Android

Editorials, News & Features November 19, 2011

Android Rules Smartphone Roost … But Holiday ‘Wish Lists’ Show Vulnerability

Guess who wants an Android Tablet for Christmas/Hanukkah? (Hint: no one). But we’ll return to that in a moment. This week we got news that put the Android OS at more than 50% market share for smartphone operating systems. This is based on numbers from Gartner, which means that they willingly and knowingly count Samsung’s % estimates’ the same as other people’s ‘shipments’ the same as other people’s actual SALES. In other words, their numbers are a crapshoot. But make no mistake – Android is BY FAR the dominant mobile OS. If you look at the trends in the graph above,…

News & Features November 18, 2011

Samsung Hits Another Advertising Home Run with Google Nexus Commercial

I had already written about just how great the Samsung Galaxy S II commercial was a couple of months ago, but at the time Apple and Samsung were in the midst of the ‘copy me, copy you’ spectacle and so I wrapped it around a tongue-in-cheek accusation of copying. Certainly Samsung has learned that the macho specmanship approach of Motorola has a very narrow appeal, which shows very well in this new ad as well. The upcoming Nexus has gotten some very positive early looks, and should be a big success for Samsung and give a great look at the…

Reviews November 8, 2011

Android Phone Review: The HTC Rhyme

I like items that have their own personality and that aren’t similar to every one else’s, but lately it seems like all of the HTC Android phones that I have been posting about have been basically the same phone — albeit with different features or screen sizes. Has it seemed that way to you? Whether it’s been the Vivid, or the Rezound or all the EVO iterations, there are traits that most HTC Android phones seem to share: they are rectangular, they have four capacitive buttons on the bottom of the screen, there is a noticeable speaker grill at the top of the screen, they…

Music Diary, News & Features November 7, 2011

Music Diary Notes: Spotify Lands on Windows Phone 7!

While the first reaction to this news might be ‘so what?’, it is worth noting because the on-demand services have been slow in arriving on Windows Phone 7, and their offerings have been generally anemic when they DID appear. I am thinking specifically of Slacker, whose initial app was both unreliable and a battery drainer, and also Rdio, who supported the platform but the offering definitely paled compared to their iOS and Android apps. That was then, this is now – Slacker fully supports background playback, Live Tiles, instant resume, and more. And Rdio’s Mango update includes background play and…

Editorials November 1, 2011

Lies, Damn Lies, and Android Tablet Numbers

Image courtesy of Retrevo I have been on the hunt for over a year for an Android tablet that meets my needs: I have abandoned hope for now that will be anything appealing in the 10″ space, since Android is currently inferior and fragmented for gaming and a non-factor in music production software. But in the 7″ space there are some cool options, yet in spite of trying three different tablets (Galaxy Tab, Acer Iconia and HTC Flyer) and finding that the size is perfect … I haven’t managed to find a device with enough positives that I can accept…

Reviews October 29, 2011

Review: Asus EeePad Transformer

The tech press has maligned Android tablets. There just hasn’t been one that has caught the up to the iPad according to many people. That may soon change with tablets like the one I have, the Asus’s EeePad Transformer. Hardware Much of the hardware on the Android tablet front has eerily similar specs. Like most Android tablets that have a version of Honeycomb, the Transformer has an Nvidia Tegra 2, 1 GB of ram, 16 or 32 GB of Flash (mine has 16), WiFi (B,G and N supported), Bluetooth V2.1+EDR, HDMI out, MicroSD Slot, a 5 megapixel camera on the back and a…

Reviews October 25, 2011

Android Powered Tablet Review: Vinci Tab, Early Learning System for Children

There is no denying that our kids are growing up in a constantly changing digital world. My two boys have developed the same connection with gadgets and digital devices as I have, only at a much younger age. I have been careful when turning them loose with my devices but often let them play with the iPad or iPhone, and they love it. Since they could barely walk, they have been able to use our IOS devices easily and without much instruction. While most of us remember the first time we used a TRS 80 or Apple IIe in school,…

News & Features October 20, 2011

HTC Wildfire S Lands on US Cellular for FREE (With Contract)

It is no secret that Android devices are extremely popular, based on the utility of the operating system as well as inexpensive pricing from most carriers. Now US Cellular introduces the HTC Wildfire S Android smartphone for FREE after rebate. It is a solid phone at a great price. Let’s take a quick look! Here is what US Cellular says: Get the HTC Wildfire STM to keep you at the center of your social world. Featuring AndroidTM 2.3 (Gingerbread) and HTC SenseTM, the HTC Wildfire S brings together all the different ways to communicate with your friends and family (calls,…

Editorials October 20, 2011

Farewell, Android

As regular readers of Gear Diary may know, I used an original Droid for almost two years. In fact, up until a few months ago, I was totally convinced my next phone would be an Android device. But Android and I had a falling out, and I picked up an iPhone 4s on Friday. Why? And is the learning curve tough? Read on for my thoughts! First, there’s the “why”. A few things dragged me away from my little robot friends. One, Android is becoming increasingly fractured. It seems as though the only way to guarantee timely updates and continued…

News & Features October 19, 2011

Sprint Will Have the New HTC EVO Design 4G on October 23, and So Can You!

If you have been wondering when the next member of the EVO family would make itself known, the wait is over, as the fifth member of the HTC EVO family — the EVO Design 4G — is about to be available from Sprint. The HTC EVO Design 4G builds on the wildly popular EVO line, but brings you more in a sleek new package. The first EVO family member touting World Phone capabilities, the HTC EVO Design 4G builds on many of the “must-have” features of its predecessors, including a 1.2Ghz processor and large 4” qHD touchscreen display, while sporting a…

Editorials October 13, 2011

Let the iPhone 6 Rumors Begin… WE Already Have the “Proof”

I was reading through my feeds today and a story on Droid Life cropped up about some pictures appearing on Picasa that were tagged as being taken by a Droid RAZR and the Galaxy Nexus. Both phones are all but confirmed, with tons of evidence throughout the web, but these pics are being labeled as evidence as the phone being out real soon now. They may actually be out, but posting pictures that purportedly came from the devices is hardly evidence. Why do I say that? I will show you. The above picture was taken with my Droid 2. Yeah…

News & Features October 13, 2011

Watch out for Fake Netflix Apps

Here’s the dark side of Android fragmentation: if you have an Android device that’s not running 2.2 (or a device that doesn’t have the Android marketplace), you don’t have Netflix app access. So you conjure up some google-fu and find a copy of the Netflix app floating around, or maybe it’s an Android app store you’ve never used before. Be very, very careful before you download it. Apparently, there’s a fake version of Netflix floating around that steals your login data. As you can see from the image, it looks super similar. In fact, it looks EXACTLY like the login…

News & Features October 12, 2011

Kogan Launches 8″ and 10″ Android Tablets

As Michael pointed out this week, pricing of some upcoming tablets has shown that the manufacturers haven’t been listening. Some people want tablets, but most want iPads, and to get the average consumer interested, the price needs to be low enough to make it an impulse buy. Kogan’s new Android tablets look to fit the bill. Available in 8″ 800×600 (SVGA) and 10″ 1024×768 (XGA) models, the tablets come with Gingerbread 2.3 (no Honeycomb here, folks), a single core 1GHz Cortex A8 processor with 512MB RAM, 4GB built-in storage, microSD slot (up to 32GB can be added) HDMI output and…

Editorials, News & Features October 10, 2011

Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus 7.0: Pre-Order Priced for Certain Death

Today GalaxyTabLife is reporting that J&R has the new Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus 7.0 available for pre-order in 16 and 32GB configurations. That is great news – the original Galaxy Tab had a number of fans at Gear Diary, even if overall sales were extremely lackluster (especially since Samsung dumped 1 – 2 million into the channel and only sold <10% of them). The new ‘reboot’ version ups the specs to pretty standard levels for late 2011, with 1.2GHz dual core processor, Honeycomb OS, 1GB RAM, and updated cameras. Unfortunately it looks like Samsung either missed what has happened in…

Gear Bits September 26, 2011

Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 US Edition

I took advantage of a recent W00t deal, and I now have a US Edition of the Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0. This is the US edition, as opposed to the more common Asian/European version. Let’s take a look! Features • The 5-inch (12.7cm) display allows you browse full web pages and read small text without resizing the screen. The Galaxy S Wi-Fi 5.0 supports various video formats (DivX, Xvid, H.263, Ogg, MPEG4, Flac). It also delivers an impressive viewing experience on the large screen • SoundAlive maximizes the performance of Samsung mobile devices for real sound quality via Samsung…

Editorials September 23, 2011

It STILL Really Is Just An ‘iPad Market’

We have talked about the so-called ‘Tablet Market’ as really being the ‘iPad Market’, with some marginal players scraping for scraps. Some of us have bought or spent considerable time with one or more of the various tablets that have come out over the last year – the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Motorola Xoom, BlackBerry Playbook, HP TouchPad, HTC Flyer, Acer Iconia, and on and on. Yet in all of these cases there have been some serious flaws that have derailed the tablets and ultimately resulted in the failure of the tablets to gain market penetration. Last week the IDC released…

Editorials September 20, 2011

My First Experience With a 3D Phone: LG Thrill

One of my students excitedly hurried into my classroom the other day, exclaiming that I had to see her new phone. Kids show me their new gadgets everyday, but this was obviously something special since the other students were just as excited. When she presented it to me she just exclaimed, “3D!” In her hand was one of the newest Android handsets from LG to sport 3D technology. The LG Thrill is exclusive to ATT and can be purchased for $99. The hardware seemed nice and was similar to other Android phones I have played with, but I really just…

News & Features September 20, 2011

HTC Rhyme Introduced with a Family of Integrated Accessories and Sleek Good Looks

I can’t even find it in myself to be annoyed that HTC has introduced a phone that is so obviously aimed at women; if they had just colored it plum and called it good, I would have been livid. But no. The HTC Rhyme is a phone that I would have considered carrying anyway … and the bonus is that it just happens to be a lovely plum color. From the unique plum color that draws on the inspiration from HTC’s designers to specific apps, wallpapers, and ringtones created for the HTC Rhyme, HTC Sense’s presence is seen throughout. Hardware design is taken a…

Editorials, Reviews September 18, 2011

How I Chose the Tablet for Me

Tablet computing is all the rage now. Microsoft coined it, Apple popularized it and there are many others including Microsoft itself that are vying for a piece of the large pie that Apple already owns. It isn’t the death of the PC, but I am convinced it’s a device almost everyone will eventually own. Some may replace their computer entirely with a tablet device, while others will just use it to augment the laptop or desktop they use. Either way, it’s the future and I’ve decided I need to look at getting one. Follow me along the journey of selecting my…

News & Features September 14, 2011

Lenovo Gets Down to Business with the ThinkPad Tablet

One of the big surprises for me tonight at the Pepcom Holiday Spectacular! (we’ll have much more from this event over the next few days) was the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet. The ThinkPad Tablet is the first tablet specifically designed for business settings. It has some great features, feels great in the hand and it has one more KILLER FEATURE that I’ll reveal at the end of the post. First, here’s what Lenovo has to say about their latest and greatest offering. ThinkPad Tablet Brings Android to Business: The ThinkPad Tablet combines the superior media and entertainment experience of the IdeaPad Tablet…

Editorials September 13, 2011

To Bionic or Not to Bionic

I have been angsting over a new phone for some time now. My original Droid is barely hanging on, and I am due for an upgrade. It was disappointing that Verizon didn’t pick up the Galaxy S II along with the other carriers, but the Motorola Droid Bionic hung on the horizon. I have been trolling various sites for reviews, but they all seemed to sum up with one word: Meh. All of them are quick to reassure readers the Bionic isn’t a bad phone, it is just…not great. In fact, most of the reviews seem to end with similar…

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