The Evolution of Technology

Posts Tagged ‘Android’

Not long ago I wrote a post detailing four Android travel apps I found useful. Of course, there are dozens of travel apps on Android, so a few commenters raised objections. In that spirit, I thought we could take just a few minutes to look over a few things they suggested — and a few items people mailed in.

OnTheFly

One reader suggested that OnTheFly is a better solution than Orbitz. That makes enough sense, since the developer of OnTheFly, ITA Software, is owned by Google. The app does pull from many resources to find the best flight prices within any given parameters. The app interface is second to none — plenty of competitors could learn a lot by how smoothly it runs through the process. And it does provide you with a comprehensive list of flights, allowing you to find the cheapest.

The only problem is that it doesn’t allow you to book those flights right from the app. Once it adds that, and tweaks a few features, it will certainly be a go-to app. But until then, apps with poorer UIs will win out, since users can book right from the app.

How closely do you keep track of your life? You might think you keep close tabs, but really think about it for a moment. Do you monitor the little things that can make big differences? If you’re not carrying around a pocket notebook or other recording apparatus, chances are you’re not.

Our Android smartphones, however, act as a recording apparatus. There are plenty of apps, including simple text apps, that can help us keep tabs on various aspects of our lives. Keeping track of them lets us notice patterns and habits, and with that awareness we can change things we don’t like.

Think of this in the same way as a SCADA system (supervisory control and data acquisition). You use your Android to acquire the data you need. The only difference is that instead of automatic monitoring, as in most SCADA systems, you’ll have to do some of the heavy lifting yourself. There are apps, though, that can automate the process. Once you have the data, though, the control system is on you. That is, your smartphone can acquire and present the data, but you’ll have to fix it yourself.

1. Your spending habits

As smartphones become even more popular and features become even more advanced, LG is making it a mission to keep up with the changing face of cell phones. From phones designed for gamers to the incorporation of 3D technology, LG phones are setting the precedent for the future of smartphone innovation. Here are our top five favorites:

T-Mobile LG G2x

The T-Mobile G2x with Google is built to entertain in a way that makes it stand out from other phones in the market. This phone delivers power and speeds that blow the competition out of the water.

While this phone is fine for everyday use, where it really stands out is in the realm of HD gaming—from anywhere. The G2x features rich 3D graphics that allow users to get immersed in the action like never before. In fact, in many cases, the 3D graphics on this brilliant 4-inch screen could be considered console-worthy. For phone gamers, that means sharper action and more intensity on the latest games. And this phone’s lightning fast speed also comes in handy for surfing the web and streaming videos and movies on the go.

Anyone who travels even a couple of times a year needs a travel app on her Android smartphone. Having all of that information right in front of you, whenever you need it, is more than a convenience. At times it can save your hide. Here are a few of the best travel apps for Android.

TripIt

How does an app survive over 10,000 ratings in the Android Market with a 4.5-star rating? By being one of the best in its field. TripIt has the travel thing down right. It’s a simple premise, too. All you do is forward your confirmation email to a tripit email address, and it automatically populates the app with your travel information. This includes not only flights, but also hotels, restaurant reservations, cruises, and more.

There’s a social element on top of this, too. You can share your travel plans with friends on Facebook. Maybe you just want to brag a bit. Maybe you’re looking for companions. Or maybe you just like to let your family and friends know what’s going on. In any case, it’s an available feature with TripIt.

I have been gardening since I was old enough to play in the dirt. For me, gardening is more than a hobby…it is a great stress reliever, a healthy way to break a sweat, an exercise in self-reliance, and a creative outlet. The payoff — whether it is in the sweet smelling flowers that attract foraging honey bees and an assortment of butterflies, or the abundance of fresh seasonal vegetables I can share with family and friends — is always rewarding, and it makes me feel accomplished to reap the fruits of my labor. The secret to gardening isn’t in the fertilizer, it’s in the apps.

If you are looking for gardening tips and are not shy when it comes to technology, an Android phone or tablet can be an invaluable tool in planning and maintaining your green plot. Below, I have listed some apps I often defer to for garden planning and organization, plant facts, and other helpful tips.

Garden Guide

The Food Gardening Guide, from America’s leading magazine on organic gardening, is a comprehensive gardening app, providing an abundance of expert advice on Crops, Techniques, and Resources.

Yesterday a friend sent a message that always brings joy. “I’m quitting smoking starting Friday.” The conversation then turned to different ways to prevent relapse. His idea was to get a pack of mini cigars — cigarillos. They’d be for extreme situations, since you can’t possibly smoke them often (and you don’t inhale them). They’re also universally stale, so the taste would likely drive him further away. But then he revealed one aspect of smoking that I find so many smokers share: part of the addiction is keeping the hands busy. It would make sense, then, that a touchscreen phone could help keep hands busy when cigarette cravings appear.

The inspiration for this came from an app I found yesterday afternoon: Cigarette Fighter. It claims to help beat cigarette cravings by letting you “slice” a cigarette — basically tapping the touchscreen. Yet the app has a 2.2 average rating, and half of the people rated it one-star. After download the app really quick, the poor rating made sense. It’s just not that fun. Moreover, there’s not enough forced interaction with the screen. There are better games to accomplish this end.

Where is the damn clicker? It’s a line that nearly everyone has uttered multiple times. For some reason some people — perhaps most people, or at least it seems that way — are incapable of putting the remote control back in its proper place. Or, for that matter, any place in plain sight. We’ve reached a point as a society where it’s more acceptable to stare at a blank screen than it is to actually get up and change the channel.

It was only a matter of time before someone developed a way for our smartphones to control our TVs. Apple actually jumped out on this one, releasing an app that lets iPhone and iPad users control Apple TV units from their smartphones or tablets. But that’s one specific device. This new development for Android lets you use your smartphone to control everything on your TV.

It’s from Griffin, and it’s called the Beacon. It’s the boxing bell looking device pictured above. You hook that up to your TV, and after installing an app it lets you use your smartphone to control what you watch. It’s pretty bloody brilliant, even if it was an inevitable development. It’s even brilliant when you consider that before long we’ll be able to control our TVs from our smartphones without using special hardware.

It was only a matter of time before GameStop got into the tablet gaming market. They’re already taking iPad and iPod trade-ins, which signals a start to their platform expansion. There were also rumors that they’d release their own gaming-centric Android tablet. While that could still happen at some point, they’ve gotten a head start by offering a number of existing Android tablets — pre-loaded with seven games.

If you check out their website you’ll see a number of tablets, and there are a few high-end ones among them. The most attractive is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Verizon and T-Mobile both offer this, but the tablet itself costs $ 650 and requires a two-year commitment to a costly data plan. The GameStop version, which obviously does not include cellular connection, costs just $ 500. They also have the Asus Eee Pad, another Android tablet that has gotten positive reviews. You can also bundle the tablets with a controller, making for an even more compelling gaming experience.

On October 16th you’ll see the above-pictured device on store shelves. It looks like a normal Android smartphone, but it lacks one key element: a cellular radio. Instead, it’s a WiFi-based Android that essentially mimics Apple’s iPod Touch. It’ll come in two sizes: the four-inch screen will cost $ 229, while the five-inch screen will cost $ 269. Those are reasonable prices for devices that will carry no monthly service commitments. But I have to wonder if the Android platform is ready for this type of device.

One reason the iPod continues to sell, even with the iPhone in play, is music management. Apple makes it easy to move items from your iTunes library to the iPod. True, Windows users have a tougher time with it; iTunes works considerably better on a Mac. The management system isn’t quite as clean with Google Music. It could be what holds back the device. On the other hand, if Google created its own simple music player — perhaps one that lays over iTunes, such as doubleTwist — they could create the necessary interface for a device like this.

The Samsung Transform Ultra is the latest Android phone headed to Boost Mobile, and it’s their best one yet. Armed with a 1GHz processor and a 3.5-inch touchscreen, the Transform Ultra falls somewhere between a mid-range and high-end Android handset, giving it an easy leg up on the Galaxy Prevail, Boost’s other Android. It comes in at a decent price, too, $ 229.99, which is slightly more than you’d expect to pay for the same phone on contract. It drops on October 7th, which is soon enough. There is, however, one catch. Starting on that same date, Boost is adding a $ 5 monthly surcharge for Android phones. It makes sense, given how much data they can consume. So that will be $ 55 per month for unlimited talk, text, and data. Not bad, considering it uses Sprint’s nationwide network.

Via Phone Scoop.

This post originated at AndGeeks.com – home to all things Android! Also a great source of info about Android Phones.

Boost Mobile gets new Android, adds monthly surcharge

AndGeeks – Android News and Reviews