20 tips, tricks, and tools to make your Facebook experience even better

Facebook is by far the largest social network on the web, and while Mark Zuckerberg has made plenty of great calls in its design, the site — and the way people use it — isn't as streamlined as it could be. These 20 tips, tricks, and tools will give help take your Facebook experience to the next level. From simple settings options you may have overlooked, to browser plug-ins dedicated to making the social network even better, you're sure to find something on this list that will make your Facebook time even more addicting than it already is.

Tweak your Facebook settings

1. Appear offline to certain friends
By opening your Facebook chat window, clicking the settings icon in the upper right corner, and then navigating to "Advanced Settings," you can customize your chat experience by appearing offline to certain people on your friends list. This tweak will be especially helpful for those of you with chatty acquaintances who like to talk your ear off when you're online.

2. Reposition your Timeline photos
When uploading a new photo, it might not always appear on your feed the way you intended. Particularly long or wide photos have a tendency to be cropped awkwardly, but you can fix this rather easily. By clicking "Edit Photo" from your Timeline page, you gain access to a "Reposition Photo" option. Using this tool, you can move your photo around the preview window so that it appears as you intended.

3. Add photos to your worldly travels
If you're a fan of Facebook's "Places" feature, you can very easily decorate it with pictures to show off your various activities all over the world. On the main Places page, simply click "Add Photos to Map," and start tagging away! If you frequently upload photos directly to your Facebook profile using a mobile app for iPhone or Android, you might find that your map is already pretty well populated.

4. Easily hide app notifications for a cleaner experience
By going into your account settings, then navigating to the "Notifications" tab on the left side of the page, you can browse the applications that have permission to populate your news feed. If find that a friend has spammed your feed with an excessive number of app notifications, simply deactivate the offending app. It's easier than breaking off the friendship.

5. Upload photos in high resolution
Sometimes you'll find that a gorgeous photo you wanted to share with your friends appears tiny and blurry after adding it to your social network profile. Remedy this by going into your Facebook albums and, before uploading a photo, click the "High Quality" box.

6. Use the "View As" option to tweak your appearance to specific friends
Knowing what your friends can see on your Facebook Timeline is an invaluable tool to ensuring your virtual reputation stays intact. From your Timeline page, click the settings icon next to "Activity Log," and then click "View As." From here you'll be able to see what specific friends see when they visit your page.

7. Download your entire Facebook history
Ever wanted to browse your entire Facebook profile at once — including every status update you've ever submitted? Facebook makes it easy: Under your Account Settings page, a small link will appear at the very bottom of the options list. Click "Download a copy of your Facebook data" to begin the process of securing your entire archive.

8. Forward your Facebook conversations
Having to repeat yourself is annoying in day-to-day life, and it's even more of a bother when online. Rather than copying and pasting directions or instructions to multiple people, click the "Actions" tab at the top of any Facebook message thread to access the option to forward it to others. Ta-da! No more double-talk!

9. Turn chat sign-in off by default
Can't stand endless chat when you're simply browsing your status updates? No problem. Click the settings icon in the main Facebook chat window, and click "Turn off chat" to have all future messages sent to your inbox, rather than pop-up in realtime on your screen.

10. Use Facebook to design your business card
If you've put a lot of work into making your Timeline page reflect exactly who you are, consider using it as a pre-designed business card. Clicking the "About" link — located under your name on your Timeline — lets you browse your social network details. In the Contact Info window is a small business card icon that will direct you to Moo.com, where you can customize a Facebook-flavored business card and place an order.

Get the most out of Facebook using these web tools

11. Analyze your Facebook history with Wolfram Alpha
For the most comprehensive breakdown of your entire Facebook history, Wolfram Alpha can't be beat. Simply type "Facebook Report" into the main search bar, approve the app's use of your Facebook data, and wait for the system to break down your history. Once it's finished, you'll be treated to a seemingly endless number of graphs and data points showing your update history, most liked photos, and much more.

12. Schedule Facebook updates with Sendible
Believe it or not, thieves are big fans of Facebook. By finding out when you'll be away from your home, security experts believe would-be robbers target those who go on a Facebook hiatus. Sendible — an application that allows you to schedule updates even when you're not near your computer — can keep your online persona active, even when you can't.

13. Use Twitter to update Facebook
Sometimes you just don't have enough time to keep all your social networks up to date, but thankfully Facebook and Twitter play nice together with a little tweaking. Head to the Twitter app page on Facebook to begin the process of syncing your virtual social lives. After authorizing the Facebook app via Twitter, all your tweets will appear on Facebook as status updates.

14. Export your Facebook calendar to your PC
Make sure you don't miss any important events by exporting your Facebook calendar to either Microsoft Outlook or Apple iCal. Head to your Facebook calendar (located under the "Events" tab on the Facebook navigation bar) and click the settings icon. Click "Export," and then choose either your Facebook birthday list or upcoming events. Your desktop's calendar app should launch immediately, making the process even more streamlined.

Make Facebook better using Chrome extensions

15. Facebook Photo zoom
Using this extension, you no longer have to click on the photos in your news feed in order to view them in full size. Simply move your mouse cursor over the image thumbnail and the larger version will pop up right in front of you. You can even adjust the zoom by moving the mouse back and forth over the photo itself. It's like magic.

16. Revert Facebook Photo viewer
If you're not into real-time photo zooming, this extension turns back the clock on your Facebook's photo feature. Rather than displaying pictures in the new "Theater" layout, photos will appear on their own pages, complete with the full comments section and "Like" options.

17. Facebook Chat notifications
Have you ever left a Facebook tab open on your web browser and missed an urget message from a friend? This handy plugin produces a pop-up window on your desktop to notify you when someone needs to chat, ensuring you never miss an important bit of info.

Firefox add-ons that make Facebook a joy to use

18. Like the Page
If you're a Firefox user, you can use this add-on to instantly share any web page they come across, even when the site doesn't have a built-in Facebook share button. A small "Like" icon will pop up at the bottom of every browser window, and all it takes it a click to share your find with the world.

19. FB Purity
This plug-in returns your Facebook to an earlier day, back when spammers and useless clutter wasn't a hinderance to your browsing habits. You can hide any type of notification you wish, including birthdays, relationship updates, tagged photos, links, and much more. You can make your social experience as simple as you wish.

20. Facebook auto-logout
Do you hate it when you accidentally leave yourself signed in to the social network, only to come back to missed chat messages and anxiety over whether someone else was browsing your digital life? This handy add-on will automatically sign you out of your Facebook windows if you've been inactive for too long, ensuring that nobody can snoop your info.

Own a Android Phone? Get 50Gb Free Cloud Storage for your Storage

If you think that Dropbox is only the cloud storage allowing you to store 2 GB then you might be wrong as other competitors of Drobox are offering better cloud storage capacities. All at the end users wants maximum storage capacity on the cloud storage that they have. Box is another competitor of Dropbox which was spotted running promotions with Sony Ericsson and LG mobile earlier but today they have made 50 GB fee cloud storage for those who activate from now.

Box Company today announced that they are offering 50 GB of file storage to any of the Android users who download this application on their mobile phone and install it. Its not just the users who activate their account now but also the existing users too can available this offer but updating their application to the latest version and log in to activate their 50 GB cloud storage.

Not only that company has also raised the maximum file size that you can transfer via upload at Box. Now you can upload up to maximum of 100 MB for those who activate 50 GB of free storage. This promotion by Box ends on Friday, Marc h23, 2012.

Coming to the latest update of Box at Android Market, this now supports bulk upload, comments, collaboration with other users and support several other European languages like Catanol, Italian, Spanish, Espanol. So what are you waiting for, download this application and get 50 GB of free cloud storage.

Sony Xperia S vs HTC Sensation XE Mobile Comparison

Sony Ericsson, which is well known for its Xperia devices, recently rebranded itself to Sony, due to changes in the partnerships recently and the Sony Xperia S was  announced in the Consumer Electronics Show this year at Las Vegas. Since then it has gathered a lot of interest amongst the public and has been positioned as the successor to the Sony Ericssion Xperia X10, which was one of the first Android devices couple of years back.

While the Sensation XE from HTC is a high-end Android phone from HTC, which comes with Beats Audio and a gorgeous screen on it, positioned almost in the same price range as the Sony Xperia S and both the phones come with high multimedia features such as powerful cameras, dual core processors and such.

However, there are quite a few differences in both the phones which might influence your decision before making a purchase or helping your friend get a phone. In this post, we take a look at the detailed specs of both the phones and compare them side by side, in every category:

Table of Contents:

• Form Factor Comparison
• Display Comparison
• Camera Comparison
• Memory Comparison
• Connectivity Comparison
• Operating System and User Interface Comparison
• Battery and Processor Comparison
• Beats by Dr. Dre

Form Factor

The Sony Xperia S is 128 x 64 x 10.6 mm, while the HTC Sensation XE is 126.1 x 65.4 x 11.3 mm. The Sony Xperia S weighs 144 grams while the HTC  Sensation XE also is around 151grams in weight, making both of them quite similar in weight though they vary in their size dimensions quite a bit.

The standard four Android buttons are present on the HTC Sensation XE, as touch capacitive buttons in the bottom, just like usual Android phones and comes with a solid build quality that is tough on the exterior with a plastic back while the Sony Xperia S has a new kind of button setup in it.

On the Xperia S, there is a small area containing three dots in it. These three dots are touch enabled and function as the activating dots for the Back, Home and Options touch buttons which pop up eventually on the transparent area just below the dots. Yes, we agree that this setup is confusing but Sony has tried something new with the touch capacitive buttons, unlike going with the same old boring pattern.

If you will like a new concept for using the touch capacitive buttons on an Android smartphone, you can try out the Xperia S certainly, as it might just improve as soon as Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich comes for it, as the new UI minimizes the usage of physical buttons to a great extent. However, if you would like the standard four-key setup seen in all Android smartphones, the HTC XE from Sony will be the better pick, especially if you are used to such a patter already in your previous Android phones, this will help.

Winner: Sony Xperia S ( New Concept ) ; HTC Sensation XE ( Easy to use ) 

Display

The Sony Xperia S, comes with a LED backlit LCD capacitive touchscreen of 4.3inches with a pixel density of 342ppi while the Sensation XE comes with a S-LCD capacitive touchscreen of 4.3inches with a pixel density of 256ppi. The Xperia comes with a HD screen, also known as 720p screens and has a maximum screen resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels while the HTC Sensation XE has a screen resolution of 540×960 pixels.

Both the phones support Multi-touch. The Sony Xperia S supports upto 10 fingers on the screen at a time, as quoted by Sony. We can see that more and more apps are coming with multitouch facilities these days and Android Ice Cream Sandwich also has gesture based controls leading to a high usage of multitouch on our phones.

There is an accelerometer and proximity sensor on both the cellphones as well, along with scratch resistant glass on both phones.

The Sony Xperia S is powered by a Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine and both the phones support upto 16M colors.

Winner : Sony Xperia S (More Powerful Screen)

Camera:

The Xperia S from Sony has a 12MP camera while the HTC  Sensation XE has a 8MP Camera. It’s interesting to note that Sony, which has always had the edge in camera optics, has powered the Xperia S with quite a powerful camera unit while the HTC’s Sensation XE has yet another 8MP camera which has become very common nowadays.

There’s Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection XE, 3D sweep panorama and image stabilization on the Xperia S while the HTC Sensation has Geo tagging, face detection and image stabilization as well. The Xperia S can take photos upto a resolution of 4000×3000 pixels while the HTC XE has a maximum resolution of 3264×2448 pixels. There is autofocus and LED Flash on both the devices as well, with a dual LED flash on the HTC Sensation XE.

Both the cameras shoot video at FULL HD 1080p resolution, at full HD at 30 frames per second and come with continuous autofocus, video light and video stabilizer as well.

Also note that there is a secondary camera on both the devices, of 1.3MP in the Xperia S while the HTC Sensation XE has a VGA camera. This is used for normal camera purposes by various camera based apps or for video calling via Skype or the native Google Talk app for example.

This secondary camera, also shoots video at 720p HD at 30 frames per second in the Xperia S while the HTC Sensation XE has just a VGA camera in the front. Note that the Motorola Droid RAZR is one of the other few phones to have HD recording in the front facing camera feature.

Winner : Sony Xperia S beats HTC Sensation

Memory:

The Sony Xperia S has 32GB of internal memory, and no further expansion slot providing no provision for a microSD card slot but the HTC Sensation XE has 4GB of internal memory out of which 1GB is available for use and a microSD card slot that is expandable up to 32GB.

So that means that on HTC Xperia Sensation XE one could use a maximum of 33GB on the move and is handy as it comes with a microSD slot, allowing portability and ease of transfer of data, while the Xperia S limits you to 32GB of its internal memory.

Winner: HTC Sensation XE

Connectivity:

The Xperia S has GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 bands and HSDPA 900 / 2100 — LT26i / 850 / 1900 / 2100 – LT26a bands which gives maximum speeds upto 14.4Mbps on HSDPA and 5.8Mbps on HSUPA while the HTC  Sensation XE has GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 bands and HSDPA 900/2100 bands which gives maximum speeds upto 14.4Mbps on HSDPA and 5.76Mbps on HSUPA.

Both the phones have WiFi in them and support popular Wi-fi bands, compliant to the 802.11 standards. 802.11 b,g and n are supported and the WiFi Hotspot feature on them is also available on both the devices. To know how to enable Wifi Hotspot via tethering, follow these instructions here. Also, the Sony Xperia S has Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA capabilities.

GPS is available on both the phones and Bluetooth 2.1 is enabled on the Xperia S but the HTC Sensation XE comes with Bluetooth 3.0 support. There is EDR support with A2DP on both the phones.

The Sony Xperia S also has NFC on it. To know more about Near Field Communication, how to use it to transfer files and see what other devices currently have NFC, do check out here and here .

Both phones have Stereo FM radio with RDS.

Winner : Sony Xperia S

Operating System and UI:

Both the phones run on Android Gingerbread 2.3.4, one of the recent versions of Android from Google. Sony, still maintains the same user interface as Sony Ericsson, the TimeScape UI.

The Sensation XE comes with HTC’s own Sense UI, which is quite famous for its excellent gesture support and user friendly UI throughout the OS built by the HTC engineers over the Android layout.The HTC Sense is definitely fun to use and has lots of small add-ons everywhere with some user-intuitive gesture controls as well.

Sony’s TimeScape UI is known for its excellent Facebook integration over the phone’s User Interface, across apps and other small additions in places which make Android really fun to use. This version  Timescape is the latest one from Sony and it maintains the old features along with a few additions making the User Interface even more intuitive and fluid to use.

However, do not forget that Sony has confirmed that the Xperia S be receiving the Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 update very soon, and also HTC has confirmed that the Sensation XE will be receiving the Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 update soon which makes both these phones even more worth for the money as they will get the latest version of Android very soon.

Winner : HTC Sensation XE for Sense UI

Battery and Processor

The Xperia S has a 1750mAh battery under its hood while the HTC XE has a 1730mAh battery. The Xperia S has a talktime of  7 hours 30 mins on 2G and 8 hours on 3G and 450 hours of standby time on 2G and 420 hours of standby time on 3G while the HTC Sensation XE on 2G, has a talktime of upto 9 h 20 min and 310hours of standby time and upto 7 hours and 20 mins of talktime and 540 hours of standby time on 3G.

On the Xperia S, there is a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor powered by a Adreno 220 GPU and supported by the Qualcomm MSM 8260 Snapdragon chipset while the HTC Sensation XE has a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor powered by a Adreno 220 GPU and supported by the Qualcomm MSM 8260 Snapdragon chipset.

Winner : Xperia Sensation XE

Beats by Dr.Dre

The HTC Sensation XE comes with audio from Beats by Dr. Dre, one of the most premium companies specializing in Audio technology in the world. The HTC Sensation XE comes with Beats Audio™ inbox with custom made Beats headsets, engineered to deliver extraordinary sound. Their software is also specially tuned software and the user interface is tweaked to deliver the best mobile audio experience. Also, HTC has got Beats to make a custom earphone for the Sensation XE, which comes in the box as well. The headset has music control buttons on it as well.

Image from Engadget

Conclusion

Though the Xperia S comes with a couple of shortcomings over the HTC Sensation XE, such as the lack of expandable memory, it still is usable considering the screen display is powered by the Bravia Engine and performs really well while the HTC Sensation XE is fun to use with HTC Sense UI on it and provides an overall better experience.

Looking at the specifications, the Sony Xperia S outperforms the HTC Sensation XE right from its multimedia features and its camera and it certainly wins over the Sensation XE in most of the aspects. However if you use your smartphone more for entertainment purposes then the HTC Sensation XE will make a good buy as it comes with Beats audio driver and Beats earphones.

While the Xperia S might take a couple of months more to be available in your markets, the HTC Sensation XE is available currently. Unless you aren’t in a hurry for a smartphone, we recommend the Sony Xperia S over the Sensation XE as its overall performance, battery and the user experience has an edge over the Sensation XE’s.

Download Siri for Android Voice Assistant – iPhone Siri Clone App

While Apple might have launched an automated Voice assistant for its iPhone lineup, Googletoo thinks of the same and now in the next few coming days, we will be able to see a much powerful Voice Assistant and on the similar lines, one of the developers from XDA that is Limit8has come out with a similar looking tool called as “SARA” which is a semantic and intelligent Siri for Android which has just recently got an all new update of 1.2.3. We are sure, you would definitely like to make use of this application and for which we have directly given the download link in this article. For your convenience, we have also mentioned quick Screen Captures in the due course of this article along with the prime features list and change log with a detailed tutorial on how to apply this update.

Disclaimer: This is not a final and official version of Siri Voice Assistant released by Google and there will be some bugs in this application which will be solved in the coming versions, neither we nor developer should be held responsible for any bugs.

Prime Features of Siri for Android:
- Database and algorithm is served offline
- Database is at the time very small
- Works offline with a text box
- Learns your name
- Can grab weather information
- Can grab location information

Change Log of Features of Siri for Android:
- Preferences Menu
- Update Function under Preferences Menu
- No crashes
- Learns your name (for example with “I am David”)
- Can ask you for a confirmation (for example with “I am David” -> “?” -> “Yes / No”)
- Better algorithm
- No need to restart after first installation

Procedure to Install Siri for Android in your Android smartphone:

• First download, the Siri for Android APK File from here, you need to now save the same in your computer or else you can alternatively can download in your phone too.
• Once you finish downloading it in the computer, you now need to connect the device to the computer using the USB cable and then need to copy this downloaded apk file to your device and disconnect the USB device from the computer.

      

• After this go to the path where you have placed this file with the help of file explorer and tap on the same to install the same and then tap on “Open” to open the Siri for Android app. As soon as the installation is done, you will be prompted to tap on “Open”, select to open the same.

So, that’s it you have now successfully updated your Phone’s Android Market Place with the latest version of 3.4.4. Please note that just in case if it prompts you to select the option of “Unknown Sources” then you need to select the same. Do let us know in the comments section below just in case if there are any issues.

Use Transparent Screen App to avoid Accidents while Texting & Walking

Did you ever have optical illusion to make your Android phone screen look through. When I see people walking on the roads, 50 % of them are busy in personal calls and other people just get hang on their phone with settings, playing games or doing other stuff. When you have eyes locked on your phone, you might need to see the travel path so that you don’t have the fear of falling into an open manhole or you don’t want to step on wrong things on the road.

Transparent Screen is Android applications which make your Android user interface go translucent upon the launch. Not too often you will be using this application but it depends.

As soon as you install this application and run it, you will be taken to the home screen of the application directly. In the home screen of this application you will be provided with the option to Start or Stop the Transparent screen and with other settings like transparency level, resolution, rotate camera image and additional settings are found.

When you hit the start button, I just got a popup message saying the playback stutters a bit on the devices at higher resolution with radio button to Rate it.

When you tap on Menu button on the home screen you just have the various other options like get the pro version, email and sharing those.

When you tap on Start, the transparent screen will be turned on using the phone camera allowing you to see whats on the other side of the camera.

Transparent Screen App Download

Transparent Screen Android application can be easily downloaded from Android Apps Labs for free. To download it directly on to your mobile phone you need to visit the Transparent Screen App listing page of Android Apps Labs and click on Install to automatically install it.

BSNL Penta TPAD WS704c WS804c Tablets Launched – Specs & Prices

BSNL has launched three tablet devices in the Android devices market, and these tablets are well in competition to the Aakash Tablet which was launched by the govt. of India. These three tablets are of entry level but still have a pretty neat specs which promise to produce some good speed, quite better than the Aakash.

The three tablet devices by BSNL are -

• T-Pad IS701R
• Penta TPAD WS704c
• Penta TPAD WS804c

The T-Pad IS701R is going to be priced at just around Rs. 3250 which is nothing higher than the Aakash, which was priced at Rs. 2500 in the Indian market. The tablet device is going to come with the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, a 1GHz processor, 7-inch display with resistive touch, 256 MB DDR2 RAM, 800 x 600 px screen resolution, HDMI port.

The BSNL Android tablets are going to support Android market and one can download the applications from the market. The Internet can be browsed using the Wi-Fi connectivity, or else the 2g/3g dongle externally. The tablet comes with a 0.3MP camera and the battery is of 3000 mAh. There is an internal memory of 2GB which could be extended to 32GB.

Here are the prices of the various tablet devices:

• T-Pad IS701R – Rs. 3250
• Penta TPAD WS704c – Rs. 10999
• Penta TPAD WS804c – Rs. 13500

Samsung Galaxy Beam Pico Projector Quad Band based Android Smart Phone Announced

Samsung opens its gates even before MWC kicks off which clearly shows that Samsung is not the one who will be waiting for an event like MWC to launch its new products. This all new product which was launched by Samsung is basically a projector smartphone which aims to provide an experience of smartphone as well as a mini projector in built. With this projector capability, one can easily display and share multimedia content just anywhere. The projection can be done on a 50 inched wide screen which has a dedicated projection application in it.

With ultra-bright 15 lumens projector allows users to freely share life’s memorable moments instantly and in crisp clarity, even in outdoor environments. So let’s get started with the core features which this phone comes along with in a detailed list format below.

Specifications of Samsung Galaxy BEAM:

• Android Gingerbread 2.3 based Operating System,
• 4inched display with 480×800 (WVGA) TFT Screen,
• Super Speed 1GHz Dual Core Processor,
• 5MP Camera with Flash cum auto focus and Secondary camera of 1.3MP,
• Comes with the dimensions of 64.2 x 124 x 12.5mm and  weighs 145.3 g
  • Supports array of video formats which are MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV, DivX
  • Recording/Playback: 720p@30fps
  • Supports array of Audio formats – MP3, AAC, AAC＋, eAAC＋, WMA0fps,
  • Bluetooth 3.0+ High Speed Version,
  • Supports WI Fi Standard of 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz, A-GPS,
  • Comes with Micro USB Ports, USB 2.0 & 3.5MM Audio Headphone jack,
  • Memory – 786 MB RAM ＋ 8GB Internal Memory, Micro SD slot (up to 32GB),
  • 2000 mah Battery

Samsung Galaxy Beam Gallery:

     

As of now this phone is just announced and there is no ETA on by when this phone will be made available commercially, but as in when it arrives we will let you know about the same.