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TheMobiZone Crew's Stuff: Andrew

Many times over the last year or so I have been asked what I use. What operating system runs on my laptop, what software do I use for video, etc. I always love reading about what other people use to A) validate the choices I’ve made or B) give me ideas about future choices. Therefore I am finally making the end-all-be-all explanation of what I use.

Review: The Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Verizon!

Ever since I can remember, I have needed to have the most recent thing out. Even if it meant chucking out the big bucks to have it, or even if I know there's "newer" on the horizon.

Case in point with the Galaxy Nexus. Being the first Nexus branded phone to be on Verizon, I had to grab it.
Coming from the HTC Thunderbolt (the first 4G LTE phone available), it makes leaps and strides forwards in battery management and of course, 2.3.7 vs 4.0.3 isn't even a fair contest, but I'll try and make it one.
 

New data plans announced by AT&T

 
The ever raging battle between carriers on what to charge for dearly held data has taken a new turn.
 
AT&T has announced that they are changing up their data plans and, starting Sunday, January 22nd, they will favor  hurt data hungry users.
 
The three new plans for smartphone users are AT&T Data Plus ($20 per month for 300MB), AT&T Data Pro 3GB: ($30 per month for 3GB) and AT&T Data Pro 5GB ($50 per month for 5GB, with mobile hotspot/tethering). Additional data will cost $10 per gigabyte on AT&T’s Data Pro plans or $20 per 300MB on the Data Plus plan. Tablet users will have a choice between the AT&T DataConnect 3GB plan ($30 per month for 3GB) or the AT&T DataConnect 5GB plan ($50 per month for 5GB).
 
The two new plans for tablets are AT&T DataConnect 3GB ($30 per month for 3GB) and AT&T DataConnect 5GB ($50 for 5GB).
 
Comparable for Verizon smartphones users, VZW currently charges $50/4GB, $70/7GB, and $100/12GB (All include Mobile Hotspot).
 
These new plans would make me much happier than what is currently offered. Luckily for now, I don't have to deal with data caps due to VZW's grandfather program for Unlimited Data, but I'm sure I will sooner than later, and this is what I like to see.

MIUI: it isn't a 'dirty' ROM for Android

As a frequent rehab visitor for being a CrackFlasher, I jump at any bet someone makes with me concerning ROMs for Android. Someone (who will remain unnammed because I won the bet.. Obviously) bet me, a Sense fanboy and growing AOSP/CM7 (as well as Pats fan) fan, that I couldn't spend more than two weeks on any version of MIUI.
 
So I jumped on the chance by going over to RootzWiki and finding which MIUI ROMs were currently fully working for the HTC Thunderbolt. Turns out there was only one developer who was making magic happen with the closed source OS: DroidVicious. 
 
So I downloaded promptly his most recent build and flashed.
 
Hit the break for my thoughts on it.

10 apps for 10 cents for 10 days


In celebration of Android Market's 10 billionth download it looks like Google is putting 10 of their top apps up for just 10¢ a piece. But wait there's more! They will be posting 10 different apps each day for 10 days at the low low price of 10¢. Truely a great way to give back to the Android faithful. Today's discounted apps includes: SoundHound, Asphalt 6: Adrenaline HD, Minecraft, SwiftKey X, Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro, Great Little War, Sketchbook Mobile, Fieldrunners HD, Color & Draw for kids, and Paper Camera. Which ones did/will you download?

SocialScope for Android First Look.

First thing to notice is the fact that it looks as if they are trying to mimic Windows Phone 7. Mostly black and white, really nothing to get excited over.  Takes way to many steps to post a tweet. as you can see in screenshots 2 and 3, those are the dialogs u have to use. You can definately tell it is in alpha stage. Looks to me like they have a very long way to go. I will post more to this when I have more time to play with it. 

DROID 4 Official Specs Are Here!

As if you weren't satisfied enough with a Droid RAZR and Bionic, Motorola is gearing up to release the fourth installment in its most popular series.

Dating back to the start of Android, the DROID series has been the forerunner for Motorola. Droid 1, 2, Pro, 3, R2D2, and now 4, it has certainly seen many different shades of makeup.
 
I may have been among the minority, but I honestly wasn't all that impressed with the DROID 3. I was expecting just a bit more from Motorola and I didn't get it. Most likely, I didn't get it because Google's newfound company was planning on releasing the Bionic and RAZR- two top-of-the-line phones.
 
Maybe it was always suppose to be this way, or maybe Motorola just felt they needed to do the original DROID series justice.
 
At any rate, the DROID 4 is coming soon, and its specs are nothing to scoff at.

App Review and Giveaway: BlueNube (CloudApp App)

Do you use CloudApp? Well you should. It’s a great way to keep all your screenshots, documents, and other photos and media in the cloud. With the iPad app BlueNube it just got much easier.

The UI is easy on the eyes and very simple to use. There’s a “drops” button with has all your media that you have uploaded previously organized into the folders you put them in for easy access. The settings are very simple to understand and use. The app caches, so it doesn’t need to reload everything every time you enter the app, which is a huge plus for me. If you are done looking at the media and want to get back to a blank screen within the app there is a convenient little X that clears the page.

Uploading and sharing is also extremely easy to do. The plus sign acts as a pasting feature. If you have a photo on your clipboard, you can hit the + and the picture will be uploaded right to your cloud. You can also upload pictures from your camera roll and picture library using the cloud upload button.

The best and most important feature is the sharing feature. When there is a picture open you hit the share button and it opens up to a menu of copy, Facebook, or more. When you hit more, you are able to copy the picture itself, copy or email the cloudapp link, save the picture to a photo album, or send to Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr. I’m sure the developer behind this great app will incorporate more service (like Google + when the API is opened up more).

For now the app is available here for $1.99.

Thanks to Mike G for getting us some codes to give away for this app. We have 4 to give away, so sound off in the comments and we will use a randomizer to pick the lucky winners on Tuesday night Oct. 18th at 11:59pm.

The Nexus Prime/Galaxy Nexus, the greatest phone ever? (so far?)

 

The Nexus Prime has been the talk of the tech world this fine sixth of October. With the “Something BIG is coming” teaser from Samsung and now two sets of specs, this thing is becoming more hyped than the DROID Bionic.

First on our specs list is from BGR. There specs “Exclusive” came out today at 9:30am EST.

RIP Steve Jobs: A Technological Genius Who Changed the World

 

Apple has announced that Former CEO and Co-Founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, has passed away.

This is a sad, sad day in the world of technology. We have lost a true genius who changed the technological world as we know it and the way we interact with outhers in our personal and professional lives.

You will be deeply missed.

Rest in peace Steve, rest in peace.

Apple's official tribute page can be found here

Kindle Fire announced, what does this mean for competitors?

Amazon announced last week that they will indeed be selling ( pre order here ) the new Kindle Fire tablet. Sporting a 7 inch color screen and running a highly customized Android OS and being priced just shy of $200 at $199. The pricepoint being the biggest factor in this announcement. After the very successful fire sell of HP's Touchpad and how the current generation of Kindles are priced below $200 many people wondered and speculated that the biggest way to make an impact on the tablet market would be for Amazon to release a tablet that is cheap. Something the average person could buy without going broke. And it appears Amazon has done just that. The Fire's price even undercuts the already wildly popular Nook Color which is priced at $250.

The big question now is. How will the more expensive tablets fair in a market with now not only the hugely popular iPad but a new, cheaper Amazon Fire? We have already seen HTC's 7 inch Flyer tablets price drop to $300. Before the announcement BlackBerry's PlayBook was even price reduced to $300. The tablet market was already seeing pressure to lower prices, but with the Touchpad's fire sell and the announcement of the Kindle Fire being so hugely successful will other competitors drop the prices down to $300 or below? Only time will tell but with such a huge tablvet announced at such a low cost one has to think that very we'll could be the case. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

TMZ Remembers 9/11 Terror Attacks

There isn't an American older than six today that doesn't understand the significance of today. Ten years ago today, terrorists hijacked two Boeing 757's and flew them into the World Trade Center buildings.

Most of us remember exactly where we were. Whether we were sleeping, eating, at school, or, for me, on the couch watching TV with my grandparents.
 
This event, along with the plane that hit the Pentagon the same day, would be the beginning of a 10+ year war for America against terrorists.

Review: The BlackBerry 9930 on Verizon

Ba-ba-BOOM! Just like that, we've already received a BlackBerry Bold 9930 for review. Verizon Wireless is selling this device and (as I'll mention a few times in the video) it's the best BlackBerry I've ever held.

And I would know! My first smartphone was the Curve 8330 and after that got dunked in Gatorade, I upgraded to a BlackBerry 6-less 9650 (It would soon of course get BB6). Although I am pure Android now, I was still very impressed. The 1.2Ghz processor was exactly what BB's needed. Now, with the addition of BlackBerry 7 (not 6.1 as originally designated), the newest CDMA Bold is ready to do anything you want, as long as it's not have 20 apps on your device :P

 

[Please excuse the voice problems... It sounds like I have a lung problem. Had to record this with my HTC Thunderbolt]

 

-Cheers

So you bought your $99 TouchPad, now what?

Photobucket

 

   If you're like me you spent the past weekend trying to hunt down either the $99 16GB or the $150GB HP TouchPad models. If you are one of the lucky, you ended up walking away from the hoards of people with your TouchPad in hand. You took it home, set it up, updated the OS, and downloaded some apps. Then stopped and thought, what now? With HP canceling the TouchPad does this mean I'm stuck with a paperweight? You need not worry however, as there are several viable solutions that are, or will be available for all of us new TouchPad owners.

Why The World Needs BlackBerry (And Subsequently RIM)

You may be asking, why on God’s green planet are you saying we need RIM? You’re a avid Android user now and you’ve even said yourself that it is better than BlackBerry. Well, first off let me confirm that previous statement by saying yes, my HTC Thunderbolt is better than both the Curve 8330 and Bold 9650[1]. Once I moved to Android I quickly decided to get with the community and develop. My man Steven Bird was my inspiration and introduced me to great people, new ideas, and something called ADB.[2]

You can ask him, r2doesinc, or any popular developer out there that knows me (whether for good things or bad), I am a huge supporter of openness, community and competition. The last one on that list is the main point of this column.

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