If one of your loved ones struggles with computers, we've got the skinny on Chrome Remote Desktop and four other ways to make technology less intimidating for them.

Earlier this week, Google announced that its remote desktop extension, Chrome Remote Desktop, had graduated out of beta. This simple, free browser extension enables users to connect remotely to other computers. 

Yet what seems most innovative about this tool is not its capabilities, but its marketing. Instead of presenting Chrome Remote Desktop as a networking tool for high-powered tech corporations, Google’s envisioning it as a means to bring relatives closer together. Google project manager Stephen Konig said earlier this week in a blog post that the add-on will “make you the family hero,” empowering you to fix your parents’ computer woes with a few clicks of the mouse. That being said, we feel the need to point out that there are plenty of moms and dads out there – as well as grandparents – that are total digital pros. Still, most families have a few bewildered Luddites that could be spared hours of frustration with the aid of a remote connection.

We’ve compiled a few ways to use Google Chrome Remote Desktop, as well as a few other programs, to lend a hand to a technophobe friend or family member in need. Hopefully, with these tools, your days of uninstalling 15 browser search bars for the umpteenth time will come to an end.

Chrome Remote Desktop

We covered the original beta release of Chrome Remote Desktop more than a year ago, and now that Google has ironed out the tool’s quirks and beefed up its features, we’ve got to say that the extension looks pretty promising. Highlights include copy-and-paste abilities between the two machines, as well as a live audio feed (in Windows only) for sharing music, conference calls, or the latest video of a cat learning to play the clarinet.

How to Use Chrome Remote Desktop as Tech Support

1. Make sure Chrome is the default browser on both machines. If your tech-challenged relative remains suspicious of all “Internets” that aren’t Internet Explorer, you can always change the desktop shortcut to the IE icon to keep them reassured (not that we endorse such nefarious methods!).

2. Check operating system compatibility. Chrome Remote Desktop can run on Windows Vista, Windows 7, and now Windows 8, as well as Linux and any OS X 10.6 and above.

3. Add the Chrome Remote Desktop add-on to Chrome on both computers.

4. Open a new tab and click the “Chrome Remote Desktop” icon. You’ll need to authorize the extension, connect it to a Google account, and grant it permissions.

5. From here, you can choose to establish a short-term connection, called “Remote Assistance,” or a long-term one, called “My Computers.” For family tech support, you’ll most likely want the former.

6. You and your host should both click on “Get started” under “Remote Assistance.” At this point, you’ll choose “Access,” while your host will choose “Share.”

7. On your host’s computer, Chrome Remote Desktop will generate a 12-digit access code for security reasons. Your host will need to email or call you to give you the number.

8. Congratulations! Once you’ve successfully connected, you’ll see your host’s desktop right within your browser and will be able to interact freely.

At this point, you have access to a wide range of possibilites. You can download and install an anti-virus program for the uncle who just admitted he doesn’t have one, or you can run a full system scan if you think something might be causing problems. You can try to troubleshoot why your cousin can’t seem to connect to her wireless router, or you can even help your grandmother upgrade to Windows 8. Just take care of business, and then hit “disconnect.” You’ll feel like a tech support wizard, and you’ll be able to print out coupons reading “One free remote help session” to give out as gifts for the holidays.

Read on for more tips and tricks to help out your favorite tech-challenged family members.

TeamViewer

If Chrome Remote Desktop doesn’t suit your needs, you can give TeamViewer a shot. It’s a remote access program that’s free for personal use, and includes support for Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, and Android. A few advantages that leap out include a dedicated interface, instead of requiring you to use it in a browser. The interface allows for instant drag-and-drop file sharing between computers, which is a major plus. You’ll still need to download the program on both machines, and exchange a password and ID number with your partner.

Zim

Simply put, Zim is a free wiki creator for your desktop. It boasts huge potential for helping the technologically impaired, many of whom feel intimidated by the idea of performing everyday computer tasks. You can use the Zim wiki platform to create a series of how-to lists tailored to your relative’s needs, such as how to create an Mp3 playlist or how to scan a photo. Best of all, you can link wiki pages within Zim to one another, just like in any other wiki, so you can create instructions that link to other series of instructions. Once you create one wiki page about how to reply to an email, your grandfather will never again need to call you to ask you how to reply to an email.

PointerWare

Geared toward the elderly and other first-time computer users, PointerWare revamps a computer’s desktop into four large, user-friendly buttons, including “Mail” and “Photos.” It’s basically a Jitterbug phone for your computer. While it’s Windows-only and rather pricey ($149), it does come with a nice text-to-speech feature for the visually impaired, as well as the ability to record MP3 messages and send them as emails “just like a voice message.” The design may be a bit cringe-worthy, but the program does offer increased connectivity for those who might not otherwise have access, especially in assisted-living facilities. Alternatively, Eldy, a piece of British-based software, offers similar (if slightly less intuitive) features for free.

Do you have a tried-and-true way of helping relatives with computer programs? Let us know in the comments.

[Image Credit: Knight Foundation]

Android 4.2 brings with it some long-awaited features like malware protection and a quick settings menu adjacent to the notification tray. The quick settings can be accessed with a two-finger swipe while notifications continue using one.

For Android users everywhere — or maybe just the ones in our office — Google’s decision to add quick settings to Android 4.2′s notification pulldown is very much appreciated. It’s also a feature Android users have been waiting for since the first third-party developer implemented the feature. You could download an app or install a custom ROM to activate the feature, but that’s not the way it should be. Also in Android 4.2, Google has added some important and necessary security features to crack down on malware, which we’ll get to later.

As we reported earlier, the quick settings can be accessed by swiping down from the top of the screen with two fingers, rather than the one-finger swipe used to access notifications. You can also use the settings button that normally resides at the top of the notification dropdown.

According to Android Central, there are eight settings listed: Google+ profile, brightness, settings, Wi-Fi, mobile data, battery, airplane mode, and Bluetooth. The Google+ button takes you to your profile, settings opens up the full settings menu, Wi-Fi takes you to Wi-Fi settings, airplane mode is a toggle for the feature, Bluetooth takes you to Bluetooth settings, mobile data shows your carrier and signal strength, and brightness brings up the brightness slider, and battery shows a percentage remaining and will take you to the full battery menu if tapped.

All in all, the quick settings are not nearly as useful as some third-party apps out there, but it’s a good start. We would have liked to see the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and mobile data buttons be used as toggles rather than shortcuts, but hopefully this will change in future updates.

As for security, Android 4.2 brings a malware scanner to the platform that screens “sideloaded” apps — meaning software not downloaded from Google Play — for any mischievous code. The new feature has to be enabled in the settings menu and adds another step to installing outside apps. Google compares the app to its own list of “known applications” that includes both apps from Google Play and popular apps that aren’t available in the store. If a threat is discovered, Google will shut down the installation.

There are also new safeguards in place for apps that attempt to automatically bill your cellular account. Now a prompt will show up to request your direct permission for the billing. Android 4.2 also adds some minor improvements to the permission screen that precedes app installation to make it more obvious and easier to understand.

Android 4.2 may be an incremental update, but it’s nice to see Google adding much-needed and appreciated features to its mobile operating system. This attention-to-detail is exactly what Android needs if it wants to continue commanding the world’s attention.

After changing developers, this Tuesday the long awaited return of Master Chief finally comes to us via Halo 4. And we have all the news you’ll need to prepare yourselves right here.

It’s been over five years since we’ve had the pleasure of murdering anything as Master Chief. Following the conclusion of what we’ll have to soon start calling the original trilogy, or perhaps the conclusion of the Covenant War if you include Halo: Reach and ODST in the discussion, Master Chief finally returns.

As you probably know by now, Master Chief was left floating in space, heading into a cryogenic tube at the end of Halo 3, while most of the universe thought he was dead. If you didn’t know that, sorry. Spoilers. But the story continues where the final clip of Master Chief left off, with the remains of the UNSC ship Forward Unto Dawn orbiting a mysterious planet.

With Bungie gone, the duties have fallen to 343 Industries, who are promising a new trilogy of games, featuring a new threat and an original new storyline, ensuring that we are far from done with the iconic Master Chief.

This is easily one of, if not the most anticipated game of the year. So to prepare you for the release on Tuesday, November 6, we have collected all the Halo 4 news to prepare you for the release, including our review. Just click on the banner below and get ready to step into the giant shoes of Master Chief once again.

 

The recently announced LG Nexus 4 is here in just a little over a week. So how does the most recent Nexus smartphone compare with the aging Galaxy Nexus? Is the upgrade massive enough to warrant tossing out the Samsung Nexus device and moving over to the latest and greatest Nexus?

This is a great question, and something we will take a look at by comparing the overall hardware of the Galaxy Nexus next to its younger sibling.

As you read this article, keep in mind that this comparison is just looking at the specs “on paper” and isn’t a direct hands-on comparison of the two phones. We’ll do our best to accurately represent the features and options on both the phones– if we miss anything, just politely add to the comparison through the comments section.

Alright, so let’s jump in!

Size and Weight

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus originally sported a weight of 135g and had overall dimensions of 135.5mm x 67.94 mm x 8.94mm. Did the Nexus 4 rock the boat here or is it sporting a similar size and weight? It’s pretty close, for the most part.

The LG Nexus 4 is a few grams heavier at 139g. As for the dimensions, the Nexus 4 is 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1mm. The bottom line here is that the phones are quite similar in size and shape, it shouldn’t be much of an adjustment for you if you plan on upgrading to the Nexus 4.

The Nexus Display

While the Samsung Galaxy Nexus had a 4.65-inch 1280 x 720 HD super AMOLED display, the Nexus 4 brings the screen size up to 4.7-inches and has an WXGA IPS Plus display with a resolution of 1280 x 768. While the LG Nexus 4 does have a better display, it’s not really THAT huge of a jump.

Processor & Ram

So far what we’ve seen of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the LG Nexus 4 paint the picture of a marginal upgrade. The good news is that this isn’t true when it comes to what really matters, things like processing power and RAM.

When the Samsung Galaxy Nexus debuted, its 1.2GHz dual-core OMAP 4460 processor and 384MHz PowerVR SGX540 GPU were rather impressive. The 1GB of RAM was also more than enough to get the job done. Since then, more and more budget devices are moving to dual-core processors and most of the high-end Android smartphones rock quad-core power.

The LG Nexus 4 leaps ahead with an impressive 1.5GHz Qualcomm quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and an Adreno 320. As for the RAM? This time around the newest Nexus smartphone packs 2GB.

By today’s standards, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is still quite capable and should run just about every app you throw at it. That being said, the Nexus 4 is a major hardware upgrade when it comes to processing, graphics and RAM.

Storage

Probably one of the biggest complaints for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus was the lack of microSD. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus instead simply had 16GB or 32GB versions that couldn’t expand the memory.

If you were hoping that the Nexus 4 would change all of that— bad news. Not only is there no microSD on the Galaxy Nexus 4, the storage options are simply an 8GB and 16GB version. If you are heavily invested in cloud streaming, 8GB will probably get the job done okay, but it is still a little disappointing that we don’t have larger storage options.

Connectivity

Not a lot of change here. Both devices have expected connectivity options like Bluetooth, NFC, Wi-Fi and more. The only additions are the support for wireless charging and the added SlimPort-HDMI.

Strangely enough, a version of the Galaxy Nexus did support 4G LTE while the Nexus 4 takes away 4G LTE altogether. It’s fastest supported mobile broadband speed is now the HSPA+ 42.

There is still the possibility of 4G LTE variants in the future though.

Battery

On paper, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has a 1750 mAh battery versus the bigger 2100 mAh battery in the LG Nexus 4. Unfortunately bigger battery doesn’t tell us how much more battery power the LG Nexus 4 actually has— more processing power and graphics probably means need for a better battery to keep up.

Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are relatively comparable in actual battery length.

Cameras

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus originally had a 5MP rear cam and a 1.3MP front cam. For those that are hoping for improvements in the camera department, don’t worry — the camera is better this time around, though not by a ton.

The LG Nexus 4 features an 8MP rear cam, though the front cam stays the same at 1.3MP.

Operating System

Both being Nexus devices, you get a vanilla Android experience here. It is worth noting that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has now managed to update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean (I believe) in all major markets.

If the latest version of Android is important to you, the Nexus line is well known for keeping up here. The LG Nexus 4 will be the first smartphone to ship with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean which includes several new features such as an improved keyboard, a Photo Sphere camera feature, improved notifications, improved Google Search and Google Now functionality and more.

Summing it up…

While I may have missed a few other crucial areas of comparison, this should give you a pretty good idea of how the LG Nexus 4 stacks up against its older brother.

If you have the Galaxy Nexus, should you rush out and buy the latest version? It depends. If you have the cash to spare and want the improved camera, better graphics/processor and RAM—sure, why not. Honestly though, if cash is rather tight and the Galaxy Nexus still seems to get the job done when it comes to apps and overall speed, you might want to hang on to the Galaxy Nexus a little longer.

Where the Nexus 4 really shines is for those that don’t have a Nexus device at all, or are still rocking the older Samsung Nexus S. Another MAJOR reason to consider a Nexus device is that it is a powerful yet affordable option for those that use a prepaid carrier that is compatible with the upcoming smartphone. The LG Nexus 4 will be available on November 13th in the US, Canada, Germany, UK, Australia, Spain and Germany. The US pricing is set at $299 unlocked for the 8GB version or $349 for the 16GB version.