Mobile gadgets running Blackberry & Android OS'
Posts tagged Apps reviews
3G Watchdog for Android – a “not-so-simple” data counter
2307 days
These days consuming data on the move is as natural as talking on the phone ten years ago. Most of the people I know have data-enabled phones or smartphones. We all use Twitter, Facebook (not me but that’s another story!), Y!M, GTalk, email, browsers and weather apps. In Romania they’ve introduced recently data service on prepaid SIMs, a first for big operators like Vodafone and Orange over here. I’m pretty sure nobody saw this “customer need” two years ago. A prepaid customer was a “necessary-evil” in the mobile equation, in which the monthly subscription (still) is King! Well, not anymore! Everybody can have data.
And with this “need”, a new set of problems appear; are we charged by KB? Or by 10 KB chunks? Are we paying a daily subscription for data-roaming? And if yes, how much (not that much, “just” 25€/day for 50 MB or so!)? All these questions lead us to a single reply: control. Data control.
Say… 3G Watchdog for Android. Like I said, a “not-so-simple” app, with a beautiful design and a very hand U.I. I learned from the description in the Market that it guards you against costly Internet over-charges, it monitors your 3G/EDGE/GPRS data consumption by showing an icon in the Status bar which is gradually turning from green to orange and red in according to your settings for the data usage. Personally, I already have extra two icons besides the standard ones in the Status bar and I don’t need another one – you can switch this one on or off in the app settings as you wish. One interesting feature is the ability to auto-disable the mobile data by using external apps used to monitor your energy consumption: APNdroid and/or Juice Defender, which also sports a link button in order to install this last app! Cool integration, huh?
Also, the application will predict your overall consumption based on your usage history, letting you know all the time if you’re gonna go over the allotment or not. You can choose a graph, a text based info or a table for that. Or all three of them complementing each other! It will also count the roaming usage, the billable vs measured consumption and can disregard the uploaded data if your operator won’t take that into account. (Multiple) SIM changes can be tracked.
Two widgets are also available; I personally don’t use them but if your budget is tight or your data plan is small, you should definitely reserve a spot for one of those.
On a more personal note, I had to seek support from Mr. Richard Gruet and I have to say I am impressed: he replied within 2 hours with clear explanations. This is what makes an app perfect: support.
This app is a must-have and it’s free! There’s also a Pro version with more features and carrying a small fee.
The perfect organizer combo – Pure Calendar + Astrid Tasks
0308 days
Time is flying. And while we can’t control that, we can always try to coordinate our actions as good as possible in order to be efficient. And while owning a smartphone enables you to organize your life better (providing there’s willingness to do that, of course!), out-of-the-box products don’t offer all the tools you need to be very efficient.
That’s why we have the Market and that’s why we have widgets. Widgets are small programs, simpler than the usual apps. They mirror certain functions and they perform certain actions on your homescreen. The best part is that they don’t require launching the app, allowing you to interact/modify information right there and right then.
In order to be up-to-date I use a nice combo I tested for quite sometime now: Pure Calendar widget and Astrid Task/To Do List. Together they fulfill my basic (maybe “advanced”?) needs in order to be as efficient as possible thru the day. I will mention a few important features for each of the two above and post screenshots and links if you want to find out more. I use this app review to point out Android enthusiasts towards interesting apps – it’s called American Help and it means YOU need to dig some more if you want more information! 
- support for corporate (Exchange), Touchdown and regular e-mail
- support for task applications, most notable being gTasks and Astrid
- various skins and themes
- easy task input
- simple U.I, big buttons, ease of use, all important fields in one screen
- syncs with Remember the Milk if you need it (which in turn syncs with Gmail)
- backups available, both Import and Export
All-new Twitter client for Android
0347 days
On February 10th, we were hit with the 2.0 version of the official Twitter client. I’ve always liked the official client, its clean U.I and its simplicty so hard to come-by from the other competitors.
While the 1st version did the job for the average user, we, the hardcore users were left in the dark. I had some issues: lots of bugs, only one account supported, no “Reply to All” option when more than one user was mentioned in a tweet just to name a few. Also, at the time I was using Seesmic for Android, which provides a robust Twitter client (see a VS here), really clean and simple while packed with features. After trying the official version for a week or so, I settled for Seesmic – many features compared to the official version, just like I thought in the beginning.
So what does 2.0 brings? Lots of bug fixes (and introducing lots of others like inability to refresh automatically), @username auto-complete, threaded messages, improved searches, multi-account support, redesigned screens and my favorite “Reply To All” feature added.
So is it better? Yes, it is! A lot better! Yes! Would it be usable for a heavy-user? One requesting as many features as possible in the palm of his/her hands? Yes, it would. This version brings the desktop features in a cleaner, simpler form to your smartphone. Another nice thing is that the app is integrated in the OS, which means your system won’t be under strain when running it in the background. We all know how fast a battery can be depleted by a poorly implemented/designed app.
But I’m a step further now. So I won’t be using the 2.0 Twitter for Android version. And not because there is a better Twitter app out there. But because Tweetcaster has a nifty feature TFA doesn’t: filters. This app has a Pro version I actually use. While this app is not up to par with TWA or Seesmic for Android in terms of U.I, it sports the same many features and works as fast as those aforementioned.
I’ll write soon about Tweetcaster Pro because it’s one helluva Twitter app!
Switching is happening all over again.
2577 days
In February 2009 I left the Symbian UIQ 3.0 O.S for BlackBerry. Of course, some of my friends knowing me and using more or less the same Symbian platform ( UIQ 3.0 and/or S40, S60 Nokia) were skeptical: “BlackBerry is a professional platform, a closed and rigid environment, no way you can thrive under that rock” they said. What they didn’t know is that at the time R.I.M already decided to go forward with the plan to conquer a new kind of customer with the multimedia phones: the much-debated Storm 1, the Bold 9000, eventualy the Javelin and the Tour later on. Platforms are becoming more and more multimedia and social cause that’s where the money is today.
And that was exactly what made me go first BlackBerry and now, Android: while the UIQ 3.0 was great and rich in applications (O.K, maybe not so rich by today’ standards or by iPhone/Android markets standards), it lacked the new applications for the social media. The only reason I kept it until February 2009 is the hacking community. They “developed” the O.S much more than Symbian itself did and a lot more than the developers did. While BlackBerry had all these applications, it lacked the diversity one enjoys on Android and iPhone. In BlackBerry’s case, the developers deserted the booming wonderful community formed around R.I.M’s products. Or maybe I am wrong; I know there aren’t many developers pushing-out BlackBerry applications. The applications themselves are rare and expensive. The price is the main issue: while an average app for Blackberry is 2.99$ (price imposed by BlackBerry App World) , the others go as low as 0.99$. This happens EXACTLY because there aren’t many developers (anymore) and the remaining ones they profit on the fact that the demand surged. But even with this situation, the BlackBerry users aren’t benefiting much. For almost 2 years I look for a working Call Filter aplication. Because I was paying for it, I asked for a few features (existing already on Symbian S40 and UIQ 3.0 for years!) like:
- accept all calls
- reject all calls
- accept phone-book only
- drop unwanted calls and/or mute the ringer
- reject Black List numbers and accept White List numbers
- automatic profile switch based on time schedule
And that was about it. All of the above were supported by other applications, most of them free or charging very little money. And I’ve tried half of those while using the Sony-Ericsson P1i and afterwards, even on BlackBerry. On BlackBerry, I couldn’t find a satisfactory application. Most of them are very basic and extremely expensive – 19,95$ I had to pay for mCall Manager Light (sic!), the only one working as it should but without the scheduling. After I updated from 4.7 version OS to 5.0 OS, the app stopped working and when they did update it (3 months later) it wasn’t working properly anymore. This experience sums-up all my experiences with BlackBerry applications.
And then there is the support issue: being so fragmentary as it is, the BlackBerry application market is divided between some developers interested in keeping the customer happy and the rest. The rest don’t give a shit about the customer. It’s enough if you buy it once and never comeback ever again, 10$ from each customer is more than enough for a single application. I bet there are a lot of “developers” hitting the market only once with one single (bad) product and then move on to another platforms; from what I’ve been told developing for BlackBerry is neither cool or money-rewarding.
And now it’s time for a new challenge: the Android O.S. I’ve been playing for a few months with a T-Mobile Pulse but in order to enjoy the full-power of the new O.S, I had to go full way. And I chose the HTC Desire
. While it lacks stamina ( my usage will kill the battery in just a bit over 5 hours!), I have faith in the platform and its ability to deliver a better product later on with rooting, custom ROMs and Froyo later on.
RIM BlackBerry Twitter application goes officially on Beta
0668 days
As I expected, the BlackBerry Twitter application by RIM went officially on Beta! Which means waiting will be over soon. I will continue to use the leaked version (the same built after all) but I will sign-up for the Beta Zone – this is where you can get the Twitter application if you’re not lucky enough to be in a country using the BlackBerry App World.
Update {(d) leaked} RIM BlackBerry Twitter application
2674 days
I’m glad to see they are working actively on this app! In my original review I was expressing my disappointment regarding the fact that RIM announced their Twitter application will be ready by the end of 2010!
Then Crackberry wrote the application will be available on March 31st, as some RIM employees reported at CTIA 2010. It turned out not to be true and RIM has apologized for that blunder but not it seems we’re not going to wait too long; a new version has surfaced just a couple of days ago.
This version 1.0.037 is a lot faster and brings some extra features like the lists. No lag when switching from the messaging section to homescreen or to the Task Manager – this one was really bad; I once clocked a 20 seconds lag…
This is what’s new in this version:
- create, edit and read lists
- edit your profile
- faster operation
- disable tweet and navigation bar
This is still in Beta – not being official and still encountering some lags but it means that the launch date is close!
Update: I wasn’t planning on writing about this but it seems that this is a super-app, like RIM likes to call it, a push application. I noticed it’s not running in the background (it didn’t on the first version either) but it will send notifications every time it will find tweets or replies/DMs depending on your rules you ticked in Options. If it’s so and it’s a pushed app, it’ll greatly reduce the energy consumption and the strain on your RAM – especially on BlackBerry which always had (and it seems like it will always will or at least as they will keep on running this Java platform/OS) memory issues.
