1. Evernote

Evernote is an online storage facility for keeping and organizing notes, files, photographs and other kinds of documents. It allows you to capture pieces of information from the Internet, such as articles, images and even entire web pages, to store in your Evernote account. Evernote synchronizes your phone, computer and online account to give you instant access to all of your documents, wherever and whenever you may need them.

2. TweetDeck

TweetDeck is a social networking tool that allows you to keep track of multiple Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Buzz accounts, all in one compact application. TweetDeck uses side-by-side panels to keep you updated on all of your social networking activity. You can send and reply to messages, update your status, check your timeline and even sign in to multiple accounts at the same time.

3. Google Maps

Google Maps provides up-to-the-minute travel information, as well as detailed maps of almost everywhere in the world. Google Maps for Android can serve as a GPS satellite navigation device, and provide live traffic information to help you avoid road works, congestion and traffic accidents. Google Maps also provides travel information and directions for public transport, pedestrians and cyclists.

4. Amazon Kindle

Kindle for Android allows you to read Kindle books and PDF files on your phone. You can buy books from the Amazon Kindle store and download them directly to your device. Kindle for Android also allows you to customize the reading options, such as background colour, text size and screen brightness.

5. YouTube

The YouTube app for Android allows you to watch your favourite YouTube videos from your phone. It has a simple-to-use interface that makes it easy to search for videos, add them to your favourites or “watch later” list, view related content, read comments and subscribe to channels.

6. Angry Birds

Angry Birds is a hugely popular and addictive strategy game developed by Rovio Mobile. It was originally made for Apple phones, but has since been made available to Android users. Angry Birds is one of the most popular apps of all time, with millions of downloads to date.

7. Google Reader

Google Reader is an RSS feed reader that allows you to view all of your RSS feeds in one place. You can also customize the settings for easier viewing. Keep up to date with your favourite websites by adding their RSS feeds to Google Reader, and then reading them on your Android phone.

8. EBay

The eBay app for Android provides an easy way to keep track of all your eBay activity while on the move. Using the eBay app, you can search for products, browse categories, bid on items, buy, sell, leave feedback, send and receive messages and much more. The eBay app also includes the option to scan barcodes to make it easier to identify products.

There is a wide range of free applications available for the Android phone, many of which can help to improve your Android experience. However, make sure that the applications come from a reputable source, as downloading applications can put your phone at risk of damage from malicious sources.

How do I build a mobile app?

You have two options when building a mobile application. You can either do it yourself, or pay a developer to build the app for you. If you want to build the app yourself, or lack the funds to pay for a professional developer, there are several mobile applications available offering development code tutorials. If you prefer to pay a developer to build the application for you, you can submit your app idea directly to the developer. The cost of hiring a freelance developer will vary, depending on the type of app you want, but you should be able to negotiate reasonable rates if you shop around for the right developer. Some developers will also build the app free of charge, in return for a share of the profits or advertising revenue.

What kind of apps should I build?

There are several factors to consider when deciding what kind of apps to build. Financial restrictions may form part of your decision. Simple applications may be relatively inexpensive to build, while more complex designs may require financial investment. You should also consider how long you want your app to stay relevant. A topical application, such as one designed for a specific sporting event or movie release, may only be relevant for a few weeks. However, organization tools, for example, may be intended for use over a longer period of time. If your apps are intended for long term use, you will need to consider the added work and cost of periodically updating the app to keep it compatible with new software. It is also essential to research the market and your target audience thoroughly before making a final decision.

How much money can I make?

How much money you make will depend on a number of factors, including the success of your marketing efforts and how you choose to monetize your applications. If you decide to charge a fee for your apps, you will need to pay a percentage, usually around thirty percent, to the platform provider (e.g. Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile and so on). If you want to offer your apps free of charge, you can make money from advertising revenue. However you choose to monetize your apps, making money will take time and effort. Typically, you will need to accumulate at least 10,000 downloads before you start to see any financial benefits.

Current estimates suggest that by the year 2014 the amount of people using mobile internet will far surpass the amount of people that use home computers. This means that mobile marketing and online marketing have never been more important than they are today.  Through the use of SEO, you can greatly strengthen your online presence.  The following information is designed to show you how you can benefit from SEO techniques.

Why is SEO Important For My Business?

If you are attempting to attract visitors to your webpage or website, you can greatly benefit from using SEO techniques. SEO strategies include editing webpage content so that the page will be ranked higher in search engines like Google and Bing. SEO professionals edit HTML or writing content to include keywords that dominate the industry the webpage is aimed at. SEO professionals also take efforts to increase backlinks, which are inbound links that will direct mobile internet users to the webpage. After you have optimized your site for search engines using SEO techniques, the number of visitors on your page will definitely increase.

SEO marketing is much more effective than United States Postal Service based mail marketing campaigns.  For example, the USPS does not deliver any mail on Sunday, meaning that if you advertise by using USPS to deliver your message through the mail, you will be missing out on advertisement opportunities one day per week.  On top of that, SEO marketing is less expensive than paying to print out a ton of materials for mailing.  Best of all, a well designed SEO plan will start to work very quickly.

How do People Use Android Smart Phones?

Mobile devices like Android smart phones are used for many purposes other than communication. There are a ton of people who use their Android smart phone as their primary source of internet. Some recent studies have shown that over 90% of Android smart phone users use the internet on their Android phone. On top of that, it is projected that as many as 50% of Android users shop at the Google Play Store (previously known as the Android Market) and other online stores.

Many businesses are using SEO techniques today in order to increase their online visibility.  Do not allow competitors to gain an edge over your business with SEO. Now that you know more about this exciting way to increase traffic to your site, you owe it to yourself to begin using SEO to your benefit.  Claim your success with effective SEO marketing.

The top Android apps on the Android Market have garnered hundreds of thousands of downloads and have pristine ratings of between 4 and 5 stars. What makes them so popular, and why are they considered one of the best android apps in the market? Let’s examine some of the apps considered the best android app in their category and what you can learn from these apps that you could incorporate into the apps you build.

1. Beautiful Widgets

This app, which at the time of this blog post costs $2.89 on the Android Market, gives you all sorts of great looking widgets including clock widgets, weather widgets, date widgets, and plenty of skins and themes to boot. It has a 4.5 star rating from more than 55,000 user reviews.

What this app can teach you about app ideas: That aesthetics and beautiful Android apps can sell. If you thought that only apps that did something important got downloaded, think again. The Beautiful Widgets app shows that all the app needs to do is tell time or give you the weather, but that if it looks great, you can make a boatload of money.

2. Titanium Backup Pro

Titanium Backup Pro is a root app for the Android. With the app, Android users can make backups and restorations of downloaded applications. This app is also capable of freezing unwanted apps (like bloat apps that come with the phone which cannot be deleted) and unfreezing them. Titanium Backup Pro has many other features to organize and secure your apps. This app has an excellent 4.8 star rating and costs $6.58.

What this app can teach you about app ideas: That experienced and heavy Android users are a market, too. Some people have the perception that tech savvy Android users won’t pay for apps. At nearly $7, Titanium Backup Pro proves them wrong. This app has hundreds of thousands of installs. Titanium Backup Pro is widely regarded as one of the best Android apps not just in its category but also in the whole Android Market due to its usefulness. Titanium Backup Pro shows that if your app solves a problem that many Android users have, you could make lots of money.

3. Fruit Ninja

Fruit Ninja calls itself a “juicy action game with squishy, splatty and satisfying fruit carnage.” It is a popular game where users’ finger swipes slash animated fruit, netting the gamer a score for how well the fruit is sliced. The free version of the app has a 4.5 star rating and has been downloaded several million times. The paid version is $1.26, has a 4.4 star rating, and has been downloaded between 500,000 and 1 million times.

What this app can teach you about app ideas: That simplicity sells. Simple games make up much of the best android apps list in the gaming category. Fruit Ninja’s success shows that Android apps that are simple can be better than those that are complicated. The Fruit Ninja app shows that your quest to make the best android app doesn’t have to involve too much complexity and too many sleepless nights.

1. Activate energy-saving mode

Most smartphones come with a built-in energy saving option. Energy-saving mode will automatically tweak various settings to conserve the battery. However, this option may not be suitable for everyone, as it could alter essential settings and have an adverse affect on some applications.

2. Talk

Voice calls use up surprisingly little battery power compared with other forms of communication. Sending texts, for example, can use up to four times as much battery power as talking on the phone.

3. Disable animations

Animated wallpapers, screensavers and menu items use up extra battery power. Conserve your smartphone battery by using static wallpapers and turning off unnecessary menu animations and visual effects.

4. Update the operating system

Check for updates to the operating system, as newer versions often include improved energy saving options. Some, but not all, smartphones automatically check for updates.

5. Download a power-management application

There are several applications, or apps, available to help manage the power settings on your smartphone. Most free power management apps allow you to tweak settings to conserve the battery, while also offering a paid upgrade for more advanced options.

6. Keep it cool

Keep your smartphone away from sources of heat, as overheating can damage the battery cells. Store your smartphone in a cool case or bag when you take it outdoors, and try to avoid exposing it to strong sunlight.

7. Dim the screen

The backlight of your smartphone screen can place huge demands on the battery. Reducing the brightness of your screen will extend the life of your battery. In addition, you can reduce the timeout settings for your screen. Some smartphones automatically adjust the screen brightness in different situations.

8. Disable GPS

GPS location services can be useful for some applications. However, leaving GPS turned on constantly will drain your battery, as it constantly scans for your location. Switch off GPS when it is not needed.

9. Close unused applications

Unused applications often run in the background, draining the resources of your smartphone, including the battery. Check the list of running applications to see what is running. If there are unnecessary processes or services running, switch them off and prevent them from running at start up.

10. Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

When your smartphone has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled, it is continually scanning for available networks and devices. This uses a large amount of battery power. Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when they are not needed.

11. Disable vibrations

The vibrate function of your smartphone will use more battery power than audible notifications. Turn off the vibrate function, wherever possible, or reduce the amount of vibrations for each notification. Some individual applications also allow you to change the vibration settings.

12. Change auto-sync settings

Auto-sync settings vary depending on the smartphone, operating system and individual applications. Ideally, in order to conserve as much battery as possible, you should turn off auto-sync. Alternatively, increase the amount of time between auto-sync tasks.

Smartphone batteries tend to drain quickly, even with minimal use, but following these simple tips will help to conserve your battery power and increase the life of your battery. You should also aim to replace your smartphone battery every 12-24 months, as it will degrade over time.

SEO authoring of a paid search campaign must now include the coming trends in advanced marketing. Mobile consultants are gaining prominence as the Android market is expanding mobile marketing and online advertising expenditures.

Android mobile advertising is changing the way Main Street, America, reaches out to their consumers. As users pass Main Street shops, their Android will inform them of the services, products, attractions, and sales that are being offered inside. Everyone is an instant native everywhere they go with Android mobile online marketing.

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, up to a third of affluent consumers will give personal information to mobile Apps for the Google Android so that they can receive personalized services such as current notices and directions to their favorite services, products, and entertainment in their vicinity.

The best marketing consumers are affluent customers who will not only leverage the benefits of this new push marketing mode, but will bring others into the group with referrals and word of mouth recommendations. This is a powerful influence in an already hot advertising market because word of mouth advertising still offers the most effective advertising benefits available.

According to The Relevancy Group, 41% of marketers are convinced that advertising campaigns driving signups instead of simple click-throughs are the future of online mobile marketing. In addition, 56% of Fortune 500 companies are not satisfied with click-through marketing campaigns.

Even expected growth of $1 billion in 2011 is a shadow of the growth potential that the mobile advertising market carries into 2012. The return on investment (ROI) for mobile ads will grow with the spending on evolving Android mobile Apps that expand the signup advertising market.

Forrester Research claims that mobile advertising will grow to $77 billion by 2016, representing fully 35% of all marketing expenditures and eclipsing even television advertising. This would mark the first time that television advertising will take a back seat to any other type of marketing, and will likely be the end of the dominance of TV ads. In the future, advertising dollars will be more abundant, and at the same time the shift between traditional advertising and online mobile ads will speed up. This spells big opportunities for savvy mobile marketers.

Also indicated by Forrester Research is that currently mobile advertising is overshadowing social and email marketing ads, and by 2016 will have grown to about $8.2 billion. Also by 2016 search-driven ads are expected to fall from 55% to 44% of the total online ad market. In addition, video advertising that plays on mobile devices such as the Google Android should grow to 37% of the online ad market share, representing over $28 billion in ad spending.

The next generation of advertising will be interactive ad campaigns that reach out to grab users based on their known desires and tastes, and guide them to the services and products that they want. Consumers will be informed of the availability of their favorite products and services when they would not otherwise know they are nearby, and are not necessarily looking for them at the time, yet are pleased to discover them through their requested Google Android marketing services.

Customers often fail to fully read their contract or pay attention to the fine print it contains. Many are unable to understand their coverage options and exclusions, and either choose not to ask for an explanation, or are not given a proper one at the dealership. These issues can lead to wrongly filed claims with the warranty company, as well as significant and unexpected expenses in the event that the vehicle becomes damaged or needs work.

It is crucial for all car buyers to fully read and understand every aspect of all warranties they are considering. It is also important to remember that dealers are often given incentives to pressure customers into purchasing unnecessary or overpriced warranties. Some warranties are worth the extra money, but others are not worth the coverage that they provide. Below is an overview of various auto warranty types and the coverage they offer.

Basic Warranty:

A basic warranty, or “bumper-to-bumper” warranty, provides cover for everything on the vehicle, except for wear-and-tear items such as brakes, tires, oil filters, and wiper blades. Most car manufactures offer protection for a minimum of three years and 36,000 miles – whichever comes first. Basic warranties are fairly standard, but customers should still read over every aspect of the warranty before signing.

Drivetrain Warranty:

This type of warranty, also called a powertrain warranty, covers all the major vehicle components, such as the engine, transmission, and drive shaft. The drivetrain does not cover general wear-and-tear items, hoses, or belts, but focuses on internal engine parts only. Most manufacturers offer a minimum of three years or 36,000 miles of cover, but increasing numbers of auto makers are extending their drivetrain warranties to provide coverage for as long as ten years and 100,000 miles. As with the basic warranty, it is essential to carefully read the fine print included in the drivetrain warranty, and make note of any hidden exclusions or other areas of concern.

Extended Warranty:

Some dealers try to force extended warranties on customers, and some even claim they are required in order to receive bank financing for an auto loan. Extended warranties are often very expensive and completely unnecessary. However, if the vehicle will be kept longer than the period of time the basic warranty provides coverage for, an extended warranty may pay for itself over time. Eventually, even the best vehicles will need repair work done, and those costs can quickly add up. It is typically better to buy the warranty directly from the warranty company, and not from the dealer when purchasing a car.

Before an extended warranty is purchased, several questions should be asked about the policy and coverage. If the warranty is being purchased at the dealership, it is important to determine if the plan can be used elsewhere, or if repairs must be performed at that specific dealership. Does the warranty cover the cost of repairs upfront, or will there be a need to pay out-of-pocket and wait for reimbursement? Is a vehicle inspection required before any repairs are made? Additionally, customers should ask their warranty provider if they offer a buy-back clause that allows a sum of money to be returned if the vehicle is sold before the warranty expires. Purchasing an extended warranty should be done cautiously. Research should be conducted on any companies that are being considered as coverage providers.

Rust and Corrosion Warranty:

This type of warranty protects against body damage caused by rust or corrosion. Unfortunately, these warranties typically do not cover surface rust. This means that the problem must be long-term and severe before the warranty kicks in. If a customer is interested in repairing the problem before this point, or wishes to take preventative measures to protect their vehicle against this type of damage, a rust and corrosion warranty will not provide cover. Keeping a vehicle clean, dry, and waxed is often the only protection a vehicle needs against rust.

Roadside Assistance:

While this type of coverage comes in handy, it is also provided with many auto insurance policies. Having both forms of protection does not necessarily mean better coverage. Before agreeing to pay for this type of warranty, a call should be made to confirm that the auto insurance policy does not also offer this protection.

Luxury Auto Warranty:

Luxury auto warranties go by many different names, but the cover is basically the same. This warranty protects luxury components, such as DVD players, GPS navigation systems, phones, and other expensive equipment. Many customers are lured into purchasing this very expensive warranty for fear of having to replace one of these items should it become stolen or damaged. However, unless a vehicle is stocked with numerous expensive electronic components, repairing or replacing these items is often cheaper than the cost of the warranty.

Extended and additional warranties can provide a car buyer with peace-of-mind, but often the coverage they offer is not worth the expense. Customers should take an active role in their car buying experience, ask questions, and demand complete answers. Just like a new car, warranties should be researched before they are purchased.

Warranty

Wrong.

You can’t afford to save money that way. When you cut costs by purchasing poorly-made junk, you’re actually costing yourself more money over time. That thirty-dollar DVD player will, more likely than not, break well before the more-expensive, better-built model would have died.

When this happens, you go back to buy another player. This time, do you buy the better-made brand, or replace the old piece of junk with another one? Either way, you’re paying twice for the DVD player when, instead, you should have been able to use the same one for several years.

You might think, “The better player costs eighty dollars. The cheap one is only thirty. Even if I have to buy two pieces of junk, I’m spending only sixty dollars. I’m still twenty dollars ahead.”

If the first cheap player broke after just a few months, then why wouldn’t the second one do the same thing? And the third, fourth, et cetera, until you’ve spent hundreds of dollars on cheap electronics.

Sometimes, you can repair the broken item. However, the low-end electronics on store shelves are not always worth fixing. You could end up paying more for repairs than the item is worth. And if one part broke after only a few months, what’s stopping another component from breaking?

Also, consider your time and stress levels, as well as the fact that cheap junk fills up landfills faster than well-made products. You’ll keep a high-quality DVD player a lot longer than you’ll hang onto the broken one – and so will most of your neighbors. The poorly-made garbage will go into, well, the garbage, while the decent items remain in homes, being used.

Ideally, you should read product reviews, check out the manufacturer’s reputation, and seriously consider your purchases before you make them. This ensures that you will find high-quality products that, despite being a bit more expensive at the checkout, save you money over time.

Sometimes, you can still save money. Certain items make wonderful used or refurbished purchases. You can buy a used, but guaranteed, washer or dryer, for example. A reworked PC with a warranty can be a wonderful buy.

Another money saver: shopping sales or closeouts. Manufacturers will usually slash prices when a new version of the same item is coming. That’s how you can get a brand-new DVD player for less the week before that company’s new model makes its debut. You still get the warranty, and the seller’s guarantee; you just don’t pay full retail price.

Ultimately, buying cheap goods to save a few dollars here and there will cost you more over time. If you refuse to sacrifice quality, and put your shopping skills to work before you buy, you can come home with well-made items that don’t blow your budget.

A woman who feels sexy exudes sexiness. She portrays this through her body posture and facial gestures. The appeal of sexy lingerie therefore is more than how it makes a woman look. It is clearly about how it makes a woman feel. Wearing sexy lingerie clearly makes a woman feel sexy.

The outer image that develops is the result of a woman’sinner feeling just as much as it is the result of the actual garments that she puts on. Certain outfits look good on people and when they put them on, they develop self-confidence in the knowledge that they look good. It is the same type of scenario when wearing sexy lingerie.

A woman who can see that she looks stunning in her lingerie ensemble is going to feel beautiful. This sense of beauty is going to change her body language for the day. She is going to revel in the knowledge that she is sexually appealing even if it is hidden beneath her sedate work attire.

Obviously, a woman who wears sexy lingerie will be a vision of loveliness. This is especially true if she selects colors that compliment her skin tone and hair coloring. It is even truer if she selects the proper size and style for her body figure.

A woman who wears sexy lingerie instantly feels the transformation from ordinary to extraordinary. She looks good and she is fully aware of the fact. She is going to glow in quite a different manner than on those days when she dons a pair of granny panties and a traditional style brassiere.

The styles of sexy lingerie that a woman wears is more a matter of personal preference than functionality although there will be those designs that are purchased to complement a particular outfit that she has. Not all styles of lingerie can be worn by all women. Some women are hampered by their body shape while others are hindered by their personal hang-ups. Nonetheless, there is a sexy lingerie ensemble just waiting for most women in the world today.

Intro: Sexy lingerie, skimpy though it often is, has been designed to be worn. Designed in countless styles, gorgeous fabrics, and varied colors, sexy lingerie styles have been created in stunning ensembles that do as much for a woman’s ego as they do for her looks.

IMT-Advanced was approved this week at the ITU’s Geneva meeting with a lot of excitement.  It is in essence the next generation of IMT-2000 which, in layman’s terms, established what we now refer to as 3G mobile technology.  One might ask then how it is that we now have 4G mobile technology if the new protocol has just been established this week.  The answer is that since 2000 when the present standards were formed, mobile technology has advanced beyond the mandated requirements.  What is typically called 4G is really more aptly 3G plus.

Practical Application

So what does all of this mean as far as practical application?  It means that when device technologies and network infrastructures catch up to the new standards, 4G mobile will be up to ten times faster than anything available today.  ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure expressed his own enthusiasm by saying,

“IMT-Advanced marks a huge leap forward in state-of-the-art technologies, which will make the present day smart phone feel like an old dial up Internet connection.   Access to the Internet, streaming videos and data transfers anytime, anywhere will be better than most desktop connections today.”

Geoff Duncan, in an article posted on Digital Trends website put it this way:

“…IMT-Advanced technologies should be able to deliver a theoretical maximum of 1 Gbit/s, which is ten times more bandwidth.  If all that seems like technical gobbledegook, think of it this way: with IMT-Advanced technology, it should take about 20 seconds to download a full-length (44 min) standard-definition television episode to a smart phone.  Want high-definition?  It’ll take less than 90 seconds.  How about a whole album of music?  Roughly one minute at full CD quality, no compression.  That’s faster than most users’ fixed-line broadband connections to their homes.”

For The Consumer

With all of this obvious ecstasy over these new developments, another question which comes to mind is what effect, if any, will all this have on the consumer?  Recent trends seem to indicate that due to rising contract prices and the recent implementation of data caps, the rank-and-file cell phone user generally restricts his data use to regularly checking his email and making the occasional visit to the World Wide Web.

Service providers have explained data caps as being a way to prevent congestion on the broadband highway.  There are many consumers who are convinced that the caps are just another way for these providers to increase their revenue.  If the consumers are right, then the new IMT-Advanced protocol will be virtually worthless.  It would mean that there is no congestion to justify the caps in the first place.  But if the providers are telling the truth, then it is almost certain that the caps will be removed until the technology once again surpasses the standards.  The competition between providers will be fierce and prices should be positively affected by it.  The most reasonable conclusion is that the wireless service providers are telling the truth.  Otherwise they are only shooting themselves in the foot.

As these new standards are reached and newer and better technology comes over the horizon, the future of mobile communication and connectivity just keeps getting brighter and brighter.

It doesn’t really matter whether you have millions or not; even if you have tens or hundreds or thousands, it is still necessary to keep track of your personal fortune in some organized fashion. If you don’t then the fortune turns into a pittance.

Money management has moved from paper, to spreadsheets, to really useful apps that help organize, track and access your financial world with mere clicks on a touch screen.

It doesn’t matter what smart device platform you use; there are literally thousands of paid and free apps for all smart phone configurations that can help you be a successful day trader, create a family budget, manage your bank accounts, calculate tips and pretty much any financial transaction you can think of.

1. Mint.com: Winner of the 2010 PC Mag Editor’s Choice Award, the Mint.com app is a financial wizard and it’s free. It helps you track all your investments, bank accounts and credit cards in a secure environment. It allows you to setup bill management, budgets, spending and savings goals, and will even send you alerts if you are exceeding those goals. It helps with investment allocation and risk management, has an IRA adviser and gives various trend analysis charts for your investments.

2. Wall Street Journal: The top financial journal in the world now has an app. The app gives you an assortment of the WSJ’s print and online media beamed magically right to you smart phone.

You can access daily financial news, opinions, real-time market data, money and investing tips, the WSJ’s marketplace, and setup your own financial watch list. It also has a personal journal that you can access anytime and anywhere you need it. A full subscription also allows you to download the archives.

3. iCalc Mortgage Calculator: The iCalc Mortgage Calculator app is billed as a mortgage helper, but it does more than that.

Certainly, it does allow you to put in all the mortgage information you need to figure out your monthly payments including down payment, interest, length of loan, insurance and tax costs and more. It also has calculations to figure out how your payments will change if you take out a second mortgage or if you have a variable interest rate. The app also has a car loan calculator and a tip calculator.

4. Currency Exchange: One of the biggest headaches for travellers is figuring relative costs of products in their heads while haggling with a shop keeper in some far off foreign land.

The same goes for trying to calculate exchange rates at exchange offices, ordering food, paying for taxis and any other exchange of money that happens in those exotic places. Currency exchange does the calculations for you, so if that tasty Italian Chianti has gone to your head, you won’t end up emptying your wallet of Euros by accident.

5. ATM Hunter: Banks make millions of dollars a year on ATM charges from customers who don’t bank with them. Everyone has at one time or another been forced to pay those $2 or $3 dollar fees for using a non-customer ATM – it’s frustrating and costly. The ATM Hunter app will fix that problem, though you may have to go a bit further to avoid the fees if an ATM from your bank is not nearby. The app uses location awareness technology to find the closest no-charge ATM for you.

6. TSheets Time Tracker: The age of the time clock is long past for most people. In the good old days of clocking into work, it was easy to keep track of time you’ve worked.

The TSheets Time Tracker lets you track the hours you work on specific projects to make billing your clients more honest and much easier. The app is perfect for freelancers who work on multiple contracts every day. Don’t under or over bill your time anymore, keep track of how much work you are actually doing and even track the time your other employees are spending on projects with this app.

7. Pennies: Honestly, who really likes making and keeping track of a monthly budget? Some highly organized people certainly do and they love it. But, when it comes to those of us less “highly organized” a monthly budget is more like sticking a fork in the leg than enjoyable.

The Pennies app makes managing your budget so easy that your dog can take control of your expenses (just watch out for an increase in Scooby Snack purchases). The app lets you deal with budgetary matters in real-time, while shopping, paying bills and spending money on popcorn at the movie theater.

8. Bloomberg Mobile: This free financial tracking app is popular with professional and amateur market investors.

The app helps you analyze the financial markets in real-time, enact trades, find up-to-date financial news and the best price quotes. It includes easy-to-read charts and market trend analysis tools. If you feel like lying on the beach upside down with a pineapple margarita in your hand while placing trades, the app uses the smart phone position sensors to change its layout.

9. QuickBooks Online: This app only works for QuickBooks users. If you happen to be one of those and want to access, update, track and work with your QuickBooks account, this app offers a range of functionality.

The app allows users to add, edit, create and email customers. It has viewable Balance Sheets and useful Profit and Loss reports. You can view bank accounts, credit card balances and even has an address look up feature with GoogleTM Maps built in.

10. Coupon Sherpa: Who doesn’t like getting deals? Sadly, time constraints and busy daily schedules don’t allow many people to search the Internet for the best deals or to sit around cutting out coupons.

The Coupon Sherpa app searches the best coupon deals from some of the top coupon sites on the Internet, puts them in an easily accessible and searchable app on your smart phone: no printing, no clipping, no searching required. It allows you to create a favorites list of stores and types of coupons, email them to friends and family and has an optical scanner feature you can use at the checkstand.

Mobile Apps

One of the first things to do is to decide if you will be using an Android smartphone or tablet to access your computer remotely. If you are going to be using a tablet, it will of course be easier to guide the cursor on the remote computer being controlled. The smaller smartphone screen will be more difficult but you will learn some tricks as you practice. Once you have decided what will become your primary Android device to access the remote computer, the next thing to do is select the right software for it.

One such software is free and is named Teamviewer. This is software that will do the job of joining the Android device to the remote computer. You will be surprised at the features of this software, even though it is free. The first thing to do is get the software on your Android device. That is possible by going to the Google Android marketplace and downloading the program or to the Teamviewer site. The other half of the software will need to be downloaded from the Teamviewer site on the computer that will be remotely controlled. The program will then launch automatically once the download is complete.

Once the downloading is accomplished for both devices, the remote computer will show a window from the Teamviewer program. This window has the identification and password for the user. Write down these two pieces of information because it will need to be entered into the Android device. Here is a small tip to help whoever is on the other end of the computer that is being remotely controlled. Locate the Teamviewer program on the desktop of this computer. If this is not possible put a shortcut to the program on the desktop for easy access.

Now that everything is in place a connection can be established between the Android device and the distant computer. Open the Teamviewer program on the Android device and have the first page open. This is the time to enter the identification and password that was seen on the remote computer when the Teamviewer program was first downloaded. Enter this data into the Android device and immediately a new page will pop up. This is an important page that will explain how to use the program. Finger gestures are of course going to be input on the screen while the other computer will be responding. Some of the same inputs will work on the remote computer as on the Android device. One such input is zooming with a pinch gesture. Other gestures will be specific to the Teamviewer program. Dragging a window on the remote computer will need to be done by double tapping then holding down the finger on the Android screen.

After leaving the instructions page the other desktop of the distant computer will be visible. From here the user can do most anything as if they were sitting in front of the remote computer. Opening files and seeing them on the remote screen is easy. Opening a web page is no problem. To enter a web site address into the remote web browser press the small icon that looks like a keyboard at the bottom of the Android screen. A virtual keyboard pops up on the Android screen and any web site can be entered into the remote browser.

There are other icons to accompany the keyboard symbol in this remote control program. Pressing on the icon that looks like a small gear will bring up the settings menu. From here it is possible to adjust screen resolution on the remote computer. If the remote computer has dual monitors it will be possile to switch between both monitors. It is possible to remove the desktop wallpaper of the distant computer. This will speed up the connection between the Android device and the remote computer. The icon that resembles a magnifying glass will zoom in on the screen of the remote computer without having to use the normal Android “pinch to zoom” gesture.

If the user wants to watch a video from the remote computer on the Android device this will be possible. The negative aspect of this is that the audio will not arrive from a video such as Youtube. Another thing that is not possible is the transferring of files from the distant computer to the Android device. The user can open an email and send an attachment to the Android device but no direct file transfers can take place.

Other programs will also work to connect an Android smartphone or tablet to a remote computer. One is called “RDP Lite” and supports full keyboard and mouse functions. Another program called “Android VNC” is similar to the others above, but is an open source solution. These can all be used for various occasions. If your friend has a computer that is malfunctioning this program will help to diagnose the problem. It can be used as a way to surf the web with a desktop browser on a mobile device. Being able to use a computer that you can not be in front of is a benefit of using these software products.

Android’s #1 Scientific Calculator. A fully featured scientific calculator which looks and operates like the real thing.

Looking for fractions? Degrees/minutes/seconds? Landscape mode? You need RealCalc Plus.

See elsewhere on this page for the link, or select ‘Upgrade’ from the RealCalc menu.

RealCalc Scientific Calculator includes the following features:
* Traditional algebraic or RPN operation
* Result history
* Unit conversions
* Physical constants table
* Percentages
* 10 memories
* Binary, octal, and hexadecimal
* Trig functions in degrees, radians or grads
* Scientific, engineering and fixed-point display modes
* Configurable digit grouping and decimal point
* Full built-in help
* A complete lack of advertising

RealCalc Scientific Calculator Plus contains all these features, plus:
* Fraction calculations and conversion to/from decimal
* Degrees/minutes/seconds calculations and conversion
* Landscape mode
* User-customizable unit conversions
* User-customizable constants

If you find RealCalc useful, please consider purchasing RealCalc Plus to support further development. Thank you.

FAQ:
* If you want data size conversions in multiples of 1024, use kibibytes, mebibytes, gibibytes, etc – see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibibyte.

* If the percent key appears to give wrong answers, make sure you are pressing ‘=’ at the end, e.g. ’25 + 10 % =’ will give 27.5.

* If sin/cos/tan functions don’t give the answer you are expecting, make sure you are in the correct angle mode.

Degrees, radians and grads are supported, indicated by DEG, RAD, GRAD in the display. Use the DRG key to change mode.

* If any of the digit keys are disabled, or the decimal point doesn’t work, or you have answers with letters in, or basic arithmetic appears to be wrong, then you are in binary, octal or hexadecimal mode.

Press DEC to return to decimal operation. If you don’t need these modes, please make sure that ‘Enable Radix Modes’ is disabled in the settings.

RealCalc Scientific Calculator – Android Market

As with any platform update, the Android 2.2 has run into issues. However, it is still one of the most anticipated updates the market has witnessed in recent times. In this guide, we will explore why the android 2.2 update is so anticipated for both users and developers alike.

Improvements to Performance

One of the most important features that the Android focused on with this update was to fix performance issues found in the 2.1 version. The 2.2 platform offers a much better browser performance due to its improved V8 engine. The engine specialises in quicker loading time for web pages (especially Java heavy pages.) Dalvik JIT has also been added to the phone, which boosts CPU heavy code by up to five times from the 2.1 update. However, the most impressive update is the Kernel Memory Management Boost, which has increased the speed between switching applications, which allows for the phone to run smoother than ever before.

Introduction of Support Features

The 2.2 update also brought about needed support features that the 2.1 update lacked. For example:

Security – the 2.2 Android update has a new password feature, which has been used on other smartphones for years. This security feature allows the user to unlock their phone with a numerical pin or an alpha pin.

Remote Security – if the device is lost or stolen, it can be fully wiped (back to original factory settings) from a computer. This makes sure that all the information on the phone remains secure at all times.

Auto Complete – users now have the option to configure their phone to their email, which will auto-fill in the required details for your contacts.

There are also various other features, like being able to set up an exchange account without too much effort.

Home Screen Tips

The android 2.2 platform comes with a home screen which has been well received by those who tested it. This screen has a widget which allows you to optimise the performance of your home screens. All the 5 home screen panels have shortcuts to make finding the necessary features much easier than version 2.1.

Keyboard Languages

The keyboard now can be changed to additional languages; including all the major European languages. These languages are also supported in the predictive text feature, which makes texting to somebody in another language much easier than before.

Camera

The camera and gallery has gone through updates to make sure this platform has not been left behind when compared to the camera features of the Symbian OS and IOS platforms. New features include the ability to bring up additional detail on pictures with a zoom feature, on screen buttons that make it easier to share your photos, and an LED flashlight which means that videos can be filmed at night.

Hotspot

One of the most impressive update platform highlights is the ability to connect your phone to your Windows or Linux laptop and share your connection between the android phone and the computer. This essentially makes every Android phone a hotspot.

Android 2.2

Platform Technologies

As well as all the ‘user friendly’ developments listed above the 2.2 update has also seen platform updates, including; voice dialling over Bluetooth, support for Bluetooth in cars and improved compatibility with car kits, which have all increased the quality of Bluetooth based phone calls.

Developer Updates

The 2.2 android update has also focused on updates for developers. Here is a list of the updates for developers:

Error Reports – enables developers to see crash and bug reports on their own phone without any issue.

The platform has also gone through rigorous developer API updates, including:

Camera Frame rate – frame rate has doubled to 20 frames per second.

Data Backup – applications can now be backed up externally. This means that if the phone is restored to factory settings then the apps can be placed back on the phone as they were before the reset.

Policy Manager – the policy manager allows developers to write code for additional security features, including the need for minimum password strength without too many problems.

Summary

It is more than strange to see a development of this velocity that did not constitute a whole number. However, this was more than required when you look at the features that 2.1 left out. To say that android needed an update of this size is an understatement.

 Android 2.2

Access to your computer from your Android phone can be set up in just a matter of minutes. First of all, you need to download and install a remote assistance application, such as TeamViewer or RemoteDroid, on both devices. Make sure that the application you choose has a mobile version and that you are using the correct version on each device. Once the installation process finishes, you will be provided with your computer’s identification details. Take note of this information because you will need to enter it every time you attempt to connect to your PC. This serves as a security measure that will prevent unauthorized devices from gaining access to your system.

When connection is established, your desktop menu will appear on your phone screen. You can use your phone’s touchscreen feature to navigate and open files. Keep in mind, however, that the computer you are trying to access must be switched on. The amount of control you can gain over the PC varies depending on the application you are using. In most cases there are limitations regarding the tasks you can perform during a remote access session. For example, some applications may allow you to open, edit, and remotely print documents, or even transfer them on your Android phone, but most applications do not support audio or video files.

If you want to access your music, movies, or other media files from your mobile, there are a few applications, such as Gmote or Xtralogic Remote Desktop, that support most audio and video file types. It is important that you input the correct information during the installation, otherwise you may not be able to access your multimedia files. These applications may also allow you to choose whether you want the files to play on your computer screen or on your mobile screen. Therefore, you can use your phone as a remote control for your PC. Finally, you can synchronize folders between the two devices for faster access to your files.

In a similar fashion, you can connect to your PC using a tablet. Compatibility may be an issue if you are using an iPad since most applications have been designed exclusively for Windows. You may also notice slight differences in applications developed for iPad from their Windows counterparts. For example, the image quality will be significantly lower if you try to play movies or game files located on your PC. In any case, read the developer’s instructions before you perform the installation and create a restore point to which your system will return in case an error occurs.

Design

Although the iPhone 4S appears to be a replica of the iPhone 4, most of its exciting, new features are on the inside. Key features include a dual-core processor, an 8 megapixel camera which is better than that of the previous iPhone and the amazing Siri intelligent assistant service. In addition, the new phone, unlike its predecessor is both CDMA and GSM compatible and therefore it is able to accommodate a large number of cell phone carriers. There is only one, barely noticeable, difference between the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S: the antenna design. The new antenna design is expected to solve the “antennagate” signal problem associated with the iPhone 4.

Interface and Functionality

A popular feature of the new iPhone is its Retina Display which produces realistic colors and sharp details. This display comes in the form of a 3.5”, 16M-color, LED-backlit, IPS touch screen with a resolution of 640×960 px. Secondly, the iPhone 4S comes with the iOS 5 and iCloud, a breakthrough combination that justifies the purchase of the new iPhone, despite the fact that iPhone lovers can still enjoy the iOS 5 experience on the iPhone 4. iCloud basically refers to a set of  cloud services such as iTunes in the Cloud, Documents in the Cloud and Photo stream all of which are designed to work seamlessly with the new phone, despite storing all content in the iCloud. Nevertheless, the best thing about the iOS 5 is its simplicity. Instead of layers upon layers of menus and submenus, the phone only has a home screen and apps.

Multimedia

As mentioned earlier, the new iphone features an 8 megapixel camera which when compared to the 5-megapixel camera of the iphone 4 can be termed as a decent upgrade. The new camera also features a new custom lens, an advanced hybrid IR filter and an f/2.4 aperture all of which allow for the most visually elaborate photos, where even distant objects are visible to the finest detail. It is now possible to shoot HD, 1080p videos using the iPhone 4S. However, the phone’s front facing camera which enables the use of FaceTime video chat remains the same as that of the previous model: with VGA quality.

Special Features

While the iPhone 4S has quite a number of additional exciting features, nothing is as exciting as Siri, the personal digital assistant that exists within the new iPhone. Simply put, this new feature allows users to ask spoken questions and receive answers in Siri’s voice. You can either request information on the weather, stock or any other topic of interest or ask Siri to perform tasks such as composing a message or setting an alarm.

iPhone 4S vs. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

One of the main questions on the minds of many phone enthusiasts is whether they should buy the iPhone 4S or wait for the Galaxy Nexus by Samsung. The new Samsung phone will be the first phone to run the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OS. As far as design goes, the Galaxy Nexus is a clear winner. As mentioned before, there isn’t much to be said about the iPhone 4S in terms of design since it is a clear rehash of the iPhone 4. The Galaxy Nexus will have a 4.65” Super Amoled HD display with a resolution of 1280×720 px which when compared to the 3.5” IPS display of the iPhone 4S, is pretty impressive. In terms of memory, the Nexus gets a full 1GB of RAM while the new iPhone gets 512MB.

However, the iPhone 4S’, 8 megapixel camera wins over the Nexus’ 5 megapixel camera. In addition, the iPhone throws in a lot of perks including auto focus, face detection and image stabilization for video. Nonetheless, both phones support 1080p video. As far as storage goes, the Galaxy Nexus will only be available in two forms: 16GB and 32GB while the iPhone 4S is already available in three forms: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. Both phones will not feature an SD card slot.

All in all, it is not possible to say which phone comes out ahead. It all comes down to user experience. Remember that a myriad of specs don’t always make for a wonderful user experience. However, it is safe to say that the new, iPhone 4S has a lot to offer.

The easiest way to customize your Android phone is with a new background. These can be found all over the internet and are easily changed on the phone. For most Android phones, this can be done by pressing and holding on the home screen and then pressing “Wallpaper” on the menu that pops up. Be sure to check what wallpaper size works best for your phone, as each screen size is different and some distortion may occur if you use an image that is too big or too small.

If you are looking for more a more customized and versatile solution, you can customize your Android application launcher. There are several different apps available to you for customizing the application launcher. For example, Go Launcher is one of the most popular and versatile application launchers. This launcher gives you the ability to customize your home screens and allows you to install custom themes from the Android Market. Go Launcher also provides its own widgets, granting you more customization opportunities. Another popular launcher is ADW Launcher.

Like Go Launcher, this application gives you the same ability to customize your home screens and application launcher. Custom themes are also available for this launcher. Moreover, if you want to customize your Android even further, you may use custom icons that can be downloaded from various theming communities on the internet.

The lock screen is the first screen you see when you power on your phone. What most users don’t know, however, is that a custom lock screen can be created with no effort at all. The best app for a custom Android lock screen is Widget Locker. This app is available on the Android market and works on most Android operating systems. Once Widget Locker is installed, you can download custom lock screen themes that give you complete aesthetic control over your phone. Additionally, the Widget Locker allows you to put custom widgets on your phone’s lock screen.

With these widgets, you can have a custom clock or an SMS notification button right on your lock screen. The Widget Locker application allows you to customize your lock screen to your liking.

If you are an Android enthusiast, you can also install custom ROMs onto your phone. With a custom ROM, every aspect of the phone is customized. A new ROM is able to change menu colors, the dialer interface, and add new options for customization. With a custom ROM, your Android phone will become unique and grant you complete customization control.

Overall, there are many options for customizing your Android phone. From custom wallpapers, to launchers and lock screens, there are numerous areas for users to customize. With all of these options, your phone can become uniquely yours.

eBooks

The best app for reading eBooks right now is the Barnes and Noble Nook app. It has a few features which make it really stand out above the crowd. One is a very intuitive and easy to use way to select text. You simply move your finger over the text, and it will become selected, and from here, you can write a note, highlight the text, or search for the text in Google, Wikipedia, the book itself, or an online dictionary. You can easily bookmark pages by tapping the upper corner, and find them, as well as an index of notes and highlights, under the “Contents” tab.

Other apps have similar features, but Nook’s interface is just so easy to use and intuitive. I found myself tapping and tapping away on other apps to figure out where the features were, but with the Nook app there is almost no learning curve and you can just worry about reading. The Nook App also has a beautiful page turning animation that feels perfect and makes reading a joy. It gives you the comforting feel of reading a real book which is sorely lacking in other apps.

PDFs

If you want to read PDF files, there is really no question that ezPDF Reader is the way to go. It will cost you $1.99, but it is well worth it. If you hold the tablet in portrait mode, the default view will fit one page onto the screen, and you can flip pages by swiping side to side, and ezPDF has a nice page turning animation as well. In landscape mode, it will fit the width of the article and allow you to scroll down easily. You can also pinch and zoom and move around the image with surprising ease. You can also quickly flip through thumbnails, big or small, of all the pages and select them, and you can also easily bookmark pages, title them, and find them.

ezPDF also offers a long list of cool features like Automatic Page Flipping – you pick an interval and it flips the page automatically – and Voice Reading, where ezPDF will read your document to you. You can also select text in the document and manipulate it in quite a few ways: you can add sticky notes, type directly onto the page, highlight, underline, and strike out, among other useful functions. All in all, there is really no competition from any other PDF reader out there.

News and Blogs

For reading news and blogs, there really aren’t that many apps that collect all your own sources together for easy perusal; Google Reader and Pulse are the only two that are decent at all. Of those, Google reader is something of a pain because you have to manually tap through each source to see the content therein. Pulse, on the other hand, is quite useful. You see a list of all the sources you choose, with a picture, if there is one, a title, and a snippet of the article for each article that is posted. You can scroll up though the sources or across the articles in each source. It sometimes takes a few too many taps to get to the whole article, but overall this is a very useful app.

Read It Later

There is one more app that bears mentioning when it comes to reading: Read It Later. This is a fantastic app that allows you to save articles and read them offline. The app takes away all the other clultter on the page and presents you with the article only. It is incredibly easy to save articles, and a Read It Later add-on for the Dolphin Browser makes it even easier. You can save sources across multiple devices, including PCs, and there are a number of nice features that are icing on the cake, such as tags, which you can use to organize your articles.

It’s not yet finished and what I have here is just a prototype of a 7-inch Android-powered tablet. I wanted to get some feedback from YugaTech readers and maybe share some photos before we finalize this device.

Can’t really share the complete specs but what I can say is that the device will have support for 3G/HSDPA, WiFi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth, an 8GB internal storage, SD card slot (up to 16GB), micro USB port, 3.5mm audio port.

It’s been tested to run Android 1.6 on an Atom Z520 1.33GHz and 1GB of RAM. The specs are pretty basic and minimal so we can offer this to the market at a very affordable price.

At the moment, we are looking at a possible retail price of Php14,999. As for availability, I’m looking at a June 31, 2010 release.

Update: We’re not taking pre-orders at the moment but I will post another announcement when we’re all ready. We’re still talking to a carrier to partner for the 3G service and possibly, a subsidized price.

There was probably no documentation that came with your phone that explained how to add these tones to your phone, but it is an easy task to accomplish. Some of the methods described below only apply to ringtones, others apply to all three types.

The simplest application solution for adding a new ringtone is to use Android’s built-in audio player. This will allow you to set any song you have installed on your phone as the current ringtone.  While you have the audio player application open, pressing on a song will result in a popup menu being displayed.  That menu contains an option to assign the selected song as the phone’s ringtone.  This will not only add the song to the ringtone list but will make the song the current ringtone at the same time.  A drawback to this approach is that the built-in audio player will not let you add a song to the alarm or notification sound list.

There are also many ringtone applications which can be found on the Android Market by searching the market for “ringtone”.  Most of these apps can be downloaded for a small fee. Some of the ringtone applications allow searching and selecting from large directories of commercial ringtones, while others only provide a single ringtone or a small related set of them.  Some of these applications are free to install but require purchase of any ringtones that are downloaded or, in some cases, a monthly subscription charge which will appear on your cell phone bill.  Also, these applications vary in whether they will allow installation of just ringtones or all three types of tones. Be careful to read the description of the application as well as the comments to understand exactly what is provided and what the costs are.

Another approach is that offered by the free Ringdroid application.  Ringdroid allows you to select any song that is on your phone and then choose exactly which portion of the song you wish to use as your ringtone.  You can then save that portion of the song to any of the three lists of alarms, ringtones, or notification sounds.  This is probably the most flexible solution for creating and saving tones if you already have the song you are starting with on your phone.

You may already have existing ringtones on your computer or have received some via an MMS message or email.  It’s possible to turn these sound clips into ringtones, alarms, or notification sounds, although it takes a bit more manual work than the approaches discussed above.

The first thing you will need to do is create the appropriate directories on your phone’s SD card.  If you’ve used Ringdroid or one of the other ringtone applications then the directories may already exist, but if that’s not the case there are two ways to create them: either using your PC or through a file manager application on the phone itself.

In order to create these directories with your PC, connect the phone to your PC with the USB cable.  You should be prompted on the phone to mount the SD card, which will then make it available as an external drive on the PC.  Once you’ve done that, you can access that external drive as a folder on the PC.  What you will see in this folder is the contents of your phone’s SD card.  Now you want create the following folders on your phone’s SD card, just like you create folders on your PC.  These folders may already be present and if so, just click into them in order to verify that all of the folders needed are present. At the top level of the SD card, create a folder named “media” and click into it.  Within the media folder, create a folder named “audio” and click into that.   Finally, within the audio folder you will need to create three folders: “alarms”, “notifications”, and “ringtones”.   What you should wind up with are three folders:, “/media/audio/alarms”, “/media/audio/notifications”, and “/media/audio/ringtones”.

You can also create these directories on the phone itself using one of the file manager applications available for Android phones, such as Astro or Linda.  There are many of these applications available, but any of the highly rated ones should have the capability of creating folders on the SD card and then moving files to them.

Once you have created these three folders you can copy your existing tones, stored as either .mp3 or .ogg files, into them. As mentioned above, there are three different selection lists of tones available: ringtones, alarms, and notification sounds. The folder you choose to put a sound file into corresponds to which selection list the tone will show up on.   If you want the same tone to show up in more than one of these selection lists you will need to copy it to each of the appropriate folders.

If you have these tones on your computer, you can drag and drop them to the appropriate one of these three folders while your phone is connected with the USB cable.   If you have the tones attached to a MMS or email message now, it may be a little more complicated.  For an MMS message, you can usually press on the message to get an option to save the attached audio file to the SD card.  Then, using your PC or one of the file manager applications, you will need to find the saved audio file on the SD card and move it to the appropriate ringtone directory. If you are using the default text message application, then the file will probably have been saved to the “download” directory on the SD card. Similarly, if your tone is in email, the email program on your phone may offer a way of saving the attachment to your SD card.  If it doesn’t, then simply access the email on your PC and save the audio file to the appropriate directory on the SD card while the phone is attached to the PC with the USB cable.

With the techniques described above, you should be able to set any song or sound clip you’d like as a ringtone, alarm, or notification sound on your Android smartphone.  One thing to be aware of is that if you’ve set a tone to a sound file that is stored on the phone’s SD card, that sound file is not available to be used by the phone while the card is mounted to your computer as external drive.  In that case, you will most likely hear a default tone in its place.  You will need to disconnect the phone from the PC before the tones on the SD card are available for use.

Because most smartphones already have an active internet connection, many people are starting to view phones as mobile access points. Many US mobile carriers have generous internet data plans, so tethering has become a viable option for those without internet while traveling. This article will discuss the many options a user has when using an Android smartphone to tether.

Before exploring tethering options, it needs to be said that not all carriers approve of this practice. Even though you may have an unlimited data plan, some phone carriers frown upon using your mobile phone for tethering without paying an extra fee. For example, Verizon Wireless requires customers to pay an extra $30 a month to turn his or her phone into an internet hotspot.

Therefore, it is important that users use caution when tethering a phone without a tethering plan – or your phone carrier may charge you an extra free.

With that in mind, there are several options for turning your Android phone into a hotspot. The easiest method with an app. The easiest app to work with is EasyTether. Available in the Amazon App Market, this app installs on your phone and instantly sets it up for tethering. After installing on the phone, a small application must be downloaded to the computer you will be tethering with.

Once installed, simply plug the phone into the computer and activate the app. You are now free to browse the internet using your phone’s mobile data plan!

There are many apps that accomplish Android phone tethering, including Barnacle Wifi Tether, Tether Now, and Tether for Android. All of these are available on the Android.

Another method is through custom ROMs. These ROMS modify the Android system running on your phone and can add additional functionality. Some ROMS even include tethering built-in.

Because each ROM is different, you will need to consult with the ROM documentation for determining how to use internet tethering for each ROM. This method is slightly easier than installing an app because the function is already built into the system.

With new 4G technologies being introduced, wireless tethering will become more ubiquitous with users.

Increased speeds will mean a user is able to watch a video on a laptop while on the road without having to pay for internet at a hotel or other location. Utilizing apps for the Android phone, internet tethering is possible for any user.

Google and Lucas Arts got together to develop an alternative smart phone operating system that would take full advantage of the powerful tools that most modern handsets incorporate.

The Google phone was the ‘Original’ android phone, offered on T-Mobile. It was an impressive OS from the get go, mostly in its open source nature, which means that anyone can have access to the source code and develop applications or change different aspects of the kernel and user interface. Though many manufacturers and providers may be in denial of it, the open source nature of the OS is the key to the success of the android devices.

Once people began developing apps and rooting their devices, the game changed. Certain devices, such as the original Motorola Droid, were found to be quite easily rooted and developers began instituting what have become known as custom ROMs. ROMs are simply: user created, device specific, ready-made custom user interfaces for the android devices.

CyanogenMod was, and still is, one of the most popular ROMs available. (The ROM series is named after its creator’s forum handle). With the onset of these highly customizable interfaces, the iphone’s “they all look the same” interface lost a large piece of the smartphone market share.
Rooting of android phones has become both a boon to device owners, and a thorn in the side of some providers and hardware manufacturers.

To gain root access simply means to remove security blocks that keep users from having system access. In many ways these security measures are there to prevent people from damaging their operating systems, as untrained actions can render a phone as useless as a brick, hence the term “bricking your phone”.

Most root users have learned where the proper forums are, and how to avoid damaging your device, as well as restoring it to working condition, should the unspeakable happen.

The biggest benefit of root access is that you can remove bloatware (the unwanted apps that come pre-installed on your device, taking up space and resources) and the ability to fully customize the interface through the use of ROMs or customization apps.

The most popular Android phones are the line of devices by HTC and Motorola. The main thing to look for if you want a highly customizable device is a popular device that has been around for several months.

That way you have a large group of users, and the developers have had time to build numerous offerings for you to install. Brand new devices are usually a challenge for the developers, as manufacturers and providers have not yet realized the benefit they would have in offering full access to users. People buy these devices for hundreds of dollars or multi-year contracts, and as the owners of the phones, they are entitled to have some say as to what the device looks like, reacts like, and what version of Android they want on their device. It has become a game of intellectual tug-of-war that is entertaining and important.
There are also a great many ‘entry-level’ phones – phones that offer Android OS, but without all of the benefits of the more popular, high-end phones. LG and Sony-Ericsson have several models that are great as a phone, but simply haven’t had as many user upgrades made for them. Some do not come with WiFi, or have not been rooted, perhaps are lacking in CPU speed or system memory.

These phones are great for the casual user, but if you wish to “own” your phone, want root access, or simply wish to try your hand at development for the mobile devices, you might wish to do your research at any of a number of android specific developer forums. Just search for it – you’ll find plenty of them out there.

As far as the other OS offerings for smart phones, there is the ever-popular-but losing ground, iOS on the iPhones, as well as a few iterations of Windows for mobile phones. Both of these are closed source operating systems, making it difficult to develop for them, which drastically limits the app offerings. The market simply isn’t as competitive. Ease of use is pretty high across the board, but the final decision regarding which OS you prefer should be based on a well-researched investigation on your part.

Put your hands on the different phones, and feel them out. Many of the options available are more device-specific than OS specific, so be sure to check out numerous phones and get a good feel for what may well be your best friend for the next year or two.

Share and stay connected with your friends with the Facebook for Android app.

Defend your castle against monsters!

Waves of monsters are attacking your castle. They move fast, strike hard, and never give up. It’s time to equip your BOW to fight! Can defend your castle against intruders with your archery?
How to play?
# Touch screen to shoot arrows.
# Drag and drop spell icon to cast a spell.
# City Wall: Upgrade city wall to increase health point.
# Mana: Mana is required to cast a spell.
# Magic Tower: Upgrade magic tower to increase MANA.
# Strength: Increase the damange of a arrow.
# Agility: Increase shooting frequency.
# Weapon: Select and equip proper bow to defend.
# Power shot: Repel monsters.
# Fatal Blow: Double damange with certain possibility.

Watch out, intruders will be stronger and stronger. New BOSSES will come out as stage goes. Be the hero, and win the HONORS!
Any suggestion/feedback is welcome!

Android Market

What caught my eye about the tablet was its glossy, deep red build, and the touch sensitive buttons along the right side of the bezel. They’re the same buttons you’ll find on Android handsets, such as the Droid and the Nexus One. I think it’s the fact that Android devices across different categories have a binding look that sells me, which makes sense since I seem to be turning into something of an Android fangirl.

However, Compal did add a couple useful apps of its own, including an eReader and a multimedia library, which organizes folders in a neat, colorful way. Although the 7-inch display looked bright and crisp while it fluidly played back a 1080p clip, it seemed a bit too reflective for reading eBooks. Diehard eBook readers wanting the power of Tegra 2 can wait for the Adam Notion Ink tablet.

The NAZ-10 is set to ship before the second half of the year, although it’s not yet clear which markets will get it (Nvidia says it’s possbile it’ll come Stateside). The tablet is expected to be sold through carriers, which will set the price. However, Nvidia said it expects it to cost no more than $300 (in the U.S., at least, $199 sounds more like it). In the meantime, check out our  hands-on video below.