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2016-07-25T01:19:00.002-07:00

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2016-07-25T00:08:00.000-07:00

Beginner AG: How to Pair Devices Over Bluetooth

2016-04-30T15:25:00.005-07:00

Wireless devices with Bluetooth radios must be “paired” with each other before they can communicate. This involves making them discoverable and potentially entering a PIN.

The pairing process works with “Bluetooth profiles,” and each device has to be compatible. For example, you can only pair a mouse or keyboard with a device that’s been designed to work with that type of accessory.

Put an Accessory or Device Into Discovery Mode

To save battery power, a device with Bluetooth isn’t constantly broadcasting that it’s available. Even if you have a Bluetooth-enabled accessory near a Bluetooth-enabled device, they won’t be able to see each other until you put them into discovery mode. The device will then be “discoverable” by other devices — for a few minutes.

First, put the accessory you want to use into discovery mode. The exact way you do this depends on the accessory. If you have a headset, you may need to hold a button down on the headset for several seconds until a light starts flashing. A keyboard or mouse may have a similar button you may need to press or hold down. A speaker may have a Bluetooth button on its remote that puts it into Bluetooth discovery mode. A light may flash to indicate that the device is in discovery mode. It’ll only stay discoverable for a few minutes.

Not sure how to put your accessory into discovery mode? Consult its manual, check the manufacturer’s website, or perform a web search for instructions.

If you’re using a smartphone, tablet, or computer, you can make it discoverable, too. On an iPhone, iPad, or Android device, just open the Bluetooth settings screen — your device will be discoverable as long as you have that screen open. On a Mac, just open the Bluetooth settings screen. On Windows, you’ll need to search the Control Panel for Bluetooth click “Change Bluetooth settings,” and enable the “Allow Bluetooth devices to find this PC” option.

Note that you don’t need to make a device discoverable if you’ll be connecting from it. You only need to make a device discoverable if you’re connecting to it. For example, let’s say you wanted to connect a headset to your Android phone — you’d just need to make the headset discoverable, and not the Android phone.

But, let’s say you wanted to connect an Android phone to your computer — you’d need to make the Android phone discoverable.

View a List of Discoverable Devices Nearby

Now, go to the smartphone, tablet, computer, music player, or whatever other device you want to connect the Bluetooth accessory to. Look for the Bluetooth settings or devices screen. This screen will display a list of nearby Bluetooth devices that are in discovery mode as well as devices paired to the device.

Be sure the Bluetooth hardware on your device is actually enabled. You’ll often see a toggle in the Bluetooth settings area.

For example, here’s how to do this on popular operating systems:

iPhone and iPad: Open the Settings app and tap Bluetooth near the top. of the list
Android: Open the Settings screen and tap the Bluetooth option under Wireless & networks.
Windows: Open the Control Panel and click “Add a device” under Devices and Printers. You’ll see discoverable Bluetooth devices near you. You’ll need Bluetooth hardware in your computer to do this, but you can always add Bluetooth to your computer.
Mac OS X: Click the Apple menu and select System Preferences. Click the Bluetooth icon in the System Preferences window.
Chrome OS: Click the status area at the bottom-right corner of the screen. Click the Bluetooth status in the pop-up that appears.
Linux: This varies depending on your Linux distribution and desktop. On Ubuntu’s Unity desktop, click the gear menu at the top-right corner of your screen, select System Settings, and click the Bluetooth icon in the System Settings window.
Other Devices: Whether you’re using a music player or a video game console, you should generally just be able to enter the device’s settings screen and look for a “Bluetooth” option.

Pair the Device and Enter a PIN

Select the discoverable device in the list to connect. Depending on the device and its security settings, you may have to enter a PIN code to pair the device. If you need a PIN code, it should be displayed on the device’s screen. For example, if you’re pairing your phone with your computer, you’ll see a PIN on your phone’s screen and you’ll have to type it into your computer.

You may sometimes not have to type the PIN. Instead, you may simply see the PIN displayed on both devices. Just ensure each device shows the same PIN code before continuing.

In some cases, you may be asked to enter a PIN even if your device can’t display it. For example, you may be asked for a PIN when pairing with a Bluetooth headset or speaker. Entering the code “0000” will often work. If not, you may need to check the device’s documentation (or perform a web search) to find the PIN it needs.

By default, after the devices are paired, they’ll automatically see each other and communicate when they’re both powered on and have Bluetooth enabled.

You shouldn’t have to re-pair the accessory and the device when you want to use them together again. You’ll only need to do this if you tell your devices to forget each other — or pair a headset with another device, for example.

How to Use a PS3 Controller as a Joystick for Your Windows PC

2016-04-30T14:57:00.006-07:00

Do you find it hard to steer your mouse and hit the right keyboard key to play PC games? If you happen to have PS3 controllers, why not use them as Joysticks to play games?

Before we begin, head over to MotionInJoy website to install the required drivers for Windows. The installer comes for both x86 (32-bit operating system) and x64 (64-bit operating system), so make sure you download the right installer for your system. If you are in doubt, just go to Start -> Control Panel –> System, to verify your system settings.

Once you have downloaded the installer, unzip it, and execute the .exe file to start the installation. The installation begins with a standard welcome screen,

… and ends with asking you to run the software.

Plugin your PS3 controller to your USB port, and you should see a small icon on your system tray, showing you that Windows is installing drivers for your controller. At this point, even though your controller will be recognized in the “Game Controllers”, Windows will not recognized the buttons movement.

Open the DS3 tool, and press the “Load Driver” button.

Windows will warn you that it can’t verify the publisher of the driver; don’t worry, MotionInJoy’s drivers are safe for us to install.

Your PS3 controller is ready for use when you see a message: “SUCCESS: Install Completed”.

Click the “Profile” button, and you should see that your controller appears under the “Connected game controller(s)” drop down list. You can click on the Vibration Testing button, to test that Windows recognizes your controller.

We recommend that you open your “Game Controller Settings” from Start Menu → Devices and Printers → right click on “HID-compliant game controller” → select “Game controller setting”, to calibrate your PS3 controller.

Click on the “Properties” button to calibrate your controller.

Guess what, MotionInJoy not only enable you to use your PS3 controller via USB, you can even use it as Joystick via Bluetooth. Click the “BlueToothPair” button, and click the “Pair Now” button, and your Windows should pair with your PS3 controller.

Disconnect your controller from the USB cable, head back to the profile page, and click the “Vibration Testing” button. If your controller is vibrating, this means that your PS3 controller is now connected to your Bluetooth. Now you can sit back, relax, and kill those zombies with your PS3 controllers.

MotionInJoy works with games that support JoySticks, and they have verified the software with a bunch of games. Feel free to share your experience with MotionInJoy with the other fellow readers in the comments section.

More Than Headsets: 5 Things You Can Do With Bluetooth

2016-04-30T14:35:00.005-07:00

Your laptop, smartphone, and tablet probably all have integrated Bluetooth support. Bluetooth is a standard that allows devices to communicate wirelessly. Most people are familiar with Bluetooth headsets, but there are more things you can do with Bluetooth.

To make two Bluetooth devices work together, you’ll have to “pair” them. For example, you can pair a Bluetooth mouse with your laptop, pair a Bluetooth headset with your phone, or pair your smartphone with your laptop.

Transfer Files Wirelessly Between Mobile Devices and Computers

You can pair a smartphone or tablet and a laptop or Bluetooth-enabled PC together and use Bluetooth to wirelessly send files back and forth. If you don’t have your USB cable with you or you just like to use wireless file transfers, this can be useful. It’s probably not ideal for transferring a large amount of music, but it can be convenient if you want to send a few pictures back and forth.

You’ll have to make both your mobile device and laptop discoverable so their Bluetooth radios can see each other. After you’ve paired them with each other, you can use the Bluetooth File Transfer wizard tool or select the Send a File and Receive a File options from the Bluetooth icon in your system tray to send files back and forth wirelessly.

Note that we’re focusing in Windows here, but other operating systems like Mac OS X and Linux also include Bluetooth support.

Transfer Files Wirelessly Between Computers

Two Bluetooth-enabled computers can also be paired in the same way, allowing you to send and receive files wirelessly via the Bluetooth connection just as you could between a computer and a smartphone. If your two computers are in the same area and you don’t want to use a cable, you can transfer files between them — even if they’re on separate networks.

Tether a Computer to a Smartphone

“Tethering” is the act of sharing a device’s network connection with another device, which connects to the Internet through the other device’s connection. Tethering is commonly used to access the Internet on a laptop via a data-enabled smartphone. People normally use Wi-Fi to share their smartphone’s connection, but they don’t have to. You can also tether over Bluetooth. Bluetooth tethering will consume less battery power than Wi-Fi, so it may be the ideal option in some situations.

Connect Peripherals Wirelessly

Bluetooth is most commonly used for connecting wireless peripherals to smartphone, tablet, or laptop. To do this, you’ll need a Bluetooth-enabled peripheral. A variety of different types of wireless Bluetooth peripherals are available:

Headsets: Bluetooth headsets are the most iconic Bluetooth peripherals. Pair your headset with your phone and you can use it to receive calls wirelessly. Because the Bluetooth specification allows for more than just simply receiving audio, buttons on the headset can be used to answer and hang up calls, as well.
Other Audio Devices: Headsets aren’t the only available audio device. You could have Bluetooth headphones paired with your computer, speakers, or even a Bluetooth audio receiver that plugs into your home stereo system and allows it to receive audio playing via Bluetooth.
Mice: Mice are another common type of Bluetooth accessory. Bluetooth mice work with most modern laptops as well as tablets and even smartphones. Many wireless mice for laptops use USB dongles instead of Bluetooth, but Bluetooth mice are ideal for tablets and similar devices.
Keyboards: Keyboards can also connect over Bluetooth, which is particularly useful for tablets. Even if you could use a USB OTG cable to connect a single mouse or keyboard to a tablet, you would want Bluetooth so you could connect both the keyboard and mouse at once — you wouldn’t be limited to one input device by the single USB port.
Gamepads: Gamepads are another type of Bluetooth input device. You can connect wireless controllers to your tablet or smartphone via Bluetooth. Even Nintendo’s Wiimote and Sony’s PlayStation 3 controllers communicate with their consoles over Bluetooth, so you could use some tricks to pair them with your computer or other devices.
Printers: There are also Bluetooth-enabled printers, which allow you to connect and print documents over a Bluetooth connection instead of standard Wi-Fi or wired network connections.

Add Bluetooth Support to a Desktop

If you have a computer without integrated Bluetooth hardware, you can cheaply add Bluetooth support to it. Most newer laptops come with Bluetooth radios, but desktops often don’t. You can buy cheap Bluetooth dongles for as little as $1.50 from online stores such as Amazon. Plug the dongle into your computer’s USB port and it will give your computer a Bluetooth radio, allowing it to communicate with Bluetooth devices.

Bluetooth does have some significant downsides. Most importantly, Bluetooth causes devices to use additional power. It’s a bad idea to leave Bluetooth enabled on your devices all day, especially your smartphone — this can drain the battery. You should only enable Bluetooth when you actually want to use it.

How To Use Your Wii Remote as a Gyroscopic Mouse

2016-04-30T14:18:00.004-07:00

If you have a spare Nintendo Wii remote with the Motion Plus add-on, you can use it to control your Windows PC from across the room. Here’s how to get it working in a couple of easy steps.

Using the Wii’s Motion Plus add-on and some software, you can easily control presentations or your home theater PC. You will need:

A Wii remote (obviously)
The Motion Plus add-on
Windows XP, Vista, or 7
A Bluetooth dongle for your PC
The WIDCOMM Bluetooth stack (from Broadcom’s website) (version 6.2.1.100 at the time of writing)
GlovePIE with Emotiv support (from the GlovePIE Project website) (version 0.43 at the time of writing)

The Software

The WIDCOMM Bluetooth stack allows you to pair your computer with the Wii remote without using a code. That’s the key piece to getting it working, and although the BlueSoleil stack can do this as well if not better, it’s not free. After the pairing is complete, the GlovePIE application will run a script that takes your controller input and translate that into mouse emulation. With some tweaking, you can extend the functionality of your makeshift mouse and even use it as a joystick/gamepad.

The Hardware

You need a compatible Bluetooth dongle to communicate with your Wii remote, and they can be found cheaply online if your computer doesn’t have one built-in already. Using an alternative Bluetooth stack actually allows a wider compatibility with adapters, a very useful side-effect. You can even use one that’s meant for wireless headphones or the like, as long as it uses Bluetooth.

Strictly speaking, you don’t need the Motion Plus add-on. GlovePIE can take Wii remote input and use the pitch and yaw to move the cursor, but this doesn’t work very fluidly. The controller can also use two IR light sources as an absolute reference point, which is how it works with the Wii itself, and get a more fluid movement. You can even use two candles to get the same effect. What makes the Motion Plus approach worthwhile is that you get a more fluid movement than using just the controller, while simultaneously not having to rely on the IR sources. This makes it ideal for a quick setup for presentations, or when you’ve got daylight streaming in on your home theater setup.

Installing the Software

First, get your Bluetooth dongle plugged in and enabled. This will vary from computer to computer and dongle to dongle, but you can skip installing drivers and extra software if you only want to use it for this, as the WIDCOMM stack includes its own drivers.

Next, download the WIDCOMM Bluetooth stack and double-click to install it. Accept the license agreement and agree when it prompts you to install software.

After the installation is finished, you should see a Bluetooth icon in your system tray, like so:

That takes care of half of the software. Next, download GlovePIE (with Emotiv support) and unzip the file. Inside the folder you’ve just created, you’ll see a file called GlovePIE, which is what we’ll use to script the inputs.

Connecting the Wii Remote

Right-click on the system tray icon, and go to “Add a Device.”

Next up, you’ll see a screen that says it’s searching for Bluetooth-enabled devices. Hit the 1 + 2 buttons on your Wii remote now.

You’ll see an input device named “Nintendo RVL-CNT-01” pop up in the window. Select it and hit Next.

In the next pane, you’ll be asked how you’d like to pair with the device. Choose “Pair without using a code.”

You should then see a screen that says it’s been paired and Windows is installing the necessary drivers for the device.

GlovePIE Setup

Open up GlovePIE with a quick double-click, and hit “Yes” at the security prompt. You’ll see a complicated looking window like this:

Don’t let that intimidate you! Just go to File > Open, navigate into your GlovePIE folder, and head into the “WiimoteScripts” folder.

Choose the “lednerg WiiMotion Plus Mouse.PIE” script, and click Open. You’ll see the main GlovePIE window displaying the script.

Click on the “Run” button to execute the script. You should see your Wii remote’s LEDs change configuration, from 1 and 4 being lit, to 2 and 3 being lit, and finally, only 1 will be lit.

If you see a little sign next to the “Run” button that says “Motion Plus not detected!” just click “Stop,” make sure it’s inserted properly into the Wii remote, and try again. It may take one or two tries but soon it’ll be properly interfacing with GlovePIE.

Using Your Gyroscopic Mouse

The “B” button on the bottom of the controller enables the cursor to move. If you let go of it and reposition the controller, when you hit B next, it will continue holding the cursor from that position. The movement sort of like using a touchpad on a laptop, where holding “B” is like having your finger touch the pad. Sometimes, you’ve moved too far on the pad and need to lift your finger and move it to continue pushing the cursor.

The “A” button acts as a left-click, the “Plus” button acts as a right-click, and “Down” on the directional pad acts as a middle-click. The buttons work just like mouse buttons; they click when you push down on the button and unclick when you let go.

Almost happy with the script, I’ve ended up tweaking it to my favor. After the first block of text, you can insert the following lines:

mouse.WheelUp = wiimote.One
mouse.WheelDown = wiimote.Two

It should look like this:

When this is run, you’ll get the added benefit of being able to use the 1 and 2 buttons to scroll up and down, respectively. If you want to disconnect your controller, hold the power button until the LEDs turn off, and to reconnect, just hold down the 1 + 2 buttons to auto-pair with your PC.

Come up with clever uses of your own, or have a favorite GlovePIE script? Be sure to share with us in the comments.

The AG Guide to Adding Bluetooth to Your Computer

2016-04-30T13:49:00.005-07:00

Although the majority of laptops now come with Bluetooth support (along with more than a few modern motherboards), there are still plenty of us in need of Bluetooth upgrades. If you’re rocking an older device or simply purchased a new device without Bluetooth support, don’t fret. Read on as we show you how to easily and cheaply add Bluetooth support to both laptops and desktops alike.

Why Do I Want To Do This?

While you can get by just fine without Bluetooth support on your computer (especially if you’re rocking a desktop machine) there are tens of thousands of peripherals and accessories that require Bluetooth (or it at least makes them more convenient to use).

You could, for example, run an auxiliary audio cable from your computer to any of the Bluetooth speakers we reviewed in our recent Bluetooth speaker guide, but it would make your speaker a lot more portable and convenient to pipe in the music via Bluetooth so you could retain the ability to move it anywhere in your office. Bluetooth is also handy for adding on wireless head phones, game controllers, and other peripherals that it’s nice to enjoy wire-free.

Checking Your Computer for Bluetooth Radios

Before we precede, we’d encourage you to give your computer a double check for Bluetooth radios. If you have an older laptop or computer you’re probably correct in assuming that you don’t have a built-in Bluetooth radio. If you have a newer laptop, however, it’s practically a given that you have Bluetooth. Further, it used to be a non-existent feature on motherboards but in the last few years a surprising number of desktop motherboards have begun shipping with Bluetooth radios.

Fortunately it’s simple to check for evidence of Bluetooth in Windows. Breadcrumbs pointing the existent of the installed radio are littered liberally throughout the operating system and various menus. You can check for Bluetooth in the Networking section, as it’s a network protocol, by navigating to Control Panel -> Network and Internet -> Network Connections. If there is a properly installed and configured Bluetooth radio you’ll see an entry for “Bluetooth Network Connection” alongside any other more expected network connections like Ethernet and/or Wi-Fi.

Alternatively, you can also open up the Device Manager and look for a “Bluetooth” entry.

In addition to the above check, we also suggest double checking the stats on your computer and motherboard just to be sure. Although unlikely it’s possible that the hardware vendor behind your hardware uses a specialty driver or some other tool that you need to download in order to enable the Bluetooth connection. A little poking around with Google with reveal if you have the hardware in the first place and if it needs any special driver, BIOS, or other updates.

What Do I Need?

You don’t need a whole lot to follow along with this tutorial. Once you’ve determined that your computer is definitely in need of a Bluetooth radio (and not just a driver update) it’s time to check that you have a free USB port. (If you don’t, and there’s no making room because you need all your current ports, you should consider getting a quality USB hub or a USB expansion card.)

Open (or cleared out) USB port in hand, all you need in addition is a USB Bluetooth adapter. For the purposes of this tutorial (and for use on our own machines) we’ll be using highly-rated and inexpensive Kinivo BTD-400 ($13.99) USB dongle.

There are other ways to approach the problem but the majority of them are quite impractical. You could, for example, use up your laptop’s mini PCI slot with a laptop Bluetooth/Wi-Fi module or using the same module with a mini PCI adapter in your desktop computer) but that’s a lot of hassle when practically speaking a USB-based adapter is the cheapest and easiest way to achieve our ends. The only reason you might skip using the USB-based solution is if you’re explicitly in the market for a Wi-Fi PCI card for a desktop computer; many Wi-Fi PCI cards come with Bluetooth built in.

Installing the Bluetooth Dongle

If you’re installing the Kinivo on Windows 8, the process is about as dead simple as it can be: just plug it in. Windows 8 includes the basic Broadcom Bluetooth drivers that the dongle requires.

If you’re installing it on an earlier version of Windows like Windows 7, Vista, or XP, you’ll need to install the Bluetooth drivers. You’ll know you require the drivers if the Device Manager pane looks like this after you plug in the dongle.

You can download the drivers from Kinivo (the manufacturer of the dongle) or from Broadcom (the manufacturer of the actual Bluetooth radio inside the device). Run the installation app and you’re good to go. Don’t be put off by the significant size discrepancy between the driver file sizes (150MB+ from Kinivo and only 4MB from Broadcom) as the Broadcom installer downloads the larger driver files when you run it.

Pairing Your Devices

Now that we have the dongle installed, it’s time to actually pair a device. Let’s demonstrate the process by hooking up one of the speakers we used in The AG Guide to Portable Bluetooth Speakers.

After inserting the dongle (and with the appropriate drivers installed), a Bluetooth logo should appear in the system tray as seen in the screenshot below.

Select “Add a Bluetooth Device”. Depending on whether you’re on Windows 8 and above or Windows 7 and below, you’ll see a slightly different screen (but with identical outcomes). Windows 8 users will see this screen:

Windows 7 users and below will see something resembling the screenshot below (note: the screenshot is of the traditional pairing interface in Windows 8 but shares the same UI style as previous editions of Windows).

The only difference between the two is that in one you select the device and click “Pair” and in the other you click “Next.” After making your selection and hitting “Next” Windows will communicate with the device for around a half minute as it automatically finishes the pairing process. After that your device is available for use!

You can manage your Bluetooth devices by accessing the Bluetooth menu via the system tray (as we did a moment ago) or you can navigate to Control Panel -> All Control Panel Items -> Devices and Printers to see (and interact with) both your Bluetooth dongle and and any attached Bluetooth devices.

That’s all there is to it! $15, one USB port, a virtually painless installation process, and now your computer has Bluetooth connectivity.

The AG Guide to Upgrading Your Computer to USB 3.0

2016-04-30T10:52:00.008-07:00

Whether you’re sporting an older computer without a single USB 3.0 port or you’d like to expand and improve the roster of USB 3.0 ports on your newer computer, we’re here to help. Read on as we outline how to pack in all the USB goodness you crave with back, front, and case ports.

Why Do I Want To Do This?

If you already have a USB 3.0 port or two on your computer, you can pretty much skip this section: you already know how great USB 3.0 is and you’re here for more. If you’re thinking about upgrading an older computer to support USB 3.0 you might not realize just how many improvements USB 3.0 offers over USB 2.0.

Note: This tutorial will cover the upgrade process for desktop computers. This tutorial will not cover the upgrade process for laptop computers as laptops are difficult to upgrade to USB 3.0. While there are, in fact, USB 3.0 expansion cards for laptops with expansion card slots, those cards perform poorly, consume large amounts of power, and are generally not worth the hassle.

If you have a laptop that has a USB 3.0 port or two and you wish to expand upon that we would encourage you to check out The HTG Guide to Purchasing the Perfect USB Hub for Your Needs. The external powered USB 3.0 hubs found therein are an excellent way to expand the port capacity of a USB 3.0 capable laptop.

What Do I Need?

Normally we have a cut and dry list of the hardware you need for a given tutorial. This tutorial is slightly different in that there are several ways you can go about upgrading computers both old and new to support USB 3.0. Rather than list off every potential combination of hardware add-ons and their permutations, we’re going to highlight two very common upgrade paths.

For the purposes of this guide we upgraded two computers with several different USB 3.0 related upgrades to showcase the different upgrade paths you can take. Depending on your needs you can mix and match the hardware we used in the two machines to achieve your desired outcome.

The first computer has a dated motherboard (purchased in mid-2006) that has neither USB 3.0 ports on the back port panel nor USB 3.0 pin headers on the board itself. The second computer has a modern motherboard (purchased in late 2013) that features both USB 3.0 ports on the back port panel as well as USB 3.0 pin headers on the motherboard to support USB 3.0 ports on the front of the case and/or via expansion bay hubs.

Here are the hardware components we used in the process of upgrading both computers.

The first two pieces of hardware are expansion cards that must be inserted into an open PCI-E slot in your computer to function. The third item in the list is a bay expansion that allows you to turn an unused 5.25″ drive bay into a USB hub and media card reader.

There are two important considerations when purchasing a USB 3.0 expansion card. Let’s take a moment to look at the hardware specifics to ensure you pick the right card for your needs.

First, you always want to purchase a card that includes a power connector of some sort (some cards have an older molex 4-pin power jack and typically come with a molex-to-SATA adapter and some have a SATA power adapter onboard). You should never purchase a USB 3.0 expansion card that lacks a power adapter as the PCI expansion slot cannot supply enough power to meet the demands of a fully loaded USB 3.0 card. In the photograph below you can see the molex power port, the 4-pin/milky white port on the right, on the HooToo-PC002.

Second, if you need to connect the USB 3.0 ports on your case or on any sort of bay expansion (like the Rosewill model listed here) you will either need a free header on your motherboard or you will need a USB card with a 19-pin header that can accept an internal USB 3.0 male cable. Again, referencing the above photo, you can see the header in blue on the left hand side.

Now let’s take a look at the actual process to highlight when you would want to use each piece of hardware by walking you through the upgrade process for the two computers.

Upgrading an Older Computer

The first computer we’re upgrading is an old machine that’s still going strong. We recently transplanted the motherboard from it’s original case (a media center PC case) into a new mid-tower case. The new case sports a USB 3.0 port built right into the front port panel but, alas, the circa-2006 motherboard doesn’t support USB 3.0 and has no 19-pin header for the case cable to plug into.

That should come as no surprise as the motherboard precedes the first USB 3.0 compliant motherboards by roughly four years. The board, as you’d expect, also lacks any rear USB 3.0 ports (and doesn’t have very many USB 2.0 ports for that matter) which makes it a perfect candidate for a USB expansion card with a 19-pin header. If you have a computer with an older motherboard but a newer case with USB 3.0 ports, an expansion card with a header port, like the HooToo HT-PC002, is a must if you ever want to get that case port up and running.

Card in hand it’s time to crack open the case and get to work. The photograph above shows the empty PCI-E slot we’ll use for the new card. Installing a new PCI card is one of the easiest computer upgrade tasks this side of plugging in a new stick of RAM, but you still need to handle everything carefully. Make sure to follow basic electrostatic safety guidelines like wearing rubber soled shoes on a non-conductive surface (wool socks and a shag rug is a bad idea), keep the computer case plugged into a grounded outlet (but turned off) so that you can use the case itself as a grounded discharge point for any charge on your body, and leave the card in the electrostatic shipping bag until you’ve grounded yourself and you’re ready to install it.

Installation is a breeze. Remove the slot guard from the case (the perforated piece of metal that protects the opening when a card is not inserted; seen white and at left in the image above). Gently insert the expansion card and secure the metal bracket to the case with the same screw that previously held in the slot guard. Plug in the power cable and the internal USB 3.0 male cable. The resulting configuration should look like this.

Close the case and boot up the computer. USB expansion cards with pin headers on them almost always require additional drivers to interface with the motherboard. Load the drivers from the included CD or download them from the manufacturer’s website to complete the installation process.

Your older motherboard now sports USB 3.0 ports on the back and interfaces with any USB 3.0 ports on the case via the header on the USB card.

Expanding a Newer Computer

In the previous section we added USB 3.0 functionality to a computer that had no capacity for USB 3.0. In this section we’re expanding the USB 3.0 capabilities of a computer that already has USB 3.0 support. The motherboard in our second computer is a late 2013 gaming-oriented motherboard that has both USB 3.0 ports on the back and a USB 3.0 header on the board.

The upgrade path on this particular machine is focused on adding even more USB 3.0 ports to the back as well as expanding the functionality of the case by replacing an old USB 2.0 hub/card reader (seen in the photo above) with a front drive bay with a new USB 3.0 reader.

Just like in the previous section you’ll need to open the case, locate an empty PCI-E slot, and, of course, obey the same rules for protecting your computer from electrostatic discharge. As the PCI-E slot and the process for insertion is identical, you may reference the photos in the previous section.

Unlike the previous card, however, the HooToo HT-PC001 does not have an onboard pin header for an internal USB 3.0 cable; you’ll only be required to hook up a single cable, the molex power cable, to the card.

Instead we’ll plug the USB cable from the Rosewill hub directly into the motherboard, as seen in the photo above. In addition to plugging in the USB 3.0 cable, the Rosewill hub also has USB 2.0 ports and an eSATA port. The cable for the eSATA port can be plugged into a regular SATA port on your motherboard (if you have a port to spare) and allows you to hook up HDD docks and some external hard drives directly to your hub for SATA-speed transfers. The USB 2.0 cable simply needs to be inserted into a USB 2.0 header on your motherboard; USB 2.0 ports are 9-pin ports that look like the smaller sibling of the 19-pin port we just plugged the USB 3.0 cable into.

Once all the appropriate ports have been hooked up, it’s time to put the case back together and admire our handy work.

The old dying USB 2.0 hub is gone, the new one is installed, and we have an extra 4 ports on the back of the machine. Not a bad return on less than ten minutes worth of time and under $50 in parts.

Unlike the previous upgrade where we installed a new USB 3.0 host, this time around we simply added more USB 3.0 functionality to a machine that already had it; no driver installation needed.

That’s all there is to it! The hardest part of the entire USB 3.0 upgrade process is simply taking the time to figure out what hardware you need. You’ll spend more time checking the specs on your motherboard and selecting the appropriate hardware than you will actually installing the expansion card and/or USB 3.0 hub in your machine.

The AG Guide to Purchasing the Perfect USB Hub for Your Needs

2016-04-30T09:30:00.004-07:00

Compared to the complexity of purchasing a new graphics card or swapping out your motherboard purchasing a USB hub is definitely a simple purchase; but that doesn’t mean you should just grab the first one off the shelf at your local electronics store. There is an enormous discrepancy between build quality, features, and even safety between the different models. Read on as we show you what you need to get the best results and find the hub that fits your needs.

What’s a USB Hub and Why Do I Want One?

Although we’ve grown well beyond the days of desktop computers arriving equipped with only a few USB ports (it’s not uncommon for computers to now have 4-6+ on the back and 2-4 on the front of the case), most of us have also managed to acquire many USB-based devices. It’s not unusual for a home user to have a USB-based keyboard, mouse, printer, scanner, and memory card readers, as well as charging/syncing cables for iPods, phones, e-book readers and other portable devices. Even though you might reuse the same mini USB cable for a few devices, it’s all too easy to tie up a lot of USB ports rather quickly. Factor in the location of your physical computer relative to your workspace and it can quickly become impossible (because the ports are full) or inconvenient (because the computer is located under your desk) to plug in more devices. As far as laptop users are concerned, well they can just forget it when it comes to an abundance or ports. We all want super slim and super light laptops which leave little room for an armada of USB ports. One of our favorite ultra-slim notebooks we use for work-from-coffee-shop jaunts has a mere two ports.

So where does that leave you, the over-deviced and under-ported computer user? In need of a USB hub. If you’re not familiar with USB hubs, don’t worry. A USB hub is to USB devices as a power strip is to electrical devices: you use a hub to split the capability of one USB port on your computer among many devices just as you use a power strip to split the electrical power from a single outlet in your home or office among multiple electrical devices.

Just like power strips aren’t all created equal (you wouldn’t plug your $10,000 home theater system into a $5 no-name power strip from Wal-Mart, after all), all USB hubs aren’t created equal. Not only do you need to pay attention to features and specifications (despite how simple a USB hub might appear at first glance) you also need to be aware of the existing hardware on your computer (be it a desktop or laptop) in order to get the best performance out of your the hub.

Let’s take a look at a few different USB hubs and use them to highlight why we would select different hubs for different applications as well as the benefits and shortcomings of each.

First, Meet the Models

Just like with the HTG to External Battery Packs, we’re showcasing devices we actually use and endorse. For this guide we’ll be using the HooToo HT-UH010 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub and the LOFTEK 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub. In addition we’ll also be referencing a few other USB hubs which were unavailable for a photo session on account of being out and about in the field with other writers and staff members.

We’ve been quite pleased with both models but, rather than listing off all the reasons why first, let’s dig into the types of features a good USB hub has so you can understand exactly why we’re pleased with the USB hubs in question. You’ll learn how to pick a good USB hub for your own needs in the process.

Spend Cash; Acquire Safety

Before we delve into the features that are obvious (case design, number of ports, etc.) let’s talk about the most important feature that isn’t readily apparent to end user: internal construction and safety measures.

The two USB hubs we’re showcasing in this guide aren’t the most expensive on the market but they aren’t Big Mac meal cheap, either. The HooToo will run you around $40 and the LOFTEK will run you around $45. Even small but high-quality laptop USB adapters run around $15 or so. You can buy both desktop and laptop USB adapters for very cheap; it’s easy to eBay a powered adapter for around $10 or less.

We’d strongly caution you against doing so. In the best-case scenario, you’ll end up with a device that’s a knock-off in name but possibly built to similar specs (and maybe even at the same factory) as the brand name. In the middle-of-the-road scenario you’ll end up with a poorly wired, insulated, and protected device that could possibly lead to one or more of your expensive attached devices getting fried thanks to poor design and construction. In the worst-case scenario where all the stars align against you and both the safety features in the USB hub fail you along with other safety features in either your laptop, the USB hub’s power brick, or other failures, you can end up like this poor woman in Australia: a cheap USB phone charger had a catastrophic failure that killed her.

That’s obviously an extreme case, but it highlights how buying the cheapest peripherals and chargers comes with an inherent risk. If a sub-spec power transformer blows out and starts the back of your desk on fire while you’re at work that extra $20 you could have spent on a higher quality device will be a drop in the bucket compared to dealing with even a small house fire.

Lightning strike probability of a bad USB port killing you aside, you’re typically purchasing better build quality when you spend a little extra. We tested both the HooToo and the LOFTEK with all the USB devices we could throw at them doing all sort of bus/power taxing things like multiple USB hard drive read/writes concurrently, ejecting and remounting other devices during those processes, pulling mobile data through a USB dongle, and so forth all without a single hitch. Flakey hubs are frustrating, but you can easily avoid data drops and safety hazards by picking a high quality and highly rated hub.

Buy the Most Current Standard

The USB standard has gone through several iterations since its public release back in 1996. Each iteration has introduced new features, the most notable of which is increased transfer speeds. Other features include battery charging specifications (introduced in USB 2.0 and upgraded in 3.0), better data handling for concurrent connections, and such.

Although it’s quite rare to find a USB 1.0 hub anywhere these days (unless you discover it on the dusty shelves of a small town electronics store), there are still plenty of USB 2.0 hubs floating around. While the capability of a USB 2.0 hub might be just fine for your present needs the price difference between a quality USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 hub is negligible and there’s very little reason to buy a USB hub based on 2000-era speeds and technology when you can get a USB 3.0 hub for a little more. A year or two from now when you’re using that hub for more than a few lightweight peripherals and wish to plug a USB 3.0 external hard drive (or two) into it, you’ll be happy you’re not dragging at USB 2.0 transfer speeds. Even when buying a hub for an old computer that doesn’t even support USB 3.0, you should strongly consider getting the newer standard. After all, that old laptop could kick the bucket any day leaving you with a hub to repurpose for a new project (or to move onto your new, definitely has USB 3.0 ports computer).

If you’re reading this guide years down the road and the new standard is USB 4.0, the same rule applies. Don’t buy old technology when a few extra bucks will give you better speeds and more features.

Unless Ultra-Portability Is Critical, Buy Powered

Aside from data-speed bottlenecks introduced by using old USB hubs on modern USB 3.0 ports, the biggest shortcoming you can introduce to your USB hub setup is a lack of power. USB hubs come in two flavors, in regard to power, bus-powered (wherein the hub draws power from the host computer via the USB bus/port it is connected to) and self-powered (wherein the USB tether to the computer is exclusively for data and the actual power for the hub and attached devices is pulled from a separate power pack). Although not as common, some USB hubs are dynamic-powered and feature a circuit which can detect whether or not the hub is currently bus-powered or has been hooked up to a transformer to become self-powered and will adjust itself accordingly.

If you’re using a little USB travel hub, like the Sabrent 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub, you’re limited to the maximum amount of power the USB port the hub is attached to can provide. This is more than fine for a simple setup like adding an external keyboard and mouse to your laptop to create a more comfortable workstation, but once you start adding more demanding devices into the mix like USB hard drives and the like the lack of power quickly becomes a problem.

In such a case the problem is completely resolved by using a powered USB hub. Each port on the USB hub will receive full USB-standard power with no dips in power or devices disconnecting for want of a stable connection. Especially for projects like adding peripherals to the Raspberry Pi microcomputer, a powered USB hub is mission critical as the host device just can’t crank out enough juice for a bevy of attached devices.

Both of the HootToo and LOFTEK feature separate power supplies that offer a nice stable source of power for all ports.

The More Ports the Merrier

Again, unless ultra portability is critical, bigger is better. If you need four extra USB ports on your machine today, it’s silly to buy a 4-port USB hub. There’s bound to be another device around the corner you need to add in. Especially if you’re purchasing the hub for a desktop computer where portability isn’t even a factor (and you can easily tuck the USB hub out of sight regardless of how big it might be), it simply makes sense to pay a few extra bucks for a few more ports. Doing so is certainly more economical and convenient than buying a bigger hub next year or adding a USB expansion card to your computer.

In addition, pay attention to how the ports are oriented on the hub. The two units featured here have two totally different approaches to port arrangement. The HooToo features a vertical-orientation design reminiscent of an electrical power strip. The LOFTIS features a side-out arrangement more common in smaller travel hubs. All things equal (number of ports, external power, etc.) the form factor can make or break a purchase depending on how you want to place your USB hub. If you want a strip you can tuck behind your monitor shelf or computer tower, the HooToo design makes sense. If you want a hub that you could, say, adhere to the bottom of your monitor shelf so there were always a few ports facing out for flash drives and infrequently used peripherals, the LOFTIS design is more practical.

Power-Only Ports Are Very Convenient

Although they’re absolutely not a necessity, many larger USB hubs come with charging ports that are quite convenient. USB data port standards limit the output of USB data port power transfer to a maximum of 500 mA (an amount that is stepped up in increments of 100 mA depending on how much power the attached device requires). While that’s fine for sustaining data transfer or powering a device, it’s not so great for charging a power hungry portable device such as an iPad or smartphone.

Premium USB hubs often include, as our two models do, discrete non-data charging ports that provide 1A power (twice the amount of a standard USB data port, like that of a USB phone charger) and 2.1A (a little over four times the amount of a standard USB port, like that of a tablet or large peripheral charger). Not only does this add a big dose of convenience to your user experience but it also frees up electrical outlets as you’re not plugging in individual chargers for your devices.

One tip we’ll share (and born of our own frustrations) is that it’s easy to confuse the data-only/power-only ports when there are similar or identical free cables plugged into both. Our solution was to use all black cables for the data ports and to use white cables for the power ports to eliminate any “Why isn’t my Kindle mounting?” late night frustrations.

The only caveat we can offer in this section is to be sure you read the description carefully. If you’re looking for a 10-port hub, for example, make sure the description indicates that there are 10 data ports plus any charging ports you’d like (a poor or dishonest product description could leave you with an 8 data port/2 charging port hub instead).

Read the Fine Print for Minor but Appreciated Features

Once you get past the basics: solid (and safe) build construction, bus-powered/self-powered, and the number of ports you want, the rest of choices are largely aesthetic in nature or focused on small but appreciated details. Each of the units we showcased today features these kind of details.

The HooToo hub, for example, has tiny LED numbers beside each data-port on the strip. If a device is plugged in and has formed a data connection with the host computer the light turns on. If the cable plugged into the port is not connected (or the connected device is in charge-only mode with no data transfer) the light stays off. It’s a minor design detail but we appreciate it. When configuring our third-party XBOX 360 controller it offered useful visual feedback during the process.

Other handy features you may find on nicer USB hubs include power switches. Some, like the LOFTEK, have a small power button that offers you the ability to toggle the whole hub on and off. Others, like the Etekcity 10 Port USB 3.0 Hub, have multiple power toggles for different individual ports or sets there of. If you have peripherals that can be powered on and off via USB signal or you just want to easily disable access to certain devices without unplugging them, the extra switches are a very handy little addition.

With a little careful consideration in regard to build quality, how much power you need, the number of ports you require, and a little fine-print reading to make sure you’re getting the extras you want, you’re certain to end up with a dependable USB hub that meets all your needs.

Ask AG: How Can I Hook Up My Xbox 360 Controllers to My Computer?

2016-04-30T07:51:00.007-07:00

If you hit up a big box retailer you may notice something a bit confusing. There are wireless Xbox 360 controllers labeled for use with the Xbox and wireless controllers labeled for use with Windows. In reality, the only difference is that one comes with a cheap wireless USB adapter. Read on as we show you how to get your controllers linked to Windows without shelling out $40+ to do it.

Dear Almonds Gate,

I’m pretty frustrated right now and I have a feeling you guys will be able to help. Here’s the score: I have an Xbox 360 I don’t play much anymore and I have a computer I’d like to play more games on. The thing is, I’m pretty used to the controller and would like to take advantage of all those games in my Steam library that have full/partial controller support.

I thought hooking up one of my wireless controllers to my PC would be a breeze, but it has turned out to be a huge headache. I stopped by the local electronics store and asked if they had an adapter. They said they didn’t, that you got the adapter when you bought one of the Xbox 360 controllers marketed specifically for Windows. That’s great and all, but I already have four wireless controllers. I didn’t want to buy a fifth controller just to get the little adapter. The guy at the store told me I could get online and buy just the adapter.

I did that. I even bought an adapter that Amazon labeled as “by Microsoft” that appeared to be Microsoft branded. I get it in the mail and it’s not actually a real Microsoft device, apparently, because it doesn’t work and has a Chinese-labeled driver disc included. I couldn’t install the drivers from the disk and even though I followed the instructions to pair one of my controllers to the device (and the lights blink like it works) nothing happens. I even went to the Microsoft website and downloaded the official drivers and still couldn’t get it to work.

Am I out of luck, out of $15, and still forced to go buy the extra controller to get the stupid adapter? Help!

Sincerely,

Adapter Angry

Oh man, do we feel you. According to our Amazon purchase history we, specifically, must have felt the same got-ripped-off-rage you’re feeling now right around October 23rd, 2012. From what we can tell, Microsoft doesn’t sell (nor does it appear they ever sold) the USB adapter independently from the 360 controller for Windows package.

Fortunately for you (and everyone else that has bought the knock off USB adapters) it’s not hard to get them up and running as long as you know the completely non-intuitive way to go about doing it.

First, plug your device into your computer. We recommend plugging it directly into a port on the back. If you must plug it into a USB hub, make sure it’s a powered hub. We’d also recommend picking a port that you’ll be able to leave the device more or less permanently attached to as, should you unplug it, you’ll need to repeat the steps we’re about to outline.

With the device plugged in, navigate to the Windows Device Manager. You can type “Device Manager” in the Start Menu search box or paste mmc devmgmt.msc and hit enter to jump right to it. Look under “Other Devices” in the list of devices under the entry for your computer.

We know it’s quite nondescript but, barring some other issues with unknown devices on your computer where you see multiple errors like this, that little “Unknown device” entry is your won’t-play-nice knock-off Xbox 360 controller. Right click and select Properties.

Select the Driver tab in the Unknown device Properties box and then click Update Driver:

When prompted to select whether you want Windows to search automatically or for you to browse your computer for the drivers, select “Browse my computer for driver software”. Don’t worry, you don’t actually need any drivers as they’re already included with Windows. (On the off chance that yours have gone missing, however, you can download the drivers here.)

You’ll be given the option to search for the drivers in a location you specify or you can pick from a list of device drivers already installed. We want the latter, so select “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer”:

Scroll down the list until you see “Xbox 360 Peripherals”. Double click on it.

Note: We’re using Windows 8 for this tutorial; under Windows 7 it’s possible that you may need to look under “Microsoft Common Controller” instead of “Xbox 360 Peripherals”.

In the next screen, select “Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver for Windows Version 6.3.xxxx”. Click Next.

When prompted by the driver update warning, click Yes. The hardware signature of the knock off doesn’t, in fact, match the driver signature, but it will work fine just the same. You’ll receive a confirmation that the device was installed properly:

If you get the error “Xbox 360 Controller for Windows / This Device Cannot Start. (Code 10)”, then you’ve accidentally selected the drivers for the controller not the receiver. You’ll need to go back into the device manager and delete the erroneous entry and repeat the tutorial from the start.

Back in the Device Manager, scroll down to the bottom and double check that there is now an entry for the Xbox receiver:

The only thing left to do at this point is to sync your controller to the new wireless receiver. Press the button on the receiver (the light will blink) then, immediately after, press the connect button on your wireless controller (located at the top of the controller just above the battery pack. The green ring of lights on the Xbox controller will rotate around and then the controller will signify which controller it is by lighting up the appropriate quadrant (the wireless receiver will support up to 4 controllers for those rare multi-player PC games).

One final step you may wish to take, even though it’s not required to get the controllers to work, is to download the 360 for Windows controller software, it adds in a really convenient function; you can tap and hold the Xbox logo on the controller to get a battery status check:

That’s all there is to it! Before you dash off to play, however, we strongly recommend bookmarking, Evernote clipping, printing, or otherwise saving this tutorial; as we mentioned at the start, if you unplug the receiver you have to go back into the Device Manager and install the drivers again.

The AG Guide to Portable Bluetooth Speakers

2016-04-30T07:10:00.004-07:00

Bluetooth speakers are everywhere these days and it’s, frankly, rather hard to tell one from the other. Rather than hold one speaker above all as the end-all solution to your wireless music needs, let’s instead take a look at the entire gadget category and highlight which features you want for the best experience.

What’s a Bluetooth Speaker and Why Do I Want One?

Although you’ve likely seen them advertised or on the shelves of your local electronics store, you may not be intimately familiar with the Bluetooth speaker gadget market. Let’s start everyone off on the right foot by covering a few basics.

What Is a Bluetooth Speaker?

Under normal circumstances, speakers need a cable linking them to an audio source (be that cable a pair of speaker cables running to a full blown stereo system with an amp or just a simple 3.5 mm phono cable leading to an iPod).

Bluetooth speakers eschew this physical-cable limitation by relying on the same Bluetooth protocol and audio system that underlies Bluetooth wireless cellphone earpieces and in-car Bluetooth speakerphone systems.

That’s the most elementary and primary component of any Bluetooth speaker on the market. Beyond that there are dozens of big and small variables that distinguish (or fail to distinguish) different Bluetooth speaker makes and models from one another.

How Are They Different from Wi-Fi Speakers?

Bluetooth speakers are different from Wi-Fi based audio solutions, like the whole-house Sonos system, in several key ways. First, Bluetooth solutions are typically meant to be highly portable whereas whole-house solutions are usually installed permanently or semi-permanently in fixed locations.

Second, Bluetooth speakers link directly to their source (usually a phone or tablet) and require no intermediary whereas whole-house solutions require the Wi-Fi network to bridge the source and the devices. This also allows whole-house networks to broadcast the same music stream to multiple and distance speakers, however, a feature impractical for Bluetooth speakers that have a roughly 30 foot range.

Finally audio quality is slightly higher on Bluetooth systems than on Wi-Fi systems (all other variables the same) simply because of the nature of the transmission; practically speaking this is a non-consideration; however, as under casual listening conditions the difference would be indiscernible to most.

Why Do I Want One?

Bluetooth speakers, despite the hyper-saturated market and near ubiquity at this point, aren’t for everyone but they might just be for you.

If you’re looking for a convenient way listen to music away from your computer, home stereo system, or car and you want to listen to music that is digitized (be it via streaming or files stored on your phone or tablet) then a Bluetooth speaker is pretty much exactly what you’re looking for: a portable speaker that links wirelessly to your phone.

Bluetooth speakers are great when you want to take music to the beach, out on the back deck beyond the reach of your traditional stereo, or anywhere else you’d traditionally take a portable stereo.

That last bit is worth noting. There are, in fact, Bluetooth powered home audio solutions that are meant to replace traditional stereo systems, bookshelf speakers, and other audio fixtures. The focus of this buying guide is on portable units that you can easily move around your house, take out to the yard, and beyond.

Meet the Models

Like with our guide to external battery packs we’ve rounded up models to use as examples. For the purposes of writing this guide, providing photographs for reference, and field testing, we used two Bluetooth speakers: the Braven BRV-1 Portable Bluetooth Speaker ($92) and the NYNE Bass Outdoor Performer ($150).

Both speakers are excellent within their respective weight classes and offer us a chance to highlight a wide range of Bluetooth speaker features.

Bluetooth Speaker Shopping: A Feature-by-Feature Breakdown

With a better understanding of what constitutes a Bluetooth speaker and having met the models we’ll be primarily referring to, it’s time to dig into the general feature sets found in Bluetooth speakers and how they related to your speaker needs.

Form Factor

While it’s easy to get caught up in the other features, the first thing you should look at when shopping for a Bluetooth speaker is the physical dimensions of the speaker.

There’s no faster way to be disappointed in your purchase than to spend a bunch of money buying a new Bluetooth speaker only to find that it’s way bigger (or smaller) than you anticipated leaving you with a speaker that’s really inconvenient to bring the places you want to bring it (or so small it lacks the space for the physical speakers to deliver the sound you crave).

Bluetooth speakers generally fall into two primary size categories. On the one side you have the ultra-portables that aren’t exactly pocket size but could easily be stuffed in a coat pocket, small bag, or purse. The Braven BRV-1 falls soundly into that category with a volume roughly that of can of soda (albeit a bit boxier). You won’t be sticking it in the back pocket of your jeans but at such a small size and weighing only 12 ounces, it’s easy enough to toss it in a bag and take it with you.

The NYNE Bass, on the other hand, represents the semi-portable/table-top end of the Bluetooth speaker market. It is most certainly not coat pocket friendly nor even suitable for a small bag or purse. It’s roughly the size of a breadbox, large enough to merit a carry handle molded into the upper portion of the unit, and weighs 6.6 pounds (nearly 9 times heavier than the Braven).

Now, before you fall under the spell of miniaturization and small form-factor consumer electronics let’s take a look at the other features to see where the trade-offs arise when opting for one speaker weight class over another.

Speaker Size, Arrangement, and Wattage

One of the primary trade-offs when it comes to which form-factor you opt to purchase is the size and arrangement of the speakers. Almost universally bigger form-factor Bluetooth speakers include beefier speaker arrangements.

Really low-end Bluetooth speakers often only have a single speaker concealed inside them and delivery lackluster low-watt mono sound. Most speakers have stereo speakers with two channels. Nicer speakers have 2.1 channel sound with a subwoofer (however compact it is compared to a traditional home stereo subwoofer) hidden away in the case.

Our first model, the Braven BR-1 has 2.1 channel sound spread between two active speakers and a passive subwoofer with 6 watts of power spread between them. The NYNE Bass, as you’d anticipate, has significantly larger speakers in a 2.1 arrangement with 35 watts of power spread between two active speakers and an active subwoofer. The footprint of the subwoofer in the NYNE unit is nearly as big as the entire Braven unit, for comparison.

Speaker size and power certainly matters; for its weight class the Braven sounds great and can hold its own against other ultra-portable Bluetooth units but as soon as you fire up the Nyne the increased soundstage and enormous bass boost of the larger unit just obliterates the sound from the Braven.

Both units feature a typical speakers-forward/subwoofer-down arrangement. Some Bluetooth speakers deviate from this arrangement by facing speakers up, using open-backed speakers to create the illusion of omni-directional sound (or even by including multiple speaker pairs to actually create omni-directional sound like the six-driver arrangement of the Fugoo), but these deviations are rare compared to the classic two-forward/one-down setup.

The take away from this section of the buying guide is that larger speakers and higher wattage translate to more volume. If you want music that can be heard over high ambient noise levels, a crowd of your friends, or from far away from your beach blanket, then you’re going to need a larger speaker set with more power.

Battery Size and Battery Sharing

Bluetooth speakers are portable and like all your portable electronics they need power. When comparing the size of the battery in your Bluetooth speaker, however, it’s not as simple as just looking at the total mAh of the battery.

There are two factors to consider when contemplating battery size. First, there is the battery size relative to the power demands of the unit itself. Our two models, for example, have two radically different batteries. The Nyne has a huge 4,400 mAh battery but the Braven only has a 1,400 mAh battery.

Despite this significant difference the Braven requires significantly less power to run thanks to a smaller design and less demanding speakers and can run for around 12 hours on a single charge whereas the beefier Nyne unit can run four around 10 hours.

When you’re strictly comparing playtimes, it’s best to go off the manufacturer’s estimated playing time instead of trying to use the battery capacity as an estimate (as each unit will use that battery power with a greater or lesser degree of efficacy).

Where absolute battery capacity does matter, however, is if you wish to battery share with your Bluetooth speaker.

While this feature is largely absent from lower-end speakers, most mid-to-high-end speakers have it (both of our models do). Battery sharing allows you to plug a USB cable into your speaker just like you would plug a USB cable into a battery pack and, with the click of a button, supply juice to your mobile devices like phones and tablets.

In the case of the Nyne’s beefy battery, for example, you could go to the beach and listen to music for around five hours (depleting the battery roughly 50 percent) and still have enough juice left over to use the speaker as a battery pack and fully charge your phone.

The battery sharing feature is a handy feature to have on any speaker, even those with smaller battery packs. The Braven’s total battery capacity for example is only slightly less than the battery of an iPhone 5. This means if you bring your speaker along and end up not using it, you can still treat it like a battery pack and squeeze out a full phone charge.

Ruggedized Construction

If you’re looking for a big speaker to place out on the patio, ruggedized construction might not be a high priority. If you’re looking for a speaker to take to the beach, however, a speaker that can survive a splash or two becomes more important.

There’s not specific definition of “ruggedized” as far as the Bluetooth speaker market is concerned, so you’ll need to read the fine print for each speaker you consider.

The Nyne, for example, is a very sturdily constructed unit (the edges of the unit are rubberized, and we’re fairly confident it could survive a tumble to the patio surface just fine), but the manufacturer makes no claim that it is a ruggedized unit.

The Braven, on the other hand, is specifically advertised as a waterproof ruggedized Bluetooth speaker that can withstand full submersion for up to 30 minutes in one meter of water. We’ve dunked it in buckets, stuck it in the corner of a shower (and, by the way, it sounds absolutely fantastic when combined with the acoustics of a tiled bathroom), and kicked it around (metaphorically that is) at the beach. The speaker is designed for the moderate abuse that a beach goer/camper would throw at it and includes features such as sealed speaker membranes, a waterproof case, and a rubber-sealed cap that fits over the ports when they aren’t in use.

Speakerphones and Auxiliary Access

Although not every speaker comes with these two features, they’re welcome features when they do. The more common of the two is auxiliary access via 3.5mm phono jack.

Bluetooth is obviously the central focus in the design of these speakers as it frees us from wires, but there are moments when you still want to use the speaker but don’t have a Bluetooth sound source (or the Bluetooth isn’t functioning correctly). In such cases it’s extremely handy to fall back on a wired connection and plug your phone, portable device, or other audio source into the speakers via a plain old 3.5mm phono jack.

The second consideration is speakerphone access. Whether or not this feature matters to you is entirely contingent on your feelings about speakerphones in the first place, but if you like using the speaker phone feature on your cellphone it only makes sense to supercharge the experience by linking the phone’s speaker function to the significantly richer and clearer sound of the Bluetooth speaker.

Both the Braven and the Nyne feature not just functionality as a speakerphone speaker but a built-in microphone. Even if your phone is in the kitchen charging and you’re out on the patio listening to the speaker you can press a button on the unit, answer the call, and use the built-in mic to talk. Press the button again to hang up and the music automatically resumes.

Bringing It Altogether

When it’s time to actually do some shopping, prepare to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of speakers on the market. To brace yourself for the tidal wave of units even a simple search yields, read over the feature list above and prioritize your needs.

If you need a unit that doesn’t need a duffle bag of its own, focus on small form factor. If you need a speaker that can cut through the noise of the beach and provide tunes all afternoon, focus on large form factors with hefty batteries. If you need something can survive rain storms and your camping buddies dropping it, start with ruggedized models and narrow it down from there.

Thanks to the explosion of the Bluetooth speaker market and the tens of thousands of feature combinations, there’s practically a Bluetooth speaker for everyone.

The AG Guide to External Battery Packs

2016-04-30T06:49:00.005-07:00

Modern gadgets are power hungry. If you want to make it through a long commute or a cross-country flight without having to plug your tablet or gaming device in, you’re going to need an external battery pack to keep the electrons flowing. Read on as we show you how to shop for a pack that will meet your needs and keep your screens glowing.

What’s an External Battery Pack and Why Do I Want One?

Normally when you need more juice for your smartphone, tablet, or other mobile electronic device, you plug the USB charging cable in to your computer or to a wall-wart transformer. You top the device off (or keep using it while it charges in the background) and away you go.

That’s not always convenient (or even possible) if you’re traveling or otherwise away from home. This is where an external battery pack comes in handy. They range in size from as small as a lipstick tube (good for topping off a small smartphone battery) to as big as a thick paperback book (good for keeping your phone going for days or letting multiple friends juice up their tablets).

Instead of plugging your charging cable into the wall, you instead plug the charging cable into the battery pack and fill up the device’s batteries that way. Not all battery packs are created equal, however, and even if the build quality is good, you can easily end up with an external battery pack that doesn’t fit your application and power needs.

Let’s take a look at our field tests of two great battery packs and how their features relate to our shopping-for-a-battery checklist.

First, Meet the Models

As part of the process for writing this guide, we used two higher-capacity battery packs the RAVPower Deluxe 14,000 mAh Power Bank ($29.99), seen above right, and the Jackery Giant 10,400 mAh Power Bank ($39.95), seen above left.

We’d highly recommend both of them as perfectly serviceable high-capacity external battery packs. Rather than delve into all the features before you have a frame of reference, let’s take a look at the general guidelines you want to keep in mind when pack shopping and how they relate to our model packs.

Estimating Your mAh

Before all else, you need to establish how much juice you need. Both device batteries and the external battery packs that top them off have capacities rated in mAh (milliampere hours). This is the principle measuring stick you’ll use to determine how much you need to invest in your pack.

First, gather up the devices you want to charge off the external battery pack. Let’s say, for the sake of example, you have Samsung’s popular SIII smartphone and a new iPad Air. The SIII has a stock battery with a capacity of 2100 mAh and the iPad Air has a stock battery with a capacity of 11, 560 mAh. Now it’s time for a little number crunching.

You can use the following equation to determine just how beefy of a battery pack you need:

(Total mAh) * (% battery life extension expressed in decimal format) = Pack Size

If you wanted a battery pack that could double the battery life of both your devices, you’d need a pack with a capacity of at least 13,660 mAh:

If you wanted to squeeze 50 percent more life out of them, you’d need a device with at least a capacity of 6,830 mAh. If you only cared about keeping your iPad going during your flight and you’d have your phone turned off, then you could stick with a battery pack that had around the 11,560 mAh capacity of the iPad to double its life. While both of our test models are well suited for this job, only the extra-big RAVPower with 14,000 mAh would be able to truly power both of our devices with a 100%+ boost.

Just like in every other battery application, there’s a trade off to be had between high and low capacity devices, and that takes the form of weight. The little lipstick-sized battery packs we mentioned a moment ago might only have 2,000 or so mAh in them, but they only weigh a few ounces and easily slip into your pocket or purse. Our 14,000 mAh beefcake that can keep your iPad running over a trans-continental flight? It weighs two pounds or so and won’t be very comfortable in your pocket.

Conversely, if you’re looking to power just your phone, getting one of the monster 10,000+ mAh packs will be overkill. Just for fun we charged our SIII phone exclusively off the massive RAVPower pack to see how many days we could go before the pack ran dry. By the eighth day of the experiment we hadn’t depleted it completely; clearly the pack would be overkill for casual travel use if your only device was a smartphone.

Selecting the Right Amperage

In addition to calculating how much battery capacity you need, there’s also the matter of charging amperage. The bigger and more power-hungry your device, the more important having the proper amperage on the USB charging ports is.

Charging ports on battery packs, like charging ports on wall-warts and computers, can provide electricity at two amperage rates: 1A and 2.1A. All USB devices can use both ports, but if a device can only handle 1A of power then it will automatically limit itself to 1A on a 2.1A port and if a 2.1A device is on a 1A port it will also charge (but at a much slower rate). Both of our test devices feature a 1A and a 2.1A port.

For trickle charging, such as you might do overnight or if you just had the device sitting in your briefcase hooked up to the battery pack, the amperage doesn’t matter as much. Yes the 2.1A will charge the device faster, but if you’re not using it and it’s just topping off the device, the speed of the charge isn’t such a big deal.

Where the amperage becomes critical is when you’re shopping for a battery pack that you intend to use on a battery-hungry device while the device is in use. For example, if you want a battery pack that can keep an iPad Air topped off while you’re playing a graphics-intensive video game or otherwise taxing the system, you’re going to need, no questions asked, a battery pack with a 2.1A charging port. Packs with 1A ports simply won’t be able to keep up; you’ll be burning battery life on the device faster than the battery pack can replace it.

Ports for Your Pals

If you’re shopping for just yourself, it’s OK to spend less and get a device with a single port or a 2.1A and 1A port. Need to provide a steady flow of juice to both your iPad and your traveling companion’s iPad, though? You’d better spend the extra money to get a battery pack with two high draw 2A ports. If you’re planning on setting up a multiplayer gaming huddle at 30,000 feet, you can even find battery packs with 4+ 2.1A ports.

Given that it doesn’t cost much more to get a better pack with an extra port or two, you’ll come off looking like a very prepared spouse or business partner if you have some juice to share with your travel mates.

Extras Worthwhile and Worthless

Because the external battery pack market is pretty heavily saturated, many manufacturers have started including little extras to entice buyers. Our advice is to avoid being swayed by the extras unless the extras offer you high-utility or save you money. For example, if the pack you’re looking at costs an extra dollar and comes with an iPad charging cable, and you were planning on buying one anyway, that’s a good value. If it costs a lot more and comes with 12 adapters for crap you don’t even own, then it’s not such a hot buy.

One of our favorite extra features is the inclusion on many battery packs of an LED flashlight. At first glance it seems pretty gimmicky, but we think it’s quite clever. You use battery packs most often when you’re traveling, and since you’ll likely have the battery pack in hand when you’re rooting around in your bag or luggage looking for cables and whatnot in an unfamiliar setting, that burst of light is more than handy. When our RAVPower external pack has a full charge, for example, the LED flashlight is good for a massive 800+ hours of use.

Another useful feature,with a much more practical application than a flashlight, is indicator lights. Both of our test models included LED indicators that, when the main button on the pack was tapped, displayed the remaining charge in a simple incremental display (the RAVPower used 4 LEDs and the Jackery used 3). On all but the smallest battery packs, don’t settle for anything but an effective remaining power indicator of some sort.

A Shopping Checklist for Your Convenience

Now that you’ve learned about the features you want in your battery pack, make sure you don’t forget them when you’re shopping. Use the following checklist to ensure you end up with a battery pack that meets your needs.

1. Write down your total mAh needs and multiply that value by the percentage you want to extend your battery life (0.5 for 50%, 1.0 for 100%, 1.5 for 150% and so on).

2. Write down how many devices you want to charge simultaneously; this is the minimum number of ports you need.

3. Note the number of high-draw devices you’ll be using (iPads, Kindle Fires, newer smartphones, all benefit from having a 2.1A charging port). When in doubt, error towards getting at least one 2.1A port.

4. What extras do you want? (Extra cables, on-board LED light, etc.)

With all that listed out, you won’t be lost in the sea of battery packs when you hit up the bursting-at-the-seams category on Amazon looking for the right mix of mAh, ports, and accessories.

Is it Safe to Sell a Google Chromecast Device?

2016-04-30T05:27:00.005-07:00

Is there anything you need to do if you decide to sell your Google Chromecast device due to a lack of use or for some other reason? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has some helpful security advice for a reader who is ready to sell and move on.

Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.

The Question

SuperUser reader Phil_oneil wants to know if it is safe to sell a Google Chromecast device:

I have a Google Chromecast device that I am going to sell because I do not use it very much. My question is, do I need to do anything to it before selling it? Is there any personal data stored on it? Do I need to reset it so that the other person will not know my Wi-Fi or Netflix passwords?

Is it safe to sell a Google Chromecast device, and what should you do to protect your accounts’ security?

The Answer

SuperUser contributors Sack Johnson and Shane Di Dona have the answer for us. First up, Sack Johnson:

I believe Google Chromecast stores information from your router in order to connect. Either way, it is never a bad idea to reset electronics before selling them.

There are two ways to reset it:

Hold the button next to the micro USB port for 25 seconds (until the light starts flashing), then unplug the USB.
Go into the Google Chromecast app’s menu and look for the Factory Reset Chromecast option.

Followed by the answer from Shane Di Dona:

After you do a factory reset, a Google Chromecast device is safe to sell. There is a factory reset option in the Google Chromecast app’s Settings Menu that you can use. Alternatively, there is a black button on Google Chromecast devices. Press it for 25 seconds while connected to your TV to do a factory reset.

Source: How to Factory Reset Google Chromecast

Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange users? Check out the full discussion thread here.

How to Reboot or Factory Reset Your Google Chromecast

2016-04-30T04:56:00.003-07:00

Google changed the device-to-TV scene with Chromecast, but as with all technology, it can have problems. At some point, you may need to reboot or factory reset your Chromecast. While these options are slightly hidden to prevent an accidental reset, it’s a straightforward and simple process.

It’s worth noting here that rebooting and resetting have two very different outcomes. Rebooting harmlessly shuts down and restarts the Chromecast, while resetting wipes all your user information and makes the Chromecast as if you just took it out of the box.

How to Reboot or Reset Your Chromecast from the Google Cast App

If have already have a Chromecast—be it a first or second generation—you undoubtedly have the Google Cast app, since that’s required to set the device up in the first place. The reboot or reset process is the same regardless of whether you’re using iOS or Android, though naturally the menus look slightly different. I’m using an Android device for this tutorial, but you should be able to follow along easily with your iPhone or iPad as well.

The first thing you’ll want to do is make sure your Chromecast is on and connected to the network. If it’s powered by an AC adapter plugged into the wall, you shouldn’t even need to have the TV turned on (though it’s probably still a good idea so you’ll know it’s reacting appropriately). If you have it powered through a USB port on your TV, however, the set will likely need to be on before the Chromecast will power up.

One your TV is on, fire up the Google Cast app on yoru phone or tablet and swipe over to the “Devices” tab. If you have multiple Google Cast devices, just scroll until you find the Chromecast you want to reset. Tap on the three-dot overflow menu in the top-right corner of the Chromecast box—it should be showing the same image that’s currently on your TV, known as a “backdrop.”

From there, tap the “Device settings” option. It may take a second for the phone or tablet to connect directly to the Chromecast, but once it’s connected, the menu will show up.

In this section, tap the three-dot overflow menu in the top-right corner, just like before.

Here, you’ll see a few different options, including the two we’re looking for: Reboot and Factory reset. Just tap the one you’d like to execute.

Regardless of which one you choose, you’ll get a confirmation popup verifying that you want to execute that command. Once you’re sure that’s what you want to do, just tap “OK.” The device will do its thing—if you chose to reboot it, it’ll be back in action in just a few minutes.

If you’re performing a factory reset, it’ll take a few minutes to completely reset the device, then it will reboot and you can either unplug it (if you plan on selling it or the like), or go ahead and set it up again.

How to Factory Reset Your Chromecast Directly from the Device

If you can’t seem to access your Chromecast from the Google Cast app, you’ll need to take a more hardware-based approach.

There’s no “true” way of merely rebooting the unit from the physical device. If you need to restart it, just unplug it and plug back up. It’s kind of a janky solution, but it gets the job done.

If you need to do a factory reset, you’re in luck: Google put a hard reset button on both the first and second generation Chromecasts, so you can perform a factory reset easily. And regardless of which model you have, the process is the same, making it even simpler.

The first thing you’ll need to do is physically access the device. That means pulling out the TV and digging around behind it. I’m sorry.

Once you’ve got the Chromecast in-hand—still plugged into the power and TV!—just press the one and only physical button on the side of the unit for roughly eight seconds. The Chromecast’s indicator light will blink while you’re holding the button—slowly at first, then faster once it gets closer to resetting. When the light goes solid again, you can let go. The Chromecast will reboot and reset.

After it reboots, you’re free to unplug it if you plan on getting rid of it. Otherwise, just go ahead and set it up again.

The Chromecast is a simple device with a lot of really practical uses under its hood. It’s always good to know how to reboot or reset your device should the need arise so you can get this brilliant little stick back into usable order as quickly as possible.

How to Turn On “Hey Cortana” in Windows 10

2016-04-30T00:09:00.003-07:00

Cortana in Windows 10 is proving to be a promising new feature. To really take advantage of it, you can use voice activation to give your computer commands and perform tasks without needing to actually physically touch it.

This feature works similarly to Android’s “OK Google” and iOS’s “Hey Siri.” With Microsoft’s version, you can enable this same kind of hands-free mode and then simply say “Hey Cortana” to make a Windows 10 PC respond.

Cortana for Windows 10 isn’t yet fully baked (nor is Windows 10 for that matter), meaning Microsoft is still perfecting it and adding features. You can ask her questions like “Hey Cortana, what’s up?” and she’ll give you a whimsical answer.

“Hey Cortana, what’s up?” At least she didn’t tell us it’s a preposition.

But, for productive activities like having it set alarms or change computer settings, it’s still a work in progress. Yes, you can do some cool things like ask her what the weather is somewhere.

Get the weather from anywhere.

She’ll also find files for you, such as if you’re looking for a document, but she won’t open anything up yet.

“Hey Cortana, find ‘something somethng!'”

She can also deliver sport scores, perform calculations, track flights, and other simple tasks. So it has great potential, and we hope that it actually becomes a feature everyone uses because having the option to finally boss your PC around is pretty neat.

Enabling “Hey Cortana” for Hands-Free Searching

“Hey Cortana” isn’t enabled by default, which is understandable because not everyone wants their computer actively listening to them. But, keep in mind, your computer isn’t actually paying attention to anything you say except those two words in that exact order: Hey Cortana.

Normally Cortana will sit on your Taskbar waiting for you to click on her. When you first do this, she will ask you for your name so she can personalize herself to you. You can skip this part if you like.

Removing the Cortana taskbar feature will not completely disable her.

You may also right-click on the taskbar and decide whether to remove Cortana from the taskbar, or simply reduce it to a small circle.

If you click on Cortana, then you’ll see three lines in the top-left corner, which when clicked, reveal options. Click “Settings” to access more options.

The settings are pretty simple. The last one you’ll see is for “Let Cortana respond when you say ‘Hey Cortana.” Turn that to on to enable hands-free voice operation on your Windows 10 computer.

To turn this option off, simply repeat the process and switch the option to “Off.”

If you don’t want Cortana to operate on your computer at all, then you can completely disable her in just a few clicks. Notice on the settings panel that you accessed that there is an option right at the top to disable Cortana outright.

Note, doing this actually disables Cortana, meaning that it won’t work. This is not the same thing as removing the search icon from the taskbar.

If you simply remove the taskbar’s search feature, you can still use Cortana unless you disable her completely. For example, if you want to use hands-free mode and you don’t want Cortana on the taskbar, you can still use “Hey, Cortana” even when it is hidden.

If you don’t plan on using full-on Cortana integration, or voice activation isn’t your cup of tea, it’s still a little fun to try out. And if you don’t like it, you can always turn it off again.

Windows 10 is still only available as a technical preview (beta) so things are bound to change between now and its final release, sometime this summer. Still, it’s evident that Cortana is going to be a big part of it, so it’s good to know what you can do with it ahead of time.

If you have anything you would like to add, such as a question or a comment, please leave your feedback in our discussion forum.

How to Turn off “OK Google” on Your Android Device

2016-04-29T23:13:00.004-07:00

“Ok Google” is cool because it just works. The hands-free search activation installed on the vast majority of Android devices makes looking stuff up as simple as talking, but that doesn’t necessarily mean everyone wants it.

If you don’t have “Ok Google” on your phone, then you first need the Google app. The Google app adds the ability to utter “Ok Google” to conduct inquiries and searches with your voice (but only from the app).

If you want to extend “Ok Google” to work on your home screens, then you’ll need the Google Now Launcher.

When you install and activate the Google Now Launcher, you swipe right from your primary home screen. This will show your Google Now cards. With the launcher installed, and the “Ok Google” feature turned on, you can conduct searches with your voice (hands-free) from any of your home screens.

Both the Google app and Google Now Launcher are available in the Play Store.

Google’s voice search isn’t perfect (though neither is Siri or Cortana), but it works surprisingly well, and we’ve done a considerable amount of searching this way. You can also use “Ok Google” to perform certain tasks, such as calling contacts, opening apps, and mapping routes.

With all this convenience, you might be wondering why anyone would ever disable it. That said, it probably isn’t a feature everyone wants to use.

Digging into the Google App’s Settings

You can also add even more power to “Ok Google” if you like, such as being able to execute a search even when your device is locked or when you’re using another app.

The surest way to access the voice settings is to open your app drawer and tap the “Google Settings” button.

If you’re using Google Now, you can tap the three lines in the upper-left corner.

And from the resulting menu, tap “Settings.”

There’s a lot of stuff here, and we’ve talked previously about the Location settings. For today’s purposes, we want to tap “Search & Now.”

You may not see every option pictured here, but “Search & Now” should be one of your choices.

You next want to tap “Voice,” which will let you decide how and to what length, you use your voice to interface with your Android device.

If you’re using a phone, then you will see “Phone search” instead of “Tablet search” as an option.

You can set your default language, or hands-free use with a Bluetooth or wired headset, stuff like that. Of course, as you may have figured out by now, we are most interested in the “‘Ok Google’ detection” settings.

By default, you can activate search with “Ok Google” from the Google app or any home screen (as long you’re using the Google Now Launcher). Note, if you want to turn “Ok Google” detection off at this point, then disable the “From the Google app” setting, and you’re done.

Choose your options wisely.

With the “From any screen” option, you can enable “Ok Google” to work from any screen, such as if you’re working with another app or the screen is on but locked. Also, when you turn on the “From any screen” option, you can conduct searches when your device is charging but the screen is off.

To do this, you will have to train “Ok Google” to your voice. Activating search with your phone locked is potentially a security problem, so it’s important that your device only respond to your voice.

When “Ok Google” is disabled, “Say, ‘Ok Google'” will no longer appear on the search bar.

Finally, you can allow “Personal results” meaning that you can have your device do things that you can only accomplish when the phone is unlocked. This might include accessing your contacts or searching email which, as you can imagine, probably is best left off.

Again, you can’t use this feature without training your device to recognize your voice. We can’t really recommend you circumvent your device’s primary security layer for this type of convenience. It’s best to unlock your phone to do anything involving potentially sensitive information.

If you want to delete or retrain your voice mode (a good idea if your device isn’t recognizing your voice), then you can exercise that option from the choices at the bottom.

We hope this makes it clear how to disable or extend the capabilities of “Ok Google.” If you have any questions or comments, we invite you to leave your feedback in our discussion forum.

Learn How to Use Siri, the Handy iPhone Assistant

2016-04-29T22:45:00.004-07:00

Siri is the incredibly handy assistant that comes with iOS devices. Through voice commands, you can get Siri to do almost anything that you could normally do on your phone or tablet yourself. In this article, we’ll show how to put Siri to work to make your iOS experience easier and faster.

How do I use Siri?

By default, you can get to Siri by holding down the home button on your iPhone or iPad. Once Siri pops up, you can release the home button and say your command.

You can configure the settings for Siri by going to Settings > General > Siri. In this menu, you can customize the language, voice gender, voice feedback, your information, and raise to speak.

Language and voice gender are pretty self-explanatory.
Voice feedback dictates whether or not Siri talks to you out loud always, or just when you are using a hands-free device. If you’re going to be speaking into your phone anyway, there’s probably not much reason to disable it from speaking back to you. Most people will just want to leave this setting at the default.
My info lets you choose a contact from your phone that contains all of your information. If you don’t already have a contact of yourself, open up the contacts app and make one. This isn’t an essential thing to do, but it is required if you want to be able to say “take me home,” and get routing directions from Siri. It also allows Siri to call you by your name – or a nickname, if you configure that.
Raise to speak is an alternative way to access Siri; with it enabled, you can just raise your phone to your ear as if you are answering a phone call from someone. Siri will be on the other end and you can say your command as if you’re still just talking to someone on the phone.

What can I ask Siri to do?

You can ask Siri to do just about anything, and you don’t need to be overly specific about what you say. For example, you can say things like “Give my mom a call,” instead of “Make a phone call to my mother.” Speaking casually or formally, Siri knows what you mean. On the list of commands below, keep in mind there are quite a few ways to say each one. Don’t get hung up on any of the wording, just read this to learn of Siri’s various functions.

Establishing relationships

Siri is smart, but it only knows what you tell it. If you want to speak more casually to Siri, educate it! A perfect example is letting it know who your significant other is. Siri wants to be educated, and will ask you questions if you forget to tell it something that it needs to know to perform the commands you ask.

Communication

Siri can be used for all of your communication needs. It will even read text messages and emails to you, and then you can use Siri to reply to them. Some examples include:

“Call Mom.”
“FaceTime Mom.”
“Send Mom a text message that says I love you.”
“Send Mom an email that says I love Siri more.”
“Read me that last message.”
“Tell my wife that I will be home for dinner.”
“Reply I’m on my way now.”

Reminders

This is one of those features where you don’t know what you did before you had it. I guess you had to actually… remember stuff on your own! Well, forget that (pun intended), because now you have Siri.

“Remind me at 6 o’clock to take out the trash.”
“Remind me on May 25th to wish my mom happy birthday.”

If you have your addresses set up properly (remember, Siri needs educated):

“Remind me to check my oil when I get home.”
“Remind me to email Jim the budget report when I get to work on Thursday.”

As long as you specified a date/time or place for your reminder, your iOS device will display a pop up and play a sound to remind you of whatever you asked it to.

Take notes

If you need to jot something down, whether it’s a quick idea that came to you while you were in the middle of something or tomorrow’s grocery list, let Siri take a note of it.

“Add bananas to my groceries note.”
“Take a note: I owe Brent $20.”
“Bring up my ideas note.”

Directions

It’s a lot easier to just tell Siri where you need to go instead of typing it in.

“Take me to 123 Main St. Myrtle Beach.”
“Take me home.”
“I need driving directions to the office.”
“Take me to Ocean Street Café.”

If you have the Find My Friends app set up:

“Take me to Dave.”
“I need walking directions to my mom’s location.”

If you want to see the distance or best route between two locations:

“Take me from Santa Monica to Los Angeles.”

Alarms

There’s no reason to fiddle with an alarm clock when you can just tell Siri to wake you up at a certain time.

“Wake me up at 8 AM tomorrow.”
“Wake me up in three hours.”
“Set an alarm for 10 AM.”
“Turn off my alarms.”

Timers

You just put some cookies in the oven; I hope you can remember to take them back out in 12 minutes.

“Set the timer for 12 minutes.”
“Pause/Resume/Stop/Reset the timer.”

Scheduling

Siri integrates with the calendar app to set up appointments and meetings.

“Set up a meeting with my boss at 9 AM.”
“Make an appointment with Terry for Thursday at noon.”
“I have a meeting with the board at 10 tomorrow.”
“Do I have any meetings this week? / How busy am I this week?”
“Push my meeting with the board back to 1 PM.”
“Cancel my meetings tomorrow.”

People

Siri can utilize the Find My Friends app if you have it, as well as your contact list.

“Where’s Jerry at?”
“Do I have any friends in Chicago right now?”

Or to pull up some contact information:

“Show me all the people that work at How-to Geek.”
“What’s Tom’s email address?”

Social networking

Other than posting to Facebook and Twitter, Siri is relatively limited on the social networking front. Then again, there’s not much else to do on those sites anyway.

“Write on my wall ‘Does anyone want to see a movie tonight?'”
“Tweet this new computer is awesome hashtag geek”
“What’s trending on Twitter?”

Searching the web

Siri can use a few different search engines to bring up results on whatever it is you’re trying to find. If you don’t specify, it will default to Bing (unless you change that setting yourself).

“Search Google for Windows 8.”
“Bing iPhone cases.”
“Search for pictures of Spongebob.”

Sports

Use Siri to keep up with the scores and statistics of college and national sports teams.

“Who won the Browns game last Sunday?”
“Show me the number of RBIs for the Boston Red Sox.”
“How are the Florida Gators doing this season?”
“Give me the stats for Derek Jeter.”

Weather

You can ask Siri pretty much anything about the weather – temperature, forecast, wind, sunrise, etc. Here are a few examples:

“Is it going to rain in Chicago this week?”
“What’s the high for this week?”
“How windy is it today?”
“Check the forecast for St. Louis.”

Movies

Siri can pull up information on any movie, new or old, and retrieve movie times.

“What movies are playing near me today?”
“Show me films that had Jim Carrey in them.”

If you ask a question that prompts an opinionated response, it will base the answer off of Rotten Tomatoes reviews.

“What are the best movies out now?”
“Is that new Tom Hanks movie any good?”

Restaurants

Siri can bring up directions, phone numbers, and information about any restaurant you want.

“I’m in the mood for Chinese food.”
“What are the best seafood restaurants around here?”

If you have the OpenTable app installed, you can also use Siri to make dinner reservations.

“I need a table for four in Chicago this Saturday.”
“Reserve me a table at Macaroni Grill tonight.”

Music and videos

This is particularly handy when you want to hear a certain song or artist and you have a lot of songs that you don’t want to spend time looking through.

“Play my oldies playlist.”
“Play Fireflies by Owl City.”
“Shuffle all songs.”
“Play/pause/skip”

Check texts, emails, missed calls, and voicemails

Siri can check any part of your communication history.

“Read me that text message I just received.”
“Any new emails today?”
“Do I have any missed calls?”
“Play my last voicemail.”

Stocks

Siri can answer pretty much any stock-related question you may have.

“How is the Dow doing today?”
“What is Apple’s stock price?”
“What did Apple close at today?”

Calculations and random facts

Siri uses WolframAlpha to perform mathematical functions and queries their database for answers to random questions. If it doesn’t find a suitable answer, it will fall back on Wikipedia. If that doesn’t have it either, it will do a Bing search.

“What is 6824 divided by 8?”
“What is a 16% tip on a $38 bill?”
“How big is Chicago?”
“When did America become a country?”
“When did Ben Franklin die?” (does a Wikipedia search)
“When was the iPhone released?” (does a Bing search)

Settings

Siri can’t adjust all of your phone’s settings, but it can do quite a few. These aren’t all of them, so if you are wondering about a particular one, just try it.

“Turn off Voice Over.”
“Turn on airplane mode.”
“Turn off Bluetooth.”
“Do not disturb.”

Opening apps

Siri can open any of your apps for you.

“Open Google Earth.”
“Launch my notes.”
“Play Temple Run.”

So is that everything?

There is more that you can do with Siri than what you see on this list, and Apple is always adding new features. There are also quite a few Easter eggs in Siri, so a lot of times it can provide great comic relief. Post in the forums about any other commands you like to use, whether you use them for productivity or comic relief.

How to Make Siri Respond to Your Voice (Without Pressing Anything)

2016-04-29T22:20:00.003-07:00

By default, Siri only responds when you press and hold the home button on your iPad or iPhone. You can, however, configure Siri to respond when you say “Hey Siri.”

Siri is useful as means for doing many things. She’s meant to be something of a digital personal assistant and, as such, can do a great deal more than simply looking stuff up on the Internet. She can take notes, set alarms, place calls, handle directions, and so on.

Using Siri won’t take long to figure out, but to completely master her, you will need to spend some time learning all the things she can do. To help make this easier and a bit more natural feeling, you can turn on her hands-free voice activation, though this will only work when your device is plugged in.

Having “Hey Siri,” however, is a great way to interact with your device and is comparable to Android’s “Ok Google” as well as Microsoft’s upcoming “Hey Cortana” search feature in Windows 10 (this already available to Windows Phone users).

Enabling “Hey Siri”

“Hey Siri” isn’t enabled right out of the box. You have to first turn it on in the settings. To do this, unlock your iPad or iPhone and open the “Settings.” Tap on the “General” category and then tap on “Siri.

Siri doesn’t have a lot of options to deal with. First and foremost, there’s an option to completely turn her off, and then below that is the “Allow ‘Hey Siri'” toggle.

Once again note that “Hey Siri” will only work when your device is connected to a power outlet.

As long as we’re poking around in Siri’s settings, have a look at the other remaining options. You can turn Siri from a she to a he using the “Voice Gender” option. There’s also an option to configure “Voice Feedback” from “Always” to “Handsfree Only.”

You’re not stuck using only one identity with Siri either. Tapping the “My Info” button lets you assign who Siri talks to from your contacts.

Siri is also a serious polyglot as well, if you tap the “Language” button, you’ll see a wide and extensive array of different languages, often in several variations.

As we said, enabling “Hey Siri” is a great way to interact with your iOS device without having to look around, pick it up, and push the home button.

And, while it’s unfortunate that you can’t enable it to work when the device is unplugged, we understand that having such functionality constitutes a serious drain on the battery. Even so, if you’re driving around with your iPhone, you can easily plug it in and use this feature for hands-free assistance.

Further, if you have an iPad, you can leave it plugged in at your desk and use “Hey Siri” to perform routine commands and tasks. So, it’s not a make or break issue and sure beats placing an unnecessary drain on the battery.
Let us know now what you think. Do you use “Hey Siri” already or is this a news to you? We appreciate your comments and questions, so please leave your feedback in our discussion forum.

26 Actually Useful Things You Can Do with Siri

2016-04-29T21:55:00.003-07:00

Siri is best known as Apple’s so-called digital personal assistant available on iOS devices like iPhone and iPad. Some might think Siri is only good for looking stuff up, but it can actually do a great deal more.

The thing about Siri is that can be hard to get used to, but once you do, it is incredibly useful. You can do a fairly wide array of tasks on your iOS device beyond simply looking something up. For example, you can have Siri create reminders, take notes, and set alarms. It can even make changes to system settings. Siri will also adapt to your personal language use and as you use it more and more, will tailor results individually to you.

Siri can easily be activated by holding down the home button on your iOS device until it beeps and the Siri interface appears. On iOS 9, Siri can also now be activated by saying “Hey Siri”, which is invaluable when you’re eating or driving or your iPhone is simply out of reach.

In this article, we want to go through and highlight some of the things that Siri can do. You might be surprised at how versatile and useful it is.

Searching for Things

We’ll just get it out of the way because we don’t want to be anti-climatic. Obviously, you can use Siri to search, and in fact that’s one of the things it does very well. That said, Siri will also use a variety of web services to pull data from other sources, so results are more useful than a simple list of websites you can visit.

As you’ll see in the following examples, if you want to find movie times, or know sport scores, then what you’ll see direct results rather than being shown websites you could visit to get more information.

Create Reminders

We all need to remember things, and Siri really shines when setting reminders. Simply say “remind me to …” and Siri will instantly add it to the Reminders app on your device.

If you have other iOS devices or a Mac, your reminders will be replicated to those as well, so no matter what Apple device you’re using, you can always access your reminders. Further, you can have Siri give you more specific timely reminders, for example, “Hey Siri, remind me to go to the gym at 3 PM.”

Additionally you can ask Siri to read you your to-do list, as well as location-oriented reminders like reminding you to perform an action when you leave the house, when you return home, or arrive at a certain place. If you have specific lists, you can tell Siri to add items to it like “add apples to my grocery list” or “add change oil to my to-do list.”

Create Events

Need to add something to your calendar? Siri can do that for you. Just tell Siri to create an event titled “such and such” at this time on this day and she’ll enter all that into your calendar for you.

Once Siri has the details nailed down, she’ll ask you to confirm or cancel. Once confirmed, the event will be replicated across all your devices so you don’t to repeat the effort on your Mac or iPad.

Want to do more? You can, such as moving meetings, rescheduling appointments, adding people to your meetings, and you can also ask about events, like what the rest of your day looks like, when you’re meeting with someone, and when your next appointment occurs.

Set Alarms

Setting alarms is really useful, particularly when you can use it in conjunction with “Hey Siri”.

Simply say something like “set an alarm for 8 AM” or “Hey Siri, wake me up at 6:30 AM” and it will turn the alarm on for that appointed time. You can also change alarms such as “change my 6:30 AM alarm to 7:00 AM,” turn off all your alarms, or have Siri set an alarm to wake you after a certain duration, i.e. “wake me up in 45 minutes.”

Call People

This one is very useful when trying to operate your device hands-free. You can use Siri to call people by simply telling it who to call.

You can even have it call a person on speaker so you don’t have to look at the phone to turn it on. That way, if you are driving, your eyes never leave the road.

You can also call specific numbers, get your call history, see if you have any missed calls, redial the last number, check your voicemail, and much more.

FaceTime with Your Friends

No need to open FaceTime if you want to chat face-to-face with friends and family, simply ask Siri to do it for you.

You can specify whether you want to make a regular FaceTime call (with video) or a FaceTime call with only audio.

Turn on a Timer

Simple but effective, and also pretty cool when you’re trying to operate hands-free. Use Siri to create a timer so that if you’re cooking something and washing your hands, you don’t need to touch the phone.

Setting timers in this way is actually a lot easier than using the Clock app in our opinion. You can also have Siri stop, pause, resume, and so forth.

Find out What Time it is

You can ask Siri what time it is, either where you live, or somewhere more distant.

Sadly, you can only ask for the time one place at a time. If you try to ask what time it is in several places at once, it will only return a result for the first place you ask about.

Tell You What Song is Playing

While it’s true there are specific apps out there that can do this, simply being able to tell Siri to listen and identify a song is a pretty neat trick.

Results are provided by SHAZAM but Siri will make it a seamless experience.

Play Songs from Your Favorite Artist

You can ask Siri to play songs from your favorite musical artist, or to play songs similar to your favorite artist, or a specific song from your favorite artist, and so on.

If you don’t have any music from them on your iPhone or iPad, then Siri will offer to queue them up on an Apple Music station.

There’s quite a few other things you can have Siri do for you when it comes to music. You can ask it to play music by genre, play specific albums, and basic controls like play, pause, and skip, among many other things.

Make Reservations

If you want to make a reservation at your favorite restaurant, Siri can connect to OpenTable and do that for you.

Once Siri finds out if there’s any available reservations, you’ll be able to tap the time you want and reserve a table. Make sure that if your party includes more than two people that you specify how large it is.

Launch Applications

Hey, we get it, apps are awesome and you probably have a bazillion on your iPhone by now, but don’t you get tired of flipping through your screens to find that one you only use occasionally?

No problem, just tell Siri to “open Dropbox” or “launch YouTube” and you’ll never have to scroll through your home screens again (unless you really want to).

You can also have Siri go and fetch apps from the app store, such as “download Twitter” or even have it search the app store for new apps, such as if you’re looking for a cooking or some other app.

Find and Read Emails

Don’t want to hunt for a particular email? Simply have Siri find it. You can have it search for email by subject, sender, date, and so forth.

Thereafter, once Siri finds the emails, you can have it read them to you, or you can just tap the one you want to open it in the Mail application.

Beyond this, you can ask Siri to perform other email-related tasks, such as asking it to check your email, replying to an email, and of course, sending new emails.

Perform Calculations

Why use a calculator when you can just ask Siri?

Of course, you don’t have to perform as complicated calculations as pictured above, but it’s nice to know you could if needed.

Perform Quick Conversions

Want to quickly know how many cups are in a gallon or miles per hour to kilometers per hour? Siri can perform quick conversions for you so you don’t have to look it up.

Next time you’re struggling mightily to convert tablespoons to teaspoons, remember Siri can help you out with that.

Check Dates

Siri can do a lot of cool stuff with dates as well, such as telling you what day of the week something is, how many days have elapsed between two dates, what day next Friday will be, and more.

You can play around with this and get a lot of useful information, but if you don’t want a shock, it might be better not to ask Siri how many days ago you were born!

Change Settings

This one is very useful because changing settings can sometimes be a little tedious. With Siri, you can just ask it to turn off something like Wi-Fi, or turn on Bluetooth.

It’s a great little extra perk, and we’re glad that Apple finally added this to iOS.

Access App Settings

If you have an app open on your iPhone or iPad, you can quickly access that app’s settings by opening Siri and saying “Settings”.

We like this particular trick because it’s so much faster than accessing an app’s settings the traditional way. Also, you don’t have to have the actual app open, you can ask Siri to open that app’s settings by saying “open [app] settings”.

Mapping

Mapping things is one of the most useful things a smartphone can do and luckily Siri makes it even more useful. You can ask Siri to show you how to get from point A to point B, or simply how far away a destination is.

You can do much more of course; you can ask Siri to give you directions home, ask what your ETA is, find the nearest gas station, show you landmarks, and tons of other stuff.

Because Apple Maps has gotten progressively better since it’s haphazard launch several years ago, you may not even need Google, meaning that you can have Siri route you around the country to your heart’s content.

Take Notes

Got a winning idea for the next great American novel, or something occurred to you that you really want to remember? Don’t leave it to your memory, have Siri note it for you.

It’s simple just to ask Siri to take a note, and like reminders and events, it will be synced to iCloud so it will be available across all your devices.

Send Text Messages

Siri really shows her personal assistant chops when it comes to text messages. Ask Siri to “send a text message” to so-and-so, and it will ask you what you want it to say.

Once, Siri has your message ready, you can tell it to send it to the recipient or just cancel.

If you simply want to dictate a message to send, you can just tell Siri to text someone with the message content. For example, “text Mom and tell her I’ll be home for Christmas” or “reply to Kirk that’s fantastic news.”

Read Text Messages

Texting and driving is a huge no-no, which is why you should just have Siri help you out with that. For example, in addition to being able to dictate and send text messages, you can also have it read them to you.

Of course, if someone sends you something personal, it’s probably best not to have Siri read it aloud in front of others, but if you’re in the car driving, and someone sends you a message, you won’t have to pull over to read it, instead you can have it read to you.

Once Siri has read you your new text message, you can have it reply or simply call the sender.

Follow Sports

For those of you who love and follow sports, you can have Siri keep you abreast of what is going on with your favorite (or not so favorite) teams.

You can ask when a team is playing, who they play, or what the score was. Siri can also give you other information such as standings and information about specific teams, as well as what games are on, what channel your favorite team is on, and much, much more.

See Where and When Movies are Playing

Want to go see the latest Hollywood blockbuster but don’t want to play movie roulette? Ask Siri to show you where something is playing nearby.

Being able to just ask Siri where a movie is playing will prove to be a terrific timesaver. Furthermore, the fun doesn’t end there, you can also ask Siri about who starred in a movie, find out which types of movies are playing, what’s playing at a specific theater, and so on.

Give Yourself a Nickname

If you don’t want Siri to refer to you by your name, you can tell it to call you by another.

Of course, if you don’t like the new nickname, or you want a different one, you can change it at anytime by simply asking Siri to call you something else.

Just Ask About What You Can Ask About

If you want to know more, and dig further into all of Siri’s powers, simply activate it say, “what can I ask you?”

Siri will give you a long list of categories, and when you tap on each one, it will give you further examples of all the things you can do with it.

Say Goodbye

Finally, when you’re finished using Siri, you can make it go away by saying something dismissive like “bye” or “see you later.”

Being able to do so much with Siri means that it’s far more likely to become a more routinely used feature instead of an occasional tool for looking stuff up. The ability to set reminders or read text messages gives you powers that you might never thought available to you.

Beyond this, if you want to change Siri’s gender or accent, or have it respond to your voice, then you can do that too.

We hope you found this article useful, particularly if you use an iOS device but have never really taken advantage of what Siri offers. If you have anything you would like to add, such as a Siri skill we missed, a comment, or a question, please leave your feedback in our discussion forum.

How to Use the Reminders App on Your Mac or iPhone and Never Forget Something Again

2016-04-29T20:58:00.004-07:00

Macs and iPhones (iPads too) come with a fantastic Reminders app that automatically syncs through iCloud. Here’s how to make the most of this app so you’re never likely to forget something important again.

The Reminders app is super simple to use and because it syncs across both OS X and iOS platforms, if you add a reminder on your Mac, you’ll be able to see it on your iPhone or iPad, and vice-versa. It seamlessly syncs everything to iCloud so you never need to replicate your efforts.

This is especially nice when you suddenly remember you need to buy milk or there’s an important meeting coming up and you’re sitting in front of your Mac or have your iPhone in hand. Simply add the reminder to the device and then it will be on everything that is connected to the same iCloud account.

Today, we want to take a look at Reminders on Mac and iPhone, show you how to add, edit, and share them, as well as make sure you’ve got everything set up so it all syncs properly.

Reminders on Mac

Reminders is already installed on your Mac so you just need to fire it up and add a few things to get started.

The Reminders app is laid out in two columns. The left column shows you your lists. Note that it says ‘iCloud” at the top of your lists, meaning that anything there will be synced to iCloud.

The right column contains the contents of your lists. To add anything to a list, simply click the “+” in the upper-right corner, or click on a new line.

To edit a reminder, click on the text so you get a cursor, and you can then fix it if it so appears as you want.

Click on the little “i” symbol to access things like when you want the reminder to alert you and when, or whether it should repeat, and when it should end. You can also set the priority, and add any notes you find pertinent.

If you right-click on a list, you can, among other things, rename it, delete it, and “complete” all the reminders within it.

To start a new list, simply click the “Add List” button at the bottom-left corner and then give it a name.

If you want to share a list, then you will need to click the little icon to the right of the list as shown in the screenshot below. Then you can add people with whom you want to share it. When you’ve added everyone, click “Done”.

As we mentioned, everything contained in these lists will then be synced to iCloud so you can then see them on your iPhone or iPad. Let’s now move on and discuss how Reminders works on the iPhone.

Reminders on iPhone

Usually when you open the Reminders app, you will probably see one of your lists. In order to access your other lists, you will need to tap at the bottom where you see them stacked (under where it says “Show Completed”).

When you see your lists, it will show how many reminders are in each one, whether there are any that are overdue, and so forth. If you want to rearrange the order or your lists, tap, hold, and drag it to the location you desire.

When you open a list, you’ll see it’s contents, and you can then add to it by tapping the “+”. When you tap the “Edit” button, you can change the list’s color and share it just as you can share in OS X.

The “Share with…” screen will show you who you are sharing a list with and their status. If you tap on a name, you will be able to see their contact info and you can also elect to stop sharing with them.

Finally, if you want to adjust how reminders sync and which list is the default, then you can open up the Reminders settings and change things.

In addition to getting reminders on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, you may also get reminder notifications on your Apple Watch. Let us take a moment then to discuss how to change your reminder notification preferences.

Adjusting Reminders on Apple Watch

To adjust how Reminders notify you on Apple Watch, open the Watch app on your iPhone and tap open “Notifications”, then tap open “Reminders”.

Now you can select how Reminders will notify you, either by mirroring your iPhone or setting up a custom design.

If you elect to go the custom route, you can choose whether your Watch shows you alerts, have sounds, and if there’s any haptic feedback.

Making Sure it Syncs

None of this syncing stuff does you any good if it isn’t actually working, which means that if you create a reminder list on your Mac and it doesn’t appear on your iPhone or vice-versa, then you might not have syncing correctly enabled.

To check your Mac’s sync settings, first open up the iCloud system preferences and make sure “Reminders” is checked.

On your iPhone or iPad, open the Settings, and then tap open “iCloud” and make sure “Reminders” is enabled.

The other thing you need to ensure is that your Mac and your iOS device are logged into the same iCloud account. Obviously, if you are syncing to separate accounts, then nothing will work as intended.

With that said, you should be able to start creating to-do, shopping, grocery, and other important reminder lists. Now, next time you’re out and about, you can whip out your iPhone and check to make sure you’re remembering everything.

Don’t forget, you can also have Siri add stuff to your reminders lists such as “Hey Siri, remind me tomorrow to pick up my dry cleaning” or “Hey Siri, add grapes to my grocery list.” Siri is helpful in that regard with a lot of things and it really pays to learn how to use it.

We hope you found this article helpful, if you have any questions or comments you might like to contribute, we hope you will leave them in our discussion forum.

How to Sync Contacts, Reminders, and More with iCloud

2016-04-29T20:25:00.004-07:00

If you use a Mac, iPhone, or iPad, you might have wondered what iCloud is using all that space for. Today, we’ll take you through the entire range of iCloud syncing and show you how to turn it off, if you so desire.

iCloud syncs quite a few applications, which is not only convenient but essential for applications to work correctly across your Apple devices (like Calendar, Notes, and Reminders). iCloud is the reason you can create reminders on your Mac and access them immediately on your iPhone, or another Mac, as long they’re all connected to the same iCloud account.

Touring the iCloud on OS X

Let’s begin by opening up the iCloud system preferences on your Mac.

In the iCloud preferences, you’ll see two halves. The left half lets you access your account details and set up family sharing, or sign out.

Click on Account Details to change your name, contact, security, and payment information, and remove devices that are connected your iCloud account.

Back on the main page, the right pane shows the numerous iCloud sync options for your account. Let’s go through each one and talk about their implications.

First, there’s the iCloud Drive option, which will store a variety of documents and data in iCloud. Chief among these are TextEdit, iMovie, Pages, as well as any third-party applications that use the iCloud drive. You can click the Options button to see what apps can store data in iCloud drive, and disable any that are taking up too much space.

We’ve talked at length in the past about your iCloud Photo Library, so we won’t go into great detail here, but suffice to say, you can also click the Options button next to Photos to control what Photo data is synced to iCloud, if at all.

The rest of the data stored in iCloud includes:

Mail: By syncing your Mail, whatever changes you make on one device will be reflected on another. This is no different than any of the remaining items. So, if you compose a mail message on your iPhone and send it, you can find it then on your Mac in the Sent folder, and so forth.

Contacts: This will sync all contacts you currently have in your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Any changes or additions you make will obviously be replicated elsewhere.

Calendars: If you make an event or schedule an appointment, it will show up on your other devices.

Reminders: We’ve talked about Reminders previously, you might want to read up on that for more info. Needless to say, syncing your Reminders is a great way to make sure you don’t forget stuff when you’re out and about.

Safari: It can be frustrating not having all your bookmarks and browsing history with you. Luckily, if you sync your Safari to iCloud, everything will stay the same no matter what Apple device you’re using.

Notes: We all have those moments of brilliance where we need to make a note of it. Sadly, if you suddenly wake up at night and dash off a note on computer, you might not have it with you when you want to recall it the next day. By syncing Notes to iCloud, you can rest assured that your genius will travel with you wherever you go.

Keychain: Unlike the others, which are all undoubtedly useful, you may want to think for a moment about this one. The Keychain basically keeps all your passwords in one place.

It’s incredibly convenient though to be able to type in your Wi-Fi password and have it immediately show up on everywhere else, so in the long run, it’s well worth keeping this item enabled.

Find My Mac: Losing your Mac would be terrible, which is why as soon as you sync your “Find My Mac” data, you can easily locate a lost or stolen Mac because all the information you need will already be in your iPhone or iPad.

Using iCloud on Your iPhone or iPad

You can perform the same customizations to your iCloud syncing and sharing on your iPhone or iPad by tapping open “iCloud” from the settings on your device.

At the top, you’ll see your name and the e-mail address to which iCloud is set up. You can tap your name to open up further settings, which we’ll delve into in just a bit.

The storage option will give you the option to manage your current storage, and buy more if needed.

Scroll down through this iCloud settings page and you will see that, just like on a Mac, you can enable or disable different iCloud features.

Take a moment to check out the iCloud Drive settings. You can turn this off or on with a simple tap, and choose whether you want to see it on the home screen.

Additionally, you can see a list of apps that allow people to look you up by your email address. You can turn this on or off for any apps you want.

Below that, there’s a list of specific apps that can use iCloud Drive to store files. If you find yourself running low on storage space, or simply don’t want an app to use iCloud Drive, then you can turn them off here.

You may also consider turning off the “Use Cellular Data” item. This ensures iCloud Drive isn’t eating into your valuable data limit.

Under the Photos settings, there’s the ever-present iCloud Photo Library master switch, which lets you turn the whole thing off if you prefer.

Below this, you can elect to optimize iPhone storage, which means that photos and videos on your iPhone (or iPad) will automatically be reduced in size so they don’t take up too much space on your device. Originals, meanwhile, will be kept in your iCloud Drive.

One other items of interest is the “Upload Burst Photos” options, which means that if you take burst photos (press and hold the volume down button), all of them will be uploaded to your Photo Stream. Keep in mind, uploading all your burst photos could be considerable and take up a lot of space, so you may want to turn this off.

The last option here is to utilize iCloud Photo Sharing, which means you can share albums with others, and subscribe to theirs as well.

iCloud Settings on iOS

From the main iCloud settings screen, tap on your name to see your iCloud account settings. Here you can change your contact information, password, and credit card associated with your Apple ID. But the most interesting feature here is the “Devices” section.

If you look at the Devices settings, just like with the Mac settings, you can see all the devices you have connected to your iCloud account, see the model, version, serial number, and even remove it from your account.

Just like on the Mac, iOS’ iCloud settings allow you to tailor your sync preferences to the apps and services you use most (or don’t use at all).

It’s also good to keep in mind that if you find something isn’t syncing as expected, make sure to check that you didn’t accidentally disable the feature at some point.

Obviously, you can turn off each or even all these features per your individual needs and preferences. We think they’re all valuable and save tons of time and effort, but then again, if you don’t use Reminders, Notes, or any of the other baked in Apple applications, it may be worth turning them off. And if you start running out of iCloud space, disabling syncing for a few apps could help.

How to Disable iCloud Photo Syncing in OS X Photos

2016-04-29T18:52:00.003-07:00

Apple has finally taken the wraps off its iPhoto successor: Photos. It’s great so far, but we’re not sure everyone is going to be thrilled about its iCloud integration. Here is how to make adjustments to Photos’ iCloud features, or turn them off completely.

Photos has been a long time coming. Development on iPhoto, which used to be Apple’s go-to photo-editing and library app of choice since 2002, ceased in 2014. To be honest, iPhoto had grown long in tooth and was in dire need of a some kind of refresh but stopping development meant that Apple had a noticeable photos app gap between its desktop operating system and the millions upon millions of iOS devices out there.

Never fear, however, Photos, which not coincidentally shares the same name and icon with its iOS counterparts, closes that gap in Apple’s OS X photo library/editing/sharing repertoire.

Photos is meant to sync across all your devices, meaning if you have an iPad or iPhone, you’ll be able to take a picture on one of those, and it will automatically appear in your Mac’s Photos library, and vice versa.

That said, if you only use a Mac and don’t own an iOS device, or you have stuff on your Mac that you don’t want to share to iCloud, then you probably will want to turn it off, or make changes to Photos’ iCloud options.

Turning Off or Changing iCloud Photos Sharing in OS X

There are two ways to turn off or at least lessen Photos iCloud sharing. First, open the “System Preferences” and click the “iCloud” icon.

The iCloud options allow you to disable any number of features that are hooked into and syncing to your iCloud account. To disable iCloud syncing outright, uncheck the box next to “Photos.”

Alternatively, click the “Options…” button for finer control over iCloud Photos syncing.

Here we see your choices. You can turn off automatic uploading and storage, turn off your Photo Stream (in case you’re using a device without iCloud Photo Library), and you can disable iCloud Photo Sharing, so you can’t share your photo albums with other people.

The iCloud Photo options have explanations attached so you know what each one does.

You shouldn’t have too much trouble figuring this stuff out and Apple does explain each option fairly well. We suspect quite a few users will make it an all-or-nothing affair (on/off).

You can also access these options from the actual Photos app (in the Preferences, “Command + ,”), with one additional option that is actually going to be of interest to a lot of Mac users with crowded hard drives.

Under the “iCloud Photo Library” option, you can decide how items are stored on your Mac. If you want to store original photos and videos (full resolution) on your Mac, you want to select “Download Originals to this Mac.”

If you want to “Optimize Mac Storage,” your full-resolution items will be stored in iCloud while originals will be only stored on your Mac provided you have enough drive space.

Note, if you want to pause iCloud photo library syncing, click the “Pause for one day” button.

That’s all there is to understanding how Photos shares and syncs photos and videos to iCloud, and it means you can keep your photos on your Mac and share them via other means if iCloud doesn’t strike your fancy.

While turning it off obviously lessens the convenience of having your photos library sync across all your devices, if you’re only using a Mac laptop or desktop, then you may not see the need for having everything stored on iCloud (or maybe you want to back them up to a different cloud storage provider). In any event, if you do one day add an iPhone or iPad to the mix, you can always turn iCloud syncing on again.

We hope this article has been helpful to anyone getting started with Photos on OS X. If you have any questions or comments you want to share with us, please take time to leave your feedback in our discussion forum.

How to Manually Calculate Only the Active Worksheet in Excel

2016-04-29T17:33:00.004-07:00

If you have large workbooks with a lot of formulas on the worksheets, recalculating the workbooks can take a long time. By default, Excel automatically recalculates all open workbooks as you change values in the worksheets. However, you can choose to recalculate only the current worksheet manually.

Notice I said worksheet, not workbook. There is no direct way in Excel to manually recalculate only the current workbook, but you can manually recalculate the current worksheet within a workbook.

To begin, click the “File” tab.

On the backstage screen, click “Options” in the list of items on the left.

The Excel Options dialog box displays. Click “Formulas” in the list of items on the left.

In the Calculation options section, click the “Manual” radio button to turn on the ability to manually calculate each worksheet. When you select “Manual”, the “Recalculate workbook before saving” check box is automatically checked. If you save your worksheet often and would rather not wait for it to recalculate every time you do, select the “Recalculate workbook before saving” check box so there is NO check mark in the box to disable the option.

You’ll also notice the “Automatic except for data tables” option. Data tables are defined by Microsoft as:

“. . . a range of cells that shows how changing one or two variables in your formulas will affect the results of those formulas. Data tables provide a shortcut for calculating multiple results in one operation and a way to view and compare the results of all the different variations together on your worksheet.”

Data tables are recalculated every time a worksheet is recalculated, even if they have not changed. If you’re using a lot of data tables, and you still want to automatically recalculate your workbooks, you can select the “Automatic except for data tables” option, and everything except for your data tables will be recalculated, saving you some time during recalculation.

If you don’t mind the “Recalculate workbook before saving” option being enabled when you turn on Manual calculation, there is a quicker way of choosing to manually recalculate your worksheets. First, click the “Formulas” tab.

Then, in the Calculation section of the Formulas tab, click the “Calculation Options” button and select “Manual” from the drop-down menu.

Once you’ve turned on manual calculation, you can click “Calculate Sheet” in the Calculation section of the Formulas tab, or press Shift+F9, to manually recalculate the active worksheet. If you want to recalculate everything on all worksheets in all open workbooks that has changed since the last calculation, press F9 (only if you have turned off Automatic calculation). To recalculate all formulas in all open workbooks, regardless of whether they have changed since the last recalculation, press Ctrl+Alt+F9. To check formulas that depend on other cells first and then recalculate all formulas in all open workbooks, regardless of whether they have changed since the last recalculation, press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+F9.

How to Install Fallout 4 Mods with Nexus Mod Manager

2016-04-29T16:42:00.007-07:00

Like Skyrim and other Bethesda games before it, modding is one of Fallout 4’s huge draws on the PC. But Fallout 4 and Steam don’t offer an easy, built-in way to install these mods. Thankfully, there’s a tool called Nexus Mod Manager that makes this easier, so you don’t have to do everything by hand.

The PC version of Fallout 4 doesn’t offer Steam Workshop support, so there’s no one-click subscribing to mods. Mods will eventually be available through Bethesda.net when Bethesda releases official modding tools. However, even when that occurs, this method will still allow you to install mods Bethesda hasn’t officially blessed. This actually works for many other games, too, including Skyrim, The Witcher games, Dragon Age, Dark Souls, and other Fallout games, so you should be able to adapt the instructions for any other game Nexus Mod Manager supports.

How to Enable Modding in Fallout 4

Even though you’ll be using the Nexus Mod Manager, you’ll still have to perform a quick tweak to Fallout 4’s game files before it will accept the mods you install.

First, navigate to the Fallout 4 folder in your documents directory. You’ll find it under C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\My Games\Fallout4 .

Double-click the Fallout4Prefs.ini file to open it in your default text editor. It’ll open in Windows Notepad unless you’ve installed another text editor like Notepad++.

Scroll down to the very bottom of the text file and you’ll see a [Launcher] section. Add the following line below it:

bEnableFileSelection=1

Click File>Save to save the file, and then close Notepad.

Double-click the Fallout4Custom.ini file to open it in your default text editor. Add the following lines to the end of the file:

  [Archive]
  bInvalidateOlderFiles=1
  sResourceDataDirsFinal=

Click File > Save to save the file, and then close Notepad. Fallout 4 will now accept and use the mods you install.

How to Install and Configure Nexus Mod Manager

It’s possible to manually install Fallout 4 mods. However, we recommend using the Nexus Mod Manager tool to make this process easier and reduce the risk you’ll break something while installing a mod.

Download Nexus Mod Manager and install it on your PC. If you don’t yet have a Nexus Mods account, you’ll be informed you need to register for a free account to download it. You’ll be asked to sign up for a paid supporter membership during the sign-up process, but you can just scroll down to the bottom of the page and click “Create Account” to continue.

Launch Nexus Mod Manager after you install it and it will search your PC for games. If you have Fallout 4 installed, it will find it. Just click the checkmark to confirm Fallout 4 is installed at that location and then click “OK.”

Select “Fallout 4” in the list of installed games and click “OK.” If you always want to use this program to manage Fallout 4 mods, click the “Don’t ask me next time” checkbox here.

You’ll be informed that you need to set up the paths where Nexus Mod Manager will store mod-related files. Click “OK” to continue and you’ll see a Fallout 4 Setup screen. By default, Nexus Mod Manager will store these files under C:\Games\Nexus Mod Manager\Fallout4 .

There’s a problem with these default folder settings. It won’t work unless you run Nexus Mod Manager as Administrator. If you run it normally, you’ll see an error informing you that Nexus Mod Manager is “unable to get write permissions for” the directory.

To solve this, set the folder paths to something like C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\Nexus Mod Manager\Fallout4 . Alternatively, keep the default folders and run Nexus Mod Manager as an Administrator. To do so, right-click the Nexus Mod Manager shortcut and select “Run as administrator.”

To always run it as Administrator, right-click the shortcut and select “Open file location.” Right-click the “Nexus Mod Manager” Shortcut, select “Properties, click the “Compatability” tab, and enable the “Run this program as an administrator” checkbox. Click “OK” to save your settings and Windows will always launch Nexus Mod Manager with Administrator permissions.

How to Install Fallout 4 Mods

You’ll want to sign into Nexus Mod Manager with your Nexus account for easy mod installation. To do so, click the profile icon next to “You are not logged in” at the bottom-left corner of the Nexus Mod Manager window. Enter your Nexus Mods username and password here.

You’ll then see a “Logged in” message here, informing you you’re logged in.

You can now head to the Fallout 4 Mods category page to browse and search the available mods. If you’re logged in, you’ll see “[Name]’s account” at the top-right corner of each web page. If you’re not, click the “Log in” link at the top-right corner of the web page.

Locate a mod you want to install and click the “Download (NMM)” button to download the mod with Nexus Mod Manager. Your browser will hand off to the Nexus Mod Manager application, which will download the mod you chose.

The Download link at the top of each mod’s page will download the main, current version of the mod. However, some mods offer multiple versions, or additional files.

To download multiple versions or optional files a mod offers, scroll down on its download page and click the “Files” tab. You’ll see the various files the mod offers, along with explanations from the mod author about what they do. Click “Download With Manager” to download the mod files you want.

Once it’s downloaded and installed, locate the mod in the list, select it, and click the green checkmark button in the sidebar to enable it. You can click the red cancel button that appears in this location afterwards to disable a mod.

Some mods will walk you through a setup process the first time you enable them. You’ll be able to choose different options, depending on the mod. Go through the setup process and select your desired options to enable the mod.

To change these options later, right-click the mod in the Nexus Mod Manager list and select “Reinstall Mod.” You’ll see the same setup screens again.

Now all you need to do is launch Fallout 4. You can do so using the “Launch Fallout4” button at the top-left corner of the screen or just launch it through Steam normally. Load your existing game or create a new one–either way, the mods you installed will immediately take effect.

To disable or uninstall a mod later, close Fallout 4 and open Nexus Mod Manager. Right-click the mod you want to disable or uninstall and select “Deactivate” to disable the mod or “Uninstall and Delete” to remove the mod from your system.

You can also click the settings icon at the top of the Nexus Mod Manager window and use the “Disable All Active Mods” or “Uninstall All Active Mods” options to quickly disable or uninstall all currently activate mods.

How to Configure Your Mod Load Order (and Why It Matters)

The above process should work perfectly if you’re only using one mod. However, if you plan to install several mods, you may need to think about your mod load order.

This is exactly what it sounds like. Fallout 4 will load mods one by one, in the order you specify.

If you have multiple mods installed, some of them may overwrite each other’s changes. For example, you may have one “total overhaul mod” that tweaks a large amount of things in the game, including all the weapons. Second, you may have a small mod that makes a single weapon function in a certain way. If the game loads the small mod before the larger mod, its tweaks will be overwritten by the total overhaul mod. To have the second mod function, the larger total overhaul mod needs to be loaded first.

This only applies to mods that have plugins. If you install a mod with a plugin, it’ll appear on the “Plugins” tab, as well as the “Mods” tab. To control the load order, click over to the “Plugins” tab. Select a mod you’ve installed and click the up and down arrows in the left pane to adjust the load order. The “Masters” information for a plugin tells you when a mod depends on another mod. For example, in the screenshot below, “Homemaker – SK Integration Patch.esp” depends on Fallout4.esm, SettlementKeywords.esm, and Homemaker.esm. It must appear after all these other plugins in the list. Nexus Mod Manager won’t let you move it above those other plugins in your load order.

It may take some trial and error to get the load order working the way you want it. Some mod authors may provide information about recommended load order on their mod’s download page.

If you want some additional help, you can try using LOOT, the Load Order Optimization tool. It works by examining your mods and attempting to decide the correct order so that all dependencies are satisfied and that each mod has a maximum impact on your game. It will recommend you a load order you can configure in Nexus Mod Manager.

How to Deal With Mod Conflicts, or “Overwrites”

There’s another way mods can conflict, and it’s totally separate from your plug-in load order. Sometimes, two mods overwrite the same files in your game, and you’ll need to decide which one you want to take precedence. We’ll use Skyrim here as an example. Skyrim and Fallout 4 share the same engine, and work similarly.

Texture packs are a great example of this. For example, the Skyrim HD mod adds over 2,000 high-res textures to the game, making it look absolutely fantastic. But there are also smaller mods for specific textures–like this Real Ice and Snow mod–that (sometimes) look even better. Let’s say you want to replace most of your game with the Skyrim HD pack, but want the ice and snow from the Real Ice and Snow mod.

First, you select the Skyrim HD mod and enable it, just like you would any other mod. If you start the game at this point, you’d see that the Skyrim HD textures have been applied. Then, when you enable the Real Ice and Snow mod, you’ll get this message:

This happens because you have two mods–Skyrim HD and Real Ice and Snow–attempting to modify Skyrim’s snow and ice textures. If you want Real Ice and Snow, you’ll click “Yes to All” or “Yes to Mod” to overwrite Skyrim HD’s textures. If you prefer Skyrim HD’s textures, you’d click “No to All” or “No to Mod”, and any conflicting textures from Real Ice and Snow would not be applied.

You could load these mods in the opposite order, too. If you loaded Real Ice and Snow first, you’d get the ice from that mod, and decide whether to overwrite it with Skyrim HD after the fact.

If you’re installing a lot of mods, we recommend loading the bigger, game-sweeping mods first as your “base layer”–in the example above, that’s Skyrim HD. Then, load the smaller, more specific mods after, always choosing “Yes to All.”

The more mods you install, the more complex the process becomes, and we’ve only scratched the surface here–there are many mods that require even more steps outside of Nexus Mod Manager to work (like ENBs or interface modifications). But the more you do it, the more it’ll become second nature. If you ever have questions, check the Discussion tab on the offending mod’s Nexus page–there’s a lot of good info to be had, and developers are often pretty responsive.

Why Do x86 CPUs Only Use Two Out of Four “Rings”?

2016-04-29T14:30:00.004-07:00

When learning more about how operating systems and the hardware they run on work and interact with each other, you may be surprised to see what appears to be oddities or under-utilization of “resources” occurring. Why is that? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answer to a curious reader’s question.

Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.

The Question

SuperUser reader AdHominem wants to know why x86 CPUs only use two out of four rings:

Linux and Windows based x86 systems only use Ring 0 for kernel mode and Ring 3 for user mode. Why do processors even distinguish four different rings if they all end up just using two of them anyway? Has this changed with the AMD64 architecture?

Why do x86 CPUs only use two out of four rings?

The Answer

SuperUser contributor Jamie Hanrahan has the answer for us:

There are two primary reasons.
The first is that, although the x86 CPUs do offer four rings of memory protection, the granularity of protection offered thereby is only at the per-segment level. That is, each segment can be set to a specific ring (privilege level) along with other protections like write-disabled. But there are not that many segment descriptors available. Most operating systems would like to have a much finer granularity of memory protection, like… for individual pages.
So, enter page table-based protection. Most, if not all, modern x86 operating systems more or less ignore the segmenting mechanism (as much as they can anyway) and rely on the protection available from the low-order bits in page table entries. One of these is called the “privileged” bit. This bit controls whether or not the processor has to be in one of the “privileged” levels to access the page. The “privileged” levels are PL 0, 1, and 2. But it is just one bit, so at the page-by-page protection level, the number of “modes” available as far as memory protection is concerned is just two: A page can be accessible from non-privileged mode, or not. Hence, just two rings. To have four possible rings for each page, they would have to have two protection bits in each page table entry to encode one of four possible ring numbers (just as do the segment descriptors). However, they do not.
The other reason is a desire for operating system portability. It is not just about x86; Unix taught us that an operating system could be relatively portable to multiple processor architectures, and that it was a good thing. And some processors support only two rings. By not depending on multiple rings in the architecture, the operating system implementers made the operating systems more portable.
There is a third reason that is specific to Windows NT development. NT’s designers (David Cutler and his team, whom Microsoft hired away from DEC Western Region Labs) had extensive previous experience on VMS; in fact, Cutler and a few of the others were among VMS’s original designers. And the VAX processor for which VMS was designed does have four rings (VMS uses four rings).
But the components that ran in VMS’s Rings 1 and 2 (Record Management Services and the CLI, respectively) were left out of the NT design. Ring 2 in VMS was not really about operating system security, but rather about preserving the user’s CLI environment from one program to the next, and Windows did not have that concept; the CLI runs as an ordinary process. As for VMS’s Ring 1, the RMS code in Ring 1 had to call into Ring 0 fairly often, and ring transitions are expensive. It turned out to be far more efficient to just go to Ring 0 and be done with it rather than have a lot of Ring 0 transitions within the Ring 1 code (again, not that NT has anything like RMS anyway).
As for why x86 implemented four rings while operating systems did not use them, you are talking about operating systems of far more recent design than x86. A lot of the system programming features of x86 were designed long before NT or true Unix-ish kernels were implemented on it, and they did not really know what the operating system would use. It was not until we got paging on x86 that we could implement true Unix-ish or VMS-like kernels.
Not only do modern x86 operating systems largely ignore segmenting (they just set up the C, D, and S segments with a base address of 0 and size of 4 GB; F and G segments are sometimes used to point to key operating system data structures), they also largely ignore things like “task state segments”. The TSS mechanism was clearly designed for thread context switching, but it turns out to have too many side effects, so modern x86 operating systems do it “by hand”. The only time x86 NT changes hardware tasks is for some truly exceptional conditions, like a double fault exception.
Regarding x64 architecture, a lot of these disused features were left out. To their credit, AMD actually talked to operating system kernel teams and asked what they needed from x86, what they did not need or did not want, and what they would like added. Segments on x64 exist only in what might be called vestigial form, task state switching does not exist, etc., and operating systems continue to use just two rings.

Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange users? Check out the full discussion thread here.