How To Maximize Your Battery Life

So you are in a hurry, rush out the door, and forgot to grab your phone charger, laptop charger or car charger on the way out to a meeting; sadly there is no way to stop battery life from draining, but there is a lot of things you can do to slow it down so you can continue your day stress free.

So what drains your battery the most? In order to maximize your battery life, it's important to first understand what is the source of the major life-sucker of your laptop and/or phone. A lot of the times it is coming straight from your graphics, brightness settings and programs that are still running. Keep in mind that add-on devices on laptops; like flash drives, USB mice and PC cards are known to drain your battery life very quickly.

One tip is to change your power plan settings on your device. Whether it's your cellphone or laptop, turning down the brightness on your screen and closing out of apps and programs that are not in use can save you a ton of battery time. Adjust your devices LCD screen brightness. You already know that the brightness of your screen takes up a lot of power on your battery percentage, so the quickest way to save your battery for a while is to set your screen to the lowest possible setting. Next you want to take it a step further and try to find a section where Advanced Power Plan settings are available to change. Make sure to change anything that may lower battery life. For laptops, use the low power mode, the system cooling policy setting allows you to change whether the laptop will rely on fans for cooling down, or slow the processor down when the temperature gets too hot. Your computers performance might have a slight change in how fast it responds, but your battery will stay with you for a little longer.

For laptops, using hibernate mode instead of sleep mode allows your laptop to completely use zero power. So if you are taking a break, make sure to set your laptop in hibernate mode instead of sleep to reduce the risk of a dead battery when you return. Laptop batteries are always going to slowly lose their ability to charge as the years pass by, but when your laptop is constantly overheating your battery life is decreasing twice as fast. Make sure to never run your laptop in a hot environment for an extended period of time.

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Google Now Allowing Education and Business Chromebook Customers to Pay Upfront

One of the biggest things to hit the tech world a while back was the fact that Google, the search engine superpower, was expanding into hardware with its all new Chromebooks, all new cloud-focused laptops aimed at the education and business sectors. What made the announcement even more interesting was the fact that Google would offer business and education clients a 3-year monthly payment subscription-based payment plan, charging no upfront costs whatsoever. However, Google has just recently announced that it will begin allowing businesses to pay for their Chromebooks in full upfront.

Google has stated that it discovered some businesses were simply unable to budget for a three-year commitment requiring annual cycles. As a result of these findings, Google is offering education and business customers the choice to pay upfront for their Chromebook with one-year access to a web-based admin management console, phone support and hardware warranty. After the initial year, customers will have the option to pay a monthly fee for the second and third year of management console access and support.

Customers in the education industry are able to get their hands on a Chromebook for $449 if they choose the WiFi option or $519 if they go with the 3G option. Business customers will have to pay $559 for the WiFi version and $639 for the 3G version. The changing policy for the education and business sectors is notable for many reasons, primarily for the fact that we have yet to hear anything from Google about success in this market. I know it has only been four months, but with the way information flies around the internet you would expect to have heard something by now even if it was leaked information or a rumor.

Nevertheless, Google is still very well known for its policy of launching during a beta and it appears as if that applies to the company's enterprise business models as well. I guess we will just have to wait and see how this business venture plays out for Google, though I don't think the company will take any serious financial dips if the project doesn't quite meet expectations.

Source: The Next Web - Google drops Chromebook business, education subscription-only policy, lets them pay up front

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Disabling Your Laptop's Trackpad

If you are constantly working on the go and constantly taking your laptop with you wherever you go, then I think it is safe to say that you are a person who probably likes using a mouse as opposed to your laptop's trackpad. I'm like that; I hate track pads for anything other than casual internet browsing and even then I still get irritated. However, there is a way to avoid that irritation by simply disabling the trackpad.

Choosing which way to disable your trackpad depends on your hardware. Thankfully, most modern laptop makers have attempted to address that problem outright. Some notebooks contain a physical switch that allows you to seamlessly turn your trackpad on and off. Others may incorporate a keyboard shortcut to disable it or may require you to simply press a certain area of the actual trackpad.

There are other ways to disable the trackpad through the software, which can be done with three easy options:

Option 1: Identify a trackpad icon in the notification area. Once found, double-click or right-click the icon to browse the trackpad options and disable the trackpad from here.

Option 2: If that doesn't work or you can't find the icon, then click your Start button. From here go to your computer's Control Panel, then to Hardware and Sound. From here click on Devices and Printers, then click Mouse. The Mouse Properties window will appear where you might find an option of disabling your laptop's trackpad.

Option 3: If the first two options don't work, you can always search for trackpad software from the Start menu.

If you can't find a way to physically disable the trackpad or to disable it via software, you still have one more option with five easy steps.

Step 1: Click Start

Step 2: Type Device Manager into the Search Box. Then click the Device Manager result, subsequently opening up the Device Manager window.

Step 3: Expand Mice and Other Pointing Devices.

Step 4: Right-click the trackpad's entry, then click Disable.

Step 5: Confirm that you want to disable the trackpad.

This should go without saying but make sure you have another pointing device ready before disabling your trackpad, otherwise you won't be able to enable it. Other than that, it should be smooth sailing from there. Now you can enjoy full use of your laptop without the trackpad and you can also get the trackpad back up and running again if you feel like you miss it.

Source: PC World - How to Disable Your Laptop Touchpad

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Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series

When tablet pcs came onto the market, they opened up a whole new array of ideas and possibilities, one of which was the possibility of combining a tablet pc with a small, portable netbook. Many technologies like this have already been created though none of them really work perfectly. But there is a new product that may be changing that, and that is the Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series.

The Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series is a Windows 7 tablet/laptop hybrid. It is a full touch screen tablet that has a slide out keyboard to transform it into a fully functioning laptop. Powered by the 1.66GHz Z670 Oak Trail Processor from Intel, the Samsung Sliding PC 7 is a 2.2-lb tablet that features a 1366x768 resolution, 10.1-inch 340-nit touchscreen, 32GB / 64GB SSD options and 2GB of RAM.

At its core the device is running Windows 7 Home Premium though Samsung has created its own Touch Launcher that indicates a ton of applications which are "optimized for the touchscreen." Other apps will be available through Samsung's App Manager as well as Windows Product Scout. It is still unclear what Windows Product Scout is all about, but this device does come with a USB port as well as an HDMI port, 4-in-1 card reader, an ambient light sensor and a 1.3 megapixel webcam.

Another great feature for this product is the fact that, according to Samsung, it boots in under 20 seconds and will also be available with WiMax. But, this device also comes with its fair share of concerns from the tech world, mainly battery life. However, in response to that, Samsung is claiming that the six-cell lithium-polymer battery that is powering the device will last up to nine hours on a single charge.

This device is looking pretty awesome, especially for the $699 price tag. This is a great product for anybody who loves the functionality that they get from their tablet but hates lugging around both a tablet and a laptop. Look for the Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series when it hits store shelves sometime in March, 2011.

Source: Engadget

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Would You Like Wi-Fi with That?

If you're craving a Big Mac and fries on your lunch break, it may be possible for you to get some work done while you're eating under the golden arches. Earlier this month, over 11,000 McDonald's restaurants started offering free Wi-Fi service. Many of the restaurants were already offering paid Wi-Fi service because as one Manhattan McDonald's franchise owner Paul Hendel put it, "At first, McDonald's wasn't that relevant to laptop users."

In Europe, several McDonald's restaurants have been offering free Wi-Fi for years in an effort to create a cafe-like atmosphere. Hendel was flown to the continent to visit other restaurants and ended up remodeling his own to recreate the look. He's added softer lighting and more earth tones, as well replacing the old fiberglass tables with items such as zebra-print furniture. He also added a number of outlets for charging laptops and phones.

McDonald's doesn't currently place limits on how long a customer can use the service, unlike other establishments that have been offering Wi-Fi for sometime. Starbucks, for example, allows registered users only two hours of time online each day.

Hendel said he's not worried about customers taking advantage of the new opportunity. “I’ve seen an increase in business and customer counts are up. Just about everyone has been respectful of time and making McDonald’s purchases," he told the New York Daily News.

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Keeping Your Laptop Secure Outside of the Office

Professionals are traveling outside of the office more and more these days and they are taking their laptops with them. Whether working at another location, visiting a client or simply having lunch at a local cafe, one thing that is often overlooked is laptop security. If it's your personal laptop, a work laptop, or even a laptop rental, chances are it's loaded with files that are important to your life and your business. Whether you are looking to prevent a snoop from gathering your personal information or preventing a thief from taking your entire laptop, there are several good measures everyone should take and a few good habits you should develop.

Starting with the basics that every laptop owner should know, if you're worried about being hacked or robbed while visiting a public Wi-Fi spot, you are right to be paranoid. There are so many different ways criminals can get into your system these days; one of the first things you can do is turn on your firewall. By turning on your firewall, you block unwanted intruders whenever you are in a public place. This is such a simple way to keep yourself secure and everyone should know how to do it. If you are a PC user, simply click on Windows Firewall. If you are using a Mac, go to System Preferences, then Security, and find the Firewall tab.

Another important thing that everyone can do is password protect or unshare your shared folders. Folders of documents and photos that you may want to share with other computers on your home network, might not be something you want everyone on a public network to have access to. Fixing this is simple. See to it that your folders are password protected when you are in public or better yet, turn off any sort of sharing you have enabled on your laptop.

Other ways to protect yourself involve what you do when you visit various websites. Whenever you're visiting a website, use a secure connection if it's an option. This means using "https://" instead of "http://." This option is usually available when checking your email on the web (Gmail and Yahoo Mail for example) or using any type of personal calendar program. Several other site have the option, as well. Another tip is to don't save your passwords in your browsers. Sure, it makes life a lot easier, but if your computer gets into the wrong hands - whether it be a thief or even a co-worker, they will be able to see everything you may not want them to see.

Of course there are several more obvious options. Most people are aware that anti-virus and malware software and programs are an important part computer ownership. And it's important to keep a back-up of all your important data. Whether your computer is stolen or you just spill your coffee, having all of your important files backed up can save you time and agony. If you have to leave your laptop unattended for any reason, a laptop lock is inexpensive and will keep your computer stuck to any table or desk.

If these tips don't ease your mind, there are always a few extra precautions for the tech-savvy. With a number of tools, you can encrypt your hard drive or just a few files which essentially means scrambling it up so it's unreadable to anyone who does not have access via a master password. To do this on a Mac, you can do this by creating an encrypted disk by using the disk utility application. Windows Vista and 7 also offer a data encryption application. There are also a number of free programs such as TrueCrypt that serve the same purpose.

Securing your network with an SSH tunnel is also an option, but again, this is usually reserved for the most tech-savvy of laptop owners. An SSH tunnel is a secure connection to an outside computer to connect to the internet. An outsider trying to break in would think you are sending encrypted information to a single destination when in reality, you're using a trusted remote server as a proxy.