Hide all notifications in the action center by swiping with two fingers

Windows Phone 8.1 has been impressing and annoying users around the world for quite some time now – no wonder, there is much to discover but since it is still a developer preview there are still some bugs and issues. Anyhow, sometimes even users who have been on it since the very first day find something new. And since it is the small things in life that make us smile, these little surprises are pleasing.

How to enable Nokia’s ‘Living Images’ on your PureView Lumia?

Nokia’s Living Images is a new feature coming to Windows Phone 8.1 and their Lumia Cyan firmware update for the high-end PureView devices, like the Lumia 1020, Lumia 1520, Icon and so forth. Living Images captures a few seconds before you snap a photo, so that when you’re browsing through your Camera Roll or StoryTeller, your photos come alive. Think Cinemagraph, but without having to think about using it, as it just works automatically.

How to add the Fifa World Cup 2014 schedule to your Windows Phone Calendar

tricks to stay current with the 2014 FIFA World Cup on your Windows Phone. Here’s one more tip from the Windows Phone Central forums that we wanted to point out – how do add the World Cup 2014 schedule to your Windows Phone Calendar so that you never miss a game.

How to take a Screenshot on the iPad and iPhone without a screenshot application

Have you ever seen those fancy screen shots of the iPad screens in various reviews and blog posts? Well, creating them is easy and does not require you to purchase or download any applications to create them. In fact, the iPad software includes a built-in ability to take a screen shot of any screen that you are currently viewing on the iPad and save it as an image that you can then transfer to your computer.

To create the screen shot, you simply need to follow these steps:

1. Go to the screen you would like to create a screen shot.
    
2. When at this screen, click on the Home button, and while pressing that button, press and release the On/Off/Sleep/Wake button at the top of the iPad. The two buttons that you need to press can be seen in the image below.

Buttons that you need to press in order to create a snapshot on the iPad

1. When you press this button combination, you will see a white flash and hear a sound similar to a camera click.
    
2. The screen shots that you take can then be seen within the Photo app.

If you then need to transfer these files to your computer, you can either use iTunes to transfer the files during a sync or you can access the iPad directly and copy the files over to the location you wish.

Make your Galaxy S4 more like stock Android, without rooting

The moment Google announced the Google Play edition of the Samsung Galaxy S4, you could almost hear the buyer’s remorse from millions of people who had already picked up the regular version of the handset. Not only is the Google Play edition of the phone free from bloatware, but it also benefits from timely updates similar to Google’s line of Nexus devices. Suddenly, that pricey new phone you signed a 2-year contract for isn’t looking as lustrous as when you first got it.

I do have some good news, though: Thanks to Android’s flexible nature, you too can get your regular Samsung Galaxy S4 looking like the Google Play edition—without voiding your warranty.

Getting things started

The first thing you’re going to want to do is clean house: Look through the apps that came preinstalled on your phone and uninstall all of the ones you don’t want. You can do this by pressing the Menu button while in the App Drawer and selecting Uninstall, or by going to the Application Manager in the Settings app. The number of apps you’ll be able to uninstall will vary depending on which carrier you’re on—Sprint generally lets you remove more pre-installed apps than Verizon, for instance.

If there’s an app you can’t uninstall, don’t worry too much about it. Just make a note of it—we'll deal with it a little later on.

When you’re done ousting any unwanted apps, head on over to the Settings and get ready to do the same to most of the Galaxy S4’s marquee features. Under the My Device tab, tap on Motions and gestures and turn off all of the options inside. Do the same for Smart screen, Air view, and Voice Control. These last few steps are completely optional, though they will help in getting that authentic “Android feel” and could potentially help you conserve your battery.

New coat of paint

Now that you’ve freed up some space and turned off any annoying extra features, it’s time to download the apps you’ll need to make it look like your phone is running stock Android. Jump into the Google Play Store and download Nova Launcher (free),Google Calendar (free), Google Keyboard (free), and WidgetLocker Lockscreen ($3).

Samsung’s TouchWiz launcher (left) and Nova Launcher (right)

Nova Launcher is a launcher replacement app that lets you customize your home screen and app drawer. It gives you extra functionality not found in Samsung’s TouchWiz launcher, such as the ability to personalize your app icons, and overall feels much faster than Samsung’s offering.

TouchWiz lock screen (left) and WidgetLocker Lockscreen (right)

WidgetLocker Lockscreen is like Nova Launcher, but for your lock screen: It lets you add custom shortcuts to your lock screen and allows you to choose how you phone behaves when you wake it up. It’s the only paid app on this list, but it’s well worth the $3 entry fee to remove the bland Samsung lock screen and its grating sound effects.

The Samsung Keyboard (left) and Google Keyboard (right)

Although I have no real qualms with either the Samsung keyboard or calendar, you’re going to want the Google Calendar and Google Keyboard apps to really complete the stock Android look. Neither of these apps have any real benefits over the ones included in the Galaxy S4, I'm just recommending them to be throrough.

Once those apps have finished downloading, press the Home button on your phone and select Nova Launcher from the prompt that pops up. Your home screen will resemble the stock Android home screen, albeit with a few extra animations for opening and closing apps.

Remember those apps you couldn't uninstall? The paid version of Nova Launcher offers the ability to hide those unwanted apps from appearing in your app drawer, and might be worth investing in if you’re sick of seeing that NFL Mobile app on your phone. It's not the same thing as actually removing the apps, but it's out of sight, out of mind, right?

The Samsung Calendar (left) looks better than the Google Calendar (right).

You’ll need to setup Google Keyboard and WidgetLocker Lockscreen before you can use them, but the process is dead simple. Just follow the onscreen prompts. Google Calendar will display the calendar for whatever Google account is the default for your phone, so there’s no setup required. If you prefer Samsung's keyboard or calendar, just uninstall Google's.

What we can’t change

Even though your Galaxy S4 now looks like the one you can buy directly from Google, the changes we’ve made here are mostly cosmetic and don’t extend much beyond the home screen and lock screen. The dialer, notification shade, messages, and many other parts of the operating system will look the same as when you first picked up the phone and they can’t be changed without rooting the device—a somewhat complicated and warranty-voiding process.

Another downside of not owning the Google Play edition is that system updates are still handled by your carrier, so your Galaxy S4 might not always run the latest version of Android. This may open you up to security vulnerabilities and means you might miss out on cool new features down the line.

But a big advantage of not having a Google Play Edition Galaxy S4 is that you can always undo your changes and regain access to all of Samsung’s extras and goodies. Samsung included a number of noteworthy additions to the Galaxy S4, none of which you get access to if you bought your phone directly from Google. You take the good with the bad when you buy a phone on contract, but at least this way you get to experience the best of both worlds.

In Android, move a photo to another folder

This isn't really a photo issue; it's a file management issue. And so you need a file management app. I recommend the ASTRO File Manager. The Pro version costs $4, but the basic, free app is sufficient for this job (and much more).

After you've installed ASTRO from the Play Store, go ahead and launch it. Tap the Camerafolder. If you don't see a Camera folder, tap the DCIM folder; you'll find the Camera folder inside.

The Camera folder contains all of the photos you've taken but have not yet deleted or moved elsewhere. Each photo will be visible as a thumbnail. Tap and hold the photo you want to move. If it's your most recent snapshot, it will be at the bottom.

An orange outline will appear around the thumbnail, indicating that you've selected it. Two additional menus will pop-up.

If you want to select an additional photo, tap it. If you want to select all of them, tap and hold any one of them.

Tap Move on the bottom menu. Two buttons will appear: CANCEL and PASTE. For now, ignore them.

Navigate ASTRO to the target folder. You can swipe left to right for the Android version of My Computer, listing all of the storage devices available. Tap the one you want and find and tap your desired folder.

If you want to create a new folder, tap the menu icon in the upper-right corner and select New Folder.

When you're in the right folder, tap PASTE.

Rumors: Nexus 7, New Android Version Coming Next Week

A new Nexus 7 tablet is on its way to market very soon, if the signs and portents on the Internet are right.

AndroidCentral has posted pictures and video of what could be the new device in the Nexus family. The 7-inch device, which was running Android 4.3, featured a 1.2-megapixel camera on the front and a 5 MP camera in the rear, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor. It is not clear whether these images are showing an actual production unit or a prototype.

The tablet will at least have a 32GB versions, and according to Engadget, the retail price for that 32GB model may be $269.99.

The timing on the release of this device, based on Engadget's sources and an invitation-only Google event in San Francisco on July 24, would seem to point to a release of this device sometime next week.

The event may also be the release announcement of Android 4.3, which is stirred up by the resurgence of Android 4.3 videos this week.