Is the Official Hotmail app for android really official?

So a few minutes ago I read on Android Central that Microsoft has released its official android app. I was pleased to see this and went to the Android Market to download it. Now I'm having doubts because the publisher isn't Microsoft Corporation but instead Microsoft + SEVEN. huh? Who's that? I tweeted Windows Live official twitter handle. I am curious to find out if it's real before I download and enter my windows live credentials.

Finding An Audience

Trying to find an audience when your blogging about the same things a million other geeks are writing about is not easy. I've been blogging on and off with this site for about a year and even though I do show up in the search result (waaay down the page) it's going slow. Finding an audience is tough and I am going to try and stick to more things I don't see blogged about elsewhere. Mainly that means blogs about how to use things. More and more people are using "simple" devices,  like an Android Phone, iPod Touch, or an iPad. Even IN the home, the tools I grew up on are more simple like the PC or a Mac. They are being used in a more simplistic fashion. People remain buried within their APPlications like Picasa or iTunes or their favorite web browser. They know how to do what they need to do. However, questions do come up and it's far beyond their understanding as their is no button to push or icon to touch. If something goes wrong with iTunes, they are clueless and it takes a while to find a friend that knows or find the easiest to understand website to show them what to do. Lifehacker is a great site that shows people everyday tips and tricks and I will take inspiration from people like it's founder Gina Trapani to talk about what I know best. Any feedback is greatly appreciated as to what someone wants to see on here. I'll still want to blog occasionally on my opinions of tech matters, but I'll focus those things on Google+. Thanks for reading.

Google Android Market Knows....

The official Google Android Market knows what apps you have installed from the Amazon App Store. They won't show up in the Market's "My Apps," but if you do a search for an app and you happen to already have it from the Amazon App Store, it will tell you that you have it installed so you don't download it or re-purchase it through Google. You can open it, It will however not let you uninstall it through the Market. I thought that was interesting and helpful for people that have a lot of apps and forget what is installed on their phone. This does not work with apps downloaded from non app appstores like Getjar through websites. (The Android Marketplace did not show that I have Cut The Rope installed.)

This works on the phone app, not on your pc through market.android.com

9.14.11

I found another interesting feature of the Android Market showing what apps you have installed from the Amazon App Store. If the Google Market has an updated version, it will have the option to Update it! However, you WILL have to pay for it again (if it were a paid app to begin with.) Here's an example:
I "purchased" A Game With Balls when it was free from the Amazon App Store. It is currently at Ver. 2.1.4. In the Android Market, it is now at Ver. 2.2  An Update button is there and if you Update it, you are asked to "Accept and Buy."  Current price for A Game With Balls is .99  Interesting!

Google Acquires Motorola Mobility, say whaaaat?

Google Acquiring Motorola Mobility? Another Apple monster? I love Google and I love my Motorola phone. I guess this means there's a chance I'll get Ice Cream Sandwich on Droid X when it's released? I don't know what this means actually. They definitely want Motorola's patents to defend against Apple and Microsoft but now Motorola will make all official Google phones? What does this mean for other android handset manufacturers? Is this fair? or just as "fair" as Apple controlling it's world of software/hardware. I don't have as much of an issue Microsoft using Nokia to make their own branded Windows Phone 7's because they hardly have any market share yet and it makes a good pairing. However, for an open operating system like Android, I don't know how "cool" it is for Google to have their own handset manufacturer. Let's hope Google doesn't become evil. The deal still needs FTC approval. Keep in mind the FTC let ATT buy T-Mobile. Yeah, good going idiots. What happened to government doing what's best for the consumer?!


 I DO think this is a bad idea. I'm a google fan, buy the patents you need or pay up for the technology you're using and don't own. Again, this is coming from a Google fanboy.


http://www.bgr.com/2011/08/15/google-to-acquire-motorola-mobility-for-12-5-billion/

We Rule for Android

We Rule for Android is finally Available! However, it's not so great. I'm running it on a Droid X (1.) In order to run the app, you first have to Install their Mobage App which I guess is the Plus+ offset for the Android realm. I hope they change that as it seems to be a waste of a phone's resources to run a secondary app in the background just to play a game. Secondly, it's not a smooth experience. The caption bubbles are a bit offset on some of the properties and it's kind of hard to figure out where to click on the property and collect coins. Thirdly, if you click anywhere off the map it goes to outer realms without clicking on the arrow. This happened to me several times while I was attempting to collect coins. Also going from realm to realm takes a long time.

The actual fluidity of the game and speed is just fine. I hope that ngmoco cleans all of these issues up. They've been working on this for a very long time. I am kind of shocked it's not perfect yet. I definitely hope they get rid of having to Mobage in the background. Seems unnecessary.


We Rule for Android

Dell Streak 7 Android Tablet Review

Why did I buy it?
Yes I am a bit late to review a product that was released earlier this year but I can’t exactly buy every product that comes out. I write about things I buy and when I buy something that I like I try to get involved with it as much as possible. Keep in mind I already have an Droid X (1) and 1st Generation iPad 16Gb WiFi, but I was interested in a smaller tablet to more easily carry around and throw into my pocket on my cargo shorts. The second reason was I wanted an ANDROID tablet to be familiar with Honeycomb. Yes I know the smaller android tablets don’t have official Honeycomb yet but I was prepared to root whatever device I bought or patiently wait for the manufacturer to update the devices now that Honeycomb 3.2 is out. (Honeycomb 3.2 supports smaller screen sizes.) The HTC Flyer is a beautiful device but way to expensive for a 7” tablet at $499.99!! The Galaxy Tab is now a bit old for me and putting Honeycomb on that might not look so good. I didn’t even consider Dell with the Streak 7 because..well…they are Dell and I just gave up on Dell for several reasons. But the little guy caught my eye in Staples. I still didn’t want to even pay 299.99 for a 7” tablet.  So I decided to wait and see what comes out in the coming months with Honeycomb already installed.
The next day I came across a link that had a 100 dollar coupon off any Android Tablet in Staples (not including the Nook.) I thought the timing couldn’t be more perfect. I did some google searches and after reading that the processor was actually decent one being a Dual Core Tegra2 1Ghz from nVidia. Add the fact that DJ Steve was making progress over at the XDA Development for Honeystreak on the 7 incher. I just could not pass up the offer to buy it at 199.99. So I did buy it!
The Potential
People have been raving about the NookColor since it came out with all it’s possibilities. I do agree it’s a great buy for what it can do as is and when rooted. I feel the same goes for the Dell Streak 7 at the current point of $199.99. The processor is an nVidia Tegra 2 running at 1Ghz speed. That’s a DUAL core chip in there. To me that means Honeycomb will run just fine once it’s ready for the device. As is, the Froyo 2.2.2 is running quite smoothly. The big complaint as been that it’s running Froyo and not even Gingerbread, but if that means jumping straight to Honeycomb then I am ok with that for now. As of recent, it’s been made official that a Honeycomb update is in fact going to happen and the date will be announced. The big complaint about the device is the screen resolution at 480 x 800. That is small especially when I think of how beautiful my Droid X looks. I don’t care. I am not using this to stream movies on end. I bought it for fun and to hopefully get to play with Honeycomb. Flipping the device from portrait to landscape renders the widgets and icons very fast and I have not seen any lag yet in doing normal tasks popping in and out of apps. I do like that fact that it takes a full size SD card. If you’re out and about you can always take your camera’s card out and pop it in and upload to your online galleries or facebook. Of course you can use the 5MP on the back of the device but I don’t see myself using that all too much. I do have Vignette installed and it works just fine. I am excited to finally have a front facing camera and look forward to testing that out with a few friends. For what this little device can do and WILL be able to do it’s a fantastic price and I happy I jumped on the deal.
The Apps I Use

The best way to see if a new piece of tech fits into your life is to actually use it. As soon as it was charged up I put my google account and my Amazon account into their respective Apps. Don’t forget to enable to 3rd Party Apps install in the Settings or you won’t be able to install Amazon Appstore. Once I was all signed in all of my previousely purchased apps from the Market downloaded and Amazon let’s you decide if you want to install any of theirs. (which is great because I have all these free app a day apps that I never actually use) Some did not install on the Android Market or didn’t even show up in a search i.e. Google Voice. (read below)
The rest of the Google Apps look as you would expect them to on your phone as this is not Honeycomb but Froyo. I do wish the apps realized it was a bigger screen than a phone and gave two panes for Gmail or Google Reader. Again, it’s not Honeycomb so it’s to be expected. Comixology looks fantastic. The 7” format really does work well for reading types of application like Comixology and the Kindle App and it’s a lot lighter and easier to hold up than an iPad. From what I’ve seen so far, the Browser loads the full desktop site and not the mobile m. site which some people may prefer or not. I prefer a full browser experience. Since it’s Froyo Adobe Flash is built in so TWiT looks fantastic which is always a plus. Google Music Beta was a downer. I am unable to even select any option to Sync my google music to the device in the App or in the Settings. Again, I will assume this will all get worked out. I do however have the Amazon Music App installed and it works just fine. Google+ looks just the same as on a phone and seems fitting for the 7” format.
Phone Calls?
The Google Voice App does not even show up as a download in the Android Market. The app is relatively new and I expect it to be available on all Android phones at some point regardless of form factor and flavor of android. I will be testing from google voice’s browser site and see how that goes. I have Skype installed and when I click on a phone number in my contacts Skype is started. So If you do pay for Skype minutes you can in fact make this be a giant pone provided you are near  a wi-hi hotspot. So it’s good to know that Skype after installation was set as the default method for placing calls and texts. I’m sure it’s the same for Fring and other VoIP apps. No one I know is a heavy Skype user so I’m betting on Google Voice to be my phone and text option eventually. Gtalk and G+ Huddle will be my method of messaging on the tablet til then. Now to just get my friends and family off of telco texting! I’m also excited to test out video chatting now that I have a front facing camera. Skype, Yahoo Messenger, and Fring are only some of the options.
So there ya have it! My review of the Dell Streak 7 coming from a budget minded tech geek who just wants to have fun. This is how I use it and it works. I think it’s a great little Android Tablet and I can’t wait to see the potential this has once I get Honeycomb or Honeystreak on it. As always thanks for reading. I’ll be editing this article and adding to it as I use the Streak 7 more and more.

Android Tablet Out In Brooklyn

I was with a friend today and he wanted to go into the local computer store and get a computer configuration priced and built.  I am looking inside the glass counter and I see what looks like a widescreen smaller iPad knockoff with an Android graphic on the box! It was called the iRobot.  The helper salesperson took it out and powered it on for me. I got to play around with it for a bit and was asking questions but the kid didn’t know all that much about it. From what I was able to see, it was running Android 1.6.  The touch screen wasn’t as responsive as I thought it would be. The graphic were decent though and I saw icons for the Market and Gmail as well as a few other expected apps. I know people are aware this tablet exists but I found it pretty exciting to see one out in a store! There were selling for about 160 bucks and they had only 2 in stock. I just bought myself an iPad otherwise I would have snagged this non froyo boy.

Droid X Ad on an iOS4 Device?

We Rule is a free game on the iOS4 devices (ipod touch, iPhone, iPad) thus supported by ads. I found it funny that one of their ads was for the Droid X (non iOS4 device.) Huh? What? Why would they have an ad for an Android phone and on Verizon? We Rule coming to Android? I highly doubt it. I am sure this was a simple case of “here’s an ad. Show it,” and no one thought it would appear to be strange.

Full Email Support on the Android OS? Not really

For the first time today I realized one important reason I miss my Blackberry Storm. Blackberry DOES email like no other. I got very use to never having to log in to my Windows Live email on the computer. Within the BB OS you can delete an email on the Server, On the Handheld, or Both. There were never emails to clean up on a routine basis. Now with my DroidX I am not presented with this deletion method nor is there an option to delete messages on server when Trash is emptied. Point is, there’s now a bunch of clutter in my Inbox when I log in to my Windows Live account from a browser. I do see there’s an email setting on the android to delete messages after a certain amount of days but that’s not really a solution. Is it? Wouldn’t that delete all messages wether they are important or not? Also, I believe it only deletes on the phone, not the email server.

So I’m not really happy about this. I haven’t tested out the use of Yahoo Mail on the Android. But I will assume it synchronizes as there is a Yahoo email option in Accounts Setup. So when’s the Hotmail support coming? Am I doing something wrong? Any info or help would be greatly appreciated on this.

Motorola Droid X photo tests

full photo above, actual pixels below