Android Project Quick App: Air Painter

Not all of the apps we talk about on this site are business related. Sometimes you have to use your Android phone's capabilities for fun. One interesting app that I plan on trying out this week is called Air Painter. Apparently Air Painter uses your phone's camera and GPS (similar to "Layars") to allow you to leave notes or pictures in locations for other Air Painter users to discover. Here is the description from Appbrain:

Wherever you are, AirPainter allows you to leave or read hand-written messages on the air.
You can locate friends in a big stadium when you see "I am here!"
You even hide a treasure only you can find it from the riddle message!

Features:
* Leave written message on the air
* Read message from the air

The app should get more fun as more people start to use it. I'll update this once I give the app a run-through to let you know what I think. 

Archos Tablets up for Pre-Order: Why is Google so behind in the Tablet game?

I just saw today that the recently announced Archos Android Tablets are up for pre-order.  This raised some questions in my mind, with my birthday coming up in October: should I jump in and get me an Android tablet now, or should I wait?

The Archos Android Tablet 101 is just waiting for me to pull out the credit card:

If you are an Android addict like me, then you have probably been following the latest news about the Android tablets hitting the market in the next few months. First, you have the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which, impressively, will be sold by all four major networks here in the United States, similar to the Samsung Galaxy S phone. Unfortunately, it appears that Samsung's tablet will be somewhat expensive, unless it is purchased subsidized through a wireless carrier. If you don't have an endless budget for gadgets, then you probably don't want to sign up for another expensive data plan.  The problem is, we have no firm release date for the wifi only version of Samsung's tablet, which hopefully won't be more expensive than Apple's iPad, its only competitor at this point.

Another problem is that Google has come out and said that Android 2.2 (aka Froyo), is not optimized for Tablet use. Samsung is circumventing this inconvenience by only releasing a 7" tablet at this time, and essentially marketing it as a very large Android phone. That way, Samsung's Galaxy Tab has access to the Android Market.

There are two other Android tablets that have also caught my eye: the Toshiba Folio 100, and the Archos 101 (I guess Archos literally wanted to "one up" Toshiba). Archos is also releasing 4 other Android tablets in smaller sizes (the 7" tablet is also intriguing).  Both of these tablets come in 10" sizes, matching the iPad, and both are also running Android 2.2.  This is where the difficulty comes in with Google's position against Tablets running Froyo.  Neither of these tablets has access to the Android Market. So Archos and Toshiba have each created their own individual app markets so that users of their tablets will have access to applications.

The Toshiba Folio 100 looks pretty sexy:

One other question mark with the current crop of tablets is whether they will be updated to the next versions of Android (Gingerbread and Honeycomb), which will be optimized for tablet use.  From what I've read, it looks like the next crop of Android tablets that will be running Gingerbread won't be released until Q1 of 2011, one of them being Motorola's Android tablet. I think that's a dangerous tactic to wait until after the Christmas season to start releasing valid competitors to the iPad.

Now I don't want Google to release something half-baked, but the iPad was released back in April. Google has had 6 months to include tablet support into the Android OS, which is an eternity in this age where most gadgets only have a one year life-cycle.

So my question is, should I wait until early next year to buy me some Android Tablet sweetness? Or do I jump on the Archos 101 and enjoy it for the next six months?

A Business Case for Android

It seems like I am always selling Android to my friends and colleagues.  I am amazed at how many people don't know about it or even worse, think it's just a version of Apple's iOS!  So, as I go through my routine of explaining Android and all it's goodness, the question always comes up, "Well, can I get my work e-mail on it?", "What about security?"  For the sake of full disclosure, in it's infancy Android wasn't real strong in supporting Exchange or many business apps, but neither was the iPhone.  Blackberry and even WindowsMobile certainly had the stronghold for the business power user and still does in many ways, but this post will prove that Android is on it's way to the top.

CIO.com recently posted a lengthy article and interviews with 7 IT professionals who broke their crack-berry addiction for the sweet taste of freedom that Android offers.  I have picked out the Pro's and Con's from their experience and expertise and summarized below.  

1.  Rich user experience.

2.  Multi-tasking.
3.  Tight integration with Google Apps and Services.
4.  Variety of form factors and modern design.
5.  Openness.  Ability to hack and root.
6.  Sleek and customizable interface.
7.  It's more fun!
8.  Better hardware (on most devices).
9.  Growing app market and community.
10. Growing popularity among cloud based services.  


Now, some of these reasons can be negatives, like tight integration with Google.  Or what if you don't want to hack your phone or tinker with thousands of apps on the market.  But don't forget there are several alternatives to Google's services as well as many apps to help you complete your jobs.  


Here is a list of my favorite Business apps: 


1.  Portable wifi hotspot (more of a feature, but still)
2.  Scan2PDF
3.  Documents to Go
4.  E-mail (Exchange, POP and IMAP support)
5.  DropBox
6.  Evernote
7.  Finance
8.  Voice Recorder
9.  Google Voice
10. Insert reference apps here: (Formulas, MBA, Droid Law, Calculator, etc...)


For some people the Blackberry is a hard drug to just quit cold-turkey.  Besides, if you are reading this, then chances are I am preaching to the choir, but I hope this post serves as a link to direct your addict friends to.  Then finally, as a last resort to convince someone why Android can fill their business needs; ask them when was the last time they provided a van full of suits hotspot wifi access, held a 4 person conference call, edited an Excel worksheet and scanned and sent a document all at the same time using nothing but their phone?  

Android Project Quick App: DroidLaw - Legal Reference App for Android

As a lawyer, I've been waiting for an app to come out on Android that will actually be useful to me in my practice. I've found one that looks promising. The app is called DroidLaw and it provides access to several important sources of legal reference material. The reference material is somewhat sparse at this time, although it looks like the developer will be adding more soon. Here's what Appbrain.com says about DroidLaw:


DroidLaw - Your one stop shop for legal reference material. 

*Federal Rules of:
- Civil Procedure
- Evidence
- Appellate Procedure
- Criminal Procedure

*Long-Press/Menu to search, bookmark, copy, share, notes, and save material to SD.

*State Codes will be available soon

If you're a lawyer and you've been searching for a legal reference material app, get to the Android Market and check it out. The app is free, so you don't have anything to lose.

Android Project Tip: Get Rid of Your Task Killer!

When I first bought my Droid, I scoured the interwebs to find out which basic apps I should download first. One app that appeared on almost every blog I read was a Task Killer app (it doesn't matter which one).

Over time, many developers have realized the inconvenience and problems associated with killings apps that are running in your phone's memory. I have found two apps that resolve this issue and are much more convenient than using a task killer to play whack-a-mole with the apps that are using up your precious phone memory. One of these apps is called Auto Memory Manager. The one I use is called MinFreeManager, which can only be used on rooted phones. Auto Memory Manager can be used on non-rooted phones.

What you may not know is that Android comes with built-in code that will kill apps once your phone memory usage reaches a certain threshold. Unfortunately the pre-set threshold in Android is much too conservative, so apps can stay in your phone memory until your free memory is very low. MinFreeManager modifies Android's memory threshold settings to kill apps once your free phone memory reaches your defined settings. That way you can "set it and forget it" so you don't have to keep checking to see what apps are hogging your memory and causing lag.

Here is an example of what the stock settings are on my phone before setting MinFreeManager to my own settings:

As you can see, the Android OS in this case won't kill any apps until your phone memory reaches only 32mb. For what it's worth, I don't believe the OS can run smoothly on anything less than 40mb. I personally use the "Agressive" setting in MinFreeManager and have had no problems whatsoever:

These are MinFreeManager's "Aggressive" memory settings:

On these settings, your phone will start terminating apps according to priority at 96mb. My phone runs noticeably smoother with the aggressive memory settings. You can choose your own options depending on your risk tolerance.

MinFreeManager is free in the Android Market. I believe Auto Memory Manager has both free and paid versions. Remember to support the Android developers by purchasing your apps or consider donating.

*As always, remember that using these types of apps (including task killers) risks the possibility of damaging your phone. I'm not saying it will happen, but don't blame me if it does.

Home Screen Layout--How to optimize and maximize

If you are reading this, then you already know.  Android users have Android phones for a reason.  We love to customize and adjust settings in our devices that:
A) You can't do on an iPhone
B) Optimize the user experience for our usage habits
and
C) Because we can.

Furthermore, I think its pretty safe to say most Android users are constantly tinkering with their home screens to maximize the space, widgets and apps most used.  After giving it some thought, I wanted to propose a method to organizing your home screens and point out some things to keep in mind when laying it out.

First- download a launcher you are comfortable with.  For many this may be the stock launcher, but there are a host of other launchers that offer plenty of features and add ons.  I personally am using LauncherPro, but there is ADW that comes in CyanogenMod and  etc, etc, if you are curious.   Lifehacker did a great write up on launchers. The features in some of these launchers can help save space on the home screens and even double up on some functions.
Second- widgets.  We all love them.  They are the eye candy that never gets old in Android, but be warned that loading many widgets on the screens can eat into battery and affect performance, so just keep that in mind.

Okay, for the sake of this blog post I am assuming a 5 screen layout and I have customized my home screen to a 5x4 layout through LauncherPro as you will see.  The next step is to identify your usage habits and needs to organize similar apps on the certain pages.   To help with this, I have 'labeled' my 5 home screens under the following categories:

(from left to right)
1.  Reference and Games
2.  Media
3.  Dashboard (Home)
4.  Utility
5.  Special Purpose

1.  Reference and Games
This page is the farthest page left on my device, but proves to be very helpful.  I like to think of this page as my genius page.  You know those times when you are in a group and someone argues with you on how many ounces are in a cup?  or who is the lead actor in the next summer blockbuster?  This is the page to refer to.  I also keep my time wasters like games and some space for other reference style apps or widgets.

2.  Media
Whether it's social, right-wing, Hollywood, user created or streaming media the page-left is the catch all for information on friends, the world or my own pictures or music.  Android is embedded heavily on the media side, so it's good to keep this one close.  I have also created some contact shortcuts at the bottom on this page for frequently called or potentially useful contacts.

3.  The Dashboard
The dashboard or home screen is the center of the five and is really the most important one in determining how effectively you use your phone.   It's the first thing you will look at so having apps that regularly use and widgets you will want to see on the fly are ideal.  I have taken this page to be primarily my communication page as all main forms of messaging are on it as well as apps I check at least daily if not hourly.

4.  Utility
Android is all about function and productivity.  So I have used page-right as my utility page, which is full of settings, controls, folders or one-off apps that are handy/useful.  I could put all the power settings on one row in CM6 but have opted for larger buttons and spread it out over 2 rows.  This page is all about convenience and usefulness.

5.  Special Purpose
This page is kind of different and best dedicated to your lifestyle, job or hobby.  I travel a lot, so I decided to dedicate this screen for all things travel which comes in very handy when on the road.  As you will see I opted for the widget plotting out my upcoming flights as well as apps that will assist in direction or decision when in a new place.  I have also made a shortcut that plots out directions to my work, from where ever I may be, since I am new to the area and like having the directions on hand when I return from my adventures.  If you are in the medical field maybe this page has apps related to medicine and health news and apps like Epocrates, if you are into photography maybe you put photo apps and web shortcuts and photo related widgets here.

Only you know what works for you, but I hope these categories and uses can help you explore or identify ways to get the most of out Android and unlock all the features available to you.