Genie News
Top 10 Apps of the week!
Apr 4th
We kick start April with a bang; from notables, math-o-holics, language enthusiastic all the way to a movie-like reviews of locations & restaurants. Here are the Apps worth checking out this week. Let us know what your thoughts are!
1. Notable (Get it for your android) Free
Notable allows you to create notification and reminders on the go. Need to remind yourself of something to do? Just open the app, type in a short message and create the note! It’s that easy! You can see your reminders and notes straight from your notification area. Never forget to do something again!
2. GLBenchmark 2.7 (Get it for your android) Free
Using console-quality gaming content, GLBenchhmark 2.7 provides a tool for unified cross-platform graphics benchmarking on major consumer platforms including Android and iOS. Major new features for more realistic content include parallax mapping –greater realism for certain textures, particle system – animated and batched particles, motion blur on moving objects – cinematic visual effect, and more realistic shadows with self-shadows.
3. RotaryView 360 (Get it for your android) Free
Create a 360 interactive image for your online store in just a few minutes. Increase online sales by 15-50% using RotaryView 360 photography instead of static product pictures. RotaryView images are stored online where you can use a simple embed code to place them in any online shop or website.
4. Rosetta Course (Get it for your android) Free
Rosetta Course brings the award-winning Rosetta Stone language-learning method to Android devices, helping you build confidence as you learn—anywhere you’re connected. Not already a Rosetta Stone learner? Don’t worry, you can create a free demo account today and start learning a new language!
5. G Cloud backup (Get it for your android) Free
Phones get lost, stolen and misplaced every single day. In this hectic life we’re leading, it’s hard to remember where you placed your keys, so having a backup plan is always a must! With G Cloud installed, one can rest assured that all the precious contacts and data can never be lost. You can get up to 8GB of free storage, and if you want to backup all your app&game settings just download the key for rooted from here!
6.Wakelock Detector (Get it for your android) Free
Wakelock Detector helps you to detect battery consuming applications in your Android device by checking wakelock usage history. Now you can find out which applications drain your battery in a simple way by using this app! Applications which use wakelock privilege improperly lead to situations where the CPU or phone screen stays on without user’s knowledge and thus causing dramatic battery drain.
7. Toucher (Get it for your android) Free
Toucher is a tool application specially designed for Android devices. They expanded the concept of the iPhone AssistiveTouch, and redesigned for the Android devices, both mobilephones and tablets. Toucher gathers most commonly used and needed features of Android system in this suspending point.
8. King of Math (Get it for your android) Free
We want to show you that mathematics is far from boring. A professional brain trainer, one that is both efficient and fun to use. Strengthen your mental abilities, improve your ability to stay concentrated over long periods of time and sharpen your perception skills.
9. AntTek Quick Settings (Get it for your android) Free
This app brings Jelly Bean Quick Setting to Android 2.1+ with plenty of customization (don’t need ROOT). It’s more than regular quick settings. You can customize to add different things to quick setting panel including over 75 built-in actions.
10.Townflicks (Get it for your android) Free
Used to reading reviews to decide where to go? Now you can feel these places by watching short movies about them in townflicks! Townflicks videos show, rather than tell, where to go and what you’ll find when you get there. But that’s not everything. You can also become a respected movie producer by filming your experiences at places that you visit! Townflicks makes it fun and super easy to share your own experiences with friends and with the local community.
Wave goodbye to Gorilla and say hello to Sapphire!
Mar 25th
How many times have you scratched your smartphone’s screen for eternity from a simple drop? And how many times have you been surprised at the high price of this screen? Well, what if we told you there might be a way to ensure your screen is never again vulnerable to such unfortunate events even if it was directly rubbed by a rock? Yes, it might be possible thanks to Sapphire.
The hardest natural substance after diamond, Sapphire, might soon be employed to produce smartphone screens. The military already incorporate sheets of Sapphire glass to produce transparent armors. However, if more Sapphire- synthesizing startups have the green light , this will aid at making Sapphire glass become more mainstream –price wise- and applicable for a variety of consumer products. Smartphones will be the very first example of such products; tablets will soon follow as well as other ruggedized devices.
In case you’re intrigued to find out more about this mystical material we can help you out; Sapphire is a transparent, crystalline for of aluminum oxide (alumina) that is impeccably hard, scratch-resistant, with a melting point of 2,030 c and almost impenetrable to astringent chemicals. To simplify it for you; Sapphire is just modestly weaker and yet a much cheaper and more exuberant version of diamonds. Sapphire proposal ring anyone?
On a more realistic plate, Sapphire is around 10 times more scratch resistant than regular window glass, and considerably stronger than any other materials employed in optics applications. It is this crudeness that has led Sapphire glass to be the key element used in applications where normal glass does not suffice. Bullet-proof glass is a clear example, as well as watches and the front windows on barcode scanners.
Eminently speaking, synthetic Sapphire is quite easy to manufacture, though the exact processes used are usually proprietary. In general, all it takes is melting a large amount of aluminum oxide in a special furnace, and then allowing it to gradually cool off so as to create a single crystal of flawless Sapphire. A transparent crystal of Sapphire is created by straight-up aluminum oxide. If you’re eager to create a specific gemstone, however, trace minerals ought to be added; titanium and iron create the stereotypical blue Sapphire, while chromium turns it into a ruby. Once you have a big crystal – such as the picture above- a diamond saw is manipulated to slice it into sheets of glass.
With approximately 3 times the strength and scratch resistance of Corning’s Gorilla Glass, Sapphire glass would easily make an ideal smarphone screen. But you can’t have your cake and eat it too, right? According to a market analyst, a sheet of Gorilla Glass costs about $3, whereas the same piece of Sapphire glass would cost $30.
We can thank the increasing competition, though, that is quickly reducing the cost of Sapphire glass. We wouldn’t be taken aback if we were to see a high-end smartphone (such as an iPhone for example) use a Sapphire screen in the upcoming years. It’s note worthy to say that the iPhone 5 already uses Sapphire glass to foster its rear camera lens; Apple is certainly not in the dark when it comes to Sapphire’s potential.
Another alternative would be to create very thin sheets of Sapphire, which are then varnished onta a cheaper material. As reported by Technology Review, GT Advanced Technologies is implementing this idea. Through the acquisition of Twin Greeks’ ios cannon technology, which creates very thin sheets of silicon from a large crystal of silicon for use in solar cells, GT aims to produce sheets of Sapphire that are thinner than a human hair. In the video above, you can witness an iPhone that’s been retrofitted with a sheet of GT’s Sapphire glass – its durability is quite astounding.
Cloud Backup designed for Professional Photographers
Feb 13th
Whether it’s on the TV, radio, magazines or the newspapers, it seems there’s one thing that cannot be ignored: The Cloud. The tech industry has been revolutionized with the introduction of Cloud Computing in a way that makes it hard to even think of how it was before. Despite the fact that the technology behind the cloud may be perplexing, the concept of Cloud Computing is quite straightforward.
If you’re a professional, amateur or just plainly love photography then this is the blog you ought to read!
And the Golden Globe goes to…Tactus’ new tablet!
Jan 14th
Yes, we bet most of the world tuned in to watch The 2013 Golden Globes yesterday, with “Oh no! Not that series again!” and “I cannot believe she wore that dress!” sighs heard all over the place. Yet, the more tech savvy crowd were probably tuning in to the 2013 CES.
We must say we’re pretty excited to have found probably the coolest gadget at this year’s CES. Yes, hold your breath for you will surely be taken aback by Tactus’ new touchscreen technology.
No one can deny the love we hold for our touchscreen devices, but when it comes to typing anything longer than an instant message or web address, we always tend to find ourselves aching for the solid responsiveness of an authentic button or key. We’re pretty confident that we are not alone, and thus Tactus brings us its new keyboard.
So how exactly does thie new technology work you ask? Well, the top layer – that is usually hardened glass or plastic- is replaced with a sheet; it can be a smooth and flat touchscreen surface as well as a lumpy, physical keyboard. There is always a price to pay; to enjoy such a convenience we’ll have to live with the loss of the toughness of Gorilla Glass.
The company has been enchanting the crowd at the show with its unprecedented 7-inch tablet that is fully integrated with “Tactus Morphing Tactile” display. Once you open the keyboard on the tablet, a string of raised buttons turn up on the screen, as though out of nowhere. The whole point of it is to offer a more responsive experience when typing, especially when you are typing something lengthy such as an email or so.
Once done typing, the buttons will go back into never land, as if they were never there and nothing had happened, allowing the tablet to be used as a full touchscreen device yet again.
The company is looking forward to integrating this technology into smartphones as well.
Here is the demo video of the Tactus Morphing Tactile display:
Meet Zoolz 2.0 ; transfer your data to Amazon Glacier with Zoolz
Dec 5th
Humans err; that is a well-known fact that no one can deny, and those errors are the top reasons for data loss. The other major cause for data damage is the deficiency of storage conditions.
If you study the different methods available for storing your data, you’ll surly come to the conclusion that entrusting your beloved documents to the servers and engineers of major cloud companies such as the likes of Amazon and its S3 is the best option out there.
We cannot overlook the fact that Amazon S3 has been an alluring option for quite some time now. However, it is not a practical option for those seeking more archival backup. Amazon, being the mind-reader of people’s needs, noticed this and introduced Amazon Glacier a few months ago. This new game changer is ideal for backing up data that is infrequently accessed and yet important to keep. Glacier has many attractive features that start with its supremely low cost, durability and high security.
Some people seem to still be skeptical regarding the new service, and continue to complain about it not being easy for the end user. Nonetheless, this is not a problem with Amazon; for its job is to provide the secure Clouds and software and it is here where Zoolz comes along to perfect the equation. With the introduction of Zoolz 2.0, the next generation of data backup solutions, it combines the best of both worlds (S3 and Glacier). You have the comfort of choosing where your data goes; either to S3 or to Glacier. The comfort does not stop there, for even if you chose to “ice” your data into Glacier, with Zoolz, you’ll be able to enjoy instant data browsing, instant search and even thumbnail view for all your backed up photos (whereas with Glacier on its own, you’d have to wait for 12 hours to view what you’ve just backed up).
Furthermore, Zoolz 2.0 is a complete comprehensive storage solution where you can backup desktops, laptop, external storage, network locations and even servers. Zoolz 2.0 leverages Amazon Glacier very beautifully by adding encryption, deduplication, web viewing as well as browsing.
With simply installing Zoolz you will instantly make your life easier, especially if you take a look at its many enticing features such as the introduction of Cold Storage TM ; which is the future of all backup solutions. Not to mention the user management that is tailored for the ease of every client.
All in all, Zoolz is the perfect business solution for both corporate and home users, and with its compelling prices, you can even save some extra money on the side for that expensive Christmas list you are bound to buy. So sign up now for a free 50 GB trial.
The U.S Presidential elections 2012, did you vote?
Nov 7th
Customarily, we choose to deviate from covering stories related to celebrities’ reactions to any major event that is under the spotlight, why? Well, there are tons of reasons but the major one is that celebrities tend to utter statements that are insignificant when considering the big picture. We’ve decided to make an exception today, due to the grandeur of the U.S Presidential elections for this year, and hence we’re bringing you what some of the most prominent people have to say on this noteworthy day. There are mixed reactions to the re-election of President Barack Obama, we’ve decided to be impartial and include tweets from supporters of both former Governor Mitt Romney as well as Obama.
Dianna Agron (“Glee”) – “Congratulations, Mr. President, our president.”
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Modern Family”) – “We are either hearing fireworks or massive bubble wrap being popped outside! So exciting!!!! #Obama”
Donald Trump (“The Celebrity Apprentice”) – “This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy! Our country is now in serious and unprecedented trouble…like never before.”
Paul Wesley (“The Vampire Diaries”) – “Justice has been done.”
Adam Levine (“The Voice”) – “That’s what happens when you f*ck with Sesame Street.”
Zachary Quinto (“American Horror Story”) – “NEVER BEEN MORE FIRED UP IN MY ADULT LIFE!!!!!!!”
Kelly Osbourne (“Fashion Police”) – “Thank God #Obama2012 has victoriously won I feel Safer now there hopefully wont be a world war III & gays can finally get married! #victory”
Obama, on his official Twitter account after been announced winner, personally tweeted by signing –bo this:
Following that tweet, he sent out a picture that became the single most retweeted message in Twitter history.
This is the historic picture:
Be part of the smart crowd and download G Cloud today; it’s free!
How to migrate from your current Windows to Windows 8
Oct 18th
The highly anticipated Windows 8 will be soon available for the public to enjoy; the enthusiasts probably already have their dates marked for the 25th of October when thousand of systems will be upgraded.
While there are a lot of people who are going to kill two birds with one stone by taking this opportunity to purchase a brand new PC with Windows 8 preinstalled, the larger percentage of users will prefer to take the upgrade route.
With Microsoft shutting down support for Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 starting April 4, 2014 the upgrade will be mandatory for a significant number of users and organizations. Why is it mandatory you ask? Well, Microsoft itself explains that continuing to run on the soon to be obsolete versions has a lot of disadvantages. The two major ones are security & compliance risks and the lack of independent software vendor (ISV) & hardware manufacturers’ support. What we mean by security risks is that running on such unsupported environments may lead to control failure which will ultimately lead to (if an organization is involved) the suspension of certifications or even worse case scenarios. The lack of ISV is quite self-explanatory; software vendors are unlikely to provide support on new versions of application for Windows XP even starting this year, and PC hardware manufacturers will stop the support for their new PC models.
So what to do?
First and foremost is ensuring you have all your data backed up. Yes, we know that backing up your data is not usually the most fun of all tasks, and many PC users tend to neglect it, never the less it’s far more important than you think. Backups prove to be invaluable in a number of events, mainly when hard drives fail, a disaster in computing occurs, and in the more relatable case, when upgrading to a newer operating system.
If the sole thought of back up makes you cringe, immediately think of your important pictures, videos and documents and remind yourself that it’s always worth the while to save those.
So contain your upgrade enthusiasm and take the time to consider the best backup solution to save you from any malfunctions that might occur in the middle of an upgrade.
Our recommendation for a smooth transition would be to use Genie Backup Manager; GBM supports Disaster Recovery and thus offers an easy dependable way to recover your system in case of failure during the upgrade since it restores your Windows, Program Files, Documents and Settings and System State.
The backup is so simple and versatile at the same time; if you don’t like the hassle of going out and buying a new hard drive, you can simply pick up any CD and kick start the backup procedure. If you’re more of an online person, then you can always select the cloud option using the highly secure Amazon S3 cloud service provided.
Above all, make sure your hardware match the minimum requirements for the upgrade. To simplify it for you, here they are:
• Processor: 1GHz CPU or faster
• RAM: 1GB (32-bit) or 2GB (64-bit)
• Disk space: 16GB (32-bit) or 20GB (64-bit)
• Graphics: DirectX 9-capable video card with WDDM driver
Stay tuned for more similar posts that will ensure a smooth Windows 8 transition.
Have you “Spotted The Android” yet?
Sep 26th
“Spot the Android” Competition is still going and going strong! With lots of Facebook and Twitter enthusiasts sending us their unique pictures, we’ve decided to share some of our favorites as a source of inspiration for others! Don’t miss this chance of winning a brand new Samsung Galaxy G S3 plus an unlimited G Cloud Android account so that you won’t even have to worry about losing or misplacing your new Smart phone; yes that is putting the “Smart” in Smartphones!
Here is the link for more information about the contest but make sure to enter before the 8th of October.
Here is a collage of our favorite pictures so far, be sure to be part of the hip crowd and join the competition!
Be part of the smart crowd and download G Cloud today; it’s free!
“Spot the Android” Competition!
Sep 17th
In need of a new smartphone yet don’t have enough money left from your summer vacation? Well, then enter our competition “Spot The Android” for a chance to win a brand new Samsung Galaxy S3 plus an unlimited lifetime G Cloud Backup account.
Interested? This is how to win:
1- Take a photo of the Android logo taken by you wherever you spot it (but make it original).
2- Social?
Facebook users; make sure to like Genie9’s fanpage then click on the competition tab and submit the photo of your choice with the Android logo of course.
Twitter users; make sure to follow us @GCloudAndroid , mention us and include the hashtag “#SpotTheAndroid” in the tweet.
3- Install G Cloud Android on your device for Free to double your chances of winning.
** One random winner will be selected by the end of the competition.
*** Ending date is the 8th of October 2012.
For more details read our Rules & Regulations
Smart phone Data loss infograph
Jul 19th
Ever looked at your precious Smartphone and wondered; how many people living on our planet right now hold such a set? Or perhaps you’ve wondered how many of those walking down the streets of NY, looking for a better life, end up losing their cherished data in a moment of haste! Well, after conducting much research, you’d be surprised by many of the perplexing facts we’ve encountered while gathering this hopefully intriguing infograph. Leave us your comments and let us know what you think.
