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The cell phone has come a long way from being a large and awkward device that only makes calls to a small and sleek gadget that can check your stocks, the nearest movie times, display the weather, take photos, capture video, email and help navigate you worldwide. Understanding today’s newest crop of cell phones is a tumultuous task for anyone. Knowing the differences between “smartphones”, “feature phones”, and “dumb phones” and everything in between sounds like a job in itself. Although there is a lot of information, knowing the differences of today’s smartphones and choosing the right one for you can simplify your life and daily tasks immensely by allowing you to do more on-the-go.

The three different levels of cell phones are straightforward. A “dumb phone” (or budget phone) typically performs the one basic purpose that a cell phone was meant for, phone calls. They may also include a few other features such as text messaging, basic web browsing and simple games. One step up on the cell phone totem leads us to a “feature phone” which, in addition to the capabilities of a budget phone, also integrates more applications. Feature phone’s can run a limited number of proprietary applications built into or specifically for that type of operating system opposed to a smartphone that would allow greater freedom in this area. Smartphones are able to do more because they run on a complete operating system such as Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, Palm’s WebOS, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile. Think of a smartphone as a handheld computer with phone functionality.

Two of the three leading operating systems, iOS and Android, are mostly equal in terms of available applications and performance. iOS can only be found on Apple’s iPhone on AT&T whereas Android is an open source operating system that is available on various phone manufacturers (e.g. HTC, Motorola, LG, Samsung to name a few) and networks (Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, etc). BlackBerry, the marginal leader of today’s smartphones, has often been associated with a more business-like focus due to their superior handling of messaging and email in secure environments and integration with company software. Add that to also running today’s most popular applications and you’ve got quite a device.

Apple was the first platform to introduce a dedicated App Store for their operating system. The App Store now houses more than 200,000 apps. One thing to note is that applications for the iPhone must be downloaded through the App Store and cannot be downloaded from other sources. If you’re an Apple user with MobileMe your contacts, data and phone location will seamlessly intermix with an iPhone. iOS 4, Apple’s newest release on the iPhone 4, allows users to capture, edit and upload video directly from their phone without the need for a computer.

Due to its Google backing, the Android platform effortlessly integrates Google applications into it’s operating system. If you utilize a lot of Google products on your computer such as Gmail and Google Voice, an Android device will integrate well into your workflow. Another key feature of Android is Google Navigation. Every Android device now comes with a built-in navigation that utilizes Google Maps technology and will eliminate the need for a separate GPS device. Also, as an open-source platform, Android allows you to install applications from various sources like the Internet, not just their Android Market.

If you’re in the market for a new phone, it helps to ask your peers what they use and their opinions in addition to trying out the different devices in store. Differences between the three smartphone leaders comes down to user interface, hardware and carrier. Android phones are available in various sizes and their own hardware characteristics. For instance, Sprint has the HTC Evo 4G that has a front facing camera in addition to its back camera for video calls and recordings and is on a high-speed 4G network (4G is not available nationwide, see Sprint’s official website for more details). AT&T is currently the sole carrier of the Apple iPhone 4. Verizon has the Droid X with an 8MP camera, HD video recording and an HDMI out port. Once you’ve narrowed down your choice of operating system, it’s a matter of looking at the additional features that each individual phone has and what you’d prefer. Don’t fret if you’re not happy with your decisions either. Major carriers such as Verizon and AT&T allow you to return the phone within 30 days of purchase if you’re not happy with your choice.

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Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is a free anti-virus program for Windows computers, offered directly from Microsoft. It is available for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems. MSE provides protection against not only viruses but spyware, rootkits and trojans. It’s important to note that in order to run MSE, you must uninstall any other anti-virus protection your computer has in order to avoid conflicts and a significantly slower system. E-Geniuses prefers to run Microsoft Security Essentials in conjunction with Malwarebytes in order to protect against both viruses and malware.

Screenshot of Microsoft Security Essentials

MSE is the predecessor to Windows Defender and Windows Live OneCare. If you’ve got OneCare, it’s best to uninstall it prior to installing MSE. By default, MSE will disable Windows Defender in the installation process. After installation, you’ll be prompted to update to receive the latest protection definitions, which takes approximately anywhere from 5-15 minutes (depending on connection speed). Once installed, users have the option to run a quick scan or a full scan. Depending on your computers level of infection, a full scan can take anywhere from 35 minutes to more than an hour.

A positive feature of MSE is that it runs efficiently in the background of the computer, only requiring user input when a threat is detected. Updates are published multiple times a day and provides real-time scanning which ensures that your computer is constantly protected. Another feature of MSE is that it will create System Restore points within Windows before removing malware from your system. These System Restore points allow your computer to be rolled back to prior states in case a problem occurs.

E-Geniuses prefers Microsoft Security Essentials over other free anti-virus programs due to its natural integration with Windows operating systems. It requires fewer resources from the computer, has a straightforward user interface and has high virus detection rates.

To download Microsoft Security Essentials, visit the official site from Microsoft. If you are interested in having E-Geniuses take care of this for you or enrolling in a Monthly Maintenance Plan, call 877-694-3648 to start protecting your computer today.

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Synchronize Your Bookmarks Across Multiple Computers

If you use your computer to browse the Internet on a regular basis, it’s very likely that you have accumulated a good amount of bookmarks (favorites in Internet explorer.) Do you want to be able to synchronize your bookmarks across your computers? With Xmarks, you can.

The first step is to download Xmarks from xmarks.com. Xmarks works on Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Chrome. Once it’s downloaded and installed, it will take you through a setup process. Once installed, it will allow you to backup all of your bookmarks/favorites onto the cloud where it can be accessed by any of your computers. If you add, change or delete a bookmark from one of your computers, Xmarks will do the same for your other synchronized computers.

You can also set sync profiles for your home or office. We do not recommend using Xmarks to synchronize your passwords; we use a plugin called Lastpass for that. Here’s our post regarding Lastpass Password Manager.

This is an invaluable plugin if you happen to purchase a new computer or lose the data on your old computer. If you have Xmarks setup, all you have to do is re-download it onto another computer an sign in with your account. All of you saved bookmarks will be pulled down from the cloud onto your computer.

If you have any questions, make sure to give us a call at (877) 694-3648 or visit us at www.E-Geniuses.com.

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Lastpass Password Manager

Everyone I know has had a problem remembering a password for a website. It is good to have different passwords for different websites for security purposes, but it can quickly become a hassle to try to remember which passwords to use. That’s where LastPass comes in handy. LastPass is an addon that works for the most popular browsers; Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome and Safari.

With LastPass, your passwords are stored online using secure encryption which means that it is the same level of security as your online banking. Having it stored online offers a few advantages over storing your passwords locally on your computer. First of all, LastPass will allow you to access your “Password Vault” using one password which means you only have to remember one password! (Don’t forget that one though.)

Another advantage to using LastPass is that you can setup LastPass on multiple computers so that it can automatically fill in your passwords to websites on any of your computers. When you login to a new website using a never-before-used username and password, LastPass will ask whether you want to store the password. If you say yes, LastPass will synchronize the new password across your multiple computers.

LastPass will also allow you to have multiple username and passwords for websites. This comes in handy if you have multiple Gmail accounts for example.

You can download LastPass here.

After you download and install LastPass, you will go through a setup wizard that will walk you through step-by-step. You should import your passwords currently saved on locally on your computer. Setup LastPass on all of the computers you want synchronized.

Forget the days when you had to create a list of all of your passwords. Now all you have to remember is one.

If you have any questions, make sure to give us a call at (877) 694-3648 or visit us at www.E-Geniuses.com.

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Here is a very common question we get asked by our clients. “Is it better to turn the computer off at night or is it better to keep it on?” We will answer this frequently asked question. We will also discuss power-saving modes such as standby and hibernate.

Some people seem to think that if you keep your computer on overnight, that somehow malicious “hackers” will try to infiltrate your system. The fact is that if your computer is riddled with viruses and spyware, the hackers can access your computer any time it is on, even if you’re using it! Having  good anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-malware programs is essential. If you have these scheduled to scan your computer at night, when you aren’t using it, then it is actually beneficial to keep your computer running at night.

The problem with keeping the computer on has less to do with security and more to do with power consumption and lifespan. It costs money to keep the computer and monitor on. Keeping your computer on also lowers the lifespan of your computer. Monitors lose brightness over time when kept on for extended periods of time. Hard drives and fans begin to fail eventually. Your electric bills will start to go up.

So what’s the solution? The answer is in setting your computer’s power options to suit your usage.

First you should make sure that your monitor is set to turn off when it isn’t in use for a set period of time. The steps are different depending on the version of Windows you are running, but basically you will want to go to the control panel, look for your power options, then change how long it takes before the monitor goes to sleep when the mouse or keyboard isn’t being used. Two and a half hours is safe if you plan to watch movies often and for most people 30 minutes is more than enough time to keep the screen “awake”.

Another important setting is the standby and hibernate options. These are modes where the computer seems to be turned off, but is actually on but in a low-power state. Here are some basic differences between stanby,  hibernate and a full shutdown/startup:

Standby: fastest to startup and shutdown, consumes the most power, aside from being completely on of course. (Important when running on laptop battery power)

Hibernate: takes longer to shutdown and startup than standby-mode but faster than from a full shutdown, consumes less power than standby but more power than a full shutdown.

Full Shutdown/Startup: takes longest to shutdown and startup, consumes the least amount of power when off.

I like to set my computer to standby after about 2 hours, but the optimal setting varies from user to user. It all depends on when you prefer for your computer to “sleep”.

I don’t like waiting  for my computer to boot up. I usually want to just briefly look at a website or check my emails, something that will take 1 or 2 minutes. It wouldn’t make sense for me to wait two minutes to do something that only takes two minutes. Sometimes I will restart my computer when it is acting up. Standby or hibernate won’t fix those issues. The only time I do a full shutdown is when I am transporting my desktop computer or when I am putting my laptop away for a long period of time and don’t want the battery to drain. Any other time, I am using standby mode. I don’t use hibernate because it just does not seem that much faster than doing the full restart and does not offer the benefits of the full restart (clearing the ram to make the computer run more efficiently.)

So should you keep your computer running at night? Probably not. Should you turn it completely off? Not unless you like waiting for the computer to bootup. Should you put it in a lower power state? Yes. Standby works the best in most situations.

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I love my Blackberry for emails and other work-related tasks, but when you compare the Safari browser on the iPhone to the Blackberry Browser, the Blackberry plain sucks. Luckily there are alternatives. I have done some comparison tests to find out which browsers are the best.

I am using my Blackberry 8900 using T-Mobile’s EDGE network. Since it is running on EDGE instead of 3G, it is even more important that the browser be as efficient as possible. I tested loading two image heavy sites, Lifehacker and Engadget. I also tested the time it takes for the applications to load.

Here’s what I found:

#1 Pick: Opera Mini 5 Beta 2

Pros: Interface, usability, graphics, smooth scroll, tabbed browsing, password saving feature, formatting of images and text is true to original site,can zoom in/out, speed dial, overall feature set.

Cons: Can sometimes feel a bit sluggish and less responsive compared to the Blackberry Browser. Possibly more resource intensive.

Conclusion: Best overall browser for everyday use. It isn’t as fast as Blackberry Browser to start up or the Bolt on Wi-Fi (when Bolt’s proxy servers are working properly), but the features and overall usability make this the best browser for the Blackberry.

#2 Runner Up: Bolt Browser 1.62

Pros: Very fast on Wi-Fi, use keys to navigate around the page quickly, good page rendering, remembers passwords.

Cons: Proxy server was not consistent. Can be Extremely fast at times, slow at others. Sometimes gets stuck at 20 percent trying to connect to their proxy servers. Font is a bit small. Not as good at rendering fonts compared to the other 2 browsers. Less robust feature set than Opera.
Conclusion: A good browser when you are browsing using a Wi-Fi connection and plan on using surfing for longer than 2 minutes.

#3 Last Place: Blackberry Browser

Pros: Built into OS, program is well integrated into system. Loads the fastest.

Cons: Painfully slow to load pages, no tabbed browsing, minimal feature set.

Conclusion: Unfortunately the default browser. Opera and Bolt are taking steps to allow for the option to open links with their browsers instead.

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