8 Things You Can Do With Your Old Smartphone!

We all upgrade our existing smartphone at some point in life. Most of us have the habit of replacing old smartphone with new one frequently. We sell our old device at a cheap price without even knowing that there are some great things that you can do with your old Android device. Today we have listed eight amazing things that you can do with your old Android smartphone.

1. Time Lapse Camera: 

Time Lapse is an amazing technique to compress large amount of time in short sequence. You can show time moving much faster than usual. You can use your old Android device as Time Lapse Camera. There is a free app called Lapse It. You can mount your smartphone on tripod and use it as full time Time Lapse Camera.

2. Desktop Control: 

Android device can be used as wireless controller for desktop. The free app called Roccat’s Power Grid is the best solution to control your desktop using Android device. You need to be connected to same wireless network to use the system. You need to install this app on Android device and host software for your PC.

3. Digital Halloween Costume: 

Android can be used to customise designs. You can use your Android device to make creepy and unique costumes. Digital Dudz is a great app to make special T shirts with scary face graphics. You can buy velcro T-shirts online for approx $30.

4. Bitcoin Mining: 

Bitcoin is virtual currency that can be purchased and mined. Mining bitcoins is little more complex. You can do your calculations from device. You can mine bitcoins on Android device. The free apps like Easy Miner and LTC Miner let you use your phone to calculate algorithms and earn bitcoins.

5. Kid-safe Toy: 

An older phone can be a great educational tool for young children. You can install all kid friendly apps like Zoodies, Kidoz or Kid’s to use them for educational purpose. You can choose exactly what your children will have access to and also set password protection to restrict the use of some features of the phone.

6. Media Player: 


All Android devices are capable of playing HD videos, some of them also come with HDMI output. You can buy MHL-HDMI cable and use media players like MX Player. You can also buy some Bluetooth external speaker and use the device as music system in your house.

7. Download Machine: 

Instead of downloading torrents on your desktop, you can use your Android phone to efficiently download files. You can plugin microSD card for storage and connect phone to power. The free uTorrent app can be used as torrent downloader.

8. Vehicle Aid: 

You can use number of apps to turn your car into high-tech car. You can use apps like Ulysse Speedometer. This app uses GPS data of your travel to record details like speed, direction, time and even acceleration time. If you want more out of your car, you can install PLX Devices like Kiwi 2 on OBD II port of car and control most of car functions.






This article originally published by:-efytimes

9 Mistakes To Avoid While Building First Mobile App

The world has moved from building simple apps for specific use-case. Many companies have moved from creating apps for small reasons, they have become more mature in creating new mobile applications. Individual mobile app developers have started coding more mature apps. Today we have listed nine common mistakes that you should avoid while building your first mobile application.

1. Application Thinking: 

Traditional thought process for application building doesn't work in today’s world. Applications are priced very high for their capabilities, some apps are valued for few specific tasks as well. Organisations are tempted to bring the do-it all standard of conventional applications to the do-a-few-things-really-well standard of an app. This doesn't really work. You must avoid this temptation.

2. Purposeful: 

You must list the desired features for your app and delete half of them. Every feature you introduce in backlog of your app comes out. Your application must offer simple yet purposeful mobile experience and eliminate the bloat of unnecessary features.

3. OS Specific Apps: 

The days are gone when it was perfectly fine to build apps that run on single set of devices for fixed screen size and OS. Even today companies make mistake of building their app for one operating system or platform and then expand once they have tested user base. This OS version specific approach doesn't work. Developers must build apps that work on all versions of particular OS.

4. Cross-Platform: 

Developers often fail to build apps for multiple platforms. But in today’s world, you cannot have good user acquisition if you fail to build apps that work on multi-OS and multi-Device. Developers must build cross-platform apps. And there are far too many development tools that let you build or port your existing application to another platform.

5. Apps Without API: 

Good mobile apps are data hungry. They transfer and communicate the data from enterprise system to SaaS repositories all the time. Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) solve this pain very easily. Developers get simplified access to data and service while building apps with help of APIs. Good mobile APIs act as center of your innovation. For better viability of your app, you must consider developing API along with the app.

6. Agile Isn’t Fast: 

Agile method of development for an app project isn't fast way of execution. Building mobile apps require you to optimise your whole delivery process at stable velocity. Users often expect steady stream of feature updates. The only way to meet expectation is to come out with MVP (minimum viable product) as early as possible. You can improve your app base and start working on additional features along with growth.

7. MVP Approach: 

The typical approach of MVP is not easy, you need to employ analytics to find out user interaction on the app. The MVP approach requires discipline and willingness to listen. Developers still need to realize that MVP approach will take some discipline but it will be worth it.

8. Analytics: 

Implementing analytics with your first app is an important aspect. The mobile world today comes with wealth of information than you have ever imagined before. The mobile apps bring different variables like user location, device type, app version, operating system, device orientation etc number of factors to the table. It is tricky to capture all this data and make quick sense of it with next release. The best solution is to implement analytics with your first app and sort through the findings and improve each subsequent release continuously. Developers need to understand that you cannot manage what you cannot measure.

9. Smart Users: 

Users have more mature approach towards mobile apps today. They expect access to elegant and easy-to-use services in mobile app these days. When you start building your app, keep end user in mind and optimize the features. Developers need to create targeted, context-aware amazing mobile experience that people love. 




This article originally published by:-efytimes

Top 10 JavaScript Libraries For Web Projects

There are number of tools available on the Internet to help you with your development project. You can refer to online guides to get all the necessary information that you need in your coding project. In case of web development, developers prefer JavaScript for front-end development. This scripting language is relatively easy to use and create intriguing user interface for website and web apps. Today we have listed top ten JavaScript libraries that you can use for your web project in this year.

1. IO.js: 

IO.js is a Chrome V8 runtime powered JavaScript platform. The project is based on Node.js platform and the compatibility of IO.js is quite high. This platform promises faster and predictable release cycle. The platform offers open governance model. The platform brings latest languages, API and performance improvements to V8 engine while updating libuv and other libraries.

2. Intercooler.js: 

This is a natural HTML extended version. Developers are familiar with simple attributes of HTML platform which makes the development easier with Intercooler.js. This platform uses JavaScript to communicate with the server and it sends AJAX requests in familiar syntax to application.

3. Matter.js: 

This is a JavaScript 2D rigid body physics engine for web. This engine module uses different methods for creation and manipulation of engines. Matter.js is a controller that manages updating and rendering the simulation of the world. The project is currently in alpha status. The API of matter.js is still under development.

4. Immutable.js: 

Immutable.js offers Persistant immutable list, Stack, Map, OrderedMap, Set, OrderedSet and Record. The platform is highly efficient even on modern JavaScript virtual machines. You can use hash maps and vectors using Clojure and Scala to copy or cache the data. This platform offers lazy Seq that allows efficient chaining of collection methods without creating intermediate representations.

5. Format.js: 

FormatJS is modern collection of JavaScript libraries for internationalisation focused on number, data and string formatting. The platform contains set of core libraries that can be used to build the JavaScript Intl built-ins and Industry wide i18n standards. FormatJS has set of integrations for common template and libraries.

6. Anima.js: 

Anima.js enables you to use delays and durations. You can use this platform for CSS animation creation. The tool uses CSS transforms and 3D transforms with JavaScript to create animation. You can control the tool with flow so that you can start, stop, cancel animations and even create event-based stuff.

7. Is.js: 

Is.js is an independent general purpose check library. You can check types, regexps, presence, time and much more other things using is.js.

8. MinBlock.js: 

minBlock.js Javascript library can be used for Matrix Grid implementation. The platform was designed to generate Github like random avatar.

9. blinkTitle.js: 

blinkTitle.js is pure javascript implementation of titlebar alert or notification. The tool can be used to perform blinking of html titlebar for titlebar aert or titlebar notification.

10. Conditioner.js: 

This is a best tool if your web program requires loading and unloading behavior. The implementation of environment behavior is quite easy using Conditioner.js, you need to define required state and the tool takes care of rest part.


This article originally published by:-efytimes

Apple's iTunes, App Store Restored After Outage Due To Internal Error

Apple device users can now access iTunes and App Store, that are available again online, after a 12-hour outage, that happened due to an internal technical error. The services were restored on Wednesday after the unusually long service disruption took place.

The outage began before 2.30 PM on Wednesday. The users were unable to access the app store and online content service due to the outage. They took to Twitter to vent out their frustration.

Apple took about 12 hours to restore the services and posted the status update at 2.34 AM on Thursday that the disrupted services were functioning normally. The Cupertino giant said that the outage occurred due to an internal Domain Name System error.

The App Store and iTunes are an essential part of Apple's mobile user experience. They also account for a great part of the company's revenue, that takes a part of revenue earned by app downloads and paid content, including music and videos. Apple earned about US $4.8 billion in its first quarter, or more than 6 per cent of overall sales with iTunes and App Store.

Apple confessed that its iCloud Mail and iCloud Account & Sign In were also down till about 6:30 pm. The outage happened after Apple made some major announcements including that of the Apple Watch and MacBook. Apple had shut the Apple Store website briefly on Monday, as a customary practice ahead of a major event. 


  This article originally published by:-efytimes

Java update spotlights JavaScript, memory usage

With a planned update to Java today, Oracle looks to improve memory management, native packaging, JavaScript compatibility, and usability.

Java Development Kit 8, Update 40 (JDK 8u40), which arrives nearly a year after the introduction of Java SE 8 itself, touches up the popular enterprise application platform in a number of ways, including garbage collection, for memory management. Garbage collection enhancements would limit the likelihood of long pauses while system resources are freed. Reliance on full garbage collections for class unloading or other critical operations has been reduced.

In addition, the amount of memory can be reduced in systems leveraging multiple JVMs, and native memory tracking has been improved to allow it to run without significant performance impacts, Oracle said. This feature allows for diagnosis of JVM memory leaks.

Native packaging improvements, Oracle said, enable development of “native-feel applications” that do not require clients to have an existing Java runtime installed. “These self-contained applications can then be deployed into areas like the Mac app store. The application developer has full control over the runtime and application entry points,” Oracle said in a statement.

Update 40 covers JavaScript and dynamic languages capabilities in Java as well. Optimizations based on Java’s Nashorn JavaScript runtime include support for dynamic languages and a class filter for fine-grained access to Java classes from JavaScript code through a filtering interface. A lambda form reduction and caching enhancement, meanwhile, reduces the necessary memory footprint for applications and improves performance of dynamic languages. Lambda capabilities have been a highlight of Java 8.

Regarding JavaFX, new features enable modernization of the JavaFX stack on Mac OS and accommodate the Mac App store; the JavaFX media stack has been ported on Mac OS from QTKit and QuickTime to the newer AVFoundation Framework. “With this, developers using the JavaFX media stack can now gain Mac App Store acceptance and have the opportunity to have their applications released on the Mac App Store,” Oracle said.

To simplify usability for Oracle Java SE Advanced users, the software can now be dynamically enabled from the command line or Java Mission Control without regard to original start-up parameters, Oracle said. Java SE Advanced offers capabilities intended to minimize costs of deployment, monitoring, and maintenance.

To assist with updating time zones in the JDK, Update 40 features a new updater tool that can consume “raw” data rules from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority registry and convert them to the necessary format required by the Java Runtime Environment.

Oracle in April will end public updates to the nearly four-year-old Java SE 7 platform. Customers who want these must sign up for a support agreement, according to the company. Existing Java SE 7 downloads will remain accessible. Java SE 7 was launched in July 2011.

This story, "Java update spotlights JavaScript, memory usage" was originally published by InfoWorld.

Free books! 19 no-cost programming guides

There's something about a book, whether physical or digital, that's attractive to both programming newbies and seasoned experts. Maybe it's how books function as snapshots of the truth, a fixed moment in time of what one needs to know about a topic and how to know it.

That said, programming books can be costly. The copy of Mark Lutz's "Learning Python" on my desk carries a list price of $59.99. But free e-books and PDFs for several languages, frameworks, applications, systems, and disciplines are available.

Here are 19 titles that have caught our eye over time, ranging in difficulty and appropriateness from absolute beginner to seasoned expert, and organized by general topic or language.

Python: "Dive Into Python 3"

With Python's developers and various Linux distributions pushing Python 3 as the better long-term choice over Python 2, programmers need guidance on what's new in the language and how to make the most of it. "Dive into Python" covers the topic, and it works as a good general introduction to the Python language. It even includes a set of sections on converting Python 2 code to Python 3.

C++/Java/Python: "Think Python/C++/Java: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist"

Another introduction to Python comes via "Think Python," a far more granular and detailed introduction to the language in its manifold detail. The same publisher, Green Tea Press, also offers tomes for C++ and Java, all by Allen B. Downey. And thanks to the open source nature of the books, readers have prepared non-English translations for many of the titles.

Git: "Learn Version Control with Git"

Open source isn't only a coding style, and the explosive popularity of GitHub (and the open source tool it's based on, Git) has put source code and version control of same into the hands of millions. But using Git can be tricky, so this book walks the beginner (including the nonprogrammer/project manager) through the essentials of how Git lets programmers take (version) control of their code. It includes illustrations for both Mac OS X and command-line users; Windows users are restricted to the command line for now.

C/Python/Ruby: "The Hard Way"

Zed Shaw's "The Hard Way" series of programming books have developed a devoted following. They insist on having the prospective student of the language get their hands as dirty as possible with it -- hence the title. Shaw covers C, Python, and Ruby in separate books. His extremely granular approach can be off-putting, but few other books put use of the language, not merely discussion of it, front and center.

Clojure: "Clojure -- Functional Programming for the JVM"

Clojure, a LISP-like language that runs in the Java Virtual Machine, has become a hot ticket due to the ways it implements functional programming (itself a hot subject) and allows programmers to leverage the existing Java ecosystem. But wrapping one's head around Clojure can be tough for those not reared on LISP syntax, so this book walks newcomers through the basics of Clojure's syntax, concepts, and approach. Next-level Clojure programmers may want to check out "The Clojure Cookbook," loaded with recipes for making good use of the language in a production environment.

Linux: "Linux from Scratch"

The best way to learn is by doing, so they say, and "Linux from Scratch" teaches by walking you through how to build a Linux system from nothing. Few books take as detailed, inside-out, and complete a view of Linux, and while not everyone will want to craft their own Linux to use in production, knowing the purpose and function of all the pieces is indispensable. "Hardened Linux from Scratch" and "Automated Linux from Scratch" continue the odyssey for the stalwart.

Go: "An Introduction to Programming in Go"

This book offers a straightforward, multiplatform introduction to Go (or Golang), Google's C-like language that's enjoying growing attention and interest. It devotes an entire section to one of Go's key points -- its concurrency features -- and it covers the core packages for Go in fair detail. For another approach to learning Go, check out "Go by Example," which is short on explanation but long on demonstration.

JavaScript: "Human JavaScript"

Douglas Crockford's "JavaScript: The Good Parts" is one of my favorite books on mastering JavaScript. "Human JavaScript" is designed to teach people how to use JavaScript effectively for one of its most common applications: Building native HTML5 apps that are readable and maintainable (hence, "human"). For a detailed look at what the next generation of JavaScript has to offer, check out "Understanding ECMAScript 6."

Hadoop: "Hadoop Illuminated"

This book on Hadoop isn't only for technical audiences, but rather for all those interested in big data as a topic. "Hadoop Illuminated" could stand to go into more detail about some of the newer elements in the Hadoop ecosystem -- for example, Spark; also, YARN doesn't get the discussion it deserves -- but as a general top-down overview, it's useful.

Programming theory: "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs"

One of the great-granddaddies of modern computing textbooks, SICP (for short) was a standard text used at MIT to teach programming. It's not easy going, and it uses a LISP-centric view of programming (a potential point of criticism), but many programmers have their thinking forever changed by reading it. It's also available in a cleaned-up PDF format version and an HTML5 port.

This story, "Free books! 19 no-cost programming guides" was originally published byInfoWorld.