Saturday, July 13, 2013

Android VPN Setup

Third-party VPN client apps

If you want to use a type of VPN that isn’t supported by the built-in Android client, such as SSL, you’ll need to find third-party client software to install on your phone. Different vendors of SSL VPN appliances implement their VPNs in different ways, so you should contact the vendor to find out if they make client software for your phone’s platform. Cisco recently announced the release of theAnyConnect SSL VPN client for Android, which is available from the Android Market at no cost. It’s currently only supported for Samsung devices (Galaxy S/S II and Galaxy Tabs) but will also work on other Android devices if they’re rooted.
The implementation of SSL VPN used by Windows Server 2008 is called SSTP (Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol). It’s fast and stable, but unfortunately, it only support Windows 7 clients.


Summary

Using a VPN to connect your smartphone to your home or work network can expand the usability of your phone and help you to be productive no matter where you are. The VPN client that’s built into the latest versions of Android work fine for creating basic PPTP and L2TP based VPNs, and there are third-party clients available — many of them free — if you want more options and/or want to connect to an SSL-based VPN.
If you use a different phone platform, note that the iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian also support virtual private networking. The Nokia built-in VPN client requires Nokia’s VPN policy servers. At this time, Windows Phone 7 does not include support for the common VPN protocols (PPTP, L2TP/IPsec). It only supports SSL VPN (SSTP) through a Unified Access Gateway (UAG) using Exchange (on site or hosted).

Thursday, July 11, 2013

VLC APK for Android

The VideoLan Client or also known as VLC is a streaming media server and an open-source media player address by the VideoLAN project. This media player supports various video and audio compression methods, file formats, including video CD, DVD-video and streaming protocols. The VLC can also be used as server to channel MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 files, CDs, DVDs and live videos on the system in multicast or unicast. It is also used to accept, decrypt and display MPEG channels under multi-operating systems. Here are some VLC Guides that will help you on how to convert VLC to mp3 and mp4 format; how to play VLC to an Apple TV; and how to turn off subtitles in VLC.

 

In converting VLC to mp3 format, the first thing that you should do is to launch the VLC Media Player. Then click on the “Media” heading and a list menu will then appear. Then select on the “Convert/Save” option. As soon as the Open Media window appears, click on the “Add” button and peek to the location of the video file you can to convert, and the click the “Convert/Save” button. And soon as the Convert window appears you should identify the source of the video file you want to convert and it is also important to browse a destination folder for the mp3 file. Then the explorer will appear so that you can select a location on where you want you want to save the mp3. You should label the file with an mp3 extension and click “Save”.  Finally, hit the “Start” button under the “Convert” menu to start the conversion process.

In converting VLC to mp4 format, the main thing you should do is to go the to the “Settings”and then head to the “Preferences” button. If the Preferences window appears, check the “Advanced options” at the bottom of the window and then head to Stream output -> Sout stream -> Transcode menu. Then set the video width/height and the maximum video width/height and then hit the “Save” button, then head to the “ Open File” menu. Browse the file you want to convert and you can also use subtitles if you want. Check the “Stream/Save” and go to Settings. In settings ensure that MP4 Encapsulation is checked and also the Video and Audio codec. Ensure also that the Channel is set to 2. Finally, click the “OK” button, press PLAY and wait for the conversion to finish.

If you wish to play VLC to Apple TV you don’t need to use a VLC media player (granting that some of its components are also used) because the primary tool that you’ll use is AirFlick. It is a simple program that directs URL to the AppleTV that states it to launch a stream from your computer. To start playing your favorite movie from a VLC file to your AppleTV, open up first the AirFlick program. Then, choose your AppleTV from the drop-down list of the program in the upper-left of the AirFlick window. Finally, drag the VLC file you want to play on the droplet, click the “Play” button and enjoy the movie without having a delay sound.

If you watch various videos using the VLC media player, you might have seen that it enables subtitles by default, which can be irritating at times. To help you VLC turnoff the subtitles, here are some quick tips you need to know. First, go to the VLC preferences and then click the “All” button located at the bottom of window. Then select “Video” which is located on the left side of the window and head to “Subtitle/OSD” button. Lastly, uncheck the “Enable sub-pictures”, “On Screen Display” and “Autodetect subtitle files” boxes. Disabling the subtitle from your VLC is very simple but if you wish to enable it again, just right-click on the video, choose the “Video”, head to “Subtitle Track” and click a subtitle. But this method will is only applicable if the “enable sub-pictures” is on/checked.

VLC is a simple yet versatile media player. Learning how to use this program for other media purposes is a great investment.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Affordable Android Smartphones


The popular Spice Flo range gets a new member - Smart Flo Pace 2 Mi-502. The stylish Android smartphone is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.0 OS coupled with a 512MB RAM. The device flaunts a impressive 5-inch WVGA capacitive touch screen, along with a 5-megapixel rear camera with dual LED Flash and a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera.
Pre-loaded with apps such as Hoopz, Nimbuzz and WhatsApp, the device houses Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 2100mAh battery which provides 5 hours of talk time and up to 280 hours of standby time. Spice is also giving away a free leather cover worth Rs 500 along with a screen guard to further entice the buyers.
Price: Available for Rs 5,000