Ois und Nix

Did you ever need multiple dedicated test email addresses, e.g. for software testing? If you use gmail, there is no need for you to setup trash mailboxes anymore. Just use your regular e-mail address and put +[yourtext] at the end, for instance: lastname.firstname+1@gmail.com lastname.firstname+2@gmail.com All emails will go to your main e-mail box lastname.firstname@gmail.com. This is also quite handy for signing up for newsletters: lastname.firstname+newsletter@gmail.com. By the way, did you know that you can even skip the period (.)? lastnamefirstname@gmail.com will work as well.

Do you want to get an additional 2GB for Google Drive for free? Just go to  https://security.google.com/settings/security/secureaccount and do the "security check". It only takes a couple of minutes - and it is something you should do regularly anyway. After a short time, you will see the added space in your drive overview:  https://www.google.com/settings/storage

I was looking for an affordable dual OS tablet with good specifications: quick processor, enough storage (go for 64Gb if you want to have a dual OS tablet!), HDMI output and a good battery life. I stumbled upon the brand Teclast. They have different models, I decided to go for the X98 Plus. It has a better processor and more memory than the X98 Air III. The latest version of the X98 Air III has only a Z3735F, 32GB storage and 2GB memory. The X98 Plus, however, has a Z3200, 64GB and 4GB memory. Here a short review/first test of the Teclast X98 Plus Dual OS (Windows 10 and Android 5.1). Specifications Brand & Model: Teclast X98 Plus (A5C8) Display: 9.7 Inch 2048*1536 IPS capacitive touch screen Operating system: Windows 10 + Android 5.1 CPU: Intel Cherry Trail Z8300 Quad Core 1.84GHz CPU GPU: Intel HD Graphics Gen8 Storage: 4GB LPDDR3 RAM + 64GB eMMC ROM, TF card supports 128GB max Cameras: Front 2.0MP + Rear 5.0MP OV Lens with AF Others: Bluetooth 4.0/WiFi/Mic...

I already had some Milight bulbs and wanted to extend my setup with a LED strip. In the beginning it was a bit unclear to me which LED strip to buy, but it looks like you can use various different ones. Make sure that the right AC/DC adapter is already included. I went for a very cheap alternative on Aliexpress:  Foxaon Bread 5050 LED Strip 5M 300Led SMD RGB 60LED/M Epistar SMD Lamps DC12V Non-Waterproof flexible light Lighting 5M/Roll  - be aware that this is only RGB and not RGBW! You also need the Milight controller for LED strips . Once you receive both parts, you have to cut off one end of the LED strip to be able to connect it to the Milight controller. A short manual is included, so that should not be a problem. One thing for testing is important though: When you switch on the RGB LED strip via a Milight remote control, make sure you activate any color other than white. White will not work on the RGB strip. The LED strip is on, but you don't see it because whit...

I started to test firmware 1.0.9 yesterday. Overall I am quite happy with it so far. Positive: Quick and easy upgrade A bit strange but some of the settings and files were still there (e.g. documents in the download folder) The status/notification + navigation bar is back - also in the normal Google Now launcher. That is already a huge improvement. The image in the previous firmware version seemed to be very pale & colorless. With the new firmware version I found out why: The default brightness level is relatively high. In the old version you did not have the notification bar, so brightness could not be changed. In the new version you can adapt it and now the colors look way better. No lip sync issues so far Room for improvement: What is still problematic is the internal storage reserved for the system & apps (the default location) which is still limited to 2GB. If you install new applications the message about not enough storage still appears - although there...

It took a bit, but Himedia just released a new firmware (1.0.9) for the Himedia H8 octacore box. The firmware can be downloaded here . More information and a short manual about how to do the upgrade can be found on the Himedia support page .

Goal: I have two Android devices (a smartphone and a streaming box). I wanted to start a Spotify playlist on my streaming box, triggered by an NFC action on my smartphone. The streaming box is connected to my AV receiver, so it was important that the music is not played on my smartphone but on the streaming box. What you need: Two Android devices (e.g. a smartphone which supports NFC and an Android streaming box) NFC tags Tasker AutoRemote Trigger Spotify How it is done: I don't want to go through every step in detail, mostly it is selfexplanatory once you have the different components. On the streaming box: Install Tasker, AutoRemote, Spotify Create the task which should be triggered on the streaming box (e.g. Spotify play - see my other blog posts). Create a new profile in Tasker using AutoRemote on the streaming box to listen to a specific input (e.g. "spot") from the second device. On your mobile phone Install Tasker, AutoRemote, Trigger ...