Category: How To Guides

List of simple tips and tricks of Smartphone, gadgets and browsers. These includes Tethering of smartphones, Enabling WiFi Hotspots, Browser optimisation, Tips and Tricks on Browsers etc.

  • Sony Xperia PC Suite Free Download Connecting Sony Smartphone to PC

    Sony PC Companion is PC suite for Sony Xperia Smartphones just like the PC suite for Samsung Mobile, Samsung Kies. It is a collection of apps or utilities bundled in a single package.  This help in connecting your Sony Xperia smartphones with PC effectively. It provide many apps such as Xperia Transfer which is a toll for moving content from an iPhone to Sony Xperia smartphone. Using PC companion PC suite you can back up and restore your phone content, manage your contacts and calenders.  There utility called Media Go which will be useful for transfer and managing the media files. We will have all the available Sony Xperia PC Suite.

    Sony Xperia PC Companion

    System Requirement for Sony Xperia PC suite PC Companion

    • Internet broadband connection.
    • Intel® Pentium® 4, 3.6 GHz or equivalent AMD processor.
    • 5GB free hard disk space.
    • 2 GB RAM.
    • 1 available USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 port and USB cable.
    • Microsoft® Windows XP™ SP3 (32 bit), Vista (32/64 bit) or Windows 7 (32/64 bit) or Windows 8/8.1 (32/64 bit) and Windows 10.

    You can even download install Sony PC companion on Mac systems.

    Sony Xperia PC Suite-PC Companion Download for Windows

    1. You can download the Sony Xperia PC suite from clicking here. The size of Sony PC suite is 27 MB.
    2. Run the downloaded file and follow the on screen instructions to complete the installation.

    Sony Xperia PC Suite-PC Companion Download for Mac

    For Mac systems, you need to download the bridge file. Sony Bridge for Mac is a PC suite for Xperia smartphones on Mac systems.  Using this, you can update your smartphone Android firmware,  transfer media between your phone and iTunes, iPhoto or a custom folder on your Mac. Separate files can also be transferred between your phone and Mac by using drag and drop in a file browser. You can also backup and restore your phone content (availability depending on phone model). If you’re new to Sony devices, and your previous phone was an iPhone, you can use Xperia Transfer to move your content from the iPhone to your new Sony device.
    System Requirements for Sony Bridge Pc suite for Mac Systems

    • MacOS version 10.6 or later.
    • 1 GHz Intel processor (64 bit processor required for phone software update).
    • 512 MB RAM.
    • 60 MB hard-disk space for program installation.
    • iTunes 7.0 or later (recommended).
    • iPhoto version 08 or later (recommended).
    • Java SE 6 required for phone software update.

    Sony Bridge PC Suite download and installation instruction for Mac System

    • Download the application to your Macintosh computer by clicking here. Make a note of which folder you download it to. The size of download is 9.8MB.
    • When download is complete, installation may start automatically. If not, locate and double-click the “Sony Bridge for Mac.dmg” file.
    • When prompted, drag the Sony Bridge for Mac icon into your Applications folder.
    • Eject the disk image. It is not needed once the application is installed.
    • Sony Bridge for Mac is now found in your Applications folder. Double-click to start.
    • The application will start with the same language settings as your computer. To change language settings, see the computer manual.
    • Please read the End-User Licence Agreement carefully. Click Agree to continue.

    Sony PC Companion compatible devices:
    Most of the Xperia smartphones are compatible with Sony PC Companion PC suite. To name few, Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia L, Xperia M, Sony Xperia C, Xperia C4 Dual, Xperia C5 Dual, Xperia M5, Xperia Z5 etc.

  • How to Download Micromax Drivers And PC Suites

    Micromax is one of the leading mobile manufacturer in India. It has released many aggressively priced Smartphones with decent specification. PC suite or the drivers for Micromax mobiles is required for connecting your phone to PC. So here is a simple guide to download Drivers for your Micromax mobiles from the official website. These Micromax Drivers will be useful for USB tethering.  You can read my post on How to use Micromax Mobile as modem.

    Downloading Micromax Drivers for Mobiles

    You download free Micromax Drivers from the official support. Below the instructions to follow to download the free drivers for Micromax smartphones.
    Micromax Drivers

    1. Visit the Micromax Phone essential download page by clicking here.
    2. Select your Smartphone model from the drop down list under “SELECT YOUR PHONE TO FIND COMPATIBLE DOWNLOADS” Label.
    3. You will get a list of all available Download for your Micromax mobile.
    4. Click on Driver to download start downloading.
    5. Once downloading completed, install the driver.

    Micromax PC Suite

    Micromax currently not providing the PC suite like Samsung Kies for Samsung mobiles. However, you can use many third party applications to use as a PC suite for your Micromax Mobiles. My favourite is Airdroid application.
    AirDroid Application is a free app which you can download from the Play store. Once you download, just register a account in that. Launch the app on your phone and you will get a URL. Enter that URL name in your browser. Enter your login credentials. You will get a complete access to your phone. Using AirDroid application you can do following Tasks.

    • Read SMS or Send SMS from PC using the phone.
    • Manage your camera.
    • Manage contacts.
    • A complete file explorer through which you can view your files.
    • Install or uninstall apps.

    Micromax Driver/PC suite supported Devices

    Micromax do provide driver for its current set of smartphones running on Android OS. Though as i mentioned earlier, there is no official free Micromax Mobile PC suite. Having said that, installing the drivers for Micromax mobiles does the major tasks of PC suite. By installing Micromax drivers, you can tether Micromax Android phones, transfer files and even sync contacts using the third party PC suites. Below are the some of the devices compatible with Micromax Drivers and PC suite and follow above procedure.

    • Micromax A100 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A110 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A111 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A115 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A116 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A25 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A27 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A30 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A35 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A44 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A45 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A50 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A51 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A54 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A57 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A62 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A65 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A68 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A72 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A80 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A84 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A87 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A88 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A89 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A89 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A90S – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax A91 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax Asadas – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax C115 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax C190 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax C260 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax E390 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax GC200 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax GC222 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax GC333 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax Q1C – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax Q36 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax Q55 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax Q76 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X099 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X101 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X103 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X104 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X104C – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X222 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X234+ – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X234C – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X263 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X268 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X269 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X272 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X279 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X286 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X287 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X293 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X294 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X295 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X320 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X321 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X322 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X322 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X324 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X325 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X327 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X335 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X340 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X350 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X368 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X396 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X445 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X446 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X454 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X455 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.
    • Micromax X456 – PC Suite/Driver Free Download.

    If you are any issues in downloading the free Micromax Drivers feel free share it in the comment section.

  • Adding Facebook Like box or Facebook Fan box widget to Blogger

    Adding a Facebook Fan Box or Facebook Like widget to Blogger helps to get more Facebook fans. So here is a quick tutor to add Blogger widget for Facebook Like Box for the Blogger. Facebook Like Box was earlier called as Facebook Fan Box.
    Steps to Create  Facebook Like Box Widget for Blogger: The below mentioned steps given are assuming that you already created a Fan Page in Facebook. Hence in this post, I have giving only the steps to create the Blogger Widget for Facebook Like box.
    Step 1 : Go to Facebook and open your Facebook Fanpage URL. Copy the address of the fanpage from the URL Bar from the browser as shown below. In my case it is
    http://www.facebook.com/ExcelTipsAndTricks

    Facebook Tips

    Step 2: Go to the Facebook Social Plugin creator page by clicking Facebook Like Box configuration Page. You will get a page as shown below.

    Facebook Tips to add Gadget to Blogger  

    Step 3: Now paste your page URL  which you have copied in the step 1, inside the Facebook Page URL text box.
    Step 4: Customize the widget size by entering the height and width and color scheme.  Keeping the height field blanks takes takes the default size. You can select “Show Faces” Check box to show the images your followers else images will not be shown. You can also enable or disable recent post snapshot in the widget by selecting or un selecting the “Show Stream” Checkbox.
    Step 5: Click on Get Code which gives two sets of codes. Select “iFRAME”  in the top tab and copy the code.

    facebook Like Box Tips

    Step 6: In Blogger, go to “Layout” click on ” Add a Gadget” link. Select HTML/Javascript gadget and paste the code in the content box. Place the gadget in your desired place of the blog.
    Step7: Click on “Save Arrangement”. You are done. Your Facebook Like box appears in your blog.

    Adding the Facebook Like Box in the blogger helps to gain more Facebook fans and also it helps to improve user engagement on the blog. Let me know if this helps. Share your inputs in the comments section below and hit Like if you like this tip. 

  • Samsung PC Suite Features and Downloads

     This article is deprecated! Any technical information contained herein likely refers to software versions that are now obsolete. Please visit our new post on How to download Smart Switch Latest Samsung PC Suite for the updated post of this.

    Samsung PC suite are convenient tools which helps in doing multiple tasks such as syncing contacts, Data, Multimedia files etc.  Samsung PC suite are useful in updating the firmwares of the Samsung Devices. With slight difference in features and compatibility of the device Samsung is providing four types of PC suites names Samsung Kies, Samsung PC Studio, New PC Studio and Samsung Kies Air. Below are the features of these PC suites along with the system requirements.
    Samsung Kies
    Samsung Kies: Samsung Kies latest version is 2.3. However depending the phone you have you need to select compatible version of the Samsung Kies. Below are the some of the key features of Samsung Kies.

    Key Features of Samsung Kies Mobile PC Suite

    • Connect your mobile without wire to the PC:  One of the features added to  latest Samsung Kies is connecting mobile to PC through WiFi and Sync between the two.
    • Mobile Firmware Updates:  Whenever, the Samsung Mobile is connected to Kies either by USB or  WiFi,  Kies automatically notifies if any latest firmware available to the device.
    • Sync Contacts with Outlook or Google or Yahoo:  This functionality provides more control over in syncing the contacts with outlook,Google or Yahoo. This also helps to add or edit the contacts in the convenient of PC.
    • Organize Music Files and Sync: With Samsung Kies, it is easier to organize the music playlist and sync them with the mobile.
    • Backup Photos and Videos from Mobile to PC:  Samsung Kies provides easy ways to back up your precious photo and videos which are available on your mobile phone to PC.

    System requirement to Install Samsung Kies on Windows based PC:

    • Compatible OS:Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 (32/64bit are supported)
    • CPU:Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz or above (recommended)
    • Minimum memory size (RAM):1.00GB (recommended)
    • Free hard drive space:At least 500MB (recommended)
    • Screen resolution:1024 x 768(600), 32 bit or above
    • Required software:Net Framework 3.5 SP1 or above, Windows Media Player 10 or above, DirectX 9.0C
    • * For Windows Mobile, ActiveSync (Windows XP) or Device Centre (Windows Vista/7)

    Update: Samsung has release newer version of Kies. The latest Samsung PC suite is Kies 3.0. This is compatible with the devices running on Android 4.3 or later.
    Samsung Kies for Mac Systems: Samsung Kies is available for Mac system too. The System requirements for installing Samsung Kies on Mac is given below.

    • OS:MacOS X version 10.5 or later
    • CPU:1.8GHz Intel or faster processor
    • Minimum memory size (RAM):512MB or more
    • Free hard drive space:At least 100MB (recommended)

    Free download for Samsung Kies are available for both PC and Mac. For Download the latest Samsung Kies Click Here.
    Samsung PC Studio 3: Samsung PC Studio is another tool with additional features to enhance the experience.
    Key Features of Samsung PC Studio 3:
    PC Studio Launcher: Provides the shortcut icons to start the PC studio applications
    Phone Editor (Manage contacts and more):Allows you to view, edit and organize the personal information in your phone on your PC. Also lets your copy and move information between your phone and your PC.
    Message Manager (Manage messages):View, edit and organize your phone messages on your PC. You can also send text messages or multimedia messages with this application when it is connected to the phone
    PC Sync (Synchronize):Synchronize personal information data (names and contact information) in your phone. The programmes supported are Microsoft ® Outlook® and Outlook Express
    Phone Explorer (Manage files):Manage multimedia files in your phone on your PC and to transfer files between your phone and PC
    Networking Wizard (Manage Internet connections):Access the Internet using the connected Phone as a modem
    MMS Composer (Compose Multiimedia messages):Make and edit multimedia using photos, movies, sounds and text. The messages can be saved or sent via the connected phone.
    Multimedia Manager (Manage multiimedia files):Modify various media files (below) imported from your mobile phone, PC or CD and create a new one. This also has a play function.

    • Video – Import 3gp, 3g2, mpeg, mpg, mp4, avi, divx, asf, wmv. Convert to mp4, 3gp
    • Music – Import mp3, aac, mp4, 3gp, 3g2, m4a, mmf, midi, amr. Save as mp3, wav, amr, aac, m4a
    • Photo – Import jpeg, bmp, gif, png, wbmp, tif. Save as jpeg, bmp, png, gif
    • Multimedia Player (Play multimedia files)
    • Play multimedia files (compatible with your phone) such as movies and sounds.
    • Live Update – You can update your Samsung PC Studio to the latest version.
    • Live Update can be performed as follows.
    • Run Samsung PC Studio. In the Launcher window, select the Tools > Live Update menu. (Make sure the PC is connected to the internet.)
    • When the Welcome window appears, click the Start button.
    • The available programme update list appears. Click the Next button.
    • Save all unsaved tasks and close all PC Studio applications. Click the OK button to proceed to the update process.
    • When the update is done, click the Finish button to close Live Update. (In case the Live Update programme itself has been updated, click the Start button to repeat steps 3 to 5 for updating other components.)

    System Requirements to install Samsung PC Studio 3:

    • Windows 2000 (with Service pack 4 or higher), Windows XP or Vista
    • At least 300 MB of free disk space
    • Connection with the phone must be through USB, IrDA or Bluetooth

    Samsung PC Studio can be downloaded free from Samsung Support page Here..
    New PC Studio:ew PC Studio is a program that helps you to use the data inside your PC and mobile phone better. New PC Studio allows users to manage not only the music, photos and videos in their PC but also the important personal information such as the phonebook, messages and schedules in their mobile phones by exporting them to PC.
    System Requirements for installing Samsung PC Studio:

    • One of the following ways is needed to connect the mobile phone to a PC.
    • USB cable and compatible port
    • Bluetooth device and software
    • One of the following programs must be installed to connect Bluetooth.
    • Microsoft Stack : Windows XP Service Pack 2 or higher
    • Widcomm Stack : 1.4.2.10 SP5 or higher
    • Bluesoleil Stack : 1.6.0 or higher
    • Toshiba Stack : 3.0 or higher

    Samsung New PC Studio(NPC) free download is available in the Samsung Support page.

  • Forwarding sms in Android Smartphone

    Android is a very user friendly operating system. However finding the options is little time consuming task.  Here is one quick tip on Android smartphone for forwarding sms.

    Steps to forward sms in Android Phone

     

    • Open the message you want to forward
    • Long press on the thread which you want to forward
    • You will get a pop up menu which gives options such as Forward, Copy message, Save message to SIM card, View message details and Delete message
    • Choose Forward and enter the contact details to forward.

    This works with all Android smartphones such as Galaxy S2, HTC One X, Micromax A50 etc.