May 14, 2013
I just got back from a tour of California's beautiful Sonoma County, internationally known for its extraordinary wines and verdant, rolling hills. Unfortunately, with a deadline looming and no laptop available, the task of composing an article fell to my trusty smartphone, a suite of productivity software and a handful of peripheral devices. So, I hereby present some of the best equipment for working out of your smartphone.
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April 20, 2013
It's increasingly rare, but still occasionally true: sometimes you just don't have Internet access. Whether you're on a plane or your grandparent's place in the country, life occasionally brings all of us to places WiFi and 4G can't reach. With a little preparation, however, you can have the data you need on your hard drive, waiting for you.
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March 12, 2013
Not long ago, Chris covered three of the best offline GPS apps available on Android. Since then, many other GPS apps released or received major updates. Do these newcomers compare favorably with those reviewed by Chris? To answer this question, I evaluate the apps based on four criteria - first, how effective is the app at helping users navigate offline? Second, what are its top features? Third, how data efficient is the app? Fourth, is the paid version worth purchasing?
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February 16, 2013
Everyone who has heard, seen or read the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy remembers the eponymous Guide, a source of vast and questionable knowledge, which bailed out or confused the travelers, time and again. You don't have to travel to Ursa Minor Beta in order to score an analog, either. If you own an Android device, preferably a tablet, getting your book ready only requires three apps and approximately 2.5 to 7 GB of free space on your device or SD card.
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October 31, 2012
Sometimes, you need to go places where you don't have data available on your iPhone. Whether its due to a bad cell signal or lack of a Wi-Fi connection in the area, facing a situation where there is no data is often unavoidable. For me, the worst part of this is being bored. I feel like there is nothing to do on my phone without data. Sure, I can play a game, but sometimes, that just does not cut it. Usually, I prefer to read something interesting on the Internet to kill time.
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September 19, 2012
Today, when it appears on top of nearly every Google result, we take it from granted. We occasionally try to bring it down a notch or three over the veracity of the facts stated there. But its presence and use in the pantheon of great bookmarked sites is assured. But this article is not about singing hosannas to the world’s largest collaborative encyclopedia. It is a guide to how you can take Wikipedia offline by downloading pages.
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April 30, 2012
Offline Google Mail for Chrome allows you to use Gmail without an Internet connection. Read, search, and send emails – all offline. When you do connect to the Internet, Offline Google Mail synchronizes with your Gmail account, downloading new emails and sending queued messages. Offline Google Mail replaces the deprecated Google Gears for using Gmail offline.
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March 23, 2012
Google Navigation for Android is one of the best map solutions you can get in the palm of your hand, but what if you don’t have a data connection? Whether you’re traveling abroad, using a Wi-Fi-only Android tablet, or just looking to use less data on your phone, you can use one of these map applications to see where you are and get navigation directions.
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March 6, 2012
Sometimes it's just not enough to save a website locally from your browser. Sometimes you need a little bit more power. For this, there's a neat little command line tool known as Wget. Wget is a simple program which is able to download files from the Internet. You may or may not know much about Wget already, but after reading this article you'll be prepared to use it for all sorts of tricks.
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September 1, 2011
I think at this point we can all agree that the infamous cloud is not going away. That being said, the cloud does have some disadvantages, and the most glaring of these is when you do not have an Internet connection available. Fear not, because Google has you covered as they are now offering offline access to Gmail, Docs and Calendar.
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June 11, 2011
Stay is a free fun web-based tool we have reviewed previously. Basically, it offers a great feature set for planning and mapping your traveling and then saving and sharing your plans with friends, relatives or random people. Just a few days ago, the site launched their official free app for the iPhone which makes downloading and accessing your travel guides much easier.
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July 9, 2010
What if I told you that you could download entire websites, or select “chunks” of the Internet to your laptop or to a portable hard disk, and then browse that saved piece of the Internet while you’re traveling on a plane, train or bus without the Internet? This is something that would allow students and [...]
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April 19, 2010
Save a complete page so that I can read it later? Why would I need to do that? After all, don’t we have those things called bookmarks? That’s fine as long as the web connection holds. Even a simple thing as a journey from Point A to Point B could take us away from our [...]
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April 13, 2010
The new iPad (as of right now) and the iPod Touch have some things in common. Among other things, they rely on WiFi for native apps such as the App Store to work, and they both have some overlapping apps like Mail and Calendar. The big-screened iPad works as a great e-book reader but when [...]
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June 21, 2009
Kongregate.com is one of the largest destinations for Flash games – claiming to have a library of over 15,000 available games. This library, while readily accessible on the Internet, has no offline alternative – and even with Aibek’s tips on downloading flash games, Kongregate stumps us all. There seemed to be no way to play [...]
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