GuruDaniel
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Homepage: http://www.thecellularguru.com
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Posts by GuruDaniel
Video Walkthrough: Opera Mini 5 for Android
Mar 11th
Opera Mini 5 Beta for Android arrived this morning for the world to try. While it does not support native multi-touch, there are a few benefits to the browsing experience that will make it, if not my default browser (xScope performs that function admirably) then my heavy-image, desktop browser replacement.
The reason for this is that it is fast. Opera routes traffic through its proxy server before delivering content to your device, compressing images and optimizing page layout to best suit your particular device. I have used Opera Mini 5 Beta 2 on my Blackberry 9700 for months now and consider it to be, by far, the closest thing to a usable browser on the platform.
Android, thankfully, does not suffer from this problem, as there are at least four very usable, very attractive and standards-compliant browsers available in the app market. Opera Mini 5 arrives into a crowded market, but it should flourish through its speed and brand name recognition. At the least, people will download it and forget about it, though I truly hope they don’t.
This is an early beta from the company, and the experience should improve with time. The browser lacks native multitouch, though its zoom functionality is very good; it reacts to text alignment with accuracy, and because it is limited to only two views (zoomed in and zoomed out) the page never has to re-jig itself to realign the text around the images, like other browsers do. This ensures scrolling is always fast, and never stutters (the native Android browser is guilty of this inefficiency).
The other major issue is lack of font customization. The default font is an ugly Arial-knockoff that diminishes the readability of text-heavy sites like The New York Times.
Below is a blurry walkthrough (all I had on me was my Blackberry for video) so I apologize for the lack of clarity and sorry for turning the phone on its side to take the video, I hope you don’t strain too much to see it.
Download Opera Mini 5 for Android in the Marketplace, or by heading to http://m.opera.com/next in your Android browser.
Watch the video walk through:
Foursquare for Blackberry Updated to 1.7
Mar 10th
To coincide with SXSWi, and the release of updates to their iPhone and Android apps, Foursquare has increased their Blackberry app from version 1.5.5 to 1.7. While they have not revamped the app to the extent of the iPhone, they have been steadily improved the app in a number of ways.
Places now have a distance from your location in addition to its address. This helps differentiate one Starbucks over the other if you’re not sure exactly where you are. It also brings the functionality up to date with Gowalla, which has been doing the same thing on their iPhone app since the beginning. The addition helps orient you with your surroundings and makes your check-in more personal.
There is a dedicated Tips tab now, allowing you access to all submitted tips from locations in your area. Little enhancements, like having a gold crown next to a friend’s name to indicate Mayor status of a particular place, as well as icons specifying the category of a location (such as Building, Restaurant, Exercise, etc.) all combine to improve the experience significantly.
But the most notable thing about the app, and the aspect that makes it almost as good as its iPhone counterpart, is its speed and accuracy. When Foursquare was in beta, it was almost impossible to get a lock on where you were, even if you were outside and had the GPS locked-in. Now, even indoors, the app is almost creepily accurate. It remembers your favourites, and even when there aren’t any favourites around you, it’s as if the act was looking across the street to see where you are.
It’s also fast, locking onto your location in seconds. This is another huge improvement over previous versions.
To be honest, this is one of the most actively-developed Blackberry apps at the moment, and I have to imagine there isn’t a lot of improvement left to make. From its beta in late December to its current iteration in mid-March, the app has come full circle, from barely-usable to masterfully complete.
If you use Foursquare, and own a Blackberry, you owe it to yourself to download Foursquare, now.
Android Phone Arrives With the Flu
Mar 10th
Is it even surprising these days when you open up a brand new phone, expecting nothing but a clean installation with which you can do anything you please, only to discover the carrier has installed tons of their own, bloated software? In fact, I was surprised to find no bloatware on my Telus Milestone.
Well, last week, a Panda Security employee received a brand new Vodafone HTC Magic, and when she plugged it into her PC, Panda Antivirus discovered several malicious pieces of malware. The botnet installed is fairly basic, but once connected to the internet, it connects to a server run by the software creator, in order to deliver personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers, to an external database.
While Vodafone denies this is a widespread issue, it brings the question of quality control into focus, whether on HTC or on the phone carrier, though realistically, HTC probably delivered the phone completely clean, and lets the carrier install any aftermarket software on top of the OS.
This will most likely not be the last time we see malicious software installed on a clean phone. But as customers we cannot be complacent either. Do a scan on the files on your phone, let us know if you come up with anything!
The Sad Truth: Android Users Are Emotionless Robots
Mar 10th
Well, not exactly. But close enough. According to Mplayit, a Facebook-based Application Aggregator for smartphones, only 17% of Android applications used are games. Compare this to 63% for iPhone users and 33% of Blackberry users, and the figures are quite surprising. Isn’t Android supposed to be built around openness and touch functionality? The iPhone has proven that people love to play games using their fingers, and play they do! So what is the issue here?
Firstly, it’s the lack of widespread adoption of the Marketplace. Currently, paid apps are only available in the United States, and Google has done little to rectify this problem. Game designers tend to spend a lot of time on their craft, and want a return on their time investment. People are reticent to purchase apps on their Android phones, since it is difficult to know the quality of an app based on its description in the Marketplace. Sure, there are some great little free games such as Abduction, Bebbled and Jewels, but they are small, time-wasting consumables.
Secondly, hardware specs vary widely amongst Android-based handsets. Only the Droid and Nexus One have the hardware capable of running OpenGL-based games, limiting the adoption of the complex, 3D worlds that have proliferated the App Store since the release of the iPhone 3GS.
Third, and simply, Google’s gaming NDKs (the software developers use to build their applications in native languages such as C++) have not been as robust as they need to be to compete with Apple. The Droid has similar specs to the 3GS, but even a modern game like Raging Thunder 2 cannot compete with the smooth, full 3D experience on the iPhone. This will change now that Google has released a new NDK in the run-up to Game Developers Week next week in San Fransisco.
But the fact of the matter is the games are needed to successfully round out a mobile platform. Even the Blackberry OS has more games than the Android in spite of weaker hardware, limited OpenGL support and much higher prices.
Recently, one of the most popular iPhone games, Doodle Jump, was released on the Android platform. It is 300% more expensive ($3.99 compared to $0.99) but it is a good start.
Now, Android devs, forgot this HTC suit and GET MAKING GOOD GAMES!
Android App Review: Touiteur
Mar 10th
LevelUp Studio is the creator of one of the most popular widget application suites for Android, Beautiful Widgets. They add a wide range of attractive functionality to the Android home screen. Touiteur (pronounced “Twitter” with a French accent) is a new Twitter application from LevelUp that gives users another beautiful and functional way to browse and update Twitter seamlessly.
There are two ways to tweet in the app: the first is by pressing the Tweet button at the bottom left of the screen, and choosing the option. The other, more seamless way, uses the seldom-used Android option of sliding down an option bar. By dragging your finger over this bar, it exposes a text input box that lets you tweet without losing your spot on the timeline. The same functionality exists for @replies and Direct Messages, including auto-completion of usernames.
When you tap on a tweet, below it appears a dynamic icon line which lets you Reply, Retweet, and DM. By pressing Links it gives all the web links and hashtags that appear in the tweet. You also have the option of showing the user’s profile, to favorite, to share via email, and to add the text to the clipboard.
One of the best things about the app is that it is fast. Really fast. Compared to its closest rival, Twicca (in terms of direct feature and look comparison) it loads your timeline at least twice as fast. Newer versions have improved speed across the board as well.
The Pro version includes multiple accounts, though the implementation is haphazard, and I would prefer it the way some other clients, like HootSuite, do it. In Touiteur, different accounts are differentiated via colored lines on the side of each tweet. These colors are completely customizable in the options menu, which is a nice touch, though.
One of the nicest features included in Touiteur is the ability to follow a conversation you’ve been having with someone. When you press on either a reply someone has made to you, or you to someone else, in your timeline, your previous conversation will show up below the tweets. I cannot stress how helpful this was for me, and it was the first Twitter client I’ve used that supports this.
Other features include auto URL-shortening and auto picture hosting support, which is standard in most Twitter apps now. Widget support is also included, which means adding a dynamic moving list of tweets to your homescreen, which can be very helpful when you just want to check your newest tweets without having to open the program.
I would like to see some geo-tagging support in a future update, as well as the ability to separate accounts into different timelines. The developer seems to be actively developing the program, and claims that features such as TwitLonger support is on the way.
Compared to other Twitter apps on the Android platform, I think Touiteur is among the best. While it doesn’t have the same name recognition as Seesmic or the new-to-Marketplace Hootsuite, it improves upon them with its speed, attractive and functional interface.
Rating: 8/10
A Legend Approaches… Across The Ocean.
Mar 9th
The HTC Legend, the phone maker’s follow-up to the ridiculously well-selling Hero, is set to release its next earth-shattering handset on March 23rd, according to Clove Technology, a retailer in the UK. The phone has already been to this side of the ocean, and has been reviewed by Gizmodo, who loved it, claiming that, despite its modest hardware upgrades, the new 2.1 OS combined with a sleek new Sense UI, more memory, full-aluminum casing and slight bump in processing speed, makes the phone much, much faster and than its predecessor. And MAN is it a beauty!
Unfortunately, the phone in its current form will not run on any North American 3G networks, so people looking to import it over from the UK are looking at meager EDGE speeds until an 850/1900MHZ version is made.
The phone will be available on March 23rd for a reasonable £376, around $564USD.
Rumor: Verizon replacing Droid Eris with something Incredible?
Mar 9th
There is word on the street that the Nexus One-like rumoured CDMA device, the Incredible, will be replacing the Droid Eris on Verizon’s large 3G network. as of April 1st. The only proof of the Incredible’s existence are some spy shots and a few specs (very similar to the CDMA Nexus One), but if this is true then perhaps Google’s plans for bringing its flagship device to Big Red are moving along smoothly.
The handset, like the N1, is supposed to have a 3.7″ screen and a 480 x 800 resolution, and feature a 5-megapixel camera on Android OS 2.1.
The spy shots show the handset looks nothing like the Nexus One, but it is not out of reach to believe that Verizon would request a different look for the phone, to differentiate it from its T-Mobile GSM equivalent.
(via BerryScoop)
Thoughts? Am I completely off-base? Let me know in the comments.
The Backflip Flops Closed: Will People Actually Notice?
Mar 9th
AT&T’s foray into Android has run into a few media-related problems. While the phone has an interesting look to it (it “flips” open to reveal its QWERTY keyboard, and can use the keyboard, face down, as a stand to watch media) the media giant has made an interesting decision to limit some basic functionality in the phone.
Normally, on an Android phone, you are able to go into the Settings/Applications menu and enable Unknown Sources, which allows non-Marketplace apps to be installed, either through a File Manager such as ASTRO, or via the mobile web. AT&T has removed that option, severely limiting the use of apps such as PDANet, a tethering application, which needs to be installed via the company’s website.
But will the average Backflip user really care? The phone is aimed at the teen market, and the OS has been heavily modified (and simplified) with MotoBlur, Motorola’s social networking skin. One can find most of the apps he/she needs in the Marketplace, and considering there are many great apps available in there, the seriousness of the crime is somewhat abated.
What’s more concerning if the ethical factor: Does AT&T have the right to close off a system that Google meant to be open? While simultaneously installing what many would consider proprietary bloatware that few are going to use, and cannot be removed? Well, sure they have that right, but it’s going to piss off a lot of people.
The Backflip is probably going to do quite well on AT&T. The sad part is that consumers speak loudest with their wallets, and as a result, behaviour like this (and other prohibitive moves, such as the locking of the Milestone’s OS) will be reinforced unless people realize that Android should stay open, and not just for the geeks.
(via MobileCrunch)
The Great Switch: Blackberry to Android
Mar 8th
“There are much our two cultures can learn from one another,” is what I thought when I first picked up a Droid in a Verizon store in NYC in January. The OS UI is smooth and intuitive. With 2.0, Android introduced widgets, and with three customizable Home Screens, and an always-accessible notification bar at the top of the screen, Android was like a fully-stocked Jail broken iPhone out of the box.
All it needed was the apps to follow.
But let me go back a bit.
I bought a Blackberry Bold at full price when it came out. That was how enamored I was with the push email and limitless possibilities for browsing and media consumption that it offered. (Remember, this was a pre-iPhone age). I had been using a Pearl for around 6 months and caught intermittent whiffs of potential in its aging OS, its tiny screen, and its stilted input method.
In comparison, the Bold was a big, bad Shut Yo Mouth, and it screamed speed from app to app, destroying everything in its wake. Too bad, at the time, it was running OS 4.6 (thread less SMS, no ring-and-vibe, etc.) and the coolest app running on it was Viigo.
Fast forward two years, OS 5 is official, and the App Store has enabled developers to really push quality apps to the masses. The OS is mature, but in reality, it’s become a little fecund in its maturity: it does what it does (messaging) perfectly, but not much more. It’s not uncommon for a Blackberry pro to type as fast on its small keys as on his keyboard at home. It has reached the masses.
I will go into the extensive positives of the Blackberry OS in a future article. There are a lot of things BB does much better than both Android and iPhone. The obvious things are push email and messaging functionality. But for now…
Enter Android. (I have played extensively with the iPhone. This isn’t an article about the iPhone.)
Right off the bat, Android is a different animal. It incorporates multitasking, background notifications correctly, has enough apps to make any App Store user jealous, and perhaps the most important part of the equation, has Google as a force behind it, at all stops.
Reasons Android is better than Blackberry:
1) The Marketplace:
- It just works. There are apps, you search for them, you download them, and you add them to your home screen. Some are good, some are terrible, some will brick your device. But there is no approval process and nothing stopping someone from creating the ultimate porn app. There are no moral quandaries here. This will inevitably bring more crap, but also give developers scared to get through the Great Wall of Jobs incentive to develop in a much more liberal environment.
- Price. The Blackberry App World is on average twice as expensive as the Android Marketplace.
2) Made for touch: Yes I know that the current generation of Blackberry OS was never designed for touch: the first Storm proved this to be true. Even the latest OS5 updates do not add much in terms of browsing and speed. Android was designed to be used with touch, and it shows. You can push gently for one response and push harder for another. The built-in browser is HTML5 compatible, and it is dang fast. Scrolling up and down in menus is smooth (though not 3GS smooth) and browsing feels like a legitimate, albeit pared-down version, of its desktop equivalents.
3) Widgets: I can’t stress this enough, widgets are the new black. On Android, they sit on one of your three home screens giving you ready-made information to weather, RSS, email and anything else a dev. wants to come up with. I will be covering my favorite widgets in a future column.
4) Native Google integration: Yes, for some this is a very big minus, but I consider Google to be on the side of good, and sure, they’re basically using your personal info as their local advertising bank, but I don’t think they’re out to steal your information and use it for nefarious purposes. This isn’t a soapbox, but Google, like any other advertising company, uses your likes, dislikes, browsing tendencies and product choices to customize the advertising directed at you. Android is certainly not designed for advertisers, but its tight integration with Google products allows the company more control over those browsing tendencies and product choices. If you can get passed that, Gmail, Calendar, Contacts, Maps, Gtalk, Google Voice, Buzz, etc., are all seamless and beautifully integrated, and if you already use their desktop counterparts, it’s smooth as butter.
5) Developer SDK: Now I am no dev., but from what I hear, developing software for Android is much easier than for Blackberry. There are already more apps in the Marketplace than in Blackberry’s App World, and that can be attributed not only to the open design (no review process for apps) but to the fact that geek devs want to design in an environment that fosters creativity and challengers minds to push the boundaries of the OS. Granted, most of the best apps for Android are currently iPhone ports, but that doesn’t diminish the apps themselves, and the speed at which they were released.
Most Blackberry apps are not pretty. There are some exceptions, but they are created for the most part to be functional. Poynt and Socialscope are notable exceptions that combine functionality with design excellence. But even the most basic Android apps are highly functional and easy on the eyes. Look to Twicca (a twitter app) or Fring (IM app) for example.
6) Browsing: Two words: it just works. There are no JavaScript errors, limitations of hiccups. While the 1.5-1.6 Android browser does not support HTML5, it is worlds above the native Blackberry browser (and Opera Mini and Bolt, though the latter improve the experience) in usability. The 2.0+ browser is comparable in speed and functionality to Safari Mobile on the 3GS, and while multitouch isn’t as smooth as the iPhone, on a high-res screen like the Droid or Nexus One, the mobile web is beautiful again.
Stay tuned to a future article for the benefits of Blackberry to Android, and another one comparing similar aspects of the two.
Have you done the great switch? Agree/Disagree with my thoughts? Leave a comment!
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