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Disable Automatic Web Search In Windows 10

When Windows 10 ships in just two months, it will come with a major change to how search is handled. Now, anytime you type anything into the search bar, Windows 10 will use Bing to search for results both locally and on the web. While some people might welcome this, others would see it as a hassle or privacy concern. This feature is sure to annoy many users who don’t want their search data constantly sent to Bing servers. Luckily there is a way to disable Bing from automatically running a web search with every search. Windows 10 may not be out yet, but why not be ready to disable it on day one?

1. Open Control Panel.

2. Search for Group Policy.

3. Select Edit Group Policy. This will open the Local Group Policy Editor.

4. Under Computer Configuration, select Administrative Templates.

5. Next select Windows Components.

6. Then select Search.

7. Find entries called ‘Do not allow web search‘ and ‘Don’t search the web or display web results in Search‘

8. Right click each entry, select Edit, then select Enable in the policy editing window, click Apply and close the window.

This should disable the automatic web search and your searches should now only run locally on your computer. Now Bing won’t automatically run a search every time you try to look for a file or something else stored on the computer locally. This is a cumbersome and obscure process that a lot of people would have trouble finding because it’s buried in Control Panel. It would be much simpler to have an option to quickly disable web search and it’s likely people will demand that this be implemented.

For those waiting to upgrade from Windows 7 and Windows 8, this is one annoyance that might prevent them from doing so. Hopefully this will be fixed in time for the official release or you can simply use this process to stop automatic web searches.

iOS 9 Features, Rumors, Public Beta

With WWDC 2015 set to begin in just over a week, it’s expected that Apple will be making some major announcements regarding development on iOS 9. iOS 9 is set to be a major update to iOS and will introduce a number of significant changes for all Apple devices. Of course much of this is still speculation but it will very likely be confirmed at WWDC.

On the iOS 9 front, Apple is reportedly pushing hard to increase overall system stability, reduce app memory footprint and size, as well as make Apple devices even harder to jailbreak. This is pretty unfortunate news for jailbreak fans, though I’m sure clever people will eventually find a way around these latest security measures. iOS 9 will also see some upgrades and more emphasis on Siri as a digital assistant. The iPad will be receiving the ability to multitask with apps running side by side on a single screen. Like the Apple Watch, new devices and iOS 9 will have Force Touch support integrated.

It also seems Apple will be trying to make waves in the music industry once again. It is reported that they will be relaunching Beats Music under a new name and try to become a major player in the music streaming segment. It could be an interesting development in terms of how Apple users consume music if the streaming service takes off.

The iOS 9 beta will be released following WWDC 2015 and developers can begin using and testing it with their new apps. Apple is also heavily rumored to be releasing a public beta of iOS 9 before the official release. So even non-developers can take iOS 9 for a test drive to help Apple gather usability data and fix bugs.

The official release of iOS 9 is set to coincide with the expected release of the next iPhone model in September. That’s when everything will finally be launched into the waiting arms of rabid Apple fans, hooray!

Create and Share GIFs with GifLab for iOS

The internet is chock full of animated GIFs from adorable animals to hilarious pratfalls. Now that smartphones are the dominant way to access the internet, it’s no surprise that it’s also become the best way to consume GIFs. Creating them is another matter and can be a chore on a small screen with only touch based controls. Luckily for everyone, the new app GifLab has made creating and sharing GIFs easier and faster than ever before. The GIFs you can create are limited only by your imagination, photography and editing skills.

GifLab can make use of any video files stored on your device, whether you took them with your device’s camera or have the file saved locally. Once you choose a video, it’s a simple matter of selecting the part to turn into a GIF. You can adjust the GIF quality as well as the speed. This is great for enhancing a hilarious or epic moment in slow motion or speeding it up to make it even funnier. You can even add emojis and text as well as some basic photography filters to your final GIF. This lets you have even more flexibility and creativity in making a truly great GIF for all to enjoy.

Once you’re satisfied with the final result, sharing the GIF with the world is a few taps away. You can save it locally to your device, send it as a message or e-mail to friends, upload it via major social networks, or even get a custom URL to share with others. It really couldn’t be much easier and is amazing for getting instant feedback on your new creation.

The GifLab interface is slick, clean and functional and makes creating GIFs easy and intuitive. You can unlock a few more custom features and filters with payments in the app though the basic version is free. Please, get out there and start creating even more adorable cuddly kitten GIFs.

Source: GifLab for Apple iPhone

Ampere – Check Your Battery Charge and Discharge Rate on Your Android Device

If you’ve ever had a USB cable or outlet that you could swear just didn’t charge your device correctly, you may now be able to prove it with an app called Ampere. Ampere lets you check how many milliamps the device is using from the battery or when it’s plugged into a charger. This is great for checking both battery health and whether or not the charger is functioning and actually charging the battery as it should. Believe it or not, there are faulty chargers out there that get worn with time or just break and will eventually not charge your device adequately if at all.

Ampere runs on Android 4.03 or higher, so if you’re below that unfortunately you cannot run the app. Using Ampere is very simple. You just launch it and it will immediately give the current, low and high draw rates in milliamps as well as a handy list indicating charge status, battery health, battery type and temperature. If you use it when the device is not plugged into anything, you’ll get a direct battery draw status so you can see exactly how much power your device is using at rest. Once you plug it into a charger, you’ll see the indicator (hopefully) change to charging. Ampere will take a moment to measure the average milliamps being drawn and then display it. If you add up the charge being used by the phone on battery power alone and the charge being drawn while plugged in, it should match the specification on your charging unit. If it doesn’t it’s very likely that there is a problem either with the phone’s battery or the charger.

ampere-04

So, if you’re beginning to run into battery problems or simply have a charger that seems to never adequately charge your device, try out Ampere to see if you can confirm the problem. It’s free on Google Play though you can also pay to upgrade to the PRO edition which features alerts and notifications.

Source: Ampere App on Google Play Store

iPhone 7 Release Date, Specs, Rumors

With the flagship iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus having launched in September and the year steadily treading into summer, it is very likely that Apple will be making some announcements soon about the next version of the ever popular iPhone. For now, it’s mostly speculation and rumors but those have been pretty close before, so why not engage in them for some fun? Some features, specifically Force Touch, in the recently released Apple Watch strongly hint that they will make their way to the next iPhone. Also up for debate is whether Apple will choose to call the latest revision the iPhone 6S as it has for every previous model, or jump to calling it the iPhone 7.

First, what can be reasonably confirmed is that the next iPhone will feature Force Touch on every model. They already have it in the Apple Watch and it’s a fairly significant feature, so why not include it in the next iPhone? It will also have a faster, upgraded A9 processor and run the new iOS 9. These are all expected to be announced in the next several months in the build up to the actual release. The general design of the iPhone will very likely remain unchanged.

Now, for the rumors that are very possible but not yet confirmed, the iPhone might receive a modest camera upgrade to 12-megapixels, feature gesture controls, have a special rose gold edition, and a possible iPhone 6C budget edition. These are much more speculative rumors but are again very possible with the next iPhone. The actual release date is not confirmed either but going by past Apple releases, it’s a good bet that the next version will be actually released in September 2015, about a year after the iPhone 6 release.

If you’ve been waiting to upgrade your iPhone or switch over from another phone, the wait may soon be over. Apple rarely goes a year or more without significant updates so expect some interesting news about iOS 9 and the next iPhone over the summer.

how to best Download and Install Android M for Nexus 5, 6, 9

The latest version of Android, dubbed Android M, has been released in a developer preview version alongside Google’s I/O conference. It will prepare Android to better integrate wearables and Google’s Material Design aesthetic philosophy. It is now available for download and testing on Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, and Nexus Player. Though this is an early preview version, it is the full Android M and can be downloaded and installed by anyone with one of these four Nexus models. The preview version is meant for developers to test their apps and associated devices using the new Android M and is of course expected to have some unintended bugs crop up. That’s exactly the point of having a preview version so developers can find and fix these bugs as well as make general improvements before the full official release to the public.

To install Android M on your Nexus, you’ll need to download the appropriate image file.

Then, follow the directions at https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images to flash the image onto your device.

Be aware that this will overwrite your current version of Android and that this is a developer preview version that can and will have bugs. It’s recommended to wait for the official full release unless you’re a budding developer or just want to tinker around with the very latest Android release. One helpful thing to note is that Google has said that these previews will receive frequent updates as developers make small fixes and improvements. So once you’ve installed Android M, updates should be automatically downloaded and applied and you won’t have to reinstall it every time.

So if you really just can’t wait to try out the next version of Android and you happen to own a Nexus device, you’re free to give Android M a try. Maybe you’ve had enough of those sweets like Jelly Bean and KitKat and just want some M.