Zephyrus of the Anemoi

.the ramblings of a radman.

Tag: Android

Get 100GB of online storage for only $1/year – No, really, only $1/year

April 24, 2014 /

IDrive is doing a special deal right now for 100GB (50GB for backup/50GB for sync) of storage for only $1/year. You can only get the subscription deal through the iPhone/iPad/Android app, but you should sign up through this link first to get an extra 1GB of storage for free. And according to IDrive reps, this is an on-going deal, not just a one-year special.

If you don’t already have an account, sign up here to make sure you get your free extra 1GB. Then, download and install the iOS app. Once you sign in, there’s a little banner at the bottom of the front page that takes you to a screen where you can tap “Upgrade to iDrive Pro 50GB ($0.99)”. It’ll prompt you for your iTunes password and a purchase confirmation.

To get the extra 50GB for sync, you just login to the website and turn it on. Plus, it lets you set your own encryption key if you want to make the data extra secure. Of course, if you do that, you can’t share files/folders with other people and if you lose the encryption key, your data is gone.

So go get your cloud storage on! That’s a thing the kids say these days, right?

Right?

Lock that $#@% up! 1Password for iOS goes on sale

August 29, 2013 /

There are a number of apps out there for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android that are capable of securely storing your passwords to all the websites you visit, but there is one that is king of them all. 1Password started life as a Mac app that did basically the same thing that it does today: stored passwords in a secure database. But, as time passed, AgileBits (the developers of 1Password) began to add more features, like Dropbox and iCloud syncing, the ability to store software serial numbers, and the capability to store encrypted notes and credit card information.

But their greatest achievement was to build an iOS version of 1Password that could remain in sync with the Mac version so you had all of your information with you wherever you went. I’ve been a big user of 1Password since its initial version and have upgraded to each subsequent version with glee. Some of my friends and family can’t justify the cost of the software when there are free (albeit vastly inferior) options.

Well, for those of you cheapskates out there, get excited, because 1Password for iOS is currently on sale for $8, and it’s well worth the price (especially if you already have a copy of 1Password for your Mac or Windows computer). Even if you don’t have the desktop counterpart, the iOS app is still a great way to store critical information that you need to have with you at all times, but that you want to keep secure. All the data is encrypted on your device, can be backed up to Dropbox or iCloud (where it is still encrypted), and is secured with a password to prevent someone from accessing it, even if they have access to your iPhone or iPad.

While the new iCloud Keychain in Mavericks and iOS 7 might make some of the features in 1Password redundant, the extra features that 1Password provides more than make up for the cost (especially if you prefer to use Dropbox to iCloud for syncing your data).

If you’re interested in checking it out, then you can get it here. Please leave a comment or drop me a line if you have questions about my 1Password usage or just want to know more.

Chromecast: Polish it all you want, it’s still a piece of…

July 25, 2013 /

…okay, that might be a little unfair. I haven’t even played with one yet.

Google announced several new products yesterday, one of which I got really excited about for almost a whole day. Chromecast is a little device that you plug directly into your TV’s HDMI port so that you can stream video to it. At first blush, it sounds an awful lot like an Apple TV, something I feel confident was intentional on Google’s part. And, since they’re only charging $35 for it, versus $99 for the Apple TV, it seems like a really great deal.

At first.

But today, I spent a little more time delving into the details of the device and discovered that it’s not quite as incredible as it appears. I was really hoping that I could use it as an ultraportable AirPlay receiver. Imagine visiting a friend and plugging this device into his TV and streaming photos of your kids from your iPhone or iPad. Or envision being able to connect the Chromecast to a projector and giving a presentation or demoing your latest iOS app wirelessly from anywhere in the room. But, that’s not something it can do out of the box. Or maybe ever.

Okay, maybe not ever. Obviously, dedicated developers should be able to expand the features of the Chromecast, which could (one day) make it a compelling alternative to the Apple TV. A program on your home computer could behave as a web server which could be accessed by your iPhone or Android or iPad and then redirected to the Chromecast locally. And the eventual support of streaming Chrome tabs to the device will open up the content available significantly. But there’s something about the Chromecast that still feels like it’s too much work for the masses. It appeals to the gadget geek in me, and I can definitely see some benefits to it as a cheaper alternative to the Apple TV for those of us that don’t mind doing a little extra work to get our content on the TV. But having to use a phone or a tablet or a computer as your “remote” is daunting for a number of people, and makes this device actually a fair bit more expensive than the $35 for which it retails.

However, all of that aside, the biggest complaint I have with the Chromecast is one that I discovered while writing this article, and is the one thing that keeps the Chromecast from being elegant, even if it is affordable. The device is not powered by HDMI, but rather must be plugged in to a wall outlet or a powered USB port to make it work. Suddenly, the “ultra-portability” I was hoping for is gone, as is my desire to buy the device. I might still pick one up, if only because of the three free months of Netflix that are bundled with it (bringing the total price of the device down to $11, a much more affordable “toy” with which to experiment).

I hope it gets better fast, though. The Apple TV is an amazing device and one I love having in my living room. I can only imagine how much better it or future generations will get if there is real competition in the space.

But so far, this isn’t it.

iOS 6 and the Amazing Adoption Rate!

September 20, 2012 /

A couple weeks ago, Google updated their Android version install-base breakdown and revealed that Ice Cream Sandwich had finally (after nearly a full year) reached 20% of Android phones in use today.

To fully understand the significance of this, Apple’s iOS 6 reached 15% of eligible devices in 24 hours.

An important distinction, however, is that most Android devices without ICS are ineligible to receive it as the manufacturers never made it available for certain devices. Still, that doesn’t mean those devices are incapable of running it, as many custom ROMs out there are capable of bringing ICS to devices that won’t get an official release.

This is probably the most significant indicator that Apple’s integrated model as both the hardware and software designer is a huge benefit to customers.

Best Over First or, how Apple avoids jetpack design and wins every time

September 18, 2012 /

Just a couple days ago, I wrote about how Apple’s new mantra appears to be “Best Over First”, as they continue to improve their hardware and software by focusing on adding features better than everyone else, rather than adding features before everyone else. My neighbor and bestie (a proud Android user) often ribs me for Apple’s announcement of year(s)-old features as though they are brand new. I’d argue, of course, that to the most of the populace, they are new features. Much of the world is a lot less tech-informed than those that focus on spec checklists (as many Android fans and even quite a few iPhone die-hards are wont to do) and therefore just don’t realize that LTE has been around for a few years. In fact, Apple usually benefits greatly from waiting for an emerging technology to mature a bit before including it in their software and hardware, as they’ve been able to analyze where the tech fails to meet expectations in their competitors and (usually) improve on it with their implementation.

It seems I’m not the only person to be supportive of Apple’s decision to focus on making sure their new features are the best, rather than the first. An post over at FJP (a site whose name directly applies to the title of that post and mine) about how Apple avoids implementing “jetpack design” just to be the first to include a new feature rather than making sure they release the best version of a feature (a mark that they occasionally miss, but that they hit often enough that it’s the reason the iPhone 5 preorders sold out in less than an hour).

Bonus points go to Daring Fireball’s John Gruber for pointing me to the post which, in a bizarre, circular fashion, pointed me back to a Macworld article by Gruber from 2010 about the original iPad: an article that is eerily prescient when read today in a world that has seen the release of three more generations of iPhone and two more generations of iPad.

In tech: Best beats first, almost every time

September 13, 2012 /

It’s not often that I read a post on MacDailyNews and I don’t close the window in disgust at the idiocy in the comments. Most of the time, it immediately devolves into political extremism and fanboy mudslinging. The number of idiots that use every opportunity to accuse someone of being wrong because they are a liberal or a conservative (which, of course, is almost never the issue at hand) is astonishing.

Today, however, I found two comments that were actually worth reading and prompted me to share some thoughts about them that I’ve had in the past, but never articulated as well as one of the comments. I’ve included the first comment, from “Michael” below:

…what you’ll find is that other companies did a lot of things first before Apple. Apple is not about [being] first. Apple is about being best. If you live your life chasing first to everything, you’ll never be best at anything. Until you understand this, you will not understand Apple.

This has always summed up my feelings whenever I see people complaining about whatever features Apple “left out” of their latest hardware. In fact, I’ve already begun hearing complaints from others about why Apple left out NFC or changed their dock connector. The dock connector question is easily answered by watching the video Apple posted on their website about the new iPhone 5, in which Jony Ive specifically talks about how the old connector prevented the new form factor we’re looking at today. Phil Schiller, Apple’s Senior VP answered some questions (read more in the original interview, from AllThingsD) about the dock connector as well as NFC.

NFC is still a toy, not a tool. While it is growing in popularity, it is still spread too thin to be useful in everyday use. This is the same reasoning behind the lack of LTE in the last two versions of the iPhone. Until this year, only Verizon had any real LTE coverage and even their markets were spread too thin. It does not make sense to include technology that only a very tiny percentage of your customers can use. Time and resources are better spent developing features that everyone has an opportunity to enjoy. On top of that, LTE is a power-hungry technology. Android devices that use LTE have consistently had to increase their battery size to compensate. Plus, they required two separate chips in CDMA devices, one for LTE/GSM and another for CDMA. This, and the increased size of the battery is the reason for the sudden growth spurt in screen sizes. It wasn’t a feature, it was a necessity.

By waiting until LTE and CDMA technology could reside on a single chip, Apple was able to avoid the worst of the screen size problem (width). Obviously, they’ve still chosen to increase the screen size and I reserve judgment until I can hold one in my hand. By not making it wider, I know that I can comfortably hold and operate it with one hand. But, I want to see how it fits in my pocket and how difficult it is to reach the top of the screen before I decide if it was the right decision.

Finally, I’ve come to the second comment I wanted to talk about (from NCG598):

According to a report by Anand Lal Shimpi of Anandtech, the performance gains Apple reported for the new A6 chip and other factors means that “it looks like Apple has integrated two ARM Cortex A15 cores on Samsung’s 32nm LP HK+MG process.”

This one, mentions an article on Anandtech that cannot be verified until the iPhone 5 hits the market. However, based on the speed increases and the way Apple names their chips, it seems likely that the A6 processor uses the as-yet unreleased ARM Cortex A15 in a dual-core configuration. If this turns out to be true, it means that Apple beat a number of companies to market with the next-generation of chips. This is notable, as Samsung announced that they had begun sampling the processor several months ago with the intention of bringing it to market this summer, a deadline they missed. While there is still some disagreement on whether or not these assumptions are true, the much more knowledgable members of the discussion have been unable to draw any other conclusions.

Obviously, Apple prefers to be best over first. But whenever they can take both, they will.

Android Malware: Still a thing

August 9, 2012 /

So yesterday, I was reading an absolutely ridiculous article over at BusinessInsider wherein the author (Kevin Smith, but not that Kevin Smith) detailed his decision to switch to Android if the next iPhone didn’t have specific features. Never mind the fact that at this point, it’s too late for Apple to even consider his features and that he’s not important enough to warrant Apple seeking his approval. Hilariously, he referred to it as the iPhone 5, even though there’s no precedent to indicate Apple will even call it that. Maybe he’ll stay in limbo forever waiting for a phone to be released that doesn’t exist.

Anyway, while perusing the comments on the article, I came across this doozy from one @Julie2aT:

Please oh please tell me of one virus that Android has? Oh, you’re talking about malware for installing applications from un-trusted sources? Only fools would ever download applications from third parties (I’m talking outside of Play Store, Amazon, SliderME)… the nerve of some people.

I tried to respond in the comments, but BusinessInsider’s website appears to be broken (so, it’s not just their authors) and comments would never post from any browser on my Mac or even Internet Explorer on a PC. So, rather than give up, I’ve decided to post my reply here for your entertainment (and hopefully, so @Julie2aT can see it).

——-

Actually, malware has been a problem with Google’s own marketplace for some time:

From March 2, 2011: Android Market Apps Hit With Malware
(more info on this one: The Mother Of All Android Malware Has Arrived: Stolen Apps Released To The Market That Root Your Phone, Steal Your Data, And Open Backdoor)

“Sure, but Google has already resolved that,” you say. “That was over a year ago. It’s not like it’s happened since.”

My mistake. I must have misunderstood this article several months later.

From June 13, 2011: Google pulls more malware from Android Market

“Well, yeah, but that’s still over a year ago,” you retort. “What about something from THIS year?”

Okay. From January 16, 2012: Fake Angry Birds Game spreading Malware from Android Market

“Ugh. Whatever. Google has obviously fixed the problem, if the last one you’ve got is from more than half-a-year ago.”

Sure. You’re probably right. Oh, wait…

From August 6, 2012: More Android malware sprouting up amidst 2012 Olympics

“Oh, please. That was a whole three days ago. Surely…”

I rest my case.

Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, and you

June 11, 2012 /

So I managed to get hold of a Motorola Droid 2 Global EXTRA SUPER COWBOY FUN TIMES Edition (as I’m to understand it is called in Japan) to tool around with. I spent the last four days or do trying to put Ice Cream Sandwich on it, which requires it to be rooted and poked and prodded and violated. That was actually the fun part.

Rooting the device was easy, once I found instructions that actually worked. But, the instructions for installing Cyanogen Mod 9 (which is Ice Cream Sandwich) didn’t work at all and I got pretty frustrated. Eventually, I discovered more instructions and managed to get it installed.

So, after spending four days with Android 2.2 (Froyo? Really?) and 2.3 (Gingerbread at least sounds better) which were very similar, despite color palettes that were in direct opposition to one another, I get into Ice Cream Sandwich and immediately run into an issue that is indicative of Android’s problem as a whole.

For 2.2 and 2.3, when connecting to a wi-fi network, the “Connect” button is on the left and the “Cancel” button is on the right (which, is the opposite of Macs and iPhones and unintuitive to begin with). In ICS, they’ve decided to join the rest of the world and place the “Connect” button on the right. Of course, this makes sense everywhere else, but in four days I’ve been “trained” by the OS to look for the confirmation button on the left. So now, I click on the wrong button when trying to do… well, everything.

Anyway, it was a small thing, but I felt it was a prime example of Android’s usability issues. It may seem like Android has finally figured out the smart way to do things and they’re simply correcting a previous mistake. And that would be a reason for praise, if it weren’t for the fact that ICS is only installed on 7.1 percent of Android devices six months after it has launched.

Oh, and (of course) the color palette has changed yet again.

UPDATE: I hadn’t listened to any of the ringtones on the device before updating to ICS, so I don’t know if it’s Google’s, Motorola’s, or Cyanogen’s fault, but these ringtones are awful. Thank the Maker I’m not using this as an actual phone.

Great iPhone apps also on Android

November 6, 2010 /

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the iPhone. The majority of the posts on this blog lately are about what apps I recommend. However, not all of my friends or readers have an iPhone. For those of you that have purchased Android phones, I thought I’d take the time to generate a list of iPhone apps that I’ve played that are also available for your phone of choice. I make no promises that any of these apps play as well as they do on my iPhone, or even that they’ll play on your specific Android device and OS version.

I’ve broken them up into three categories: free apps that I’ve used on the iPhone, paid apps that I’ve used on the iPhone, and apps I’ve never used, but look like they’d be worth picking up if you have an Android device. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a way to link directly to the apps on the Android Market, so it’s up to you to find them. All links on the app names link to the iTunes App Store for the iPhone version of the app.

Free Apps I’ve Used on iPhone:

  • Super KO Boxing 2 – Think “Mike Tyson’s Punch Out” with cartoon graphics: it takes a while to get the timing down if you’re a fan of the “Punch Out” series, but once you do, the game kicks serious ass. And is quite funny. Also comes in a paid version with no ads.
  • Angry Birds – A physics-based puzzler that resembles artillery games of old. Currently free for Android. This has been one of the most successful iPhone apps of all time, and seems to have translated very well to Android.
  • Space Man (Mr. Space!!) – Quickly move your stick figure to the “safe spot” before the ceiling collapses. Simple concept, addictive gameplay. The iPhone app has a different name, but the graphics and gameplay appear to be the same.
  • Bebbled – There have been a lot of SameGame clones for the iPhone, but this one has pulled in both my wife and mother-in-law. Putting it on Android seems like a no-brainer.
  • Meebo – An app that lets you sign into the Meebo.com service, which lets you use one login to access a great number of instant messaging services (AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, etc.). A must-have.
  • Dropbox – If you don’t already use the Dropbox service, you should definitely check it out. It gives you 2GB of online storage that lets you keep files synced between multiple computers. I’ve been using it for years and it is essential for quickly transferring files from one computer to the other, or for making sure that my work laptop and desktop have the same key files on them wherever I go. The iPhone and Android version of the app lets you access your files on your phone, save them to the internal memory of the device, and even email links to them to other people. You can also upload photos into your Dropbox to make sure they are safe. If you don’t have an account yet, sign up here to get an extra free 250 MB of storage.
  • Bible – YouVersion.com has made a large number of translations of the Bible available to mobile users. This app lets you download several of them to your phone’s memory so you don’t need an Internet connection to read them. You can also access all of the other translations through the app, as well.
  • Bump – When this app first came out, I couldn’t understand any reason to use it, but as the developers have advanced it (and made it cross-platform), I’m quite impressed by it. Simply choose what to share (contact info, social networking info, pictures, etc.) and “terrorist fist-jab” with another Bump user to trigger the sharing process.
  • Boink – First, fill out your sexual preferences, then use Bump technology to share them with another Boink user and get a sexual compatibility percentage. Lots of fun at parties.
  • Tango Video Calls – FaceTime is an amazing technology, but restrictions to Wi-Fi networks (most likely due to AT&T being… well… AT&T) makes it less useful than most would like. Tango is a cross-platform video chat app that works over 3G, as well as Wi-Fi. I’ve used it to talk to a friend on an EVO, and it worked fairly well. Not as elegant or smooth as FaceTime, but it’s certainly a nice option to have until FaceTime is more ubiquitous.
  • Sportacular – I like to keep track of how my favorite sports teams are doing, but I’m often unable to watch the games, due to the schedule, or the fact that they’re not broadcast over the air. The only sport I’m interested in that this app doesn’t cover is Scottish Premier League Football (Go CELTIC!), but that likely won’t affect most of you.

Paid Apps I’ve Used on iPhone:

  • Galcon – A fast-paced strategy game with a simple premise: tap on your bases and tap a location to send your armies to overwhelm the enemy. It bears a strong similarity to Risk, but pared down to just the combat and a much faster pace. The iPhone version supports online multiplayer, so it seems likely that the Android version will, also.
  • UniWar – When iPhone 2.0 first released, I waited with great anticipation for a turn-based strategy game for the device. UniWar was the first (and, for the longest time, only) highly-polished game in this genre for the iPhone. Thankfully, there are now a plethora of turn-based strategy and tactics games for the iPhone. Unfortunately, I can’t find the majority of them on Android, but this one is there. Since it has awesome multiplayer support, it’s totally worth picking up.
  • Scrabble – Play Scrabble with Facebook users, iPhone users (that sync with Facebook), and Android users (that also sync with Facebook). You can also just play against the computer, or pass-and-play with your friends.
  • Flick Kick Rugby & Flick Kick Field Goal – A rather simple game of flicking your finger to kick a rugby ball or football through the uprights, while taking into account wind blowing from side-to-side. Honestly, I prefer Flick Kick Rugby to Flick Kick Field Goal, but they are both virtually the same. Pick whichever you want.
  • Reckless Racing – I just picked this up and have to say, it’s rather impressive. The graphics are incredible, and there are plenty of control options for you to choose from. It’s a top-down racer similar to Super Off-Road Racing or R.C. Pro Am.
  • Crush the Castle – Similar to Angry Birds above, but with a medieval theme and a trebuchet launching various munitions, rather than firing birds from a slingshot. It’s a port of the popular flash game, so check it out and see if you like it.
  • 360 Live – A simple app for accessing the web front-end of xboxlive.com so you can see who’s online, send and receive messages, compare achievements, and manage your friends list. My only complaint is that messages are automatically appended with a signature that says that they were sent using 360 Live, unless you manually remove it each time.
  • SoundHound ∞ – If you’ve heard of Shazam, then you understand how SoundHound works. However, SoundHound goes above and beyond by letting users sing or hum a song, or even search by typing in the lyrics of the song. SoundHound ∞ is the unlimited version of the app, but there’s a free version that lets you recognize 5 songs a month (but you can still sing, hum, or search by lyrics for as many as you want).
  • Pulse News Reader – A rather unique take on RSS readers that focuses on a gorgeous visual display of the information. Very useful if you need to read less than 20 sites regularly, or if the sites you read tend to post an image to go along with the story, which really makes it stand out in this app.

Never Used:

  • Instinctiv – Android’s media player leaves a lot to be desired, so when I heard about this player, I started recommending it to everyone. So far, everyone I’ve suggested use it has liked it. Give it a shot.
  • Pacific WIngs – A vertical shooter in the vein of 1942. The graphics look pretty nice, but I can’t speak to the gameplay at all.
  • SolidNote, mNote, & AndroNoter (all sync with SimpleNote) – On the iPhone, I use SimpleNote to take notes. They sync with the cloud quickly and reliably and the app is very fast and easy to use. These three apps are all different apps that sync with SimpleNote, but I’ve never used any of them to determine which are worth using.
  • Crystallight Defense – I couldn’t find my preferred iPhone tower defense titles (The Creeps! and Star Wars: Battle for Hoth) available for Android, but this particular game has pretty nice graphics, and seems to be a popular download for Android OS.
  • Guns’n’Glory – Another popular tower defense title, this one is actually available for iPhone and has been very well received. Play as cowboys fighting off raiders and thieves in this Wild West-themed tower defense title.
  • Pokedex – I sort of missed out on Pokémon in the beginning, but I have grown to love the concept of an RPG where, instead of picking different weapons or powers to use, you pick different monsters to field against your enemies. Even better, is the ability to evolve your monsters adding a sim element to the game. An iPhone app, called Dex lets you see all the different Pokémon types and what they’re weak against, etc. Pokedex appears to be a similar app for Android.
  • WoW Droid Armory – The World of Warcraft Mobile Armory for iPhone lets you view your characters, their stats, equipment, and more. It also gives you a talent calculator, access to the Auction House, and the in-game calendar and several guild tools. The Android version is little more than a browser for what’s available on the WoW Armory web page, letting you see various characters that are viewable in the Armory. Still handy for Android users that want to show off their characters on the go.

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