Blake's Blog

Most people think that there aren’t any good apps out there for Android. Instead, they say that you need to get an iPhone to truly appreciate the App experience. As a Droid owner, I can tell you that there are a fair amount of useful apps and to that end, I have put together a list of some of my favorites, in no particular order.

CardioTrainer – This app features the ability to tap into the integrated GPS and also log your workout. Whether it’s running, walking, hiking, etc., it logs it and then you can save a history and access it online. I’ve been using it lately to just track how far I’ve been walking in NYC–it’s accurate 95% of the time, and I’ve had a couple of “how did it think i was THERE?” moments, which are more a flaw of the GPS, not the app.

Google Sky Map – While this app isn’t necessary that useful, it’s a super cool way of showing off your Droid.

Key Ring – This app replaces my loyalty cards at a set of retailers with a barcode image. It’s easy to set up but I have had marginal luck with getting this thing to work. That said, I am sticking with it for now, hoping that updates improve performance.

Locale – This app let’s you create multiple phone

settings instances (modifying things like volume, brightness, etc) based on specific criteria. For example, I have it set to switch to vibrate when I get to the office, or set to full ringer volume when at home. You can also create a profile to modify screen brightness when your battery is below a certain percentage. This app works so well that I don’t even think about putting my phone on vibrate in the office.

Phonalyzer – This is another useless but interesting app that gives you different charts showing aspects of your phone usage. It visually represents things like which days of the week have the most activity (by calls & minutes), which time of day gets the most call activity, etc.

Pkt Auctions eBay – This one features a simple interface that let’s you manage your eBay auctions (selling, watching, buying). It also allows you to use the scan a barcode and do a quick eBay lookup.

Recordoid – This app features an interface that looks like an old school cassette recorder, but is a voice recorder. You can use the app to save voice notes, even tagging them with a GPS location.

Ringdroid – Use this app to slice and dice MP3s into ringtones. It offers a really easy to use interface, too.

Shazam – Like its iPhone counterpart, this app listens to a few seconds of a song and then tries to identify the song & artist. I tend to use this while listening to my Sirius radio in order to store a list of songs/artists I want to check out later.

ShopSavvy – scan a barcode and look up both web & local pricing info using this app. Unfortunately it needs good light conditions to get a good snapshot of the barcode. I’ve had great results, with it even pulling user reviews. The coolest thing about the app is that it’s all handled right on the phone. For example, find a product, scan its barcode, get a list of local stores with the item in stock, select one of the stores, and then get Android navigation to that store. How cool is that?

SportsTap – This is an awesome app for getting sports news and scores, including in-game details such as box scores as well. A bonus is that there’s a great desktop widget, too.

StarTranslate – There are many translation apps on the market, all using Google’s translation API. This one is great, however, because it integrates with the TTS Service Extender to speak the translated phrase. This is definitely handy when struggling in that foreign country.

Weather Channel – This app works like a charm. It gets you current conditions, hourly, three day and ten day forecasts.

Do you have some favorite Android apps? Share your list below.

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Cell phone in toilet photo by jurvetson via Flickr

As if we didn’t put our mobile phones through enough. They’ve fallen on the sidewalk and off of tables, and they’ve jumped out of our oddly shaped pockets when we step off the bus.

Most mobiles are built to weather these day-to-day beatings, but the vast majority remain decidedly inept at weathering weather; not to mention a rinse cycle or — heaven forbid — the toilet. Even if things don’t look so promising after your phone goes skinny dipping, you might as well try your damndest to save it while you can.

This article is a wiki. A wiki means it relies on the contributions of its community. If you want to take the plunge, edit this article here.

Contents [hide] 1 Color Me Bummed 2 First Things First 3 Don’t Eat ‘Em, But… 4 Suck? Blow? 5 In the Future

Color Me Bummed

Some cellphones, including the Motorola Razr, actually have an indicator telling you how wet your phone really is. There’s a little open hole near your battery that’s supposed to be as white as snow. If that fella is red (and it will be if your phone is beyond repair or near death), it might be time to move quickly to the emergency room or start dipping into your rainy-day fund.

Manufacturers put these moisture indicators in phones so that they may deny your warranty claim in the event the device was damaged by water.

First Things First

Electronic devices, being the pesky little beasts they are, seem to hate water. Therefore, cut the power to your waterlogged device immediately by removing the battery. Don’t even think about trying to turn it on to see if it works, because this will probably end up shorting any circuits that were still up and running. Remove the SIM card as well. Even if your phone is toast, all your contacts might still be retrievable.

Now that you’ve got your battery trapdoor open, and the battery and SIM card (most SIM cards are actually made of paper or plastic) are drying out on their own, it’s time to focus on your prime directive: Dry this thing now. If you just let it sit out, your phone might just corrode itself to death. So you have to move quickly to make sure all the water that found its way into your phone is coaxed out through roughly the same channels. This will minimize the damage.

Don’t Eat ‘Em, But…

So, you know those annoying little silica packets that kind of (we said kind of!) look like salt and pepper? The ones you find in your shoeboxes, purses, and jacket pockets? The ones you’re so not even supposed to think about eating?

They might be your least invasive, most reliable bet in the realm of cellphone panic, as their purpose in life is to sop up moisture where it shouldn’t be. Throw a few of these with your phone in a sealed sandwich bag, and let it sit in a warm, dry place for a few days. No silica packets? A bunch of uncooked rice will do the same thing.

Suck? Blow?

Ah, the eternal question. The answer is that effectiveness varies. Most say no to the hair-dryer option, as its hair-frying heat might kill the delicate parts in your device. There are mixed reviews on low-pressure cans of compressed air, mostly because many swear that pushing water in (instead of sucking it out) will do even more damage. A handheld vacuum cleaner might do the trick as well. If you’re in a warm, dry place already, even better: Keep your phone away from direct light and it’s sure to dry efficiently.

In the Future

The crystal ball says more-water-resistant phones are likely to crop up in the near future. Meanwhile, some good news: there are actually a handful of decent ones on the market already, including the Motorola Adventure and the Casio G’zOne, with more cropping up (and being reviewed) every day.

The bad news, however, is that few of these water-resistant phones are the sexy ones anyone actually wants to have. So keep those Droids and iPhones under the umbrella and away from the pool for now.

This page was last modified 00:48, 24 December 2009 by bruckley. Based on work by ralfred and howto_admin.

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