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Ximble employee scheduling app for Android – A great scheduler (Promoted)

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Scheduling your employee management is one of the tedious tasks an organization is expected to take. And one of the important ones as well. That is exactly what makes it essential to opt for special software tools that would help you schedule your Employees in an effective way. Ximble Employee Scheduling App for Android is a good example in that direction. Let us understand the tool in a finer detail in this article.

Ximble has been one of the powerful names when it comes to time tracking and employee scheduling tools are concerned. It has apps for Android and iOS platforms that should help you create and maintain the schedules that should work seamlessly.

Gone are the days when you used to depend upon the excel sheets and spreadsheets for employee scheduling. What makes it even interesting is the fact that you can opt for the trial version before taking a final decision. The trial version lasts 30 days and that should give you a fair idea of whether it suits your requirements.

What Makes it So Unique?

Well, Android work schedule app comes with a few specific features that would make it an indispensable option for your requirements in employee scheduling. Here are some of the features that are worth mentioning.

It works best with other tools –Ximble can work well with other software tools, thus making it one of the best tools in its genre. You can integrate it with a number of tools to improve its efficiency. BambooHR, QuickBooks, and EPSON are some of the tools that work seamlessly with Ximble.

The Best of Mobility –Smartphone apps are meant to be the front-runners in making the day to day tasks truly mobile. Ximble Employee Scheduling app for Android (or iPhone) is a true example of this high-end mobility. Build Schedules, review them, or perform any other tasks on the move. It can also send you alerts on any changes comes into force.

Shifts Creation Made Easy – Make use of the power of your mobileto create and assign shifts with ease. You should be able to create shifts across any location on the fly.

Time Tracking Module – Use your smartphone to assess the labor costs and avoid the time theft that can be resorted to by some employees. Control their clock in and clock out times with ease. Monitoring the activities of your employees is made easy with Ximble tools.

Schedule Overviews –Get a clear overview of the periodical schedules with ease. The app lets you have a well-defined overview of daily, weekly and monthly employee schedules on the move. You can customise all the details to suit your business requirements.

XimbleChat Integration – Ximble Scheduling Software is well integrated with XimbleChat – the award-winning communication tool from Ximble. Stay in touch with your employees and the team with XimbleChat. Never miss out on any important communication.

The Pricing

Ximble Employee Scheduling Software is a paid tool. However, we would has to add that it is in no way a costly affair. In fact, in comparison to the other traditional options used for Employee Scheduling, we would consider Ximble to be one of the most economical alternatives.

You have two options to choose from. Both of the plans are quite economical in their own right.

Core

The Plan is priced at $ 1 per user per month. You will be billed for $ 1.10 per month including taxes. The plan can be the best one for you if you have only one location to schedule. However, XimbleChat is not part of this package.

Advanced

The plan comes with a pricing of $2 per month, per user. It differs from the Core plan with its integration with XimbleChat. The plan also has unlimited location support.
If you opt for schedule and time tracking tools, Core plan will be available at $ 2 per month per user, while the Advanced plan is priced at $ 3 per month per user.  As we stated before, you have a month-long trial period if you want to test it out.

In A Nutshell

The headache of employee scheduling is made easy with Ximble Employee Scheduling App for smartphones. Whether you are on Android or iPhone, it should be your perfect companion that takes your work wherever you go.

Never miss out on the important alerts and stay in touch with your team on the move. Use it for your business and share your experiences with us.

The best SIM-only deals October 2017 (Promoted)

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When you reach the end of your contact, there’s no need to upgrade to a brand-new phone if you don’t want to. With a SIM only deal, you can keep your current phone and pay a monthly fee for a deal that includes a certain amount of data, texts and calls without a fee to pay for a phone.

Here, we take a look at some of the best SIM only deals that are available right now.

Deals from Three

Currently the network Three is the leading company when it comes to SIM only contracts. Three offers a twelve-month deal with unlimited minutes and texts and 4GB of data for £9 per month with no upfront fee.

Alternatively, you can opt for Three’s deal with 30GB data; this contract costs £18 per month and offers 600mins with unlimited texts. These two deals come with a standard SIM.

3 also offers a deal with a Nano SIM that includes unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data for £29 per month. All of Three’s deals provide WiFi on the London Underground.

Deals from iD Mobile

iD mobile is currently offering the most affordable SIM only deals of any provider. iD mobile offers the cheapest SIM only deal currently available in the UK; this 30-day contract costs £3.99 per month and includes 500MB of data, 500mins and 5000 texts.

iD mobile also offers the least expensive SIM only deal with 1GB of data. This 30-day contract also includes 500 minutes and 5000 texts and costs £5 per month. This deal is better for those who fear they may accidentally exceed the lower data limit provided by the first iD mobile deal.

Deals from Vodafone

Vodafone’s twelve-month SIM only deal offers 20GB of data and unlimited calls and texts for £11.75 per month (this price is after £99 cashback). Your allowances are available to use abroad for free in 50 countries. Also as part of the deal, you can choose between fee access to Now TV, Spotify premium or Sky Sports Mobile.

Deals from EE

Everything Everywhere (EE) offers a few SIM-only deals. One, for instance is a 12-month contract gives you 2GB of data with 1000 minutes and unlimited texts for £16.19 a month. It’s one of the pricier deals for what it offers, although EE is the UK’s fastest 4G network.

Deals from O2

O2’s best SIM only deal is a 12-month contract with 10GB of data and unlimited calls and texts for £19 per month. This is at the high end for SIM-only prices, but O2 also provides a loyalty system which gives you cheaper coffees and lunches and easier access to show tickets.

How Do I Know Which Deal is Best for Me?

Which SIM only deal you choose will depend on your personal priorities and also ability to pay. If you’re looking for the cheapest deals, Three offers the most options of affordable SIM only contracts. If you’re looking for the best all round deals, Three’s deals are generally what you should go for.

Most of these deals come with a standard size SIM because that’s the size used in most mobiles. But if your own phone uses a Nano SIM, you of course need to choose a deal that comes with this SIM size. Of the ones on the list, only 3 offer a contract with a Nano SIM.

Generally, the twelve-month plans offer better value for money. You should only opt for one of the shorter length plans listed here if you value the flexibility of being able to change your phone contract every month. Most customers will be suited to a twelve-month plan.

Paying for plans with a large amount of data is only necessary if you often use your phone for data heavy things like YouTube videos when out and about in places without WiFi. Although be warned, it can be easier to accidentally exceed your data allowance if the allowance is low, and doing so can incur heavy fees. It is generally advisable to go for an intermediate data package such as 1GB of 3G or 4G data, unless you plan to rely on data a lot.

If you use free internet messaging services such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, it might be worth saving money by not choosing a plan with unlimited texts. Similarly, unlimited calls can also be unnecessary if you tend not to make voice calls very often. On the other hand, a businessperson who needs to make lots of calls on the go would be better opting for unlimited minutes.

Don’t forget to check that the plan you sign up for offers coverage in your area. This can be checked online. It would be very frustrating to sign up to a plan only to realise that it won’t cover the area where you’ll be spending most of your time.

Instagram Stories gets updated with sticker polls

Alexandra Arici
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Instagram’s Stories just got a new feature which lets users add poll stickers. The new tool means you’ll be able to attach two-option queries to your Stories.

To add a poll drag and drop a sticker to your Story and then you’ll be presented with the tools to customize the question and choices. Viewers can vote by tapping on one of the options, as well as see the overall results unfolding in real time. You, on the other hand, can view the results by opening up the viewers’ list for the Story. There you can see who voted, the total number of votes and what they chose.

What’s more, Instagram also introduced today a color picker tool similar to the eyedropper in Photoshop which lets users select a color from their images to use on text and brushes, as well as an alignment tool that makes it easier to see if stickers and text are properly centered. Furthermore, the app now shows you if text or stickers can be viewed well by a third party.

The new features are currently rolling out for Android and iOS users, although the alignment tool is limited to the latter for the time being.

You can get Instagram (version 16) for Android right here.

Kodak Photo Printer Dock PD-450 (Review)

AndroidGuys
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If you think ‘photos’ or ‘film’, you’ll most likely think Kodak. An original pioneer in the photography marketplace and imaging industry, Kodak has a long history of providing great film, photo prints, and imaging hardware. With a public pedigree such as this, comes high expectations in product quality and usability for any of Kodak’s offerings.

kodak pd 450
One touch printing is super easy, but printing wirelessly is even easier

Thankfully here, Kodak has created a high-quality little printer that works splendidly in a handful of different situations and set-ups. The Kodak PD-450 is perfect for printing on the go or setting up a print-station at home or in a business. Teens and young adults might especially find great value in having a portable photo printer at special events, parties, or in dorm rooms where space is at a premium.

What’s inside the box?

Kodak has assured virtually anyone can use this printer with very little setup. You have everything you need to get started printing within minutes. Inside the box you’ll find the following items:

  • Printer Dock
  • Power Brick (24V)
  • micro-USB to Lightning adapter
  • Simple user manual
  • 10 photo papers
  • Printer ink cartridge
kodak pd 450 android docked
Print while docked and also charge your device at the same time

Impressive features

The Kodak PD-450 has a host of impressive features that make it one of the best portable printing solutions on the market. With quick printing, one-touch capabilities, and compatibility for both Android and iOS devices, it’s hard not to recommend the PD-450 printer dock. Regardless of which device you have connected, the “one-touch” button will print the photo that’s currently viewable on screen. This makes it incredibly simple for any user to quickly print a photo from his or her smartphone.

Feature list:

  • One-touch print
  • Charge while docked
  • Print wirelessly or while docked
  • Quick print and quick dry
  • Fingerprint-proof prints
  • Waterproof prints
  • Single ink cartridge
  • Android and iOS compatibility

Kodak has also gone so far as to include 10 sheets of printer paper with the printing dock to get you started. These paper sheets are specific to Kodak’s printer dock only as they won’t easily work in a standard printer. Each individual sheet has perforated edges to allow for easy handling of the print once it has completed. Kodak advertises the photo paper to be both fingerprint proof and waterproof, but it’s nice to have the extra holding room on each sheet when the photo comes out of the printer.

kodak pd 450 paper tray
The paper tray disconnects from the printer to allow easy access to reload photo sheets

Printing process

Printing from your smartphone or tablet is quick and incredibly simple. Download the Kodak Photo Printer App from the Google Play store, select your photo and any edits you want to apply and then select print. In approximately one to two minutes your photo will emerge from the PD-450.

kodak photo app
Print from a host of different locations including Facebook, Instagram and Google Photos

Within the app, the user has access to all sorts of tweaks and print settings as well as the option to edit the look of the photos with filters, decorations and simple adjustments like brightness, contrast, and sharpness. To have these options within the app itself is a huge time saver for those photos that you want to tweak or modify with zany stickers, emojis or text bubbles. You can also save independent edits of any photos right to your device while retaining the original photo. There’s also a share button if you want to post any photo modifications to any of your favorite social media sites. Kodak really has covered just about everything here.

Overall quality

The Kodak Dock (PD-450) has a sturdy design and more heft than I would have expected. The extra weight assures that the dock will not easily fall off of a table or stand while in use or from accidental bumps from passers-by. Considering the dock is meant to be portable, the overall weight negates some of the overall portability of the device. Also, the paper loader (which detaches) sticks out a good six inches, which can also affect placement location.

kodak pd 450 side
On the side of the PD-450 you’ll find USB ports for even more ways to access your photos

Minor shortcomings

So the Kodak PD-450 does just about everything very well–great quality prints, portability, ease of use and a ton of features. But, it’s not perfect. My biggest complaint is paper cost. While I understand this is high-quality paper with fingerprint and smudge-proof qualities, it’s still somewhat costly. As of this writing, a 120 sheet pack of photo paper with ink is about $47.00 if purchased online. That equates to about 40 cents per print which is about double the standard 20 cents per print you’d find at other online or local shops. The main advantage with the PD-450 is that you get your photo in a minute or two instead of waiting anywhere from an hour to a few days for your photos to arrive.

kodak pd 450 3 pass print
The PD 450 prints each primary color separately, so until your photo is completely done with 3 passes, it won’t look quite right

My only other qualm with the printer would be that some photos turned out a little on the darker side. This is easy to fix with a little pre-editing, but without seeing the initial print, it’s impossible to know beforehand. I ended up reprinting a few pictures just because the shadows were so dark it was tough discre in normal lighting, which cost me the extra forty cents.

Docked and Loaded

Kodak has created an affordable and efficient portable printing dock that works with a handful of different devices. Simplicity is definitely key here and Kodak has hit the nail on the head with the PD-450. This little photo printer is limited to 4X6 prints, but could be a big hit at a party and is a perfect alternative to getting prints at a local or online shop. With all things considered, this is a nice all-in-one solution that works wonders with editing, sharing, importing and printing of virtually any photo that your smart-device can access.

pd 450 color prints
Color reproduction is spot on here. The Kodak PD-450 can quickly print great looking photos in under two minutes

 

How to get Pixel 2 home screen layout on any Android

AndroidGuys
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Google is all set to officially reveal its latest flagship devices, the Google Pixel 2 and the Pixel XL 2 at a huge event tomorrow. But almost everything about the device including its complete design has been released online already and Evan Blass, a trusted source for Smartphone leaks, who also revealed the design of the previous generation Pixel smartphones ahead of the launch have also posted a leak of the final render of both the Pixel 2 and the Pixel XL 2 on his Twitter account.

While many people are criticizing the design of the device for its thick bezels and similar design to its predecessors, Google has made one major change to its upcoming flagship devices. It has replaced the traditional dock on the home screen with 5 app icons with the search widget from the top and has moved all the icons one inch above.

It is true that some people might take some time to get used to this radical change, but this way is actually better than the older position of the search widget all the way across the top of the device. With smartphones getting larger and larger every year, the search widget placed at the bottom of the device makes more sense than the previous layout.

So, if you are wondering whether you could also get a similar layout on your device without buying the Pixel 2 devices, well, here is a simple tutorial based on Nova launcher using which you could get the similar layout of the Google Pixel 2 and the Pixel XL 2 on any Android device.

Step 1:

This tutorial is based on Nova launcher. So, if you are not currently using it, head over to the Play Store and download it right now to proceed.

Step 2:

Once you have installed and setup the Nova launcher, you have to move the icons on the dock of the home screen to the main layout screen to make room for the search widget on the dock.

Step 3:

Since you have removed all the icons from the dock, you have to replace the home icon with a swipe gesture. You can do that by long pressing on your home screen and then selecting settings. From there, select the app and widget drawers menu and then enable the ‘Swipe to open’ option.

Pixel 2 home screen layoutStep 4:

 

Now, if you notice the leaked images, you can see there are no labels present beneath the app icons. So, you can remove them by long pressing on the app icon and then select edit and delete the labels individually.

Pixel 2 home screen layout

Step 5:

To add the widget, head over to the widgets menu by long pressing on the home screen and the select then Nova search bar at the top and hold it to place it on your dock.

Long press the widget and then you can resize it to fit to your screen and customize it to look exactly like the search widget in the leaked image.

Step 6:

Once you have finished customizing, you can notice that the relative position of both the app icons and the search widget is irregular. This is because they are not aligned properly. You can modify this by going to Desktop under settings and change the Height Padding value to medium.

Similarly, adjust the dock padding values by changing medium for width padding and none for the height padding values respectively.

Finally, select and enable the ‘Dock as overlay option’ under Advanced to ensure that the swipe gesture works perfectly.

Step 7:

You can further customize your device by installing the Android Oreo launcher from the Google Pixel devices. You can grab the Pixel 2 wallpaper from here!

Pixel 2 home screen layoutWhat do you think of the new Google Pixel 2 layout? Let us know in the comments below!

How to watch the Google Pixel 2 launch event

Alexandra Arici
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With only a day to go before Pixel 2 event, Google has already made available the livestream link. So be sure to bookmark it now or set a reminder.

As a reminder, the Pixel 2 launch party is expected to kick off tomorrow on October 4 at 9:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM ET, when Google will be taking the stage to announce its next-generation flagship phones.

This year, the Pixel 2 will be made by HTC and will arrive with a 5-inch display with 1080 x 1920 resolution and standard 16:9 aspect ratio. In contrast, the Pixel 2 XL will be made by LG and will boast a larger 6-inch display with 1440 x 2880 resolution and 18:9 aspect ratio. And while the phone will boast thinner bezels all around, it won’t rock that edge-to-edge display look characteristic of phones like the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 or LG V30.

On top of this year’s new Pixels – which are rumored to be more expensive than Google’s 2016 models – we expect the tech giant to unveil a Google Home Mini speaker, as well as a new Daydream View VR headset.

The IoT smartwatch, LooK, is the one to rule them all

AndroidGuys
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Smartwatches are considered to be “ideal” if they are thin, light, and luxurious without the “geek” look. While an appealing design could be important to their penetration in the wearables market, some consumers believe this push on the design/form factor has come at the expense of functionality. You can’t judge a book by its cover, but you also can’t judge a smartwatch by its looks alone. The best smartwatches must be formal and functional

An IoT smartwatch aptly named, the LooK smartwatch, by LAIPAC Technology based in Toronto, Canada, wants to be the one smartwatch to rule them all. The device brings expected features such as a stainless steel design, an AMOLED display, and a heart rate sensor, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS, but the Look smartwatch goes beyond normal expectations.

First, the LooK Watch features a 400 x 400p AMOLED display, with sapphire glass and a 1.3GHz, quad-core processor. AMOLED panels provide an excellent viewing angles, but a quad-core processor in a smartwatch is unheard of. Even Samsung’s Gear S3 Frontier and Gear S3 Classic feature a dual-core processor; the Look Watch has twice the cores of Samsung’s Gear S3 series. Sapphire glass protects the face of the watch, providing a measure of durability that will protect your IOT smartwatch when facing the elements.

The LooK Watch brings 1GB of RAM while most smartwatches have 512MB (Android Wear watches) or 768MB of RAM (Gear S3), letting you multitask at a greater level than most smartwatches allow. 16GBs of storage (most smartwatches have 4GB of storage, such as the LG Watch Sport and Watch Style) grace this smartwatch, giving you more space to download music. The 360-degree, rotating bezel Arrow smartwatch has 8GB of internal storage, a rarity in the current smartwatch market, but the Look Watch’s 16GBs of local storage future-proofs this device for some years to come.

An SOS emergency button lets you access your most trusted contacts in the event of an emergency by calling them and providing them with your exact location and emergency situation. The LooK Watch is an IoT smartwatch, so you can make calls and send text messages while leaving your phone at home (it has cellular connectivity for networks in over 150 countries).

Fall Detection and Medicine Reminders are two features that make this IoT smartwatch stand out. When you fall, you can trust that the Look Watch will impact 100% of the force behind the fall to protect you from injury. Medicine Reminders alert you when it’s time to take your prescription meds, helping you maintain good health. Most smartwatches don’t feature fall detection, and few have integrated medicine reminders – unless you set them up on your smartphone first.

The The LooK Watch is available in six color combinations: Black/Gold, Blue/Gold, White/Gold, White/Silver, Blue/Silver, and Black/Silver. The project has 29 days left to fundraise over at Kickstarter and will only come to market if it reaches its CA $50,000 goal by October 31st. Expect to pay between $158 and $168 USD for the Look Watch if you take advantage of the Super Early Bird offer.

For more details on the IoT smartwatch to rule them all, head on over to the link below.

Sony Xperia XZ1 with Android 8.0 Oreo is already on sale, get it with $50 off

Alexandra Arici
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Even if the Sony Xperia XZ1 went on sale in the US last month, the phone has already been discounted. Interested parties can now purchase the flagship with $50 off from Amazon.

Yet, note that only the Black and Moonlit Blue are available to buy for $649, while the Venus Pink and Warm Silver will still take you back with $699. This is probably a limited time offer, so if you like the Xperia XZ1 you best hurry up and take advantage of the promotion.

Putting aside its rather bland design, the Sony Xperia XZ1 comes equipped with worthy specs including a Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM and a primary 19-megapixel Eye Motion camera that can shoot super slow motion video at 960 fps. The phone also incorporates a technology that can create detailed 3D models of objects and faces.

While customers might not be very happy about the phone boasting a rather low 1920 x 1080 resolution (for a flagship), they will certainly appreciate the fact that the phone ships with Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box.

The second Oreo phone launched by Sony during IFA 2017, the Xperia XZ1 Compact is also available on Amazon with a $599 price tag attached – in case you prefer smaller handsets.

Data-saving Facebook Messenger Lite is now available for Android users in the US

Alexandra Arici
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Facebook’s data-saving Messenger Lite alternative was so far available for users in developing countries. Well this week, the social media giant is expanding the availability of the app to Western markets such as the US, Canada, Ireland and the UK.

Messenger Lite basically offers the same features as the standard versions, but eliminates data draining features like Messenger Day and selfie lenses in order to ensure users don’t consume huge amounts of data while using the app.

On top of offering its data saving services, the app will also help you save on storage space, as it weighs only 10MB.

Facebook Lite is targeted at people who are holding on to mid-range or entry-level Android handset and does not have an iOS version. According to Facebook, there are over a billion users who don’t have access to faster 3G or 4G speeds around the world, so the Lite version of the app was created to allow users on slow networks to get a full Messenger experience.

The Lite version has been around ever since 2015, and in February of this year, Facebook said the app’s user base hit the 200 million mark.

So if you too want to save some space on your device or some data, go ahead and download the app from the Google Play Store.

Google intros Android Wear Oreo beta program, available only on the LG Watch Sport

Alexandra Arici
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In almost two years of existence, Google’s Android Wear platform has seen only two major releases – one of which (version 2.0) was subject to a very slow roll out. Now it appears a third Android Wear version might be just around the corner.

Google just introduced a beta program for Android Wear meant to allow users to try out new features before public release. The features currently available for testing are based on Android 8.0 Oreo.

But for the time being, the program is severely limited, as you’ll be able to join only if you own an LG Watch Sport. Those who have this watch laying around, are invited to visit this page to sign up, after which the factory image will be automatically downloaded on your wrist.

While Android Wear beta still relies on the Android Wear 2.0 interface, the program upgrades the underlying API level to API 26, thus granting access to notification channels and background limits. Which means users will be able to choose the types of notifications they receive via an app and services will no longer run in the background sans a visible notification being displayed.

More Android Wear beta builds based on Android Oreo might be coming soon and Google will probably add support for more smartwatches in the near future. Although, the search giant notes that even as you don’t own an LG Watch Sport, you can use the Android emulator to test Android Wear beta yourself.

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