Edward Kiledjian

Let's say you just browsed a bunch of pages on Safari for iPhone (IOS 6.0+) and then wanted to jump back to a previously browsed page. Sure you could retype the URL and navigate through the site or you could simply use this trick to see all the sites you browsed and chose which one to jump back to in2 clicks.

Let's say I just browsed a bunch of sites and the last one I browsed was Google.ca. To see my browsing history, just click the back button and hold it for about a second.

You will then get a menu like this

Click on the site you want and voila, Safari will take you there in just 2 clicks.

We are hearing rumors that some users of Nexus branded gear have started to received the 4.2.2 
Android update. Some readers have asked how to check for OS updates on their Nexus 7 but it will be the same for Nexus 4s and Nexus 10s.

1 - Open Settings

2 - Click on About Tablet

3 - Click on System Updates

4 - Click on Check Now

If an update was available, you would see it listed here, with the changelog and the option to download and install the update.

Unlocking a mobile phone means you can use a SIM card from any provider in it. For the longest time, most Canadian carriers refused to unlock devices until your full contract term was up and then only for $50. By the time the device was eligible, it was likely obsolete and unlocking no longer makes sense.

Their logic was that by allowing customers to unlock early, they would risk losing money when customers took these devices to other networks and refused to honour their contract. Truth is we have 3 major carriers in Canada (with sub carriers and other owned brands added to the mix), so this isn't a viable strategy.

A new day

As of March 2013, any Rogers customer in good standing with a device that has been activated for at least 90 days will be able to pay the $50 unlocking fee and unlock the device immediately. This is great news and is likely a response to the CRTC investigation into the Canadian mobile phone industry.

Fido (a wholly owned Rogers brand) unlocks at the end of your term for $50 but hopefully that too will change. Telus will unlock devices after the 90 day moratorium for $35. Bell/Virgo will unlock devices for $75. I am not sure of Videotron's policy but have heard they aren't too eager to unlock devices.

 I wrote about Bluestack and how they provide a beta emulation software that allows you to run some Android software on a Windows or Mac PC. Emulation is good when you don't have any other option but now a team of Chinese developers from Socketeq has pushed their Android on Windows just a little bit further.

Instead of using emulation which is slower and more limiting, they have created a system where Android runs on top of the Windows kernel (without emulation). They also claim that this approach allows you to run all Android applications including the resource intensive 3D games.

The app works pretty well for a beta but still has some issues. I had some glitches with sound playback (most of the time), multi touch doesn't work and the default bundle of Google apps isn't installed. For the last point, this is likely a licensing issue and I'm sure some creative user will find a way to solve this issue.

To see the demo video, go here:

To download the app, go to the developers site and fill out their form

Canadians always seem to get the short end of the entertainment stick (compared to our US neighbors). RDIO is finally sharing the love with Canada and 14 other countries by providing up to 6 months of commercial free, ad free music streaming.

Rdio Launches Free Music Streaming in Nearly All Countries Where Rdio is Available

Rdio, (www.rdio.com), the streaming music service from the co-creator of Skype, is now offering music lovers up to six months of free music on the Web in nearly all countries where Rdio is available1. New Rdio listeners can sign up and activate free streaming at rdio.com, with no credit card required, then dive right into Rdio's library of over 18 million songs.

This new offer is specifically designed to appeal to people with ears and hearts. Free streaming is available through the Web or Rdio's desktop apps for Mac and Windows, and allows listeners to:

● Choose from over 18 million songs, without ads
● Listen free on the web for up to six months, depending on how many songs you stream
● See and hear what your favorite artists are listening to
● Discover new music by following friends and tastemakers
● Create, curate, and collaborate on playlists
● Share your life soundtrack in real time on Facebook and Twitter

A meter at the top of user profile pages lets people know how much free music they have remaining each month. It's easy to upgrade any time to one of Rdio's subscription plans for unlimited streams and access to Rdio's acclaimed mobile apps. US plan options include:

● Rdio Web: $4.99 a month. Unlimited Web streaming.
● Rdio Unlimited: $9.99 a month. Unlimited Web and mobile streaming, as well as wireless syncing to listen offline.2

Music fans can sign up for free Rdio streaming right now at www.rdio.com.

Over the last couple of years, we have been treated a fantastic group of web TV and movies streaming services (Netflix, HULU, BBC iPlayer, etc). These services are wonderful when they work smoothly and f...r...u.s....t....r...a...t..i.....n..g when they don't (buffer pains anyone). Now imagine what high definition (and even ultraHD) would do to an already bad streaming situation.

The MPEG group submitted a new proposal which was quickly adopted by the ITU as the next generation streaming standard (now called H.265). At the very core, it halves the bandwidth requirement compared to the current standard. The new High Efficiency Video Coding standard currently includes 8-bit, 10-bit and photo profiles to accommodate most 2D recording and playback.  Expect 3D, Chroma, 12-bit and other profiles to follow as the standard develops.

I love it when technology actually makes our lives easier and more enjoyable. Raise your glass for smoother, higher quality video.

French blog, NoWhereElse, has published pictures they claim belong to the upcoming iPhone 5s and an iPhone 6. They claim that the iPhone 5s will be released this summer and that the iPhone 6 will follow in early 2014.

Like most sites, NoWhereElse seems to have gotten some rumors right and messed up others completely. Like all things Apple, we'll have to wait until WWDC to see what goodies Apple has in store for us.

Personally I doubt we would see iPhone 6 parts just yet. It is more likely the parts from an iPhone 5s (next generation) and from the cheaper iPhone we have been hearing about (which would require a redesign).

I wrote about Whatsapp [processing 18 billion](http://www.kiledjian.com/main/2013/1/4/whatsapp-processed-18-billion-messages-on-december-31-2012.html) messages on New Year's day.

During Apple's quarterly presentation, we learned that Apple users send 1 billion iMessages a day. Apple solf 47.8 million iPhones during the quarter and the total IOS devices sold to date (from inception) now totals 500 million. 

Apple also saw the number of total iCLoud users jumped to 250 million in December 2012.

2 billion messages may seem like a lot but then you look at the cross-platform Whatsapp and realize they have a long way to go. The real losers in all of this are the carriers who are seeing their cash cow (SMS) erode a little more every day.

Regardless of the maximum device size released by Apple, there are always customers demanding more. The largest iphones currently support 64GB of storage but that may all be about to change.

The latest IOS 6.1 beta 5 seems to support a larger 128GB system partition key in BuildManifest. This would match up with previously seem NAND upgrade patterns from Apple (which are about every 2 years).

Online storage providers have been trying to fill in the gap by convincing customers that streaming and online storage is a better option than plucking down top dollar for the largest device possible. But until bandwidth caps are raised and speeds reach 4G in more areas, many will still demand larger local storage.

As a business traveler, I adopted rechargeable batteries 5 years ago and haven’t looked back since. I have tried almost every brand of rechargeable batteries and the 2 I have consistently come back to are the Powerex by Maha Energy and the Sanyo Eneloop.

The Powerex is the heavy duty battery that works great in high drain devices. I use Eneloop for everything else.

The value proposition

The value propositions of the Eneloops are: 

• Come pre-charged
• Maintain 70% of their charge after 5 years of storage
• Can be recharged 1500-1800 times 

Testing

I recently bought a brand new pack of these batteries and decided to run some tests and share the results here. 

Capacity

The newest batteries actually list the “Min” mAh value. The AA in my pack list “Min. 1,900mAh” but rest assured their nominal charge is 2000mAh per Sanyo.

Out of the box, I test 8 AA batteries and they all had between 70-85% of their full 2000mAh charge which means (unlike other rechargeables) you can immediately put them to work. I found that during the next 5 complete recharges, the batteries capacity actually increased slightly reaching closer to the 2190mAh level.

Lifespan

When using Energizer rechargeable batteries, they can typically be recharged 400-600 types before their performance starts to really degrade. My oldest Eneloops are close to 1000 recharges and they are still performing to spec.

Shelf life

I used one of my brand new batteries, did 4 drain/recharge cycles then left it in a drawer for 3 months. I pulled it out and tested its charge rate and it still delivered 92% of its advertised charge. I performed the same test with my 3 year old Eneloop's and during the same period, it retained 87% of its charge.

Most other rechargeable batteries typically fall to 40-50% charge after the 100 day mark.

C and D Adaptors

The latest kit I received came with 2 C and 2 D adaptors. This means I can use the Eneloop AA rechargeable batteries in devices that require C or D. Nice little add-on that makes these batteries even more attractive.

Verdict

Overall I love and recommend these batteries for low or medium drain devices. They will last longer than other name brand rechargeables, come charged out of the box and you can often find them on special at very attractive prices.

Anytime I see a good deal on these, I tend to pick up a couple more (to make sure I never run out of batteries)

Pictures

Eneloop charger sold with most kits. This charger can fully charge the AA or AAA batteries in 3.5-4 hours (you'll know its done when the battery LED stops flashing). Batteries must be charged in pairs and always pair similar batteries (AA with AA; AAA with AAA).

The C and D adaptors in my kit.

Inserting the AA into the C adaptor

The AA batteries

I just saw this tweet from the Videotron account...

C'est le 30 janvier que Nexus 4 de Google sera offert chez Vidéotron. Êtes-vous prêts?

— Videotron(@Videotron) January 23, 2013

This means that Quebecers will be able to walk into any Videotron store and pickup a Nexus 4. Unfortunately no word yet on the price.