In the modern age, technology is everywhere. Computers have been around for a long time, and personal mobile phones have been the norm since the start of the 21st century. But now, high tech computerization has started to integrate into every aspect of our lives. Developers are now constructing smart homes that you can manage almost entirely from your phone. Personal assistants now have A.I. functions and voice recognition to understand what we’re saying and respond to our prompts. It’s truly an amazing age we live in.
Even if you have a general grasp of it, you may not be using your household tech to its full advantage. Learn about these five surprising uses for household tech that you never knew, and get the most out of your devices today!
1. Monitor Your Heart with Your Cell Phone
If you exercise regularly or have a heart condition, your smartphone can actually be a useful tool for monitoring your heart rate. Using a free app such as Instant Heart Rate, your phone can actually monitor your beats-per-minute (BPM) and calculate your heart rate. All you need to do is pull up the app, hold down either the home button on an iPhone or the camera on an Android and the app will detect your pulse. This is a handy trick to avoid having to haul around medical devices everywhere you go!
2. Watch International Content with Your Streaming Device
Did you realize it’s possible to watch a TV show that’s airing in France right now? Normally, most international content is locked behind what are called regional settings. It means that you can’t access TV shows, movies, and music that’s been coded to a specific region.
How Do I Do It?
The process is called jailbreaking and it’s very easy to do. Jailbreaking bypasses the regional settings that are programmed into your streaming devices. It will allow you to watch content from all over the world, regardless of where you are. The Amazon Fire TV is one of the easiest streaming devices to jailbreak, but it’s possible with most of them. The best part – it’s completely legal in most regions!
3. Control a Drone With Your Video Game Controller
If you own an Xbox 360 or Xbox One, did you know that your controller can actually control a drone? With some basic coding tweaks, it’s possible to program many different models to respond to your controller’s signal!
While this can be a really cool way to learn to code and have fun, there are some things to keep in mind to avoid disaster:
- Never fly your drone over someone’s property without their permission.
- Fly in an open field when you can. It makes it easy to recover a drone.
- Make sure you stand in an area that’s free of vehicle and foot traffic when you fly.
- Avoid flying in high winds.
Fun Fact: Wired.com reports that the U.S. Military also uses Xbox controllers to operate many of its drone and robots.
4. Look at Two Windows Side-by-Side in Windows 10
If you’ve ever tried to work on a computer with a single monitor, you know how frustrating it can be to jump back and forth between windows and tabs. You may need to reference a separate window while you’re typing or inputting data. It’s easy to forget where you are, and can really slow you down.
Fortunately, there’s an easy solution for Windows users! Windows 10 allows you to view and manipulate two separate windows on the same monitor. Just follow these steps:
- Drag one of your windows to the left edge of the monitor.
- You’ll see a little bubble burst and an outline of your window take up half the screen.
- Release your mouse. Your window will now take up half the screen.
- A mini-icon will display for your second window. Click it.
- Both your windows are now side-by-side!
5. Take Great Action Shots with Your iPhone
If you’ve ever tried to photo something in motion with your phone camera, you know it can be nearly impossible. Even a little bit of movement can cause the image to blur. What you may not know is that your iPhone has a burst mode that’s perfect for actions shots!
All you have to do is bring up your camera and point per usual. Instead of just tapping the photo button, hold it down. Your iPhone will now take photos at the rate of 10 frames per second (fps). That’s 20 photos in just two seconds. It’s perfect for photographing objects in motion!
Article Submitted By Community Writer
