Fall and the new semester have just arrived, and we know that most students want to be prepared to avoid stress during this new season. It’s been an eventful year with the pandemic surging across the globe, but life has to go on.

That’s why we’ve compiled a list of essential devices students should have at their disposal for college this semester. You don’t need to be tech-savvy to be ready and well-equipped.

While many argue that this issue is decided by branding and status, we believe the reasons go beyond swears by the convenience of a particular software system.

Android and iOS have been competing with each other for almost an eternity. Android and iOS both have a large user base and are constantly borrowing features from one other. This is one of the reasons why both operating systems are so difficult to compare. Despite their similarities, there is one with a more unique and secure interface.

When you buy a phone from T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T; they offer you a subsidized phone deal in exchange for a 2-year (or 30-months) contract. They also lock your phone, so that you cannot take the phone to another carrier. To use the phone you bought from Verizon on the AT&T network (or vice versa), you'll have to unlock your phone. The US carriers used to lock your phone for years, but with the "Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act", you have to right to unlock your phone if you meet their "Unlocking Policy".

Would you like to find more information about someone by their phone number? Would you like to know someone's geolocation by their phone number? A phone number can reveal a lot about you, and it can be a privacy threat if abused. It can also make our lives easier if used properly under the party's agreement. Spying someone without their permission is illegal, and it should be avoided.

We often hear protecting our online privacy requires us to follow security hygiene and beware of phishing and link baits and do not click on suspicious links from untrusted sources and follow best security practices. We also hear that we need to protect our online accounts with strong passwords and 2FA. Keeping up with the latest software patches, installing anti-virus and anti-malware software are all good practices to protect your devices.

Consumers not only use websites but also use mobile apps for various social media and gaming activities. For app developers to monetize their work, they often publish advertisements offered through Apple, Google, and Facebook among others. Unlike websites, mobile apps do not use cookies and there has to be another way to track user activities. This is where Mobile Advertising ID (MAID) comes in, and it allows advertisers to collect information about mobile users.

5G is the 5th generation wireless technology used in cellular networks. Wireless Technology evolved from analog 1G to digital 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G LTE, and the new 5G to deliver faster, reliable and low-latency data over the cellular network. In April 2019, 5G technology was first deployed in South Korea, and shortly after the United States and China followed. 5G technology "theoretically" delivers 100 times faster than 4G up to 10 Gbps, but the reality is not quite there yet. Considering 4G introduced in 2010 and LTE in 2013 took nearly a decade to be where we are today, 5G will take as many years to deliver the speed it deserves and the coverage everyone is anticipating. With YouTube, Netflix and other on-demand videos including video calls being transmitted over the mobile networks, 5G will deliver the performance needed by those high-demand network services.

In the wireless marketplace, the market narrowed to iOS and Android operating systems in recent years. Independent companies tried to build their own mobile operating systems, but most failed including Microsoft Windows. In May 2019, Android captured 75.25% of the total wireless market followed by Apple's iOS with 22.75% market share.

Misplacing a smartphone is not about losing your apps, music and contacts; it is also about giving away unauthorized access to your pictures, social networking sites - online identity and personal emails and stuff. In some cases, it also means the thief would gain access to your banking data if at all you are the kind of person who does banking online or stores all passwords in quick notes app. Given that your smartphone is a database of all your critical and personal data, it is extremely essential to register for in-built security features, install additional security software if need be.

Did you lose your Android smartphone without installing a tracking app? If you're like most people, you realize that there are anti-theft or phone tracking app available for your Android smartphone after it's stolen or lost. It would be easier to track your phone if you have such app installed, but you still have a chance to track your phone and recover it. There are a couple of ways to track your phone if you use your Google Account linked to your phone.