Showing posts with label Android. Show all posts

A Writer's Best Friends: Gadgets For The Writer


A writer is a writer is a writer, as they say. Writers will be found carrying their favorite pens -- or a whole handful of them. They love fancy notebooks, and to be able to collect Moleskines is a treat for them. The more successful ones toted the first Macbooks in the Philippines, back in the time when Windows PC's ruled the market. And whenever they can, they will scribble their notes on anything. And I mean anything.

If caught in a coffeeshop without a laptop or even a pen and paper to capture their thoughts with, they'll resort to asking the barista for a handful of table napkins and the store's pen.

I know, because I never thought the day would come when I'd need to resort to that -- but then it did.

But these times mark the age when writing has become profitable (thank you Google and SEO!) and writers can now afford to invest in gadgets and machines that will make their lives and compulsive note-taking a whole world easier.

Writers may have said "hello" to the smartphones and helpful gadgets by now.

Here are some machines that I know would be handy for writers and other compulsive note-takers and thought-catchers:

iPod Touch -- The cheapest thing you can get to an iPhone, without the phone capabilities, the iPod Touch is the note-taker's delight. With a camera that can take pictures of handwriting pretty well, a writer and his pals will no longer need to run to the nearest photocopying shop in order to take copies of notes written. They only need to snap photos of those notes, and they will be able to share notes, and even pages off of books, on the fly.

The notes that can be taken by the iPod Touch's reportedly only 0.7MP cam.

You can even take pictures of pages off of books, which you can share with your other writer-friends.

Another method of recording one's thoughts is in the form of pictures. As they say, "A picture paints a thousand words." If the beauty of the sight that a writer is beholding is just too much for him to express in words, then a picture would surely beef up what he is meaning to write.

Lastly, voice recordings will never be able to replace the beauty, clarity and convenience of reading the written word, but it'll suffice as a way to record thoughts on the fly. With the iPod Touch's configurations starting at 8GB, a writer can certainly ramble hours of thoughts away.

Blackberry, any kind -- The Blackberry cornered the Smartphone market a few years ago, because it pioneered the handy QWERTY machine. Thanks to that, we now have Nokia's QWERTY's and even QWERTY Androids like the HTC Chacha and the Cherry Mobile Candy Chat.

But nothing really beats the Blackberry in how awesome its keys are engineered. They were built to be tapped on, for hours on end. That is why I completely understand why Blackberry users have been stereotyped as "Crackberry" addicts who tap away at their SMS or email even on dinner tables and family gatherings.

A writer can leverage a Blackberry by taking notes on the Blackberry's memo apps, or even on the Calendar. I find that it's very convenient to make notes on the Calendar, as it records the date when you had that thought. Thus, it's easier to go back to when you need to.

What is great about the Blackberry over an iPod Touch or even an iPhone or a touch-screen Android is that it is handy to type on even when you're in an uncomfortable situation. I mean, only crackpots will be writing their next articles on the commuter train while their in transit, right? But it happens, and thoughts and ideas can and will seize you, even when you're in tough spots.

Long bus rides are another thing. It would be hard to tap out a full-length essay or article on an iPod Touch on a bus ride, and it would be all the worse to start talking your thoughts into it, as other passengers may look at you funny for that. Thus, it is definitely quieter and easier to tap away a diary entry, an essay, an article, and even a short story or a novel chapter on one's Blackberry.

Samsung Galaxy Note -- Being a writer and an Android advocate, the Samsung Galaxy Note is definitely high up on my wishlist. As I said, I am attracted to the capabilities of its S-Pen, not to mention the fact that its screen is so wide, it can surely accommodate big fingers typing away.

One big irritation I have with touch screen devices is that I may get the hang of typing long messages on it when I really push myself to do it, but after a while, I find that I've gotten clumsy with typing on touch screens again.

One big promise that the Samsung Galaxy Note has for writers is that it's going to be an all-in mobile thought capture device: something to research with on the fly, something to take notes with, something to record voice messages (to oneself) with, and something that will allow for doodles, screenshots and diagram-making thanks to its S-Pen.

Check out the Samsung Galaxy Note, free on Smart's Unlimited Plan 2000.

While the writer-by-blood will always go back to his favorite tools of the trade: the trusty notebook and the ornate, colorful, or fine-writing pens, this age does favor him, with all the tools, gadgets and toys that will add to, but never replace, the writer's arsenal of pens and paper pads.

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An Android Is A Casual Gamer's Machine



There are three types of gamers, in my opinion:
  • The "Professional" Gamer
  • The Hardcore Gamer
  • The Casual Gamer
While all three may look the same to the non-gamer, these three are vastly different in their tastes, game choices and frequency of gaming.

All three types may come from all walks of life. Both may spend hours, even the equivalent of days, just gaming. But the similarities may well end there.

The Professional Gamer is stereotyped as the classic parents' headache. He or she may be the teen who goes home at 3AM because he just had to finish a game of DotA (Defense of the Ancients), Warcraft, or some other MMORPG, RPG or strategy game.

The Professional Gamer may choose a career that will allow for games for hours on end. In fact, there are cases that they never get a career at all. On the other hand, Professional Gamers based in the US do have a shot at success: game companies do hire Beta Testers for their game releases.

Professional Gamers tend to choose strategy games, RPG's and other games similar to DotA in gameplay and level of graphics complicity.

The Hardcore Gamer has similar tastes, but usually just uses games to relax themselves. They may play just as tough and as hard as Professional Gamers do, but they only do this for fun, and this is at the mid-level to the last of their priorities. They do this to de-stress, but that doesn't mean that they play in a mediocre manner. They may work hard, but they will also play hard.

I know of a high-ranking IT officer in a multinational company who may well be classified as a Hardcore Gamer. A CEO of a call center in Iloilo City may also be classified as such.

Lastly, the casual gamers.

Casual Gamers are those who loved Super Mario, Tetris, Battle City, Adventure Island, Twin Bee, B-Wings, and their ilk as kids. As they were growing into adulthood, DynoMite, Bejeweled, Text Twist, Chuzzle and Peggle caught their fancy. They have Nintendo DS', PSP's or iPod Touches. Today, they may have installed Plants vs. Zombies, Insaniquarium, and Feeding Frenzy on their PC's. And if they are Android users as well, their apps may mostly be games.

Many an Android casual gamer I know has Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and a permutation of a Match 3 Game (Bejeweled, Frozen Bubble/Bubble Shooter, Luxor). An Android could very well be an equivalent of an iPod Touch, with phone capabilities, or a more affordable equivalent of an iPhone.

However, The Android Searcher has noted that lower-spec Androids do have that "signature" lag, because a majority of entry-level to mid-range Androids do have only 600MHz in CPU speed/256MB RAM. If you want a seamless gaming experience, then higher-end Androids are recommended. Choose one with at least 1GHz in CPU speed, preferably a Qualcomm-powered machine, and at least 512MB in RAM. With that, you won't go wrong.

For those who are still on entry-level to mid-range hardware, however, we will have to find kludges for our handicap. For me, all I need to do would be to kill all the running apps then leave only the game. Removing or not even installing moving/dynamic widgets like a Facebook widget is also a good solution. Widgets tend to eat up resources, making the Android slower.

A friend once experienced having her Samsung Galaxy Y overheat and slow down, especially with playing Fruit Ninja. We cleared the memory using Android Assistant, killed all apps, and she even uninstalled nearly everything except for Facebook Messenger. Her Samsung Galaxy Y still stayed turtle-slow; until, she rebooted her Android. After the reboot, everything was back to normal. So remember, when all else fails, it won't hurt to reboot. It may well the fix-it-all solution for your Android's bugs.

But I digress.

While there are games that may cater to a Hardcore or even Professional Gamer's tastes on the Android, there is no doubt that it is a Casual Gamer's machine.

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Photo Credits: Design.inc
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Why Do Androids Get Obsolete Pretty Quickly?



Gadgets, as a rule, have a short shelf life. For one, the manufacturing companies are on the move to get people to constantly buy, upgrade, and buy some more. Mobile machine companies have one drive: to get people to upgrade, constantly, and then in the biggest, costliest way possible.

That is why none of us should be surprised that Androids are "obsolete" within a quarter of a year.

The reason is that companies follow release cycles and move towards releasing a new gadget by that deadline date. Apple has set the trend with that, and now, all the other tech companies are following suit.

One thing that holds up a company from releasing their machines on a speedy cycle would be dismal sales. Take a look at Acer. What once was a strong biannial release schedule has now become a fading, nonexistent release cycle. Credit it to the fact that they must have had quite a lot of refunds and repairs owing to the dismal quality of their products, or possibly, the fact that they are repositioning:
Either way, Acer is among those who are moving towards a more conservative outlook for now. For the big players, one trend seems to underline their operations: a speedy release cycle.

If you note, it was barely a month into the Samsung Galaxy Y landing with a blast onto Philippine Android shores when Samsung already announced the Dual-SIM version of the phone. We don't even have the Samsung Galaxy Y Pro in sight yet, and yet its Dual-SIM version is already announced for release, by Q1, 2012.

In other news, HTC is also playing the speedy-release game. Just close on the heels of each other, the HTC Sensation XE, HTC Sensation XL, HTC Rhyme, and HTC Rezound all got unleashed on different markets worldwide. While it will definitely take more time for the newer-release HTC Androids to reach Philippine shores, you can't help but admire the way HTC turns out its phones like pancakes, obviously working hard to keep up with Samsung, which has already flooded the market with its plethora of Samsung Galaxy models.

And we have barely even recovered from the craze over the Samsung Galaxy SII:


Next week, a note on why it would still rock if RIM hung around a lot longer. Like Motorola.

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Photo Credits: Children of the Nineties
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Three Types Of Droid Users


Most people have the impression that those who gravitate to the Android as an OS are only the geeks who love modding their phones. On the contrary, there are users who get attracted to the Android for other, possibly “simpler” reasons.

The Android partner companies have been working overtime to surpass the iPhone, so the new Androids that have been coming out have been looking pretty awesome lately. Thus, Androids are attracting users and prospective users from a varied array of backgrounds and perspectives.

We’ll try to capture their “cultures” in this post, and if you’re a friend of any of these, we’ve also put notes on how to deal with each kind of user so you guys can get the most out of your Droids and have the best Droid experience you can possibly have.

The Casual User.

Profile: This Android user bought his or her phone because it’s sleek-looking, the brand is making waves, and for some, they may have even bought the phone because it’s expensive. In short, the users who buy Androids with this mindset tend to not care that it’s an Android in the first place. They bought the phone first and foremost because it looks good and makes them look good. That it can call and text are the only things that are important for them. If they can Facebook using the phone, they’ll be happy. They probably haven’t even used up 50MB of their storage space. Heck, some of these users may even have 100+ MB left on their Androids.

What Now: If you’re a techie friend of a Casual Android User, sell them in on the idea of adding games and useful apps on their Droids. Let them know that you’d kill to have the remaining space they’re keeping idle on their Androids. Show them how your collection of GTD apps are simply awesome. Show them how the Facebook for Android app makes Facebooking simpler, faster and a whole lot more addictive.

Maybe when you’ve showed them the potential of their Droids, though, the next problem will be how to pry them from Facebook for Android.

The Power User.

Profile: This Android guy (or gal) probably has a Task Killer installed. If their Android has a huge ROM space, most likely, they also have a battery saver, a virus scanner and other system tools installed. These guys may have maxed out their ROM space and leave only the necessary 20 to 30MB free, to keep the systems from complaining of low space. These guys have their emails and social networking accounts perfectly synced, and may even work from their Droids. They’re on top of the trends and are already salivating on the next-generation Droids. They may even have upgraded their Droids’ Kernel Version, or even attempted rooting it. Short of re-coding their Droids, they’ve probably modded their Droids that these are almost extensions of themselves.

What Now: Since this breed of Droid users are the perfect balance of the n00b and the uber-geek, the only thing a Droid friend could do is to introduce this kind of user to a sales agent of a particular brand of Droid maker, and the friend could probably cash in on that referral. However, Power Users don’t get swayed easily, as they know what they want in their Droids and won’t compromise.

The Super User.

Profile: This is a Droid user who could write code from scratch. If he hasn’t done it yet, he must have tweaked and rewritten sections of the Android kernel code and suited it to his needs. His Droid has been rooted, and he probably has an app on the Android Market. As a consumer, he may not necessarily go for the biggest and baddest specs, but he will go for what will suit his needs: what he can modify and what will work with how he envisions his Droid to be.

What Now: If you’re the kind of friend who’s always on the lookout for the opportunity to make money, you can partner with your Super User Droid friend and ask him to build an app based on your ideas. Then, according to what’s fair in your estimation, split your royalties in percentages. You can go for 50/50, but if he’s fine with 65/35, with you getting the lion’s share, why not, right? After all, it was your bright idea in the first place. You can also agree on a project-based fee: ask your friend for his one-time rate for an Android App, pay that in full, and pocket all royalties thereafter. You may need to study how to monetize an Android app, however. AdSense has expanded to include app revenues, so you may want to look into that.

These are the three kinds of Android users. Hope you had fun reading this post, profiling your Droid-user friends and thinking about the ideas we brought to the table. Have a happy weekend!

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Photo Credits: C-Section Comics
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Android Has The Lion's Share Of The Market


The Android as a platform has had its share of fanatics and naysayers. For the most part, consumers who have jumped from the iPhone complain of its bugs and flaws, while the switchers from Nokia smartphones and other smartphone brands are pretty satisfied with what an Android-powered phone can do. The Android uptake has been a debate, but if there’s a detail that is definitely not debatable, it would be the numbers.

As of September 2011, The NPD Group, a consumer market research group of companies, identified these statistics surrounding the Android:


As you can see, the naysayers can say whatever they like, but the numbers don’t lie. The Android owns the lion’s share of the market.

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Smart Communications' Netphone: Brilliant Concept, Brilliant PR



Smart Communications seems to have its PR machine run tight. In just around 15 days after the Netphone was launched, we have seen not only the high profile bloggers tote their new Netphones, we've also seen friends colleagues wield brand spanking new ZTE Blades powered by SmartNet, or, as it is known by the brand, the Netphone 701.

Since the different high-profile bloggers have already said their piece about the phone, here is a collection of their opinions about it:


If there's anything we can just say about the whole Netphone 701 campaign, it's that Smart was very brilliant to lock its SmartNet service to the Netphone. While you can sign up for an account and even update your Facebook and Twitter via a SmartNet account on its website, you will not be able to enjoy the full benefits of SmartNet if you were on another Android. We tried using the service via a Cherry Mobile Nova, and, the website does not convert to a mobile site on the Opera Mini. It has the same proportions as the PC-based version. On the Dolphin HD Browser, the proportions are still the same, though it looks a tad bit more bearable. You may probably learn to like posting from SmartNet in landscape mode, but with Facebook for Android or even the mobile browser-based Mobile Facebook, we doubt you'd switch to SmartNet if you were on another Android.

What is more advantageous in having a Netphone is not just the dedicated app for SmartNet; it's really the free use of SmartNet. You can have only Php 1 in your Smart prepaid account, and as long as you keep the settings on "SmartNet" and not "Internet," you'll be fine. You can toggle these settings on the second panel of your Smart Netphone, as Karen Ang mentions in her post. 

Thus, the brilliance of the Netphone is really locked into the SmartNet system. However, the service will only be free until December 31, 2011. After that, expect to pay Php 999 per 1GB of data monthly. Smart also has other denominations in its Always On plan suite, so you may be able to take advantage of SmartNet at lower rates.

Did Smart Communications hit the jackpot by copying the big companies and their whole software/hardware ecosystem (think Apple's iTunes, the Android Marketplace and the Blackberry Internet Service)? Did they also hit a PR jackpot by creating an effective viral campaign with the help of local and influential bloggers? Will Smart Netphone users stay on the system after December 31, 2011? Only time will tell.


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Four Advantages Of The Android



Many smartphone enthusiasts complain of the Android as a buggy device. They always compare it with the iPhone, which has had a headstart in perfecting the way it works. These dissatisfied users forget that the iPhone is part of a closed system, which has the benefit of better QA.

On the other hand, the Android still has undeniable perks over the other smartphones. We'll give you a few:

1. Free Angry Birds. While Angry Birds, the phenomenal petrary physics mobile game that took the world by storm, is free on the Android. It costs $0.99 on the iOS, but for the Android, it's all free. It's also free on Nokia Ovi. It's still under development for the Blackberry, but it will be made available on the Blackberry Playbook first.

2. Most great apps and games are free. On the iOS, you pay at least $0.99 per app that you download. On the Android, there is a free app for nearly everything you need. Need a battery booster? A to-do list? More games than you can handle? There's a plethora of choices. The only thing you need now is more space and time to evaluate the apps so you can settle on the best ones that suit you.

3. Google Integration and painless email. This is possibly one of the best perks of being on an Android. Since the phone is basically a Google phone, Google services (GMail, Docs, YouTube, Picasa, GTalk, Google Earth) are better integrated than with, say, the iPhone or the Blackberry. Setup is painless. As opposed to the Blackberry, where setup could be a pain, all you need with your Android is your GMail address and your password, which you input upon the first startup of your phone, and you're all set. No need to look for your PIN, other numbers that may need time for you to wrap your brain around, no need to forward your GMail to your Blackberry account and other such setups, just your username and password. Upon startup. That's it.

You may experience a bit of a lag with email coming in, especially if your connection is not up to scratch. Unless you're in a high-emergency field where real-time email is a must, that shouldn't be a problem.

4. Customization is up to you, not your phone manufacturer. Ever got tired of how the buttons in the iPhone are just there for you to scroll through? Not much room for how you prefer to arrange things? With the Android, everything is customizable. Want to group your apps by dashboard? You can. Want to have accessible widgets to your to-do's? You can mount them on a dashboard of your choice. Want to keep one dashboard as a place where you can get to the e-Books you're reading with one click? You can. You can even replace the Launcher that manages your dashboard. There's no limit to what you can do with your Android.

Despite the OS's flaws, we find the Android a far better OS to power a smartphone than Symbian or the previous Windows Mobile OS versions. There's so much you can do with it. There's no limit to how you can modify your Android. It's the perfect OS for the user who loves tinkering with his smartphone.



Photo Credits: LindaBCool
Advantages of the Android
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Top Three Android Browsers -- An Overview



If you're looking for a good browser for your brand spanking new Android Phone, you'll find that you have quite a few choices. But let's narrow it down to the best we've used so far:

Opera Mini. Opera Mini must be the best mobile phone browser in the market. It's lightweight, compact, and simple to use. It's also very stable. One great feature of the Opera Mini is the Speed Dial, which you can set your most-visited websites on a grid of thumbnails which open every time you open a new, blank Tab. This way, all your favorite websites will be accessible with one single click.

Opera Link is also one feature that sets this browser apart. This feature is exclusive to Opera, and allows Opera users to synchronize their browser data across the devices they use. So if you're using an Opera browser on your Desktop, you can sync your bookmarks and Speed Dial from there to your Android, thanks to your Opera Link account. The setup is a matter of signing up (just like signing up for email) and then with a few clicks to sync, your Opera bookmarks are now merged across the devices you use. This is why it's awesome.

Dolphin Browser HD is highly recommended by the Android community because of its gesture-based shortcuts. You can set gestures to open certain websites or to perform certain actions like going to a subdomain or an inner page of a website. If you're the type who loves shortcuts, Dolphin Browser is something that you may adore.

We like Dolphin Browser because it tends to have better flash support and better video support than Opera Mini. While some websites may require Opera Mini to install Adobe's latest version over and over, Dolphin Browser just goes right on ahead and loads the website. For those who subscribe to video websites like Vimeo, Metacafe, Dailymotion or Revver, or if you watch video from CNN, ABC, Yahoo or even Beyonce's official website, this may be the answer to your mobile video-viewing needs.

Skyfire also comes highly recommended, especially by Tech Crunch. One great feature is how it has a dedicated pop-up section for Facebook and Twitter, which lets you post, share and tweet while you're in the middle of, say, reading through Huffington Post or New York Times.

Skyfire also lets you watch video from most sources, just like Dolphin Browser. However, the free version only gives you three days of free use for the video function. After that, you'd have to pay $2.99 to keep watching videos via Skyfire. There are other functions that are still free even after the first three days. You can Like and share pages directly from the Skyfire menu, without shifting to another tab for Facebook or Twitter. You don't even have to open the Facebook for Android app. There's also a nifty function, the Fireplace, which lets you view links from your Facebook and Twitter accounts all in one page. These innovations are the things that make Skyfire unique.

These are the top three browsers of the Android Market. In giving you their strengths and weaknesses, we hope to have helped you decide which to download and keep for your Android. Have fun!


Photo Credits: Electric Info
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Android Newbie's Guide To Buying An Android


Are you a n00b?

...An Android n00b, a.k.a Newbie, that is. If this is your first time to buy an Android, fear not. The decision-making process is pretty straightforward.

The dozens of Android models on the market may be intimidating for those who hate needing to compare and canvass for the best model to buy. That's why the iPhone is such a hit -- just one item on the list. The only decisions you need to worry about are whether you're getting the White iPhone or the Black iPhone, or if you're getting it in 16GB or 32GB.

With the Android, you'd have to decide which brand to refer to, which model to choose, what "flavor" Android you should get, among other crazy mind-bending questions to answer.

That being said, we created a simple process for you to filter out your Android choices:

1. Look at the tech specs before anything.

While 256MB RAM/512MB ROM/600MHz Qualcomm CPU is pretty decent and standard for an Android, higher specs will always be better, when it comes to gadgets. You'll come face to face with this truth when you're a rabid gamer and you acutely feel the micro lags during a furious session of Angry Birds or Pumpkins vs. Monsters.

Thus, first determine the tech specs that would make you happy, then start looking at the models that have this benchmark. We believe that around 768MB RAM/1GB ROM/1GHz CPU would be a decent starting point. If price is no problem, you can start looking at the Super Droids that are coming our way.

As for Android "flavor," never choose anything released earlier than Froyo (Android 2.2). That way, you will be able to move your apps to your SD Card.

Here's a quick guide to the Android Flavors in the order by which they were released:

  1. Cupcake -- v.1.5
  2. Donut -- v.1.6    
  3. Eclair -- v.2.1
  4. Froyo -- v.2.2
  5. Gingerbread -- v.2.3.x
  6. Honeycomb -- 3.x.x 

2. Form factor counts.

If you have big, chunky fingers (sorry), forget about the thinner and sleeker models. They'll only make you want to hurl your unit across the room. When you're checking and testing units in cellphone kiosks, try the soft keypad in portrait form. If you can type a whole 160-character message without mistyping, then you're in soft keypad heaven.

If you've reconciled with the fact that you absolutely hate touchscreen phones, forget about the models that are fully touchscreen. Think about the sliders or the Blackberry-type QWERTY models instead.


3. Now you can think about the price.

If money is not a problem, then, as we mentioned, a Super Droid would be a better buy than one of the regular droids. But if price is a major factor, then filter our your picks with this point.

Here are the low-end to mid-range Droids available on the market:



Here is the spreadsheet version of the list:



With this list, we've gotten you started on the low to mid-end Android phones with the best value for money. As you can see, Samsung has opted to keep its phone models with lower internal memory, possibly to keep price points lower. Since all of their models are on Froyo anyway, users can keep their apps in their SD Cards.

Judging from the specs, we believe that the HTC Wildfire S, Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini, Sony Xperia Mini Pro, and the Cherry Mobile Magnum offer the most bang for the buck. Also, we recommend the Cherry Mobile Magnum because of its screen size: texting in portrait orientation will be a lot easier because of its screen real estate. And if you're all for dual SIM phones, the Cherry Mobile Orbit is not a bad choice, either. But if the phone's camera quality is also a consideration, Sony Ericsson is known for having the best cameras on cellphones. The Smart Netphone could also be a great buy, if you consider the SmartNet perks. SmartNet services are free until December 31, 2011. So remember, specs first, form factor second, then let the axe fall with the price. And if you care about the brand, factor that in, as well. But the bottom line really is, after you try everything that catches your fancy, it's all about the total package.


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***We didn't include Android players like LG and Acer because of the dismal specs for their products. Neither did we include the Motorola line because they're not readily available in Philippine malls, but are available via online sellers.


Photos, specs and prices are available on the links provided. Go ahead, click on!



Photo Credits: Quantrimang
Affordable Androids
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Smart Communications Makes New Waves With The Smart Netphone



Smart Communications is undoubtedly the Philippines' biggest mobile network, with a subscriber base of at least 45 Million, as reported in June 2010. This 2011 saw Smart Communications make very aggressive moves, with the launch of Smart's 4G service via LTE in Boracay this summer 2011, the newsmaking purchase of the majority shares of Sun Cellular, and now, a heavy drive of venturing into the Android scene.

Close on the heels of summer 2011's major moves by Smart Communications, Smart drove heavily into the emerging Android smartphone wave by launching a particularly seductive postpaid line of HTC phones. And now, Smart Communications is making new waves with its own Android, the Smart Netphone.

Smart Communications is not new to the smartphone scene. It is not even new to launching its own smartphone model. Remember the Smart Amazing phone? It was one of the more affordable smartphones to hit the market. Smart made an attempt to make the smartphone readily available to consumers, and the Smart Amazing phone was their answer.

As they say, history repeats itself. Tomorrow's market launch of the Netphone is not a case of "history repeats itself," however. In our opinion, it is more about "Find out what works. Rinse. Repeat."

They say that the key to success is bumping into something that works or brings in results, and then repeating the formula until the results dwindle. With the Netphone, this seems to be seeing that the Android pie is selling like hotcakes at the moment, and wanting a slice of that pie. If it clicks, if it works, we bet Smart Communications will, indeed, "Rinse and Repeat."

Indeed, who wouldn't want a piece of the Android action? At 550,000 Android activations a day, that number alone spells a phenomenal profit. That number says that there's room for quite a few players. And if that isn't impressive enough, we're not sure what is.

The thing is, how do you seduce a brand-conscious Philippine consumer base? Filipinos have been known to have a preference for Nokia. But when Cherry Mobile, Torque and China phones entered the market on the low end, and the iPhone, the Blackberry and the Android posse made a scene on the high end, brand no longer remained relevant. Today, the Filipino cellphone-buying public is more concerned about durability and the gadget's specs. If the Netphone proves to be better than the Cherry Mobile Androids, it may be a viable midrange option for the Android aficionados.

For more information on specs, first impressions and unboxing, please visit these websites:


Here's the Netphone's Official Website:


Smart officially unveils the Netphone to the buying public tomorrow morning.



Photo Credits: Smart Netphone Official Website
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Can Too Many Androids Spoil Its Own Growth?


Image by eHow Money

In the world of tech, simplicity is key.

Steve Jobs apparently got it right when he figured THAT out. If you notice, from the iPad to the iPhone, and even to the Mac, an Apple product is meant to be operated by anyone from age 5 to 85.

It's not only the simplicity of navigation that Steve Jobs capitalized on. Apparently, he also realized that if a consumer were left with very few choices, it's easier to make a quick purchase.

That seems to be the reason why there is only one iPad and only one iPhone.

Apple can certainly make, say, an iPhone S, iPhone T, iPhone U, iPhone V, just like Samsung does with its Galaxy line. Samsung Galaxy isn't just one phone. There's Galaxy S, Galaxy Pro, and other mind-bending variants of the line.

This, then, is one concern that Android pundits are chewing on, at the moment. Some are saying that there are too many Android phones to choose from; this implies that with too many handsets being churned out by the different companies, there may be a lack of quality control for the platform, as well as too many incompatibilities between devices.

Another concern is that there are too many Android flavors out in the wild by now. And since it's open-source, anyone who can download the OS can very well modify and "fork" it as they please. Yet another problem of diversity is the issue of updating the OS. According to ZDNet, it seems that "Too many cooks [spoil the broth]."

Android is working towards putting standards on the devices that may carry the platform. However, with the new developments in the Android arena, from Amazon Kindle going into producing Android-based tablets, to Baidu planning on taking Android and modifying it to a point where it's no longer recognizable as Android, among other developments, cohesion for the Android seems to be a wish that may never be fulfilled.

Meanwhile, let's comfort ourselves that a new Android Market will be released soon.
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Android Industry News: Google Buys Motorola

 Image by TechEBlog

Last week was a phenomenal moment for Google, Motorola, and the Android: Google acquired 63% of Motorola shares for USD $12.5 Billion, effectively owning the company.

This certainly must be a well-thought-out move for Google, but one wonders what the different circles of people affected by the merger think:


So what does this mean for us consumers?

  • We will now have an Android product choice that is "Officially Google, Officially Android" in standard.
  • Motorola as a consumer choice will be expected to be at the forefront of Android innovations.
  • The Android OS we so love will be housed in machines that an 80-year-old mobile device manufacturer will produce.

Motorola as a mobile device company has created devices that have been used in the forefront of military battles. Their technology was the cream of the cellular phone industry's crop, until they hit obscurity prior to Android.

Maybe it was because their designs failed to catch on with the trends. Maybe it was because Motorola failed to find a way to keep afloat despite the onslaught of the Blackberry and the iPhone. Maybe because it was starting to lose its innovative edge.

But Motorola showed that it still had an eye for what could potentially save the company: they were among the first to jump onto the Android bandwagon. In the past, Andy Rubin also helped bring to life another innovative mobile platform: the "Magic Cap." The Magic Cap was developed in General Magic, a side company of Apple, in the early to mid 90's. Sadly, Rubin's innovation wasn't given the time of day by mobile companies back then. It was just buried into the archives of Apple's failure-to-launch casualties. When Andy Rubin launched the Android after being acquired by Google, Motorola was among the first to see its potential as an OS. Thus, the positive, even friendly business relations between Google and Motorola began.

Call it a favor for a favor, call it a shrewd act of goodwill and business sense combined, but one thing is sure: the Google-Motorola merger has been drafted, inked and announced, and will be completed end of 2011 or early 2012. Good things are coming to the Android industry.



 
***
Note: This merger does not mean that the Android will now become a closed system like the iPhone or the Windows Phone OS. It will still remain free, Open Source and highly modifiable by the mobile companies and Android Partners who choose to implement it.
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Battery Apps For The Android

 Image by Battery Booster

Yesterday, we discussed how the Android needs for you to use battery saver and task killer applications. We discussed great multi-function app killer and battery saving apps in the previous post. Most apps available for the Android are standalone, however, so it takes a while to bump into good multi-function apps with the specs we discussed yesterday. Most of the time, you have to install and run quite a few apps to get what you need.

For dedicated battery savers and managers, this is what we require of them:

  • Connectivity Toggle functions. WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth and other connectivity functions are the biggest resource and battery hogs. If the app has a function to toggle these off when your screen locks, better.
  • System Tweak functions. Through the app's interface, you should be able to manage your phone's settings: sound volume, display brightness, as well as connectivity functions. Usually, you have to go to the Settings to tweak this. Your battery saver should let you have an easier time tweaking these settings.
  • Status Bar icon. The Android's native battery indicator does not show how much power is left in your battery. Ideally, your battery saver should have a Status Bar icon indicating the percentage of power in your battery.

Battery Booster. This app has all three functions we mentioned. Not only that, it also comes with a great widget which you can use to toggle your phone's bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, brightness, and even set the display light's dimming/shutoff delay. The Android's native Power Control dock/toolbar/widget only has the WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, Sync and backlight brightness buttons. If you can live without having a Sync button on your home screen and would find a backlight delay timer toggle more helpful, then we recommend you replace the native Power Control bar.

Aside from Battery Booster, no other app has all the functions we required. Most of the battery managers are similar to the apps we featured yesterday. If the apps are not like that, they have simple controls for their settings tweaks that we wonder if the developers should have put more effort to developing their apps. It seems as if the apps are but mere frontends to the Settings area that comes built into Androids.

Only one other battery-saving App is worth installing on your Android: the ShutUpBatterySaver. Its only function is to schedule AutoSync during intervals you can set: you can have it turned off every hour, 2 hours, 5 hours, or at a customized interval. Then you can set the time that AutoSync is turned on for 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and so on. Keeping your phone's Sync actions will help save the battery. If you're the type who'd love to get away from your email anyway, this may be a good idea for you. Notifications for your email may come delayed; if you're expecting urgent emails, you can turn ShutUpBatterySaver until you can put up with Sync at set intervals (ergo email notifications coming in delayed).

These are the only battery-saving apps worth installing, in our opinion. If you want to know what the Android Community thinks, however, here's a note about more famous battery-management apps.
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Losing Phone = Losing Contacts? Not With The Android!

 

If losing one's phone isn't distressing enough, phone owners who lose their phones have to deal with one more setback in the process: losing their contacts. A good number of phone users keep all their eggs -- or, in this case, contacts, in one basket: their phones. It's either these phone users have yet to learn the fine art of backing up their contacts, or there's just "no time" to do so.

Most standard smartphones, and even mid-range phones are equipped with bluetooth, which allows users to send contacts to and from their bluetooth-enabled computers. Some laptop models now come with bluetooth, or the user can purchase a bluetooth dongle for their desktops. Incidentally, Macs all come with bluetooth. Some phones will need you to send contacts entry per entry, but others will enable you to sync in bulk. You may even leave your phone alone while you do something else.

The process of syncing one's contacts may be a brain-breaking exercise for the non-techie. On the other hand, there is a better, less painful way to synchronize and backup your contacts: Use an Android.

For the most part, an Android is highly user-friendly. Contrary to impressions that it's a geek's phone, most of the Android's functions are very intuitive. So intuitive that even connecting your phone to a 3G Internet connection is as painless and easy as tapping a few buttons. But we digress.

The Android, being a Google product, requires you to use a Gmail account for the Android Market. Push email may also be used via the Gmail app. But more than push email and Google Account integration, you can also synchronize your phone's contacts via your Gmail account.

All you need to do is to sign in with your Google account, then setup synchronization.

To setup synchronization, here's the process:

  1. Go to Settings > Accounts & Sync
  2. Tap both Background Data and Auto-Sync to enable syncing. This allows your phone to download data in the background, automatically.
  3. Go to Manage Accounts and click the account you want to sync with your phone. If you use only one Gmail account, then there should only be one entry. If you use several accounts, then choose the account you want to sync to. 
  4. In that section, you may find entries like "Sync Docs," "Sync Contacts," "Sync Gmail," "Sync Picasa Web Albums," "Sync Calendar." Choose the Google services you want to sync to, especially the "Contacts" entry.
  5. Leave your phone alone while it's syncing. Minutes later, your contacts from your phone and from your Gmail will be merged.

Leaving your phone to sync in the background automatically updates the entries. Thus, as soon as you enter new phone numbers and contact details, you'll find that these are already in your Gmail account as well. No more need to set aside time to sit down and back up your contacts! Your Android will do it for you, as long as you have the Background Data sync function turned on.

Syncing in the background consumes power. So if you want to conserve battery, you could turn off the sync when you're out. Just make sure that you sync at least once a week. It's as convenient as a few taps anyway.

Heaven forbid that you lose your phone in the near future. But when you do, get an Android for your next phone. That way, even if you do lose it too, at least you won't have the added worry of losing all your contacts' details.
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Crucial Things To Do With Your New Android

Image by Gizmodo

In an earlier post, we discussed how one of the first things an Android user must do is to root his or her unit, for full control of the system. However, we also note that not everyone is a power user. Most phone users are Blackberry, iPhone, even Nokia migrants who may be trying the Android for the first time. If you’re one of those who don’t want to risk bricking their phones, then here are some simple tips on how you could still make the most out of your Android phone, even without needing to “get under its hood.”

Install Advanced Task Manager by Infolife LLC. This is one of the many Application/Task Killer apps in the Marketplace. We prefer this one because of its intuitive interface and because you can install a widget on one of your homepages which can kill all active apps, including the Advanced Task Manager itself.

Modify your home screens. There are a number of ways to modify your home screens. You can use the native functions of your Android and organize your home screens natively (without the use of third-party applications), or you can use the app suggested by Lifehacker, LauncherPro. We find that the Android’s native organizing functions can suffice; all you really need to do is to be patient in dragging, dropping and adding widgets and shortcuts.

Add other browsers to your Android. Most of the time, the native browser isn’t mature enough to handle the needs of some road warriors. Also, Opera Mini on Android has multi-touch gestures similar to the iPhone, the UC Browser just works better with social media, and the Dolphin Browser comes highly recommended among the Android users.

Configure a secure lock gesture. Somewhere in your settings, you may be able to change the way you unlock your phone, depending on whether your phone’s manufacturer added that functionality to your Android. If you can (try Settings and look for Location And Security), change the standard way of unlocking the phone by sliding to open. Set a unique touch gesture that you can memorize so that only you and the people you teach the pattern to can unlock your phone. Adds a measure of security, and is fun to figure out as well.

Now that we've shared our post-unboxing tips and tricks for the Android, it's our turn to ask: 

When you unboxed your Android, what things did you discover about it that you feel a newbie should make a point to apply to their machine?
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Big Names On Spotlight: Geekily Juicy Trivia On Andy Rubin

 Image by AndroidGuys

Previously, we gave you an intro on the stellar career history of the man behind the Android. Today, we'll give you bits and pieces of what makes the guy who dreamed about a world-changing mobile device platform from the Cayman Islands, tick.

How about robots and tech?

Not so surprising, given his career history, and even what the Android stands for.

But here are a few tidbits about how deeply geeky Andy Rubin is:

  • His home is equipped with a biometric retinal scanner for the residents and a robotic arm that strikes a gong, as a doorbell. Andy claims the retinal scanner "Makes it easier to deal with former girlfriends."
  • Rubin's fascination with tech started early: his father was in the direct marketing business, and part of his dad's marketing strategy was to offer electronic devices with credit card bills. Because of that, the young Andy Rubin got the latest and greatest devices of his time.
  • Andy Rubin always seemed way ahead of his time. In his stint with MSN TV (between 1997 to 1999), he created a robot equipped with a webcam and a microphone and let it loose to move around Microsoft. Hackers managed to break into the robot, but hadn't realized that it was a mobile device with the capacity to record video. While the hackers didn't realize the potential havoc they could have wreaked and the breach to data security was minimal, Andy Rubin was ordered to sequester the robot where it won't do much damage.
  • Such was his fascination of robots that Danger, Inc., the company he founded, was actually named after the Sci-Fi TV Show "Lost In Space" robot who would usually warn the cast by sounding "Danger, Danger!"
  • Two major life-changing events happened to Andy Rubin in the Cayman Islands: the first was when he played Good Samaritan to love-embattled Apple Inc. engineer Bill Caswell. When Caswell was kicked out of the beach cottage he shared with his girlfriend thanks to a fight, Andy Rubin gave him a place to stay. In exchange, Bill Caswell gave him a job at Apple. His job at Apple Inc. eventually led him to join a team of engineers who were hell-bent on creating a platform for the next-generation smartphone. It was a brilliant idea, and the software was amazingly advanced for its time. The big catch, however, was exactly that: the platform was too advanced for its time, the big companies weren't interested. The second defining moment in the Cayman Islands is what led him to where he is, today. After he left Danger Inc. as CEO, he retreated back there and started writing code for software and developing a digital camera. But the camera had no takers, so he went back to an old idea of creating a next-generation mobile device platform. This time, after some twist of fate, it clicked. The Android was born, from the shores of the Cayman Islands and brought back to the heart of Silicon Valley.

These are the things that make up the man named Andy Rubin. Good to see that a quintessential tech guy has some quirky, even endearing, spots as well.


Resource:

The New York Times -- I, Robot: The Man Behind the Google Phone 
Andrew E. Rubin
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Android Devices Overview: Blackberry-Style, Social Networking-Centered QWERTY Droids

Image by Engadget


When you hear the word "Android," touchscreen phones may be the first to cross your mind. Whether it's an HTC, a Samsung or even a Cherry Mobile or Torque phone, the Android is associated with bar-type touch screen technology.

It may come as a surprise, but there are phones, even from the top Android companies that now carry the QWERTY form factor. Not everyone likes using touchscreen devices, thus it is a need for the top players to give the consumers what they want.

The Blackberry pioneered the QWERTY form factor. When the quintessential email and business phone was released, people who were already addicted to email got even more hooked. The ease of typing, as well as the compelling sound of the keys clacking kept people hooked to their email, that Blackberries soon became a hated dining table and vacation fixture. Parents and spouses wanted to tear the gadgets off of their loved ones so they can have nice family dinners in peace; while family vacations never seemed as restful because the Blackberry-toting email addicts kept checking email and working from their phones.

The iPhone came to break the Blackberry's smartphone monopoly, and a new standard in smartphones was born. The Android was initially created to eat into the iPhone's market share; but eventually, phone makers wanted to eat into the QWERTY market, as well.

The QWERTY market was effectively cornered by Blackberry so far; but Nokia quietly ate into its share with its line of QWERTY smartphones. But somehow, the Nokia can never seem to put up a worthy fight. Blame it on the Symbian platform, which never really posed a formidable defense against malware.

Enter the Android, fully customizable by the mobile phone companies that want to use it. They can use the platform on touch screens, on slider phones, and now, Blackberry-style QWERTY Android models are penetrating the market.

These three turned our heads and caught our Android-spotting eye:






HTC Chacha -- Made by one of the best companies to carry Android, this sleek, slightly curved QWERTY beauty has a dedicated button. Just great; add Facebook to your email and SMS texting addictions and you'll never put your QWERTY Android down.






Motorola Charm -- Cute and chic, this one may become a favorite among the teens and the ladies. Also social-networking centered, this QWERTY Droid has one major limitation, however: it is only available on T-Mobile in the USA. There are local (Philippine) sellers of openline units, however, gray market releases are never as reliable as company-released units.




Acer beTouch E130 -- Acer's entry-level QWERTY Droid, this is a more affordable, but less powerful offering from Acer. Still social networking-centric, this would be great for teens and yuppies who want a budget-friendly Droid option.

Over the coming weeks, we'll be featuring Androids of all shapes and sizes. We'll be giving you lists and even reviews of individual units. Our older posts also contain more reviews and overviews of what the Android world has to offer. So bookmark, subscribe and follow Android Alliance Philippines for hot-off-the-grill news about the Android OS!



Image Credits for Android Phones: GSMArena
Acer beTouch E130
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Big Names On Spotlight: Introducing Andy Rubin


When the word "Android" is mentioned, all sorts of beautiful phones would probably pop up in your mind. Nowhere in your imagination might it occur to you about how it's made up of 11 Million lines of code, of how it is an open-source platform that's free and available online for download and customization, how it's developed by a tiny team of engineers in a sub-division of Google, or how it's an idea that was hatched on a beach in the Cayman Islands, by this guy named Andrew E. Rubin.

Andrew E. Rubin, or "Andy," as he is better known, had a distinguished career in the I.T. Industry. Not just a regular, ho-hum climb up the corporate ladder, mind you. He's worked with the best, as just his list of former employers and the positions he held will show:


  • Carl Zeiss AG -- Robotics Engineer (1986 - 1989)
  • Apple Inc. -- Manufacturing Engineer (1989 - 1992)
  • General Magic -- Engineer (1992 - 1995)
  • MSN TV -- Engineer (1995 - 1999)
  • Danger, Inc. -- Co-Founder and CEO (1999 - 2003)
  • Android, Inc. -- Co-Founder (2003 - 2005)

Today, Andy Rubin holds the title of Senior Vice President of Google, in charge of overseeing the Android project.

So he thought about the Android. So he co-founded the company behind the Android. So he had the guts to pitch the idea to Google and got more than the venture funding he wanted. Big deal. What's so special about this guy, aside from the fact that he did all that?

Maybe it's the fact that the Android had pulled the rug out of the major smartphone players, and like the proverbial dark horse that came up from behind and won the race, in less than 5 years, the Android, as a mobile device platform, has managed to wrestle 59% of the smartphone market share, helped resurrect dying companies (Motorola) and brought the smartphone and other "luxury" devices like tablets to a level that the Average Joe (or Juan) can afford, among other stunning accomplishments. How often does anyone obsess about creating a mobile device platform, dream about offering it as open-source software (meaning it's FREE and highly customizable), then revolutionize an industry, introduce a revolutionary, consumer-friendly business model, and change the world in the process? Not everyday, we bet.

But this is just the start. On Friday, we'll give you juicier trivia on the man behind the Android.


Resource: 

Wikipedia -- Android
Andrew E. Rubin
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It Was Hatched On A Beach.

 Image by Islands

It started out as a dream hatched on a beach in the Cayman Islands.

Danger, Inc. had agreed with CEO Andrew E. Rubin that the company needed a new direction, and thus, a new leader. So what do you do when the company you helped build from the ground up fires you? You go clear your head in the Cayman Islands. It was there, on its beach, that the idea for an open-source operating system for mobile phones, came upon him.

Upon his return to Silicon Valley, Andy Rubin was on the lookout for investors who would be willing to provide venture capital for the new idea and the new company he was about to start. As he pitched it through his different prospects, he struck the mother lode when Google cofounder Larry Page not only loved the idea, he also bought Andy Rubin's new company.

What started out as a dream on a beach now translated into a 200-megabyte software made up of 11 million lines of code that now has a consumer base of at least 59% of the smartphone market share, with 550,000 new devices being activated every day, as of June 2011. More people are making their first smartphone an Android phone, and with the Android OS' seamless integration with all things Google, it's not hard to understand why.

One major draw of the Android is that its main kernel is based on Linux. Linux was the first user-friendly open-source operating system, and it has been known for its security and resistance to malware. Thus, unlike the Nokia Symbian platform, it will not be as vulnerable to mobile device malware. For those who have had horror stories of mistakenly downloading malware through bluetooth and seeing their smartphones be bricked thanks to that, this feature comes as a relief.

The second major draw is that the Android is not an operating system created for mobile phones; rather, it is an operating system created to power mobile phones and make them into handheld computers capable of surfing the Internet. Thus, the Android is all about multi-tasking and keeping a user connected to his online life.

And the third, and probably most important draw for the Android is its seamless integration with all things Google. More and more users have jumped on to Google because of its security and the applications and services it offers. With almost everything from bookmark managers to readers and even word processors and spreadsheets available as online apps from Google, there's no wonder why people are going on Google more and more.

From the OEMs' perspective, the major draw of the Android is that it is Open Source: free, and free for them to customize. This allows them to create devices without the need to develop their own platforms from the ground up, and therefore sell their devices at prices that consumers won't be able to resist.

The Android revolutionized how the Internet is accessed by the road warrior. More than that, they made the smartphone available to the Average Joe -- or Juan. An experience similar to the iPhone's iOS, at half, or even a third of the iPhone's price tag. With such pluses that are advantageous to everyone from the OEM to the consumer alike, you'd wonder why Andy Rubin didn't dream of this sooner.




Resources: 
Andrew Rubin
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Why Would You Get A Touch Screen Android?



If you've lived on a Candybar phone for so long, you'd probably get a sense of freedom the day you use a QWERTY phone. A QWERTY phone, for the heavy texters and social networking enthusiasts, may feel like typing/texting utopia. The form factor is just ideal for hours upon hours of texting and typing.

On the other hand, touch screen phones are for surfing convenience. For the most part, Android devices have been using the touch screen form factor, and it's been working because consumers find the look of touch screen phones sexy, plus, it makes surfing a whole lot easier, not to mention more fun to do, especially with the touch gestures that are standard with iPhones and Androids nowadays.

But we have to face the fact that nothing beats a physical keyboard when it comes to typing and texting. And nothing beats the QWERTY if you want your typing on steroids. Given that, why would you even want to use a touch screen Android?

1. Because you want to read your emails with a bigger screen. Touch screen phones just have greater screen real estate. And let's face it, it's just better to read email on a bigger screen.

2. Because you want to read the blogs you follow on a decent, big-enough screen area. Just like email, reading comfortability is key in choosing a phone's display size.

3. Because you want to surf the web faster and easier. As mentioned, Androids, just like iPhones, come with multi-touch gestures. So you can surf your favorite websites with a few touches on the phone screen. You could also get familiar with touch gestures as shortcuts. It sure beats dragging a mouse pointer using a trackpad or a trackball.

On the other hand, you can actually compromise by getting a slider QWERTY Android Phone. The HTC Merge looks like a great candidate, though the HTC Desire Z may be more affordable because it was released a few months back. The Blackberry-type QWERTY Androids also come with touch screens. The screen sizes are just smaller, however.

As we keep saying, it's all about what you need and what you want in functionality. What is more important to you? Comfort in surfing or ease in texting? Thanks to the innovations in the Android universe, the choices are diverse.
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