Kiran Upadhyay

Who doesn’t want a Livescribe smartpen? Whether you’re a student, a journalist, attend meetings a lot, or just need to easily record writing and audio, you can make good use of a smartpen. Livescribe is the most famous maker of smartpens, and its former models — the Livescribe Echo  and  Livescribe Sky  — are still a brilliant way to pair audio and notes and transfer them onto your computer. The newest iteration of these smartpens — the $150  Livescribe 3  — looks like a shiny new model, and promises to “turn your words into action”. Just like with any new release, we expected this new pen to be richer and better than older models, especially as the Pro 2GB version of the Livescribe 3 sells for $200 — as much as a 4GB Livescribe Sky. But does the Livescribe 3 deliver? To find out, and to have a chance at  winning this $150 smartpen for free , just keep reading! Livescribe 3 — New Features, Weaker Pen If you want to know about some other sm...

You’ve heard that you shouldn’t open PayPal, your bank account and possibly even your email while using public WiFi. But what are the actual risks? Well, your home WiFi is (hopefully) encrypted; the WiFi at the coffee shop isn’t. This means you’re at risk of people monitoring your online activity, or worse – unless you know how to protect yourself. Here are a few dangers, and how to avoid them. Unencrypted Browsing Is Public WiFi uses radio waves, and radio waves are anything but direct. They broadcast, and this means that anyone within range can see everything you’re doing online, if they have the right software. This means that, without protection, anyone who wants to can see: Every site you visit Every bit of text you send out Your login information for various sites The danger here is clear, so naturally you’re going to want protection. At home, you can  encrypt your WiFi network  – this prevents snooping by making all of your traffic unreadable with a ...

Razer. Logitech. SteelSeries. They all produce “gaming mice” that are supposed to enhance your performance in games that rely heavily on mouse usage. Whether you’re trapped in the addiction vortex of Dota 2  or simply nailing  headshots in a first-person shooter , you may often wonder: “Do I need a special mouse to compete with everyone else?” It’s a valid question and one that can be readily answered. Let’s take a look at the features offered by gaming mice to see whether or not you’d benefit from them. Gaming Mouse Benefit #1: Precision Optics There are many who will tell you that the DPI ( dots per inch ) of a mouse is its most important specification. The correct term is actually CPI ( counts per inch ), but DPI is already so deeply ingrained in the culture that the two terms can be used interchangeably. The feature itself describes how often the mouse reads it relative position. A higher DPI translates to more “reads” per second, resulting in more frequen...

If you still use handwritten notes but like the idea of  going paperless , your iPad can bridge the gap between handwritten notes and digital text. We have reviewed the  smart Wi-Fi pen, Livescribe  which converts handwritten notes to digital text, using special paper and pen. We have also reviewed several  iOS notebook apps  that are great for handwriting and drawings – but PhatWare’s WritePad for iOS ( $4.99 iPad,   $1.99 iPhone ) and  Android  ($9.99) is different. It’s perhaps the only app of its kind that converts your handwriting notes to digital text as you write. This handwriting recognition software has gone from strength to strength over the years, and it’s definitely worth trying if you prefer to handwrite instead of type notes on a touchscreen. How WritePad Works WritePad allows you to handwrite anywhere on a document page, and when you lift your finger or stylus pen, it converts your handwr...

The Galaxy S5,  announced back in February , is just now hitting the shelves, and it brings with it some pretty unique and killer features. It’s not the most innovative smartphone out there, but it is a solid evolution of the Galaxy S4 and is definitely one of the best smartphones you can get. So what are some of these amazing features, and even better, how can you get them on your existing phone? Fingerprint Scanner Arguably the biggest and most talked about upgrade in the Galaxy S5 is the fingerprint scanner. It can be used to unlock the device and authorize PayPal payments, and it can recognize up to three fingers. It’s activated by sliding your finger in a straight line vertically down over the bottom of the screen and the home button. However, critics have argued that it is unintuitive and difficult to pull off. Apple’s  implementation of Touch ID isn’t perfect , but it certainly seems more intuitive than what Samsung did. Placing your finger on the iPh...