One year after Facebook went public some things have remained the same. At least the founder still wears his favorite hoodies and the employees still rate him and the company highly. The current mission has not changed, “making the world much more connected”. But today it is much more difficult to perceive the social giant as anything but a big corporation. And that feeling is growing with each day passing.

Today the social giant is a company, better yet it is a huge corporation. It has a market cap of $60 billion, about 5,000 employees and 1.1 billion active users. But the most important difference to take note of is that Facebook today has to answer to shareholders rather than just users. That simple fact has had a a significant impact on the way the social giant operate and this is reflected in the kind of features the company is now releasing.

The focus is on the money now

Back in the early days of Facebook, the founder didn’t seem to be so much interested in monetization. This has changed when the website filed to go public. In the same SEC letter the CEO wrote, he gave the impression that he is willing to turn the website into a good source of income.

In the letter, he explained how he has developed appreciation giving him a better picture of how much a strong company needs a strong economic engine that will power its growth. That can be the best way to attract the right personnel that will help solve important problem.

Those comments made in the letter were not just idle talk. During its quarter earnings call in October, the social network, headed by Mark Zuckerberg made it clear that each team in the company was assigned the task of creating products that will generate revenues. This change in the way the company operate coincided with a range of new money-making efforts Facebook is experimenting with across various areas of the website and even mobile.

The social giant started charging its own users $1 for sending messages to people that were not on their friend’s list. As for those who want to send a message to a celebrity, Facebook is willing to charge more and that includes sending to Mark Zuckerberg for a cost of $100. Users who want their posts to be promoted are now offered to pay $7 for that to happen. These features used to be free back in the early days of the social network.

The biggest source of revenue is obviously the ads. The increase in revenues on the website has at least allowed the company to pamper its employees read the article about “How its feels to work at Facebook” to have an idea of what the employees are enjoying

Placing ads everywhere

Since going public last May, the social network has introduced a mobile app with ads, a re-targeting ads feature based on user’s browsing history and results in the search now have sponsored ads. Ads seems to invade the platform and yet the company is not done. They intend to come up with video ads as well.

Last March the website started rolling out a redesigned News Feed which again was put together with the online marketers in mind. The purpose of the new design is to provide more and better real estate for ads.

Then the social site went on to introduce Facebook Home. An app launcher for Android phones that allows users to be in touch with their Facebook friends on the go. But again the CEO did mention that the mobile platform had the potential to serve ads. The trend seems to suggest the the company will not miss this opportunity either.

A switch to mobile devices

As usual, not all the users are happy with the rapid changes taking place on their favorite social network but there is at least one change that is very much welcome. Facebook today is much more focused on mobile than it was years ago.

Facebook was born at a time where desktops were by default the only hardware used to go online. Things have changed every since but the social network was a bit late when it came to catching up with mobile technology. As it prepared to go public, analysts and investors pointed the finger at the company’s weakness on mobile and were worried that it could hurt in the long term. Facebook was pressured to put more effort in improving its mobile app.

The social giant then re-built the iPhone app from scratch. It is now faster and updated frequently. The company is also encouraging its employees to focus on mobile. The management went as far as forcing the engineers to browse on the phone even if desktops were readily available. There have also been poster pasted around the campus to encourage employees to use Android phone to better understand how it works.

The brain drain

It is quite common in the world of business for a company to experience an exodus of key employees as soon as it goes public. Facebook did not escape that rule. In this particular case, the brain drain has been noticeable. Just 3 months after filing its IPO, the CTO moved out, followed by head of partnership marketing division and the platforms director.

Since then other prominent employees also resigned. That said Facebook continues to attract top talent from competitors like Google and Apple. That is a good sign.

A better polished CEO

On the outside, Mark Zuckerberg might still be wearing his usual hoodies by when it comes to public speaking he now seems to be much more polished in the way he expresses himself. That wouldn’t be a surprise since AllThingsD reported in September that the CEO has been relying on the service of handlers that assist in crafting his public appearances.

We are not sure where Facebook is heading to but its management will have to make sure to find that right middle where it can monetize itself without hurting the users who are the very people who keep the website alive.

Yet for some weird reason, with the introduction of the iOS 6, Apple had a different view of that feature and decided to remove it completely from the Store. The option only came back after users complained and even that, Apple made sure to make the process so intimidating that iPhone owners (especially the new ones) just do not develop an interest in it anymore.

In the busy world we live today, sometimes we just don’t have the time to personally send a gift to a friend but we know for sure that a friend that is into phones and other electronic gadgets will definitely appreciate a good app as a gift. It would be a nice surprise if a friend received a notification about a gift he was sent by you. How about sending him a copy of the popular Angry Birds or the fun playing game Fruit Ninja. Apple may have changed the process but it is still worth sending the gift anyway so check out this simple steps.

How to send the gift

Go to the App Store on any iOS device you happen to own and tap on the search tab (the magnifier icon at the bottom). Type the name of whatever app you want to gift and hit search. You will be served with a list of apps that correspond to your keyword. Now select the app you are interested in and a pop up window will follow. On the top right hand corner of that window there is a button that allows you to share the app. Tap on it and you will be presented with different options including sending as a gift. Just tap that.

On the next page you will just have to fill in all the details needed for the gift to be sent to the right recipient. When you are done hit next. The following step will be to select a theme to make the gift much more presentable. Then you will be given a chance to review for a last time all the information entered before confirming by hitting the “Done” button.

Once the process is completed your friend will receive an email with all the information necessary to enable him to get the gift. That said he will need an iOS device to be able to enjoy it.

If you are having any problem with the app store that keeps crashing all the time might want to read our article about that. Click on the link.

Some good news for all gamers. The FPS game controller gun that most have been dreaming about is now a reality. Every gamers that is a fan of Battlefield and Call of Duty knows that the FPS controller is a key accessory in the whole gaming experience. With it one can feel like he is really part of the action. But the current FPS controllers for PlayStation and Xbox were not fulfilling the fantasies of the player. David Kotkin felt that he could do something about it. He designed a FPS controller that would make the playing experience much more realistic. Delta six was born.

Delta six is designed like an assault rifle and is produced to help you immerse yourself into the game. By holding that gun controller you will feel like you are a real soldier on a mission. More importantly the controller was made to be compatible with all the popular game consoles like PS3, Xbox 360 and even the PC. The gun offers the user all the game controls found in other FPS controller and on top of that there are a dozen of other cool features. The player can move with his gun, hold his breath by pulling with his chest, change magazines and recoil the gun when a shot is fired.

Delta six is a project that David Kotkin started on his own and he needs more funding to finish it. He is relying on our support with the assistance of the Kickstarter website. Be kind to support him and make this dream a reality.

Gameplay with Delta six

Some gamers were lucky enough to test the gun and they do have different views about it. The equipment is almost ready but there needs to be some few adjustments when it comes to motion. The experience is described as fairly responsive but not fast enough. The sensitivity can be adjusted for each game, that said the gun works better with less demanding ones. When it gets too graphic intense things don’t run smoothly.

It would be easy to play zombie games with it because the enemies to shoot here are already slow and deliberately trodding. However when dealing with faster games with bad guys who quickly get too close, it may require you to quickly respond, a swift accurate aiming might turn out to be a big deal. The team behind the game is obviously working on improving that before it get released.

Despite its current shortcomings, the Delta six prototype still shows promise. The crowd of gamers behind it need to seriously invest in it for its potential to be attained. The starting price for this gadget goes for $159, which is not much encouraging for now. Kotkin hopes his track record will help convince his prospective backers to make the purchase. After all this is not the first time he creates something for the market. He has already designed an avenger controller that did well in the market. If everything goes well you can expect to get your Delta six gun by December.

Talking of shooter games, you might want to try the Madness Project Nexus

One thing particular about this car is that is has an active lean technology that allows the rider to maneuver the same way he would for a motorbike. Basically when getting to a turning point, the electric vehicle will lean in the right direction. This happens as a result of the rear wheel steering technology that moves the wheels back and forth. It is also integrated with a smooth auto balancing feature that allows it to maintain itself on track. Toyota claims that the design is so slim that 4 i-Road cars can be parked in one car parking spot without problem. The i-Road is indeed designed for drivers who want to split lanes in traffic. Except that this time they can also benefit from the protection from the elements.

The advantage the i-Road has over conventional bikes is that it features a fully enclosed body. The driver inside is fully protected from the weather. The implication is those who may use that vehicle will not be required to wear a helmet. That is a big advantage that will attract women who can be concerned about their hairstyle when wearing a helmet.

The i-Road is a 3 wheel machine providing users with the next level of biking experience. It is much more safe to be driving on a 3 wheel vehicle compare to a 2 wheel. There are no confirmation when it comes to the price Toyota want to offer it for. For now the car can only go for 30 miles after been fully charged. We do expect some improvement before the vehicle gets released to the market. It takes about 3 hours to get the battery to 100% but we don’t know yet which domestic power standard it uses.

There are not many exciting electric cars for sale currently aside from the Tesla S model but the i-Road should definitely be in the list of cars to buy for fans of electric vehicles. The noiseless, 0 emission car will definitely attract those concerned about the environment and willing to avoid spending money on gas. Some have projected that it will be very successful in Europe and Japan due to the congested urban centers and strict emission regulation. Of course you too can order one if you want by getting in touch with Toyota’s sales representative.

For now the motor giant said it is just evaluating the market response in relation to this project so they have not yet decided if it will get into mass production.

If this car gets released into the market it will prove wrong all the conspiracy theorists about the electric car as mentioned in one of our article 10 conspiracy theories that have to do with tech. Some believe the oil companies will never allow electric car sold in mass production.

The new speed record of wireless Internet has been set by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. The researchers in the institute were able to transfer at a speed of 40 GB per second over a distance measured to be around .6 miles. That is like transferring 10 high definition movies in one second.

This is made possible by using better hardware compared to the ones currently used and relying on higher radio frequencies. For this experiment, they transmitted information over a 240 gigahertz. The hardware was designed by the researchers in the Institute. It is a set of chips arranged in a way that they can process higher frequencies.

The fact that they transfer through higher frequencies implies that they need smaller electronic components to receive the signals. You probably noticed that FM and AM radios need relatively bigger antennas to receive signals. That is because they make use of longer wavelength. Wi-Fi receivers rather rely on shorter wavelength and that is why they can be made much smaller. The chips used in the designed on the antenna in question were a few millimeter on a side.

To move a lot of data over the air, it is necessary to use high frequencies. The shorter the wavelength, the more data can be transmitted in a given time. That is based on the fact that the number of bits traveling over the airwaves is inversely proportional to the wavelength used.

The current Wi-Fi that we use operate at 2.4 or 5 GHz.. You can hope to transfer at speeds of some few megabytes per second. The technology used in the latest smartphones currently is below that. So it is not surprising that they hardly hit 10 MB.

The other problem with Wi-Fi networks is that at some higher frequencies the signal can fade out because of moisture in the air. That said 240 GHz is found to be that sweet spot that is high enough to transmit lots of information without much disturbance from moisture. Considering the fact that the transmission can go further than what Wi-Fi router can manage, it would be a good idea to use this type of transmitter in rural areas since the big businesses do not find it profitable to lay down fiber optic cables there. Talking of affordable internet, you should check out this article where we talk about free internet for American family

For the meantime, here is what you can do

Completely restart the App Store

To close the App Store, tap twice on the Home screen of your handset for all the running app icons to appear. Locate the App Store icon and keep one finger on it until it wiggles. You will see a red minus sign appear at its corner. Just tap on that sign and the app will close. You can then re-open it by tapping on the icon again.

The network settings

Sometimes the issue might not be from the Store itself but rather from your Internet connection. Maybe your link is too slow. Check with your Wi-Fi and make sure that it is on. You can also cross check with other devices and confirming that your link is working.

In case you suspect anything wrong with the network settings in the handset, you can just reset everything. To do that go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings. The App Store should now be able to connect.

Apple ID confusion

Some users were able to solve this problem by signing out of the store and signing back in. If you have multiple accounts, maybe using all of them may create confusion. Just stick to one. Sign out and sign back in with your favorite user account. To do that navigate to Settings > iTunes & App Store. If you are logged in you should see the email used for that ID. Tap on it, a pop up box will show. Choose sign out. Use the same ID to sign in again. We have already written an article on how to manage different Apple IDs

Turn off Genius

Genius is a software that helps you find other interesting apps based on those that you’ve already installed. It is available on all iOS devices, iPhone, iPad and iPod. If you happened to have enabled that, turn it off. To do that go to the featured tab in the App Store and tap on your Apple ID at the bottom. Select “View Apple ID”. On the page that follows Tap Turn Off Genius for apps.

Restarting the device

After trying all the suggestions above you may now restart your device by holding one finger on the on/off button until a red slider shows up on the screen. Slide it and the handset will go off. Press on the same button to reboot the phone and check out the App Store.

If none of the above works, just wait for Apple to fix the problem with a new update.

One key feature of the iOS 6 is that fathers and mothers can turn on the parental control on the device before handing it over to their kids who will then not be able to use it to make any purchase on the iBookstore for books marked as having sexually explicit content. Once parental control is enabled, all adult books become invisible, nobody can even preview it.

It gets even better because once turned on, even if there were already other adult books that were purchased, those material will be hidden.

Thi parental control for eBooks is actually a follow up to the restrictions Apple made available for adult content and explicit music on iTunes. The decision made by the company reflects how fast the iBookstore has been adopted by young people and how they have been using their iPads and iPhones to have access to different types of content online.

How to turn on the parental control

On your device, Tap Settings > General > Restrictions and then Books. There, you will be able to toggle ON or OFF the “Explicit Sexual Content”. Remember, the “on” means you allow explicit content to be shown while the “off” implies that you are blocking all explicit content.

The moment you turned off the explicit content, whenever a child is trying to access a book that is marked as sexually explicit on the store , a warning message will pop up saying: “This book contains explicit sexual content. To download it, you must first go to Settings and edit your restrictions.” The buttons for Buy and Sample will be disabled and the user will not even be able to share a link to that book. To be able to disable the parental control, the kid will have to provide the password required. The fact is restrictions are set up with a password.

Even with that new control in place it should still be noted that the iBookstore has grown into a large library with thousands of eBooks continuously added to the collection. The service is designed to police itself and mark all adult content appropriately but there are still chances that certain books with sexual content remain under the radar and end up in the hands of kids. For that matter it still remains parents’ responsibility to make sure that their child is kept away from this type of content.

If you are looking for more information on how to buy a book using the iPhone just click here

There is a need to monitor how kids use the net and put some firewall restrictions over the Wi-Fi that will block certain types of content automatically. Also never allow kids to use credit cards online.

Yet some users have complained that whenever they try to connect the camera to the touchscreen device, they get an error message that says “device uses too much power”. With that error message it is impossible to import photos. Here are some few tips to help you deal with the problem. The steps listed below are to be tried one by one.

The battery
Both the camera and the iPad use rechargeable batteries to function. To charge them when the battery goes low, you usually connect them to a USB outlet. Imagine now connecting such devices to each other. Could there be a chance that energy flows from one device to the other? It is just a possibility. The advice to prevent this kind of situation is to properly charge both equipment until their battery is full before trying to transfer anything between them. After charging both to 100% restart them before trying again.

Some even suggest that you keep your camera connected to a separate charging unit before connecting it to the iPad. Unfortunately some camera use the same port to transfer pictures so not everybody will be able to apply this trick.

Prevent automatic charging from computer USB
By default most digital cameras are made to automatically charge their battery once they are connected to a USB outlet. It could be through the PC or any other USB port. If at least your iPad is fully charged, that may not really be a problem. The other thing might be that your camera requires more power than other similar equipment. The iPad might not be able to provide a sufficient amount of it and for that matter will rather show you an error message.

But you can fix this by making sure that when you connect the photographic equipment, it doesn’t suck the power out of the iPad. Go to the Settings in your camera and look for options that allow you to disable charging from computer. Because there are different brands of cameras out there, this article cannot tell you exactly where to find that option but if you carefully search through the Settings you should be able to find it. Once “charging from computer” has been disabled, the camera will only charge itself when it is plugged to an electric outlet.

After trying all that if you don’t get any good result then maybe your camera is just not compatible with the iPad. Keep in mind that there are many other ways to transfer files to your iDevice. So if one technique doesn’t work, try another one.

For any user that is experiencing this issue, here are some few tips to try and hopefully the problem will be solved. Verify after each step if there is any positive change.

The Wi-Fi
You want to make sure that your Wi-Fi is properly working. First turn it off and back on again (Settings > Wi-Fi). You should also check the router to see if there is no problem on that side. It is a good idea to restart all devices involved in this operation, be it the router, the Wi-Fi on the phone and even FaceTime itself.

If things don’t get better consider resetting the router and reconfiguring it. Your phone should also be restarted just to be sure to have a fresh start with all the devices.

Restarting the app itself
If you properly checked your hardware and you think there is no problem on that side then it might be a software issue. The first thing to try is to restart the FaceTime app. To do that tap twice on the Home button for the icons of the apps currently running to appear. Look for the FaceTime icon and keep your finger on it for some few seconds. The icon will wiggle and a minus sign in a red circle will appear next to it. Tap on that sign and the app will close. To launch it again, double click on the FaceTime icon once more.

The DNS settings
It is not that common but some have been able to solve the issue by making some changes with respect to the DNS settings on their iOS device. There are many DNS servers that could be used for that purpose. That said starting with the Google’s Public DNS is good idea. The DNS is 8.8.8.8. The digits are supposed to be entered on any portable Apple product. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi and tap the blue arrow next to the Wi-Fi connection. You can enter any Public DNS you know.

Concerning the iOS
Some users have noticed that certain problems on the iDevices are usually solved just by changing the date and time some few years ahead. You can try that. Maybe set it to 2017 and see what happens. If that didn’t work set the time to automatic.

In the worst scenario the explanation can also be that your ISP was just having a downtime and once they solve it everything should go back to normal for you.

This problem seems to be specific to those who subscribed to Verizon. That said any other person experiencing a similar issue will have to update their carrier settings as soon a possible. Here are some few tricks to try.

Apple shares the blame
It’s been reported that this problem had to do with a carrier update that Apple rolled out for Verizon customers. There was a bug in the update. After several complains, Verizon has acknowleged the problem and has made available an updated version that will resolve the problem. So to check if your phone is ready for the update, go to Settings > General > About. If the update is there tap OK. When the update is done, restart your handset by holding one finger on the on/off button for some few seconds. A red slider will appear on the screen and you will just have to slide it for the phone to go off. Then press on the same button to turn the phone back on.

There seems to be other related problem that are still not yet solved for those who updated their iOS to version 6.

Verizon has promised that all those who ended up being victimes of this buggy rollout will not receive extra charges. The carrier has not yet given a clear indication on how that is going to be done. The assumption is, it is probably going to give extra bonus data to clients that were overcharged to cover up.

Ultimate solution

Just to avoid this type of situation, it would be best to use an iPod Touch when trying to use the Wi-Fi. Ipod touch devices can be used without the need to insert a SIM card first. You can use it just like an iPhone with the only difference that you can’t make cellular calls.

With the iPod touch you should still be able to send messages through the iMessage app and have live face to face conversation with the FaceTime app. And if you’ve already paid the fees to your ISP, you shouldn’t worry about any extra charges related to online communication. Be advised.

How cool is this?

Most of the electronic gadgets we purchase today can be charged though USB ports. Examples of such gadgets are MP3 players, iPads, smartphones and iPods. With the continuance USB rechargeable battery it should be possible to recharge any portable electronic device wherever you are even if there is no PC available.

Continuance is a concept battery that was in the list of designs presented at the iF concept designs in 2011. It was designed by 4 engineers namely Xiameng Hu, Yuancheng Liu, Hailong Piao, Haimo Bao. The idea behind these batteries is quite innovative. The engineers that hatched this idea, thought of the traditional battery but this time it offers the users the possibility to charge their handset through USB.

This implies that the Continuance battery will have 2 functions. One can use it as a normal battery to be inserted in any gadget that requires them or if you have a gadget that can be recharged through USB the same battery can help.

It is still a concept and details have not yet been given as to how the battery itself is going to recharge. The 2 possible choice would be through USB or the old type battery chargers that we used back in the time. For now, Continuance batteries are not produced for mass consumption but if you are excited about these type of ideas and want to invest in it, here at least one product that is already in the market.

USBCELL AA USB rechargeable battery
These are batteries that you might mistakenly take for cylindrical pendrive. USBCELL are AA Ni-MH batteries that can be recharged through the USB port of our PC. With them you don’t need the AC charger anymore. You will need about 5 hours to get them fully charged. In terms of power they offer 1.2 V and 1300mAh and you can plug them into any device that uses AA batteries. The design is by Moixa, the company is selling a pair for $18.85. You can order them online by doing a simple search with the keyword USBCELL.

Things may get even better in the future where our Pendrives are going to be rechargeable batteries at the same time. In fact designer Wonchul Hwang is already working on that type of drive. It won’t be long before you start seeing it in the market. The first prototype offers 4 Gigs of space but over time it may even offer more. It won’t be a surprise if other companies follow through and come up with their own version of it. The future looks bright when it comes to transportable sources of energy.

Buy from the iBookStore
You can pass through the iBooks app to buy directly on the iBookStore. This is done by launching the app and tapping on the Store button which is found in the upper left corner. In the store you can browse books available by title, genre and author. The “New York Times bestseller lists and Tap Charts” is also available there.

Keep in mind that before buying anything online, you need make sure that your credit card details have been verified.

Purchasing through the computer
It is possible to buy a book that you would want to read on your iPad through your PC or Mac. The software required for that is iTunes 10.3 or later. Launch iTunes go the Store and click Books. You can buy it right there and save a copy on your desktop. To read it on your portable device you may choose to sync both the computer and the handset. The other way to transfer the book is to enable “Automatic download” for iOS. This feature downloads any software or eBook you purchased on any enabled device to other Apple products you may own, so far as they are connected to the net. On your tablet, you will need iBooks 1.2.2 or later for automatic downloads to work.

Opening book files
Even though iBooks is the recommended app to open ePub and PDF files you may still be able to open it directly through web browsers like Safari. Any book that you can get for free through the Google search can be opened by tapping on the “Open in iBooks” option in Safari and the file will be saved.

The fact remain that Amazon also has over one million books on the Kindle Store plus and as an iPad or iPhone user, you don’t necessarily have to buy a sperate kindle device to be able to access those books. There is an app designed for that. You can use it to open eBooks, Magazines, Newspapers and Textbook.

To get a book from the Kindle store you can purchase it through the Safari browser. Once done with the purchase. You can access the book through the Kindle app on your iOS device. Keep in mind that to access the purchased book through the app you will have to login with the same account used for the purchase.

What is an iPad?
You’ve be hearing that word ever since Apple launched it. The iPad is a tablet touchscreen computer that can perform many different tasks like browsing the net, watching videos, playing music and taking pictures. There are many 3rd party apps available for the iPad that can greatly improve the experience on the tablet. Some of these apps are designed to help faculty members and teachers in dispensing their lessons. Some of those softwares will be suggested in this article.

Strategy 1: let the students explore
It is important to show to your students how the iPad can help them easily solve problems. Give them a simple problem and take them through the process of finding the solution for it through the tablet. That is the best way of developing their interest for the tool. It is a good idea to put them into groups where they can cooperate and help each other to solve the problem given.

Some of the apps you can use for this exercise are FieldNotesLT, Asemblee, Dragon Dictation

Strategy 2: Make it more interactive
As a teacher, your life will be easier if you allow your students to go through your course through the iPad in an interactive manner. You can prepare even video lesson in advance for them to watch before coming to the classroom. That way they can spend more time asking questions when you meet with them.

You can even add interactive quizzes to the lesson for your students to try before class hours. Some of the apps used for that purpose are iBooks Author, Educreations Interactive Whiteboard, Animoto Video Maker

Strategy 3: The teaching should take place through the iPad
If every students has it own iPad, there is no need to use a white board. The tablet device offers wireless internet connection so all the student can follow through whatever you are teaching on their own handset.

You can move around the classroom as you are dispensing the lesson and monitor how the students are following. You can share your presentation with all students through the net. The whole experience is going to be much more relaxed. Apps you can used to implement this strategy are Nearpod, Prezi, Keynote, Splashtop, ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard.

Strategy 4: Simulation games
So far as KG and primary school students are concerned tablet PCs is one of their favorite tool to play games. As a teacher, it is important to take advantage of that and promote active learning. Simulation games spark students interest and curiosity and that is why they are great teaching tools.

Exposing the students to those games will turn on their critical thinking skill to solve the problems they are presented with. Apps you can rely on for this strategy are Codea, TinyTap, Moments Into Games.

As a teacher you can also find out how your other colleagues are making use of the iPad to make their class more fun.

Anybody looking at the box in which the device is found will only notice it is written iPad. Nothing is there to show that it is an iPad 2 or 3. So for any user who happens to own all the version of the device, it can be confusing to know which one is in hand. There has to be an easier, faster way of determining the model.

This article underlines the different features that can be used to differentiate easily between the different models when put them next to each other.

The iPad 1
To spot an iPad 1 just check if there is an inbuilt camera. The iPad 1 is the only one that came without any camera. You can’t miss that.

The iPad 2 compared other models.
Still talking about the camera, the iPad 2 has a built in camera both front and back. That said the iPad 3 also has that feature so you can’t be sure yet. Same for the iPad 4. They all look alike with respect to camera related features. At this point you will have to make use of the apps installed to determine the difference. If you go to Settings > General > Keyboard and you see a “Dictation” option, you are dealing with an iPad 3. But again the “Dictation” option will show up if you are still on the iOS version 5. In case your device is running iOS 6 you should rather go to Settings > General and check if the Siri option is available. If it is, you are holding an iPad 3.

Basically the key difference between iPad 2 and later versions is that the iPad 2 doesn’t offer “Dictation” or “Siri” option.

The iPad 3 compared to other models
Now lets suppose that you bump into an iPad that has both Siri and the cameras. It can only be an iPad 3 or 4. But how are you going to determine for sure which one it is? To differentiate between the 2 you will not have to look at the iPad itself but rather the type of charger connection it uses. Aside from the iPad 4, all other iPads use 30-pin connection. It is only the iPad 4 that uses the “lightning” connection. This feature can’t escape you. The latest iPad uses the “lightning” connection, it is the one that offers the retina display.

Note that even though they look alike each iPad comes with slightly different hardware compared to it previous counterpart. Newer version offer a better performance compared to older versions. This article is only to help you identify which one of them you are holding just by looking at basic features.

The short answer to the question is a big NO and that “no” comes from Apple itself. The company prefers not to allow users to merge accounts. And for those who may want to delete other IDs they don’t even use, that is also not possible. The only way out is to make a choice. Pick the ID that you prefer and stick to it.

The reason why some of us have multiple IDs is that we forget our passwords and don’t know how to recover it. Others may have lost access to the email they used to sign in with and therefore need to change it. If you are in any of those category it would be smarter to try to recover your password or change the email of your old account rather than creating a new one. Those options are available on the Apple website. Just go to http://appleid.apple.com/ to change your email or https://iforgot.apple.com if you want to recover the password.

What about the purchases?
The concern with most users that have many different accounts is that they may have made purchases with all their different IDs and that implies they need to login to their device with separate ID to be able to access certain apps or song.

There is a way out. You will need a computer to deal with the issue. You can login to iTunes on your PC or Mac and download all the apps and songs you bought with all the separate accounts you created. Once you have everything on your hard drive, it should be easy to sync your desktop with any other iOS device you own irrespective of the account you sign in with on the mobile handset.

One common error message that multiple account users may encounter is “Sorry…but we can’t find data for you in our system”. If you bump into that error message, first clear your browser and try again.

Note that you can either sync through the USB, Wi-Fi service or through the iCloud service. If you want to sync through iCloud service you will have to use the same account both on your PC and iOS device. If you don’t like that option then syncing through Wi-Fi might be a better option. Syncing through USB is one of the easiest option for those who are having problem setting up their Wi-Fi.

The USB cable
By preference use the “lightning to USB” cable that came with the iPad itself. Keep in mind that the USB port on certain old computers may not provide the necessary power for the device to charge. That may explain why the product is showing a “not charging” message. You should try switch it using an electrical outlet or the charger that it came with.

The lightning connector
Check that you have properly inserted the lightning connector. You will have to remove and insert it back a number of times for a proper electric contact to be established. The fact is, sometimes there are debris left on the connector that prevent the current to pass through. You may have to clean the tip of the connector with the help of a hair dryer.

Restarting or resetting the device
Very basic troubleshooting techniques sometimes solve complex problems. First you should try restarting your device by pressing and holding on the home button for some few seconds until the red slider appears and slide it in the direction indicated. You should press on the same button to turn on the handset again then try charging.

If there seems to be no improvement, you can try resetting your Apple product. This time hold both the home button and the sleep/wake button found on the side of the handset. If the red slider appears ignore and wait for the Apple logo to follow. Your protable device will then restart and you can try charging it again.

Drained battery
If you did not charge your iPad mini for quite a while it could also be that the battery is fully discharged. That is not necessarily a bad thing since Apple itself suggests that every months users should completely drain off their battery and recharge it. But then, you want to leave it off and charge it fully. So just plug it and leave it there for some few hours. You can check it every now and then to see how it is going.

To know whether your iPad is charging or not, check for the lightning bolt image that appears in the middle of the battery icon. If it is there, the battery is really charging.

Keep in mind that if the iPad mini is on with some apps still running it might take much longer for the battery to get fully loaded compared to when the device is off.

If this article was helpful, you would probably enjoy reading the following article:

10 things most users don’t even know they can do with their iPads

Try each and check if that solves the problem.

The screen
The screen of the iPhone is very sensitive and after using it for a while, it is important to clean it. You will notice over time that there are many finger marks showing on it or or if you are unlucky you might even see some scratches.

To clean the phone, first turn it off and unplug any cable connected. Do not make use of any of those chemicals used to clean windows. The reason is the screen of the handset is made of an oleophobic coating. This implies that it repel oil, the very oil that comes out of the finger. By applying harsh chemicals on that coating you will damage the oleophobic feature.

So just use a soft tissue to clean the screen. A dry cloth should be fine but if you want to add water make it just a small amount. The type of cloth used should be lint free. Just wipe the surface with the cloth in a specific direction that you choose. Once a direction is chosen just genly wipe progressively the screen in that direction until you feel it is clean enough. Try to unlock again.

Restoring from a backup
Did you install any app or change any Settings? That may be the cause of the problem. If you don’t remember exactly the new app installed or what you changed in the Settings you can still restore your phone to a previous backup where everyting was working just fine.

To backup your iOS data, connect it to a PC where you have launched iTunes. The software is supposed to recognize the handset when you connect it with a USB cable. Once you see the icon of your device showing, right click on it and Backup. The backup will then be created with a date attached to it. So when you want to restore an old backup you may have several different dates to choose from. If one restore backup doesn’t seem to solve the problem, try another one until you get the one without any problems.

If this article was helpful, you would probably enjoy reading the following article:

10 things most users don’t even know they can do with their iPads

One feature that comes with all iPhones and iPads is the ability to use a “shortcode” that will auto-replace itself with a full word or even full a sentence. This feature allows you for example not to have to type your whole email. Just by typing a few keys the email will appear.

Setting up the shortcut

Go to the Settings on your iPhone/Ipad and select the “General” Settings. On the screen that follows scroll down to keyboard and tap on it. On the next page, scroll down to the Shortcuts section and tap Add New Shortcut.

On the next page you will be presented with you 2 sections. The Phrase section is where you enter the sentence you want and the Shortcut section is where you enter any short code that should automatically bring your saved phrase.

Write any phrase you want and any shortcode your want to represent it then tap save when you are done, that shortcut should now be listed in the Shortcuts section.

Let’s say in your Phrase section you entered “I will be with you soon” then in your Shortcut section you enter “iws”. The next time you want to send that message just type “iws” and the whole sentence will be reproduced.

You should now try it for yourself. The new created shortcut can be used in a Text Message, iMessage, Email or any other app. Wherever you enter the shortcut you will be suggested the sentence that is stands for.

You can create as many Shortcuts but you can also delete them when you want.

How to delete the keyboard shortcut
If you find that there are some shortcuts that you don’t use that often you can choose to simply delete them. This can be done in 2 different ways. You will have to go back to the keyboard page. You can choose to hit the “Edit” button at the top right corner and a minus sign in a red circle will appear next to the shorcut. By pressing on the sign the shortcut will be deleted. The other way is to slide your finger on any shortcut you want to delete. The second after that, the minus sign will appear and you can remove it.

Over time you will realize that those shortcuts have really made your life easier as far as using an Apple portable device is concerned.

If this article was helpful, you would probably enjoy reading the following article:

10 things most users don’t even know they can do with their iPads