(no subject)
Time for another post! Two in one week - what are the odds?
I've been playing around with my new phone I got back in the beginning of November. It's a Motorola Droid. It is awesome (like a hot-dog). It has some quirks, runs a little slow at times, but it's completely customizable, unlike the iPhone. That is, of course, your iPhone is jailbroken; and then, yes: the iPhone, too, is pretty awesome (sorta like a hot-dog).
The apps still seem to have an unpolished feel to them. The web browsers, for instance, are jumpy and laggy when compared to the smooth-as-butter browsing experience the iPhone offers. But, I digress.
The point of this post was to say that I have hacked the ever-loving shit out of my phone. It's my phone. Why should I pay hundreds of dollu$ cash for something that anyone else can have that looks the same as everyone else's? I thought Apple was trying to break the mold of comformity (ever seen their 1984 Super Bowl commercial championing the new Macintosh computer?), not stick everyone in the same boring iBox. I have to give props to Verizon, as well, considering that up until now you were lucky if you could get anything customizable on their network.
I've got a customized build of the 2.0.1 ROM with root/superuser access, overclocked CPU, and multitouch (pinch and zoom) browsing. Another interesting application I have is the Swype softkeyboard. Instead of typing, you just glide one finger over some letters and BAM it does a pretty swell job of predicting what you're trying to type (within reason). And in order to do all this neat stuff, I've been having to learn Linux bash commands. It's been a pretty fun way to get back into techgeekiness.
Now, for some of my favorite apps!
gStrings - It's a chromatic instrument tuner, and it works pretty damn well.
Layar Reality Browser - Uses the phone's camera and GPS and internet to overlay real-time information on the screen of what you're looking at.
Google Goggles - Allows you to take a picture of a product label, piece of artwork, a business card, etc., and does an internet search using that data. Don't know what you're looking at? Goggle it!
Sky Map - Uses the phone's internet compass and GPS location to give you a view of the sky where you're standing. Great for locating stars, constellations, planets, and the Mothership.
Google Voice - I'm just using it for visual voicemail, so I can get around paying Verizon $3 more.
Weather Widgets/Beautiful Widgets - Home screen widget that displays a large clock and weather information.
Shazam - Can't figure out what you're listening to? Just let Shazam hear it and it will identify it.
Ringdroid - Allows you to create custom ringtones on your phone using the music you've got stored on the SD card.
I guess that's enough for now. I'll try to be a better LJ buddy and not spam your f-lists with Android fanboyisms.
I've been playing around with my new phone I got back in the beginning of November. It's a Motorola Droid. It is awesome (like a hot-dog). It has some quirks, runs a little slow at times, but it's completely customizable, unlike the iPhone. That is, of course, your iPhone is jailbroken; and then, yes: the iPhone, too, is pretty awesome (sorta like a hot-dog).
The apps still seem to have an unpolished feel to them. The web browsers, for instance, are jumpy and laggy when compared to the smooth-as-butter browsing experience the iPhone offers. But, I digress.
The point of this post was to say that I have hacked the ever-loving shit out of my phone. It's my phone. Why should I pay hundreds of dollu$ cash for something that anyone else can have that looks the same as everyone else's? I thought Apple was trying to break the mold of comformity (ever seen their 1984 Super Bowl commercial championing the new Macintosh computer?), not stick everyone in the same boring iBox. I have to give props to Verizon, as well, considering that up until now you were lucky if you could get anything customizable on their network.
I've got a customized build of the 2.0.1 ROM with root/superuser access, overclocked CPU, and multitouch (pinch and zoom) browsing. Another interesting application I have is the Swype softkeyboard. Instead of typing, you just glide one finger over some letters and BAM it does a pretty swell job of predicting what you're trying to type (within reason). And in order to do all this neat stuff, I've been having to learn Linux bash commands. It's been a pretty fun way to get back into techgeekiness.
Now, for some of my favorite apps!
gStrings - It's a chromatic instrument tuner, and it works pretty damn well.
Layar Reality Browser - Uses the phone's camera and GPS and internet to overlay real-time information on the screen of what you're looking at.
Google Goggles - Allows you to take a picture of a product label, piece of artwork, a business card, etc., and does an internet search using that data. Don't know what you're looking at? Goggle it!
Sky Map - Uses the phone's internet compass and GPS location to give you a view of the sky where you're standing. Great for locating stars, constellations, planets, and the Mothership.
Google Voice - I'm just using it for visual voicemail, so I can get around paying Verizon $3 more.
Weather Widgets/Beautiful Widgets - Home screen widget that displays a large clock and weather information.
Shazam - Can't figure out what you're listening to? Just let Shazam hear it and it will identify it.
Ringdroid - Allows you to create custom ringtones on your phone using the music you've got stored on the SD card.
I guess that's enough for now. I'll try to be a better LJ buddy and not spam your f-lists with Android fanboyisms.