My Android Experiment

I took advantage of the free Nexus S at Best Buy yesterday.  I’ve had an Iphone 3G for the last 3 years so it was a big upgrade for me even though the Nexus S is about 8 months old already.  Granted if I had an Iphone 4 instead I probably wouldn’t have done this switch, but since I was still on a 3G, running IOS 3. something still (because of being jailbroken and unlocked) I thought this would be a good opportunity to try out the Android platform virtually risk free.  I figured if I don’t like it I have 30 days to return the phone and go back to my old phone, in which case I’d probably wait for the next iphone.  If I do end up liking it, I’ve upgraded to a great phone for free, so I couldn’t pass it up.

First impressions having only had it for one day:

- It’s big, quite a bit bigger than my 3G which in itself is pretty big

- Hardware is great, fast and responsive

-UI is going to take some getting used to, not as intuitive as IOS but I am enjoying learning about it. My friend just showed me about the widgets, I think it would have taken me a while to figure them out otherwise.

-Apps for android are different than the iphone ones – for whatever reason they don’t look or act the same as they do in iphone.

- I haven’t plugged it into my computer yet, but one of my concerns is that it won’t be as easy as the iphone.  With the Iphone you just plug it in and Itunes and Iphoto take care of everything.  I do like that everything syncs with google on its own, so this may be a non-issue, but we’ll have to check it out here the next few days.

- takes about 4 rings on the caller’s side for my phone to start ringing.  I’ll have to look into this more, but I guess my callers will have to be patient for now.

-I like the non-obtrusive notifications, although I think I’ve gotten used to getting a text message –like notification for my apps on the iphone.  We’ll have to see how this goes.

-Camera(s) are great.  The 3g had a pretty crappy camera yet I still enjoyed using it, The Nexus S has two good cameras so I’m sure I’ll enjoy them a lot more.

- I am having problems with the orientation of the pictures though.  I’ve gotten used to shooting in portrait mode, however with the new phone if I upload those to Facebook or Tumblr they show up sideways.  I’ll have to get this figured out asap.

 

This post has gotten a bit longer than I thought it would, so I think I’ll end it here, and keep posting things I like and don’t like in the next few days/weeks and see how my Android experiment ends.  I knew it would be different from IOS and would take getting used to so I’m going into this with an open mind.  So far I’m not regretting my decision.

MyPoint

Allow me to nerd out for a bit. Last week I had to do a presentation for work. I usually do these by hooking up a usb stick to the projector in the conference room and run the slides off of that - pretty simple. When I went to set everything up the projector wasn't working, so I tried to troubleshoot but couldn't figure out what was wrong. So I needed to come up with an alternative. I decided to hook up my computer to the tv in the conference room - problem solved. Well new problem created, because since I wasn't using the projector I didn't have a remote anymore, and my computer had to be close to the tv. THis made changing slides a bit of a challenge. I remembered there were some Iphone apps that act as a remote for powerpoint. So I checked them out and downloaded and installed MyPoint. MyPoint saved the day, I had my whole presentation up on my Iphone and I could move slides and see the next slides all at the same time. It worked great and I look forward to using it more in the future.

macbook woes

My macbook is in perfect working order again. While the problem wasn't a huge deal it was quite the ordeal to get it back to normal. It took 3 visits to the apple store in 2 weeks. The problem was that red light you see in the picture above. That light is coming from the headphone jack. When that light is on the speakers on the macbook don't work and the only way to hear anything is to plug in headphones. When it first started out everything would be fine until I plugged in headphones, then when I took them out the light would come on. After a while the red light was on all the time, so the speakers didn't work at all. A quick search on the internet showed that this was problem that many were having but the responses varied from a logic board problem to just something hooking on the headphone jack. The easy fix was to plug the headphone in and pull it out a few times. I tried that - it didn't work. Finally decided to make an appoitntment. They told me to try that, the headphone jack trick. I was not very pleased with that "fix" but I tried it anyway, was never able to get it to work. So I went in again, this time they decided to keep it a few days and switch out the logic board - which is a pain but it worked. The only bad thing is that when I got the computer back the speaker issue was fixed, but now the bluetooth didn't work. In I went again, they dissassembled it and messed with the connections and now it is working again. I'm glad apple is able to take care of all these problems and its just a minor inconvinience, but I thought they were supposed to be a superior product that shouldn't have so many problems. I'm just waiting to see what else can go wrong.

New Computer

A few weeks ago our computer died. I spent a couple of days trying to decide whether to get another desktop computer or a laptop. I decided to go with a laptop for its versatility even though I don't have a job where I would need one and most of its use would be at home anyway. I figured with being involved with the Communications and Arts Committee at church and worship leading it could be useful to have a laptop. Still getting adjusted to the new operating system and trying to figure out how to load some open source programs I use a lot on it. It hasn't been as simple as those commercials make it out to be, but I'm not complaining.

Guitar Zeros

Next time I'm out in California I'm going to try to find these guys where they are playing. The band is called Guitar Zeros and they make music, real music using their Guitar Hero guitars hooked up to their computers. Looks pretty cool. If you want to try your hand at making some beautiful music they share their secrets here.

Here's an intro video about the band and what they do:

World Golf Tour

Last night I tried out this new game called World Golf Tour. As you can see from the picture it has pretty good graphics. It's still in its early stages, its supposed to go into its beta phase soon, but for now you can try it out. It promises to be an addicting and productivity killing game since you'll be able to play against your friends online. I think this game might lure in some folks who have managed to steer clear of WOW or Second Life or some other online time sucking machine. I don't really play computer games but I did enjoy my time with this game. I could see some of my friends getting hooked though.

tech

I like to think I'm pretty tech savvy and I try to keep up with the new technology, but for a guy that likes gadgets so much I don't really make the best use of the technology at hand. Last night I got a text message from a friend asking for another friend's phone number. I try not to use text messages, especially while driving, either way this request was complicating things. I had to look up the number and remember it while I either texted back or called. I said to myself they should make it easy to send phone numbers over text. Sure enough some engineer several years ago had thought of this already because that feature is readily available on my phone which is nearing two years old. This just as big as when I discovered that I could search my phone book while on the phone - for when someone calls me asking me for someone else's number. I've sent phone numbers over bluetooth before, so I'm sure I've seen this option before, but it never really registered with me. I just used it for the first time last night. I'm sure I'll use it again in the future.

Librarything on Business 2.0

One of my favorite magazines is Business 2.0 It seems to be the business magazine for my generation. They cover all sorts of interesting startups, technology and big corporations with a fresh approach to business. I really enjoy each issue. I also read their blogs. This latest issue had an article on LibraryThing.

I've been using LibraryThing for about a year now. It's a site where you can catalog your personal library. When I first joined I thought it would be a good tool to be able to trade books with friends. Like other social networks you can see what books are in other peoples collections. I thought if some of my friends get on it I can see if they had any books that interested me and do a trade. I haven't really finished entering all my books yet, in fact I had a dilemma whether or not I should enter books that Elizabeth brought into the collection or just keep our libraries seperate, still haven't totally decided what to do about it although I have added some of her books.

I've had a widget on the side of this blog for just as long as I've been a member, it rotates between different books in my library. I feel that provides a small glimpse into who I am and what shapes me. It's a cool site. Let me know if you sign up so I can spy on your collection.

Needs some work

Slinky robot

Is that Google Maps in your pants?

I heard a commercial on the radio today. It was a Helio commercial, which is a new wireless provider. The commercial was a boy band singing a song about their Helio. The chorus of the song stated "I've got Google Maps in my pants". Anyway it made me laugh, so I looked it up to see if I could find it and came across this website that does a good job of breaking it down. They even have a link so you can hear it if you want.

America's getting a wii bit tired

I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that said that Nintendo has been getting some complaints about the Wii. The Wii, Nintendo's new console that came out last week has these innovative controllers that put you in the action of the game you are playing, for example in the tennis game you have to swing the controller as you would a racket. The problem is that Americans aren't used to being active while they are playing their video games and as a result are getting sore muscles and tired bodies. Not since the DDR craze have people worked up a sweat while playing their video games. People are virtual bowling, golfing and fishing for 3 hours in one sitting and they are using muscles they didn't know they had. Nintendo says they're simply out of shape. I think this is a great step for the video game industry. Nintendo sales seem to agree.

I've actually considered getting one. I never got into video games like a lot of guys my age did, sure I enjoyed a good game of Bond, Mario Kart or Fifa in the dorm just like the next guy, but I was never one to sit and play for hours on end. Which is why its hard for me to justify spending the $300 on the Wii, although it seems like a good price considering the pricier playstation 3 and the not as active xbox 360. I think if they came out with a lacrosse game on the Wii I would be ready to make the deal.

In the meantime I hope the Wii does well and inspires a new generation to pick up these virtual activities in the real world. Maybe they can find out just how sore their bodies can get out on the real courts.

Ringtones

I've never been a big fan of ringtones. I did try it out when the ringtone concept first emerged, some 3 phones ago, but the novelty wore out on me pretty quick. Since then all my phones have actually rung or vibrated. The vibrate mode is actually the "ring" of choice for me, but my current phone is too thin and I don't feel it vibrate in my pocket. As a result I'm back to the phone ring.

Well this week I decided to try out a ringtone again. I created one from one of my favorite songs, and was pretty pleased with it. I couldn't wait to show Elizabeth, she wasn't as impressed.

So last night I was watching tv after dinner, and some car commercial came on. It had the same song as a soundtrack, and I thought ' this song is sooo cool'. But the weirdest thing happened. The song ended before the commercial did. I was a bit confused and then it hit me. My phone had been ringing. So I took my phone out of my pocket and glanced at it. Sure enough I had missed a call. Sorry Dave.