Posts tagged Palm Pre

My Top 10 Favorite Android Apps (so far)

3
2 years ago
by Tom in

So I recently got a Sprint version of the Samsung Galaxy S phone called “The Epic 4G“.  I can safely say that after owning it for almost a month it is THE best phone I have ever owned.

For those of you that know me, I have had a long standing boycott of the iPhone due to the fact that I need a physical keyboard on any texting or smart phone that I own.  I have tried time and time again and I just can’t seem to get used to the whole touch screen keyboard thing.

Thus the Sprint version of the new Samsung phone was a total win for me since it includes the sliding keyboard.  Buying this phone also introduced me to the world of Google’s Android OS.  Previously, I owned a Palm Pre which used the WebOS platform… and even though I LOVE my new phone, there are still things that the Palm OS did just a little better.

Anyway, in playing with Android, I have found some pretty snazzy apps.  If you like to suggest some others I should try, please let me know.  Here’s the ten that I have been the most impressed with/enjoyed the most so far…

AndFTP - the best of the free FTP apps I could find.

Angry Birds – when is the full version coming out??!!!  Even Palm’s WebOS has a full version already.  Dammit!

Google Goggles – I am yet to actually use this app for anything practical, but there is something to be said about the fun involved in taking pictures of things and see what Google finds as a result.

Google Voice – the ability to call from my Google Voice account on a whim gets built into my phone via this app.  This is extremely useful when using the phone for the business line (which is a Google Voice number.)  Pure awesome.

gReader – I still keep track of websites via RSS, and this little app allows me to keep plugged in to my Google Reader and updates the articles.  This is a great for when I want to keep caught up on reading and there isn’t a PC around.

Hootsuite – just like the online website, I can manage and play with a number of the Twitter accounts I manage.  Now if they’d only get Facebook integration built into the Android app, too…

Mojo NES – old school Nintendo goodness that plays classic NES games on my phone.  I am using the free one and it seems to work fine.

RockPlayer – this lets me play DivX files on my phone.  With the extreme prettiness of the screen’s resolution, this is VERY important… and it looks DAMN GOOD.

WordPress – how awesome is it that I can make posts like this from anywhere?

ScanLife - an app that scans bar codes and then looks them up on the Internet for price comparison.  I see this getting a lot of use this Christmas while shopping.

That photo mentioned in the post…

1
2 years ago
by Tom in

Let’s see if it works this time.

AlShirt

Testing Mobile Posting (again)

0
2 years ago
by Tom in

I have a WordPress app on my phone which (last time I tested it) didn’t work well with adding photos.  I am trying it again.  If it worked, you should see the awesome Weird Al shirt I got this past weekend (which I will post more about later.)

NOTE: Didn’t work right.  I’ll try to make another post in a few.

Testing the technology

4
3 years ago
by Tom in

Next week I will be stepping outside the United States for the first time in my life (with the exception of Miami.)  My tether to the Interwebz will be the unlimited international web I have activated on my Palm Pre for the duration of the trip.

In case I have issues finding a good wifi spot for the laptop, I have installed a WordPress editing app on my phone.

This morning’s post is just me testing that tech from my phone.

Each day cellular phone technology reminds me more and more of something…

Behold the power of Facebook…

0
3 years ago
by Tom in

Have you heard the one about how social networking is destroying IRL (“in real life”) person to person interaction? There are articles that pop up from time to time about the evils of Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and the like – and to be honest, it tends to get annoying.

Social networking sites are like many other objects of question in an individual’s life: they are tools. How you choose to use said tools is based (honestly) on your intelligence and personality.

With the busy lifestyles so many friends of mine (and I) have, Facebook and Twitter have helped create IRL interactions that would NEVER have happened otherwise. In short: my friends and I know how to use our tools

Last weekend I went to see Robin Williams perform in Orlando, Florida (phenomenal show, BTW) with a group of friends and I saw on my Facebook that another old friend of mine that I had not see in seven years was also going.

(WARNING: TECH GEEK MOMENT) – My Palm Pre (cell phone) integrates my Facebook information into my contact list. When we got to the arena in Orlando, I looked up the aforementioned friend in my contacts and (tada!) I had his cell phone number. I called him and we got to meet up and hang out at the show.

Social networking moment of win.

In the past year, that has happened a number of times. Here are some other examples:

- I found out an old friend on Facebook whom I worked with at Universal Studios and had not seen in almost 13 years lives in Colorado where I take an annual business trip. My wife and I met him for dinner in Boulder and went white water rafting together.

- I went and saw Journey in concert and a friend on Facebook saw that Shannon and I were going to be there. She (the friend) sent me a message saying she attending the same show that evening. Through a series of messages (sent from my cell phone) we were able to meet up and hang out together at the concert.

- At the same concert, I saw ANOTHER couple of friends were going via Twitter. Same result… and we all went out for pizza after the show!

- One of my friends from high school that I had not seen in person since 1995 was in town a few months back. I saw this in Facebook – and we were able to meet up for dinner in one of our favorite pizza places in the town we grew up in together.

Side note: I think I’m eating too much pizza based on this post.

Those are just moments I remember. There are a bunch of “were going here tonight” moments where folks have found out through Facebook/Twitter – allowing me to spend more time with friends in the real world.

‘Nuff said.

New Hotness: My Palm Pre

0
3 years ago
by Tom in

So after some long thought (and the usual arguments with Sprint to convince them for the hundredth time that bending the rules in my favor IS the right thing to do) I went out and picked up a new phone.

NOTE: To make sure I am not one of “those” husbands, I also bought my wife a new one too. It’s pink.

I am the proud owner of the Palm Pre – basically a smaller iPhone with a keyboard. After a weekend of playing with it, here’s the good and the bad:

THE GOOD
-Smaller than my last phone (an HTC Mogul).
-Multi-tasking! Instead of calling the programs “windows” they are called “cards”.
-Super hi-tech charging without a wire (click here to read about it.)
-Fast… switching from program to program happens really quickly. VERY impressive.
-The contact list integration with AIM, Facebook and Google contacts is beyond awesome.
-The Twitter app (Tweed) allows you to stay logged into more than one Twitter account at once.
-The Pre will “spoof” iTunes and pretend it is an iPod and sync with it.

THE BAD
-The Twitter app (Tweed) does not have Twitpic support… yet.
-Outlook syncing is not built in – but there are a couple of apps in the works (the one that exists now requires that the PC and Pre be on the same WiFi network to sync.)
-The keyboard takes some getting used to – but it is still (in my opinion) better than a touch screen keyboard (which is what keeps me away from the iPhone.)
-If you run a lot of apps for a decent period of time – the sucker gets hot.
-While the camera is higher in resolution – it does not record video. Boo.

So I got a new cell phone…

2
3 years ago
by Tom in ,

And I am taking the time to test email posting to my blog.  I have attached one of the default wallpaper images to see how well it posts.

The phone?  The Palm Pre aka “iPhone with a keyboard.”  There are sooooo many elements “borrowed” from Apple on this it’s scary.

More later.

Tom Croom
www.TomCroom.com

NOTE: This message was sent from my cell phone – so please excuse any grammar mistakes and typos.

Go to Top