Android Electronics

My Addiction For Android Continues With This…

MrAndroid — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:00:59 +0000

In my (never ending) quest to inundate my life with all things Android I run across some of the most bizarre and sometimes awesome things. Fortunately, my family tolerates my craving for more (usually, until I brought my Nexus One to bed with me… ya that was some great advice ). I did find something recently that I had to fight my kids over though, and even standing at 6′4″ tall and 240 lbs, I almost lost it to them. Say hello to my new desk companion: It's Not A Doll!! I love this little dude. Handcrafted by a lovely young lady named Nicole Aaron at A Plus Amigurumi, he’s just too adorable. Yes, a 33 year old grown man just said “adorable.” You can find Nicole Aaron and her awesome creations, including the stuffed Android (it’s NOT a doll!) at her Etsy Store . Price is only $15 and $4.95 to cover shipping anywhere in the United States. If you live outside of the States, Nicole Aaron will ship it to you for only $7. Since she makes every single one of these by hand, it does take a while to get to you (mine arrived three weeks after I placed the order). But, it’s well worth the wait to be the envy of your other Android-loving friends. Even if you are a 33 year old man that still plays with dolls collects memorabilia. Might We Suggest… Nothing Wrong With Google Promoting Nexus One Through Free WiFi In my travels, I have paid for WiFi a couple of times so I appreciate when I can get access internet for free. When this is the case, I don’t mind getting some ads or having to fill-out a form to …

More here:
My Addiction For Android Continues With This…

App Review: MLB At Bat 2010

MrAndroid — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:00:28 +0000

Main Screen of App Being a displaced Boston Red Sox fan, I am always looking for ways to either watch or listen to my hometown team while living elsewhere in the country. Not to sound Apple like, but being an Android G1 user, there is now an app for that in the form of MLB at Bat 2010. For $14.99, baseball fans can download MLB’s app for their Android powered handset. The app provides a lot of statistical information, box scores and standings as well as baseball news, but the killer aspect of this application is the fact that users can listen to every single game played in the MLB this 2010 season via MLB’s Gameday Audio built into the app. This includes the playoffs and the World Series. Using a data connection, an At Bat user can be anywhere they have data connectivity or wifi access, and listen to their favorite baseball team live and in real time. This is the first time this application will be appearing on Android handsets, it debuted last year on the iPhone and iPod Touch, and was one of the top selling applications. It has already been selling very well on the Android Market, and is a sign that major developers may be finally making the move to develop for Android as well. The app itself is a pretty small one, about .9 meg, which was nice to see a lightweight app with this much functionality. Box Score info view The user interface is pretty straight forward, when you launch the app you see all of the games that are on the schedule for the day in the MLB, you can skip ahead and back days to see past scores and future games. Upon pressing a game box, you get an info screen about the stats of the game, along with tabs to select different information sets. You can get the pitch by pitch description, box score, field positions, play by play or video information. Unlike it’s iPhone counterpart, you cannot watch live video on the Android version. Menu Buttons To listen to Gameday Audio, you use your Menu button, which brings up another screen with more options. During the pre-season, some games do not have an audio feed, or if they do, you may get just one of the teams broadcasts. During the regular season, you will be given an choice to pick the home or away teams broadcast, which is pretty classy. At Bat feels like a polished beta version. All the buttons and information feeds work pretty well, where the app skips a beat is the audio. It will lose the data stream pretty regularly, and you have to reconnect it manually to get the game going again. This problem however is not Android specific, as I own the app on the iPod Touch and that app has the exact same issue of dropping the stream forcing a manual reconnect. Gameday Audio Player Major League Baseball has always been ahead of the curve technology wise, so I think that they will be working to fix the issues that they are having system wide, and by the time the first pitch of the regular season is thrown out, the app should be humming along then. Gameday Audio notification At $14.99, At Bat seems a bit pricey, but when one thinks about the fact that you can listen to every single game played this year, it becomes a pretty good value if you like baseball. For displaced fans, this is a dream come true, giving the ability to listen wherever and whenever you want. If you are a baseball nut who lives in a different town your favorite team, pick this application up now. If you live in the town your team plays in, perhaps waiting until all the bugs are worked out may be the best course of action. Overall, this is a great application that has a lot of realized potential as well as future possibility in it. A must have for baseball fans! Might We Suggest… OnStar and Chevy Gives Android Users Mobile Control of Volt One of the cooler software announcements to already come out of CES 2010 is from Chevy and OnStar regarding the upcoming 2011 Chevy Volt, their all electric vehicle.Â The new Android-based applicatio…

Go here to read the rest:
App Review: MLB At Bat 2010

Rogers MyAccount for Android

MrAndroid — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:58:47 +0000

Rogers has shown their devotion to Android and that they see it as a serious competitor in the mobile industry. How? Approximately a week ago Rogers released a much awaited application for Rogers users that allows one to natively access some of the most used account information. Up until a week ago the only way to access this information was to check MyAccount through the web interface. Features available in this app are: View current Voice, Data, and Messaging use for the month so far Check account balance, billing cycle, and last payment Make a payment directly within application Common help and support issues Available in English and French languages Feedback form This application has been available on iPhone since November with availability coming to more devices such as Blackberry and other smartphones in the near future. I have already found the app a great help in informing me when I’m getting close to exceeding my voice usage, a common problem! I assume that this app will become a standard application that is released with all Rogers Android devices from now on. This application comes amidst a plethora of other great Android news many of you have already hear about this week. This other good news includes the availability of paid apps and the new Nexus One that is compatible with Rogers. Download the MyAccount app from the Android Market because it is one you can’t do without. Usage Help+Support Account Balance Might We Suggest… Rumours Say Canada May Have Paid Apps Soon Android is nothing new in Canada and while we don’t have a very large selection of different handsets, the average person would be able to tell you what it is. We may be quite excited about Android an…

See original here:
Rogers MyAccount for Android

Download This! Replica Island

MrAndroid — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:18:31 +0000

Fans of classic side-scrolling classics like Super Mario Brothers, Mega Man, and Sonic the Hedgehog should checkout a new game for Android called Replica Island . Using everyone’s favorite green robot, players fly around and try to vanquish enemies and dodge trouble in search of the mysterious Power Source. This retro looking lets users roll, fly, jump, and stomp their way through 40 levels of game play. Replica Island will work for any handset running Android 1.5 or later and can be found for free in the Android Market. In fact, the developers have released the game as open source for the world to enjoy! In a related note, check out the initial press release for the game. It’s one of the most creative docs we’ve come across yet and makes for a great read. Someone has a serious Steve McQueen fixation! Scan to download Replica Island Might We Suggest… App Review: MLB At Bat 2010

Main Screen of App

[/caption] Being a displaced Boston Red Sox fan, I am always looking for ways to either watch or listen to …

See the rest here:
Download This! Replica Island

AndroidGals: Google Buzz from My Perspective

MrAndroid — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:00:36 +0000

While geo-location applications have become increasingly popular, there are those that still feel uncomfortable broadcasting their every movement to everyone around them. Sometimes, you just don’t want everyone to know exactly where you are. The new Google Buzz widget allows you to Buzz with the option of generalizing or hiding your location as well as making your Buzz private all from the Buzz screen. In fact, the screen you access from the widget has all the same options as the Buzz screen on the mobile web site giving you all the functionality with one touch convenience. When I wanted to buzz from home but didn’t want to broadcast where my apartment was to the world I had the following options: Use the city as the location (this was automatically designated as my location when I opened the screen) Select my apartment complex (no thank you) Select a nearby location (seemed silly) Hide my location altogether. Make my Buzz private so that only my friends can see. I opted to make my Buzz private, disappointing all the fine people of Albany who were dying to hear my critique of an American Idol performance. But I am happy to know that I could potentially alert people to bad roads (I’ve actually used Buzz to check on road conditions and it was very effective) or petition people in the area to look out for my neighbors lost Yorkshire terrier without giving away my home location to everyone. Might We Suggest… Buzz Widget Gives Something to Buzz About For those of you who Android users who play have Google Buzz accounts, there is now an easier and faster way to do it. Google has released a home screen widget that allows you to buzz on the spot. The…

View original here:
AndroidGals: Google Buzz from My Perspective

What Does The Google Apps Marketplace Mean For Android?

MrAndroid — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:00:43 +0000

Just a few hours ago, Google launched their Google App Marketplace with over 50 vendors ready to serve up a host of applications that integrate directly with Google services. A bold move for sure, but one that may have a larger impact on Android than at first glance. Obviously the App Marketplace targets the small to medium sized business model. These are the same businesses that often times will have people wearing multiple hats in the workplace. Your outside sales manager may also be heading up your marketing team. Your IT guy? Perhaps he’s the janitor. These types of people are usually issued company handsets and are kept within the working environment regardless of where they are. For so long, RIM’s Blackberry has dominated this market (and larger business as well), but is Google setting Android up to change that? By introducing the Apps Marketplace, Google has thrown the doors wide open for Android to successfully compete in this arena. Google Docs has been around for awhile, and while some businesses have successfully made the switch from Microsoft Office, the critical element of a mobile integration has been missing. With the launch of Apps Marketplace, Google has showed that they are serious about being involved within the B2B market. Suddenly, the switch to Android handsets for business seems much more logical than any other mobile OS. A handful of new apps for business that tightly merge Android into the business world and meeting the needs of this new demographic at a reasonable cost may be the kind of combination that has more decision makers taking an interest. In what ways can Android benefit from this? Simple… exposure. I believe that more people don’t have Android devices because they don’t know about them. Apple doesn’t sell (read: market) iPhone OS, they sell the iPhone hardware and experience. RIM doesn’t sell the Blackberry OS, they sell the business integration. What does Android sell? None of it. With five different flavors of Android on the market across dozens of devices, how can it be sold? Again, the answer is simple… Google Apps Marketplace offering integration with a mobile OS for businesses. Next, toss in Chromium OS and Google will have an entire suite of solutions (with literally thousands of partners) to customize a solution for any business. Might We Suggest… Is Google Serious About Maturing the Android Market? With all the different seemingly conflicting reports about developers fleeing both the iPhone app store and the Android Market, the question remains for those who are committed to the Android platform…

More here:
What Does The Google Apps Marketplace Mean For Android?

AT&T advertises the Backflip, makes fun of Verizon, forgets to mention Android

MrAndroid — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:44:57 +0000

%image%

A few new commercials have recently been released from AT&T, and they seem to be doing what they do best — poking fun at the other carriers — more specifically poking fun at Verizon Wireless. The new commercials are interesting to say the least, they feature the recently released Motorola Backflip which should make Android

Originally posted here:
AT&T advertises the Backflip, makes fun of Verizon, forgets to mention Android

Sprint: Android 2.1 coming to the Hero and Moment in the “coming weeks”

MrAndroid — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:30:20 +0000

%image%

It appears as if Sprint has realized that certain customers may see the difference in Android 1.5 and Android 2.1. This of course most likely comes because of the recent Nexus One announcement. But what it means is that Sprint is now looking to get their current Android handsets — the HTC Hero and Samsung

Read the original post:
Sprint: Android 2.1 coming to the Hero and Moment in the “coming weeks”

Roewe 350: The Android Car

MrAndroid — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:56:27 +0000

April Fools Day is coming up, and last year I wrote a fake article claiming that Ford and GM announced an Android Car . Kind of funny, but we actually thought the idea was good. So did a bunch of other people but Chinese Auto-Makers SAIC, makers of luxury cars, is launching an “Android Car” of sorts called the Roewe 350. Running Android 2.1, the Roewe 350 will have more than just Google Maps and Google Nav, with integrated chatting, web surfing and more. Whether or not you’ll have access to Android Market or if they’ll have their own auto-mart of sorts is unknown, but I’m hoping for the latter. It would be nice to see Android in THIS case be regulated to ensure that the apps available are safe for your car. The Roewe 350 will supposedly cost about 70,000 to 130,000 yuan, or about $10,250 – $19,000. [Via Mashable ]

Go here to read the rest:
Roewe 350: The Android Car

Google Updates Maps (Land And Sky)

MrAndroid — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:41:58 +0000

Google has been busy in the apps department lately, launching both Orkut and Buzz applications to Android Market. But it isn’t only new apps that Google has been working on – they’ve just updated their Maps applications… both of them. Google Maps version 4.1 is now available on Android 1.6+ devices, adding a few neat features. In addition to a Latitude widget and reworked search results, Google now allows you to use a Google Map as one of your Live Wallpapers. You can even have it track your current location using GPS/aGPS and show live traffic data, right there on your homescreen. Of course that sounds like a battery killer but hey – whatever you want! Another huge addition is support for multiple accounts, so if you’ve got a personal and a work email account for instance, you can get the information you’re looking for on either depending on your situation. And about that “other” map they updated? We’re talking about Google SkyMap – an application that I absolutely love as a fun, cool, geeky app to use at random moments. Not a huge update – mainly adding support for different phones – but just wanted to remind you to download it and try it if you haven’t already! Oh yeah… FYI… Google also updated Gesture Search so its now available on older versions of Android. Man… they’re working hard over there! [Via Google ]

See the original post:
Google Updates Maps (Land And Sky)