How to Use YouTube Custom Blurring Tool

YouTube introduced the Custom Blurring Tool in late February 2016. This is an extension of the blurring feature they had launched in 2012. This new feature provides the ability to blur people’s faces or blur sensitive information in your videos uploaded to YouTube.

I think it’s a great feature to have built-in, as part of the YouTube’s video Enhancements tools. This blur feature can be used once the video is uploaded to your channel.

The blur tool is a desktop version and works on static and moving objects. Of course, it’s a bit tricky and potentially time-consuming when working with moving subjects in your video.

When using the Custom Blurring tool, I noticed that it can be a little tricky when blurring moving objects, especially during the beginning of the video. The preview looks grainy and so it’s not always easy to tell if the final edited video will come out right. The video below is a test video I used to test out YouTube’s Custom Blurring Tool. As you can tell, at the beginning of the video, it didn’t completely cover one of the girl’s faces, but overall I think it’s did a pretty good job of blurring the faces in the entire video.

To use the Custom Blurring Tool, find the video in your Video Manager. Then click on the Edit button, and choose Enhancements. Next, in the Blurring Effects tab, you will find two blurring options: automatic, and custom. When you choose the Custom option, you will be able to draw a blur box around the area in the video that you want to blur.

This tool is designed to intuitively analyze what you’re trying to blur as the video plays. Depending on how movement there is, you will need to do some fine-tuning by adjusting the blur boxes as your scrub through the video. You will see the blur annotations in your video timeline. You can accordingly adjust the duration of the blur on the timeline itself. For static objects, you can use the Lock feature in the video timeline.

Once you’re done making the changes, you can save the video as a new video, or override the existing video and publish it on YouTube. In case you don’t want to publish the video life publicly, you can first upload the video as Unlisted and then make it public once you’re completed the changes and are happy with the result. It does take a little while for processing the changes.

For example, a short 19 second video (as shown above) took around 10 minutes to process. 10 minutes may not seem like a long time, but for a 19-second video, it is. But then again, it will depend on how many adjustments have been made. The Custom Blurring Tool is not perfect, but it’s very useful to have in your video editing arsenal.

You can check the video tutorial below on How to Use the YouTube Custom Blurring Tool:

Have you tried YouTube’s Custom Blurring Tool? Feel free to share your thoughts and comments below. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Thanks for stopping by!

CREDITS:
- Canoeing video footage of taken by Anthony Godinho at Port Credit, Ontario, Canada
- Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
- Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks, or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Used with permission from Microsoft.

YouZign 2.0 Review 2016

YouZign is a powerful online graphics tool that I've been personally using for a few months now. This web-based graphics design software makes it easy to create various types of marketing graphics.

In today's world, sharing information via social media has become increasingly popular and shows no signs of stopping. But with so much digital content shared over social media, it's important to make your content stand out from the crowd.

With YouZign you can design high quality and professional-looking graphics for a variety of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest and others.

But that's not all you can do with YouZign. You can design web banners of different sizes, business cards, eBook covers, and infographics. You can even create effective ads for your business or clients, but there is still so much more.

I've used different types of graphics design software and tools in the market over the past few years and I like the simplistic user-interface that YouZign offers. More importantly, I like the commitment of the owner, Bertrand Do, who is constantly listening to users and making improvements to this online graphics design platform. Since its inception, we've seen YouZign evolve and improve tremendously.

You can check the short video below to take a quick look at what the platform looks like. In this YouZign Video Review, I highlight some of the key features you will find in this online graphics platform:

As you saw from the above YouZign Video Review, it's a pretty cool and useful tool to have in your social media creation arsenal.

Another aspect of YouZign that I particularly like is the flexibility to customize pretty much every element on the canvas. You will find contextual menus as you click various elements on the canvas to customize the look and feel of the graphic or image that you're creating.

If you are creative in nature, you can use the "New Template" to create your designs from scratch and build your masterpieces. You can use the hundreds of graphic design elements like graphics, icons, shapes, etc to build your design.

On the other hand, if you need to create a quick graphic design, you can use the hundreds of pre-made templates and customize them the way you want to.

With the integration of websites like Pixabay, Icon Finder, and Stocks Unlimited, you will have access to literally thousands of copyright-free images, graphics and icons directly from YouZign. You essentially choose which site you would like to look for images, and then use the Search Box to find them. Once you've found your image, you can immediately place it onto the canvas and start customizing it based on your needs.

I particularly like the built-in Photo Background Removal tool you will find in YouZign. With this feature, you can remove the background from any image and save it as an image by itself or apply another background. You can check this video tutorial below on how to remove a photo background using this tool:

Once you've successfully completed designing your graphic or image, you can save it into your Designs section within YouZign, or download a copy to your computer.

The one year anniversary of Youzign is on February 8, 2016. On this special occasion, the founder Bertrand is making YouZign available at a discounted price along with several improvements and enhancements to the platform.

This special offer is for a limited time, so if you like what you see, I suggest you pick up a copy as soon as possible. At some point, after this relaunch, the price will be on a monthly basis.

Hope you found this YouZign Review useful. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will do my best to respond to you.

AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER: If you use the links above to purchase the product. I may earn a commission as a JVZoo affiliate. This recommendation and review is based on my firsthand experience using this product myself.

Windows 10 Launched Today - Is it Worth Upgrading?

Microsoft launched the much hyped Windows 10 operating system today, July 29, 2015. Microsoft is actually giving Windows 10 away for free. Yes, it's true and no it’s not the trial version, it’s the full version of the new operating system. Consumers who currently have Windows 7 or 8.1, are able to get Windows 10 as a free upgrade.

My favourite Windows operating system was and is Windows 7. I completely skipped Windows Vista (thankfully) and have been able to skip Windows 8 so far. From what I see, Windows 10 seems to be a crossover, incorporating the best of Windows 7 and Windows 8, into this new Windows 10 operating system.

I’m liking what I see so far, but am not ready to upgrade yet. For now, I’m sticking with Windows 7 until the dust settles. I’m in the market for a new laptop at which point, I think I will go for Windows 10.

So what’s new in Windows 10? Well, the video review below does a good job of covering many of the cool new features in Windows 10. However, let me share some of the key features that I really like in Microsoft’s brand new operating system.

START Button: Well, first of all, I must admit that I do like and am quite accustomed to the START button. Well, it’s back in Windows 10 and I’m sure many MS Windows users will be happy about that.

Platform Versatility: Windows 10 can be used across various platforms, that is, on computers, tablets, and smartphones. And it can also be integrated with Microsoft’s Xbox One console. The Xbox App allows users to play games without having an Xbox One console. If you do have an Xbox One, you can connect it to your Windows 10 PC and stream your gaming on your PC.

Continuum: Talking about the versatility of this new operating system, Continuum allows users to turn their computer into a tablet. Essentially, Continuum gives you the flexibility to work in desktop mode or touch-screen tablet mode while adjusting and optimizing the user-interface.

Cortana: is Windows’ new digital Personal Assistant with a sense of humor. Cortana will help users find things around their PC, give users reminders, help manage your calendar, send emails, and much more.

Snap Assist: I think I will like the Snap Assist feature because I constantly multi-task and have several applications open at the same time. With Snap Assist, you can drag a specific window to a section of the screen and Windows will automatically adjust the other open app windows.

Windows Edge: is Microsoft’s new browser that turns the web into your own canvas. Essentially, with Edge you can write notes and draw doodles with a variety of annotations on live web pages. You can then save the annotations as well as share them with others. You can write freehand, type, and even highlight with different colors.

MS Office Apps: Windows 10 comes with free MS Office apps like Excel, Word, PowerPoint, though these are stripped down versions app of MS Office. It also comes with a Screen Capture app that allows you to capture video to create tutorials or capture your gaming action.

Windows Hello: allows you to log into your computer using facial recognition or your fingerprint.

So that’s it in a nutshell – though there is still much more to this new operating system. Having said so, I’m not yet ready to give a 10 rating to the Windows 10 operating system. I guess time will tell if and how users embrace Windows 10. I’m really hoping that it is as good or better and Windows 7.

If you are currently on Windows 8, you probably will benefit from upgrading. But for users, like me, who are still using Windows 7, I think it may be better to wait until at least the initial launch.

If you want to Buy Microsoft Windows 10 Home, you will have to wait until August 5, 2015, but you can Pre-order Windows 10.

What will you do? Are you going to wait or go right ahead and upgrade to Windows 10? Feel free to share your thoughts and experience with Microsoft's new operating system!

CREDITS:
Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks, or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER:
If you use the link above to purchase the product. I may earn a commission as a Amazon Associate. This recommendation and review is based on my firsthand experience using this product myself.

Google+ Breaks Up with YouTube

Well, not yet, but there are changes coming in terms of how Google is going to take the focus off Google+ and put it more on a user’s Google Account. Earlier today, according to an official blog post titled “Everything in its right place”, Google announced that they will be making a few changes in the coming months.

Google’s VP of Streams, Photos, and Sharing, Bradley Horowitz said “People have told us that accessing all of their Google stuff with one account makes life a whole lot easier. But we’ve also heard that it doesn’t make sense for your Google+ profile to be your identity in all the other Google products you use.”

Essentially, they are decentralizing the Google+ Profile which currently acts as a user’s identity across Google services like Gmail, YouTube, Google+, Drive, Hangouts, etc. Their plan is to make users’ Google Account as their main identity for Google services. Also, currently, Google+ Profiles are searchable via Google Search, whereas, users’ Google Account won’t be.

One of the first changes that we will see is the decoupling of Google+ and YouTube. Based on the official blog post from the YouTube Team titled “Keeping the conversation going” and immediate change will be that comments made on YouTube videos will not appear on Google+ and vice-versa. As far as I know, my comments that I posted on YouTube videos never appeared on Google+ unless I checked the box to allow comments to appear on my Google+ timeline (see screenshot below).

Also, going forward, once the changes are implemented, users won’t need a Google+ profile to create a YouTube channel, upload videos and comment on YouTube videos. Bear in mind that these changes have not yet been implemented, therefore, don’t rush to delete your Google+ profile. In doing so, you will delete your YouTube channel, and you don’t want that – so hold your horses!

When changes like these are implemented one often thinks whether the death of Google+ is soon coming. It’s difficult to say because Google has done this before where they’ve launched products and then pulled them off the shelves. To that end, Mr. Horowitz says “We think changes like these will lead to a more focused, more useful, more engaging Google+.” So Google+ is here to stay as far as we know it.

I know many people don’t like Google+ and cringed when the Google+ profile was used as the one central identity for Google services. I may be in the minority when I say this, but personally, I like Google+ much better than Facebook and liked the fact that I had a choice to allow my comments to appear on Google+. It helped greatly because I have an active YouTube channel and could managed comments from within YouTube as well as from within Google+.

As far as I know it, now Google+ and YouTube are going to be separate which means duplicate work if I want to share it on Google+. On the brighter side, I do like that our Google Accounts will be our main identity for using Google services, instead of the Google+ profile.

CREDITS:
Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
Broken Hearted Graphic Public Domain CC0 via Pixabay.com

Amazon All Set for Prime Day

Amazon, the largest online retailer in the US, is all set for Prime Day on July 15, 2015. The company has touted this one-day only sale, Prime Day, as “More deals than Black Friday.”

Amazon is celebrating their 20th anniversary with Prime Day, their version of Black Friday in July, only better. Amazon Prime was first launched in 2005 and has since become popular among regular Amazon shoppers who’ve made the best of this membership.

So is Amazon Prime worth it? Well, I guess the answer to that will depend on how you intend to use it. Amazon Prime membership costs US$99 per year.

Below are some of the main benefits of being an Amazon Prime member:

• Free two-day shipping;
• Free online movie streaming;
• Access to ad-free music;
• Unlimited photo storage;
• Exclusive deals.

Some zip codes are eligible for free same-day shipping as well. Also, with Prime membership up to four eligible household members (who live at the same address) can use the membership for shipping benefits at no extra cost.

Learn more about Amazon Prime and its members benefits and some restrictions. If you don’t have Amazon Prime membership, you can get a 30-day free trial and still access the exclusive discounts available on Prime Day on July 15, 2015.

Amazon released some examples of deals you can expect on Prime Day:

• Kindle, $30 off
• Fire HD 7, $60 off
• Fire HD 7 Kids Edition, $60 off
• 32-inch LED TV, $75
• 40-inch 1080p LED TV, $115
• Brand-name 32-inch Smart HDTV, under $200
• Chromebook laptop, only $199
• Over 50% off two Nikon COOLPIX cameras
• 40 lightning deals on DVDs up to 75% off
• And many more.

Affiliate Disclaimer: The links in this post contain affiliate links and I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Explaindio Video Creator 2.0 PRO Review

Explaindio Video Creator (EVC) is one of the most powerful sketch and animation video software in the market. The current stable version of Explaindio is 1.014 and I’ve personally used it for the past few months. I've enjoyed it's flexibility and functionality.

When I first came across Explaindio, I was amazed by the functionality available in this video creation software. Having done some of my homework on the features and price, I decided to buy it.

At the time I purchased EVC 1.014, it was priced at $47 one-time cost for lifetime, so it was a no brainer because similar software cost an arm and a leg.

I was able to test almost all of the features and functionality of this incredible video creation software and create several videos using it. In the meantime, the founder of Explaindio Video Creator was working on the next generation of EVC and made it available to a limited number of beta testers. I was one of the beta testers who purchased the beta version EVC 2.0. It went through several iterations and it finally ready for launch. I'm impressed with the final product.

How much will Explaindio 2.0 PRO cost?

Fast forward a few months and Explaindio 2.0 PRO is ready for launch on July 1, 2015 at EST 12.01 AM. At launch, there will be an early-bird period starting from 12.01 AM to 2:00 PM EST. The discounted price, of $23.50 per year, will be available ONLY for current EVC 1.x owners.

Yes, the new Explaindio upgrade is going to be on a yearly subscription going forward. New customers will be paying $47 per year. Current EVC 1.x member will be paying $47 the following year, while new customers will be paying $57 the following year.

What is the difference between EVC 1.x compared to EVC 2.x?

Well, before I get into the comparison part of the two versions, you should know that EVC 1.x will be phased out. Basically, EVC 2.x has a new architecture and there are two versions of EVC 2.x. There is a Standard version and a Professional version. EVC 2.x Standard includes several bug fixes that were present in EVC 1.x.

You won’t find the same features that will be in EVC 2.x PRO. EVC 2.x Standard will be given free to current EVC 1.x owners. EVC 2.x PRO includes all the bug fixes and comes with a whole bunch of new features, including animation of text, pictures, slides and videos.  It has many other cool new features, some of which I will list down below and discuss in more detail the following section:

• Animation of text, pictures, graphics, slides, videos;
• Sketch-to-animation;
• Sketch-to-video;
• Green screen video;
• Dynamic zoom and rotation of elements;
• Filled (solid) line text sketching;
• Importing of TTF fonts.

What are the new features in Explaindio 2.0 PRO?

First of all, one of the first things you will notice is that EVC 2.x has a new user-interface which is blackish-grey in color, compared to the pinkish-red color in EVC 1.x.

Animation feature in EVC 2.0 PRO allows you to animate various types of elements on the canvas like text, pictures, graphics, slides, and video. This animation feature enables you to control the way these elements transition, in and out, of the canvas. This includes the dynamic zoom and rotation of all the elements mentioned above. For example, you can create the Ken Burns Effect using zooming and panning.

Sketch-to-Animation is similar to what I described above. Essentially, you can sketch various elements like text, graphics, pictures, videos, etc. and then animate them using the animation functionality in EVC 2.0 PRO. Using this feature, once the sketch is completed, you can move the element around the canvas creating a cool and professional effect.

Sketch-to-Video is a unique feature that I’ve not seen in too many video creation applications. Basically, with this new feature in EVC 2.0 PRO, you can sketch the initial scene in the video and let it transition from a sketch to a live video. Used in conjunction with the other features listed above, you can create professional-looking videos with slick transitions.

Green Screen Video feature allows you to create videos that replaces any color with animation, sketches, videos and pictures. It’s a great way to incorporate cool video effects within a video or slide.

Solid Line Sketching enables you to sketch text, graphics, and other elements in solid (filled) line as opposed to just an outline. You still have the option to sketch the outline if you wish and then transition to a solid line sketch as you can currently do in EVC 1.x.

Importing of TTF Fonts is now doable in EVC 2.0 PRO. With this new feature, you can import various types of fonts that are in TTF (True Type Font) format. This will not only allow you expand your video arsenal, but with EVC 2.0 PRO you can also sketch from right to left. This means that you can now use the sketch to write in other languages like Arabic and Hebrew.

They say “If a picture is worth a thousand words then a video is priceless.” If you haven't already, I would suggest that you check the video above to see for yourself the possibilities of EVC 2.0 PRO.

Is it worth upgrading to EVC 2.0 PRO? Or should I stick with EVC 2.0 PRO?

That is something only you can answer because it purely depends on your needs. If you think that the features in EVC 2.x Standard will suffice for your needs, then I would suggest sticking with it. However, if you are a marketer or video creator who has clients or use it for your business, then I would highly recommend getting EVC 2.0 PRO because it will give you much more leverage. Having said so, there are a couple of kinks worth noting.

In EVC 2.0 PRO you will need your videos to be in MP4 format at 24 fps (frames per second). You can purchase the Explaindio Video Converter separately or use one of the many online video converters. I’ve had no issues using Online-Convert.com to convert my videos for free. You can check my video tutorial on How to Convert Videos to MP4 Format.

One aspect of the Explaindio 2.0 PRO launch that most customers of EVC 2.0 PRO were overwhelmed about, were the innumerable OTOs (One-Time Offers). There were 15 OTOs in all, totaling over one thousand dollars. I've personally never seen so many OTOs and it was off-putting for sure. Having said so, I did go back and purchase one OTO which I found would be useful for my work with EVC 2.0.

There is a learning curve to using Explaindio Video Creator and I’ve personally not seen a good set of tutorials. I’m in the process of creating EVC 2.0 PRO tutorials to help users. I’ve already created a bunch of tutorials and will be adding more in the coming days and weeks. You can check my YouTube channel for my Explaindio Video Tutorials and Reviews.

I understand that I’ve not covered everything there is to know about the new Explaindio Video Creator 2.0 PRO. However, if you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to respond to them.

CREDITS:

- Explaindio Video Creator logo and screenshots are copyright protected, used with permission.
- Commercial Rights to use videos & images used in this video production.
- Commercial rights to use other videos and animations

DISCLAIMER:
If you use the link above to purchase the product. I may earn a commission as a JVZoo affiliate. This recommendation and review is based on my firsthand experience using this product myself.

Overview of Google+ Collections

Google launched Google+ Collections in May 2015. It’s a new feature in Google’s social network to help organize posts.

With Collections, users can group their posts, including pictures and videos, based on topic. Doing so, will help you keep your posts organized and help your users find relevant posts more efficiently.

Also, given that each Collection has a separate URL, users can follow a particular Collection if they wish. By default, anyone following you on Google+ will automatically be following all your Collections.

Google+ launched in June 2011 and hasn’t garnered as much popularity like Facebook has. Based on stats that I’ve seen online, currently Facebook is estimated as having over a billion users. Comparatively, Google+ has approximately 300 million users.

I was among the first to test out Google+ when it first launched by invite-only. Ever since, I’ve been using Google+ fairly actively and I would say, much more than I use Facebook. Anyway, I’m sure this doesn’t apply to everyone. However, if you are a business owner, including being self-employed, you would definitely benefit from using Google Plus.

Well, getting back to Google+ Collections, given that they are fairly new, I’m sure they will evolve, so we can expect changes as we go along. But for now, you can create Collections around topical posts; you can customize them with a relevant name and personalized cover photo, as well as apply different colors to them. The recommended size for the cover photo is 1080x608 pixels. The maximum photo size is 2120x1192. And the picture should not be smaller than 480x270.

You can also control who sees your Collections. That is, you set the privacy settings to private or public. However, note that at this point, you cannot edit the “private/public” settings of your Collections once you create them. Though, if you wish, you can delete a particular Collection.

Once you create a Collection, you can add previously shared Google+ posts to the Collection. Also, you can share Collections with those following you, just like you would a regular Google+ post. Personally, I like this new feature that Google has introduced because I like to keep things organized.

Google+ Collections is available on Android for smartphone users. You will have to update your Google+ app to be able to access this new feature. Apple iOS users will have to wait to use Collections.

I’ve created several video tutorials on Google+ Collections, so feel free to check them out. You will find videos on: what are Google+ Collections; how to create, edit and customize Collections, and others.

Learn to use Google+ Collections, I think you will find them useful. Google also has a Featured Collections page, you never know when your Collections will get featured and give you that little bit of extra exposure.

How to Make Animated GIFs Using GIF Maker

Sharing GIF animated images has become popular, especially on social media. I’ve been contemplating creating some simple GIF animations, and I’ve quite enjoyed using some GIF animation websites.

One particular website that I liked was GIFMaker.me. What I like about this GIF maker website is its simplistic design and that you don’t need to open an account to create animated GIFs.

Before I proceed writing my review on GIFMaker.me, I thought I’d explain what is a GIF image. GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format which is essentially an image file format. You’ve probably heard of file formats like PNG (Portable Network Graphic) and JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group).

GIF file formats support animation, however, they are limited to 256 colors. Thereby creating low-resolution images with smaller file sizes. Therefore, they are not recommended for color photos, rather they are used for simple graphics, logos, icons and cartoons. By now, I’m sure you’ve noticed the animated blog post intro image. Well, it’s an animated GIF image created using GIFMaker.me and so is this Mark Twain quote below:

All the animated images you see on this blog post are examples of GIF animated images. All these animated GIFs were created using GIFMaker.me. Creating GIFs using this website is quite simple. You can create a quick GIF image in three easy steps:

• Step 1: Upload your pictures;
• Step 2: Set the canvas size and animation speed;
• Step 3: Create the animation.

You can then download the animated GIF image which will be in “.GIF” format and then share it on social media, on your blog or website. You can check my video review on GIFMaker.me and see it in action as I create the GIF as well as share other features and functionality of the website.

Even though I mentioned earlier that GIFs are not recommended for color photos, I did try to make a GIF with recent photos of my Niagara Falls visit. As you can tell, the picture quality is not that crisp, however it’s ok to share this animated GIF on social media sites. The more pictures you include in an animated GIF and the more colors in the photos, the bigger the file size. In this particular GIF image, I included about 15 photos and it ended being a 3.96 MB file size.

Animated GIFs can be very useful as short instructional tools. Rather than creating a video tutorial, GIFs can be used for providing quick instructions just by taking screenshots and creating an animation. You can give it a try and create your very first GIF using GIFMaker.me...don't worry you won't break anything!


Credits: GIFMaker.me logo and screenshots are copyright protected, used with permission.

Firefox Hello Review

Say hello to “Firefox Hello” – you’re probably wondering what the heck is Firefox Hello. Mozilla upgrades their Firefox internet browser approximately once every six weeks. The latest on upgrade, Firefox 34, was released on December 1, 2014. This stable rapid release included a few new features, including several improvements and bug fixes.

One of the new features that Mozilla introduced with Firefox 34 was Firefox Hello. It is a WebRTC-based online communication service that allows users to voice and video chat with others using a WebRTC-enabled browsers. WebRTC, also known as, Web Real-Time Communication, is a Application Programming Interface (API) that enables voice and video communication from browser to browser.

One major benefit of using WebRTC is that you don’t need any additional third-party software to be downloaded, or plug-in to be installed. Furthermore, you don’t need to have an account to use Firefox Hello. The other advantage is that you can use Firefox Hello with other WebRTC-enabled browsers like Google Chrome and Opera. This online chat service is being offered via the OpenTok platform.

How to Use Firefox Hello?

Firefox Hello is quite simple to use. In order to start initiate communication with another party, you need to click the Firefox Hello (FH) button, which you will find in your toolbar. Once you click the FH button, it will generate a unique URL (or web link). You will then have to copy/paste this link into your browser address bar, and email the link to the person whom you wish to communicate with.

When the person clicks on the unique link, they will get a “Conversation Request” box with options to start communicating with you. It provides option to either voice and/or video chat. If you don’t see the FH button on your toolbar, check the section below to learn how to activate and set up Firefox Hello. You can check the video below to see how to use Firefox Hello to communicate with your friends and family.

Pros and Cons of Using Firefox Hello

Personally, I’ve used several types of online voice and video communication services. The one I use most frequently is Skype. However, with Skype, you need to ensure that both parties need to have the software downloaded and open a Skype account (or have a Hotmail/MSN email account). FH is still in Beta, so we can expect to see changes and improvements in the coming FF rapid release upgrades. 

The other good thing is that once the unique Firefox URL is generated, you can use that link specifically for certain people like your family, work or specific individuals. In the upcoming upgrades, we will be able to customize the URL and give it specific or recognizable names that make it easier to remember. 

As I mentioned earlier, you don’t need to have an account to use Firefox Hello, however, if you have a choice to open an account, one benefit of doing so is that you can create a contact list which makes it easier to communicate with others who are using Firefox. Unlike Skype, FH doesn’t support communicating with multiple people or have a group chat simultaneously. 

Also, unlike Skype, Firefox Hello doesn’t have the share-screen feature that allows you to share your screen with the party you’re communicating with.

How to Activate and Set up Firefox Hello?

If you’ve already upgrade to the latest version FF34 and you can’t find the Firefox Hello button on your toolbar, then look for it in the Customize mode. If you still can’t find it, you will have to change your Firefox preferences. Specifically change the value in “loop.throttled” preference from “True” to “False”. When I first upgrade to FF34, I didn’t have the FH button on my toolbar nor in the Customize mode. You can check the video below to learn how to activate Firefox Hello.

Have you used Firefox Hello? If so, feel free to share your comments and feedback about this new online communication service introduced by Mozilla.

In 2014, Mozilla introduced many new features, made several improvements, and increased overall browser performance to their Firefox web browser. You can check my full Firefox 34 Review.

Credits: Firefox logos and screenshots used under Creative Commons License Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)

2014 Holiday Specials for Tech Lovers

With the 2014 Holiday shopping season well under way, retailers have been busy slashing prices on many popular technology items like tablets, laptops, cameras, smartphones, and much more. All these best selling technology products and gadgets features here are available at Amazon and can be purchased directly at their secure website.

Below you will find many of these products with special discounts for the Holiday season, but also look out for discounted prices on specific days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This is a limited time offer from Amazon starting November 27 and ending December 1, 2014.

The Amazon Fire HD Tablet has been one of the best selling tablets in 2014, even with top tablets like the Apple iPad and other Popular Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy in the market. One of the main reasons for the popularity of the Fire HD tablets is the competitive price factor.

For example, the Amazon Fire HD 7-inch tablet generally priced at $139, is being offered at a special price of $109. It is equipped with a quad-core 1.5 GHz processor, front and rear-facing cameras, single band Wi-Fi, comes in 8 GB or 16 GB memory storage options, and has a 8-hour battery life.

Also, the new Fire HDX tablet which is regularly priced at $199, is being offered at a special price of $179. It is equipped with a quad-core 2.2 GHz processor, front facing HD camera, dual band Wi-Fi as well as 4G capability, and comes in 8 GB or 16 GB memory storage options. The battery life is approximately 11 hours of mixed use.

Amazon has great Black Friday deals on digital and video cameras. For example, the Canon EOS Rebel T5i Digital SLR (with 18-55mm STM Lens) camera regularly priced at $849 is now available on special for $649.

The Canon EOS Rebel T5i which is the new flagship product of the Rebel line, is an 18 MP camera with a continuous shooting speed of up to 5.0 fps. It has a 3-inch LCD touch screen with Full HD Movie mode and built-in stereo microphone. It is equipped with the EyeFi wireless communication technology.

The GoPro HERO4 camera is on special as well. The GoPro HERO4 (silver) Holiday Bundle which is regularly priced around $530 is available at a discounted price of $399.99. This popular extreme action HD video camera bundle comes with the GoPro HERO4 (silver) camera, a SanDisk Extreme 32GB UHS-I/U3 Micro SDHC memory card, GoPro Headstrap Mount and Quick clip, Wasabi Power Battery (2-Pack) and Dual Charger, and the Bobber - floating hand grip.

You will also find many good deals on computers, including ultrabooks, of different brands like Toshiba, Lenovo, ASUS, Apple, Dell, HP, Acer and others.

For example, this 13-inch touch screen Acer Aspire S7-392-9890 ultrabook regularly priced at $1,600 is now available at a special price of $1,235. This Acer ultrabook is equipped with an Intel Core i7-4500U 1.8 GHz processor, 8 GB RAM, and 256 GB solid state storage. It comes installed with Windows 8 and has a 7-hour battery life.

Another ultrabook at a great discount is the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix 36984SU. This popular ultrabook is regularly priced at $2,179 and is now being offered for $1,293. It has a 11.6-inch detachable touch screen and is equipped with a 2.0 GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 8 GB RAM, and 256 GB solid state storage. It comes installed with Windows 8 Pro and has an approximate 5.6-hour battery life.

Apple iPhone 6 Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S5

The iPhone 6 Plus is one of Apple's newest iPhone which is the successor to the iPhone 5S. It was unveiled on September 9, 2014 in Cupertino, California. These newest iPhone smartphones were released in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Singapore, France, and Puerto Rico on September 19, 2014.

According to reports from Apple, they hit a record 4 million iPhone units in the first 24 hours in pre-order sales. On September 26, 2014, the new iPhones will be available in 20 more countries like Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Portugal, UAE, and others.

In a separate article, I compared the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus vs iPhone 5S. In this article, I will compare the iPhone 6 Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S5. Let’s see how these two giants stack up:

Operating System: the iPhone 6 Plus runs on Apple's brand new iOS 8 operating system. Apple has made some significant improvements in this new mobile operating system like improved notifications and search functionality. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S5 runs on Google's Android KitKat 4.4 operating system with the TouchWiz user-interface. Comparing these two different operating systems is a matter of choice.

Processor: the Samsung Galaxy S5 comes equipped with a powerful quad-core 2.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor compared to Apple's dual-core 2.0 GHz Apple A8 processor alongside with an M8 motion co-processor in the iPhone 6 Plus. Generally speaking, based on research, quad-core processors are better for multi-tasking, whereas a dual-core coupled with an M8 is expected to perform faster. Also, bear in mind that the new iPhones have 1 GB of RAM compared to the 2 GB RAM in the Galaxy S5.

Display & Screen Resolution: for the first time since the launch of the iPhone, Apple has introduced two sizes (4.7-inch and 5.5-inch). The iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5-inch screen LED-backlit IPS LCD display with 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution (401 ppi). the Samsung Galaxy S5 features a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with 1080 x 1920 pixels screen resolution (432 ppi). Both these displays are Full HD resolution, but the iPhone has a wider display giving users a slight edge on screen real estate. Though an important point to make is that the blacklit displays (in the iPhone) consume more battery life compared to AMOLED display in the Galaxy S5.

Memory & Storage: the iPhone 6 Plus comes in three memory storage models, 16 GB, 64 GB, and 128 GB, whereas, the Samsun Galaxy S5 comes in two models, 16 GB and 32 GB. However, the Samsung Galaxy S5 also is equipped with a microSD slot (up to 128 GB) whereas the iPhone 6 is not. In terms of RAM, the Samsung Galaxy S5 has 2 GB of RAM compared to 1 MB on the iPhone 6 Plus.

Size & Weight: The dimensions (WxHxD) of the Samsung Galaxy S5 are 2.85 x 5.59 x 0.32 inches as compared to 3.06 x 6.22 x 0.28 inches of the iPhone 6. As you can see, the iPhone 6 Plus is slightly larger and slimmer compared to the Galaxy S5. Therefore, the iPhone 6 Plus also weighs more (172 gms) compared to Galaxy S5 (145 gms).

Cameras: The Samsung Galaxy S5 is equipped with 16 MP rear camera which has better resolution compared to the 8 MP iSight camera in the iPhone 6 Plus. Also, the front-facing in the Galaxy S5 has higher resolution (2 MP) compared to that of the iPhone 6 Plus (1.2 MP). Both smartphones are capable of recording 1080p HD quality video.

Battery Life: The iPhone 6 Plus has a non-removable Li-Po 2915 mAh battery compared to the Li-Ion 2800 mAh battery in the Samsung Galaxy S5. Based on preliminary tests, the iPhone seems to perform better when it comes to overall battery life compared to the Galaxy S5. The iPhone 6 Plus comes out with approximately 11.5 hours of battery life on Wi-Fi browsing compared to just over 10 hours on the Galaxy S5. In terms of 3G talk-time, the iPhone gives approximately 24 hours of battery life compared to 21 hours on the Galaxy S5.

Price Comparison: in the US the suggested retail price for the iPhone 6 Plus is $299 (16 GB model), $399 (64 GB model), and $499 (128 GB model) with a two-year contract. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S5 is available as low at $79.99 (16 GB model) on Amazon.

Overall, as you can see, both, the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Apple iPhone 6 Plus are top-of-the-line smartphones in their own respect. However, based on my opinion, overall the Samsung Galaxy S5 still has the edge, though the iPhone has a more premium look and feel to it. Check the video review below to see an in-depth comparison of Samsung Galaxy S5 vs Apple's iPhone 6 Plus which covers some other details like the operating systems, cameras, picture and video quality, and other specs.

Apple Unveils New iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus

The much anticipated launch date of Apple’s new iPhone finally arrived today September 9, 2014. In fact, there were two new smartphone models unveiled: the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Both these new Apple smartphones have bigger screens compared to their predecessor, the iPhone 5S, as well as a few new features which we will explore in a moment.

I attended the Apple event via live streaming and it went longer than I expected it, I guess because Apple also unveiled their new Apple iWatch. On this blog post, I will just focus on the new iPhone models that Apple unveiled and cover some of the key aspects or specifications. At the end of this blog post, you will find a comparison chart comparing the iPhone 5S vs the iPhone 6 vs the iPhone 6 Plus.

Operating System: the new iPhone models are equipped with Apple’s new iOS 8 operating system which Apple claims to be the “world’s most advanced mobile operating system”. This new mobile OS offers advanced functionality like using Siri to control devices at your home, as well as communicating directly with doctor via health and fitness apps using your iPhone. iOS8 will be available for download on Sept 17, 2014.

Processor: apart from the new operating system, Apple has introduced their new 64-bit A8 processor with an M8 co-processor. This is another upgrade from the iPhone 5S which came with the A7 processor and M7 co-processor. This is supposed to translate into 25% more CPU power while providing 50% more GPU muscle.

Display & Screen Resolution: the iPhone 6 comes with a 4.7-inch Retina HD display, while the iPhone 6 Plus comes with a 5.5-inch Retina HD display. It is an LED-backlit widescreen multi-touch display with IPS technology. Given that both the iPhones have larger screen sizes, their screen resolutions have changed: 750 × 1334 pixels (326 ppi) for the iPhone 6; and 1080 × 1920 pixels (401 ppi) for the iPhone 6 Plus, compared to the 640 × 1136 pixels (326 ppi) on the iPhone 5S.

Memory & Storage: besides the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB memory capacity models, the new iPhones will also come in a new 128GB model. I didn’t see any mention of RAM, so I’m assuming that there is no change to the 1GB RAM on the new Apple smartphones. Also, as usual, there is no microSD slot on the new iPhones.

Size & Weight: the new Apple smartphones are slimmer compared to the iPhone 5S. As Apple put it “iPhone at its largest and thinnest.” The dimensions (WxHxD) on the iPhone 6 are: 2.64 x 5.44 x 0.27 inches; and iPhone 6 Plus: 3.06 x 6.22 x 0.28 inches. Comparatively, the dimensions on the iPhone 5S were 2.31 x 4.87 x 0.30 inches. Basically, the thickness of the iPhone 6 is 6.9 mm, the iPhone 6 Plus is 7.1 mm, and the iPhone 5S was 7.6 mm.

Cameras: though the iSight camera still remains at 8MP, Apple claims that it is new and improved iSight camera. It has autofocus with Focus Pixels providing the camera sensor with more information about the image, thereby increasing the speed of the autofocus. Additionally, the 8MP camera will provide the option to capture video in 1080p Full HD resolution at 60fps (frames per second). Also, FaceTime comes improved face detection, as well as optical image stabilization for the iPhone 6 Plus.

Battery Life: the new iPhones come with a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery providing improved battery life. The battery life on the iPhone 6 is expected to be up to 14 hours (3G talk time), and up to 24 hours (3G talk time) on the iPhone 6 Plus. Comparatively, the iPhone 5S has a battery life of 10 hours.

Wireless: the new iPhones will have improved wireless capability with 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi compared to 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi on the iPhone 5S. Also, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will have built in NFC (Near Field Communication) technology which is designed to work with the new ApplePay payment system (currently only available for the US market).

Besides the built-in apps, the iPhone will include free apps like iMovie, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, iTunes U, GarageBand, Apple Store, Remote, Find My iPhone, and Find My Friends.

The new Apple iPhones will come in silver, gold, and space grey colours. The iPhone 6 is priced at $199 (16GB model), $299 (64GB model), and $399 (128GB model) with a two-year contract. And the iPhone 6 Plus is priced at $299 (16GB model), $399 (64GB model), and $499 (128GB model) with a two-year contract. Pre-orders of the new iPhones begin on Sept 12, 2014.

Overall, based on the above comparison of the two new iPhones smartphone models, looks like Apple has made some significant improvements. If you’ve always been an Apple fan, but wanted a bigger iPhone with a few more bells and whistles, then one of these new iPhones will surely fit the bill.

Below are is a specifications comparison chart for the iPhone 5S vs iPhone 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus:

Watch the video below for a first look at the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus:

Apple iPhone Image Credit

Apple to Announce New iPhone 6

The rumored launch of the new Apple iPhone smartphone, in September 2014, has created a lot of buzz online and among Apple fans. It has finally been confirmed, by Apple, that they will indeed be holding an event for the media, on September 9, 2014, at Flint Center for the Performing Arts in Cupertino, California.

It is rumored that the new Apple iPhone 6, among other new Apple products, will be unveiled at this event. There has been no confirmation on the specs of the new Apple smartphone, however, a lot of speculation and leaked photos of the new device have been floating around in the internet world.

Last September, Apple launched its iPhone 5S and 5C models with some new features like the new iOS 7 operating system, the new A7 dual-core 64-bit processor, and fingerprint recognition system. Globally, iPhone sales in 2014 were over 125 million units. I guess, we will have to wait and see what the actual specs are, but listed below I've provided a table with the comparison of the iPhone 5S with the new iPhone 6. I will update this chart once the actual specifications are released.

Comparison Chart iPhone 5S vs iPhone 6 Rumored Specifications

In the past few weeks, iPhone users have been using trade-in sites in anticipation of the new iPhone launch. Trade-ins of older model iPhones have been increasing because once the new iPhone 6 is launched the trade-in prices will not be as attractive. Amazon is one such site on which you can trade in your old iPhone. For example, an iPhone 5S (16GB) is trading-in as high as $394.

Below you check the video from CNET (Apple Byte) with rumored specs of the new iPhone 6:

How to Trade-in Your iPhone at Amazon

Apple unveiled its latest smartphone models of the iPhone earlier this September 2013. There were two new models unveiled, namely, the iPhone 5c which is available on pre-order.

While the iPhone 5s will be released on September 20, 2013. Both these new iPhone models will come with the new iOS 7.0 and have a 4-inch capacitive LED-backlit IPS display.

The Apple iPhone 5c is a cheaper model and comes in six different colors: Black, White, Pink, Yellow, Blue, Green and is made of plastic which will be available for $99 (16 GB) and $199 (32 GB) with a wireless contract. It has the A6 dual-core 1.3 GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM. It has two cameras: 8 MP rear, and 1.2 MP front-facing.

The iPhone 5s is the more expensive model and comes in three colors: silver, gold and grey with the premium Apple feel to it. It comes in three memory storage models: $199 (16 GB), $299 (32 GB), and $399 (64 GB) on contract. It is equipped with the new iSight auto image stabilization 8 MP reare camera, and 1.2 MP front-facing camera. The iPhone 5s has the new A7 dual-core 1.7 GHz processor which is supposed to be twice as fast as the A6 processor.

With the launch of the new Apple iPhone smartphone models in September 2013, several resale sites have seen a surge in trade-ins of older iPhone models. Amazon is one such site which allows consumers to trade-in or sell their old iPhones via their website.

In terms of the iPhone Trade-in this is how it works: visit Amazon’s iPhone Trade-in website, select the iPhone model to trade in, get a free shipping label, and get an Amazon gift card. Alternatively, if you wish you sell your old iPhone model for cash, you can visit Amazon’s Sell Your iPhone website, list your iPhone, and once it sells, Amazon will deposit the payment into your bank account. If you trade-in your old iPhone at Amazon by October 15, 2013, you can lock in your offer as per Amazon’s website.

Firefox Browser Review 2013

Firefox 23 is the latest Rapid Release version of Mozilla’s internet browser which was released in August 2013. Mozilla has been releasing these web browser updates approximately once every six weeks. 

In 2013, they have released seven upgrades so far, and I’ve used every one of them. In most of these upgrades, we see several fixes to bugs, including security vulnerabilities. Some of the notable new Firefox browser features and changes implemented in 2013, are discussed below: 

Mixed Content Browsing is a security feature introduced in FF23 to protect users when using HTTPS pages. Some of these HTTPS sites include mixed content which are essentially unencrypted HTTP through which hackers can get access to sensitive information when visiting such sites. A warning signal will be displayed to users when such sites are visited and mixed content is blocked. 

Mozilla had introduced a sharing / social API feature in Firefox 17. This feature enabled to integrate social media platforms like Facebook directly in any website, on the right sidebar. This feature was enhanced and made available to all developers. Social sites like Facebook, msnNOW, Mixi, and Cliqz are currently available via this social API. 

Through WebRTC (Real-Time Communication) Firefox users can now effectively communicate via video, voice, and text without requiring to install add-ons to do so. Essentially, all the 3 components (getUserMedia, PeerConnection and DataChannels) of WebRTC have now been enabled by default. 

The Do Not Track (DNT) feature was implemented in May 2013. This DNT feature allows enables FF users to opt-out from being tracked from a behavourial ad tracking perspective. Users can choose from one of three options in terms of controlling how websites track their browser usage behaviour. 

We’ve seen some performance enhancements too. For example, enabling “asm.js optimization” module, via OdinMonkey has optimized JavaScript performance. In Firefox 21, we saw the introduction of the Firefox Health Report to help track and enhance browser performance. 

Some others new features that were implemented were Private Browsing per window through which users can browse privately on one window, while still browsing regularly through another window. Also, Firefox simplified how downloads are managed without having to open a new window. For a detailed look at changes that were implemented on each of these Rapid Release versions, visit Firefox Reviews 2013. You can check the YouTube video review of the latest Firefox 23 browser below:

Firefox is definitely one of my favourite browsers, but Google Chrome has come to the forefront in the past year or so and taken over from Internet Explorer and Firefox, in terms of Global Usage share. As you can see from the Top Internet Browsers chart below, courtesy StatCounter as at August 2013:

From the results of the latest Peacekeeper Browser Benchmark tests that I ran, you can see below that Google Chrome continues to outperform Firefox in terms of overall performance:

Image Credit: Firefox Logo Used Under Creative Commons CC Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Google Chromecast Unveiled

Google Chromecast was introduced by Google on July 24, 2013. Chromecast is a neat HDMI stick that lets you stream online video, as well as music, to your high-definition TV from your smartphone, tablet, or computer.

This new device is compatible with Android, iOS, Chrome for Windows, and Chrome for Mac. Essentially, you can play online video from online platforms like YouTube, Google Play, and Netflix. Also, you can stream media via Google's Chrome browser.

As you can see, the Chromecast device is similar to a flash drive, but it plugs into the HDMI port of your TV. You then connect it to your Wi-Fi network and stream media from your smartphone, tablet or computer, to your HDTV. Google's Chromecast priced at $35 makes it affordable, especially when compared to online media streaming devices like Roku ($80) and Apple TV box ($99).

When purchased, the package includes the Chromecast device, an HDMI extender, a USB power cable, and a power adapter. With the launch of Chromecast, Google offered a free 3-month Netflix subscription for a limited number of purchases. This offer has now expired and no longer available. To learn how to set up Google Chromecast, check the video tutorial below:

Vulnerability in Android Smartphones

If you’re an Android smartphone user, you may want to pay attention to this security vulnerability which was first reported by Bluebox Security.

Essentially, with this Android vulnerability, hackers are able to take control of any app installed on your smartphone and turn it into a malicious Trojan. And all this activity takes place under the radar without being detected even by the Google App Store because this vulnerability enables the app APK code to be modified without detection. Having done so, the hacker gets complete access to the exploited smartphone(s).

According to Bluebox, this security vulnerability was reported to Google in February 2013. To protect Android smartphone users, it’s manufacturers’ responsibility to provide firmware, however, this is not a consistent process and could leave users vulnerable to security breaches via their smartphones. So Android users are encouraged to be proactive and protect the security of their smartphones.

One thing you can do is beware of the types of apps you download to your smartphone. Secondly, check the Android apps you’ve already got installed on your phone and the settings for automatic updates. Some users may have hundreds of apps installed and therefore opt into the automatic app updates. This can leave your mobile phone vulnerable to updates that may contain malware and spyware. You can check the video below to learn how to disable the auto-update app feature.

Also, Bluebox has come up with a free app called “Bluebox Security Scanner” which can be downloaded at the Google Play (Google’s app store). Basically, this app will check to see if your smartphone is vulnerable; if your phone settings allow non-Google apps to be installed; and will identify specific apps installed on your smartphone that may be attempting to take advantage of this security vulnerability.

 

New YouTube Features

YouTube has made some recent changes in the past couple of months so viewers and YouTube users can have a better experience. Some of these changes include more relevant videos in the Home Page feed for viewers who are signed-in YouTube. You can now better organize your video content into various sections as well as showcase different Playlists.

One of these changes includes  the introduction of a new “responsive” layout. YouTube content consumers use various types of digital devices with different screen sizes like TVs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. The new responsive One Channel YouTube layout will make it possible for YT content to shrink and fit into all these different screen types.

To help YouTubers implement these changes and leverage from these new features, the YouTube Creator Academy organized a free online course. This two-week course, Maximize Your Channel, and was held between June 3 to June 17, 2013. I attended this online course and found it useful. I’ve already implemented many of things I learned during the course and am in the process of implementing others.

Some other new features that YouTube has implemented recently are: you can now receive an email notification once your video has completed uploading to YouTube. Also, the new Publish button helps you hold off on publishing your video until you’re ready. Until, the video is published, it will show as a private video. This is a good feature because you may not want the video to be public until you’ve completed filling out all the other information pertaining to the video.

YouTube has also implemented a pilot program to help some YouTube Partners offer paid channels. All these paid channels, currently have a 14-day free trial. In late May 2013, YouTube also announced the Social Star Awards which will be presented to the most popular in social media.

I like most of these changes, especially the ones related to the new One Channel YouTube layout. You can take a look at my channel by visiting AJGodinho’s YouTube Channel, to see some of the new One Channel layout features.