photos, maps, web pages, or email messages to quickly reduce or enlarge them, respectively. This method allows you to grow or contract the screen to a variety of sizes rather than a fixed size, as with the double-tap method.Use a three-finger tap to zoom your screen even larger or use multitasking gestures to swipe with four or five fingers. This method is handy if you have vision challenges. Drag to scroll (known as swiping). When you touch your finger to the screen and drag to the right or left, the screen moves (see the figure below). Swiping to the left on the Home screen, for example, moves you to the next Home screen. Swiping up while reading an online newspaper moves you down the page; swiping down moves you back up the page. Flick. To scroll more quickly on a page, quickly flick your finger on the screen in the direction you want to move. Tap the status bar. To move quickly to the top of a list, a web page, or an email message, tap the status bar at the top of the iPhone screen. (For some sites, you have to tap twice to get this to work.) Press and hold down. If you’re using Notes or Mail or any other application that lets you select text, or if you’re on a web page, pressing and holding down on text selects a word and displays editing tools that you can use to select, cut, or copy and paste the text. When you rock your phone backward or forward, the background moves as well (a feature called parallax). You can disable this feature if it makes you seasick. From the Home screen, tap Settings @@--> Accessibility @@--> Motion and then turn on the Reduce Motion setting by tapping the toggle switch (it turns green when the option is enabled). Bezel gestures Your iPhone enables you to perform bezel gestures, which involve sliding left to right from the very outer edge of the phone on the glass to go backward and sliding right to left to go forward in certain apps. You can try these methods now: Tap the Safari icon on the dock at the bottom of any iPhone Home screen to display the Safari web browser. Tap a link to move to another page. Double-tap the page to enlarge it; then pinch your thumb and finger together on the screen to reduce its size. Drag one finger up and down the page to scroll. Flick your finger quickly up or down on the page to scroll more quickly. Press and hold down your finger on a word that isn’t a link. (Links take you to another location on the web.) The word is selected, and the tools shown in the figure below are displayed. (You can use this tool to either get a definition of a word or copy it.) Press and hold down your finger on a link or an image. A menu appears (shown in the figure below) with commands that you select to open the link or picture, open it in a new tab, open it in a tab group, download a linked file, add it to your reading list, copy it, or share it. If you press and hold down on an image, the menu also offers the Add to Photos command. Tap outside the menu to close it without making a selection. Position your thumb and finger slightly apart on the screen and then pinch your thumb and finger together to reduce the page. With your thumb and finger already pinched together on the screen, move them apart to enlarge the page. Press the Home button or swipe up from the bottom of the screen (iPhone without a Home button) to go back to the Home screen.

Article / Updated 01-03-2023

A variety of iPhone models are on the market; it can be daunting when trying to decide which one you want to purchase. In this article, I focus on Apple’s newest models, the iPhone 14 series. If you’d like to explore others, Apple has a great tool on its website for making comparisons. The sizes of the latest iPhone 14 models vary: iPhone 14 measures 2.82" by 5.78" (6.1" diagonally) with a depth of .31 inch (smaller of the phones on the left in the image below). iPhone 14 Plus measures 3.07" by 6.33" (6.7" diagonally) with a depth of .31 inch (larger of the phones on the left in the image below). iPhone 14 Pro measures 2.81" by 5.81" (6.1" diagonally) with a depth of .31 inch (smaller of the phones on the right in the image below). iPhone 14 Pro Max measures 3.05" by 6.33" (6.7" diagonally) with a depth of .31 inch (larger of the phones on the right in the image below). You can get iPhone 14 and 14 Plus in starlight, midnight, blue, purple, and a beautiful product red version. iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max come in gold, silver, space black, and a great-looking deep purple. Why the iPhone 14 is worth buying Not sure whether to get an iPhone 14 model? Here are a few more key differences: All iPhone 14 models include upgraded batteries. You get up to 20 hours of video playback for iPhone 14, up to 23 hours for 14 Pro, 26 hours for 14 Plus, and a whopping 29 hours for 14 Pro Max. iPhone 14 models use eSIMs instead of physical SIMs. A SIM stores important information about your phone and your cellular provider network. Physical SIMs can be moved from phone to phone, but eSIMs are permanently built-in. All models received camera upgrades. iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max have triple rear-facing cameras, providing amazing optical zoom, portrait mode, and other features. The 14 and 14 Plus have dual rear-facing cameras. Screen resolution. The higher the resolution the better, especially for larger screens since you need to pack more pixels (the tiny dots of color that make up the images) into a larger space. The iPhone 14 offers 2532 x 1170 resolution; 14 Plus provides 2778 x 1284 resolution; 14 Pro boasts 2556 x 1179; and 14 Pro Max provides a stunning 2796 x 1290. The table below gives you a quick comparison of the iPhone SE (third generation), 12, 13, 13 mini, 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max (models currently sold by Apple). All costs are as of the time this book was written. (Some carriers may introduce non-contract terms.) iPhone Model Comparison Model Storage Cost (may vary by carrier) Carriers SE (third generation) 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB From $429 AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile 12 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB From $599 AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile 13 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB From $699 AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile 13 mini 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB From $599 AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile 14 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB From $799 AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile 14 Plus 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB From $899 AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile 14 Pro 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB From $999 AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile 14 Pro Max 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB From $1,099 AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile Other differences between iPhone models come primarily from the current operating system, iOS 16. One exciting pricing option is the iPhone Upgrade Program. You choose your carrier, get an unlocked phone so you can change carriers, and receive Apple Care+ to cover you in case your phone has problems, all starting at a cost of $39.50 a month (depending on the iPhone model you select). The price does not include data usage from your carrier. Decide How Much Storage Is Enough Storage is a measure of how much information — for example, movies, photos, and software applications (apps) — you can store on a computing device. Storage can also affect your iPhone’s performance when handling such tasks as streaming favorite TV shows from the web or downloading music. Streaming refers to playing video or music content from the web (or from other devices) rather than playing a file stored on your iPhone. You can enjoy a lot of material online without ever downloading its full content to your phone — and given that the most storage-endowed iPhone model has a relatively small amount of storage, streaming is a good idea. Your storage options with an iPhone 14 or 14 Plus are 128, 256, and 512 gigabytes (GB), while 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max have 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB (terabyte, which is 1000GB). You must choose the right amount of storage because you can’t open the unit and add more, as you usually can with a desktop computer. However, Apple has thoughtfully provided iCloud, a service you can use to back up content to the internet. How much storage is enough for your iPhone? Here are some guidelines: If you simply want to check email, browse the web, and keep your calendar up to date, and you enjoy communicating via voice, video, and instant messaging, 128GB likely is plenty. For most people who manage a reasonable number of photos, download some music, and watch heavy-duty media such as movies online, 256GB may be sufficient. But if you might take things up a notch regarding media consumption and creation in the future (such as the newest grandchild being on the way soon), you should seriously consider 512GB. If you like lots of media, such as movies or TV shows, you might need 512GB or 1TB. For example, shooting 4K video at 60 frames per second will take roughly 1GB of storage space for every two and a half minutes of footage. If you shoot a lot of video, 1TB of storage might be more appealing. Do you know how big a gigabyte (GB) is? Consider this: Just about any computer you buy today comes with a minimum of 256GB of storage. Computers have to tackle larger tasks than iPhones, so that number makes sense. The iPhone, which uses a technology called flash storage for storing data, is meant (to a great extent) to help you experience online media and email; it doesn’t have to store much since it pulls lots of content from the internet. In the world of storage, 64GB for any kind of storage is puny if you keep lots of content (such as audio, video, and photos) on the device. What’s the price for larger storage? iPhone 14, a 128GB unit costs $799, 256GB is $899, and 512GB will set you back $1,099. iPhone 14 Plus with 128GB goes for $899, 256GB at $899, and 512GB for $1,199. iPhone 14 Pro with 128GB is $999, 256GB is $1,099, 512GB goes for $1,299, and the model tops out at $1,499 for 1TB. Not to be outdone, iPhone 14 Pro Max is the priciest: $1,099 for 128GB, $1,199 for 256GB, $1,399 for 512GB, and $1,599 for 1TB. Note that prices may vary by carrier and where you buy your phone.

Article / Updated 12-22-2022

Apple’s iPhone gets its features from a combination of hardware and its software operating system, which is called iOS (short for iPhone operating system). The most current version of the operating system, as of December 2022, is iOS 16. It’s helpful to understand which new features the latest models and iOS 16 bring to the table. Features of the latest models Apple’s latest additions to the iPhone family are the iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max. Like their predecessors, they're highly advanced smartphones that leave competitors in the dust. Following, are some of the key features of the latest iPhone models. A15 and A16 Bionic chips The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus models include the A15 chip, while the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max receive the latest and greatest, the A16. The truly innovative tech in these models demands processors that can handle some heavy lifting while still being able to answer calls and retrieve email, and the A15 and A16 are both more than capable. Dynamic Island (14 Pro and Pro Max models only) No, this isn’t the latest reality show craze, but rather a long-awaited innovation. iPhone models of late have sported a notch at the top of their screens where sensors, cameras, and other hardware reside. Dynamic Island is a seamless pairing of hardware and software that effectively makes that area come alive with information for you, making it an upgraded notch with a twist, if you will. The notch appears to expand or contract, depending on the notifications, alerts, and other activities its currently tasked with. I hope this great update will find its way into other iPhone models moving forward. Emergency SOS via Satellite and Crash Detection Apple has incorporated these two critically important new safety features into the iPhone 14 lineup. Emergency SOS via Satellite helps you reach emergency responders when you’re outside traditional cell or Wi-Fi service. Crash Detection utilizes new gyroscope and accelerometer tech in the latest models to detect when you’ve been in an automobile crash and will cause your iPhone to alert emergency services automatically. Both features are something you never want to need but are thankful to have. Splash, water, and dust resistance Your new iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, or 14 Pro Max is resistant to damage caused by water splashing onto it or from dust collecting in it. Now, you don’t want to take your iPhone 14 model deep-sea diving, but it’s likely to survive submersion in about six meters of water for up to 30 minutes. In other words, if your iPhone 14 model gets wet, it’s much more likely to survive the ordeal than older iPhone iterations, but it still isn't something you’d like to see happen to your expensive investment. You might consider acquiring AppleCare+, which is Apple’s extended warranty, currently priced at $149 (iPhone 14), $179 (14 Plus), or $199 (iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max) per year. Monthly plans are also available. AppleCare+ covers unlimited incidents of accidental damage (but you will be charged minimal fees, based on the nature of the repair), which could more than cover the cost of repairing your iPhone without it. You can also get AppleCare+ with theft and loss coverage for an additional $70 (all four models). Ceramic Shield The toughness and durability of Apple’s screens just keeps getting better. Ceramic Shield was developed by Apple and Corning, and according to them, it’s the toughest screen ever for a smartphone, making it four times more likely than other smartphones to survive a drop unscathed. Don’t think your iPhone is unbreakable. Cases are still a good — no, make that a great — idea. As mentioned, Apple has a line of cases that not only protect your iPhone but also allow for wireless MagSafe and Qi charging. (Qi is an industry-standard wireless charging technology used by Apple and most smartphone manufacturers.) Features of iOS 16 Any iPhone model from the iPhone 8 and newer (including the SE second generation, and all 11, 12, 13, and 14 models) can use most features of iOS 16 if you update the operating system. This update to the operating system adds many features, including (but definitely not limited to) the following. All-new lock screen: Apple’s taken a fresh approach to the lock screen, allowing you to customize it to your heart’s content. You can create lock screens for every occasion, switch between them in a snap, and include items like widgets, live activities, weather, and more. Focus: Think of Focus as an extension of the Do Not Disturb feature. You can customize a focus to filter notifications based on what you’re doing at the moment. iOS 16 introduces new features like focus schedules, focus filters (imagine one for work and one for personal), and allow and silence lists for apps and contacts. Photos: Photos in iOS 16 includes the new iCloud Shared Photo Library feature, which allows you to create a library of photos that you can share with others via iCloud. Other participants may also collaborate by adding their own photos to the library, providing a more complete memory experience for all. Everyone can also edit, delete, caption, and mark as a favorite any photo in the library. Messages: The latest iteration of Messages finally allows you to select multiple messages at once (for example, if you want to delete several at one time), mark read messages as unread, edit messages you’ve already sent (up to 15 minutes after), and more. This is a nice upgrade, IMO. Safari: Tab groups, a welcome new feature in iOS 15, allow you to group your open web pages any way you like. iOS 16 takes the feature a step further by allowing you to share tab groups and create pinned tabs in tab groups. It also introduces Passkeys, a new and more secure way to authenticate yourself on websites that require a password. Maps: Maps now allows you to add multiple stops along your route. The new Transit Fares feature helps you calculate fares and other fees so you can better prepare for trip costs. Health app: You can now use Health to track your medications, discover potential interaction issues, add medications by scanning the label on bottles, get reminders when it’s time to take medications, and more. These are but a few of the improvements made to the latest version of iOS. I suggest visiting Apple's iOS 16 web page to find out more. Don’t need all the built-in apps? You can remove them from your Home screen. When you remove a built-in app from your Home screen, you aren't deleting it — you’re hiding it. (Note that built-in apps take up very little of your iPhone’s storage space.) If you change your mind, you can easily add them back to your Home screen by searching for them in the App Store and tapping the Get button, or by retrieving them from the App Library. How you recover them depends on the app; some allow you to hide them while others only let you relegate them to the App Library.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 11-17-2022

One of the best things about your Android smartphone is that it is, well, yours. Android gives you a number of ways to customize not only the look and feel of your phone, but also the way it works for you. From adding widgets to your home screen, disabling notifications from apps of your choosing, and setting tap and zoom accessibility settings, you can add a little personality to your Android smartphone and turn it into a unique device for a truly unique user experience.

Article / Updated 07-28-2022

The Play Music app allows you to play music files on your Samsung Galaxy S10. Similarly, you use the Video Player app to play video options. The Video Player is in your Application list and might even be on your home page. In most ways, playing videos is the same as playing audio with some exceptions: Many people prefer to buy music, but renting is more typical for videos. Video files are usually, but not always, larger. Otherwise, as with music files, you can acquire videos for your phone from an online video store — and you need to have an account and pay for the use. In addition, you can download video files to your phone, and the Video Player will play them like a DVD player. There is a great selection of videos on the Google Play Store and Amazon Prime Video. Each of these has great video selections that you can rent or buy. The following figure shows the Home screens for the Google Play Store and Amazon Prime Video. Using the three screens If you have a subscription to Amazon Video, I hereby grant you permission to watch any and all of the Amazon Video options on your Galaxy S10 (once you sign in and comply with all the terms and conditions set forth by Amazon). Once you install the Amazon Prime Video app from the Play Store, sign in with the email and password associated with your account, and all the content is there for you to stream. It is that simple. If you don’t believe me, give it a try. If you take a look at the Amazon Prime Video home page on the Internet, seen in the following figure, it shows your options for access to the content to which you subscribe. The original term for this was called serving the three screens. Three screens referred to in the strategy included your television at home, your PC or laptop, and your smartphone. The idea is that you get one subscription and have access to the same content and, importantly, can pick up where you left off. So, if you’re watching a video on your television, you can pick up where you left off on your smartphone. Amazon Prime Video is taking this one step further to ensure as many of its subscribers as possible have access. If you have a Smart TV that has an Internet connection, the chances are that Amazon Prime Video will run on the TV. If you have an old and/or a dumb TV, you can get Amazon through streaming media players, game consoles, set-top boxes, or Blu-ray players. Amazon is not the only organization to do this. Many cable companies offer this kind of solution, as do many of the video subscription services. The mainstream video services compete with having a broad range within their libraries that seek to appeal to as many customers as possible. Keep in mind that there are specialty video providers that offer curated videos for their subscribers. For example, TeacherTube is a site dedicated to K-12 education, as seen in the following figure. If we continue down this path further, there are a great number of options for online education. Many of these sites do not consider themselves to be video aggregators, but that’s exactly what happens when they take recorded lectures and provide them to students. The best-known online education service is the University of Phoenix. There are dozens more online universities. Education is just one curated video service. Others exist for videos of Bollywood movies, British sitcoms, Portuguese game shows, and many other art forms. How to view your own videos You can watch any video you’ve shot on your phone. From the Google Play application, scroll over to the Personal Video section. Your phone can show the following video formats: MPEG-4, WMV, AVI/DivX, MKV, and FLV. To play your video, simply tap the name of the file. The app begins showing the video in landscape orientation. The controls that pop up when you tap the screen are similar to the controls of a DVD player. The reality of virtual reality Video games can be immersive, and a good movie can really suck you into its reality. The idea of virtual reality is to take this one step further. The basic idea behind virtual reality is to create a simulated world by having you wear a pair of goggles and presenting images that change the screen based upon movements of your head and body. We can explore the concept by taking it in steps. At the most basic level, you can use your phone with a pair of virtual reality goggles. Samsung is offering virtual reality goggles that are designed to work with your Galaxy S10. What you do is insert your Galaxy S10 into the goggles. Then you use the little remote next to the goggles to navigate to the application. The remote is very convenient because, without it, the only way to communicate with the screen is by turning your head to commands and then holding it there for a few seconds. That little device allows you to navigate the screen while the phone is inserted in the goggles. What happens is that your field of view is entirely taken up by the screen of your Galaxy S10. Imagine the most basic scenario, where the camera on the back of your phone shows you what is in front of you. This kind of experience is more or less comparable to using a pair of eyeglasses. When you walk forward, things come closer. When you look down, you see the floor. When you turn your head to the right or the left, you see things that were not in your range of vision. So far, this is not very interesting. So, let’s take it up a level. Now let’s let your phone and all its processing capacity and intelligence tell you what you’re looking at. You turn your head, and you see a picture. Presto chango, you see a little pop-up next to the picture that tells you that this is a print of Edward Hopper’s The Nighthawks. You look out the window, and a pop-up appears with current weather conditions and a forecast for today. Now you take your virtual reality goggles to the grocery store. As you get your cart, a familiar face comes up and starts talking. For the life of you, you cannot remember who this person is or how you know him. In just a moment, the face recognition system recognizes this person, and a pop-up identifies that this person is your old neighbor Bif Wellington. After chatting, you walk the store aisles looking for deals. You get a pop-up letting you know when this grocery is giving you a good deal on Honeycrisp apples, or if you can get them cheaper at the other store. This capability is called augmented reality. Let’s take it up another notch. Imagine a world where, instead of seeing a slightly modified version of your reality, you are transported to a beach. You can look around and see palm trees and jungles behind you. Why stay earthbound? You are virtually transported to the space around Mars. As you look around, it is as if you are there on Mars. The following figure looks like two images of the same planet. When your phone is inserted in the goggles, you get a 3-D image of the planet. You can also look around and navigate throughout the solar system. Trust me, this is a lot more convenient than space travel. Why stay in the mainstream opinion of what is reality? Now we can all have an “Alice through the Looking Glass” experience. You can grow and shrink and see all kinds of unusual visions which are limited by your imagination. There are some very, very cool demonstrations that leverage the capabilities of your phone. The Samsung offering comes at a great price compared to some of the other options out there. For that matter, you may have received the Samsung virtual reality goggles for free for preordering your phone. There are additional VR applications and content in the Play Store. This is a rapidly changing area of the Play Store where new content is constantly being added. Be sure to check the Play Store regularly. This should make your friends who own iPhone technology suitably jealous. What needs to happen is further application development to really take us to where this technology can go. Some of us unfortunately have the unpleasant experience of what is called virtual-reality sickness. This is similar, but not identical, to seasickness and car sickness. The most common symptoms are nausea and headaches. If this happens to you, some of the medicines that help seasickness may help you avoid this unpleasant sensation. Some say it also helps to be seated when using virtual reality. Plus, symptoms tend to diminish over time as your brain gets used to this experience. If the symptoms are too severe, virtual reality may just not be for you.

Article / Updated 06-24-2022

These days, it’s all but impossible to deny the cultural sway of emojis. The beloved pictographs have accomplished quite a lot, from winning Oxford Dictionary’s 2015 Word of the Year to starring in their own feature film. Emojis even have their own day of appreciation: July 17 (the date immortalized by the calendar emoji in iOS). To celebrate, let’s look back at how emojis found a permanent place in our hearts, minds, and texts. The prequel: emoticons Before emojis could run, emoticons had to walk. Emoticons rose in popularity during the chatroom boom of the 1990s, allowing early Internet users to add emotional context and tone to their words. Common emoticons included :) for happy and :( for sad, :o for shock and :p for teasing, ;) for wink and :* for a smooch. Variations on eyeballs, such as =) or 8) — and the optional addition of noses — :o) or :^), provided an extended range of self-expression. Though emoticons were quite popular online at this time, there were few opportunities and little incentive to use them in other contexts. The first emojis The emojis we know and love today have their roots in Japan (emoji is Japanese for “picture character”). They were created by artist Shigetaka Kurita, who was on the development team for an early mobile Internet platform created by the leading mobile carrier at the time, DoCoMo. Kurita’s first batch of emojis was released in 1999 and consisted of 176 pictographs, which were meant to convey information more so than mood. There were symbols pertaining to weather, traffic conditions, locations like hospitals and gas stations, and even the 12 zodiac signs. The spread and standardization of emojis The popularity of emojis in Japan eventually caught the attention of DoCoMo’s Japanese competitors, as well as international companies, like Apple and Google. These companies saw opportunity in the new picto-language, but there was a problem: If developers each created their own emojis in a vacuum, the pictures wouldn’t translate from carrier to carrier. That’s because computers rely on numerical code to find and display emojis on our screens. So, if one carrier assigns code #123 to “smiley face,” but another carrier assigns #123 to, say, “dolphin,” emojis would create more communication problems than solutions. In 2007, Google petitioned the Unicode Consortium — the body responsible for the international standardization of computer code for text — to recognize emoji as a language. This would ensure that the numerical code for “smiley face” was consistent across carriers, developers, servers, and countries. Apple quickly joined Google’s cause, and the two became collaborators in advocating for an international emoji “alphabet.” While Unicode had previously considered emoji out of scope for its organization, its popularity in Japan convinced them to reverse course and, in 2009, they began the process of identifying a standard set of emojis. The joint effort, involving representatives from Japan, Europe, and the U.S., resulted in a standardized set of almost 1,000 emoji, which debuted in Unicode 6.0 in October 2010. Total emoji takeover Over the following decade, Apple and Android would release emoji keyboards that catapulted their use across the world, Unicode continued to refine specifications and grow their emoji lexicon, and a new language would come to define and reflect culture as we know it. Highlights include: 2012: Three years before same-sex marriage became legal in all 50 states, Apple releases emojis depicting same-sex couples holding hands in its iOS 6 upgrade. 2015: Responding to user feedback regarding emoji’s “white guy as default” bias, Unicode begins to diversify its offerings. Updates include support for five skin tones, expanded representation for LGBTQ couples, and emojis depicting women as doctors, scientists, and other professionals. Unicode also begins to fill additional culture gaps at this time, adding flags and food items that recognize the diversity of emoji users worldwide. 2015: Just two years after the word “emoji” was added to the dictionary, “Face with Tears of Joy” — or the laugh-cry emoji — wins Oxford Dictionary's 2015 Word of the Year. The same emoji was later reported to be the most used in the world. 2016: Apple responds to growing despair over gun violence by redesigning its revolver emoji as a bright green water gun. Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Facebook, and Twitter will follow suit over the next two years. 2017: New York’s Museum of Modern Art acquires Shigetaka Kurita’s original set of 176 emojis for its permanent collection, a nod to the lasting cultural impact of his creation. 2017: Sony releases The Emoji Movie. While largely considered a critical flop, the picture — which cost $50 million to produce — grosses $217.8 million at the box office. 2019: The first documentary telling the story of emoji, Picture Character, debuts at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. (The film has since been retitled The Emoji Story.) 2020: In recognition of the trans community, Unicode 13.0 includes the trans flag, a non-binary Santa Claus, and “woman with a beard,” emoji, among others. 2021: Unicode 14.0 introduces 112 new emojis, for a total 3,633 since they first premiered in Unicode 6.0 (as of September 2021). While purists may never accept emoji as a language unto itself, its evolution over time shows that it’s earned the title. Not only does it allow us to communicate with people around the globe, its growing number of icons reflect change and evolution in our cultural attitudes and expectations. In that way, emoji is more than a language: It’s a time capsule.