Android Apps that Help You Relax and Concentrate

For most people, the day is composed of meetings, deadlines, chores, and what not. This everyday routine can become very stressful and may affect ones effectiveness and productivity. In this crazy world, there are moments when you just want to sit back and relax; gather your thoughts and be inspired.

For some, having the right kind of sound can relax their mind, find their center, help them focus, zone out distractions, and get their adrenaline pumping to finish what needs to be done.

Ambient sounds can add a level of comfort to the environment to help you relax and concentrate. Whether it is listening to the rain while you sleep, having a crackling fire while reading a book, or listening to the sound of waves crashing to the shore while you work. But since not everyone is fortunate enough to live near the beach, or can't control the weather, we can always rely on artificial means to recreate these sounds.

Here are some Android apps that provide ambient sounds to help you relax and concentrate.

Ambiance

Ambiance is said to be an environment enhancer app that helps you create the perfect ambient environment for you to relax and focus by playing different sounds in the background. It contains over 2500 exclusive ambient sounds for free and has over 8 million sound downloads. You can choose from the usual sounds like wind chimes, rain, and waterfall; to urban sounds like airports, shopping centers, and bars. In addition, Ambiance allows you to download only the sounds you want in order to save memory space. Furthermore, it allows you to create custom sound mixes and playlists, as well as associate each with a specific task.

You can download Ambiance at the Google Play Store for only $2.99.

Ambio

Among all ambient apps, Ambio has arguably the best visual. Its user interface is sleek and modern — perfect for any Android device. It has a hundred high-quality sounds to choose from. You can even create your own unique mixes using sounds and music from your SD card. What's good about Ambio is that it allows mixes to keep playing even when the app is running in the background.

Ambio is available for free at the Google Play Store.

Relax Melodies

Relax Melodies is one of the best and most popular sleep aid apps in the Android market. It comes with high-quality white noise sounds and music melodies, including customizable mixes to help you relax and concentrate. Relax Melodies is the ideal app to induce sleep and create a relaxing mood. It also works great when doing yoga. With its 46 sounds and music, you can use it whenever you please. Its colorful user interface is user friendly, arranging sounds on strings to make switching from one sound to another very straightforward.

Some might look down on Relax Melodies' smaller sound selection compared to other similar apps in the market. However, it is perfect for people who do not want to choose from a large selection.

Relax Melodies is available at the Google Play Store free of charge.

White Noise Concentration

White Noise Concentration is another app that promotes sleep and helps in relaxation. Unlike other similar apps, White Noise Concentration does not have any themes, nor does it have thousands of sounds to choose from. It boasts on its simplicity and of its use of white noise to help insulate the brain and enhance concentration. However, this app is not for everyone since it is only limited to white noise.

White Noise Concentration is available for free at the Google Play Store.

Nature Sounds Relax and Sleep

Nature Sounds Relax and Sleep is an app that is very similar to White Noise Concentration in the sense that it only provides nature sound effects to help you relax and concentrate. There are no musical instruments and white noise to choose from. All you have is pure nature sounds.

It has 6 good quality nature sounds to choose from, which includes thunder, ocean sounds, bird sounds, rain, night in jungle, water sounds, waterfall, and nature.

Nature Sounds Relax and Sleep is the ideal app for relaxing and promoting sleep, since nature sounds is well-known in calming the mind. Not only that, nature sounds relaxation technique is used in anger management, cardiac health, depression therapy, general well-being, headache therapy, high blood pressure, immune system support, insomnia therapy, pain management, and stress management.

The apps' user interface is very basic, with its straightforward menu that is used for switching between sounds.

You can download Nature Sounds Relax and Sleep for free at the Google Play Store.

 

Tools That Will Help You Check If a Website is Safe for Browsing

There are mixed opinions when asked whether the Internet is still safe. Some would say yes, while some will say no. There are hundreds of thousands of websites out there but you can't tell whether a particular website is safe for browsing or not. There are widespread links on some sites that may lead you to spam websites, install malicious software on your computer, steal confidential information, and so on. Even if you have a good antivirus program installed, you can still not be sure whether the link you're about to click is safe or not.

If you would like to practice extra caution and find out whether a website is safe to go to, check out below some useful tools that you can use to help you keep safe on the Internet.

Norton Safe Web
This is a simple and easy-to-use online tool that lets users find out whether a certain website is safe for browsing or not by simply entering the URL of the site you want to check. The Norton Safe Web tool will generate a complete threat report for you. The tool will scan the website for eighteen different types of threats, which includes viruses, malwares, Trojans, downloaders, remote access software, information stealers, and others. For more information about this tool, visit the Norton Safe Web support site.
Web of Trust (WOT)
Another popular utility that helps users find out the reputation of any website on the Internet. Web of Trust add-ons are available for different browsers that shows the trustworthiness of any website right inside your browser. Users can even rate different sites using WOT to help other users stay safe online. To use this utility, simply enter the URL in the field provided at the upper-right corner and it will display the detailed report about the site. It is recommended that you install the WOT browser extension to find out the authenticity of any website.
Online Link Scan
If you just want to know whether you should open a certain website or not, choose Online Link Scan. This service will scan the website for viruses, malware, spyware, and Trojans. It uses other online tools such as AVG, Google Safe Browsing, etc. to check the authenticity of any website. After entering the address of the website you want to check, wait for the service to show the results. For more information about this tool, visit the Online Link Scan website.
McAfee SiteAdvisor
The McAfee Site Advisor is another handy tool that also performs analysis whether the site you want to visit is free from any threats or not. To use it, locate the text box named View a Site Report on the right sidebar, where you will enter the website you want to be checked, and then click on View Report. The utility checks the website for email test, download tests, online affiliations, and annoyances. The email test checks the site for any spam emails when the users sign up on the website for newsletter or any other purpose. The download test checks the site's downloadable files and determines if they are trustworthy. Online affiliation, on the other hand, pertains to the linking practices of the website like advertisements, etc. And lastly, the annoyances test the overall website and check if there are any pop ups or anything that will make the website difficult to view and navigate. If you want to know more about this utility, visit the McAfee Site Advisor website.

Top 5 Best File Managers for Android Devices

Having an open operating system has its advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is it allows users to access the phone as a mass storage device, which makes file transfer a whole lot easier. File transfers between Android devices and a computer is as simple as plugging in a USB cable and launching your computer's file manager. If you know how to root your device, you can even get access to the core system files. This has been a major benefit Android has over Windows and iOS. However, you wouldn't be able to take full advantage of this perk if you do not have the right application. Here are five of the best file managers apps you can install on your Android device.

AntTrek Explorer File Manager

AntTrek Explorer is advertised to be the most intuitive, useful, and simple to use file manager in the Android Market. It is highly customizable allowing you to change to different themes and it comes with double panels for a more convenient file management. Like any other file manager app, it allows you to browse, copy, paste, delete, rename, send, zip, unzip over Linux-file entry. Also, it allows you to seamlessly move and copy files with the Drag and Drop Anywhere feature.

AntTrek Explorer is available for download for free at the Google Play Store.

Astro File Manager

Astro File Manager is a file explorer app that allows you to organize, view, and retrieve all of your photos, videos, music, and documents. It helps you manage all your files regardless of where they are stored, whether in your Android device, cloud, or in your computer. With Astro File Manager, you will be able to perform broad searches across all locations as well as perform very specific file searches based on the file name, size, location, etc. Furthermore, it allows you to transfer files from one cloud to another with a simple copy or move/paste, without having to download them first.

What makes Astro differ from the rest is its tight integration with Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, SkyDrive, and even Facebook. Another major plus is its built-in backup and task killer, which enables you to easily back up apps and kill tasks or processes that drain your battery life.

Astro File Manager with Cloud is available for download free of charge at the Google Play Store.  

ES File Explorer File Manager

ES File Explorer is one of the most popular file managers for Android devices. It is a free, full-featured file and application manager app that allows you to delete, rename, share, search, and cut/copy/paste folders to different destinations. ES can also function as task killer, download manager, cloud storage client, FTP client, and LAN Samba client. It is compatible with Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, Box.net, Sugarsync, Yandex, Amazon S3, and Ubuntu One. It can also provide access to photos, videos, music, documents, and other files on your Android devices and your computers. It has a built-in ZIP and RAR support and can function as cache cleaner and autostart manager by deleting junk files that take up valuable storage space.

ES File Explorer File Manager is available for download at the Google Play Store free of charge.

OI File Manager

OI File Manager is an app that allows you to browse your SD card, create directories or folders, and rename, copy, move, and delete files. It can also show a list of files with thumbnails for images, send files via email, and act as an extension to other applications to attach files. What's great about this file manager app is that it is very simple and very easy to use. A simple copy and paste is all you need. In addition it does not eat up a lot of memory (1MB) and it runs smoothly on any Android device.

You can download OI File Manager for free on Google Play Store.

X-Plore File Manager

X-Plore File Manager is another dual-paneled file manager in the Android Market. Its dual-directory user interface allows you to easily copy and paste items between two folders by swiping left to right. X-Plore File Manager includes the ability to share and view files through the built-in viewers for text, video, and photos, and manage multiple files at once. It also includes Wi-Fi, SSH, and FTP file transfer as well as provide access to cloud servers such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.

X-Plore File Manager is available on Google Play Store free of charge.

Top 5 Perfect Laptops for Gamers 2014 Edition

Gaming laptops are not defined as good enough performance. They're about screaming fast speeds, delivered via a combining power of the fastest processors and most powerful graphics cards you can pack in something that's portable. The very best gaming notebooks can play almost any "memory hungry" titles without breaking a single sweat.

A superb gaming laptop should also offer a high resolution display that absorbs you in that 3D world, as well as speakers with booming sound. Other vital factors include a comfortable backlit keyboard and a hear-turner design, not to mention attractive customizable lighting effects that will complete the package of an ultimate gaming experience. Check out some of the best gaming laptops you can buy in every size and price range.

Overall Best Gaming Laptop
Alienware 17	It's now more powerful and just as gorgeous. Some of the significant upgrades integrated into the Alienware 17 includes a faster Core i7 processor and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 880M GPU. The laptop's sexy chassis, colorful 1080p display with wide viewing angles, and awesome keyboard lighting effects continue to create awe, not to mention its superb audio system. All in all, the Alienware 17 is confident enough to provide the ultimate combination of design, audio, and power among other gaming laptops around. Price range from $1,399
Best 17-inch Gaming Laptop
ASUS ROG G750JZ-XS72	This laptop is a sure looker, especially for those car enthusiasts, as this beast sports a part Lamborghini and part stealth fighter design. The ASUS G750JZ packs the new Nvidia GeForce GTX 880M GPU, which is currently the world's fastest laptop graphics card. In addition to that, the notebook is also armed with an Intel Core i7 CPU, 32GB of RAM, 1 TB hard drive, and dual 256GB SSD in RAID 0. Price range from $2,999
Best 15-inch Gaming Laptop
MSI GS60 Ghost	MSI's GS60 Ghost is one of the lightest and sleekest gaming notebooks in the world, weighing only 4.2 pounds and sporting a slim 0.78-inch profile. It also features a 15-inch 1080p display is so cool, you'll think you've been sucked into that first person shooter. Its 1920 x 1080 display delivers all the visual satisfaction we can expect from an MSI panel. The company will also offer a 3K edition laptop that features a 2880 x 1620 screen. Its colorful backlighting is pretty bright, allowing you to easily type in dim settings. Overall, the MSI GS60 Ghost provides lightweight portability with powerful graphics, fairly good battery life, and a lovely wide-angle 1080 display resolution. Price range from $1,799
Best Portable Gaming Laptop
Razer Blade 14	Razer didn't stop at having the world's thinnest notebook -- it sharpened the latest Blade model to a fine edge with some relevant updates. The new Blade 14 still retains its predecessor's stunning design, but adds a QHD+ 3200 x 1800 touchscreen display and Nvidia GeForce GTX 870M GPU graphics card. This portable gaming laptop is a perfect example of power, portability and beauty -- having one will make you feel like a winner. Price range from $1,999
Best Budget Gaming Laptop
Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p	Gamers looking to buy a powerful system without breaking the bank will find a lot to love in the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p. This notebook comes loaded with a fast Haswell quad-core processor, dual Nvidia GPUs in SLI configuration and a 1TB drive to install all of your Steam games with still having extra room to spare. You'll surely appreciate the bright and crisp 1080p display and JBL speakers. Overall, you won't find a better gaming notebook at an affordable value than the IdeaPad Y510p. Price range from $870

Free Up Storage Space and Keep It from Getting Full on Your Nexus 5

As smartphones evolved, so does the apps and games that go with them. These days, the apps and games have better animation, higher resolution, and have more features that you can think of. And as smartphones race to have the best cameras in the market, you should expect high-definition videos and high-resolution photos. Unfortunately, having all these perks will put a strain on your phones storage space.

The more you use your smartphone, the faster the megabytes will pile up. And before you know it, your internal storage space would be on its limit. That is why, it is best to do a little "spring cleaning" on your phone to free up some storage space and keep it from getting full. To learn more, check out these simple tips and tricks to free up storage space on your Nexus 5.

1. Delete Unwanted Downloaded Files

Nexus 5 has a storage management interface that helps you better manage your internal storage space. To delete unwanted downloaded files, simply go to Settings, and then under DEVICE, tap Storage. From there, tap Downloads to start with the cleaning process. This will take you to a list of all the files you have downloaded on your Nexus 5.

Next, select the unwanted file you want to delete, long press it, and then tap any other files you no longer need. Once you are satisfied with your selections, tap the Delete icon (trash bin) located at the top-right corner of the screen to remove the files.

2. Clear Cached Data

Cache is the data that has been stored by your apps. Your cached data will build up the longer you use your Nexus 5 smartphone. To clear your cached data, tap the back button on your Nexus 5 to go back to the storage management screen. From there, tap Cached data, and then tap OK to clear out the cached data for all your apps.

3. Use Cloud to Store Your Photos and Videos

Photos and videos occupy the largest storage space on your phone. But since we all want to store these memories and have access with them without compromising precious storage space, it is best to store them in the cloud. Using cloud will allow you to keep your photos and videos, and still have access to them anytime, anywhere without having to sacrifice your phone's storage space. To use cloud, simply open the Photos app. It will then prompt you to sign in to your Google account unless you have already done so. Next, you will be asked to back up your photos. Tap Turn On to start syncing your photos to Google's servers. However, if you have declined this when you signed in, simply tap the menu icon (three-dot), tap Settings, and then select Auto Backup.

4. Delete Your Local Photos and Videos

Once you have synced your photos and videos to cloud, you can delete your photos and videos from your Nexus 5 to free up some storage space. Since these photos and videos were already stored in cloud, you will be able to access them anytime you want.

To delete your local photos and videos, go to the Photos app, slide out the side navigation menu on the left of the screen, and then select Folders. From here, long press the photos and videos you want to delete, and then tap the Delete icon (trash bin) located at the top-right corner of the screen.

5. Delete Photo and Video Thumbnails

Every time you take a photo or capture a screenshot on your Nexus 5, the Camera app will automatically create smaller versions of these photos to be used as thumbnails in the Photos app. These thumbnails, unfortunately, take up space and will pile up as time goes by. And the sad thing is that these thumbnails remain even after deleting the original pictures. However, you can easily clear out the thumbnails using the Sliding Explorer app, which is available in the Google Play Store free of charge.

To delete your photo and video thumbnails, go to the DCIM folder on your SD card. Long press the .thumbnails folder, and then tap the Delete icon (trash bin) to remove it.

6. Block Thumbnail Images from Saving

Once you start taking photos and screenshots with your Nexus 5, your Camera app will automatically create a .thumbnails folder and will again save smaller versions of the pictures you have taken. To prevent your Camera app from automatically doing that, go to the DCIM folder on your SD card, create a new file by tapping the + icon or the Add option, and then tap File. Name the file with the exact same name as the folder you have deleted. In this case, .thumbnails. This will prevent a new .thumbnails folder from being created as soon as you take more pictures, since a file with that name already exists in the DCIM folder.

7. Clear Play Music's Cache

The Play Music app in your Nexus 5 caches the songs that you have already played. To periodically free up storage space, go to Play Music's Settings, and then tap Clear Cache.

10 Windows Phone 8.1 Tips and Tricks You Should Know About

Microsoft has a free update to Windows Phone 8 users that will add a notification center, an intelligent Siri-like personal assistant, and new home screen options. The Windows Phone 8.1 update has not been officially released to the public. The exact date when the update will be available will depend on your smartphone manufacturer. As Microsoft stated, "The distribution of these incremental updates may be controlled by the mobile operator or the phone manufacturer from which you purchased your phone, and installation will require that your phone have any prior updates. Update availability will also vary by country, region, and hardware capabilities." However, if you want a sneak peek of the Windows Phone 8.1 update, you can download the developers preview here. For some Windows Phone 8.1 tips and tricks, check out the list below:

10 Windows Phone 8.1 Tips and Tricks You Should Know About

Swipe Down on Action Center for Detailed Status

The Action Center can be accessed by swiping from the top of the screen down. This will provide you with information and functions including recent emails and text messages, updated apps, enable Bluetooth, Airplane mode, and more. It even allows you to view detailed status on your battery, carrier connection, date, and more.

Pin Battery Saver and Storage Sense to the Start Screen

With the Windows Phone 8.1 update, the Battery Saver and Storage Sense features have been included in the App list. Because of this, you can now pin them to your Start screen. Microsoft even made them Live tiles to make them reflect your current battery status and current storage space (both phone and SD card storage).

Tell Cortana What News Topic You Want to Follow

Cortana is Microsoft's equivalent to Apple's Siri and Android's Google Now. It is an intelligent personal assistant that is capable of web searches, hands-free calls, scheduling appointments, identifying current weather, launching apps, and so much more. Cortana's Update me on this news topic is a feature that will track the topic you want and show any news in your Daily Glance. You can tap on the topic to enable notifications if there are new stories, as well as pin it to your Start screen.

Display the Weather Directly on the Calendar

Among the many Calendar enhancements made with the Windows phone 8.1, one of the coolest is its ability to display the weather forecast for each day of the week to help you plan your schedule and appointments more efficiently based on the expected weather bulletin. To display the weather directly on the native Calendar app, go to Calendar > Settings > Preferences, and then tap the Use my location to show the weather and suggested places box.

Capture a Screenshot

To capture a screenshot in Windows Phone 8.1, press the power button and the volume up key simultaneously.

Share Your Wi-Fi Network

Wi-Fi Sense is a new feature introduced in Windows Phone 8.1 that allows you to automatically connect to local, open Wi-Fi networks. In addition, Wi-Fi Sense also allows you to share the Wi-Fi credentials of your trusted networks with your Skype, Outlook, and Facebook friends provided they have Windows Phone 8.1 devices as well. With this, your friends will have access to your Wi-Fi network, but they will not see the actual Wi-Fi password.

Scan Barcodes and QR Codes

Using Cortana will make you lose the ability to scan barcodes through Bing Vision. But, you can still access Bing Vision, although not as conveniently as before, by going to Camera > Lenses > Bing Vision.

Close Apps with a Swipe of a Finger

Windows Phone 8.1 will allow you to close apps with just a swipe of a finger. To do this, access Windows Phone's multitasking menu by long pressing the back button. Once inside, you can quickly go to a previously opened app, or close it by either pressing the x icon or swiping the app downward.

Swipe Down on the Lock Screen to Access Action Center

With Windows Phone 8.1, you will be able to access Action Center without unlocking your screen so you can toggle the Quick action buttons and dismiss alerts. To do this, just swipe down on the Lock screen even if it requires a PIN code. However, if you want to read anything, you will need to enter the PIN code.

Set Quiet Hours

Quiet Hours is Windows Phone's equivalent to the Do Not Disturb feature in iOS. With Quiet Hours, you will be able to set the time between which you do not want to be disturbed. Your Windows Phone will then stop all notifications or any noise during the hours you have specified so as not to bother you. That is unless you have an incoming call from an important person, in which case you will be alerted of the call or the text message.

These are just a few tips and tricks for your Windows Phone 8.1. Surely, more will come out once it is officially released to the public.