Geodelic's New Android App

I downloaded Geodelic's new Android app to my Hero last night.  Overall it's pretty good.  One thing I don't understand is why they are calling it a beta.  It looks very similar to Sherpa which Geodelic makes exclusively  for T-Mobile. It gives similar results to other apps out there(ie Yelp).  The interface is different from what I have seen before.  Although the carousel look is neat, it is too sensitive to touch.  With just the slightest touch of the screen you will move one or two search results over from where you were.  The same goes for the category bar on the top.

The Geodelic app gets it's search results based on your location. It gets it's location in one of 3 ways, GPS, Wi-fi (still trying to figure this one out), and manual entry.  I have had intermittent issues with the GPS being able to get my location even though all of the other apps I have that require GPS find my location fine.  The Wi-fi location finder is way off.  The closest I have been able to get to my actual location is 10 miles.  They would have been better off using cellular based location if GPS was unavailable.  At least that should get you within a mile or so of your location.  If the app can not  find your location it will give you an error. When the error is acknowledged the app shuts down.

I have used the email provide by Geodelic for feedback on the app.  Given that this is a "beta" hopefully they will look into some of these issues.

Android's Little Brain

I don't know if it's a restriction of the OS or hardware manufacturers just are building enough in, but Android phones have a very small amount of memory.  I have the HTC Hero(Sprint CDMA) and I am almost out of room for apps on my phone.  Not cool.  This is where Apple and the iPhone just kills the Android platform.  I'm showing available internal memory of 159MB (I have 142 used).  iPhones are in GBs!!!  Come on everyone get on the ball.

I have two choices if I want some new apps.  One delete some of the lesser used ones and reinstall them when I want to use them or install a custom ROM.  I already have my phone rooted  so I can use the wifi tether and screen capture.  If I do decide to go with a custom ROM I may wait until there is a stable 2.1 ROM available. I want some of the features that are included in 2.1 and I don't want to have to do it twice.  Honestly I shouldn't have to do it at all if the phone manufacturers would build a phone with some decent memory in it.

Merry Christmas!

Who would have thought Oklahoma would get a blizzard with 14+" of snow and 60mph winds.  As I deal with the aftermath I hope everyone and their families have a safe and Merry Christmas.

Smartphones - Cellphones or Computers

I am getting really sick and tired of all this ROM crap in the smartphone world.  Today's smartphones are basically small computers with a phone program running on them.  Manufacturers, carriers and developers need to start treating them like a computer.

For example, you go into a store and buy a computer.  It has a designated OS on it (most likely Windows or Mac).  You can put what ever future OS on it you want as long as it meets the minimum hardware requirements for the new OS.  All of your old programs still work(for the most part) because the new OS is backwards compatible.

Now onto what to do with the smartphones.  Manufactures build a phone with a specific set of hardware.  This hardware may or may not support different OSs.  If it can support multiple OSs they will probably choose to market just one.  They send the phone to the carrier with the carriers apps preinstalled and ready for the end user.  When an upgraded OS comes out the customer will have a couple of choices to get the new OS.  1) purchase a new phone from a carrier or 2) purchase and/or download the new OS (free in terms of Android, paid for WinMo.  The carrier can keep a set of apps on their website hidden behind a customer login for the customer who has upgraded to get the carrier apps to reinstall.

Doing this will stop all of the bullshit going on right now with people waiting to get the latest releases and people hacking phones to get an OS to put on another phone.  This will free up developers to write some more kick ass apps instead of trying to hack the OS.

This will really put the carriers on equal footing in terms of hardware and really make them compete on their network.

Verizon and Microsoft vs US Govt

Just a few short years ago our good friends in Redmond got in trouble with the US government for violating anti-trust laws. Seems like they are up to their old tricks again.  There are several stories out about how Verizon's smartphone users are being forced to use Microsoft's Bing search engine in their search bar.  I don't know about you but this seems an awful lot like what they got in trouble for the last time.  Is Microsoft trying to get around the government? If so, they may be taking Verizon down with them.  I'm going to sit back and watch and see if any pissed off Verizon customers complain to the FTC.

Thank you Sprint and HTC

Good news. According to the official Sprint Twitter feed the HTC Hero will be getting Android 2.1 not 2.0.  This is awesome.  Even though the Hero started out behind with 1.5 it should be up to date when the upgrade comes out.  That is if Google isn't preparing yet another upgrade to the OS that will be out before Sprint gets around to upgrading the Hero.  I waiting very impatiently for the upgrade.  Hopefully the HTC feed is more accurate than the Sprint one.  I like early 2010 vs 1H2010.

iPhone Users Suffer From Stockholm Syndrome and Sprint Fails

There are fanboys and then there are iPhone users.  This is probably one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard of.  According to Strand Consult iPhone users suffer from Stockholm Syndrome because they constantly defend the problems with both the iPhone and AT&Ts network  (http://www.9to5mac.com).  Speaking of AT&T, their network problems just got worse.  According to reports it looks like most of San Fransisco's AT&T customers were without service today. (The fake) Steve Jobs calls (kind of) Randall Stephenson of AT&T and lets him know what he thinks of how AT&T is handling their network issues for their world ruling iPhone.  You were a little brutal there Steve, but right on point (http://www.fakesteve.net).

In somewhat better news Sprint and HTC officially announced that the Hero was getting upgraded to Android 2.0.  This kind of sucks.  First they don't agree as to when the update is coming out.  HTC says early 2010 and Sprint says roughly the first half of 2010.  Roughly to me means maybe July or August.  And the whole 2.0 thing sucks as well.  2.1 is already out on the Hero in Europe and by the time the Hero gets 2.0 here in the US 2.5 will probably be out already.

Everyone fails today.  Let's try for more tomorrow.

at&t Fails Again

Everyone knows that at&t's network sucks.  Now they have admitted just how bad they are. Instead of investing back into their network they are hording the money and telling people to stop using their iPhones smartphones.  So, what happens if  you do use your smartphone to surf the internet, check-in on Foursquare, or watch YouTube videos?  Your bill will probably go up.  Looks like they want to beat Verizon in one more category - who has the highest priced plans.
 The president for mobility and consumer markets at at&t said that the company is considering a "pricing scheme that addresses useage".  Hmm, sounds like their "unlimited plan" isn't so unlimited after all.
So if you are at&t how do you fix your network?  Easy raise your plan prices for non-voice use so high that people will only use it for voice, thus eliminating most of your network traffic and dropped calls at the same time.[NY Times]

I hate politicians

Time for my first rant. In effect the US Senate today has made it possible for all US Catholics to be excommunicated from the Church. With 54 Senators voting to table an ammendment that would keep US tax dollars from paying for abortions. With tax dollars now paying for abortions it can be argued that all US Catholics are procuring abortions by paying their taxes. Canon Law 1398 states "A person who actually procures an abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication." Latae sententiae means that the verdict has already been rendered for those who commit this act. Here is a list of Catholic US Senators who I believe should be treated under Canon Law 1398 for providing funds to procure an abortion. Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Gillibrand (D-NY), Reed (D-RI), Leahy (D-VT), Murray (D-WA), Cantwell (D-WA), Landrieu (D-LA), Collins (R-ME), Mikulski (D-MD), Kerry (D-MA), Kirk (D-MA), McCaskill (D-MO), Begich (D-AK), Dodd (D-CN), Durbin (D-IL), Harkin (D-IA).

First Post

Well, this is my first shot at blogging. I know there are a lot of tech blogs out there and many of the writers are more knowledgeable and better writers than I am. My goal here is to relay a consumers point of view on various topics. Not every post will be tech related. The topics will be about what is on my mind or bugging me on any given day.