Category: cellphone

How To Block The Spam on Your Cricket Phone

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Since the new Privacy Policy change at Cricket , they have allowed us to opt out of the advertisement types. Such as; web browser spam, and text message notifications.
We here at TruXter Tech decided to run through them all and opt ourselves out of them all. Here’s how we did it.

To opt out of “Relevant advertising” Click here

To opt out of advertisements on your phone based on your usage and locations Click Here

Phone Spam Opt Out

Phone Spam Opt Out

More Addvertisers to opt out from Click Here

You have opted out of relevant advertising on your mobile device.

You have opted out of relevant advertising on your mobile device.

To unsubscribe from Cricket’s Email spam Click Here

Federal Do Not Call list Click Here

To stop getting mail from Cricket and their affiliates Click Here

To Opt out of Cricket Text Messages Click Here

Opt Out Cricket Text Messages

Opt Out Cricket Text Messages

Cricket Changing Privacy Policy

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Cricket Cell phone carrier changing it’s privacy policy

In a text from Cricket

It’s Cricket Wireless here with an important service update. Effective June 16, 2016 we are changing our privacy policy so we can share your information with our parent company, AT&T. We are also changing the payment grace period. Please visit cricketwireless.com/june for more information.

Grace Period Change

Effective June 16th, 2016, the grace period to restore your service if you miss your Cricket Pay Date is changing from two (2) days to one (1) day. After the grace period you will be charged a reactivation fee to restore your service.

Basically Cricket and AT&T Merged a while back. and you’ve seen some changes. Well those changes aren’t over yet. You are in for a bunch of new spam.
Spam related on your browser history and your locations you frequent or frequently pass.

Cricket’s new policy change is based on AT&T’s policy since AT&T owns Cricket now.

Here is the current standing Privacy Policy of Cricket
any policy additions as of now are found here

How to opt out of Cricket Spam

I don’t like the idea that they can watch everything I am interested in, or things that freak me out so I check it out to see what it is then advertise to me based on my searches. I also don’t like the idea that I can be chasing my dog down the street to get him back home and get stuck behind a fish market trying to get him to come into reach and start getting advertisements based on seafood. Or that I can say the word “seafood” and BAM I am bombarded with seafood ads.

Why Android Apps Sometimes Won’t Update

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I find myself sometimes wondering if my tablet is broken, or if my internet connection is flakey or if my tablet or phone has a virus. I sit for longer than I’d like to admit to myself, trying to get apps to update. I find that some apps will update, and some just won’t . No matter how many times I try, no matter how close to the router I sit. Nothing
Update Failed
Well I figured out why the apps sometimes will not update on my Android devices.
I moved them to the micro-SD card.
That simple.
You move the apps to the micro-SD card and for some reason, Android forgets how to function.
When installed on SD card, sometimes Android has trouble updating the apps, sometimes has trouble even running the apps.

Here’s how to get the apps to update.(extreme case)
You have to move them back to the phone , then uninstall them.
Format your micro-SD card.
Take the micro-SD card out, reboot your Android and then reinstall the apps.
Then reinstall the micro-SD .
You should be done.
If you want to move the apps back to the micro-SD card, that’s all up to you.

You could see Update Failed  again though.

I however will not be moving apps to my micro-SD card on my android. and will not be buying a large capacity micro-SD with my next Android purchase. There’s no reason for me to.
You can keep your Update Failed  notices.

Hands On Galaxy S6 Edge

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Samsung Galaxy S6

Samsung Galaxy S6

If the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge really does have Gorilla glass as I have been told, that did not feel like I expected.
The S6 Edge was very thin and light weight. The screen was wide yet narrow.
What I felt while holding that phone was in no way similar to the reviews I have been seeing. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, though it felt smooth to the touch and nearly seamless, it felt kind cheap. Not inexpensive but felt poorly made. Almost like a doll house wide screen tv. as if it would just crumble the first time you set anything on it. Reminded me on the Sanyo Zio but much more costly. With the curved edges and the plastic feeling screen.

No idea how you put a screen cover on that phone. Or even a case that would be effective and still allow you to use that silly edge area.
Sure that gives you more tools to add but what if the screen was flat, that stuff would still work and a case would serve an actual purpose.
The menu system didn’t feel like anything innovative has been created either. and yes I am quite used to feeling teh sides of the phone while I navigate.
The battery Specs online say 2,600mAh in the system settings, while the comparable budget phone ZTE Grand™ X Max+ has a 3200mAh battery.  the battery could be better.

Not interested in the Galaxy 6 Edge.

Review scoring:
Feel– 5/10
Look– 9/10
Navigation– 7/10
Durability– 4/10
Battery life– 8/10

Total review score = 5/10

Is Computer Technology in a Slump?

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Sure computer technology is in a slump.
A slump created by the lazy and braggadocios.
The ignorant with money to burn, and the poor who want to look like they have money to burn.
It is now taboo to show people Technology you created from scratch. It makes you look poor and unworthy of honor. No longer do we feel the pride of learning new things and piecing together our ideas and things we learned, into one space to make the things we need.

We have built ourselves into a corner of ignorance.

We used to hack our phones to have web browsers they didn’t have before. We used to get our phones to surf the internet when no one even considered it useful. and we did it with phones that didn’t have a touch screen or a scroll wheel. We created our own mp3 players to suit our phones per model and we would burn that to a 3.5 disk or to a c.d. so we wouldn’t have to rebuild when we changed our phones, we’d just have to modify to work with the version of Symbian on the phone. but now, everything is right there for free with ads, or for sale. No one has to learn anymore. We just nod and smile when someone calls you stupid for not knowing about some app they just downloaded that does what you did 10 years ago, manually. And for god’s sake you can’t tell them this, or they will call you a hipster.

Tech trends are a shame.

All websites are starting to look the exact same crappy HTML 5 over simplified big buttons so people can use it better on their little phone displays that no one can compile a good Java or flash player for.

The days of complexity are gone.
Now are the days of “look, shiney and simple”
and complacency.

It is as if we have dumbed ourselves.

There was a time when software exceeded the abilities of hardware. Which caused the hardware makers to try harder. build better. To evolve.
But now the software makers aren’t trying to create the new.. the more bundled. the bigger deal to make people buy it.
They want to make it easy and super light weight, so you pay again to buy the other crap that used to be in the older version, one by one.

We have become the fat consumer.
And tech… The world for the outsiders… Became fashion-ware for the trendy.
where abilities and functionality no longer matter, just the name brand and brag-ability.
$10,000? Made by apple? Of course it has features functions and abilities that their $150 watch does not have.
In the day when we dreamed of that, we dreamt of hackability. The ability to mod that computer on your wrist to have your own functions to fit your own needs. Now you just download someone else’s idea (app) that best suits you and like it and show off what you downloaded.

We had our DVR. Our home entertainment center from a computer we built with a series of hard drives stacked together to burn our tv shows onto while we worked. With hundreds upon hundreds of function. Those are gone and now we have it in a “cloud” (some hairy dude’s server in his basement Shhhh) and we install an ap for some of the functions and Features with nothing to want to learn.

Are cell phone extended lenses worth buying?

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cameralens

Are you wondering if cell phone extended lenses are worth buying?
I was. So I bought one from eBay for just under $15.
8x Zoom is how the lens was labeled. Not so sure how they came up with that number.

Took forever for the extended lens (telescope) to arrive but when it did, first thing I did was run out and and take photos of local band in Houston playing at a local club. Since it was the band’s CD release party, I had high hopes of getting good photos for my website (TruXter.Org).
Of course the packaging says “Mobile phone telescope” and has a picture of what looks like a blackberry on the cover.
What came inside the package was an actual telescope about 3 inches long and about 3/4 inch wide. The actual lens is about the size of a dime. A mounting frame that is spring loaded with an adjustable plate that locks by the turn of a screw to make sure the lens mounts directly over the cell phone There was also a small cloth which we can assume is for cleaning the lens of the telescope.

Here’s a sample of the photos in a dark setting (I have saturation issues I need to work out)
Satci Butler
That photo was taken from about 20 feet away with zero zoom. The lady is Staci Butler from the Staci Butler Band

The next day, I took a trip to an place near Houston that has this old time feel to it and had hopes of taking some good pictures to share. Here’s a sample of the day time photos I took.
IMG_20150411_114650_116
That photo was taken from somewhere between 80-100 feet away, without using zoom.
Any photos taken under 20 feet just come out horrible. This is definitely not an extended camera lens and is clearly a telescope for cell phones. The further the object is, the better the picture turns out.
No matter what your iso setting is, the dark settings for your pictures don’t have as good of a chance as you would have just taking the lens off and getting closer.
The focus feature just blows out my cell phones auto-focus. I tried tapping screen first then manually focus. I tried manually focusing then tapping screen and manually focusing again. Nothing made the pictures any better. I got a whole lot of shaky images that looked like I over zoomed the digital zoom and the blew the image up to pretend it was optical zoom. It definitely is not optical zoom. That setting on the side of the telescope is just for focus.

But bang for the buck, there is plenty good use for the telescope lens. I just currently haven’t much purpose in it. Not saying I won’t because I certainly will be looking for a good reason to use it. but fact is, this will not make you a better photographer.

Full review score of the Extended telescope lens for a cell phone.
Function: 7/10
Durability: 8/10
Look: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Useability: 3/10
Total score: 7/10

How To Setup Speco Player on Android and iPhone

Posted onAuthorTruXter45 Comments

We have a Speco DVR and have set up our user names and ports and passwords for access with our iPhone or Android apps. We need to remember those setting for later. (if you scroll down you will see the settings I usually use, but you can use whatever you like)

Speco DVR

Set up modem/router firewall
Name your device name whatever you want in the modem . I use simple but identifiable names. DVR-1, and DVR-2 if there is more than one.
I use the same local i.p. addresses every time. Real simple ones too
Device name=DVR1
address=192.168.1.66
Port=5445
audio port will be 5446 automatically
Local port I select 8181

Device name=DVR2
address=192.168.1.77
Port=4554
audio port will be 4555 automatically
Local port I select 8282

You can use the same settings in the android/iphone.

Now download and install Speco Player.
The icon will be black, on both android and iPhone. I’ve only seen rare occasions where I needed any of the other speco apps. That has been a couple years now.

Android Speco Setup
Click on the Speco player icon to launch the application.
When the application opens, click on “Live view/Playback”.
speco_android-1
The next screen will just have demo settings by default.
speco_android-2
This is where your menu button saves your sanity. So click your menu button.

speco_android-3

Click the “Add” area on the left lower section.
speco_android-5
You will see the screen where you can type in the information you set up on the Speco DVR such as open ports and user name and password and either I.P address or DDNS.
I typically opt out of DDNS and use I.P. address. even when the location of the latest install is on a dynamic I.P. . I’ve seen issues with some ISPs with the DDNS needing authentication when the I.P. address changes. So. I still have to go back out anyway. and it can be time consuming to use the DDNS and get it accepted. Especially if the DDNS service is down, or malfunctioning, or slow to react. Don’t hand the I.P. address out to just anyone.

Name your device name whatever you want. I use simple but identifiable names. DVR-1, and DVR-2 if there is more than one.

You can use the same settings in the modem/router firewall.
Device name=DVR1
address=192.168.1.66
Port=5445
Username=admin
Password= whatever you gave it. Default is 1111

If you select to use Easy DDNS, just use that information instead of I.P. in the andorid app.

If you select to use Easy DDNS, just use that information instead of I.P. in the andorid app.

 

 

The settings on iPhone is pretty much the same but has a few variations. So let’s cover this
Setting up Seco player on iphone

Launch the Speco player app. you should see “Device List”

Speco_iphone-1

Speco_iphone-1

To add a new device to the list (DVR), just press the plus symbol in the top right of your phone’s screen.

This will take you to a page titled “My Site”
This would be where you type in your DVR information

Speco_iphone-2

Speco_iphone-2

again, “Site” could mean location or one of many DVRs at that location. That’s all interpretation.
When you have successfully connected your Speco DVR to your iPhone, you should start seeing video footage when you select the “live” option.

Speco_iphone-3

Speco_iphone-3

sometimes the site may have a camera out, or your app could load slowly due to internet speeds.

 

If you select to use Easy DDNS, just use that information instead of I.P. in the iPhone.

 

 

To Delete the Speco Demo Settings From an iPhone:
If you have been struggling to delete the Speco demo examples from your iphone I have a pretty simple fix for you.
Just click each demo in the settings and swipe the name to the left.
Demo 1 – swipe left.
You will see a delete option.

If you have the version (android and iphone) that does not have the plus symbol or add button. Just delete the demos and relaunch the app. It will force you to create a new connection.
once your new connection is added, hit the folder option in the corner.

Boom Beach test Android vs Iphone

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Supercell_SplashDecided to load the game on my iPhone so i can mess around with it when my android is charging.
Not much is different. except one menu item in settings area is missing on the iPhone and the weird bounce thing the iphones do when the game switches screens. What this means is when you leave a fight and get back to your base, just like the Android phone does, the iPhone zooms in to the town hall. What the iPhone does that Android does not do is, is this weird little bounce thing right after the zoom in. I guess to give you the feel that you are on some weird mechanical camera arm that has poor bushings so it bounces a bit from worn stabilizers. No clue. Wastes time.

Pretty much all images look the same.

Comparison of the settings.

If you notice, the android allows you to turn down the display settings.
With the shader quality turned up high, Boom Beach plays very sluggish on my Android phone.
with shader turned down, the game is much faster. Everything loads faster too. Battery life lasts a bit longer that way also.

There could be audio differences, no clue. I hate the sounds and the music so that stays off at all times.

Does Simple Mobile block Cricket Pictures?

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cricket_androidOkay, first encounter of this so i have to know if others are experiencing the same issue.
I have been sending pictures with my cricket phone to a female friend of mine who is using Simple Mobile and she has not been responding to them. So i ask her why she doesn’t respond and she says she never got them. She is sure it is cricket messing up. So I test sending her pictures with my work phone which is on Verizon and the pictures send fine. Next I send pictures from my Cricket phone to my Verizon phone and from Verizon phone to my Cricket phone and all goes well. Yet not one picture received to the Simple Mobile network.

From what i see all sms text messages transfer fine and fast but to send a picture from Cricket to simple mobile, no go.

Now understand that I am on the version of Cricket that uses the AT&T GSM sim card, not the old Cricket with no sim card (except 4g) using CDMA network.

So if you are experiencing or not experiencing this please respond below so I get a grip on what is happening.

 

 

**Update**
I contacted Cricket and this is the tip they gave me to check my my APN settings to verify i am connected correctly. Sadly I am connected correctly. but nonetheless

Cricket Help:  I will send you the APN settings , but this will work just for Cricket devices
Cricket Helps:  Tap Settings > Mobile Networks (or Mobile Data) > Access Point Names > New APN (may have to tap Menu button to see this option).
Enter the following APN info:
Name: Internet
APN: ndo
Proxy: Not Set
Port: Not Set
Username: Not Set
Password: Not Set
Server: Not Set
MMSC: http://mmsc.aiowireless.net MMS
Proxy: proxy.aiowireless.net
MMS Port: 80
MCC: 310
MNC: 150
Authentication type: Not Set
APN type: default,mms,fota,hipri,supl
Note: on the above APN type be sure to enter it exactly as it is listed& don’t include any spaces!
Tap Save for the new APN.
Go back one screen to the APN list and tap the dot to enable this APN.
Reboot the device.
Test data and MMS.

Nope, did not work.

Cricket’s ZTE Sonata 4G One Month Review

Posted onAuthorTech Review Man8 Comments

My one month review of the Sonata 4G from ZTE from Cricket. Aka z740g

Battery – 1785 mAh
Processor – 1.4 GHz Dual-Core Qualcomm® MSM8230
RAM – 1 GB
ROM – 4 GB
Camera – 5 MP (backside only, No front camera)
Resolution – 480×800
OS – Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean)

Preface
So Cricket’s parent company got sold to AT&T and everyone who was on Cricket’s CDMA signal has to switch over to AT&T’s GSM phones. I was on the edge about moving from my Samsung Galaxy Admire II. I knew that we still had 5 months before we would have to make the switch, decided to just go right ahead and not wait until the last minute. I made the change.For more on the Cricket AT&T AIO Merger.
I shopped for the best processor, lowest cost, most storage fastest boot/reboot.

My budget (this is the budget tech review website so deal with it) was to spend between $80-$150. My total cost was $75.78 that covered the phone and my first month on the Cricket/AT&T GSM network.
First app I noticed was a task manager that none of my previous Android phones had, without me having to root the Sonata. Next thing I found is I can move apps to the SD to save storage space on the phone, and yes completely without having to root the phone.

Camera
Disappointing that I didn’t notice there was no front facing camera. but if you need a selfie, you can do a shelfie. Just set the timer (click the gear in camera mode you will see it) and set the camera to 3,5,10 seconds and back up and pose. When done, crop the image.This works well with my case that came with a stand. but again, it takes a whole lot of pictures before you get one decent photo. A BUNCH OF PHOTOS.
Screenshot_2014-09-24-21-51-56
There was much more to learn. So I had to dig into the camera and see what it is capable of.
First 10 photos came out very poor.
I even tried a few of my best tricks. Like hold the phone braced firmly against a tree or a wall or rested on a table. Still blurry.
I tried a few changes in the setting but everything by default was set up to the best settings.
The zoom… the zoom was like the first issue of android. A slider bar at the bottom of the screen. No pinch zoom.
The video camera shoots at very high resolution and the slider zoom feature is great. but clunkier and has a bad focus rate as compared to pinch zoom cell phone cameras.
Do not shoot video footage of concerts. The audio is horrendous. The audio/noise filters (maybe???) seem to try too hard to cancel noise and you are left with what sounds like a concert in a wind storm. Here is a comparison of the Sonata ZTE Z740G camera verses iPhone 4s camera.

Actual phone function
Sounds are clear. When people speak you hear everything they say and no one ever asks you to repeat yourself. No chop in audio at all.

Video play back
This phone has the clearest video I have seen as of yet. Loads all sorts of sites and I didn’t have to load any apps to the phone. No plugins needed. Just right out of the box loading every video on Reddit and Facebook I would stumble into. There is a download button on one of the video players . This lets you watch and download a lot of different videos.

Web Browser
Web browser on the ZTE Sonata is frustratingly jumpy. Pages keep loading and jumping all over the place. I suggest you install Opera or Opera mini. Either will be fine and solve this jumping issue. Forget all of the other cell phone web browser. Opera is the king of cell phone web browsers.

Video Games
Have not yet found a game that will make this phone stutter. Every game plays well.

Video display
The screen frustrates me. You have only one angle to view from. Move too high up and you lose visibility. Move too far right and the screen gets white and fonts are hard to read. Move left and screen gets super dark.

Battery life
Ehh nothing special. battery drains just as fast as all of my other phones. You get around 8 hours of battery life if you don’t touch your Sonata. Play any games or browse Reddit or Facebook, you’ll be on the charger in under an hour, completely drained in 2 hours.

Resources
Not understanding this. The ZTE Sonata seems to not handle resources very well. I don’t see anything lagging or stuttering, but looking at the task manager, the Sonata seems to always be using more than half of it’s R.A.M., even if I go through the task manager tabs to disable applications.

Reception

The phone picks up a great signal and nearly never is without a signal. but this is AT&T so we are looking at dropped calls seemingly for no reason what-so-ever.

Function
Along with dropped calls, there is a constant need to reboot. Called Cricket and they told me to just pull the sim card out and replace it. Me being a person who has been on AT&T (who owns Cricket now) a few times, I know better than to do this. You will wear out that sim card pretty quick. The main trick is to get you to do a full shut down and take the battery out for a few seconds (go ahead and leave it out for about a minute) and replace the battery then reboot. This does it for you nearly every single time. No logic in taking the sim card out at all.

Final overall
IMHO this is a decent phone. Looks and feels like a strange knock off of the Samsung Galaxy Admire II.
ZTE_Sonata
The back button is in an unusual (sort of stupid) spot, unless you are left handed. In fact a few things about this phone would be beneficial to lefties. Like the power connector. If you are right handed and use the phone for wide screen while on the charger, the cable points straight up. So you are battling the power chord.
App shortcuts keep disappearing. Constantly. but they might just be the apps that have been moved to the sd card. and this could be during updates.

Review score of ZTE Sonata:
Cost: 10/10
Camera: 3/10
Display: 3/10
Video Playback: 10/10
Battery life: 7/10
Resource life: 5/10

Total Score of the ZTE Sonata: 6/10

 

 

**update**

Programs are crashing left and right. This thing loses wifi constantly. I get notifications of apps closing like every 20 minutes. I just turn the thing off when I am at work so I am not looking at phone every 3 minutes. There was an update about the same time the Starbucks app updated and everything crashed so I think it is an overall issue with the phone and whatever default programs are on it, one of them updated and is causing complications with other apps. because it isn’t just the Starbucks app crashing.

The camera is a bit better than I expected, there are tons of settings in the menu area, from iso to saturation to contrast setting. This camera is great really.
Dark settings ISO 1600
Bright settings ISO 60
Turn everything in the “image” section down to 1/3 or a tad bit less. Adjust accordingly with location and lighting.
sonata_camera_settings
Default image save file type is .png