Life's History Through a Mobile Device!

Tweetcomb is revolutionizing twitter on honeycomb tablets, Must See!

2011-04-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

I've had the pleasure of testing a great new twitter app by our friends over at Newsr. They have taken the app to the market and well worth a peek.

Android Market says the following:

TweetComb is a Twitter client designed and created exclusively for the Android Honeycomb platform. TweetComb gives you a tablet-friendly view of your Twitter timeline, mentions, direct messages, and more.

Features of TweetComb:
-- Interact with Twitter in a tablet-friendly way with the only Twitter experience designed for Honeycomb.

Check out "TweetComb"

-- Read your timeline, mentions, and direct messages with three distinct fragments. Each fragment interacts with Twitter for updates independent of the others.
-- When new tweets arrive, TweetComb will alert you with an audio clip.
-- TweetComb gives you an easy way to use and switch between multiple Twitter accounts.
-- From an individual tweet, you can reply, retweet, share, favorite, and send a direct message.
-- Quickly send status updates with full support for cut/copy/paste.
-- Support for sending and replying to direct messages inside the app.
-- TweetComb can be shared to from other apps such as the browser, Newsr, and others.

Since launching Tweetcomb to market they have had two updates with significant additions. I like how they use the tablet's size to show the three most used functions of Twitter. Which are Timeline, Mentions and Direct Messages. Recent updates they have added direct messaging from within the direct messages column.

Long press on a tweet and see all the magic offered. If you are a Android honeycomb tablet user and like Twitter then Tweetcomb is for you.

Targus cases make the Motorola Xoom Look good as a work device

2011-04-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

Are you looking for a light weight versatile case for your Motorola Xoom? Look no further I introduce the Targus Spruce EcoSmart Mini Messenger Case (TBM022US) (Black with Green Accents). This little beauty is classy looking with room for your Xoom, power adapter and business essentials.

On the outside you have a zippered compartment for smaller items. I will carry ear buds, cleaning cloth and probably will hold my Droid X in there while running around. You have a nice carry handle and it comes with a shoulder strap.

Open up the secure flap and there are two zippered compartments one has a padded spot for your Motorola Xoom. If you have the protective portfolio case it will be a snug fit. The other compartment can be used for business items like pens/pencils, business cards, note cards and more.

Technical Details

Compatibility- Designed specifically to fit the Motorola Xoom
Functionality- Large capacity case; includes space, padded main compartment and additional storage for accessories such as an power adapter,
Ergonomic- Padded/removable shoulder strap and padded carry handle make this case easy to travel with
Material- Constructed of recycled polyester material from recycled plastic bottles
Limited Lifetime Warranty. Cables and more; Large organization pocket with pen loops, business card holder and zippered compartment

As you can see this would make a great companion to the Motorola Xoom. If you have any recommendations please make a comment below.

Why I Switched To Newsr RSS Reader

2011-03-30T17:59:00.000-07:00

Newsr Main Screen

Thanks to the Android Central Forums and a post named The officially unofficial "Optimized For Honeycomb" Apps List. I stumbled upon a new RSS reader called Newsr and started to investigate the new app.

I am a cautious buyer of apps. I look at reviews and do a Google search to formulate an educated guess on whether to buy an app or not. Newsr had no reviews or ratings but the developer Chris Stewart put his email in the description. I went ahead and emailed Chris to see if there was a trial version (there is not at this time). After a couple of email exchanges I decided to purchase the app. Here is the market description of Newsr.

Newsr gives you a tablet-centric way to casually read your Google Reader RSS feeds. Newsr takes advantage of the screen real estate on your Xoom device and gives you an elegant way to read your news. Newsr stays in sync with your Google Reader account so you'll never read the same news twice!

Pros:
Watch embedded (youtube) videos right from the app.
Mark All As Read (highly important)
Sync's nicely with Google Reader account (tested and confirmed it works)
Share Article with Facebook, Twitter etc...

Cons (feature request):
Ability to Star/Unstar an article
Need to be able to mark an article as Unread
Would like to one click share in Google Reader without a note
Does not sort by folders (not sure how that could be worked in)

I have been testing other RSS readers and although nice have been missing key features that Newsr have incorporated right from the beginning. Chris Stewart has assured me that the development continues and he is looking for feedback and feature request to make the app even better.

Don't Let your Android Battery be a Drain

2011-03-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

To continue the theme of performance as specified in To Kill or Not to Kill Task in Android. One area that people complain about a lot is the lack of battery performance from there Android devices. I stumbled upon a great post Tips to maximize battery life on Android by John Edgar I specifically like how to calibrate a battery he says

“Calibrate the battery by completely draining it until the phone completely shuts itself off. Turn the phone on again and let it shut itself off one more time. Then charge your phonewhile it is off for over 8 hours. This will fully charge the battery so that when the phone is turned on, it now sees the battery as full. It is recommended to repeat this process at least one more time. You will see an increase in your battery’s charge life and longevity. Calibration of a battery can be done at any point and a maintenance calibration is recommended every month.”

Even though Lithium Ion batteries are not suppose to have "memory" like the old nickel cadmium batteries it is still good from time to time to calibrate or refresh your battery.

As seen in the image of my battery statistics I am not doing to bad. The one area that takes up the most battery power is the display. This is common for smartphones in general. I was running 62-65% on my display settings. I took my brightness setting off of Automatic brightness and moved it to the lowest setting. As seen in the display I have dropped to 48% and this is taken within an hour of changing it. I also updated the app Settings Profiles Full change this to the lowest setting upon each change.

What makes the Motorola Xoom the perfect enterprise tool?

2011-03-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

Motorola Xoom is the perfect device for connecting to a corporation's technology infrastructure such as a enterprise exchange sever, Microsoft Communicator r2 and a citrix connection on a device larger than 4 inches. The Motorola Xoom with it's georgeous 10.1" screen sporting a dual core tegra 2 processor. The tools that a corporate employee will need to be highly effective on the go are:

NitroDesk TouchDown which lets you connect to your corporate email from your android powered Motorola Xoom. This program takes the brunt of the corporate IT policy instead of putting the policy on your tablet which can cause lockups and lockouts.

Office Talk, Microsoft(R) Office Communicator(TM) Client (OCS) for Android. Allows you to stay connected with your coworkers and customers with the enterprise instant messaging system. Not all IM clients will connect to an enterprise system for this reason office talk is perfect.

Citrix Receiver labs allows organizations to manage the proliferation of new devices entering the workplace by providing secure, high-performance delivery of virtual desktops and Windows, web and SaaS applications on any user device. You use this app to remote into desktops and servers to administer programs, license managers, users and folder shares.

These alone make the Motorola Xoom the perfect enterprise level tablet. Do you use a tablet or smartphone for doing business work?

Posted via Blogaway on the Motorola Xoom!

Droid X Saving Lives One App at a Time

2010-09-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

Hands-Only CPR

As a person that has experienced a Heart Attack Or Not and was lucky to live through it. I am excited to make this post about possibly the best apps for the Android phone. The first one is the new recommended Hands-Only CPR for Android. The American Heart Association says

When an adult has a sudden cardiac arrest, his or her survival depends greatly on immediately getting CPR from someone nearby. Unfortunately, less than 1/3 of those people who experience a cardiac arrest at home, work or in a public location get that help. Most bystanders are worried that they might do something wrong or make things worse. That’s why the AHA has simplified things.

Don’t be afraid. Your actions can only help.
It’s not normal to see an adult suddenly collapse, but if you do, call 911 and push hard and fast in the center of the chest. Don’t be afraid. Your actions can only help. Take a minute and look around this site and invite your friends! Increasing the number of people who know about Hands Only (TM) CPR will increase the chance that someone can help when an adult suddenly collapses, and more lives can be saved.

If your asking why Hands-Only CPR over traditional CPR with breathing It's recommended to visit the Hands-Only CPR Faq page. There the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends conventional CPR (CPR with a combination of breaths and compressions) for:

All infants (up to age 1)
Children (up to age 8)
Adult victims who are found already unconscious and not breathing normally
Any victims of drowning, drug overdose or collapse due to breathing problems.

The above is just one of the facts you will find on there site. The site is full of lifesaving facts that can be useful and one day could save a loved one.

Other Lifesaving apps for the Android platform

Pocket First Aid and CPR
CPR-Choking
First Aid by Health Team

Highly recommended websites

American Stroke Association
California Pacific Medical Center
Pacific Laparoscopy - Weight Loss Surgery can help heart failure
First Aid - Wikipedia

Recommended Books

To Kill or Not to Kill Task in Android

2010-09-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

Automatic Task Killer

I've been asked whether Android users should use a task killer such as Advanced Task Killer or Advanced Task Killer Froyo. I say Yes and I personally use Automatic Task Killer for my program.

How to properly set up and use a task killer (Oh, yes, I went there!) sums up what I was thinking in these seven bullet points.

Any application that has the manufacturer or carriers name in it should never be killed.
Any application that has the word android. (yes the period is there on purpose) should never be killed.
Any application that keeps time should never be killed.
Any application that has a widget that updates should never be killed.
Any application that is not installed on /data (this is where user apps go) should never be killed.
If you can't figure out exactly what an application is, it should never be killed.
Home replacements, whether from the Market or your manufacturer never should be killed. This also means Sense, Blur, and Touchwiz. They also have dependencies that should stay alive, refer to numbers 1, 5 and 6 above. Of course if you're a tinkerer, and know which parts of the system you don't need running on your particular installation, feel free to experiment. And share your results.

They show great tips on when to use a task killer. I do not kill calendars, Handcent SMS, Newrob RSS reader and my default browser Dolphin Browser HD. I do not kill task that I use on a regular basis and want to have active when I turn the phone back on after it goes to the lock screen. This is why Newrob RSS reader and default browser are included in this list. There are times I have an article like the one about the USA Today and might step away for a minute. When I return my screen will be locked upon unlocking if you had your RSS Reader killed your post would be shutdown and you would have to reopen the program and find where you were before it shutdown.

Just be selective on what you kill and do not kill everything. If you run into issues with a program double check if it is being killed by a task killer. If it is uncheck the program and see if the program still has issues.

Recommended Reading:
The Definitive RSS Guide for Bloggers
Google Official Google Reader Blog

Free Over 200,000 Ringtones for Android Devices

2010-09-20T18:06:00.000-07:00

Stumbled upon this outstanding ringtone program. Do not hesitate to checkout Ringlert to browse thousands of ringtones uploaded by android users. Variety of categories and options to find best ringer that suits your needs. Assign to contacts, set sms alerts and more.

As the screenshot to the left shows there are currently 214,881 ringtones available for immediate download. They give you a few different ways to browse for ringtones as seen to the right image. I found the search to be the best way to search for things you are looking for instead of going by categories and scrolling for days.

It is fun to click on Download Charts to see what others are downloading as there ringtones. I like how they allow you to choose Today, This week and This month. The ratings based on what others think can help narrow your search a little. I do recommend performing a preview of the ringtones first to make sure the quality is adequate. Remember these are ringtones created by fellow Android users probably with Ringdroid. You find what your interested in and click on that song then you can preview the ringtone before downloading. If you like the quality then click on download and it will save to your SDcard under Ringlert folder as mp3 files.

Once on your device you can treat it is any other mp3 file. Means you can share it with others through MMS. Even those that do not have an Android device like the great Motorola DROID X.

Heck with over 200,000 in there database you might not need to create your own. Just remember if there is more than one list of your ringtone to preview each as these could mean a ringtone for different parts of the song. I did a search for one of my favorite songs Hotel California by the Eagles and came up with 13 different versions for different parts of the song.

How to set voicemail password

2010-09-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

I have been asked numerous times how do you set your voicemail password so that it will automatically enter when selecting speed dial 1?

This is actually easier then you think. These instructions are for the Motorola DROID X Android Phone however, will work for most Android devices.

Delete voice mail from speed dial # 1 by going to phone press menu, speed dial setup press the minus sign next to Voicemail
Go to contacts and select voicemail, click menu button under settings select edit and add ",,password#" (minus the quotes) to the end of *86
Go back to phone, speed dial and add voice mail back to the first spot

Now when you click and hold the 1 key it will dial your voicemail and enter your password and the # sign.

Easy to be nosy with Scanner Radio

2010-09-17T14:18:00.000-07:00

Scanner Radio allows you to listen to live audio from over 2,300 police and fire scanners, railroad communications, and weather radio broadcasts from around the world with more being added daily. I like the fact you can click on Scanners near me and it will bring up the scanners that are published online within your area. One thing to remember is that not all scanners are posted for online listening this is done by volunteers. For example in my area I do not have CHP which is disappointing but at lease I have Sheriff and Police that cover the cities just not the main highway next to us.
When you are in the app listening to a station you can click menu and view the 10-codes. These codes are how the police speak to each other instead of saying domestic disturbance they say 10-16 at 123 Main Street. Also in the menu is a sleep timer yes the developer had the foresight to add a sleep timer so that it can stop the scanning after a set amount of time like 10 minutes, 1 hour etc... They have a built in chat feature for that station but have not had the pleasure of anyone wanting to chat while listening.

Be warned the Top 50 scanners right now will keep your device talking for hours. There is a reason there the top and that's because there is a lot of action in those areas.

Here are some common 10-codes that might be useful while listening to Scanner Radio.

Scanner Radio
for Android Devices

California APCO 10 Codes

10-0 Caution
10-1 Unable to copy -- change location
10-2 Signal good
10-3 Stop transmitting
10-4 Acknowledgement (OK)
10-5 Relay
10-6 Busy -- stand by unless urgent
10-7 Out of service
10-8 In service
10-9 Repeat
10-10 Fight in progress
10-11 Dog case
10-12 Stand by (stop)
10-13 Weather -- road report
10-14 Prowler report
10-15 Civil disturbance
10-16 Domestic disturbance
10-17 Meet complainant
10-18 Quickly
10-19 Return to ...
10-20 Location
10-21 Call ... by telephone
10-22 Disregard
10-23 Arrived at scene
10-24 Assignment completed
10-25 Report in person (meet) ...
10-26 Detaining subject, expedite
10-27 Drivers license information
10-28 Vehicle registration information
10-29 Check for wanted
10-30 Unnecessary use of radio
10-31 Crime in progress
10-32 Man with gun
10-33 Emergency
10-34 Riot
10-35 Major crime alert
10-36 Correct time
10-37 (Investigate) suspicious vehicle
10-38 Stopping suspicious vehicle
10-39 Urgent -- use light, siren
10-40 Silent run -- no light, siren
10-41 Beginning tour of duty
10-42 Ending tour of duty
10-43 Information
10-44 Permission to leave ... for ...
10-45 Animal carcass at ...
10-46 Assist motorist
10-47 Emergency road repairs at ...
10-48 Traffic standard repair at ...
10-49 Traffic light out at ...
10-50 Accident (fatal, personal injury, property damage)
10-51 Wrecker needed
10-52 Ambulance needed
10-53 Road blocked at ...
10-54 Livestock on highway
10-55 Suspected DUI
10-56 Intoxicated pedestrian
10-57 Hit and run (fatal, personal injury, property damage)
10-58 Direct traffic
10-59 Convoy or escort
10-60 Squad in vicinity
10-61 Isolate self for message
10-62 Reply to message
10-63 Prepare to make written copy
10-64 Message for local delivery
10-65 Net message assignment
10-66 Message cancellation
10-67 Clear for net message
10-68 Dispatch information
10-69 Message received
10-70 Fire
10-71 Advise nature of fire
10-72 Report progress on fire
10-73 Smoke report
10-74 Negative
10-75 In contact with ...
10-76 En route ...
10-77 ETA (estimated time of arrival)
10-78 Need assistance
10-79 Notify coroner
10-80 Chase in progress
10-81 Breathalyzer
10-82 Reserve lodging
10-83 Work school xing at ...
10-84 If meeting ... advise ETA
10-85 Delayed due to ...
10-86 Officer/operator on duty
10-87 Pick up/distribute checks
10-88 Present telephone number of ...
10-89 Bomb threat
10-90 Bank alarm at ...
10-91 Pick up prisoner/subject
10-92 Improperly parked vehicle
10-93 Blockade
10-94 Drag racing
10-95 Prisoner/subject in custody
10-96 Mental subject
10-97 Check (test) signal
10-98 Prison/jail break
10-99 Wanted/stolen indicated

I'd like to thank David for turning me onto this great app for the Android phones. Visit his blog here.

Recommended Scanner Devices for serious scanning abilities.

Uniden BC355C 800MHz 300-Channel Base Mobile Scanner

Radio Shack Pro-95 1000 Channel Dual-Trunking Scanner Radio

Cobra XRS 9345 14-Band Radar/Laser Detector

Quick Battery gives way to Quick Settings For Complete Control

2010-09-16T15:41:00.001-07:00

Quick Batter Widget

Quick Battery gives you a nice graphical representation of your current Android smartphone battery power. The image to the left is the various stages of the widget. When you add Quick Battery Widget to your home screen you get one icon/widget on your screen and it changes based on your batter power.

You combine Quick Battery with Quick Settings and you get one powerful app. Quick settings allows you to control things like

Quick Settings Main Page

Brightness (including automatic brightness)
Volume (with separate control for every audio channel)
Mobile data & Mobile Data (APN) and a shortcut to "use 2G only" system setting
Ringer (silent, vibration, ringer and ringer & vibration)
WiFi & Wifi Hotspot
one click GPS
Bluetooth
Airplane mode
Screen Timeout
Automatic data synchronization
Automatic rotation

It also gives you the status of your phones memory and the space on your SD card. Once in Quick Settings you can click on menu and customize to add, subtract or move settings to your hearts content.

Quick Settings Customize Option

Very versatile program all wrapped up in one complete package. After a week's use I am not seeing any memory or battery leak issues due to the app.

I was a big fan of Battery Widget but must say Quick Settings along with Quick Battery does so much more at the click of a button. Now if it allowed scheduling of settings changes I could get rid of Settings Profiles full which is a great app for turning off the sounds at night so that you can get some sleep.

Oh did I mention Quick Settings has a built in Flashlight app?

Google Dots bounce Up a Media Frenzy

2010-09-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

Google Interactive Dots

Did you go to Google to see the cool interactive dots?

No official explanation from Google yet. I wonder if it is HTML 5 or perhaps because they went public on this day back in 1998 they are celebrating.

I personally think Google doodles because they can.

Recommended Google Reading:
Ultimate Guide to Google Ad Words, 2nd Edition: How To Access 100 Million People in 10 Minutes

Getting Organized in the Google Era: How to Get Stuff out of Your Head, Find It When You Need It, and Get It Done Right

The Google Way: How One Company Is Revolutionizing Management as We Know It

HTC Incredible Receives Froyo 2.2 Today

2010-09-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

The highly anticipated Froyo 2.2 update finally happened on our HTC Incredible Android Phone. Woke up this morning with the message to upgrade now or later. Choose now and after two reboots and about 7 minutes Froyo 2.2 was installed. Some of the feature of 2.2 are:

3G Mobile Hot Spot
Flash 10.1
HTC Widget: Mail
HTC Widget: News
EAS Updates
720p Video Recording
Amazon MP3
Skype
My Verizon

Time will tell if it helps the battery. The only gripe we have with the Incredible is the battery life. We installed Automatic Task Killer and it does help a lot.

2 Must Ask Questions For Picking An Android Phone

2010-08-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

I've had numerous people ask me what Android phone to get. Here is my recommendation using the Verizon Wireless network. There are two major criteria that I like to ask before recommending phones.

1) Do you want a physical keyboard?
2) Does size matter?

Let's take a look at number one. Do you want a physical keyboard? If the answer is yes then I recommend looking at one of three phones.

Motorola DROID II Android Phone
Motorola DROID Android Phone
LG Ally Android Phone

Out of these three Android phones I personally would go with the Droid or Droid 2. It would be a matter of which keyboard feels the best. The new Droid 2 has a slippery feel unlike the Droid.

If a physical keyboard does not matter then I would ask you Does size matter? I've had both the Motorola DROID X Android Phone (current device) and HTC Incredible Android Phone and love them both. It came down to wanting a larger screen however, my wife loves the size and feel of the HTC Incredible.

Do your own homework to help you decide. Take a look at this excellent Droid X Review and don't forget the review of the HTC Incredible. Might want to compare the Droid X vs the HTC Incredible. A well thought out review of the Droid 2 is located here. For those wanting to compare the Droid 2 vs the Droid this is a must read. I know it can be overwhelming but all else fails walking into a local Verizon store and touch all of them. Do not hesitate to spend a few minutes at each one playing and calling people. Well worth the time when you are dealing with a 2 year contract or extension.

No matter what way you decide to go at least your going with an Android device.

Firefox Beta 4 sync'ing between devices

2010-08-27T21:45:00.000-07:00

As I wrote earlier Sending links from computer to android device using Chrome to Phone is a great feature for staying productive on the go. Mozilla Labs is beta testing there Firefox 4 beta web browser and I must say it is running smooth so far. You can download directly with this link Firefox 4 beta. What impressed me immediately was the high score of 97 out of 100 on the acid3 test. The past builds I was lucky to break 93. Here is proof of the score:

Once you have Firefox 4 installed head over to Firefox Sync. It is a free browser add-on that lets you stay in sync with your Firefox. Access your history, passwords, bookmarks and even open tabs across all your devices. Firefox Sync 1.4.4 Add-on download it free. Then go into the options and click on the sync tab and sign-up. Remember the information you entered it will be needed in your Android phone like the Motorola DROID X.

Now go and download the Fennec Firefox mobile browser install it and launch it. Take time to look around and get to know the browser and stop by and read about some of the features click here. Hit the menu key to see what it does slide your finger right and left to see the sub menus. Then slide your finger right to left and bring up the options button scroll down and fill-in your sync account information. This will trigger and automatic sync to your phone. When ready to see what tabs you have open on your desktop slide your finger left to right and click the monitor button at the bottom (see image below).

Word of caution Fennec Firefox mobile is in alpha testing and will probably contain a few bugs. This just means you may experience some force closures. Just keep an eye on this blog and we will keep you updated when new releases come out.

These are great times to have an Android device. The development of apps and devices are great fun. If I could I would probably own a new device every 6 months.

Please do not hesitate to interact with this blog by leaving comments and even questions. We have all levels of expertise participating in this blog or at least reading it.

Good luck and good surfing.

Great Firefox books

Firefox For Dummies

Firefox Secrets: A Need-To-Know Guide

Foxfire 4

Greasemonkey Hacks

TweetDeck Receives Update to Beta

2010-08-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

TweetDeck receives an update to its highly anticipated beta program. You can download TweetDeck Beta version 0.9.5 here. In case you do not know what TweetDeck is, TweetDeck is your personal browser for staying in touch with what’s happening now, connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and more. Even Chris Pirillo like TweetDeck. See pic below.

Read the changelog below.

Full compatibility with all phones running 1.6 and above
Added option to remove Facebook, Buzz, or Foursquare accounts
Added option to delete tweets sent by you
Improved handling and refined UI for Facebook and Google Buzz attachments
Fixed bug preventing successful updates containing multiple photos
Added multi-Twitter account compose
New “More” button on all Twitter user profiles and updates allowing Reply All, Sharing, Translation, Copy update text, Copy update URL
Tapping the header when at the top of the column will refresh that column

Need to bone up on your social networking sites? I recommend the following books.

Facebook For Dummies

Twitter For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

Sams Teach Yourself Google Buzz in 10 Minutes

MySpace For Dummies

Follow me:

Fennec Mobile Working on Android 2.0 plus

2010-08-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

Mozilla has released the latest version of Fennec v2.0a1 a.k.a Firefox mobile. As you can see from image above it is in Alpha testing. This means it is early testing and potentially has bugs. To download the fennec.apk file you can click on the image above or click here from your Android phone like the Motorola DROID X. It will prompt you to download the file and then you can install. Remember you must go into the Menu on phone | Settings | Applications | Check mark Unknown Sources in order to install apps outside of the Android Marketplace.

Fennec version 2.0a1

Firefox Mobile a.k.a Fennec

Once installed and launched you are greeted with a very clean interface as seen to the left. It was slow to launch the first time and had me concerned but once it loaded seems to be pretty responsive. There is tab browsing available by swiping left to right as seen in image to the right.

They do offer pinch to zoom however, I found it a little jittery. If you click the menu button you are greeted with a menu (below) that allows you to fin In Page, Save As PDF and Share Page. Interesting that you can save the page as a PDF to your phone. This will be handy to email to someone instead of just a link. The Share on Page allows you to share the page with Email, Twitter, Google Reader and Facebook.

As an Alpha version I am pleased to see Firefox still working on the mobile addition. Firefox is one of the leading desktop browsers if not the leading.

Things I would like to see added or fixed:

Speed up browsing
Make pinch to zoom smooth
Exit button
Make install package much smaller (below 5 MB would be nice)
Ability to sync bookmarks between desktop and mobile
Link to phone feature like Chrome to Phone UPDATE there is a feature called sync for use with Firefox desktop browser 3.6 and above.

As stated in What android browser to use I will test and post about the other options soon.

Mobile Defense Helps You Find Your Lost Android Phone

2010-08-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

Downloaded Mobile Defense for the Android platform. Specifically for my Motorola Droid X running Google's Android operating system. Installed with easy from the Android Marketplace. Once launched it asked me to register I gladly filled in the required information. Mobile Defense sends a confirmation/activation email you have to click on the link in the email. Mobile Defense sends you an SMS message with a code in it that activates your phone. At which time you are required to restart your phone. Upon restarting your phone the Mobile Defense icon disappears in the programs list.

Surf on over to Mobile Defense and log into your account. This is where the magic is seen. When you login your greeted with your recent activity. Things like session started, audible alert enabled and device locked are shown. Click on the Map tab then on connect phone. Mobile Defense sends your phone an SMS message again with a code to active there services.

Once connected the map zooms into your location and presents you with the dialog box to the left. Here you can disconnect or lock your phone if you setup the pattern lock feature. You can also scare the hell out of the person that is holding you device click on Alert. You will now configure the settings of the alert. have it play a sound (heck yes you do) and if
you want the alert to require a 4-digit pin to turn the the alert off (I recommend you do) select Require Pin. Type in a message to appear in the dialog that pops up on the phones screen.
Mine would say something like:
Please call 530-410-6560 to report the phone being found. This phone is being tracked and if not reported we assume you stole it. Thank you

I guess that would get there attention wouldn’t? Oh not to mention the sound it plays is deafening and sounds like a home alarm system going off.

Mobile Defense Tracking Details

Details (see tracking details image to the left) show the information about your device at that moment for example:

The coordinates of your device, signal strength of the radio and the data connection which shows the SYSID of the router if Wi-Fi. There is talk of the ability to remote wipe your device in future updates.
Mobile Defense is like having AAA. It sits quietly in your pocket until you need it. I have had Mobile Defense on my Motorola Droid X since getting the device and have not seen any battery issues or conflicts with other programs. This program has become one of my top 5 must have programs for the Android phones.

Just think with Mobile Defense you will always know where your kids are of course that is for another post.

Send links from computer to Android device

2010-08-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

Google has a nifty app called Chrome to Phone. When installed on your Android device and have the Chrome to Phone extension in Google Chrome browser on your desktop computer you can click an icon and it will send the link of the current internet site to your Android device and launch a browser to that site.
Let's say your in the middle of reading about the latest Google news story over at your favorite blog and you have to leave but want to read it at your final destination. No problem, you click the icon in your Google Chrome browser and it sends the link to your phone. Depending on what option you selected your phone will either launch your default browser or bring up a dialog asking what browser to open as you can see below. The browser will launch and bring up the link as you seen it on your desktop before leaving.

What android browser to use?

2010-08-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

Droid X

In the midst of testing the following browsers for the android platform.

Default browser
Dolphin Browser HD
Skyfire Browser (beta)
Opera Mini Browser
Watching Fennec aka FireFox Mobile
UPDATE: see Fennec Firefox Mobile Working On Android 2.0 and above.

They each have there advantages and will be sure to report my findings in a later post.

Do you have a favorite?
If you have a favorite have you tried the others?

Posted via Blogaway with the amazing Droid X

Adobe Flash For Android 2.2 Keeps Getting Better

2010-08-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

If you are running Android Froyo 2.2 you might find the Flash 10.1.92.8 upgrade useful. You can find the download at AdobeFlash.zip. This came courtesy of our friends over at TalkAndroid.com has quickly become one of the top destinations for the latest Google Android news, rumors, and information.

Not sure what the change log is but it does render flash quicker from what I can tell. Here are screenshots, thanks to ShootMe, of the Adobe Flash Player 10.1.72.10 I had and the new and improved Adobe Flash Player 10.1.92.8 I now have after upgrading.

Let me know if you take the plunge and what you think?

Droid X Rooted With Froyo 2.2

2010-08-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

The other day I used DroidXRoot single click rooting found over at Android Central. Used it for my Droid X 2.1 build and had zero issues. I was using ShootMe to create the screenshots you saw at Trillian Goes Droid and Blogaway Over Blogaway Lite Beta. Then I read the post Hands Android 2.2 For Droid X and got cabin fever to install 2.2. I used 2.2 on the Nexus One I had for a few months. The upgrade to Froyo 2.2 was another piece of cake. I wanted to post a screenshot of my About Phone screen to show I had 2.2 installed. I clicked on ShootMe and it failed to connect to server. Immediately figured that the root I had done prior to installing Froyo 2.2 did not follow over with it. I tried numerous potential solutions like EasyRoot and Universal Root to no avail. After a day and half of learning Linux commands over at LinuxCommand.org I was tired and frustrated that I could not have root with 2.2. Then tntdroid over at Adroid Central Forums I was able to determine that I needed to go back to 2.1 and root the phone and move some files to different directories in preparation for upgrading to Froyo 2.2.

I surfed over to Droid X for the instructions How to root the Motorola Droid X. First I followed the instructions to roll my Droid X back to Android 2.1 or back to stock Droid X. Then followed the instructions to root 2.1 and then upgrade to Froyo 2.2. I must say after going crazy I was rather pleased at how quick it was to roll back, root and upgrade with the correct directions.

Immediately installed ShootMe to test and as you can see below I am rooted and have Froyo 2.2.

If you have any geekness in you I would recommend rooting and upgrading your Droid X. Especially after finding out how easy it is to roll back to the original OS.

Happy hacking.

Trillian Goes Droid

2010-08-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

Android Guys reported Trillian for Android Now in Open Beta. So I clicked over read the post and headed for the Trillian download. I must say for a beta this looks pretty polished. Launched the app and it asked me if I had a Trillian account so I logged in with my account I use on my desktop Trillian. Low and behold it had all my accounts ready for me to use. This included:

Aim
Facebook
Google Talk
ICQ
Jabber
MySpaceIM
Windows live messenger
Yahoo

You are presented with a login screen that allows you to select an account you have logged into before on the Droid X or able to select a new account. Once logged in you are presented with a screen that tells you who is logged in and there status. You can also see what accounts your logged into with the icons top right. I started a chat and noticed it took a little longer than normal for the message to arrive at the other end. Then they replied and game on all IM back and forth was pretty instantaneous just like I would expect from Trillian.

I will be continuing my testing of Trillian against the the other all-in-one IM program I use called eBuddy. The reason I would choose Trillian over eBuddy is because I use Trillian Pro on my desktop computer and having a consistent platform between desktop and Android device such as the Motorola Droid X makes a lot more sense if practical.

To recap: What is Trillian? Trillian lets you connect to multiple IM and social networks at the same time, managing contacts and real time status feeds efficiently. In layman's terms this means one IM client that handles all my IM accounts in one neat package.

I do have to question how much in touch does a person need. Tell me how often do you disconnect from all technology devices like a computer or smartphone?

Trillian Download Barcode

Posted via Blogaway using the amazing Droid X!

Don't shoot me instead shootme screens

2010-08-18T19:06:00.001-07:00

My good friend David over at David Louis Harter blog turned me on to a screen capturing program called ShootMe (screen grabber).

Prior to this great program you had to go through a long process involving the Android developer kit (sdk).

ShootMe once activated makes creating screenshots as simple as shaking your android phone. Yes the picture shown her was created by ShootMe.

Give it a try and let us know what you think?

Posted via Blogaway using the amazing Droid X!

Blogaway over blogaway lite beta

2010-08-18T18:07:00.001-07:00

modified with bloggeroid

All righty then ditch the beta version and stick to Blogaway . Really was hoping beta would have worked as advertise. I want, no I need multiple image uploads. Blogaway also gives the ability to save drafts to your phone. When Bloggeroid gives ability to save draft to phone it might replace blogaway. Until then blogaway still has a great interface.

Posted via Blogaway using the amazing Droid X!