Category Archives: Review

Android Launcher Fun

One key feature of Google’s Android that many over look is the ability to change launcher. There is many of them out there that provide many variations of options that likely will fill the needs for nearly any user.

The customizations can range from modified/enhanced stock to extreme fringe feature/style wise. Usually the tweaks are practical and provide good usability but sometimes the end result only gets a niche set of users which is not bad but can limit its profitability. The extreme fringe can be anything from simplified to complex reinventing how the platform should look.

For this post I choose three launchers that cover the general areas… customizable but stock style, stock with a twist, and extreme fringe… The launchers are: Nova Launcher (Prime), Action Launcher Pro, and Smart Launcher Pro. Each of them has free versions but some features may be limited or non existent.

Nova Launcher (Prime unlock key) – CA$4.00
First off is Nova Launcher which started off as a fork of the stock Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) launcher and now is based on the latest Jelly Bean (Android 4.2) launcher. The features have been developed rather fast yet well implemented and the developer was fast to update the core as Google updated Android’s launcher through out the android versions.

This launcher comes in free and paid prime unlocker with the prime version unlocking many things such as new transitions, features and  much more making prime worth it.

Pros: Fast, Clean pure look, Customizable
Cons: None that i know of

Action Launcher Pro – CA$3.99
Next is Action Launcher Pro which is another fork of the stock Android launcher but with a interesting twist.. it is designed around getting you to where you need to go faster while still being close to Google’s ideals. Instead of a four icon dock with item for drawer you got a 5 icon drawer with action bar on top for triggering slide out app list, search, Play store, and menu. This model does feel more speedy especially since you can quickly get to app list by pressing home again or swiping right. Based on how items on the home screen move around it appears to be based on the latest Jelly Bean (Android 4.2) launcher. How you add items to your home screen is quite different here as you can’t drag apps from the app list you got to add them via tap and hold or menu then customize and drag them from the apps list there. Over all not a bad app plenty of room for improvement though.

Pros: Fast, quick access to apps
Cons: Minor useability issues, lack of customization options

Smart Launcher Pro – CA$3.49
Now for Smart Launcher Pro which has one main goal simplicity on install it asks you what apps you prefer for browser and such and it sets what the developer calls the “Flower” to have icons to go to your preferred apps. You can add other apps to the flower if you want tho it wasn’t obvious how (tap and hold one icon to get edit mode and add is in center). The app list is accessed by larger but recognizable app drawer icon in lower left and is presorted in preset categorizes with access to search, Play Store and menu in upper right.

This launcher comes in free and pro variant with the pro unlocking a woefully incomplete widget mode that should be a fully versatile home screen mode with widget resizeablity making the pro not really worth it unless you want to support the developer is worth it tho since he is actively working on it.

Pros: Fast, Extremely simple
Cons: The woefully incomplete “widget mode” makes pro not worth it

Over all the launcher landscape for Android is quite diverse and this barely scratches the surface of it.

Review: Bulkr Pro

I was given a copy of Bulkr Pro from ClipYourPhotos. The Application is a powerful cross platform (Windows,Mac , Linux) download & backup tool for Flickr users. The feature set varies depending on if you are authenticated to your account or using the public access.

When you first launch the app you are greeted with Connect to Flickr & Search Photos buttons. You can use the app without a account linked for downloading public photos from other users as long as the uploader has allowed downloads.  After you link your account the home tab provides a backup option.

First off let’s get started with the features related to linked account. Starting with backup… you get to choose what size to backup as (All the usual Flickr file sizes), Destination for the backup, and how to handle the metadata (embed in EXIF and/or Save as text file). The backup seemed quite speedy on my collection of 1,706 photos.  With photostream downloads you can search or pick from your most recent uploads.  Selection is as simple as clicking on the pictures you want and a blue checkmark is added. The other options when you hover over the thumbnail for each picture are view larger image in application or view it on Flickr site. Downloading from your sets offers most of the same features as photostream other than search & viewing. The download from photos you have in your favorites falls under the public photo rules.

The search is feature rich and lets you choose the license, search type, and enable/disable save search and works quite well. Downloading from user’s photostream lets you choose from sets in addition to selecting from from the usual grid of thumbnails. Group downloads work as expected from the other download modes. Explore is a cool feature that shows the interesting photos for the day you choose.

Over all this is the best app of its class I’ve used yet but one nagging issue haunts me between all of the Flickr download tools I’ve used to date… The apps can’t tell videos from pictures leaving me to pick through photos and figure out what uploads are videos and which ones aren’t. Despite the minor video issue I’d fully recommend the app.

There is a free version with slightly less features but pro is fully worth it. Pro normally costs $40 but if you act fast you can get it for $29.95.

Grab your copy @ http://clipyourphotos.com/bulkr

 

Review: Air Video for iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch

I was given a copy of of Air Video from InMethod to review. It provides simple and easy to use streaming of your videos from your local machine to your iOS devices over local network/internet. The product comes in two forms… a free server for windows /mac & a free (limited)/paid client for iOS devices.

The server is java powered and provides a simple interface to add/remove folders to share, conversion status, settings, remote enable and such. It is provided for Windows and Mac and uses java and ffmpeg. For some of the features the developer recommends use of a Core2 Duo or better cpu but will work on less. Remote access is possible if your router is capable of UPnP/NAT-PMP or you manually forward port 45631.

Now onto the iOS application… adding servers is simple since local network ones show up via Apple’s Bonjour and you can add remote ones via server pin that is configured on server or ip address. As the title suggests the mobile app is universal and works on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch… as of such there is two different interfaces tailored for the different resolutions but is equally as user friendly on both. It is capable of adding selected video to conversion queue or playing with live conversion but as I mentioned before the core2 Duo recommendation is for the live conversion but it does indeed work with lesser cpus quite well in my testing. Of course with anything that involves any kind of conversion there is a variety of settings you can change such as max width/height, quality for offline conversion, and bitrates for live conversion.

In my test I used various machines as servers for this but I settled on my hyper threaded atom dual core based NAS with 1gb ram. For most uses you could get away with using a lower cost machine to serve the content instead of a more costly one depending on number of users and the format of the videos.

As per playback it worked rather well even over internet. Before you choose to live convert or offline convert you can choose zoom level or volume boost. Also if you stop playback then come back later it will have remembered your position so you won’t have to scrub to the position you were last in. Performance wise the server machine does take a slight hit but what that’s to be expected with something that involves ffmpeg conversion.

Of course no app is without flaws… I was able to find a a few qwerks that are rather minor in the grand scheme of things such as sometimes connecting screen is upside down, status bar shows on bottom no top, or folder add inconsistencies in server.

Over all the app works quite well and delivers on the promised features. Despite of the minor qwerks I’d still recommend the app for any iOS device owner who wants to get more out of their device.

The full app costs $2.99 and can be downloaded here of course if you want to try out the free one it is available here.

Review: WeekUp

I was given a review copy of WeekUp from RNS:: a simple to use weekly alarm clock for Palm OS. With my 2nd gen iPod touch’s battery starting to go down hill using it as my alarm clock was loosing effect but that is now solved.

The application is a simple easy to use weekly alarm clock for Palm OS that lets you set per day of the week wake up time in addition to overriding a days time as per needed. You can also turn off the alarm for certain week/weekend days or fully turn off if needed.

You are given many options to customize including volume, repeat time, and such. For the alarm sound you can choose from Midi Ring Tones, Sampled Ring Tones, and System Midi Sounds.

All in all this app is pretty good alarm clock and has worked when iPod Touch has failed to do so… the Treo 700p’s loud speaker helps with that too.

Grab your copy @ RNS::

Review: KB LightsOff!

One of the biggest annoyances I had on my Treo 700p was that the backlight for the keyboard was ALWAYS on…. this is A. noneffective and B. not good for battery life. In my searching for a reliable solution i found KB LightsOff! from LilApps who was willing to provide me with a review copy.

When you first launch the app you are greeted with a nice easy to use set of options. You can choose to enable/disable auto mode (turns on light when you need it then turns it off). Configure how to trigger auto mode/keyboard lights and there is a toggle right in app to turn the keyboard lights off/on.

Now back to auto mode… there is a set of preferences just for auto mode in the menu. In this screen you can choose how long of delay until the app turns the lights back off, additionally you can choose what other keys trigger the lights in auto mode (typing on keyboard auto does), and you can choose to have tone when you turn auto mode on/off.

Simply put this app is a great app for those who feel they want more battery life out of their treo or centro. The app normally costs $6.50 USD but if you buy now you can get it for $5.85 USD (10% off!) and requires a Treo 650, 680, 700p, 755p or Centro .

Screenshots

KB LightsOff! KB LightsOff!
KB LightsOff! KB LightsOff!

Grab your copy @ http://www.lilapps.com/

Review: TopNewRingtones

I was given a review copy of TopNewRingtones from RNS:: a simple to use ringtone installer for Palm OS. When I went to a Palm Treo 700P as my first cell phone I was surprised to find out my old collection woudn’t work… well the no custom ring tone blues was broken by TNR.

The application lets you add mp3, wav, amr, and mid sequence files with some experimental suppport for aac & qcp to your Treo’s ring tone list. In my testing using mp3 files and mid sequence files and found it was easy to use and worked exactly as claimed.

You have two options when you launch the app…. you can add the tones on a per file basis or have the application add all of the files from one folder. As stated before it works as claimed and makes it uber easy to customize your ring tones.

I fully recommend this application to any Palm Treo or Centro user.

Screenshots

RNS:: TopNewRingtones RNS:: TopNewRingtones
RNS:: TopNewRingtones RNS:: TopNewRingtones
RNS:: TopNewRingtones RNS:: TopNewRingtones
RNS:: TopNewRingtones RNS:: TopNewRingtones
RNS:: TopNewRingtones RNS:: TopNewRingtones
RNS:: TopNewRingtones RNS:: TopNewRingtones
RNS:: TopNewRingtones

Grab your copy of TopNewRingtones @ http://www.ranosoft.net/treo/top-new-ringtones/

Review: Google Chrome Backup – Bonus Features

As I stated in the first review of Google Chrome Backup it came in 2 versions. Free and a paid version with bonus features. This post will center around the bonus features.

First off the Bonus Features version will cost you $5.08 USD. (also in 3.49 € & £3.06). Compared to many other products I’ve seen that price is really reasonable.

The first of the bonus features are enhanced bookmarks support that allow you to export them to html or csv as a backup. You can also copy your bookmarks to Google Bookmarks. One of the more important bonus features are that you can lock/unlock your profile to deny access too it but that’s not all…  more features will be added over time free of charge to paid customers.

The price is well worth it if those features appeal to you and I look forward to future added features.

Screenshots
gcb-bookmarksBookmarks Extras

gcb-profile_lockProfile Locking