{FREE APP WEDNESDAY} iSyncr for PC

You have yourself a nifty little Android device, but you still have your old iPod Classic or iPod Touch. It's a pain in the ass connecting your Android device to iTunes and drag and drop the music you want into your device. What more of a pain in the ass? Carrying around your old iPod even though you have your Android in your other pocket.

The best answer to your problem is iSyncr. iSyncr allows you to quickly sync your device with the music you have in iTunes using their simple interface. Just plug your phone into your computer, select the iTunes playlist you want, and start syncing. No need to move your music into a new music software, iSyncr works directly with iTunes so you can sync it hassle-free.

There's not much more to say about the app, other than what Apple fan's love to say, "It just works." But sorry for my Apple lovers, this version is PC only. Enjoy saving your $3 on the app so you can get on iTunes and buy some music legally; wink wink.

Here is more detailed information on iSyncr.

[HOW TO] Install Android Apps from Digitally Shanti

[DOWNLOAD] iSyncr

Haunted House HD Review

I love Halloween. It's my second favorite holiday only to Christmas.

The folks at DualBoot Games, creators of other live wallpapers like Celtic Garden have whipped up another for us, this time all haunted and creepy, just in time for Halloween. It's called Haunted House HD, and as far as live wallpapers go, despite it being time-sensitive, it's probably one of the most detailed I've come across.

From the moment you pop open the live wallpaper selector and choose Haunted House HD, the Halloween vibe will wash over you. A camera pans by a creepy house, shrouded in fog, as the lights flicker on and off intermittently. Jack-o-lanterns guard the doorway and frightening messages appear over the door in blood.

Everything is pretty smooth, despite the fact there's so much going on. The door opens and closes by itself while the camera sweeps back, the lights turn on, revealing a silhouette in the window, and the flag on the mailbox moves up and down of its own accord.

If you want to go inside of the house, you'll have to jump into the completely loaded settings menu and change the camera view.

The inside of the house is just as (if not more) busy than the exterior. Lights continue to flicker, the fire is a pale, ghostly blue, and paintings have skulls superimposed over the subject's face. Ethereal footsteps pulse and disappear on the floor, and strange breezes toss the chandalier around. It's a lot to take in, but it's still great fun.

Back to the settings menu, when I said loaded, I meant it. You can pick your camera view, set the name for the mailbox and doorway, pick the kind of face you want for the pumpkins, and individually enable or disable every variable the wallpaper has to offer.

If you feel like getting in the holiday spirit, Haunted House HD has your phone covered. And for a measly $1.99, you can afford getting into the spirit.

[Direct Download] Haunted House HD

Flick Golf Review

All of the typical golf games don’t compare to Flick Golf which is unlike any golfing game you’ve played before on Android devices. The main difference is the amount of control you have on the ball to get it spinning and bouncing in the direction you want it.

Your score is dependent on how close your shot lands to the pin, whether you sink it, land in the bullseye zone or further out in different point rings. There are two modes with quick play where you shoot as much as possible while being timed, and career mode giving you only nine shots. You flick the ball off the tee, and then flick some more while it’s in the air, and while it’s bouncing on the ground.

Rather than playing a realistic golfing sim or even an arcade golfing game you’re given a much simpler golfing experience. Rather than choosing clubs, hitting perfect shots, and traveling across a whole course you just flick once, and your main actions are after the ball has been hit. All of the tedious pre shot adjustments are thrown out the window, and instead you flick to adjust the balls trajectory to land as close to the hole as possible.

Every shot is like playing a par 3 where you’re in one shot range of the hole, and you have a lot of spin at your disposal. You can flick while the ball is in the air to apply back spin or top spin, and even curve the ball. Once it hits the ground you have three bounces to apply the same effects to try to get the ball into the cup.

The game is fast paced arcade action which is quite surprising for a golf game, and can really reach players who have never enjoyed other golf games. The game is simple to pick up and start playing as you just flick trying to get the ball into the hole which is just so intuitive. Also with the mechanic you can be quite successful, and it’s plenty enjoyable having so much control over your shot, and sinking so many hole in ones.

Flick Golf is only $1 on the Android Market. With killer graphics and addictive game-play, it's definitely worth the price

[Direct Link] Flick Golf for Android

Steve Jobs - Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

The death of Steve Jobs came as a shock to many, and brought on sadness to many more. A lot of you know I wasn't the biggest fan of Steve or Apple, but being a member of the tech world I know that his absence will be noticed! Steve Jobs was a man that didn't say yes to make others happy, he did what was best for not only his company, but his consumers. For that, I tip my hat.

I know that I will miss him, not because I enjoyed mocking him, but because he changed the life of every person that is fortunate enough to use a personal computer or a smartphone. His ability to make goals and reach them go beyond any other human I have seen to date.

I can't express how much Steve Jobs will be missed, but Bill Gates captures the words that I couldn't create; "The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come."

Many of you may have read the graduation speech Steve gave to Stanford's class of 2005, but I have posted it below for those of you who have not read it. It is the most profound speech I have heard and possibly even life-changing.

"I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much."

Rest in Peace Mr. Steve Jobs, this non-Apple fan will miss you dearly!

PicSay Pro Review

As of now, all of you have heard about the new iPhone 4S. One of the only 'major' redesigns to the iPhone was it's camera, which now sports and 8mp camera with some editing tweaks and features. Don't fret too much now; we Android users can do the same with a little help from PicSay Pro!

PicSay Pro is the finest photo manipulation tool available on the Android Market. Take a photo with your Android device, add captions, mind bubbles, stickers, change the color schematics and much more! You're able to add a variety of effects to a picture or add a funny word bubble above a friends head and share it for a chuckle.

The application is extremely polished with an easy UI that makes it easy for anyone to use. Occasionally, larger fingers make it a little more difficult to add small objects, but that isn't the applications fault; just blame your fat hands.

This is by far on of my favorite Android apps. It's entertaining to take a friend's photo and give them a bugs eye and adding a caption above their head saying, 'HELP!'

If you want to have the true editing power your photo's deserve, then just drop the extra $3.99 and give your friends something to look at!

[Direct Link] PicSay Pro

Class Buddy Pro Review

Is it already that time of your college semester? Exams starting to creep up and homework assignments possibly past due? When you have between 15 and 18 hours during your semester, it's easy to lose track of what test is coming up and which assignments have to be turned in when.

With Class Buddy Pro, you can organize each course you take within the respected term or semester. You can schedule class meeting times and input all of your professors information so you don't need to pull out that damn class syllabus to figure out what the office hours are.

One of the best features of Class Buddy Pro is the ability to input assignments, quizzes, and exams and keep track of your grades. You can even tell the app what weight the certain assignment/quiz/exam will be towards your final grade making it easier for you to know how you are doing in the respected class.

A great extra feature of Class Buddy Pro is that it can auto-sync with your Google calendar. It also comes with a customizable Home screen widget.

You've already spent an arm and a leg on tuition, so why not drop an extra $1.50; it'll totally be worth it!

[Direct Link] Class Buddy Pro

SoundHound Review

Upon launching SoundHound, you are greeted with a simple and easy to use GUI. The main screen offers you options to "Tap Here" to identify a current song, or you can press "Title or Artist" to speak an artist, or song title into your phone or, search with text. There are also 2 menus at the bottom of the app that include; History (displays your recent searches) and Whats Hot (displays what people are searching most for).

One of the coolest features I have seen so far is that wheen you press the "Tap Here" for "What's that song?" you can even hum the song that you know and SoundHound will find the song for you (considering you are humming the right tune).

An even cooler feature, if SoundHound finds a song that is in your music library as well, it will have an icon next to the song so you can hear it from your own library.

Here is the official SoundHound Features list:

• Just hold your phone up to a speaker, and SoundHound names the tune in as little as five seconds




• It even works if you sing or hum the melody.




• Instant lyrics and lyrics text search for most songs - whether you find the song with SoundHound or have it in your Android device.




• The world's first ever combined "My Music" and online search: when your SoundHound search results match a song in your music library.




• Charts of the hottest songs, just grabbed songs, and SoundHound's much-anticipated "Underplayed" list.




• Groundbreaking new design with instant access to previews, bbios, top songs and YouTube videos.




• Play a free preview or YouTube video without leaving SoundHound\

Now I've tried out SoundHound and found it to be a feature rich and easy to use app to identify my tunes. I personally love the hum the song feature, even though I can't hum. I do recommend SoundHound to anyone who wants something better than Shazam and willing to drop the much deserved $4.99.

[DIRECT LINK] SoundHound

OfficeSuite Pro 5 Review

Smartphones and tablets have made it possible for you to carry your office in the palm of your hand. The mobile office market was generally used by laptops and netbooks, but smarter smartphones have eaten into some of the market.

OfficeSuite Pro 5 features rich mobile office solutions for creating, viewing, and editing document formats such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. It also allows you to view PDF files. Word processing, spreadsheets and slideshow presentations are easy with OfficeSuite Pro. The app also includes a File Browser and is integrated with Google Docs.

I'm always on the road and have many forms to fill out using either Word or Excel. With OfficeSuite Pro 5, I have nearly every tool I need built into the app. Creating a spreadsheet was a breeze, and the pinch-to-zoom feature comes in handy. The pinch-to-zoom functionality added a little fluidity to creating documents and spreadsheets.

OfficeSuite Pro 5 does a good job at rendering PDF files rather quickly. Slow enough for me to realize it was rendering, but fast enough not to piss me off. But once the PDF is rendered, it's a smooth ride; even better than Adobe PDF Viewer.

I've used many Android office apps, and OfficeSuite Pro 5 has no true competitor! They all pale in comparison to OfficeSuite Pro 5.

[Direct Link] OfficeSuite Pro 5

Death Worm Review

In Death Worm, you play the role of gigantic, man-eating mutant worm, hell-bent on creating as much destruction as possible. Your abilities include burrowing through the ground with frightening speed, jumping above the surface, Nitro bursts (essentially temporary turbo speed-ups), and shooting fireballs.

The game play is simple: ram your worm into anything you can catch. There are human soldiers running about as well as animals, tanks, helicopters, even UFOs. Some enemies are stronger than others, so they may require multiple hits before going down, and of course, you're under attack as well.

In Campaign Mode, you progress through levels and receive power-ups as you achieve your killing objectives. You can apply these power-ups to any of your worm's attributes, including Worm Size, Speed, Strength, Nitro Duration, and Fireball Level. The ultimate goal, of course, is to develop a fully upgraded beast. In the paid version, you also gain access to an endless Survival Mode and Mini Games.

Overall, Death Worm is super entertaining. You'll love munching on humans and hurtling through the air at attacking helicopters. Plus, the controls were surprisingly good.

[Direct Link] Death Worm Free

[Direct Link] Death Worm Full

Use FastCustomer Because 1-800 Numbers Suck!

FastCustomer bills itself as a productivity tool for business folks, but I know many residential folks that would love it when the need arises! The FastCustomer app will actually call a company's call center or any department you want and wait on hold for you! The app saves you time and eliminates having to deal with horrendous elevator music as well as figuring out which department to find in order to talk to a real person!

Within the app, just tap a button telling the app which company to you need to reach, then go back to your "important" life. FastCustomer will call your phone once a real customer service rep is on the line. FastCustomer actually calls the company, presses whatever buttons are needed and waits on hold for as long as it takes. That means no more phone trees!! That means you will never have to hear "Press 1 for... 2 for.... etc" again. FastCustomer finds the quickest way to a human in the department you've indicated via the app (customer service, billing, tech support, etc.).

Accroding to FastCustomer's VP of Product, Stephen Hay, the average person wastes 60 hours a year on hold. FastCompany has over 2,500 companies signed on with more to come.

Welcome to America, where we keep getting lazier by the day. FastCustomer is a free app available on both iTunes and the Android Market. Enjoy!

[iTunes]: FastCustomer for iOS

[Android Market]: FastCustomer for Android

UNO HD for Android Review

Remember as a child playing UNO and screaming it out at the end when you finally win? I do, and Gameloft has updated the popular game of UNO to support more devices as well as tablets. UNO was always one of those few card games I actually enjoyed. Well, UNO and poker. Gameloft has fixed up the graphics with HD, and it looks stunning!

You can't go wrong with UNO. Everyone loves the game. It's a classic, that's for sure. Gameloft has some new rules, online gameplay and tournament mode integrated into the Android version and it really tests your skills when you play online.

I know it isn't anything new and exciting, but I didn't think it would be as much fun as it is. Brought me back to good ol' times and should do the same for you.

[Direct Link] Uno HD for Android

HP Needs To Grow A Pair

So the world's largest PC manufacturer plans to quit, so what does that mean? Some tech experts say it's the death for PCs. That could possibly be the case, but only because PC companies like HP are turning and running instead of fighting back!

Last week HP announced that they will stop making webOS devices, but shockingly they're also considering spinning-off their PC business and most likely selling it. HP is currently the largest PC manufacturer in the world, but it seems as though they're picking up IBM's playbook and spinning off their PC hardware. Basically, they're going to take their most profitable part of their business and toss it overboard.

HP makes money on PCs! Hell, it was a third of their revenue last year alone. But they think that people don't want PCs anymore, and it's easier to pull the plug than to try and resuscitate it. What's HP's excuse? CEO Leo Apotheker blames it on the "tablet effect" and says HP has definitely felt it. We all know that the "tablet effect" is the same thing as the "Apple effect."

There's not denying that Apple's business is expanding while the PC market is slowing down. But how the heck are you going to keep up with Apple if you just quit innovating?

Throwing in the towel on the TouchPad and webOS only after six weeks doesn't cut it. I agree the TouchPad wasn't all that great, but webOS is amazing! The problem with the TouchPad wasn't webOS, the problem was hardware. How do I know that? WebOS ran twice as fast on an iPad 2 than it did on a TouchPad. So if you screw up on hardware, all you have to do is fix it and release the TouchPad 2.

Back to the PC department. Just because the demand for Apple products are going up and PC demand is down doesn't mean you need to quit. The world needs PC manufacturers to innovate! If the world's biggest PC manufacturer doesn't, then who the hell will?

Apple won't be the reason that the PC dies. The only way the PC can die is if PC manufacturers turn into pussies and run away. We need Apple competitors. We need better Apple competitors! Many of my friends switched from a PC laptop to a MacBook Pro a few years ago. Many of them went to Apple because of FinalCut Pro. Apple has fucked up with the new FinalCut and OS X Lion, so there's no reason these guys can't switch back to a PC. OS X Lion has left a bitter taste in many Apple fans, just as Vista did with Windows fans. But the thing is, these consumers need a compelling reason to come back to PCs.

Intel is trying to make it easier for PC manufacturers by investing $300 million so they can finally make a MacBook Air competitor that's worth a damn without the high price tags. Take the money, use it, and make something good!!

I'm sorry, I don't want to live in a world made by Apple. I like buttons! I like options! But damn, if PC manufacturers don't come up with better products, then that's the world we're going to be stuck in. It's not the world that us consumers create, it'll be created by the PC manufacturers that are too slow to adapt and run for the hills.

We need you HP! Grow some fucking balls and start fighting!

Hilarious clip about the Death of webOS, enjoy:

JuiceDefender Ultimate Review

I have had an Android-powered smartphone for nearly 4 months now. If you asked me about the battery life, I would say it's mediocre to terrible! In fact, my HTC Thunderbolt would barely go half a day, with only little use. I have written in a previous article about Android Smartphones and their Battery Life, but thanks to the genius's over at Latedroid, they've created an app that will actually save battery life.

JuiceDefender is an app that promises "extra hours of precious battery life." And damn, do they deliver!

The app works some simple but clever magic; whenever your phone goes into idle (i.e. the screen goes off), JuiceDefender disables battery-draining items like 3G and Wi-Fi. Once you turn your screen back on, the radios come right back into action.

JuiceDefender Ultimate allows many different schedules to take place on your device. You can use the Sync Schedule to periodically enable connectivity to let background data sync up (email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) so that you don't miss your important news or updates. You can enable the Night Schedule to disable connectivity during certain hours of the night. Peak Schedule lets you choose what hours your connectivity needs to say on. And there are also other schedules you are able to set to your liking.

One of my favorite features of JuiceDefender Ultimate is the WiFi Control and Location-aware WiFi Control. JuiceDefender can learn where you are and what WiFi connections you use often, so that it can connect directly to them when you are in a certain area. JuiceDefender uses the network location to determine your location rather than GPS, since GPS is a major battery-drainer.

JuiceDefender Ultimate also allows you to customize each app in your device. For example, if you have Pandora or any other streaming app, you can tell JuiceDefender to keep the connection alive while that app is in use.

So if you're unhappy with your phone's battery life, I would give JuiceDefender Ultimate a try.

[Direct Link] JuiceDefender - Battery Saver (Free)

[Direct Link] JuiceDefender Ultimate

Watchdog Task Manager Review

When I first bought my new Android device, I downloaded a task killer from the Android Market thinking it would do some wonders on battery life and performance. In actuality, it messed up my phone so bad that my 3G/4G connectivity would go in and out, eventually needing my phone to be replaced. I have written in a previous blog post on why Task Killers on Android phones operating Froyo and beyond are useless and a pain in the ass. Watchdog Task Manager on the other hand is a whole different animal.

The first and biggest difference is that the developers of Watchdog understand the Android OS and how this OS is supposed to work. It's okay if your RAM seems to be entirely in use, Android's built-in task manager keeps it that way to quickly relaunch an app.

As stated in my previous post, it's the processor that slows your phone down and drains the battery. Problems arise when your app goes rogue and takes up CPU power. That's where Watchdog steps in and takes over.

Watchdog allows you to set thresholds for processes and also lets you set time intervals between system checks. If an app goes above your allowed threshold, Watchdog will alert you and then permit you to decide on what to do. You can either WhiteList, Ignore or Kill the app in question.

Select WhiteList only when you know a certain app will spike over the threshold and you are okay with it. Putting an app in the WhiteList will allow Watchdog to ignore that app during future spikes. Ignore disregards the incident, and Kill of course shuts the app down. Remember, it won't kill certain processes that are built into the OS. (Note: Sometimes Watchdog thinks it's above the threshold, so it's a good idea to place the Watchdog app into the WhiteList.)

Watchdog works very well, brings a more sophisticated approach to task management as opposed to the technique other task killers use. Fortunately, Watchdog is not a battery hog. (Make sure your intervals aren't set too short, otherwise that will cost some battery life.)

It's nice to see a developer that knows how the Android OS was built, and how it works. I believe Watchdog is a must-have app for all Android based phones (Froyo and up).

Watchdog comes in two flavors, a free Lite version and a paid for version (WhiteList is only in the Paid version). The paid version is worth it, and the developers deserve getting paid for their work!

*[NOTE: If you have Watchdog Task Manager Lite installed on your device, please uninstall before installed the Paid version]*

[Direct Link]

Kill Android Task Killers

When you buy yourself a new Android based device, the carrier rep usually gives you a quick-rundown of the phone and explains a few things to you. If the representative at your carrier doesn't give you a rundown, I'm sure a friend who has been behind the driver's seat of an Android has given you some advice on how to use your phone and what apps to get. Nine out of ten times, either the rep or your trusted friend will tell you to install a Task Manager/Killer to help with your phones smoothness and battery life. (Yes, even my dumbass self was guilty of this; but I've gotten smarter.)

The truth is, these task killers and the Android OS work against one another. Task killers are redundant and unnecessary. They more often than not cause more harm than good. So why are they bad, how do they actually cause harm? It seems like it's working and my battery life is better, sadly it's a placebo effect and your battery is the same as it would be without it.

Unlike a PC where you manage memory by closing programs , Android (2.2 and on) manages memory and processes on its own. Let's say you launch an application, this app will stay in the memory until it needs to be closed. Android does this to improve the apps launch time. The app will "run" in the background and actually leaves the battery and performance unaffected.

If a previously launched app is kept in memory, launching it again at a later time will take less time. Killing the app removes it from the memory and slows down the launch time for its next use. Android automatically "kills" apps as needed, starting with the ones that have been inactive the longest.

Many of the task killers come with a 'kill all' or 'autokill' option. Whitson Gordon of Lifehacker explain why these options are terrible:

"... it's actually possible that this will worsen your phone's performance and battery life. Whether you're manually killing apps all the time or telling the task killer to aggressively remove apps from your memory, you're actually using CPU cycles when you otherwise wouldn't - killing apps that aren't doing anything in the first place.

In fact, some of the processes related to those apps will actually start right back up, further draining your CPU. If they don't, killing those processes can cause other sorts of problems - alarms don't go off, you don't recieve text messages, or other related apps may force close without warning. All in all, you're usually better off letting your phone work as intended - especially if you're more of a casual user"

Now what if your app goes rogue and starts acting crazy and eats up your CPU? Android has a "force stop" feature built in, making any third party task manager app pointless.

But, how would you even know if an app has gone rogue? Not all task killers are alike, and not all are even bad. For instance, an application called Watchdog monitors your CPU (instead of RAM) and alerts you if an app is acting up. Then, you can kill only the app that is causing the issue, and not everything running on your phone.

Since the introduction of Froyo (Android 2.2), task killers have been plaguing Android users, stealing performance, battery life and sanity. Spread the word to all your fellow Androidians to get rid of any task manager they have installed and to get Watchdog Lite (Free Version). And for Christ's sake, if you hear a carrier rep tell someone to install a task killer, simply tell them you would like to improve your phone's performance, not kill it.

Why I Love Google+

There are 5 main "features" I like that Google+ offers which neither Facebook nor Twitter do or do well. Let's jump in:

1. Share Information with Groups easily using Circles:

On Twitter, anything I post is available to anyone with an internet connection. On Facebook, everything I say is shown to nearly 'everyone'. That includes friends and relatives who don't give a damn about my postings of my blog or any other mundane crap I decide to say. If I decide to post about a party going on in Nashville, anyone outside of the Middle Tennessee area can careless. Also, as you might imagine, only very few of my Facebook friends actually care about my technology mumbo-jumbo.

With Google+ circles, it's easy for me to divide my friends/family by location or any other means I plan to group them. You can somewhat do this in Facebook, but it's not as streamlined and easy as Google+!

2. My information is MINE:

Anything posted on Facebook is co-owned by Facebook. While Google tracks nearly everything we put on the interweb, their Terms of Service states, "You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or displayon or through, the Services." That's what I'm talking about!

3. Video Conferencing:

I've only used it twice as of this post, but Google+ Hangouts is fun! In addition to video conferencing, I can jump right into Google Chat as well. Facebook has its own Chat, but I prefer the capabilities of Google.

A new feature which I recently tried was the YouTube function. You can watch a YouTube video in real-time with your friends within the Hangout. Google also plans on utilizing other video streams in the future, which would be great for the corporate market.

4. Google+ Sparks:

When you become a fan of or like something on Facebook, Facebook streams ads relevant to your likes. Even though I may like Linkin Park, I don't need my inbox getting filled with daily messages!

Sparks on the other hand gives me related articles, blogs or whatever subject I'm interested in from around the net instead of stores that want me to buy a Linkin Park album.

5. If I leave Google+, my information comes with:

It's a pain in the ass getting all your information out of social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Hell, sometimes it's not even possible! With Google Takeout though, I can download my entire Google+ archive whenever I want. So if for any reason Google+ tanks, I can grab my data and go elsewhere.

There are many social networks that popped up to be the so-called Facebook Killer, but Google+ is the first I've seen that has the potential to dethrone Facebook. Google+ isn't perfect, but then again Facebook isn't either.

If you'd like to have an invite into Google+, send me your Gmail address to keval.sheth86@gmail.com and I'll be sure to send an invite right over.

Still confused about Google+? Click Here

PlayerPro Music Review

Every Android phone comes with a music player, whether it's the stock Android player or one that the manufacturer gives. However, not all music apps are created equal, and there are a ton to choose from within the Android Market.

PlayerPro Music has one of the most well thought out interfaces I've seen. It makes use of your phones connectivity and is extremely flexible.

Across the top of the screen, there are five main ways to browse through your entire collection: Albums, Artists, Genres, Playlists, and Folders. You can also enable a full list of tracks if you wish to do so. What sets PlayerPro apart is not only its ability to fetch album covers, but artist photos and even genre logos from the interweb. If you don't like the photo PlayerPro finds for you, just hold the image and choose a new one!

The developers could have stopped there, but they decide to go one step further. There are a few more features that take advantage of the connectivity. Being able to read artist bio and lyrics from within the player is one of those simple functions that are perfect time-killers when you don't feel like Facebook stalking or playing Cut the Rope.

The players skin is simple and finger-friendly, but I expect many users to use the widgets available. But if you enjoy having a nice skin, there are many available for free on the market.

PlayerPro Music takes a basic, well working music player and adds just enough customization and time-killing features to make it worth the $4 price tag on the Market. If you're tired of the default Android player or the ugly ass interface HTC offers, then give PlayerPro a run!

Direct Link: Click Here

Vignette Review

If you want to add beauty and style to your photos with a multitude of film and camera effects, then Vignette is the app for you. You can select from a variety of shooting modes, which include a Self Timer, Fast Shot, and Time Lapse. Once you take a picture, you have the ability to choose from an array of effects and frames to add some flair to your photo.

Vignette adds about 9 additional shooting modes to your camera. You can use the Normal option, but hell, you got Vignette to get creative, so go ahead and do so. You can also take those crazy photo booth shots, create an Andy Warhol-type grid, and set the timer and take a picture of yourself without your damn thumb covering up half your shot.

The shooting modes are fun, but the real fun starts after you take the picture. There are too many camera effects to list. Just get the app and mess around.

iPhone users are proud to have Instagram, and now Android users can be proud to have Vignette. Grab it from the Android Market for only $3.99!

*Note* - If you don't see the options on the right and left of your screen, long press on the screen and click on Options

Direct Link: Click Here

Microsoft Needs Bing!

A couple bloggers for the New York Times recommended that Microsoft should sell Bing as a way to cut the company's online losses. Selling Bing will save money in the short term, but for the long haul it would cause Microsoft to be irrelevant in the internet and mobile future.

Mr. Hutchinson and Cyran have this to say in their blog post regarding their stance on Microsoft selling Bing:

Microsoft needs to concentrate on a different kind of search: finding a buyer for Bing, its online search business. Bing is the industry's distant No. 2 after Google. It has become a distraction for the software giant --- one that costs shareholders dearly. The division that houses Bing lost $2.6 billion in the latest fiscal year. Facebook, or even Apple, might make a better home for Bing. A sale would be a boon for Microsoft's investors.

They (Hutchinson and Cyran) claim that Microsoft could sell Bing for $11 billion, based on sales related to search, and that overall it would result in a 10% increase in profit for Microsoft.

Both bloggers are so wrong, I don't even know where to start!

First and foremost, Bing didn't lose $2.6 billion for Microsoft this past year; the entire online division did. There are other products and services within Microsoft's online division that bring in little to no revenue. As Hutchinson and Cyran state in their post, Bing brought in $2.5 billion in sales for the year that ended at the end of June. So with the data given, it's hard to know the numbers for Bing alone.

But more than that, Bing is central to Microsoft if they plan on succeeding in the future, especially in the mobile market. A major reason Microsoft needs Windows Phone to succeed is because of all the ad revenue from online searching. Mobile search can and will become the glue that holds all the other mobile services and programs together, and that's an area Microsoft needs to succeed in!

Google doesn't get any money for licensing out Android; instead its revenue comes from search, maps, Gmail and other Google services. Microsoft will need the same sort of business model if it plans to thrive in the mobile market. For them to do that they will need a search engine, and a damn good one. And Bing is a very good one, and continuously getting better.

If Microsoft abandons Bing, they might as well abandon its entire online division. Other than Hotmail, Bing is its only big internet service. But giving up online means giving up mobile, and that would ensure Microsoft's failure.

It's true that selling Bing would be a smart choice for the short term; but in the long term, it would be a disaster.

As I state in the title, Microsoft needs Bing!

Original Article

What to Buy: PC or Mac?

Friends and family always seem to come to me when they're considering buying some new tech gadget. One of the most common questions I encounter is if they should either buy a Mac or a PC. . Many of you know I personally prefer a Windows PC over a Mac, but in this post I'm going to break it down to you with an unbiased opinion. The comparison will primarily be focused on laptops (since that's what majority of you purchase), but most of this can be applied to desktops also.

Okay, so what is really the difference between Macs and PCs? Both are technically PCs (personal computers), so the main difference comes down to the operating system... Mac OS X Lion vs Windows 7. Even though the final decision boils down to the OS, there are other factors to consider such as price, design, performance, security, etc.

PC vs Mac: Performance

Which is faster? Mac or PC? The truth is that it just depends on the Mac or PC you buy. There are slow PCs and fast PCs, just like there are slow Macs and fast Macs. Today's Mac basically has identical components inside their cases that you would find in their PC counterpart. All the Macs now come with the same i5 or i7 Intel processor you will find in any PC these days. There is no difference between comparably equipped Macs or PCs.

Some will say that Apple has a bit of an advantage in that they're the only ones who make Macs so they can ensure the best compatibility of components. Although this could be a factor in performance, I think it's negligible.

One area where Macs currently outperform PCs is in their displays. Apple uses LED backlight technology in their screens, and they look amazing!! The lighting is very even across the entire screen, the colors are vibrant and the actually help reduce power consumption! There are a few PCs on the market that offer LED displays, but they are few and far between.

PC vs Mac: Design

In my opinion, this is where Macs definitely have an advantage over PCs. Although design is very subjective, Apple designs are second to none. This is especially true with the Macbooks. Slick aluminum body, thin LED screen, touch pad with gestures, and backlit keyboard set the Macs apart from many PCs on the market. Again, you can find PCs with similar features, but they are harder to find.

PC vs Mac: Security

PCs get full of viruses and spyware and all that nasty stuff. Macs don't. At least that's what Apple wants you to think. In a way it's semi-true, but it's not because Macs are supposedly more secure that PCs. Having used PCs for many many years, I never really had any issues with viruses or spyware. Why? Maybe it's because I was smart about not downloading attachments from unknown sources, I kept Windows updated regularly, and I had a good anti-virus program set up. However, I understand that not everyone is a savvy PC user.

You may ask why Macs don't have these problems? It's simply because there aren't enough Macs out there to make writing viruses and spyware for the Mac worthwhile. Recently, with the surge of Mac buyers, OS X is starting to see malware.

The ultimate goal of many spyware programs is to infect as many computers as possible, so writing the programs for PCs is logical.

Microsoft has done an amazing job by releasing Microsoft Security Essentials, a FREE anti-virus program for Windows.

PC vs Mac: Battery Life

Again, this one is a bit tricky. The new Macbooks have claimed battery life of 7-8 hours (depending on the Macbook). Most PCs can't match the battery life out of the box, however you can buy larger batteries to extend the life. The Macbooks have an integrated battery that you cannot remove. Many people criticize this fact by stating that if the battery dies or loses its charge, you have to get a new computer or have it repaired by a professional. On the other hand, the integrated battery is the reason Macbooks provide amazing battery life.

This really depends on your needs. If you do a lot of work at internet cafes or on the road, a Macbook with higher battery life is essential. If you work at or near a desk where power outlets are accessible, then a PC may be for you.

PC vs Mac: Windows or Mac OS X

So we have come to the core difference between the two computers...the operating system. So which is better? Again, this depends on your personal preference.

If you are new to computers and don't really have experience with either, then going either way won't make much of a difference. If you are a long time Windows user and have little or no experience with Mac OS, you might want to stick to Windows. There are a lot of applications on Windows that are not available on Macs, so if you need to run a certain program you might want to see the compatibility first.

Now lets complicate things a little. You can run Windows on a Mac. In fact, it runs just as well as it does on any PC. Using a program that comes on Mac called 'bootcamp', you can install a copy of Windows and boot up onto either Windows or OS X. Bootcamp provides drivers for all the Mac components so you don't have to worry about driver incompatibility.

PC vs Mac: Price

Now on to what most people base their final decision on. In this case, PCs win hands down! This is probably the main reason majority of computer users are on PCs. Today you can buy a decent PC for $300. The $300 PC won't have any bells and whistles, but if you don't need performance, then why pay more? Powerful PCs are still less expensive than a comparable Mac, sometimes bby as much as $200-$500. Ultimately you are paying a premium price for the Apple brand and design. Is the design and name worth the premium? That just depends on you and your wallet.

Conclusion:

In the end, it really doesn't make much of a difference if you go with a PC or a Mac. The best way to decide is to go to a nearest Best Buy and mess with both.

Don't buy a Mac because you think it looks good, and don't buy a PC just because it was cheaper. Play with each operating system, run programs, touch and feel the computer and see what feels right.

Windows 8: Official XP Killer

A good point was made by Ed Bott of ZDNet when he wrote a post that said businesses were going to use Windows 8 as an excuse to get Windows 7. Sounds like crazy logic, but it totally makes sense. Businesses are usually not on the forefront of the technology revolution. They like playing it safe, and right now XP is safe. Windows 7 is not. Next year, presumably in April when Windows 8 is released, it will make Windows 7 safe. Windows 8 will be looked upon as cutting edge technology, but untested.

With the majority of businesses still using XP the growth towards Windows 7 will intensify into acceptance. The result is inevitable. XP and Vista will breathe their last sometime in 2012.

That said, the big IF is whether the US economy will improve enough to give businesses sufficient confidence that they can spend money. With the real estate market still in shits, jobs moving overseas, inflation, and high debt, businesses are worried that spending too much money may in fact kill their chances of profitability, if not the business itself. So one big issue is whether or not the economy will rebound.

There's also fact that Windows 8 may have many features currently seen today in tablets and mobile smart phones. This means that the view of the technology is untested may not applicable, which in turn will allow businesses to make the transition straight to Windows 8.

The latest rumor about Windows 8 is that it will be available to manufacturers in April 2012. By then the status of XP, Vista, and Windows 7 should be clear and so shall the nature of the economy and the status of the Cloud.

Take my word, XP and Vista should see the end of days sometime in 2012, but even Windows 7 may be superseded by Windows 8.

Check out Ed Bott's original article, Can Windows 8 finally vanquish the ghosts of XP and Vista?

SwiftKey X Review

This is one keyboard to rule them all!! This is a keyboard with predictive text, the ability to change the way it looks, and the ability to take in gestures to affect the text. Sounds fun already, doesn't it? Let's check it out!

Why Change Keyboards?

• You may be asking yourself why would you need a new keyboard for your Android device when the one you already have works good enough for you. Well that's a valid question and indeed the very first one you should also be asking yourself. Here’s the answer: this is the best. This is the greatest learning-type keyboard on the market and you’ve just GOT to have it!

Special Features?

• Ability to choose a theme and layout – you’ve got a selection of three different themes, each of them totally excellent in their own right – dark, light and neon (pictured below). Dark is white on black, light is the opposite, and TRON is the third.
• Gesture commands: Simply swipe the keyboard from the upper right to the lower left to delete the last word you just wrote, no matter what it was. Also, if you swipe the keyboard from the top downward, then – poof! Minimize the keyboard. Above each key there’s an alternative character which you can get to by long-pressing each key long enough to squeeze out a symbol.
• Prediction Bar: This bar is the thing that’ll either cut out the stragglers and toss them to the ground or carry them up to quicker typing heaven – joy to the heavens! The prediction bar not only acts as a fixer of words, but it also predicts what you might say next. This can get really quick, extremely fast, that’s for sure.
• Personalized Predictions: You can link SwiftKey X to understand the way you type not only through SMS; but Twitter, Facebook, and Gmail as well.

• Take a look at the video:

What you’re getting here is a whole new keying experience. You’re not going to find anything like this anywhere else in the Android OR Apple universe – unless of course it’s a clone or something. The app is $4.00 in the Market and worth every cent! Go get yourself some sweeter keying all night long!

Direct Link: Click Here

Install Android Apps from Digitally Shanti

*THIS TUTORIAL IS ONLY FOR THE APPS IN WHICH I GIVE OUT ON MY BLOG POSTS*

I will be using the app Tapatalk as the example on how to use this method of installing Android apps on your Android device without having to connect your phone to your PC/Mac. All apps will work using the same method. Let's Begin:

Very Crucial (Use PC/Mac):

• First download the file from the link I have attached to the [Free App] blog post
• Email that file to yourself in your Gmail account (Very Important)

Step-By-Step Tutorial (Use Android Device)

• First you will need to begin by going into All Apps > Settings > Applications

• Locate "Unknown Sources" up at the top and make sure there is a green Check next to it

• Using the Gmail app, open the email you sent yourself with the file attached and click 'Install"

• Your device will fetch the file (may take time depending on 3G/4G/Wi-Fi speeds)

• You will see an Install Screen, simply click Install

• Open the Application after the app is installed

• Enjoy your app!!