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App Review – Skype Mobile

Arthur Boilanger — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:16:11 +0000

Skype Mobile on the Android platform is a system that works extremely well it seems. I’ve used it extensively in Skype to Skype calls and have made a one minute call to a landline to test quality. It is a free app, however if you’re making Skype to Landline calls you will need to purchase Skype Credits.

With Skype Mobile, it’s a fairly easy process of simply signing in with your existing Skype credentials; everything will be transferred over from your Skype contacts. You can be invited to an existing chat group, start a new one, and call people. I’ve not yet gotten the opportunity to call a group of people, however I have had a group of people call me and the sound quality is excellent! It did not seem to matter if I was in a 3G coverage area or not, I was able to hear everyone clearly and there was not a single moment where anything broke up or had static run through it.

I do have a few gripes with the application though, several times throughout my call I had been dropped. I’m not sure if this had to do with the fact that I logged in on Skype on my laptop (to test the response time of the chat) or just because the host dropped the call, but I was never able to “Join Call” from my phone and always had to be called back.

I also wish that when making or receiving a call you stayed in the application and were not taken back to the Android calling screen. It’s slightly jarring to be having a conversation via chat when you’re suddenly called from another Skype user. Then you have to go back to the home screen of Android, and back into the Skype app to be able to continue your conversation.

Aside from those two minor things, the app does exactly what one would think that a Skype app should do. On top of that it does those things well, and I’m sure that the Skype team will continue to improve upon it and maybe my complaints will be fixed in a future update. I give the Skype Mobile app a B.

Review: LG Ally

Arthur Boilanger — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:45:31 +0000

The LG Ally is a relatively affordable Android phone that seems pretty mediocre. However, it does have some redeeming qualities about it.

First things first, in terms of how it looks and feels the Ally phones are remarkably unremarkable, with a mostly matte black appearance. There are two muted chrome strips on the sides of the screen, and the volume rocker and camera toggle are chrome as well. The addition of the chrome seems rather pointless to me, but it’s functional and works. The phone feels heavy for its size, but it isn’t dense, it just feels like it belongs there.

The screen itself is a rather nice 800×480 unit in a 3.2-inch diagonal form, which makes looking at it a real pleasure. You can read text very clearly on it and things just render flawlessly on it. The display itself also doesn’t put much strain on the battery life of the phone, which depending on usage (an average day sees me browsing the web and maybe using the GPS for 10-15 minutes max), will last all day. Also the charging kit that comes with the phone is the standard mini-USB cable that can plug into a charging outlet or into your pc/laptop/(or in my case, an Xbox 360)

The standout feature for this phone however, and the reason I chose it over the Droid and newly released Droid X and Incredible is the keyboard. It’s truly a joy to use, with very well angled and spaced out keys, a nice directional pad, and nice feedback.

The phone is not without its weaknesses however. The processor seems woefully underpowered for the Android 2.1 operating system, and while it’s not really hanging up on anything (for the most part) the phone just seems surprised, for lack of a better word, anytime it’s tasked with something that requires a ton of processing.

The camera could also use a little work. It meters light fairly quickly and produces a shot that is usable the majority of the time (any picture I didn’t like I could usually just change the flash on and have a decent one afterwards).

On to the OS, this is a near vanilla build of Android 2.1. It’s fully capable of running all the apps in the app store. Whether it’s updated to 2.2 and Froyo remains to be seen, but I personally see no reason why it wouldn’t be. Speaking of the app store, I like it a lot. There are a bunch of quality free applications out there for just about anything you would need and/or want. I personally have a bunch of social media apps there so that way I can keep updated on how certain things in the media are unfolding.

When it all comes down to it though, I’d give this phone a grade of B. It’s got a gorgeous display, and an excellent keyboard. Unfortunately it could stand to look a little nicer, and the hardware itself just doesn’t do the OS any justice. If you’re looking to choose between this and a Droid, I’d probably choose the Droid because of the hardware, but having used both I prefer the Ally.

Fix Samsung Vibrant GPS issues

Paras Chadha — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:36:20 +0000

If you were one of the early adopters for the T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant (like myself) then most of you probably noticed the annoying “finding location” message staying on for way too long. Well it appears Apple isn’t the only company that makes mistakes! Unlike Apple’s mistake however there is a software fix, and it is actually fairly easy!

To fix your Samsung Vibrant’s GPS functionality just follow the following steps (I hear it works on other Galaxy S phones as well, but I can’t confirm this).

Go to Settings -> Location & Security
Uncheck “Use Wireless Networks”
Now navigate to the Phone dialer and type: “*#*#1472365#*#*” (No quotes of course)
When you type that you’ll be thrown into the LBSTestMode Menu
Click the “Applications Settings” menu, than switch Operation Mode to “MS Based”
Click back then go into “SUPL/CP Settings” and change the server to: “supl.google.com” and the server port to “7276″
Reboot your phone
Go back to Settings -> Location & Security
Check “Use Wireless Networks”

Now your GPS should be good to go (if Samsung notices this problem and releases a patch, I recomend changing your GPS settings back to the original settings before updating, original settings are listed below).

Original settings:
Operation Mode: Standalone
Server: www.spirent-lcs.com
Port: 7275

If Samsung is to fix this update I’ll make sure I include an update to this post with that information!

Hopefully this fixes the problem most of you have been having, and if my instructions are too difficult let me know and I’ll include a video on how to fix your GPS.

TechWebCast Episode 84

Paras Chadha — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 05:00:45 +0000

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Recently I was invited to join the Tech Webcast crew for their latest podcast recording. I figured you all would get a kick of out it. Make sure you check out the episode and check out their website for more amazing content, TechWebcast.info!

If you like it make sure you subscribe to their podcast and follow their twitter for more of their amazing work!

Source: TechWebcast.info

Google signs a 20-year deal to power data centers with wind energy

Paras Chadha — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:54:03 +0000

When we decided in 2007 to voluntarily become carbon neutral, our intent was to take responsibility for our carbon emissions and promote sustainable environmental solutions. We approach this goal in three ways. First, we minimize our energy consumption; in fact, we’ve built some of the world’s most energy efficient data centers. Second, we seek to power our facilities with renewable energy, like we did in Mountain View, CA with one of the largest corporate solar installations. Finally, we purchase carbon offsets for the emissions we cannot directly eliminate.

We just completed a substantial 20-year green Power Purchase Agreement that allows us to take responsibility for our footprint and foster true growth in the renewable energy sector. On July 30 we will begin purchasing the clean energy from 114 megawatts of wind generation at the NextEra Energy Resources Story County II facility in Iowa at a predetermined rate for 20 years. Incorporating such a large amount of wind power into our portfolio is tricky (read more about how the deal is structured), but this power is enough to supply several data centers.

From googleblog.blogspot.com (share this quote)

Google is a company who is known for their innovation, even when it comes to saving the environment. Google data centers and buildings obviously use a lot of electricity to power, well they have been known for doing things like using solar technology for partial power however recently they have taken a slightly different approach.

According to the Official Google Blog, they apparently have made a 20-year green power purchase agreement with wind energy that apparently will be able to power several Google Data centers! After reading this and seeing what Google is done, I hope other companies follow Google on this decision.

Source: Official Google Blog

Best iPhone 4 Antenna Fix!

Paras Chadha — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:33:51 +0000

When looking at my twitter feed I came across that picture, and wow that’s the BEST antenna fix I’ve ever seen! If I ever buy an iPhone 4, I’m definitely making one of those for myself. Apple should definitely start selling those or putting it on the newer iPhone shipments. It will make it seem like they did that on purpose (plus it will give that area some use). This is way better than buying a case (well getting one for free now) from Apple!

If you have any cool fixes or funny images like the one above, feel free to post them in the comment section below

Source: @PaperModelPlane

Rex Bionics Allows Paralyzed Man to Walk!

Paras Chadha — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:33:50 +0000

Prosthetics is one industry that has been evolving tremendously recently! Recently in fact a New Zealand biotech company developed a technology that allowed a paralyzed man to talk again. This bionic leg technology is known as REX (robotic exoskeleton). This $160,000 machine is a piece of equipment that uses advanced controls to allow a paralyzed person to walk up slopes, go up and down stairs, and do much more making it much more useful than today’s wheelchairs. It even keeps the person at eye to eye level with other people which is amazing!

Now from what I see this technology isn’t perfect but it’s getting there, check out the video above and the picture below and let me know what you think!

Source: RexBionics.co.nz

Last Shipment of the Nexus One

Paras Chadha — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 05:15:42 +0000

Earlier this year, we announced that we will be closing the Nexus One web store. This week we received our last shipment of Nexus One phones. Once we sell these devices, the Nexus One will no longer be available online from Google.

From googlenexusoneboard.blogspot.com via clp.ly

As you can tell from above it appears that the Google Phone store has received its last shipment of Nexus One phones and after all of them are sold, the online store will be no more. Now this does not mean you won’t be able to obtain a Nexus One, the Nexus One will continue to be sold by partners including Vodafone in Europe, KT in Korea, and possibly others based on local market conditions. If you’re a developer and you want a phone that supports the latest Android OS, you can still buy the Nexus One through one of Google’s partners when you log into your developer account.

For the existing Nexus One users, the support team will remain up so no worries there!

Let me know what you think about this decision by Google!

Coolest Staircases

Paras Chadha — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:04:03 +0000

I was actually browsing around for creative furniture since I’m moving later this summer. When browsing online for this stuff a friend sent me this image for “Creative Staircases” now I have to admit these staircases are AWESOME since they are so different. Although these staircases are incredibly cool, when it comes to functionality I have no idea, I personally would be terrified using these staircases haha (I wonder what their safety rating would be!).

Let me know what you think and if you have any other pictures of cool staircases send them to me via the Contact form so I can add them in to this post.

Source: Techeblog

GE Unveil’s Charge-Stations for Electric Cars

Paras Chadha — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:48:37 +0000

Recently I was interested in seeing how our electric car business is coming along and browsing I came across this interesting announcement that GE made not too long about with the charging ports that they developed! I actually find this incredibly cool, it looks almost like a slightly larger parking meter but it charges your car. When you go up to one of these car chargers the device has an LED indicator ring around the top edge which changes colors depending upon whether the charging port is available for use (green if available, red when it’s not, and blue when it is in use). The power output is the part that actually impressed me the most, apparently it should be able to charge a car in as little as 4-8 hours rather then today’s chargers which take 12-16 hours.

If you look at the images above, the user interface appears to be incredibly simple and easy to use (perfect for all people no matter how tech savvy you are). Definitely looks way more simple to use then the UI that today’s gas stations have! Apparently these stations should start being put up in 2011 and a smaller home version will be released some time later this year.

Take a look at the pictures below and let me know what you think

Source: Gizmodo

Best Google Logo and Halloween Costume!

Paras Chadha — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:10:41 +0000

This is the best Google Logo I’ve probably ever seen, and this also doubles as the best halloween costume of all time…this tops the slave leia outfit. Look at the picture below, I have nothing more to say.

Image Source: Nextround.net

Thankfully FaceTime is WiFi only!

Paras Chadha — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:41:24 +0000

Now this is fairly old news but I finally got around to watching these iPhone 4 FaceTime advertisements. Now I have to admit these advertisements do a great job of showing off the FaceTime feature which I’m sure many people will use, however I doubt it will be something I personally will use and I’ll tell you why. It works a lot like skype only with your phone, personally whenever I answer a call on Skype I hardly ever do video because at home I typically look like crap! If I refuse to answer video calls on Skype I really doubt I will be answering them on the iPhone 4 (this is coming from someone who used to broadcast their life 24/7!). Now some of you probably do love Skype Video and use it all the time, but from what I’ve heard from most other people, they are exactly the way I am when it comes to Skype video.

Some problems people were mentioning is that it doesn’t work on 3G and that’s a big problem, me personally I am actually glad as hell that it is WiFi only. It is a huge driving hazard when people talk on their phones while driving correct? Well that hazard was doubled when texting arrived and people started texting while driving. Now this problem will multiply by 8 if we were video calling while driving. Stupid people will be trying to point their phones at some random dog on the sidewalk and nail the car in front of them. Thankfully AT&T’s network sucks and we don’t have the ability to do FaceTime over 3G.

Now let me know what you think about FaceTime

Source: YouTube

Make your iPhone glow!

Paras Chadha — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:23:53 +0000

Want to awesomize your iPhone? Well all you have to do is grab this decal from Etsy. This decal will essentially make the sides of your iPhone glow in the dark creating this cool effect! Not only will it make your iPhone easy to find if you drop it in the dark, or easy to identify from your other devices but it will also double as a solution to your reception problems with the faulty Apple antenna.

So if you’re on the iPhone 4, I don’t see why you wouldn’t buy this!

Source: Etsy

YouTube Launches New HTML5 Mobile Site!

Paras Chadha — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 00:56:38 +0000

Mobile YouTube has been known for having a fairly crappy UI, same with the Apps for it as well (for both the iPhone and Android). Well today all this changes, YouTube has released their new mobile website: m.youtube.com! I went through this application and the UI is amazing, it reminds me a lot of the facebook application for iPhone. With this app, after you log in, it almost feels faster going through your subscription box, your messages, your videos, etc on your mobile device over your laptop. I have yet to try this out on the iPad but I’m sure it runs just as well!

Btw I know all of you guys are wondering, yes it is based on HTML5 so it will work on most mobile devices today.

The Social Network Movie Trailers

Paras Chadha — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 00:08:04 +0000

The Social Network is a movie that should be released sometime in October, for those of you who don’t know it’s a movie based on the story of Facebook. In case you were unaware, there is actually quite an interesting story behind the creation of Facebook with who founded it at Harvard. Now if this movie is anything like how Pirate of Silicon Valley was I’m definetly looking forward to this movie (if you haven’t seen Pirates of Silicon Valley make sure you check it out). Above we have the first trailer and below we have the new trailer which was released today, now people have been complaining because of the lack of footage in both trailers but I have to admit the second one was incredibly creative so check it out and let me know what you think!

iPhone talks smack to other smart phones!

Paras Chadha — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:06:20 +0000

Don’t hate on the iPhone, it can talk smack . I just had to post this picture since I got a good laugh out of it. Creative way of arranging the icons…now I’ll be spending the rest of my day arranging my app icons to say funny thing, speaking of which if any of you make your icons say funny things, email the images to me via the contact form. I’d love to upload a post with a bunch of funny messages!

Image from: @JennsDrunk

Apple Friendbar and iStores now launched!

Paras Chadha — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:24:03 +0000

New Apple Friend Bar Gives Customers Someone To Talk At About Mac Products

Apple has yet again changed the lives of geeks all around the world. They recently launched two new programs: The Friend Bar and the iStore. Now for all you fan boys and fan girls who don’t have any friends (and lets face it that’s most of you…JK, that’s only me ) can now go to the new Apple Friend Bar and talk about Apple products all day long with employees who are trained to act like your friend (you must have a valid apple care subscription to do this though!). This service will definitely be a hit along with their other service known as the iStore. This is just a $6,000 investment to place a mini Apple Store in your own home, isn’t that just magical and revolutionary!

In all seriousness another amazing video by The Onion, if you liked this one make sure you check out the Apple Macbook Wheel episode!

Steve Jobs tells Bill Gates about being sued

Paras Chadha — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:09:12 +0000

So unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few weeks you would know that the iPhone 4 has been having some Antenna issues. Now when people started demanding a fix for this problem, Apple decided to ignore the issue. After Apple made that decision, a lawsuit was filed against them. So when looking into the issue I came across the picture above and thought it was absolutely hilarious and was worth sharing with you guys! Enjoy

SOURCE: funnyassblog.com

Furniture of the Future

Paras Chadha — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:16:36 +0000

Ever curious towards what the future home will look like? With technology evolving so rapidly homes look much different today then they did 20 years ago. Well this video above shows what your furniture might be like in the near future.

After watching the video personally, I thought the furniture probably won’t be a standard in all homes, but I could see it as becoming a standard for furniture in apartments. Furniture like shown in the video would do an excellent job of maximizing the space in small apartments, it will make a more comfortable way of living in small apartments even if you have multiple living in that confined space. It does look quite nice but I have no idea how it would actually feel (like the bed mattresses seem rather thin, so you never know whether these will actually be confortable until you sit on one, but if it is, this is definitely something should become a standard in apartment buildings!

Let me know what you think about this furniture in the comment section below!

Hulu Plus! Hit or miss?

Paras Chadha — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 22:21:33 +0000

The rumored Hulu Plus has finally arrived!

The price tag for Hulu plus is $10/month and you’ll be recieving much more than just the latest episodes of shows (which is what the standard users will be getting). Hulu plus users will be getting full seasons of many popular shows such as: Glee, The Office, House, 30 Rock, Modern Family and many other popular titles!

Not only will Hulu Plus users be receiving more content, they’ll also have more ways of watching their favorite shows! With Hulu Plus you’ll be able to watch your favorite shows with devices such as the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. If you prefer watching shows on your Television you’ll also be able to watch with select TVs, select blu-ray players, and soon the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360!

Now all of this is looking pretty good, however do you think these additional features are with $10/month?

iPhone 4 Unboxing(s)

Paras Chadha — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:16:28 +0000

Been stalking the iPhone 4? Well this is the page you should keep refreshing!

Throughout the week I’ll be updating this post with more and more videos on the iPhone 4 so stay posted.

If you have a video of the iPhone 4 (unboxing, review, or any other coverage) contact me via the contact form.

UPDATE 2: Live unboxing is now over, however the archive will be placed here soon.

UPDATE: Check out a live unboxing of the iPhone in a few minutes on Dylan Live.

The video above is provided by Bwana. Check out his post here.

The video above is provided by Moy (make sure you thank him by subscribing to his YouTube Channel).

Google Voice now public!

Paras Chadha — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:16:25 +0000

Update: The Google Voice service is only public in the United States

I’m a huge fan of Google, if I was ever given the opportunity to work at Google, I would take it no questions asked. I use close to all their services, and one of my favorite services that I’ve been using for a while is Google Voice. I use it actively every day. I haven’t seen any bugs with it (as of yet) and it saves people a lot of hassel. Check out the video above for information as far as what Google Voice exactly is and the additional features you’ll be receiving by opting into this service. For a long time this was a beta with around 1 million users and now is available to the public, so if you doiin’t have it already make sure you go to here and sign up!

After you sign up however, don’t forget to install the Google Voice application for your phone (not required but recommended. If you’re a Blackberry, Android, or Web OS user just do a search in the Application Marketplace and you’ll see it. If you’re an iPhone user however it’s a little different, just watch the video below to get the Google Voice application (Click me for the full post on the iPhone Google Voice app).

Toshiba Libretto w100

Paras Chadha — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 02:01:29 +0000

Remember the Microsoft Courier? Well it appears although that project failed, we still have a chance at seeing a device very similar to this thanks to Toshiba and their new concept device, the Libretto W100. This device uses two 7 inch multitouch displays with resolutions of 1024×600 pixels. This device is powered by an Intel U5400 CPU which is clocked at a 1.2 GHz, it also uses 2gb of DDR3 memory, and has a 64 GB SSD. The Libretto also has a few other less important things like: 1 megapixel webcam, Bluetooth, MicroSD card slot, Wi-Fi, one USB port, and an 8-Cell battery.

This device is apparently only a concept device and will only be available to the market in a limited amount (thanks to their 25th anniversary). When watching the video you’ll notice that it has a few advantages to the iPad and a few disadvantages. A positive that I noticed is that it has the option to use one of the screens as a virtual keyboard and fold it in such a way where it will take the form factor of a netbook (this could be a disadvantage if the screen isn’t as responsive as I expect it to be). Now one HUGE disadvantage I see with this device is the fact that it is using Windows 7 as its operating system, now this can be useful however on a device as small as it is (and with the specs), it’s best using a mobile operating system like Android, or Ubuntu Netbook. Aside from the OS there really aren’t that many disadvantages to this device, so check out the video and let me know what you think!

Valve Source

Hunter — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:37:17 +0000

No, this is not a DIY for you home, but it is DIY for the Valve games using Valve’s Source SDK. Now you ask, what is Source and how do I get it. Well first let’s tell you what Source is not. Source is not…

Strictly Code Based

Impossible to pick up

Source is though…

Fun and relatively easy to use

A little bit of engineering skills (see below)

Both single and multiplayer maps

Source is included in most Valve games such as

Team Fortress 2

Half Life 2

Counter Strike Source

Portal

Day of Defeat

Now to get started on using Source I have packed everything you may need in your very own Source Tool Box

Your tool box has the following programs in it

VTF Edit (for custom textures)

Weapon Models (For editing textures of various things, may come with game)

Audacity (to edit audio files)

Tutorials on how to use everything

My very first map

Click Here for Source Toolbox

Now that you have that you should have all you need it is time to get building. Most of the time you will be building maps for multiplayer and not full blown mods. The two main games that feature player built maps are Counter Strike Source and Half Life 2 Deathmatch as well as Team Fortress 2 in close 3rd.

Transparent, Multitouch Display by AUO

Paras Chadha — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 20:27:33 +0000

Every geek has always dreamed of having a HUD for their car windshield, well this idea might start actually rolling into motion! This year at Display Taiwan 2010 AUO decided to show off their new technology they recently put into development. This technology was a full multitouch transparent display, the prototype they had on display was 2.4 inches and they are expecting to have a 7 inch model released sometime next year it seems that the screen they demonstrated this on would be ideal for cellular phones however according to them right now their focus is integrating it with GPS devices. Hopefully sometime in 2011 we can expect something like this for your windshield (just a hope they didn’t make any announcements for items like this). By the look of this screen, it looks like pretty high quality and this is really exciting for the future, a lot of possibilities with an item like this.

By the way just throwing this out there, and I could be wrong, if I remember correctly some time last year or the year before I believe Apple placed a patent on technology exactly like this or similar to this, so I’m curious to see how this plays out if this is the case and the technology catches on!