July 17, 2014 at 02:39PM

While waiting in a signal I on the way home.

[How to] Block unwanted callers in Samsung Galaxy S4

Apple released iOS7 last week, and one of the new features added is the ability to block unwanted callers. Is there any way to do the same with Samsung's flagship Android phone? As it turns out, this feature was available long before it was introduced in the iPhone. If you did not know this feature existed, and would like to make use of it in your Galaxy S4, just follow the instructions below.

   Go to Call logs and long press the number you want to block. A popup menu will appear with multiple options. Choose 'Add to reject list'

Alternatively, you can also block a person in your contact list. Open the contact list, and long press the contact you want to block, and select 'Add to reject list'

 That's it! You can add any number/contact up to a total of 100 numbers to the reject list this way.  

   You can also add/modify/delete the rejected numbers through the Call Rejection settings. To go to the Call Rejection Settings, press the menu key in the phone dialer screen, and select 'Call Settings'.

In the Call Rejection settings, choose Auto Reject List, and you can see a list of all numbers you have blocked. You can add, modify or edit any of the blocked numbers from this screen.

Instead of blocking a single number, you can also block a bunch of similar numbers by specifying the match criteria like 'Starts with', 'Ends with', and 'Includes'.

Once you save the changes, you will not receive any calls from these numbers until you remove them from the reject list.

That's it! You can now block callers the same way, or even better than, the iOS 7 users can! 

Enjoy your Android!

[How to] Enable One-Handed Floating Keyboard for Swiping in Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Android Tablet

I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. Coming from a Note 2, this tablet is an absolute pleasure to use. However, I had grown rather fond of the swipe feature available in the Note 2 keyboard. By default, the swipe feature is disabled in Note 8, and is replaced by cursor mode. Check here to enable swipe mode instead of the cursor mode. However, after enabling the Swipe mode, I found it a bit too difficult to swipe in the big Note 8.0 keyboard. Gladly, I found this neat little feature Samsung has provided to make one handed swiping extremely easy. Just follow the below steps to get the one handed floating keyboard on your Note 8.0

1.  Long press the second button from left in the bottom row of the Samsung keyboard (Note: This button might look different from the screenshot below. It shows the most recent option selected. Don't get confused).

2. A popup menu appears with multiple options

3. Look for a keyboard icon with a resize icon overlaid on it, and select this button

4. The keyboard immediately shrinks to about the size of a Note 2 keyboard. 

5. Hold the dotted grid in the top middle of the keyboard, and move it to the right hand bottom corner of the screen.

That's it! Enjoy your favorite one handed swiping feature on your Note 8.0! To get back the original big keyboard, just follow the same procedure, and select the normal keyboard button from the popup menu instead of the floating keyboard button. Enjoy!

My first Android Tablet - Samsung Galaxy Note 8

I was a proud owner of a truly wonderful Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Up until the moment I dunked it in my Community swimming pool, that is. After trying all sorts of home remedies ranging from rice to alcohol, I finally gave up all my hopes of reviving my phone.

After getting used to this monster of a phone, I couldn't bring myself to use any smaller phone. Even the legendary Galaxy S4 failed to pique my curiosity. After weeks of indecision, I finally came up with an interesting compromise.I decided to skip a smartphone altogether.

Now, I have switched to a gophone, and have bought a Galaxy Note 8.0 for myself. Moving from the Note 2, the Note 8 is absolutely perfect! The three additional inches of screen estate makes a world of a difference when writing/ surfing / drawing, etc.

It has been only a couple of doyen but I'm already loving my first tablet. Hopefully I get to use more and more of this amazing tablet, and share my experience with you all.

How to Network unlock AT&T GoPhone Samsung A157

I recently came to USA and had brought two Indian phones with me, but could not get any reception here in US for Airtel. I had heard that Airtel had ties with TMobile in US and that I was supposed to get network here. So, I dug around and found that the network was in a different band and could not be joined by both my Nokia and Samsung c3303.

Luckily, I had an AT&T goPhone lying around after I bought Samsung Galaxy S3, but it was locked to AT&T alone. I tried to insert my airtel sim, but it asked for Network lock pin.

After searching for a solution for a long time, I finally found the solution from here.

SGH-A157 Network unlock procedure:

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Step 1: Remove sim card from phone and turn the phone on.

Step 2: Dial *2767*3855# This will  initiate a Full reset for Samsung A157

(Note: According to one of the commenters below (Captain Greybeard), skipping this Step 2 will retain your IMEI number, and prevent the IMEI from becoming all Zeros. SO, DON'T DO THIS STEP. Only if Step 3 does not work, try Step2 and Step 3 together)

Step 3: Once the phone restarts, dial #*7337# This will remove sim lock and freeze

Step 4: Now insert Airtel Sim card. and restart the phone. You will get TMobile signal and will start receiving messages.

Update:
The above procedure would make the imei number all 0s in the phone. May be because of this, I was not able to use this phone in India with the same airtel sim card.
However, my AT&T sim card works fine in the US, and I have even called customer care to associate this phone to my sim card permanently. One thing to note is that AT&T will not accept 0000 as imei number. So, I provided the IMEI number printed below the battery in the back of the phone, and everything works fine now.

That's it! Enjoy!