An Open Letter to Samsung & Phone Manufacturers Concerning the Note Platform

Just got a letter from Samsung...

It was about the S8, and with the Note8 release looming, I decided to respond and tell them what I still expect in a creative platform smart phone...

Samsung, I know I am on your marketing list, I had been an avid and enthusiastic Samsung product user in the past.  I have bought poorly designed and implemented smart TVs & refrigerators based on your previous well demonstrated success with cell phones and smart phones.  But, you betrayed me as a customer, as well as the whole point of the Note platform.

Because of your failure with the Note7, I had to send mine back, twice.  the second time I didn't get it back. 

My Samsung Galaxy Note7, as denoted by the green battery icon.
Picture taken with a Samsung Galaxy Core Prime (Tracfone).

It had problems.  The curvy edges became a difficulty when using it with the pen.  It was supposed to be a creative tool, and you took that away.  All I had left was a pretty phone, but that's not what I bought it for, I bought it to do more with less.  Instead, I wound-up with a doodle toy.  That would be OK if I didn't specifically buy it to enhance my creativity with sketching, drawing, painting and brainstorming.
 

Anyone can do a doodle.  This was suppose to be a creative platform, and you messed it up.  And there is NOTHING like the Note platform, but you screwed with it.  The Note 5 didn't even support miniSDCards, or removable media of ANY kind.  The Note 4 had its issue with no battery replacement.
 

The only two great Notes were the Note 2 and the Note 3.  But the Note 2 had real video recording issues and a slow, unreliable camera
 
The Note 3 was a step-up in the camera department, but still video recording couldn't keep up with the action.
 

The Note 4 might have been good if the battery was replaceable, but it wouldn't go a whole day under heavy use.
 

The Note 5 was a photographer's & videographer's nightmare.  No bloody storage, at all, ever.  A total rip-off.
 

No Note 6, which brings us to the very pretty but generally pointless curved screen Note 7.  This road you have taken leaves creatives without what we looked forward to as a great creative tool.  But it doesn't just fall short, it actively intrudes on our creativity by providing a barrier to how we can interact with it.  It becomes a burden to our creativity and limits us.
 

The Note is dead.  It's just a phone with doodling possibilities, now.

I just don't understand why no one has come along and stolen that platform away from Samsung.

But all is not lost.  You could still fulfill that niche yourself, Samsung.  The Note platform can just go ahead and be a pretty, large, gimmick device for the masses with a pointless stylus for handwriting conversion and notes.

Samsung, create a new platform, then.  Introduce a real artist's phablet.  A phone that can be incorporated as the real essential tool that the Note 2 & 3 were, only better, with an artist's heaping amount of RAM so that it can be docked with or as a personal computer, give it a decent battery life under heavy creativity demands (to last at least 8 hours of constant use), the best photography camera, the best video recorder, the best removable storage capabilities to utilize that creativity, the best stereo capabilities, and above all, a flat touchscreen to enhance a creative's solid creative motion with an uninterrupted stream of ideas using unobstructed rock solid unbreakable FLAT gorilla screen input platform that is neither too small for big hands, nor too large for normal pockets.

Until someone comes up with something decent, I'll just use a "smart" phone.  And I will boycott ALL your products now, until someone shows me the answer.  And then, they will receive my rather critical but hopeless loyalty.

But until then, for now, the Samsung Galaxy Note platform is dead to me for the betrayals I have endured.

Samsung Series 5 Model 5203 32" Smart TV Revisited

I grabbed a 2014 Samsung Series 5 Model 5203 one black Friday week a couple of years ago.  It's a 32 inch LED backlit LCD screen High-Definition Smart TV.  I thought I was lucky, Best Buy was selling this TV at a great price all week long.

Now, I know that you might not care, but some people who might run into this model might want to understand that it is a big steaming pile of cow pie.  In no uncertain terms, if you run across this cheap, weak do nothing dumb TV, do not purchase it from anyone, it is a deep migraine in the making.

My original review of this television was somewhat favorable despite its initial hiccups as performing double duty as both a television and a computer monitor.  Some of the most glaring issues were that the TV isn't very smart at all, it is painfully slow and hard to use in terms of responsiveness both using the remote control, as well as a screen to display a video signal from my cable box.

Furthermore, the remote is a complete dumb system without any bluetooth supports and can't identify even simple basic cable boxes, while the remote buries often used functions 12 to 14 clicks away in order to access simple tasks such as PIP (completely forgetting that there is an easily accessible, sparsely populated Tools menu button on the remote that these functions should have been included in), and the smart television functions themselves are amongst the most idiotic interface I have ever seen, requiring multiple remote button presses just to access the quick menu and even more to access an extremely archaic and clumsy main menu that acts like a puzzle in itself.

In the meantime, even though this 2014 Samsung LED HDTV has app support, you won't find anything of any value there.  I am constantly accessing Amazon, as we have Prime available to us, but that is because there just aren't many options.  This is primarily because there is no access to Google Play to download decent apps, and Samsung stopped updating and supporting the television as well as the software some 6 months after my purchase.

The only decent app choices are Amazon (previously mentioned), NetFlix (which gets real old real fast once you have cherry picked the content available there), YouTube, which will show you an advertisement, then often freeze within 1 or 2 minutes of the desired video,  There is Hulu, if you see anything from CBS that you would actually pay for, HBO Now (I don't have access), FoxNow, is lame, FXNOW never works (even though our subscription includes both FX and FXX) and most of the rest of it is such useless spammy crap chock full of ads, or just absolutely poor quality that it's useless for viewing enjoyment.  You don't even get Google Play (not Movies and Video, not even Music) support with it, so I can't watch my own digital movie and video library.  Vudu is available, but despite my impressive Blu-ray and DVD library, Vudu doesn't acknowledge my login (from anywhere).  There are some paid subscription sports services for the MLB, NBA, UFC & WWE, but not much else (no Hockey, no Football, no Futbol, no Formula 1, no Indycar, no SCCA, not even NASCAR or even any car clubs).

Additionally, the main apps drawer (menu) functions with a retarded page system.  You do not advance by scrolling to a new page, you have to select a page.  Unless, of course, you are trying to clean-up the apps and group them on page according to what they do and where you want them. But, when you move an app, then you scroll the page to get to the next page on the left or right.  The menu allows you to delete crap you don't want on there anymore, but the "Deleting..." dialog box will sit there for hours not deleting a damn thing and NOT getting anything done other than wasting your time.

The menus suck and are useless.  The apps suck and are useless.  The PIP is so buried in the menu it takes forever to activate it.  The response to remote buttons is ancient.  Once I have used all the features, I can tell you flat-out, "This Samsung model 5203 just plain sucks."

I bought a 7" Samsung Tab 4 which was equipped with the IR blaster to use as a dedicated remote control for it so that I could check my email during commercials.  That remote control app did not support my cable box, either.  And in Samsung's underwhelming lack of wisdom, the IR support also ceased within 6 months.

Trying to find apps for the 2014 Samsung line of HDTVs is a nightmare.  Eventually, the Peel TV Remote worked on my Note 3, but refuses to run on my 7" Samsung Tab 4 tablet.

Simply, you are much better off getting a good (non-Samsung) HDTV with as many inputs as possible and upgrading it with a Roku.  Samsung is notorious for support.

This and a twice recalled Note 7 has soured me on Samsung, quite possibly forever.  We even ordered a french door stainless fridge with an external meat & cheese drawer and it came without the external access meat & cheese drawer,

Clearly, Samsung has lost it since we bought a righteous Note 2 and three Galaxy S3s.  It just plain sucks now, and it refuses to deliver on any of its promises.  Sort of the Trump of the electronics world.

Farewell to the Galaxy Note 7

After nearly 4 years with a Samsung Galaxy Note 2, I upgraded to the Note 7.

I pre-ordered the device and had it the very first day it was available. It never ran hot, or even warm. The warmest it ever was is after leaving it on the charger well after it was charged to 100%. Even then, when I took it off the charger, it still ran cooler than every other smartphone that my entire family has ever owned in normal operating condition in the middle of winter. Aside from the gimmicky curved edge screen, which makes the device look pretty but functions as a completely unreliable writing surface (so true, I have to question Samsung's decision to not allow consumers the choice it has previously, between getting a flat screen model and a curved glass model, as the Note has always been equipped with a hypersensitive S Pen and it is intended as an unrivaled creative's platform), and the smaller usable screen size of the Note 7 (which increases typo occurrence incidences exponentially), it has otherwise never given me an ounce of trouble.

While the smaller curved edge glass screen is a considerable design flaw, the Note 7 ran impressively quickly despite all the different and varied applications that I ran on the device. I honestly can't believe that there was an electronic engineering issue. Remember, the Note 7 was reportedly exploding into a small fireball when completely powered down. This seems to speak to either sabotage by someone during assembly in the clean room (perhaps a disgruntled employee adding a pinch of metal dust into the battery compartment, or someone whos careless and sweat fell directly into it and pooled in the battery as they worked on it - then the watertight and airtight device didn't allow for the perspiration to evaporate or otherwise escape) or an engineering flaw where some barometric sensitive sensor shorted-out the device.

The very fact that I had to turn-in my Note 7 once, after waiting years to find an upgrade device that I would not only settle for, but also be stuck with for the next couple of years, shows how loyal I was to the Note platform. But frankly, the end of the true Note line of phablets ended with version 4, when Samsung decided to stop supporting microSDcards with the Note 5, which is exactly why most smartphone users chose Google's Android smartphone platform over Apple's iOS platform iPhone.

Quite honestly, I cannot believe that Apple does not even come-up with their own proprietary removable storage card solution.  If I go out and record my son's ball game, I am going to be consuming 4 GB of space in full High-Definition. Now that 4K UHD (Ultra High Definition) is available at nearly quad the resolution of Full HD, the same recording would consume 8 to 12 GB of storage (depending on detail capture settings and video compression settings).

Relying on the cloud for UHD video recording and high resolution photo storage is not only a means of embezzling from their own customers and requiring (usually overpriced) subscriptions, but it also adds significantly to the noise and load of the cellular data networks, as well as internet junk traffic. And mobile data networks are not so reliable, especially in rural and developing areas. Quite honestly, pushing everyone to the cloud is bullying and the result of this is data air-time spam, because it is neither necessary, convenient nor secure. How many times do we have reports that the internet is down (not only locally, but nationally under significant attack by foreign agents)? And no matter how secure the cloud is reported to be, the idea that we should trust anyone with our personal photos and videos is sinful for anything but back-up purposes.

The issue is not that the cloud may or may not be secure, it is that humans are fallible. The very fact that we are relying on the cloud as a storage solution for anything but incremental backups puts us at a specific disadvantage in securing our own data, and opens us up to ransomware, exploitation, blackmail and even the authorized snooping and sharing of our private lives and documents by anal governmental scrutiny. Although hacking the cloud may seem a hard task, the rewards of doing so, and the payoff so tremendous, I can pledge to you that great risks will be taken and over the course of time, it will be done.

All of this is the result of engineering stupidity. The whole system is designed this way not out of convenience (because it is not), not out of security (because the cloud will not only be hacked, but the NSA is constantly cataloging anything and everything that transpires over the air and on the internet), but only as a marketing tool in order to sell you more services (the cloud) which everyone will eventually have to charge for in order to keep it safe... and yet everything is shared with the NSA and nothing (not one iotta of data or voice) transmitted is ever secure.

As a few examples, I will mention that... Yahoo has admittedly been sharing everything with the government since asked, without even questioning it. Google's unrivaled data is considered a national security issue, and it has very close documented ties to Homeland Security (its Director was a former Google security liason) and not only complies with, but provides professional assistance to the NSA.  In fact, the NSA's data collection facilities are growing at unbelievable rates.

I know that that is a long side-trip, but it is an important one.  AI has been entering the marketplace and itself can become a security risk if not developed and handled properly (see the warnings from Steven Hawkings, Elon Musk and Bill Gates).  The fact is that we are not only voluntarily giving our data over to our communication and internet providers, but purchasing our most personal and private equipment from foreign powers.  Some of these foreign powers, especially China, has obvious alternative state sponsored corporate spying on behalf of the government, has a documented track record of spying, malicious hacking and other dubious activities that threaten not only national security, but even individuals' security, savings, pensions, privacy, data and reputation.

These decisions are considerable mistakes, made directly and knowingly to positively impact sales through marketing, expand their market reach and/or their espionage capabilities.

Now, you may be thinking that I am a nut because I am so security anal.  Actually, I am not.  What I am talking about deals mainly with what is to come.  But the fact that major corporations are making poor selfish and insecure decisions that affect us all based on increasing their ability to expand their marketing or market reach at the detriment of their own brand name is actually the perfect example of how the drive for sales improperly effects decision making.  And because this is our history, we are doomed to repeat it unless we wake up.

This has everything to do with why I enjoyed the Note platform, believe it or not.  Because South Korea is a US ally, whom my father fought for in the Korean war, I do give them some credit.  The microSDcard helps me stay secure while keeping my phone usable as a good and reliable snapshot and video camera.  Even the S Pen (hypersensitive scribe) allows me to deal with the reduced screen size in the Note 7 and avoid typos (now that it is no longer a member of the beloved phablet platform I have come to enjoy).  I also have huge reservations about my carrier, Verizon, who now owns Yahoo that has so easily shared so much with my way-too-nosey government, and has its own intimate relationship with that same US government.  But here in the rural upper midwest US, there isn't much choice for good, reliable cellular coverage.

That said, I used the Note 2 and Note7 to take photos and video of wildlife on a daily basis while riding my trail bike.  I have amounted quite a few photos and videos of deer, fawns, turkey, geese, ducks and turtles, as well as amassed a wide variety of landscape scenes.  And that hobby helps keep me fit by riding around the city bike trails on my bicycle.

Samsung officially calls it the 'Note7', I suppose to differentiate it from the common generic word, and a possible brand evolution to assist in differentiating the Note8 from their 8 inch Note?

I thought I was in the clear when my replacement Galaxy Note7 went through a mandatory update and the white battery icon turned green in the notification bar and the 'always on' display, but clearly I was not.  It was out of pure reluctance when I weighed my options as to whether or not to give-up my upgraded phone, and I went back to the Verizon store without an acceptable, decent phone solution so many times before the Google pixel phone photos were leaked.

Quite honestly, no one competes with the Note platform.  There is an option to get a third party multi-pressure sensitive pen that can be used with an older Apple iPhone, but the 6S Plus and the 7 are not yet supported.

Despite my love/hate relationship with Google, and despite everything I wrote above (that I know Google is spying on me and everyone else for the government), I do want a good camera with my phone.  I've already had to make the conscious compromises with Google over Gmail, Android, Adwords, AdSense, as well as with Verizon, who used to be WorldCom and already has shaken my confidence many times since joining their network.  But, at least these are the evil demons I know.

Though I will never trust either of them, I have no choice but to use them if I want a mobile communication device.  Verizon is the only reliable network in my area, especially in rural communities.  Google's Android platform is the only one that offers its code as an open source platform.

But the Google Pixel comes with its own set of headaches.  You can only get it with no more than 128 GB (ever), as there is no microSDcard support.  Google markets it with an unlimited photos & video drive account in the cloud for as long as you own the phone, but you can bet that they will be showing ads there and require a paid subscription ransom in order to remove them.  But how do I dare trust them with all of my photos when they are a known government collaborator?

Unfortunately, I have to make these compromises all the time in order to stay in the industry I am in.  But it still pains me.  Just because I'm not a criminal or radical doesn't mean that my privacy won't be violated constantly by these corporate giants on behalf of the government.  But it is what it is, and the only safe computer is one that no one can access and I live on the internet, so I will never be safe.

It's a calculated risk, but I pre-ordered the Google Pixel XL.  Yesterday, I sent my Note7 back to Samsung in their fireproof box (it took forever to arrive here).  I really did want to keep it, but I didn't want to be a liability for owning one.  I sure as heck didn't want to burn down my house or never ride in an airplane ever again (though I can't afford to go much at all, I rarely want to fly anywhere now that I have to get to the airport 2 hours ahead of time and risk my privacy being violated all over again by any kind of search).

The truth is that our privacy is now violated constantly in the name of national security and we have to come to terms with that.  Perhaps trusting Google to build a phone on their own platform that will work and take the best smartphone pictures ever is my only possibility.

I wanted to go back to Motorola and use their optical zoom snap-on camera mod, but there is no microSDcard support on the Z.  To top that off, there is no headphone jack, and I need that for PayPal Here and Square Register.

Whether or not the Pixel camera is any good is hard to tell.  The reports are good so far, but the Note7 had a bad-ass camera that shined, too.

Damn, I'm going to miss that phone.

So, I wound-up grabbing a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, as well.  This allows me to have the old reliable Note platform that I knew, is an upgrade to my old Note 2 that I relied on for so many years.  It's only 3 years old, and functions with the old OS I liked.  Because I have the built-in IR Blaster with it, when I retire it, it can function as my remote control.  If it dies like my Note 2 did, I will write-off Samsung forever because I still have a Motorola Droid X that I use as a desk clock.
  
But the Note7 was still the best compromise I have ever found in a phone.  Damn!

Polaroid S8 by Southern Telecom: Back to a Cheap Tablet (Again)

First, let Me be honest and clear... This is a review for the model S8 tablet that is designed and manufactured by Southern Telecom and licensed and marketed under the now otherwise defunct Polaroid brand name.

But you in order for you to understand my predicament, you have to know the whole story. I am a web designer. I have been trying to move into the mobile app development market for years, now. The mobile app development game will become bigger than the website game has ever been, and it will do so in short order. Websites will remain necessary, but will neither be as convenient nor be as handy as an app on your phone, tablet or other hand held device. Websites will just become backup presentations, and they will start doing so within the next year.

So as a web design freelancer trying to expand my reach and offerings, it is a simple decision, it is mandatory that I learn to support mobile devices. So I have been trying to accomplish just that. I have bought smart phones and tablets, books on the subject. Because I have to, to survive.

Originally, I purchased a Pandigital Planet tablet. That was over 2 years ago. The stupid thing was so slow and unresponsive that I had to return it to Kohl's. It was a perfect example of bad engineering.

When I took it back, I still wanted a tablet, so I exchanged it for Southern Telecom's "Polaroid" T7 Internet Tablet. But, that thing was also a piece of crap. In fact, to this day I am absolutely amazed at what terrible garbage that Kohl's, the place where I work, was passing off to consumers as technology. These tablets were beyond pathetic, they were unresponsive, non-functional, unusable and completely worthless. I tried everything I could think of in order to get them to work, and never had any success. I was so disturbed with the cheapness of these unusable products that I was greatly alarmed and had to rethink whether or not I should stay with the company. I thought that I had been working at a quality retailer that cared, but I was not getting that feeling.

But when I had discussed these tablets with others, I was always given the impression that I am picky, that they were proud of their tablets, and that we were the early adopters that would have to suffer this technology and make it better by pointing out its strengths and weaknesses. So I did just that.

My main concerns about device un-usability were addressed in public forums in the hopes that the feedback I provided would be put to good use to make these products better.

One of the biggest misconceptions about these hand held devices were that they had easy-to-use touch screens. They don't. They really do require a stylus, and even then they are not reliable. My Droid X is much more reliable (even to this day) than these devices ever were. The Droid X touchscreen puts them to shame even though it is 3 years old, compared to when these tablets were brand spanking new. They simply aren't responsive and are very unreliable.

The other biggest problem with device usability stems from the lack of decent wireless reception. You can't use a device that is wi-fi concentric if you can't stay connected in a wi-fi enabled environment. Even though every computerized device in the house (2 desktops, 3 laptops, 1 iPad, 5 Samsung smart phones, 1 Droid X, 1 Blu-ray player & 1 Chromecast) all can get our wireless N signal anywhere in the house, the Planet and the T7 Internet Tablet could not get the signal from my couch (which is not even close to being the furthest point in our living quarters). If a device is going to rely on wi-fi for functionality (internet, web, email, apps, updates, streaming audio & video, network games, socialization, etc...), the wireless reception needs to work.

There were all sorts of other issues. These devices were manufactured with too small of a ROM, very little RAM, too little storage memory, slow processors, no bluetooth capabilities, very little battery life and no access to the Google Play store or apps. The list went on, but all of these things needed to be addressed before cheap tablets would even amount to anything.

But I decided to keep my Polaroid T7 because maybe some day someone would develop a decent remote that I could control my TVs with (Maybe, eventually, anyway). But I did feel that the T7 7" Internet Tablet had an edge over the Planet because if I held it just right I could sometimes get a wireless N signal while the Pandigital Planet never did.

Unfortunately, I just ain't ballsy enough to hold my arm outstretched while sitting on the couch, I whimp out after about 5 minutes. And the signal is too weak for it to be quick about anything network related. So I never used the T7. I still have it here on my desk. It still is hard to use and often I have to poke one button or link multiple times in order to do something just once. But I ca't use my finger, I have to use a stylus or it will never work right. I deleted all the extra apps and it still sucks. It's just useless.

So a year went by before I tried getting another tablet. I grabbed a refurbished Asus Eee Pad TF101 Transformer with dock bundle. This thing actually worked pretty great, I was impressed and happy. The dual core Nvidia Tegra processor wasn't real speedy, but it wasn't incredibly and painfully slow, either. The battery went a good portion of the day and if I had the keyboard dock plugged into it using it like a laptop, it would go all day long on the extra battery in the keyboard.

The TF101 Transformer was actually a good little tablet and I was glad that I bought it. This wasn't real cheap either, I had enough invested here to buy my mom another brand new full service Windows 8 touchscreen laptop. But I wanted to develop on the Windows Android platform, the cheap tablets were cheap crap, and I needed something that would work. Unfortunately, it didn't.

One day inside of six months of owning the contraption, I plugged it into a hotel outlet and the red light went on and then out. The keyboard dock wouldn't charge. Within a week, the tablet itself wouldn't charge, either. I sent off for a new Asus stock charger at Amazon, along with new longer cords and a a car charger. But the new stock charger wouldn't charge anything, either.

So on Black Friday I resisted getting any cheap tablets, even though they went on sale and we had some left at the end of my shift. I concentrated on getting the gifts I could since I had been laid-up due to arthroscopic hip surgery. But with nothing worthy of my $60.00 Kohl's cash the next week, I grabbed the Polaroid S8 (8") Internet Tablet this weekend.

I've only had it a couple of days so far... but here's what I wound-up with:

Southern Telecom's "Polaroid" S8 (8 inch) Internet Tablet

The Polaroid S8 Internet Tablet now has a dual-core processor, bluetooth, dual cameras, supports the Google Play store, and offers a microUSB port, a microSDCard slot, a miniHDMI port, a headphone jack, a dedicated power jack for its AC/DC adapter. The battery is a rechargeable Li-ion Polymer. It runs on Jelly Bean, which is Android OS version 4.2. It is supposed to feature an 8" capactive multi-touch touch screen display with a 1024 x 768 resolution (offering the traditional 4 x 3 aspect ratio). It is supposed to support 802.11 b/g/n wireless wi-fi networking. There is a front mounted speaker. It comes with 1 GB of DDR RAM and 4 GB of internal storage memory.

So, it sounds pretty good. It sounded good enough for me to at least give it a shot. But am I happy?

Well, there are two pretty important things that I learned from the old T7 Internet Tablet. First: It needs to be able to be responsive. Second: It needs to be able to network with my wi-fi (802.11 n) system. Well, one out of two hardly hits the mark.

As far as being responsive, it isn't. You still need a stylus in order to coax it along. But the good news is that with a stylus, the thing can actually work quite well. As long as I used a stylus, I was pretty much clicking everything the first time, with a few exceptions. This alone is much better than the T7, I can actually get somewhere with the S8!

But alas, I cannot use my S8 downstairs on the couch. Not even if I hold it up with my arm outstretched will I ever get a signal down there. So if you only have one wi-fi source, and a decent sized home, the S8 Internet Tablet will probably be useless unless it is very close to the source wi-fi router.

However, I did come-up with a work-around. I can put my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 into mobile hotspot mode and use it as my router. The S8 was easy to setup for this, but I also have to remember that I can't be downloading apps and streaming audio and video in this setup because when my Galaxy Note 2 is in its mobile hotspot configuration, the internet is accessed through my mobile 4g data plan, and that is very finite. I sure don't want to go over my data limit at Verizon.

There probably is another work-around, as well. There are some new routers which support a wider signal using the 802.11 ac. But it is still unclear to me if the older n wi-fi signal that these routers also support is broadened along with the wider ac signal. So I still have to check-up on that part of it. But that still requires shelling out another $150.00 for a new router that unless you didn't have a cheap tablet, you wouldn't even need. So I'm not so sure that work-around is so good when if you spend the money on a better tablet, you will get much better wireless and a much more responsive tablet.

Another possible work-around might be to allow the Galaxy Note 2 to host the S8 Internet Tablet through Bluetooth as an internet access point. This will allow the Note 2 to access the net through our traditional high-speed cable network, but Bluetooth is awfully slow in comparison, too.

Part of the reason I bought the S8 is that all the other issues I mentioned seemed as if they were addressed. The new S8 came with a dual core processor. There was Bluetooth, more RAM, more storage memory, and it supports Google Play. It does seem more responsive than the old T7, although it is a far cry and a long way from being as responsive as my TF101 Transformer tablet or my Droid X smart phone. But it is better.

But there are some wonky things about this tablet, as well. For one thing, the screen doesn't rotate with its orientation, at all. Even though there is an option to disable the rotation orientation, it doesn't rotate at all. The camera has to be positioned at the top in a landscape orientation. This seems to be the same for all the apps that it came with, I am curious to see if downloaded apps will work similarly.

One thing that I did right away was update literally everything quickly so that all the apps were up-to-date. However, Google Play Store and the Google Play Music & Audio apps do not produce any sound. I couldn't figure out how to get the sound recorder to play anything back either (as it seemed to lack that option). But YouTube and Pandora both worked without any real issues (unless the tablet was also busy downloading while producing video or sound, then there would be a hesitant glitch now and again).

As far as the sound goes, use ear buds. The single front facing speaker doesn't do music justice, though it is clear and useful for alerts, alarms and game feedback.

There is only one physical navigation button, for getting back to the home screen. Then there is a volume up/down toggle and a power button. A set of white icons are always available at the bottom of the tablet screen for volume down, show the running apps, capture a screen snapshot, home, back and volume up. I am always accidentally hitting these with the stylus when navigating around, but it isn't that big of a deal, it is easy enough to get back or undo what I just did.

All that said, it would seem like I am happy. But the battery sucks, too. It doesn't last very long at all. I think that technology should have improved a ton more than what this device is showing. I'm also perplexed as to why it can't run apps such as TV Guide or My Coke Rewards.

Then again, this is just a little test bed for my apps, and it looks to be a good standard for the minimum of technology I will support. And this one does at least have a shot at becoming a decent TV remote, as well. Anyone want an old T7? ;)

UPDATE: Dec 17th, 2013...

Polaroid Stays Extremely Stingy with the Memory (Still)
My version of the Southern Telecom Polaroid AS8 Internet Tablet only came with 800 MB of RAM and about 1 GB of internal "SDCard" storage memory.  And even though it does seem to see all of my 64 GBs of (external) ExtSDCard storage memory, it refuses to install apps to this microSDCard.  I am not a happy camper, at all.    I thought for sure that the new Polaroid tablets had enough memory.  The specs on the S8 box indicates that it has 4GB internal storage memory on the box and there aren't very many apps installed.  Even though there is an asterisk footnote paragraph that says, "Actual internal memory may vary depending on the operating system of the device and the preloaded apps.", I did the math and even if you include the supposed (and rounded-up) 1 GB of internal DDR3 memory as a part of that "internal memory", this stupid S8 internet tablet should have at least another 3 GB of internal storage memory to use for all the apps (including the android operating sytem).  But no, it does not.  Southern Telecom has pulled another bait and switch.

What has happened to truth in advertising? We used to require it!

Still, I don't want to return the stupid peice of crap.  Not because it is a good buy, but I only paid about 27.00 for it after all my Kohl's Cash coupons, and my employee discount.  And what could I get for $27.00?  Nothing.

On a positive note, it works really well at playing Netflix or You Tube and controlling the video playback (pausing, restarting at a certain point, etc.) through Chromecast.

To my amazement, the tablet did start adapting to landscape/portrait orientations after I installed the microSDCard.  I don't understand why it would require the external microSDCard in order to start working as described, though.

I also started using it for DuoLingo and have been using it for reading a couple things.  I do kind of like it as a reader, and the stereo earbuds I have sound good with it, so Pandora is also fun.

But in the end, I am still having to use a stylus all the time, I have to reboot it once in a while (about once daily, though you might be able to rectify that issue by killing your running apps or running an app killer).  But it is genuinely lacking in usable memory for apps, and I honestly can not endorse any product that uses false advertising in its spec sheet.

I will have to see if there is an app that will allow my microSDCard to be used for apps.  This will be its only saving grace.

In the long term, I won't be using this tablet much, though, and I am already looking for another that will do as it is required.

Blogger is finally working?

This is a test.  It appears to be working. Cool.

My wife upgraded my Droid X to a Samsung Galaxy Note II for Christmas (Thank you, Maria! What an awesome gift. Love it, love her.)

So what was this test about?  I have never been able to use the blogger app as well as I expected to be able to.  Whether this was a misgiving of the software, my device or me, I'm not sure.  But I started this post on my Asus Android EeePC Transformer TF101 tablet (with keyboard) and left it there, and then ran the blogger app on my Note II and picked up right where I left off. 

That's cool.

I suppose the test is mostly for myself since I gave up trying to use the app with my Motorola Droid X because of the tiny software based keys.  The fact that I am around 6"2" and have large hands also means that I have big fat fingers that rarely hit the right keys. 

I tried using a the Merkury Innovations physical Bluetooth keyboard that is so often on sale for half-off at Kohl's Department Stores (as I work there), but that keyboard didn't work with my old Motorola Droid X.  Luckily, the Galaxy Note II's large 5.5" 720P resolution High Definition tablet-like screen is much bigger and easier for my big fat fingers.  And that same Merkury bluetooth keyboard that I bought for my Droid X works just fine on my Note II, as well.

I suppose that the initial test was primarily about whether or not the Blogger app would work, as I have had difficulty connecting with Google's Blogger servers in the past, which is primarily the reason I haven't been blogging much for a very long time. 

Thankfully, now that I have my Transformer tablet and my Note II phone/mini-tablet both working flawlessly with blogger now (as long as this gets posted, of course), it looks like I can resume my blogging adventures.

This is a great big deal because I don't like using my noisy Windows PC/laptop anymore,  unless I am creating a website, doing video or using Photoshop, etc...

I have come to rely on my android devices for all of my web browsing, searching, gps, maps, directions, camera,  video cam/calling, remote controls, music, even when selecting a movie or TV show to watch, now.

I guess you can say that I am a big Android OS fan.  And now Samsung's Galaxy Note II has finally taken the aches of being an early adopter out of the picture, as it is so easy to use and lots of fun!  It even works as a phone better than the Droid X ever did (which the Droid X did pretty well).

Anyway, cool.  This was a successful test and I will start blogging here at Blogger more (as well as check out the apps for blogging at WordPress and Tumblr, too).

Rock On!

Polaroid T7 Internet Tablet (7 inch Tablet)

I recently purchased a Polaroid T7 Internet Tablet.  This was My second attempt at purchasing a cheap Android powered tablet.  Luckily, I am very pleased with this purchase, finally. 

(Quick Background:)
The main thing that I am losing is the multimedia aspect of a tablet.  I had originally purchased a Pandigital Planet with only 256MB of internal RAM and because it was so severely limited in the internal memory aspect I could never take advantage of the Front or Rear Cameras or the Micro HDMI out. 

Even after resolving to just use the Planet for email and surfing the web, I still found that it lacked the ability to run apps at speed. 

Wanting a cheap Android Android Tablet that actually worked, I returned the Planet and picked-up a Polaroid T7 Internet Tablet from Kohl's.

Polaroid T7 Internet Tablet (PTAB7200) 1st Impressions:
The Polaroid name is apparently licensed, as the tablet is actually supported by Southern Telecom.

The Specs:

• High Res 7" Touch Screen
• Android OS 2.3.1
• 1 GHZ RockChip RK2918/ARM CORTEX-A8 w/Neon 512KB L2 Cache
• RAM: 512MB DDR3
• 4GB Internal Memory (Expandable with Micro SD card)
• 802.11 b/g/n wi-fi network capable
• USB Host feature allows the ability to connect a Flash Drive
• Rechargeable LI-ion battery (lasts 5-6 hours with wi-fi on in normal use)

The T7 Package Includes:

• The PTAB7200 7" Tablet
• Mini USB to USB Cable
• Adapter Cable for USB Memory Stick (Flash Jump Drive)
• AC Power Adapter/Recharger Cable Unit
• PTAB7200 User Manual

This item is advertised right on the box with HD Digital Video 1080P but I cannot see how in the world they could get real 1080P HD Digital Video into that tiny 7" screen when the resolution is reported to be only 800 x 480 pixels.  HD aspect ratio, yes, but HD it is not.  What the hell has happened to truth in advertising, folks?  And no, there is no HDMI output to make this HD capable in any respect.  But, I didn't know they were advertising HD 1080P until after I bought it and knew I was getting an 800x480 screen with no HDMI.  C'mon Man!

Despite the false advertising, the thing has so far proven to run like a champ.  I did have to poke the reset hole with a paper clip after leaving the unit on standby for over a day, once.  But it runs surpisingly fast for only a 1 GHZ processor.

I left the protective cling-plastic screen protector on it, the touch screen works well and does a better job than my planet did, but is not near as good as my DroidX.  But as this is a cheap tablet, I am quite happy.  My son would like a better touch screen to play his games, and therefore still prefers my DroidX for games.  But otherwise games run fine.  Angry birds and Greedy Spiders all seem to be doing quite well without any problems.

I cannot log into NetFlix, but I couldn't on my Planet and I can't on my DroidX, either.  I think my login email address is too long for the mobile platform.  Netflix works great on my PC, Laptop, Wii, PS3 & Blu-ray players.  Video is clear and crisp, even at 50% brightness, though.  The audio could be a bit louder, sometimes (usually when people screw up the audio levels while recording).  Video also streams well with a good signal.

I am still looking for my ear buds to try out the headphone jack.  The speaker sounds OK, but needs to be all the way up to hear alarms as it is not real loud.

A word on the Wi-Fi: OK.  That's all, just OK.  Not as good as My PC, Laptop, Wii, DroidX, My son's iPad & PS3, etc... but definitely a little better than that old peice of crap Pandigital Planet, making this new T7 internet tablet usable downstairs (where the Planet wasn't even able to connect).

The printed user manual unfolds like a map and walks you through loading Amazon AppStore which works well.  I have apps I have licensed through Google Market that I miss, but I don't want to be running BOTH the Amazon AppStore licensing system and the Google Market licensing system when My apps check to see if they are legal.  So right now I am doing without Kuffs Password Safe or Unified Remote, etc., which is a big loss that I do feel daily.  So I have to deal with that.

Although 6 sensors are reported, it doesn't seem to support Bubble Level.  There is no GPS, and I have set it to use network locals, but Google still can't tell where I am.

No Bluetooth, although I want to try my USB Bluetooth adapter and haven't, just yet.

I haven't found if it can be rooted, yet.

I am especially happy with the battery life.  The Planet was done in a couple hours.  I don't think I've had to worry for around 5 or 6 hours with the Polaroid T7.

I love that it comes with some extra cables.  Not just a USB cable to connect the device to your computer, but also an adapter cable to plug in a USB Flash Jump Drive (Memory Stick).  This makes transferring files manually an easier option from friends computers (especially when they don't want to set you up with their Wi-Fi settings and install something on their computer to exchange files with).

Although the buttons are in different placements (back, menu & home buttons), I like the setup very much because it works out as logical when I have to hold the thing upside down in portrait display position because of the omnidirectional wi-fi which has a stronger signal through the bottom end, and it makes sense in any landscape position, as well.

When held, the T7 feels very solid (the Planet squeaked all the time).  It doesn't feel cheap.  I like it so far.  I like it a great deal better than the Planet.  But I still hope to one day be able to grab a Toshiba Thrive.

Pandigital Planet - 7" Android Tablet

Hi All...

I just grabbed a Pandigital Planet from Kohl's.  They have it on sale for $189.00 this weekend (you can find it cheaper online, about 170 to 175).  I grabbed it at the sale price with a 20% off coupon they sent Me by email and my wife gave Me $90.00 Kohl's cash.  So I only paid 84.79 with the tax and everything and I'll actually get another 15% off with my employee discount. 

I wanted to wait for the Nova, but we don't have that one in the store yet, and the Kohl's cash we had was only good until today.  They may well have the Nova when I go in for work tonight, though.  Oh well.

So far I can see that with only 2GB I have to get a big microSD card and be very conservative with the applications I install.  On My DroidX I have a 5GB memory bank for apps and I have lots of cool looking apps that act crappy and like to stay in memory and run absolutely all the time.  That's just not a possibility with a 2GB Planet.

What's there:
7" 800x600 resistive TFT LCD touchscreen tablet device with...
MiniUSB port (not MicroUSB like on a Droid X, but MiniUSB like most cameras).
HDMI port (accomodates DTV as well as 720p & 1080p HDTV playback to TV/device).
microSD Card SLOT (no card included) will accomodate up to 32GB cards.
Wi-Fi (The 802.11 B/G/N is very cheap and doesn't have much range).
Mini Stereo Headphone Jack.
Microphone.
Forward and rear facing cameras.  NOTE: NO Flash.
Power button.
Volume Up/Down buttons.
Android buttons.
Dedicated DC port (a dedicated power adapter port that doesn't use the miniUSB port).
Uses a rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery.
AC wall outlet power adapter (for recharging).
MiniUSB to PC USB cable.
Tablet miniUSB connection is compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 and MacOS X computers.  Although not stated, it should be compatible with properly configured Linux computers as well since android is Linux based.

The 7" Planet uses a proprietary market place.  When searching at Google's App Market from the device, Google won't even acknowledge that you are on an android device. Apparently there is a hack for this, but you need to be careful with piling on some of the less memory friendly apps that never shut down from most developers out there (android has a big problem with this no matter the device, perhaps this may be pandigital's attempt to stop crappy apps from infecting everything with constant memory loss and consistent device reboots?).

After getting it and playing with it a bit there was a firmware update.  After the firmware update, parts of certain screens, such as the drag-down notification window and menu shrank in parts to a phone-sized screen.  Very unusual looking, but the thing still works just fine.

The 800x600 display is a little different from My Droid X in that it uses a 5 x 5 icon layout, as opposed to the 4 x 4 icon layout.  The Droid X has 3 additional screens on either side of home, where the Planet only has 2 extra screens to the left or right of home.

That said, I really like the bigger display.  I can read the 800x600 pretty well without My reading glasses, as opposed to the tiny screen on My Droid X device. 

Touch seems responsive until trashing or otherwise moving icons around.  Then, it just plain bites because I am not a real patient guy.  You have to pause quite a while once you select the icon and it grows, before you can move it somewhere else.  I am told that there is an issue with how the wi-fi antenna is positioned.  Moving it to a side location apparently helps touchscreen sensitivity.  Someone also says that using aluminum tape to do so has increased the wi-fi signal on theirs.

I really like that they switched the Home and Menu buttons around, and that they are physical buttons (when compared to My Droid X button positions or the lack of real buttons on My friend's Droid Incredible). 

I have downloaded an app, Nimbuzz, to use it for skype, but it seems that they only support skype on a phone?  Curious that these guys aren't supporting tablets, yet.  Maybe I'll find one that will.

I understand that the Planet can be rooted, now.  I'm surprised.  Glad, but surprised, as it hasn't been out long, has it?  I'm going to have to do that once I grab a microSD Card so that I can back it all up for reinstalling it all. 

The 7" Nova will have more memory (4GB), so some might want that one, instead.  As mentioned, we don't have it just yet in our store, but I might grab a Nova, or maybe wait for Pandigital's flagship tablet due out in September.

Need to Squirrel Away a Contact's Info in your Droid Quickly and Easily?

Like to Collect Business Cards Like I Do?

Wouldn't it be just great if everyone had electronic business cards you can simply feed into your phone?  Actually, smartphones do have those, but usually business men simply carry business cards.  How low tech, right?  Well, just turn that paper copy into an contact entry in your Android based smartphone!

I downloaded and wound-up purchasing "CamCard (Western)" (since I'm not an Asian).  I've also seen it called "CamCard - BCR (Western)". The BCR stands for Business Card Reader.

It is an awesome app because it uses character recognition technology (aka: OCR) to grab all the info from a business card.  You can then save the card and all the info into your contacts.  It works well and requires minimal corrections (usually any errors are the cause of fancy fonts & italics) and it trims the card down nicely if you put it on a high contrast surface and corrects perspective and all, and then saves the image and all the contact info.  It even will straighten out the card edges.  It really works great with my DroidX.

This was a Chinese developed app and only cost $6.99.  If that's too heavy duty for ya, there is a free version that scans in 8 cards initially and then will allow 2 more business card scans per week.  I do assure you that the app is all in good English and is easy to read (as if dome by an Englishman), though.  And of course, there is a Chinese & Eastern version.

There are actually a few versions...

http://www.androidzoom.com/android_developer/intsig-information-coltd_ftjd.html

And of course, you can find it in the Android market place.

You do realize that we have it made in the Android market because professional applications are still reasonable, right?  This is truly a good buy and well worth the price.  It has saved me considerable time staying connected and allows me to show-off my DroidX and make others drool.  ;)

I'll be checking out their document scanner, "CamScanner" as well, soon.  

See Ya!
-Doug

What's the Very Best Password Safe?

The best Password Safe?

I finally have entered all of my passwords into my DroidX. It took a long time to find just the right application, and it was quite an adventure, trying so many different apps along the way. But I am certain that I finally settled on the very best of them all... Kuff's "Password Safe Pro". I was trying out all the free versions and this one definitely was the best. I bought the license key (3 euro) because it was so good and because I got tired of seeing the ads very quickly. ;)

There is also a lite version (Password Safe Lite) without network support for 1 euro which doesn't show ads and has no network back-up or sync features (because of the lack of network connectivity feature in this one). It will, however, back up to the SDCard . I wound-up getting both, but that's because I was a bit foolish and didn't find the license for the pro version right away, mistaking the lite version for the license. I wrote the developer and heard back from right away, he's going to refund the money I spent on the lite version for my Droid and we will definitely get another lite version for Maria. She'll then have one and she doesn't need the networking backup/sync features (she or I can manually back it up from her SDCard to her computer, anyway).

I am very happy with this software package. It acts like an app should.

Both versions are very secure and use 128bit AES encryption by default with a 256bit AES encryption option setting.

You can setup the item data fields the way you want, organize them the way you want. Your control over your data is total. You can even setup templates for items, though I have yet to experiment with that.

Nothing else comes close to these Password Safe apps. And you can sync the full version (the one w/backup/restore/sync networking capabilities) with your PC using DropBox, too! The Windows version of the program is free (until the end of this month, anyway). And there is a WiFi backup/restore/sync version available, now. My license is for a lifetime. I am just starting to test the WiFI capabilities, that's a new feature.

Cool program. Works well, too. Very reliable. No complaints (and the few I had were addressed by reading the docs). You can have all sorts of nested folders so that you get everything organized just right. And there are all sorts of skins you can use on it, as well. Even more skins in the Windows version. It was developed by a bloke in the UK.

I honestly am glad I waited to get such a great tandem act for a Password Safe with Kuff's. I should also mention that it's full of features that I will probably never use, but are important to such devices, such as an optional wipe feature that will kick-in upon so many failed login attempts. A remote wipe feature, incase of phone theft. These are important matters of security for the secure obsessed. And there are other security features such as a configurable "shake to show" option, as well.

I will say this, I had a little trouble finding the license key because I kept searching for terms using "kuff's" (with the apostrophe) and eventually found it just searching for "kuffs". So be sure to search for kuffs to see the 2 versions of Password Safe and the license key for the full featured version. It's always the little things that hurt us the most. LOL.

There are some tiny UI issues that I had which were all addressed in the new update by the developer before I could even shoot off an email to him... this guy is sharp!

Thanks, DAz!

Amendum: DAz is the developer and his responses have all been immediate. The purchase of Password Safe Lite was refunded to my credit card within minutes of the request. I am extremely impressed by his professionalism and immediate service to accomodate all my needs. You're just not going to find a better Password App anywhere, and possibly not a more well made app, either.

Oh, I should mention that the Windows version is pretty slick. I'm sure he'll start charging for that one soon, so get it (the Pro version for the android and the Windows version for free) before the end of the month while the Windows version is still free with the Pro license (only 3 euro for both, that's great!).

Links:
http://www.kuffs.co.uk/ - for Kuff's Password Safe
http://db.tt/kSl8Ytt - for Drop Box file sharing & sync

Finally, I have an Android!

After all kinds of anticipation for getting myself an Android smartphone, my wife Maria finally helped me out this past Christmas and bought me a Droid X! ;)

Of course, I anticipated getting one ever since the original Droid was announced by Verizon. It's why I named this blog "Widget Droid" and grabbed the WidgetDroid.com domain name (which I hope Google will allow me to mount as the home address for this blog, eventually, since they allow that with Google "Sites").

Anyways, I have had all kinds of fun with it since Maria bought us each one the week before Christmas. I've discovered a great deal of really neat stuff. I've also discovered a whole bunch of "What were they thinking?" type of crap.

I am planning on using this blog to both celebrate the android platform, as well as criticize it for its transgressions. I am hoping the result will be that we are able to make the platform better.

There are some real idiotic things that developers are doing that need to be addressed, as well. And I understand why they happen, they happen because developers are way too busy making their stuff better and miss how others use their devices or how their applications work in the field by real users.

As an example, I think that it is criminal what most applications are doing... they think that they have to be running all of the dang time and therefore even if I force quit ("force stop") an application, it just relaunches itself, immediately. There are too many applications that are doing this.

It is a pathetic excuse for a software developer to assume that any user wants any application running all the time, no matter how vital they think it is. Unless the developer adds a setting for us to configure the app to allow it to run all the time, it should not. Not ever, no matter how important it is.

C'MON, MAN!

There is 16GB for apps on a stock DroidX SDCard and 6GB storage internally. My phone usually only shows around 300 MB of usable memory, and the system is usually using near half of that. After I installed all sorts of neat stuff, I had to go through and uninstall anything that wouldn't behave correctly (anything that would relaunch after a force quit). That was a whole heckuva lot of stuff! I couldn't believe how many great programs were acting like crap, running all the time, slowing down the system, even though they were never needed unless I had just launched them. Some I had never launched, or barely ever used. Some I wanted to, but were persistent memory hogs. Hey guys, there is a very limited amount of RAM here. Get real.

The following are a few examples of apps that should NOT run all the time, and why:

1. The TV Guide does NOT have to run all of the time, TV Guide! I only need it running when I access it, not 24 hours a day. How many times do you think I don't know what to watch? Even if I did watch a lot of TV, say a couple of hours a day,I would probably be watching my favorite shows as scheduled and would only need to reference the TV Guide once every other day. So why does it stay in memory once I am done with it? Furthermore, why does it relaunch after I have force quit the app? Don't get me wrong, I like the app, Digital TV compression makes it impossible to flip through the channels quickly now (what is up with that, Television industry? That just plain Sucks!). So I love having the TV Guide available through the phone, it's a necessity. But I am now only installing it each and every time I need it, and uninstalling it when I am done. And I do consider myself a videot (a slang term I like to use for videophiles or "addicts of the boob-tube"). C'MON, MAN! Really? Yeah, RIGHT... my wrinkled butt that's a well behaved app.
2. Twitter. I suppose if you are an extremely active telemarketer spamming all the social networks, you would want Twitter to run all the time. But Twitter was over commercialized from the start. Yes, I would love to have the app on my phone if it would just quit when I am done. Who in his/her right mind wants Twitter running when they aren't using the phone, when they are in a different application, when they are using the phone or when they are listening to music? It just doesn't take that long to load and we all know that Twitter's servers are well over-burdened in the first place. It is a huge app that does nothing good for me when I'm not using it, and it still relaunches itself after a force quit? Why? Because Twitter thinks we are all need to be spammers instead of real people with real lives. C'MON, MAN! Really? Yeah, RIGHT... my wrinkled butt that's good.
3. Yahoo Mail. Sure, many people want such email programs working all the time, informing them of new messages, keeping them apprised. But the point is, I have always used GMail since Yahoo betrayed my trust and allowed spammers to swamp my inbox full of scams and advertisements; most of the ads being for pornography. I signed-up with Yahoo way back in maybe 1995 when I was young and dumb and didn't understand anything about internet security and all the spammers grabbed my email address from the usenet groups I enjoyed frequenting. Since then, I am deluged with spam. The username itself is from when I was less mature and they don't allow me to change it without wiping my account. But my point is that although I do want to check it from time to time, I don't want to be annoyed with all the constant email updates because it is almost all spam. Or if I used that address for work, I would only want to access it during times when I am working, at my willingness to do so. Being updated constantly is just adding all sorts of noise to my world, even if I have notifications silenced. It still updates. We have to be aware that technology is often a distraction and behave appropriately. You would think that Yahoo would understand this? No, they have to be the distraction that I wind-up shunning? C'MON, MAN! Really? Yeah, RIGHT. This is irresponsible behavior by a tech giant that should know better. It should want my attention, not continue to push me away.
4. Quickoffice is a free app that consumes well over 5MB of my memory even though I've never used it beyond checking it out after installing. It refuses to quit and I am anxious to find a replacement. Once uninstalled how useful will it be to me? Absolutely useless and the developer will lose market share in a hotly contested space for word processing and document management. C'MON, MAN! Really? Yeah, RIGHT. There are no excuses!
   

Those are just the ones off the top of head because I had just uninstalled them. They are among at least 2 dozen other android 2 applications that just don't cut the mustard. Heck, they fall so short that I personally perceive them as crap applications.

Not every application acts persistent enough to run all the time like this and there are responsible applications out there, thanks to alert & considerate developers. But I only have one example at the moment:

1. Kruff's Password Safe & Password Safe Lite. These are the best two password safes on the android market. Of course, this is also a feature of it's security. But once you back out from the home screen of the program, it will ask you to click again to assure that you want to exit the application. When it quits, it will release its memory, as almost every single application should. Both of these programs are fine examples of how a Droid app should behave. You can press the home key to get to another app to look something up, and as long as you don't take longer than configured in the settings, once you return and renter the proper password you will arive exactly where you left off in that app. As it should be.
   

Unfortunately, there aren't many examples of programs that are so well behaved. I cannot figure out why...

1. UPS Mobile works well, once you back out of it, it asks you if you really want to exit. Still, upon exiting, it remains resident in memory. Luckily, a Task Killer or a Force Quit works well on it.
   
2. The AIM & ICQ messengers almost get it right. Obviously, we want our "smart" phones to "multitask" so that we can get to other apps in a hurry and get back to what we were doing before, like chatting with a friend and grabbing a URL for him from somewhere, and then pasting it into a chat. So, upon backing out of the app, the app remains live (unless force quit), so that such things can be accomplished. But in the menu there is an option to "Sign Out". Upon signing out and backing out of the app, these apps both still remain in memory. At least they will stay shut down after force quitting them or using an App Killer, and they won't relaunch again thereafter, or upon a boot-up.
3. The Silver Edit code editor has the option to Exit in the menu, or it will ask if you want to exit when you hit the back key. Remember that you can leave the app while leaving it running when you hit the Home key, as any android app should do. So why doesn't the menu's Exit selection release the app from memory? Why doesn't the Back key exit and release the program from memory when you are sitting at its home page, especially when the Home key leaves the application to go to the home screen while leaving it in memory? Has Google missed something? I think so. These are UI issues and unfortunately, Google's android is plagued with many such goofs.
   
4. When you exit SBMX (Autodesk's SketchBook Mobile eXpress) you simply press the back key and the app asks you if you want to exit, exit & save your work, or cancel the act altogether. That's great, but it still remains in memory.
   

It's obvious that we have to do some inconvenient things in the name of what, laziness in development? We either have to force quit nearly every app after using it, reboot our phone once in a while (and I suggest that we might have to do that more than the once-a-day that Google recommends we have to do it, if we are avid android users), or keep an "App Killer" or "Task Killer" running in the background and poke it often (after configuring it to allow the few programs we need to run in the background to do so).

I am sure that Google will defend its nonsensible UI steadfastly, as it is not like them to make mistakes in design, and this is especially embarassing in terms of how a convenient and usable UI should present itself. Still, the problem is not completely in the navigation. It is in the lack of vision to not allow applications to terminate normally. And this is both the fault of the platform and the application developer him or herself.

If Google has gone Microsoft, I imagine that Google's answer may just be to throw more active memory at the problem and ship new versions with more RAM, but that doesn't address the real problem which is still a complete and utter design flaw.

When should an app relaunch upon force-quit?

There are very few applications that should run all the time. The bulk of these came on your phone as a part of the android system. Obviously, there is the Android OS and its required system files. But unless you are a developer for the OS itself, there are very, very few third party applications that should always run. That list is very short...

1. Dialer App
   
2. Contacts App
3. Calendar
4. Alarm
5. Blacklist
6. Caller ID
   
7. Maps
8. Weather
9. (An active) Live Wallpaper
   
10. App/Task Killer
    
11. Antivirus
12. Antispam
13. Sync Service
14. Network Connection Manager
    
15. Updater
16. Input Devices/Gizmo Apps
17. Home/Skin/Folder/App/Icon Managers/Organizers
    
18. Widgets

Every other application in the android app world should ALWAYS include an option in the settings to remain persistent in memory as an option and NEVER, EVER continue running after a force quit unless it is a vital system level task that is required to run in the backround. Even the stock Google android Calculator doesn't quit after backing out of the application, but at least it doesn't relaunch upon a force quit or boot-up. No application developer should EVER make the assumption that his/her program is vital to the operation of a smart phone unless they can handily prove that would be the case for absolutely everyone who installs it and no one would ever uninstall that app because it remained persistent in memory. Not ever.

Oh, and one more thing... no application should ever run in memory fresh after installing until the user has accessed it at least one time.

C'MON Google! C'MON App Developer Man! Get real.

Finally Grabbed the DroidX!

I am very lucky. My wife was having a hard time finding for a Christmas present for me and finally gave up and asked me what I wanted. I asked for a card, but then I also stated that a DroidX would be nice, as well.

Well, for the 2nd year in a row, my wife hasn't gotten me a card (for Christmas, Valentine's Day, either of Our Anniversary dates, or my birthday). But this year she actually did get me a present, a present so good it pretty much makes up for all those years when she didn't get me anything... she actually got me the DroidX!

We wound-up getting a couple of DroidX's at the local Verizon store just down the street on 41st Street (here in Sioux Falls, across from Shopko) just before Christmas. We talked deals with the guys down there and walked out with a couple of DroidX smartphones using a BOGO offer and a $20.00 discount.

I have been busy with mine, as well as configuring other electronic Christmas gifts for others. My son got an iPad, my mom got a new laptop and Maria bought herself a new laptop just before Christmas when hers died. So I have really been busy installing software and synchronizing account data since well before Christmas.

I can't believe how useful these little devices are. I used to use one of those little make believe smartphones with Tracfone, but there was no way to get the photos off that thing. It worked as my phone and alarm clock, but that's all. We gave that one to my son since it was still activated for another year and had minutes on it, but he is only going to use it for emergencies and will use the speaker phone (held away from his head & face) or a wired handset, just in case.

So while I am glad that I used Tracfone for a while, when I found out from Tracfone support that I couldn't get my 200+ photos off of the thing (the SMS/MMS picture messaging function never worked and since it doesn't do email or file transfers there is absolutely no other way to get the photos off the Tracfone LG phone), I was extremely disenchanted. I had some great snapshots of my son growing up on that phone.

So what if that pay-as-you go phone had some cool stuff. I used it for all sorts of things besides a phone; SMS messenging, camera, remedial web surfing, as a calculator, clock, alarm clock & calendar (which the Tracfone could also do). But as I can't get the damn photos off the thing, it had become not only hopelessly worthless, but a complete waste of time for me. I have actually lost years of photos and memories from the thing.

But my little DroidX is phenomenal. The DroidX can also do... email, real web surfing, call blocking, voice recording, mp3 playing, bluetooth/USB media & file transfers, file & data synchronization, business card digitization, OCR, coding cheat sheets, reference material, magazines, books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, foreign language education & translation, local movie times guide, local TV times guide, voice search, talk to text, text to speech, spell checking, doodling, simple image adjustments, ftp (it can even become an FTP server), blogging, social networks, media sharing, networking, maps, routes & alternate routes, a turn-by-turn GPS, a compass, a level, tip calculation, currency conversion, measurement conversion, it can even be a flashlight, a credit card swiper, a best deal discount/coupon shopper, it can even act as a PlayStation 3 or PC remote control!

And it can do all that above for free! Sure, the iPhone has more applications available, but I don't think that they have near as many free apps. Plus, when my wife and I were shopping, iPhones weren't available in our state. AT&T's coverage is so just bad here (in South Dakota) that it is notorious for dropped calls and internet connectivity interuptions. AT&T recently bought Alltel, but the state of South Dakota didn't allow AT&T to acquire all of Alltel's cell towers, which is actually the reason that AT&T bought Alltel for in the first place, better coverage. So even now, AT&T's coverage, through Alltel, is still spotty at best.

Of course, after Christmas it was announced that Verizon would finally get the iPhone. I think that made Maria wonder if she had done the right thing, or not. After all, you could video chat in real time on an iPhone. But real time video chat requires a 4G network.

Unfortunately, it will probably be another couple of years before Sioux Falls gets any 4G coverage from the national carriers. Local internet carriers such as Redwood Wireless and Bridgemaxx have already had 4G connectivity in town for some time, now. But Sprint and Verizon have very few cities offering 4G availability, and these are large metropolitan markets.

To top that off, of the two, only Sprint has a 4G phone ready, the Evo. And although that one does have a forward facing camera for video chat, like the iPhone, it will probably be a long time before Sprint makes 4G internet access available here. As it is, the standard Sprint cell towers only cover the parts of the state that are close to the interstate, leaving the rest of the state without true Sprint coverage. This was always a problem whenever I visited Yankton (one of South Dakota's largest cities) when we were on Virgin Mobile (and confined to the Sprint network towers), originally.

So, when we look at the networks, Verizon has the best wireless network coverage, statewide. Sprint mostly uses Verizon's towers throughout the state to cover gaps in their own towers, by agreement. AT&T's coverage of South Dakota has improved from nothing to pathetic. Tracfone has no real smartphones and no real network, they have licensing agreements with Verizon & Sprint. And although T-mobile has emerged offering cool 4G video calling phones, I believe that they don't have their own network either, they also seem rely on the major network carriers for coverage and therefore will rely on them for 4G, as well. And Virgin Mobile only has agreements with Sprint to use their towers, so coverage in Yankton, Vermilion and any small town off the beaten path just plain doesn't exist.

Certainly, when we look at the phones I might have gone with the Sprint Evo. But the Evo's forward facing camera for video chatting feature probably won't be available to us for a few years, until we get 4G. Verizon has a new DroidX coming out that will have a forward facing camera, but that one isn't ready, yet. It should be released soon, though. The iPhone is cool, but Apple gets a cut of everything from calls to apps, which I find especially greedy. And the Verizon iPhone will lack the ability to be used as a world phone in other countries.

But I always have preferred an open platform as opposed to the closed proprietary platform model of companies such as Apple and Windows. Which is why I still like to play with Linux and my old Amigas.

But when we take into account the network, no one took South Dakota's wireless network as seriously as Verizon, and it will require a major push just to match it. Verizon's push to 4G LE seems a bit more active and on-target for faster nationwide coverage, which seems to give us a better shot at 4G sooner, in the future. If I did get an Evo, I would probably wind-up waiting for 4G coverage much longer. And the forward facing camera would be more of a reminder of what my phone can't do (video conference with others who are capable of it).

I always knew I would get a Droid, which is why I started this blog so long ago. I am very enthusiastic about the Android OS platform. It allows great opportunity for those of us who see it and can harness it and take advantage of it.

Now that I have a DroidX, I'll try and keep this blog updated regularly. I hope to share with the Android community at large what I consider to be the best apps and widgets available on the Android market. Maybe share some tips and life experiences with my DroidX, too.

I certainly love the 8 megapixel camera, it has come in very handy while mine and Maria's cameras turned-up missing this Christmas. ;)