I showed up late for the party. Not fashionable late as I usually do, but since the Galaxy has been out in France since June of this year I basically showed up after all the booze had run out.
But getting my Galaxy S2 later has its advantages. Android Market is now teeming with apps. After consulting my few friends who use a Android device of some kind (apparently there is a subculture of "geeks" who use iPhone over Android called "iGeeks"), I've spent the past few days scooping out what's out there and I kept a list.
I should mention I have paid for no apps yet. Tho I have been tempted to pay for Angry Birds just to remove the ads.
Apps I Like:
ColorNote
ColorNote is a Post-It app for your phone that allows you to post notes to yourself on your home screen(s). My only complaint is that it lacks a "ping" feature to remind you.
AK Notepad
You can use this app as a standard notepad, but you can also create checklists for yourself and set reminders for specific times. I've been using it to remind me I need to write.
SoundBoard Pro Extreme
I tried a lot of soundboard apps and this is by far the best. It has 8 farting noises, gunfire, bomb explosions, people laughing, and a nice slow, sardonic clap.
Alarm Clock Plus
This app lets you store multiple alarms and gives you an option of requiring the correct answer to a math problem to snooze or dismiss alarms. Easy gave me double digit addition questions this morning. Very hard gave me something similar to this:
(1723 - 132) x 2
I tested it wide awake and it wasn't easy, so I think I'll be setting it for something a little easier or else the alarm is going to go off forever...
The app also gives you a nice digital display of the time, your location, and the weather for the week.
Advanced English Dictionary & Thesaurus
Now if I'm going to pay for an app, it probably won't be for a dictionary or thesaurus. I had previously installed Merriam Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus apps separately, but someone recommended this one and it works. It asks you to download the entire word database to use it offline, but I haven't bothered to do that yet.
Anti-virus
No telling yet if this is a goodie or a baddie, but it was free and had very good reviews.
CalorieCounter
I quite like this app, but I'm not too familiar with it yet. It does allow you to scan barcodes of food items, which worked on a box of Golden Grahams so well I didn't eat any for breakfast this morning. After inputting my dinner meal, I found out I had 43% of my daily intake left to consume - or not. It has the traditional US-market oriented features like restaurants, fast food chains, and prepackaged foods. I rarely eat out and almost never cook from a box, so I'll get less from those features of the app, but so far so good.
I'm waiting to see if after a few days if it will help me track my weight in the sense that it will tell me how long at my current calorie intake and exercise schedule it will take me to reach my goal weight, but so far it doesn't look like that is one of the features, which is a big bummer.
Marvel Comics / DC Comics
Fairly standard. You can buy comics, review, get news, and every now and then preview a freebie.
Google
Google's various apps are rather fun. I use Gmail,Goggles,Maps,and Docs.
Apps I Love:
These are harder to find. I love Angry Birds but it eats up a lot of my time. I am on the line between like and love with Evernote, but I can tell you honestly I didn't like Springpad one bit. The app I'm loving the most right now is Thinking Space. I have barely begun to use it, but being able to map out my ideas while I'm sitting on a train (it's 45 minutes to Paris) is going to make me very happy.
Now hate is a strong word, but here's the app I hate. Samsung's Kies.
I was only using it to move my music to my phone, but did it ever piss me off. I was using wi-fi to transfer music. Kies didn't recognise all my music - fine, there's some problem with the ID3, normal stuff. I kept transferring. An hour went by. It moved 7 songs. I plugged in my phone via USB. It took ages for the phone and my computer to settle their difference, i.e. for the drivers for the phone to download. Then Kies told me I needed to update the firmware, but that I didn't have enough space. I tried to resolve the space issue. The update kept failing. As did my patience.
In the end I opted to drag and drop music into the folder for my phone under media. Not all songs copied. Not all the artwork copied. It drove me nuts until 4 in the morning.
Now I have music on my phone, but it's not ideal. I'm holding out for news on the release of Google Music, which will offer a cloud service that will allow you to stream up to 20,000 songs to your phone anywhere. In the meantime, I'll just put up with my current situation, but it's rather frustrating. I have this big feeling Samsung knew there was going to be an issue because of how entrenched iTunes became, but couldn't figure out a reasonable solution because I think they're waiting for Google Music to release worldwide too.
My friend who gave me the phone for my birthday suggested I use Spotify, so I downloaded the app as a trial. The minute I didn't have wi-fi the streaming went to crap. The 3G was too slow so the song kept buffering, ruining what should have been a beautiful foggy walk around the grounds of the chateau de Fontainebleau whilst listening to Joy Division's "Atmosphere". Ten euros a month is a lot given I'm not going to be listening away from home all that often.
So after less than a week, I'm rather pleased with this new bit of tech I'm carrying around. I'll be using it more and more to blog little bits of Paris and my life, but it has most definitely solidified my addiction to Twitter.
I already bought an uninteresting case for my phone and they're aren't as many choices for cases as there are for the iPhone (a tiny shelf at FNAC, the French version of Best Buy for SG2 vs. an entire massive wall for the iPhone), but here are some I'm coveting should I ever want a change.
To my friends who read this blog, yes I already subjected you to this barrage on FB, I know. I'm sorry.
All examples from Amazon or Mobifun.
But getting my Galaxy S2 later has its advantages. Android Market is now teeming with apps. After consulting my few friends who use a Android device of some kind (apparently there is a subculture of "geeks" who use iPhone over Android called "iGeeks"), I've spent the past few days scooping out what's out there and I kept a list.
I should mention I have paid for no apps yet. Tho I have been tempted to pay for Angry Birds just to remove the ads.
Apps I Like:
ColorNote
ColorNote is a Post-It app for your phone that allows you to post notes to yourself on your home screen(s). My only complaint is that it lacks a "ping" feature to remind you.
AK Notepad
You can use this app as a standard notepad, but you can also create checklists for yourself and set reminders for specific times. I've been using it to remind me I need to write.
SoundBoard Pro Extreme
I tried a lot of soundboard apps and this is by far the best. It has 8 farting noises, gunfire, bomb explosions, people laughing, and a nice slow, sardonic clap.
Alarm Clock Plus
This app lets you store multiple alarms and gives you an option of requiring the correct answer to a math problem to snooze or dismiss alarms. Easy gave me double digit addition questions this morning. Very hard gave me something similar to this:
(1723 - 132) x 2
I tested it wide awake and it wasn't easy, so I think I'll be setting it for something a little easier or else the alarm is going to go off forever...
The app also gives you a nice digital display of the time, your location, and the weather for the week.
Advanced English Dictionary & Thesaurus
Now if I'm going to pay for an app, it probably won't be for a dictionary or thesaurus. I had previously installed Merriam Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus apps separately, but someone recommended this one and it works. It asks you to download the entire word database to use it offline, but I haven't bothered to do that yet.
Anti-virus
No telling yet if this is a goodie or a baddie, but it was free and had very good reviews.
CalorieCounter
I quite like this app, but I'm not too familiar with it yet. It does allow you to scan barcodes of food items, which worked on a box of Golden Grahams so well I didn't eat any for breakfast this morning. After inputting my dinner meal, I found out I had 43% of my daily intake left to consume - or not. It has the traditional US-market oriented features like restaurants, fast food chains, and prepackaged foods. I rarely eat out and almost never cook from a box, so I'll get less from those features of the app, but so far so good.
I'm waiting to see if after a few days if it will help me track my weight in the sense that it will tell me how long at my current calorie intake and exercise schedule it will take me to reach my goal weight, but so far it doesn't look like that is one of the features, which is a big bummer.
Marvel Comics / DC Comics
Fairly standard. You can buy comics, review, get news, and every now and then preview a freebie.
Google's various apps are rather fun. I use Gmail,Goggles,Maps,and Docs.
Apps I Love:
These are harder to find. I love Angry Birds but it eats up a lot of my time. I am on the line between like and love with Evernote, but I can tell you honestly I didn't like Springpad one bit. The app I'm loving the most right now is Thinking Space. I have barely begun to use it, but being able to map out my ideas while I'm sitting on a train (it's 45 minutes to Paris) is going to make me very happy.
Now hate is a strong word, but here's the app I hate. Samsung's Kies.
I was only using it to move my music to my phone, but did it ever piss me off. I was using wi-fi to transfer music. Kies didn't recognise all my music - fine, there's some problem with the ID3, normal stuff. I kept transferring. An hour went by. It moved 7 songs. I plugged in my phone via USB. It took ages for the phone and my computer to settle their difference, i.e. for the drivers for the phone to download. Then Kies told me I needed to update the firmware, but that I didn't have enough space. I tried to resolve the space issue. The update kept failing. As did my patience.
In the end I opted to drag and drop music into the folder for my phone under media. Not all songs copied. Not all the artwork copied. It drove me nuts until 4 in the morning.
Now I have music on my phone, but it's not ideal. I'm holding out for news on the release of Google Music, which will offer a cloud service that will allow you to stream up to 20,000 songs to your phone anywhere. In the meantime, I'll just put up with my current situation, but it's rather frustrating. I have this big feeling Samsung knew there was going to be an issue because of how entrenched iTunes became, but couldn't figure out a reasonable solution because I think they're waiting for Google Music to release worldwide too.
My friend who gave me the phone for my birthday suggested I use Spotify, so I downloaded the app as a trial. The minute I didn't have wi-fi the streaming went to crap. The 3G was too slow so the song kept buffering, ruining what should have been a beautiful foggy walk around the grounds of the chateau de Fontainebleau whilst listening to Joy Division's "Atmosphere". Ten euros a month is a lot given I'm not going to be listening away from home all that often.
So after less than a week, I'm rather pleased with this new bit of tech I'm carrying around. I'll be using it more and more to blog little bits of Paris and my life, but it has most definitely solidified my addiction to Twitter.
I already bought an uninteresting case for my phone and they're aren't as many choices for cases as there are for the iPhone (a tiny shelf at FNAC, the French version of Best Buy for SG2 vs. an entire massive wall for the iPhone), but here are some I'm coveting should I ever want a change.
To my friends who read this blog, yes I already subjected you to this barrage on FB, I know. I'm sorry.
 |
| Because it has superpowers.And because DC hasn't made one for Wonder Woman. |
 |
| Koala bear that looks more like a panda. |
 |
| Koala that looks more like a bear, but like a 8-bit version of Winnie the Pooh. |
All examples from Amazon or Mobifun.
