The Power of Android!

Life is Crime - Game review

2011-09-22T05:43:00.000-05:00

Life is Crime is a MMORPG that unfolds in real world location based maps and landmarks. These kinds of games are fun and usually have an addictive quality to them but when you start playing this game and taking over businesses, banks and landmarks in your own home town....you will really get sucked in! This video will give you a broad overview of Life is Crime which is free to download from the market and at this time only available for Android.

Have fun and join my mob!
TPoA

Comic Strips App review

2011-09-20T05:45:00.000-05:00

Do you get the daily newspaper anymore? I don't either. But, I still enjoy reading the comics. With this app you can enjoy the comics that you want when and where you want them. It's a very clean and easy app to use and it's free too! I hope you enjoy this quick review of Comic Strips.

Have fun with the funnies!
TPoA

Everyone Loves Gadgets

2011-08-29T06:17:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend I watched a show on the History Channel called 101 Gadgets That Changed the World. It was a two hour recap of what they thought were the biggest "game changers" in the gadget world. The number one gadget was the smart phone! When I first saw this I shrugged my shoulders and thought that they made a mistake. I mean the smart phone beat out things like the zipper, radio, TV, and even the personal computer! Smart phones have only been around for a few years and they already topped the list? Wow...that really says something about their power and potential!

So, I stepped back for a second and thought...

They did mention that the smart phone did pack at least 15 different gadgets into one small package that can fit in your pocket. And, the Swiss Army knife and Leatherman multi-tool both made the list so I guess an electronic version of these should too. I have only owned my Android phone for a few months and I use it constantly. It connects me to my email, news, weather, sports, movies, games, maps/GPS, social media, my fantasy football teams, and a ton more! It's absolutely amazing what you can do with a smart phone! Between the internet access and all of the apps that have been developed, your phone can help out with almost anything. And, they just keep getting faster and more powerful at an incredible pace.

So, I don't know if I can totally agree that the smart phone is the most important gadget to change the world...yet. But, I think it is well on its way!

What do you think? In your opinion, what is the gadget that has changed the world most or has the potential to be a "super gadget"?

Have fun with those gadgets!
TPoA

Mixology - Then have a Drink.

2011-08-26T13:06:00.000-05:00

Mixology is a great free app (there is also a paid version to get rid of ads) to aid in the exploration of new mixed drinks. There is a huge variety of drinks and ingredients listed in this app as well as detailed recipes to make your drinks turn out awesome! Just go ahead and watch this video and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Have fun and bottoms up!
TPoA

What the Heck is the Spec?

2011-08-24T05:38:00.001-05:00

With Android phones you have a lot of choice and variety. Each phone can have wildly differing specifications. How are you supposed to know what is best for you? Well, I have read many articles and do you know what they all end up saying? Choose the one that will meet your needs. How's that supposed to help? You may not even know what your needs are yet. In my opinion it comes down to what features do you find important and what hardware specifications are you willing to pay for.

What do I mean by features? Well, think of the things on the phone that you can touch or interact with as the features. For example, the screen size and resolution, hardware keyboard, physical vs. capacitive buttons, and the software over lay that you use every time that you turn on your phone and touch the screen. Virtual keyboards are becoming more and more the norm. But, some people really like to interact with a physical keyboard. Most physical keyboards are nice but they do add some thickness and weight to the phone. You have to consider how you carry your phone, in a purse versus a front jeans pocket, to see if the thickness of the handset will affect your choice as well. The screen size will surely make the overall length and width of the phone vary. A phone with a 3.5" screen is much smaller than the phones that are rocking a 4.3" screen.

Unless you are a little bit of a dork like me or you are just a very informed consumer, hardware specifications can be a little confusing and abstract. Most people just want a cool phone that will always work for them. And that's great! I do too! But, these carriers are locking me into a two year marriage with this phone and I don't want to have any regrets. Now, if you watch specs on phones and always want the latest and greatest that Android has to offer...You will NEVER buy a phone! Because there is always something coming down the road that is better. So, you may just need to find a phone that looks good, feels good, and performs good and jump right in. The screen is the part of the phone that you always use. So, get one that is big enough for you to comfortably use. The processor and RAM make all of the software run on your phone. My advice is to not skimp on these two specs. If you do get a lower end phone with an older processor and less RAM, just be prepared for some jittery response from some apps and event from the regular phone screens that you use to make your phone do all of the neat tricks that is capable of. If you are going to use this as a primary or secondary camera, make sure to watch some reviews on line and even try it out in the store to see if the camera take good enough pictures. Remember, more megapixels does NOT always mean better pictures. Trust your eyes and choose what looks best. I don't even want to talk about this but...3G vs. 4G has got to be a consideration as well. 4G is much faster than 3G. But, you need to be in an area that has 4G coverage to see those speeds. Also, to date the 4G phones tend to have bad battery life compared to 3G phones. I am sure that will improve in the future.

I always like to have as much choice as possible. But, that can make choosing the right phone a little stressful if you get overwhelmed. The iPhone overcomes this by limiting your choice. They have a 16GB and 32GB model that comes in white or black. So, you essentially have four choices. But, the rest of the specs are the same. This means that if you get an iPhone 4 you can expect that all the apps are going to work the same as any of your friend's iPhones. That can be comforting and safe. Their interface is also very polished and intuitive. A three year old can pick up an iPhone and use it right away. Which is nice. Android is much more customizable which can make it more confusing. I'm OK with that. Then I can make the phone that is always with me truly mine. No one else's will be like mine.

So, there is a lot to consider when you are looking for that next phone. If you get confused just check out some You Tube video reviews of the phones that you are interested in. Or, join a forum, read articles or leave comments on a blog like this. People love helping each other out on blogs and forums because we are all excited about the same topic. This is an important decision. The phone that you choose is going to cost a lot of money over the two years that you have it. And, you better like it because it is going to go everywhere with you. It's going to be like your best friend.

Have fun exploring all of the options available to you!
TPoA

Pocket Casts - Review

2011-08-20T15:42:00.000-05:00

I have found myself listening to podcasts more than radio and sometimes even more than TV. It's nice to be able to enjoy a show that is based on the exact subject that I feel like listening to at any given moment in time. I don't have to be limited to what the local radio stations are feeding me during their predetermined time slots. Even the ads are better on most podcasts! I don't think that many people enjoy listening to commercials but, if they have to, it's nice if they are at least relevant to the topic that you are listening to. To me it makes the ads more interesting.

Pocket Casts is an excellent app to help discover, listen to, and organize your podcasts. Here is my review.

Have fun and explore some new podcasts!
TPoA

GoogleRola? Moto-Google? THIS IS A BIG DEAL!

2011-08-16T06:06:00.000-05:00

So, it sounds like Google wants to buy Motorola mobility for around $12.5 billion. WOW! This could be a HUGE event in the tech world that could potentially affect a whole lot of other companies and millions and millions of people. Let's take a quick look at some of the possible things that could shake out.

First: I believe that a big reason this is going on is to secure patents. With all of the lawsuits going on Google needs to acquire a lot of meaningful patents to survive potential lawsuits coming their way. I think that all of these patent lawsuits that are going on between these tech companies is a load of crap! Why do they spend all of this time and money sitting in court when they could invest all of that time and effort in product development and just make a better product than their competitor. Oh well, I guess that's not reality.

Second: Google will have control of the manufacture and design of their own handsets. Where does that leave Samsung, Sony, LG, HTC and others down the road. It would seem that instead of supplying these other manufacturers with a free OS...Google is now directly competing against them! What a sudden and weird turn of events. I bet those other companies are scrambling right now to figure out what is going to happen next.

Third: Part of the mobility division is the set top boxes that Motorola supplied to cable and satellite companies. Would Google use this position to build Google TV into all of these STB's that are in millions of homes? It might not be a bad thing for the end user but would Google be reaching too far?

I don't know if this purchase is going to get approved because there are so many players involved directly and indirectly. But, it seems to be a trend lately, started by the AT&T and T-Mobile deal that is still pending. Big companies are trying to get bigger so that they can't be brought down by some stupid lawsuit. I am sure we will all be hearing more about this for quite some time.

What do you think? Am I over reacting? Is this not a big deal? Are there other things that may be impacted that I didn't discuss here?

Brian

Google TV - It runs Android...Are you interested???

2011-08-15T23:00:00.000-05:00

Nearly everyone likes to watch TV. Some more than others. But, watching TV isn't always just sitting back in the easy chair with the "clicker" and flipping through 6 channels anymore. With the advent of digital compression technologies cable and satellite providers have the ability to send hundreds of channels your way! And, now you have your choice of watching programming in standard definition (SD), High definition (HD), or even in 3D! With all of these changes you are still basically sitting on the couch and flipping channels. Now finding the show that you want to watch almost requires you to use some sort of on-screen guide provided to you through a set top box (STB) to sort through all of the content that is being provided to you. All of this outlines some basic changes in just TV.

Now some questions for you...

Do you have a computer and a high speed internet connection?
Do you have photos on your computer that you would like to show people when they come over?
Do you watch You Tube videos?
Do you have home movies or music on your computer?

Looking through that list of questions...It sure looks like a lot of stuff could be sitting on your computer just waiting to hit the big screen! Enter Google TV. This is a STB that is supposed to interact with basically all of your media in your home and centralize it on your TV. So, how is that supposed to work you may ask? Once you hook up your Google TV unit to your TV, internet connection and your home network you can start accessing content through an on-screen menu system. And, staying true to Google's roots, you can type in searches for content. This will bring up results from potentially numerous places from inside your home or on the web! For example, if you type in a search for "The Office" you may see results come up from live TV from your cable operator, possibly episodes that you have recorded on your DVR (Digital Video Recorder), or even episodes that are on the web. Then you can just click on the choice that you want and start watching!

Building on that you also have access to web content. This includes watching You Tube on your TV. There are also web channels to watch for example TWiT (This Week in Tech), Pandora, and others. There is a built in Chrome web browser so that you can surf and search the web. You can use Twitter while watching TV on the same screen if you want.

Bring your content to the big screen as well. There is a built in photo gallery to display all of your photos from your computer onto your TV. Any movies that you have stored on your computer can be searched through and streamed to your TV as well.

There are tons and tons of features on a Google TV that can make your enjoyment of all of the content out there fun! And, now this powerful device is selling for just $99 after a recent price drop. And with the coming of the Android market at some point soon...This may be a neat toy to own!

Now the downside. First of all there are a ton of things that you can do with a Google TV. Which may be a little overwhelming for some people. The on-screen interface is decent but can be a little confusing to people that aren't into a lot of gadgets or computers. Second of all, and this is probably the biggest negative, many programmers have blocked access to their content through Google TV. What that means for the end user is that you may be able to go to CBS.com and watch your favorite shows on your computer. But, if you use a Google TV unit (which is just accessing the website the same as your computer) you may find those shows blocked. I don't really understand why these broadcast corporations want to block people from seeing their content because you will see the ads on the Google TV the same as if you are in front of your computer. But, that is their decision and Google hasn't worked out any deals with those broadcasters yet. This is your warning though...Don't buy a Google TV and expect to watch network TV programming from the web on your TV.

I think that the Google TV unit installed in a home that has content scattered around everywhere would be a big benefit. Especially since the Google TV Logitech Revue unit is priced so nicely at $99.

I would like to hear from anyone that might have Google TV installed in their home and let me know what you think of it.

Have fun and command your TV!
Brian

Pinball Apps

2011-08-13T13:19:00.000-05:00

These pinball apps are a couple of good fun time wasters. You can jump into them and play for a few minutes, pause, and get back to whatever you have going on in your life. Each one is a little different that the other. Let me know what you think of these apps. Or, let me know if you are using a pinball game that you like better than these!

Have fun pinball wizard!
Brian

HBO GO - Wherever You Go

2011-08-10T06:47:00.000-05:00

HBO GO lets you watch HBO when ever and wherever you want on your phone or computer. HBOGO.com has all of the info on which cable providers are supported....that's right, you still need to subscribe to HBO's cable channel before you can use their mobile service. But, there is no additional charge for using the mobile app or website once you subscribe.
You can sign into their website or into the Android App (iPhone and iPad apps are also available) to watch a ton of their content. They have movies, series, sports, etc. all right there for you! Just click or tap and away you go!

Enjoy the review and let me know if you have any questions!

Have fun and go watch a movie!
Brian

Yahoo! It's NFL Fantasy Football!

2011-08-09T07:02:00.000-05:00

The lockout is over! The players and coaches are back to work! We're almost halfway through August! NFL football is about to begin! Do you have a plan for your fantasy football team/teams yet? To do well in your league you have to invest some time in your team! And, Yahoo! is there to help you do just that.

My drafts haven't started yet but, I do have a plan to stay up to date on at least some of my teams. I just downloaded the Yahoo! Fantasy Football '11 app. Obviously, this will only help you out if your league in on Yahoo! But, I do have a few through Yahoo! and my team names an logos are already populated in the app. My draft days haven't happened yet so I can't really do much on my phone. Once my teams are drafted, I should be able to take a look at my team and do almost what ever I want right through their app.

This would include:

real time scoring
updated stats
edit line-ups
check standings and match-ups
search for and sign free agents

Now, I haven't been able to really use this app yet but, it really sounds like it will put a lot of control and information about my team and league right in the palm of my hand! I am super exited about that! No more stress when I am away from home thinking..."Did I update my starters?" or "Crap! I just heard on the radio that my starting quarterback is injured and I started him!" I can now just take care of it on the fly. Awesome!

If there are any other fantasy football junkies out there that are using something different I would like to hear from you! Leave some comments and let me know what your favorite fantasy football app is and why it helps you stay on top of your team. Good luck to everyone playing fantasy football this year!

Have fun and crush your league!

Brian

Skype mobile - Update

2011-08-07T10:21:00.000-05:00

Skype has released a new update that allows video calling on more handsets than before. In fact, besides just the handsets that they have certified, as long as you are on Android version 2.2 (froyo) or newer their service should work on your phone. It does look like if you are on froyo though you will be limited to just using the rear facing camera which may be cumbersome. I have upgraded to Android version 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) and have installed the new version of the Skype app. To find out what version of Android that you are running simply go to your settings, about phone, and then software information. It should tell you what version you are running at the top of the screen under "Android version".

Simply stated...IT IS AWESOME!!! Skype is cross-platform. So, I can place a Skype call from my phone to someone's computer or phone to phone if they have Skype installed too. The voice and video quality are very good. Switching between front and rear facing cameras is very simple too. All you have to do is tap the screen and a menu pops up for you to make your choice. Switching back and forth is very fast and easy. This is where I encountered the only glitch that I have found. Once, when switching between cameras the image froze on the other end of the call. Everything seemed fine on my end but I was informed that my image was stuck in place. Hmmm... Well, the fix is actually pretty easy. Just tap the screen to bring up your camera menu and tap "turn off video". Then tap the screen again to turn on video. You won't drop the call and it only takes a few seconds. I can live with that. Besides...my phone isn't even on the certified list! If you want to read the support documents from Skype here is a link for your convenience. https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA11019/How-do-I-make-video-calls-with-Skype-for-Android

Here's a quick story on how I used Skype video calling yesterday. My kids are staying with one of the grandparent's this weekend. Well, we got a big storm with a lot of rain. The water was almost up to the rims on our vehicles. The weather was moving in their direction. So, I called them with Skype on my phone. I was able to talk and see them and then I switched to the back camera so that they could see what the storm left behind. They thought that was pretty cool! And, I am just amazed on how I could share that moment with my kids while they are half way across the state.

Have you downloaded the new Skype yet? What do you think? How are you going to use it?

Have fun and make some video calls!
Brian

Super KO Boxing 2 - Game review

2011-08-05T06:32:00.000-05:00

I think that having games on your phone is a great way to take a few moments out of your busy day to relax and forget about all of the other things going on around you for a while. Super KO Boxing 2 is a great game that you can jump in and play very easily and the way that it gets progressively more difficult at a good pace will keep you coming back. And another great feature of this game is that it is FREE!

Have fun and keep your left up!
Brian

Jamie Oliver 20 minute meals - app review

2011-08-03T23:27:00.001-05:00

Here is my first review of a cooking app. I must say it is pretty good! There is a lot of content and functionality built into this app that make it very useful and fun to use. Check out my video review and let me know what you think!

Have fun and cook great things!
Brian

Browsing for Browsers

2011-08-01T06:15:00.000-05:00

When I got my Android powered phone I was really excited to be able to browse the internet with an experience that would rival the desk top. And, for the most part I was pretty happy with the stock browser that came installed on my phone. But, wait! I needed to check out the Android Market to see if I could download the Chrome browser for my phone. I absolutely love using Chrome on my desktop. Chrome and Android are both made by Google...so it seemed very logical for me that I could have my Chrome browser with me where ever I went. But, searching the market just brought disappointment. No Chrome. I just doesn't make sense to me. So, I had to move on.

Luckily there are several very good choices for alternate browsers out there. It's nice to have choice. So, I have used the stock browser, Opera mini, and the full blown Opera browser. I had the dolphin browser installed for a short time but it didn't really render the web pages that I view the correct way. Now it has been a while since I have used it so, I will probably re-download it again soon to try it out. All of the other browsers seem to work very fast and render web pages really well. I have been using Opera as my primary browser for a while now and the reason that I have used that one so much is that it does a really good job with the pages that I view most often. Sites with Flash embedded in them seem to work best in Opera. It works smoothly and I never seem to have any problems with it crashing. I also like it's start screen. When you launch Opera it brings up a screen that has nine tiles on it where you can store your most visited or favorite sites so as soon as you launch you can tap your site and be on your way!

I am curious to find out what your favorite browser is and why. Leave a comment to let me know and if different than mine I would like to try it out to compare.

Have fun and happy browsing!
Brian

Catching the Moment

2011-07-30T17:17:00.000-05:00

It's amazing how much technology has changed the way that we capture memories, document events, and share those special once in a lifetime moments. Ever since I got my new phone, it has been with me nearly every moment of the day. It's a powerful computer/camera/movie studio in the palm of my hand! The events that I have captured have been just completely amazing and not possible in the not too distant past.

Compact digital cameras were an amazing product to come along. You could shoot hundreds of pictures and then save them to your computer and start all over again. You weren't limited by the 24 or 36 exposure film anymore. And developing pictures was a thing of the past.

Camcorders were a great way to document events on "film" so that you could show other friends and family that weren't able to be there. Although sometimes getting the footage into a usable form was sometimes an issue depending on the format of the recording. Editing sometimes became a challenge as well.

In comes the modern smart phone. I have all of the above things handy on my phone plus the internet to share or store things almost instantly! For example, this past week my oldest daughter learned how to ride a two-wheeler without training wheels. It was a fantastic moment for me and an accomplishment that she is very, very proud of. Instead of carrying around a camera, and camcorder and then hooking it up to the computer, I was able to film the event and take a few pictures. Then I immediately sent off one of the pictures to share the great news! After she was done riding, I could share with the rest of my friends and family on Facebook!

Another recent first happened that I caught on film because I had my phone along. My family and I were visiting some friends for dinner. After dinner their one year old daughter was crawling around and even standing on her own. She hasn't really walked yet but, she grabbed one of her walking toys and started wandering around the house! They said it was the first time that their daughter has ever done that! Everyone was very excited and I captured the moment on my phone! After that I was able to give them a copy so that they can enjoy that moment over whenever they want.

These are just a couple of examples of how awesome it is to have a smartphone handy. My phone has an 8 Megapixel camera and shoots video in 720P resolution. It's incredible to have that much good equipment within reach at all times whenever the moment may need to be documented.

Now that's The Power of Android!

Have fun and capture those precious moments!
Brian

Rss Readers - Google Reader and Pulse

2011-07-27T13:25:00.000-05:00

RSS readers are a great way to get the news or stay up to date on your favorite blog (like The Power of Android! for example) in a quick and efficient way. You don't need to go to each site and sift through all of their posts to see if there is something that interests you. Just open your reader and skim the headlines that you want to see and only read the articles that you want. All in a quick one stop shop! Below is my review of two popular RSS readers: Google Reader and Pulse.

If you have a favorite reader other than these I would like to hear about it. Please leave any comments below so that I can see what you use.

Have fun and stay up-to-date!
Brian

SwiftKey X - review

2011-07-25T12:28:00.001-05:00

SwiftKey X is an alternate keyboard available for Android phones. Here's my review.

Have fun and keep on typing!
Brian

Go Launcher

2011-07-20T18:53:00.000-05:00

Loading a new launcher on your phone is a great way to change the look, feel, and functionality of your handset. This video hits some of the high points and gives you a taste for what is out there. Check out my brief walk through of Go Launcher.

Have fun and customize!
Brian

Gingerbread demo - Droid Incredible 2

2011-07-19T07:11:00.000-05:00

Here is a brief demo of a couple of new features on my Droid Incredible 2 that came with the Gingerbread update. Please leave some feedback if there is anything that you would like covered in more detail.

Thanks and enjoy.

Gingerbread!

2011-07-14T23:42:00.000-05:00

I live in an area where my phone is always "roaming". This is not a Verizon home area. Normally that isn't a big deal. I can make calls, my data works (3G is available), and I don't incur any extra charges on my bill for any of this. That's all good. To my knowledge that only leaves two things that I can't do where I live.

1. I can't activate a new phone unless I drive to a Verizon area.
2. I can't receive software updates until I'm in a Verizon area.

This brings me to today. I happened to drive to a Verizon home area and I checked my phone to see if any software updates were available. There was! Gingerbread, Android's newest update to their operating system was available for me to download. So I started the download immediately. The download file is rather large coming in at a shade over 116 MB. Make sure you have enough signal and battery power if you are going to update your handset. Overall the download and install took roughly 20 minutes. Everything went very smooth and the phone took the update well. I am just starting to play around with the new OS and so far everything seems to be working just fine. I would expect nothing less since Gingerbread was first being released all the way back in December 2010.

I am not ready to share any details yet since I have only had it installed for a few hours now. I plan on having a video review posted here very soon. So keep checking back. In the mean time, check your phone to see if you have any available updates. See what happens! If you already have updated your phone to Gingerbread please let me know how your experience has been.

Have fun and update your OS!
Brian

Tiered data plans - Not terrible YET!

2011-07-10T23:48:00.001-05:00

Now Verizon Wireless has jumped onto the tiered data plan bandwagon. Up until now you could get unlimited data for $30 a month. To me that seems a little expensive until I saw the new setup. Now $30 will only get you 2GB of data, $50 for 5 GB and $80 for 10 GB! That just seems outrageous! Luckily, I took advantage of an early upgrade and now am grandfathered in to the unlimited plan.

The data part of the plan is what makes smartphones so powerful and useful. Without that...an ipod touch and a Moto RAZR would take care of business just fine. The wireless providers say that more than 90% of users consume less than 2 GB per month. Well, that may be true now but, with all of the new and more powerful apps that are coming out data consumption is poised to go through the roof! 2 GB isn't going to cut it much longer. They say that people can now find a price point that meets their needs. And the "band width hogs" will have to pay their fair share. With the advent of cloud computing everything is going to need a data connection to access it.

Let's take a look at a couple of items that come to mind right now. Amazon and Google both have cloud based storage for your music. My whole music collection is "stored" with Google and their music service. I also have some music stored with Amazon. These services are amazingly convenient to have. Anytime that I have a data connection I can access ANY song that I have stored digitally. Without taking up any room on my phone! These convenient services really start to eat up your monthly data allowance. Now with Netflix starting to be available on select handsets data consumption is going to explode!

And that's why the tiered data services are here. To protect the carriers inferior network from crashing down around them. Have you ever tried using data services on your phone at a professional sporting event? Usually you will find that data rates are painfully slow. Everyone in that stadium is hitting that same tower and they don't have enough bandwidth to support it all at once. That is just a small scale illustration of what would happen everywhere if too many people are streaming music and video all the time. Everyone would suffer until the carriers can drastically increase the bandwidth capacity of each and every cell tower out there. Obviously, this isn't cheap.

I am not in favor of tiered data plans at all. I'm not sure what the final solution is but there has to be a better way. I think that I would prefer throttling instead. If I use more than 2 GB of data then I could just keep consuming data but just at a slower speed. Hmmm...but, would that affect my streaming music or video? If it does why would I want to keep paying for something that doesn't do what I want? Man, this is not easy. As a consumer, I feel that I am being taken advantage of. I do see the provider's point of view on the matter as well.

I don't have the answer. Do you? Does anyone out there have a better plan? What are your opinions on tiered data vs. unlimited? I would like to hear from you.

Have fun and use that data!

Travel Wisconsin - App review

2011-07-08T00:16:00.000-05:00

Travel Wisconsin is an app with a very limited audience. Basically you have to either live in Wisconsin, plan on traveling there or be doing some research to see if you want to go there. In any case, I thought it would be neat to highlight an app that can really do a lot for an individual or a family on vacation. We only get a limited amount of time off of work so you better make every second count! I hope you enjoy the review. Let me know if you have used other similar apps out there. If other states don't have this kind of offering for vacationers...it might be something that they could do to help boost tourism.

Have fun and Travel Wisconsin!

Brian

App-tastic!

2011-07-05T15:08:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows about apps. Get this app and you gotta have that app. Where do you get them? With Android there are many places! First of all you can go to the Android Market. There will be a shortcut already installed on your phone. You can just tap and launch it and start browsing the thousands of apps available to you. Searching, browsing, and installing are all very easy to do!

There are also options available right from you computer! That's right! Instead of browsing around on your phone you can check out everything through your browser. You can browse to the market here https://market.android.com/. Once you find something that you like and purchase it, the app will be sent to your phone where you can install it at your convience.

Some alternative sites are AppBrain found at www.appbrain.com. This is a nice way to not only find and get the apps that you want but it has a lot of suggestions broken down by category. It's a good way of discovering some apps that you might overlook or never thought of searching for in the past.

Another source for apps that I found is Appolicious found at http://www.androidapps.com/. This is very similar to AppBrain with a little different layout. Both of these sites make use of QR codes too. A QR code is basically like a bar code that you would find on any normal item that you would purchase in the store except it is more like a squiggly square. To use this you just need to install a bar code reader app on your phone from any of the markets and scan the code that comes up on your screen that is next to the app that you want. Once scanned, your phone will pop up a link for you to tap on to download the app! Easy!

Have you ever heard of Amazon.com? I bet you have. Did you know that they have a fully stocked app store too? One really nice thing that they have is a free paid app every day! And these aren't just junk apps either. An Amazon.com account is necessary to get apps from them and you need to install the Amazon App Store app on your phone. Then purchasing apps if similar to using any of the other services. Even if you decide not to use Amazon as your primary store, the free app a day should be checked out anyway.

There are many, many other ways to get apps on your phone as well. Most are legal and some....not so much. It is great to have the choice on where you can go shop!

These are some of the app markets that I have used. Where do you go to get your apps? Are there better places than the ones I brought up here? Did I miss any big features that everyone should know about? Help me out. I enjoy any feed back that I can get.

Have fun and enjoy those apps!
Brian

Does size matter?

2011-07-03T23:47:00.000-05:00

If you have an iPhone...screen size is kind of irrelevant. You have one choice and that is 3.5". That's it. A 3.5" screen is very nice but as you can do more and more things on a phone, wouldn't it be nice to have a little more real estate? Enter Android and a whole bunch of choice. Screen sizes run from around 2.55" all the way up to 4.3" and I have heard some rumors about a phone that may come out rockin' a monster 4.5" display! In my opinion it is nice to have that kind of choice. Then the problem is making the right decision and finding the display that is right for you.

Do you carry your phone in a pocket or in some other bag or belt clip? These should be you first questions when deciding on the size of phone that you want. A 4.3" screen is beautiful when you are sitting down and using the phone but it may make carrying that thing in your front pocket a little uncomfortable. Especially if the phone is a little on the thick side. A skinny 4.3" may not be too bad. You just have to go to the store and throw one in your pocket and see how it feels. Now on the other end of the spectrum you could look at a phone with a 3.0" display. It will fit really nice in any pocket, purse or bag. But, if it only has a virtual keyboard you may be a little cramped when typing. You would probably want to have a slide out physical keyboard which will make the phone a little thicker and heavier.

What are you going to do most on your phone? If you are going to primarily use your phone for texting and maybe some email...a smaller screen may be the right choice for you. If you are watching videos, playing games, web surfing, or writing long emails you may want to consider a larger screen.

You also have to consider how it feels in your hand. Can you reach the other side of the screen with your thumb? Maybe a 4.3" is too big. Move to a 4" screen and see how that feels. You can also consider moving all of your commonly used "one handed" apps and widgets to the right side (if you are right handed) of the screen for easy access with one hand. Then any "two handed" apps can be moved to the other side of the phone.

There is a lot to consider when deciding on the right screen for yourself. Generally I would say to get the biggest screen that you are comfortable with and you will be very happy. Choice can be a frustrating thing sometimes but I would rather be a little frazzeled by having too many choices than to have someone else choose for me.

What do you think the best screen size is? Are there other considerations that I didn't even bring up here? What made you choose your current phone? I would like to get some of your feedback to spark a lively conversation.

Have fun and don't stare at your phone's display too long!
Brian