App Review: 'PULSE', WOW!

If you're anything like me, and follow a LOT of different sports, news, tech, entertainment and social feeds, THIS is the stream manager for you!  I have to say, I haven't been THIS "wowed" by an Android app since...  well...  This is the first time!

Pulse's interface is straight forward and self explanatory, and very little savvy is necessary for set up.  It literally consists of opening Pulse, tapping the gear for settings, and choosing from multiple Featured feeds, or browsing a HUGE variety of feeds from 10 different categories/genres.  Their search will give you a ton of feeds that you may or may not know (example: searching 'Android gave me 10 different feeds, like Android Central, XDA and LifeHacker as well as some I hadn't heard of.  Because of Pulse, I now follow them all!).  Once you select the feeds to add to your list, arranging them is as simple as tap, drag and let go.

Their newest additions/updates outside of a UI overhaul include Facebook links (which is really all I wanna' see from my phone anyways) and a BEAUTIFUL widget(s, depending on how you like to arrange things on your home screens...).

At first, when adding the Widget to a home screen, you think to your self "Only ONE option?!  What a JIP!"  Then, it becomes apparent that you can add more than one widget, each with a different source!  The large widget allows you to scroll through the less recent updates on your chosen feed, while the small version shows you just the 3 latest.

When tapping any of the updates, you are taken to a gorgeous reader, which gives you options to share via Facebook, Twitter or through the (what I like to call) "ETC bubble" which gives you all of the sharing options you might expect outside of the social spectrum (e-mail, sms, bluetooth, etc) as well as the option to view the article on the author/provider's website via your default browser.  Personally, I LOVE the Pulse article formatting.  Every article is formatted exactly the same, with any pics and links included in the thread, shortening loading time, and simplifying the viewing experience.

Pulse is, simply put, awesome and WAY MORE than worth the $.99 price tag.

Market link | AppBrain Link

Here's Android's Central's take on Pulse, and their newest updates

First look at Aro: another example of why chaos on Android is good — Scobleizer

This is a REALLY interesting article/app review for something called ARO (past the Swype video. I'm not a fan, but if you are, watch that one too!). I'm one of those people who KNOWS that my information is accessed ALL THE TIME by places and people that I don't necessarily want to access it, but I figure I haven't been adversely affected by it yet, so ARO might be kinda' cool to play with. In a nutshell, ARO will relate all contact oriented accounts, and make it easier for you to add, edit and review all of your contacts, people you MIGHT want as contacts, and people you definitely DON'T want as contacts. That's just the last snowflake on the tip of the ice berg... As you'll see, it's FAR more complicated than I've made it sound, and WAY cooler if you're looking for a way to merge all of your accounts, and communicate with them through one client, automatically gathering info based on what you have, and maybe didn't know that you wanted to know!

I shouldn't forget, these reviews are by an iPhone fanatic who's stating on video that "Android kicks ass!"

First look at Aro: another example of why chaos on Android is good — Scobleizer

GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY! 3D on Android/Firefox?!

YUP!  It's true! (well, at least as far as the video below shows...)

There isn't much information available, but it appears as though 3D F33D (hasn't worked, but that could be due to extremely high traffic) paired with HTML5, Firefox's "Fennec" browser, and some every day 3D glasses (the old school red & green kind, not the "UP" or "Avatar" kind) equals 3D on your Android device!  The example shown is on a Galaxy S.



I plan to try and get this working on my EVO, and will post whether I am successful or not! Gotta' get my hands on some old school 3D glasses...

From Android Central: Android market breaks 100,000 apps!

Look out, Stevie, we're comin' fer yuh!!  When I first started exploring Android on my EVO, the ONLY thing I thought it was lacking was pretty games, and entertainment apps.  More and more lately, I've noticed TONS of either ported iOS apps, or apps made by top developers for iOS in the market.  As Android's popularity grows, and developers use Adobe Air, and Flash to their advantage, there is no doubt in my mind that Android will completely overpower Apple as the industry champion.  (Not that it's a competition, but...  wait a minute- YEAH it is!  Just not MY competition...yet)

From Android Central:

Android Market passes 100,000 'apps'

Tattlin' on the iDroid?!

Gotta' love Floridian politicians!  Last night during the gubernatorial debate between Alex Sink, and Rick Scott there was apparently a rule set that neither candidate was allowed to receive messages from their staffers.  Seems both candidates were confused, as Miss Sink was shown SOMETHING (was there a rule against viral videos of cute kittens?  THAT WAS NOT SPECIFIED MR. SCOTT!) on a mobile device during the break, and Mr. Scott obviously is not in touch with his nerd demographic, as he couldn't snitch WHAT kind of device it was...



The device turned out to be a Droid, and it proves that there isn't much you can't do with a Droid, including stir up political controversy. Personally, I'd rather be called a witch, or have it suggested that I pray to Aqua Buddha.  Aqua Buddha rules...

WOAH...

As I was selflessly promoting The Android Green Zone at work this morning, I was asked if i knew anything about the Archos 101 Tab.  I did not.  I did a little reading up on the Archos website, and DAAAAAMN this thing's sexy!  It may be the sleekest design I've seen yet, and based on the demo, it's Android on MLB Juice!

First, it's got the kickstand.  It's MY opinion that the kickstand is becoming the newest requirement for ALL tabs, not just the Android powered devices (are there any that aren't, besides the iPad?).  Cool thing about this one is that it's adjustable, so whether you're writing an e-mail, watching videos, or playing the newest, hottest 3D game (or an 8-bit with your favorite NES emulator) you'll have just the right height and screen position.

Of course, you can't really judge a screen without seeing it in person (Archos, please feel free to send me a 101 and I promise to give it a fair video review!) but the 101 boasts a beautiful 10.1" of 1024X600 High Resolution viewing.  PERFECT for watching 'Avatar', or any Pixar movie over and over again (as I sometimes do) (ok, as i ALWAYS do).

With Tethering, WiFi, Bluetooth, and 3G (or 4G if you connect your capable device), it's hard NOT to stay connected while on the go with this powerhouse, and with Samba and UPnP protocols built in, viewing your movies, home videos and pics over your wireless connection not only means ease of access, but also saves space on your 101!

We all know browsing the internet, accessing e-mail and staying connected to friends and family  on an Android device is simple and comparable to performing the same functionalities on a PC.  The Archos 101 gets you so much closer to that experience running Android Froyo 2.2 (Flash 10) with it's high resolution screen on a 1GHz processor, built in webcam, multiple connection options (USB Host/Slave, Micro SDHC, HDMI output…), and a 3D OpenGL ES 2.0.

As far as Apps go, the 101 is more than capable to run the all of the hottest apps in the Market, and comes with it's own 'AppsLib' market browser.  The Android market's drastic expansion, and the 101's capabilities combined, you're damn near guaranteed  perpetual happiness!

Well I've raved enough about this, but am willing to rave more, Archos (nudge-nudge, wink-wink!).  I'll leave you with the Tech Specs, and patiently wait at my door for the delivery person to drop mine off (nudge more-nudge more, wink again-wink again)...

My favorite alternative market

AppBrain is SUCH a great replacement for the every day market...  It's simple!  Download AppBrain from the Android Market, and REPLACE!  The plethora of apps from all over the internet is AWESOME!  You're no longer restricted to the Market's goofy sorting methods, and you can browse new, hot, and popular apps from their website instead of sending all those pennies to your service provider for browsing with your data plan.  What I love most, are 3 things:

1) The ability to place apps in a queue from their website, then install them to your phone from the app later.

2) Updating is REALLY easy.  Sync your phone to AppBrain's database from your device, and let it look for updates for you, the click "Update all".  There's some permissions you may need to hit "ok" for (depending on the app) but that takes all of what, 10 seconds?

3) I've rooted my Evo, so this is extra handy for me, seeing as I need to completely erase all user data from my phone every time I want to play with a new ROM, but this can also be helpful if you're switching devices, or accidentally lose all of your data...  Once you sync with the AppBrain database, your list of apps is saved on their servers.  After wiping your phone, or activating a new one, all you need to do is download AppBrain from the market again, sign in using your Google acct. info, and sync again.  AppBrain will show you the list of Apps you've synced to their servers, and you can manage what you want and don't want from that list.

There's really no downside to using this AppBrain.  I HIGHLY reccomend it!

From Android Central: Best of Smartphone Experts, 10/24/2010

No metter what kind of phone you have, or what OS you're running, you can find news and info from this post, I gwaruntee it...

Best of Smartphone Experts, 10/24/2010

Android Developers' YouTube channel!

There are a lot of announcements made here, and even more tips and tricks on Android's functionality! I thought I'd share, since Gingerbread's reaching the end of it's development. I figure there's lots to gain from subscribing!

the Versus cartoons...

These cracked me up when they first came out, and as funny as they are, they actually make some pretty good points about both the iPhone, and Android devices. Tiny Watch Productions has other quality videos, but these by far are the funniest. Their latest video suggests our OS debaters are out of a job, but I have a feeling they'll be back with all of the planned updates coming from both OS developers...

Android Central's week in Android news

This is a great week in Android news! Gingerbread's a comin' and apps galore!

http://www.androidcentral.com/week-android-news-21

To Root, or not to Root...

I've had my EVO for about 4-5 months, and I was hesitant to ROOT it. As an iPhone user, I Jailbroke my 3Gs once, thinking I could control the iOS. To an extent, I could, but it was WAY more difficult than 1) it NEEDED to be, and 2) I wanted it to be. I immediately reverted back to the stock iOS after a few days of frustration. Months later, as I was debating whether or not I should switch to Andriod, a few coworkers got their EVOs (the day it came out, a week or so before I did). By the time I got mine, they were more comfortable with the OS than I was, as it's a pretty big transition from iOS to Android. I planned on sticking to the stock OS. I wanted any and all updates as they were released and I was worried that messing with the OS at all would ruin (or BRICK as I learned it was called later) my precious EVO. Then HTC leaked FROYO... My friends and I all decided that we needed it. Rooting wasn't necessary to install the update, but the little bit of back-end Android we saw intrigued us. I did a LOT of reading up, with the most influential article/post coming from "Should I root my phone?" on Android Central.

Soon after, I became an XDA hawk. It took me a while to figure it out, but eventually I did it, and I haven't stopped learning since. Flashing ROMs (which I'd like to get into more detail about after I increase my understanding/knowledge) has become a weekly (or whenever a new ROM is available) event.

Currently, I'm running a bit of a FrankenROM with bits and pieces from a few different developers:

ROM: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=799995

Notification bar: http://www.mediafire.com/?etvfczjmmqf540e

launcher: http://www.mediafire.com/?e92690u4zs8jphd

I LOVE IT, and may stick with it for a while, but before this one, I've probably flashed between 10-15 different ROMS, "just 'cuz". I would highly reccomend rooting, but ONLY if you're OK with waiting a bit for updates (most stock updates aren't available in custom ROMS for a little while, due to compatibility issues for the most part (some EVO ROMS still don't have working tethering, or 4G) and ONLY if what's available in the Stock versions of Android isn't "enough" for you, OR if you're a complete NERD like I am, and like to possibly break things, just to see if you can fix them.

I LOVE all of the options, and flexibility I have with Android, and ROOTing just expands on what's available to you. I'm studying up, and soon enough, you'll see my own ROM on Green Zone, and with any luck, it'll be the one you "stick with" until the next awesome ROM comes out. Once you root, you never go... uh... uhmm... You'll love it!

Here's a complete guide on ROOTing the EVO 4G

And here's a search I ran on XDA on ROOTing in general. It's likely you'll find your device in these results.

Here's an article on why you SHOULD.

and last but not least, HERE's what you should ALWAYS do before you make ANY big decisions...

As if it wasn't obvious...

From Android Central:

WSJ Asks: 'Who makes the best mobile operating system?

My favorite COMMENT on this post. VERY TRUE points, Justin!