The Evolution of Technology

Posts Tagged ‘Android’

Today Sprint released the Kyocera Milano, a low-cost touchscreen slider device that runs Android 2.3. We’ve seen many carriers opt for mid-range handsets lately, which again highlights one of Android’s major advantages. They not only have high-end devices, such as the recently released Droid Bionic, but they can also play to other demographics. This helps it stand out in a market that Apple has long shaped. The Milano provides another example of what’s possible when a low-cost manufacturer decides to install Android on its device.

The Milano is really nothing special. It’s a little undersized, with a 3-inch screen at 240 x 320 pixels. Yet it’s also a little heavy, weighing 5.6 ounces. That’s quite a deal heavier than many of the lower-end Android handsets we’ve seen popping up. Of course, it’s all a trade-off for the rest of the features. As expected, it doesn’t have a top of the line processor, but it has a manageable single core 800 MHz chip and 512MB of RAM. That is, it’ll run fast enough, but it won’t blaze through operations sans lag. Again, it’s all about the trade-offs.

Soon the question will be: which prepaid carriers don’t offer an Android smartphone. We saw the bigger prepaid carriers, such as MetroPCS and Cricket, offer Android handsets in the second half of last year, and apparently it’s started a trend. Plenty of prepaid carriers have followed suit. Left in the dark, to this point, has been Tracfone and its two subsidiaries: Straight Talk and Net10. Straight Talk seemed the most primed for an Android, since it offers unlimited everything for $ 45 per month. Starting in September, that will become a reality. According to a report filed at BTIG Reserach, and reported by FierceWireless, Straight Talk will get the Samsung Galaxy Precedent next month.

The handset itself is much like the Galaxy Prevail, which hit Boost Mobile earlier this year. That handset runs Froyo and features a 3.2-inch screen and an 800MHz processor. This would make sense for Straight Talk, since it could offer the handset at a price lower than other Android handsets, despite not offering a subsidy. As BTIG tells it, they will indeed charge $ 150 for the device, which is as reasonable for an unsubsidized handset as it gets. Look for it at Straight Talk, which is sold at Wal Mart stores, in September.

Earlier this week, in checking Phandroid, I noticed the following item. Apparently, Google has trashed the Just In section from the Android Market. I hadn’t noticed myself, because I hadn’t checked the Just In section for months. Apparently developers aren’t too happy about this, as it’s one way they can stand out from the larger, more prominent app developers. But in my experience the Just In section isn’t useful at all, and I can’t imagine developers get much traffic from it.

The normal disclaimer applies here: I am not a developer, so I don’t know exactly what generates them the most traffic. But I am an end user, and a voracious one at that. I’m always checking out various apps, wither by large or small developers, that can enhance my Android experience. In that experience, I’ve found the Just In section largely useless.

When I first started blogging here, I went to the Just In section all the time. It was a place, I thought, where I could find the latest Android apps and bring them to the AndGeeks readers. Truth be told, I don’t think I ever actually wrote about any of the apps I found there. What I found consisted mostly of apps I didn’t care about, or otherwise porn. Lot of porn. But that’s what happens when you open the floodgates for developers. You get lots of porn.

How is a regional carrier to compete with the big boys these days? If we’re to learn from MetroPCS and others, it’s by creating partnerships with services that they can bundle with their plans. Cricket did this last year, when they created an unlimited music download plan. But that works with only one handset, and a non-smartphone at that. MetroPCS has upped the ante with their new service, which ties in with Rhapsody’s unlimited music. It’s for Android users, too, and it might just be up your alley.

Here’s the skinny. Any MetroPCS customer with an Android handset, whether the 4G Indulge or one of the normal 3G models, can upgrade to the $ 60 plan to get unlimited music from Rhapsody. That allows users to download unlimited music to their Android devices. It also syncs with the web service, so you can stream while you’re at home and sync up your playlists with your Android. It’s just another way of enjoying all the music you can handle.

On Friday I buried the lead. In a post about the transparent Pandora widget, I posted a picture that included a clock widget. Apparently, AndGeeks readers were more interested in the clock than the Pandora widget. (And yeah, I screwed up in that post. There is a Pandora widget, but it’s not available if the app is on your SD card.) For those asking, it is the SiMi Clock Widget, and your enthusiastic curiosity is justified. It’s a pretty awesome clock widget that comes with plenty of customization options.

Despite the name, SiMi Clock Widget does not only provide the time. It has settings that let you customize how you view the time, date, weather, and battery settings. The last one might seem out of place, but it somehow works with SiMi. Oh, and it also has a built-in app launcher. These aspects of the widget can stretch all the way across your screen, giving you a one-row widget that provides a wealth of useful information. How it displays on your home screen is all up to you. That’s why I’m sure people will love this.

Getting paid to view ads on your mobile phone is no new concept. A few years ago it was a short-lived craze, with Virgin Mobile’s Sugarmama service leading the way. Users generally raved about it, loving that they could pay for airtime just by viewing ads on their phones. Other services realized some success, too — I remember about a half dozen similar companies that had booths at CTIA 2008. But soon enough Sugarmama stopped paying out, and the other services fell off everyone’s radar. It left in question the ability for such a service to provide long-term value to users, but that won’t stop newcomers from giving it a whirl. A new app in the Android Market gives you the opportunity to subsidize your cell bill by viewing select advertisements.

Tooyoou suffers first from a tough-to-type name, but once you get past that into the service you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what it can offer. Viewing the ads is much easier than it was for any previous incarnation of this business model. Previously you’d have to choose when you view the ads, or have the ads served following events such as phone calls. Tooyoou puts the ads in a widget on your home screen, so you have every opportunity to see more ads and make more money. It’s definitely the best implementation of this business model I’ve yet seen.

Pictured above is the Samsung Admire, the latest Android handset from prepaid carrier MetroPCS. It’s not meant for the super Android geek, really. The 3.5-inch screen is on the small side, and the 800MHz processor is on the slow side, especially compared to the top tier devices that have hit the major carriers. But this is not a major carrier, nor is it a top-end device. In fact, MetroPCS is pushing it as a back-to-school item, meaning it’s targeted towards parents. If their kids want an Android phone, this might represent a compromise.

The Admire isn’t all bad, really. It does have run Android 2.3.3, which is more than you can say for many of the supposed best handsets on the market. That means it can run basically any big of Android software out there. The small size can be an advantage, too, as it’s easier to slip into a pocket or a purse.

I won’t beat around the bush on this one, because there is no bush that need beating. In browsing xda the other day, I came across an app called Extensive Notes. Yeah yeah, I thought. There are tons of note-taking apps on the Market — I’m kind of disappointed Google doesn’t include one with the OS — and they’re all essentially the same. Some have a greater level of tasking and notating, but that’s about it. So yeah, I kind of did a double-take when I saw the feature list for Extensive Notes. Honestly, I installed it yesterday and I haven’t gotten to even a quarter of all the features. If you’re looking for a writing app of any kind, really, you should head to the Market and download Extensive Notes. Just look at the feature list and I’m betting you’ll want it. It gets AndGeeks’ highest recommendation.

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

Extensive Notes is the only Android notes app you’ll need

AndGeeks – Android News and Reviews

A few weeks ago Spotify took the US by storm, sending out invites and getting thousands of people to try the service that has swept Europe. After a few minutes of using it, the hype is understandable. It not only has an enormous library of music, but it also allows you to share playlists with friends via Facebook, as well as send URLs of specific songs. Sure, the ads are far more obnoxious than Pandora’s, but it’s a small price to pay for free streaming music. In fact, it’s great to get going during a party or other social gathering. But what if you want to change it up? With your Android, you can do it from wherever you are. The Spotimote app is absolutely essential.

If there’s one flaw in the app, it’s that you cannot access your playlists unless you’re a premium user. That’s unfortunate, because Spotify gets much of its power from playlists. But it’s not as though this is a bug. Spotify has guarded many features as premium, and they’re in their rights to hold those back from free users. That does make a premium account that much more attractive. But don’t worry, you can still control music in many ways with Spotimote.

Does customer service play into your decision of which phone carrier to choose? That can make an important difference in an otherwise obvious decision. Take for instance, Virgin Mobile. On Friday we discussed Virgin Mobile and the Motorola Triumph as an excellent combination for a prepaid Android user. But if customer service plays a role in your decision, you might think twice, or thrice, about going with Virgin. They ranked quite poorly in the most recent J.D. Power and Associates survey, which measured customer care in the prepaid wireless industry. What’s most surprising is that Boost Mobile won the award by no small measure. That’s not surprising because of Boost itself, but rather because both Boost and Virgin are owned by Sprint.

Boost has made a big name for itself with a $ 50 monthly unlimited plan. That covers talk, text, web, 411, email — everything, for $ 50 per month, with no added fees or taxes. That makes it pretty easy for a smartphone user. Boost runs on two networks, Sprint’s CDMA and Nextel’s iDEN, and has one Android phone on each. The CDMA network is much faster, as it’s your typical 3G network. The iDEN network is a bit slower, but has the push-to-talk feature that made Boost famous in the first place. What’s even better about Boost’s $ 50 plan is that your bill gets reduced by $ 5 per month for every six on-time payments. Keep paying your bill on time, and after 18 months you’ll pay just $ 35 per month for unlimited use of your Android.