The Connection, Inc Blog

If you use an Android mobile device, you know that it’s a great asset that’s always releasing new functionality with Google applications. One of the latest changes in functionality comes in the form of Google Translate and its Tap to Translate feature. Android users now have a convenient way to translate text, and it only takes a button-tap to do so.

Of course, you might be wondering why you would want to use such a tool in the first place. For one, in the event that you actually do need to use Google Translate, it’s much easier to do so. Previously, users would have to copy the text from Chrome, exit the app, open Translate, paste the text into the app, and translate it. Now, Tap to Translate cuts out the middle man and allows you to get right down to business with a simple press of a button, without switching through apps or copying and pasting text.

The Tap to Translate feature works on Android smartphones and tablets that run on devices using Jelly Bean or later, and it supports all 130 languages normally supported by Google Translate. This is a handy tool if you need to quickly translate text, if your business has dealings with oversea clients, or for translating text that’s piqued your interest.

Also in relation to Google Translate, you might be interested to hear that Google Translate’s offline mode has been improved further. The application’s offline mode works by having the user download language packs directly to the device. These packs are used in the event that the device can’t find an established Internet connection. Up until recently, these language packs were fairly large; hundreds of megabytes to be specific. Now, however, they only take up 25MB, which can free up some space on user devices. Plus, offline mode works with both iOS and Android.

If you want to see Google Translate’s new Tap to Translate feature in action, you can watch Google’s official video here.

Google’s expansion of Translate’s mobile features is just one example of how mobile technology is changing to better accommodate the user experience. Mobile devices are well-known in the business world as great assets that can improve productivity, but they’re also seen as security hazards on occasion. If you want to get the most out of your mobile devices, we recommend implementing a mobile device management system as soon as possible.

For more information about how to properly leverage mobile devices to your business’s advantage, you can call The Connection, Inc at (732) 291-5938. Or, even better, you can subscribe to The Connection, Inc’s blog.

Cell phones: as much as they’re needed for business purposes, there are definitely times that they shouldn’t ring and interrupt what is going on around you. However, turning a phone’s volume up or down isn’t always the first thing on a user’s mind. Fortunately for Android users, it no longer has to be.

It’s an all-too-familiar scenario: you’re sitting as an audience member while the demonstrator--be it your boss, a coworker, or your child’s school chorus--is suddenly interrupted by the sound of your phone going off after you forgot to kill the volume. Or, you miss a crucial phone call from your boss or coworker because you remembered to silence your phone when it was appropriate, but forgot to reactivate the sound later. Either way, you don’t look very good, and your professional reputation and performance could suffer as well.

However, there is an app available for download that can help to avoid these issues automatically: the aptly-named Volume Scheduler.

This free app allows Android users to preset their volume adjustments based on the time of day. As a result, if a user knows that they will be in an important meeting from 1:30 until 3:45, they can tell Volume Scheduler to silence their phone between those times. On the flip side, if they know that they’ll be in a crowded terminal between 9 AM and 3:45 PM where they can answer their phone at any time, a user could make sure their phone was scheduled to be at full volume.

What makes this app an excellent option is how budget-friendly it is, in all senses of the word. Not only is the app free to download, but since it works based on time, it will not eat up data charges or even battery life. As a result, a phone can be set to a pre-established schedule and relied on to be quiet when necessary.

What are some of your most embarrassing phone volume-related stories? Feel free to share some in the comments!

Your workstation is equipped with all of your necessary software solutions, but sometimes it can be challenging to find a specific app. If you want to see a list of all applications on your device, Windows 10 makes it easy. The key to doing so lies in the Start menu.

Now that the Start menu is back in Windows 10, you have plenty of opportunities to search for not just your applications, but basically anything--all thanks to Cortana integration. You have all sorts of ways to better search your PC for important things. We’ll discuss how you can use the Start menu to find your apps both quickly and efficiently.

First, you can use the Search bar to find a specific program. This is by far the easiest way you can do so, but sometimes you may not know how to spell it.

You can also look at the complete list of programs on your PC easily enough. To do this, click on the Start menu and check out the right column. This will show you a list of your most used apps at the top, but the bottom will show you an alphabetical list of all programs on your computer. If you click on one of the letters in the headings, you’ll be shown an even simpler way of viewing your apps.

When you click the letters, you’ll be shown a list of all of the letters of the alphabet, which can further narrow down what you’re looking for. By clicking on a specific letter, you’ll be shown all applications that begin with that letter. If you don’t know what a program is called, but you still don’t know the exact name, searching this way a good way to find it.

Windows 10 is one of the best ways that you can improve the way your organization functions. It provides both a solid user experience and a much-needed technological update for organizations that have yet to upgrade.

If you want to take full advantage of Windows 10, The Connection, Inc can help. We’ll work with your business to ensure that you get the technology solutions you need, and to make sure that your apps are compatible with the new operating system. To learn more, reach out to us at (732) 291-5938.

As cars become more technologically advanced and reliant on computers, they become more likely targets for malware and cyber attacks. However, as researchers from Kaspersky have uncovered in an investigation into an assortment of connected-car mobile apps, car manufacturers may not be as committed to ensuring the security of their vehicles as drivers may want.

Two researchers from the security firm discovered that nine popular car-connected applications did not have sufficient security measures in place to defend the vehicle’s computer-controlled features. All but one app stored the username and/or password on the phone itself without any encryption to protect it. If these phones were to be rooted by a hacker, that hacker would then have access to their victim’s car. Otherwise, the hackers could disperse fraudulent versions of the apps that connect the phone to the car, and steal a user’s credentials that way, or even just utilize an overlay attack to effectively do the same thing.

While these kinds of security issues are not a new phenomenon, the researchers argue that we are still in the beginning stages of a potential outbreak of cybercrime creeping onto our roadways.

Hacker forums seem to be quietly interested as well, as the researchers did find a few posts offering the sale of car app credentials, along with PINs and VINs for numerous cars from assorted manufacturers. Speaking of the manufacturers, it became more and more clear that as they developed these technologies, they failed to keep the big picture in mind and focused more on providing a cool new selling point than they did on ensuring that their customers’ investments (and lives) were protected.

There are a few scenarios that may result: either the automotive manufacturing industry shapes up and provides a product that protects drivers from those trying to exploit their vehicles for their own gain, or they continue to produce vehicles with insufficient defenses until consumer backlash is enough to convince them of the need for change.

So what do you think? Is the convenience of having a car with all the abilities full connectivity provides a big enough benefit to risk it for you? Or would you rather wait until you knew your car would be safe before you buckled in? Let us know in the comments!

Wouldn’t it be convenient if your business could have web pages or applications read out text for you so that you don’t have to? While most would consider this a luxury, these screen reading applications are an everyday occurrence to those who are blind, visually impaired, or have a learning disability. Even if you don’t have anyone in your office who needs screen reading, it can’t hurt to be prepared for a day when you might.

Listening to the radio is a great way to pass the time during your morning commute, especially if you don’t have a CD player or an auxiliary port in your vehicle. While listening to the radio, you might hear a catchy tune that you want to look up later. Now, thanks to various smartphone apps and technology solutions, you can do it while listening to the song.

For all of you YouTubers out there, you probably already know that the video-playback website is offering a premium service that launched last month. Now you can watch cat videos and other nonsense in an entirely new way. But what do you get with a subscription to YouTube Red? Is it worth the money? Well, let’s find out.

How many email accounts do you have? At the very least, you have one for work and for one that’s personal, and if you’ve been doing email long enough, then you may have a few accounts left over from years ago which you rarely check (like your email address from college). Is there a way to combine these scattered accounts into an email address of your choice?

At a September tradeshow event, Travis Kalanick, cofounder and CEO of Uber, said five words in an interview that made everyone give pause to the potential for technology to shape our world for the better, “Every car should be Uber.”

It’s no secret that Android devices are omnipresent in the mobile market. However, they have a flaw which some people might not even have realized is there: The lack of a recycle bin for deleted files. Because of this, any files you want to delete from your device will be lost forever upon deletion (though you might be able to ask the NSA for a hand finding them). Thankfully, there’s a fix to this issue with an application called Dumpster.