Cranking out news for the geeks, music buffs and gossip junkies, my way. -Greg

Seems like just a few days ago I was wishing for an updated version of WordPress for Android. Well it was only few days ago and yesterday my wish came true. Automattic has released a sizeable update to WordPress for Android. This thing has really become a realistic tool to blog with now. They have added a bunch more features and gave it a friendlier interface and polished the look. Let’s not forget it’s now been optimized for tablets.

Here are some of the new features and updates:

• New UI: Action Bar and Dashboard
• New Post Editor with formatting toolbar
• Tablet Support – scrollable item list optimized for the extra real-estate
• Background post uploading
• Media – Titles, Captions, and Placement

One of my biggest challenges was trying to make blogging in WordPress from my Xoom. Automattic’s WordPress for Android was very helpful in making that a little easier. The only major problem I had was with media. Not being able to control the alignment of my media, being able to correctly title pictures, and adding captions just weren’t possible. I would have to create drafts, upload them, and then login from my desktop to make final edits before publishing each post. Not anymore, now that Automattic has addressed all the fore mentioned. WordPress 2.0 for Android is now more usable than ever and with CES 2012 just around the corner this couldn’t have come at a better time. Between my Motorola Xoom and WordPress for Android, live blogging should be a snap when I get to CES. –Greg

Automattic’s WordPress 2.0 for Android

Google’s official blog announced today that they have acquired Motorola Mobility to the sum of 12.5 billion dollars. Google is quoted as saying “Supercharging Android”, which I think is a perfect way of putting it. Android will now have a long time proven mobile hardware company in its shop to work even closer with Android developers. BOOM goes the dynamite, as the headline will read to good old Steve Jobs. This will definitely be putting enormous pressure on Apple and likely become the slow demise of the iPhone and iPad as we currently know it. Good show Google, good show. –Greg

Credits:
Android Guys

Swype 3.0 Beta is available and now supports tablets running Honeycomb (Android 3.x). This is a huge development for me as I never realized how much I loved Swype until I got my Motorola XOOM and couldn’t use it anymore. I’ve already downloaded and installed it on my XOOM and I must say it’s pretty dang sweet! Among support for Honeycomb the new 3.0 has a bunch of new added features that really set it apart from any other keyboard. Here are a few straight from Swypes website:

• Swype v3 introduces two major new features: Tap Correction and Horizontal Word Choice List
• Our Tap Correction engine utilizes many of the concepts that make swyping so accurate. Seamlessly go from typing to swyping and back without missing a beat!
• The Horizontal Word Choice List replaces our popup word choice window, giving users an experience more in-line with evolving Android standards. It also makes dictionary control and word selection faster and easier.
• Swype v3 is available for devices with HVGA, WVGA, FWVGA, QVGA, WQVGA, WSVGA, qHD screen sizes

I would head over to Swypes website, download, and install it today. –Greg

Otterbox the company known for making cases to overly protect our mobile electronic devices has released one for the XOOM.  As their website states “A high quality polycarbonate shell snaps around your tablet, while an impact absorbing silicone skin wraps around the outside of the shell to complete the case. The removable shield includes a pop up stand that has two angles great for typing or viewing videos. These all add up to rugged protection that keeps your XOOM safe from harm no matter where you use it.” Enough said? Actually there’s more, unlike almost all the cases currently out for the XOOM Otterbox made small and easy opening doors to get access to the external ports and the microSD slot. That alone sets this case apart from most. Is it worth $89.95, well I guess if your a little rough on devices like this then $89.95 is more than worth it to protect a $500+ purchase. -Greg

Otterbox for XOOM

So I’ve had my Skinomi TechSkin™ for about a week now and I love it. I originally had the official Motorola Case for it and knew after the first 5 minutes I would be returning it as soon as I could get a replacement. It felt bulky and cheaply constructed, not to mention that you could not charge it while the case was closed. Anyway back to the TechSkin™, I wanted something that would protect from scratches, scuffs, and light potential damage. I thought a skin would be perfect and was right. I did a quick bit of research and decided to go for the Skinomi. This came with the skin and the screen protector as well. I opted for the Dark Wood Grain skin, which is awesome, but they have a few to select from. Looks fantastic and has a nice wood grain flow between all the separate pieces of the skin. After reading the installation instructions and watching the video I grabbed the ol’ lady’s blow dryer and went to work. It took me about 20-25 minutes to complete and had absolutely no issues. It still looks great, no corner curls or loose spots. Now I have confidence that I will not scratch my Xoom and it really feels like I don’t have anything added to it. If your out for a protection solution that is durable, doesn’t add mass, and looks great then Skinomi TechSkin™ is for you. -Greg

I’ve only owned the Xoom for a couple days now and can say without hesitation that it’s a sweet piece of hardware. I’m not going to get to deep, just a high level review. The hardware itself is of decent size and weight. Now its not going to fit in my pocket, nor do I want it too, but fits nicely in my hands. The weight isn’t overwhelming and gives you a nice sturdy, well built feel you want in any electronic device. The Honeycomb (Android 3.0) UI is pretty slick and works well with the hardware. I see no lag in moving around within the interface as I move from screen to screen and menu to menu. The amount of “real estate” that you have available to you is almost excessive when going from a smart phone to the tab. I’m sure that will change with the addition of widgets and apps. I spent probably over 5 hours just messing with the appearance and settings of my Xoom.. I don’t want to give you the wrong impression here. I didn’t spend that much time because I couldn’t figure it out. I spent hours because I wanted to learn about every setting I could change and adjust as well as I wanted to change and adjust everything I could to my liking. The stock browser works well, but I went over and grabbed Dolphin HD. I used Dolphin before on my phone, but felt it wasn’t a good match. Using a 10” screen I think using the extra neat features like gestures of Dolphin worked well. The speed of the 3G seems ok; however I have stuck to Wi-Fi and have been pretty happy. I’ve taken a few pictures with the rear camera with and with out the flash and they look as to be expected, great, but not drop dead awesome. I’ve messed with the front facing camera a little, but haven’t done anything neat yet. Typing on this nice size screen is a breeze, however will be looking to get Swype on here ASAP. The battery life has been good, I have had it off the charger since yesterday morning around 6AM-ish, I’ve used it a lot through out the day yesterday and evening and used it today, currently I’m sitting on about 50% life left. I think that’s pretty good considering that about 12 hours of use and the rest standby. The only downfall I currently see is the lack of widgets and apps that take advantage of the size of my Xoom. Overall I would give the Xoom a huge two thumbs up!! -Greg

My unbiased story of another users experience leaving the iPhone to Android. Originally an iPhone user he finally made the break of Apples tight grip of an OS to Android. First choice was the Samsung Captivate, a Galaxy S phone. I think it was the obvious choice for him as it was the best option of the 3 Android phones from AT&T at that time. Not to mention I was very happy with mine. First impressions as an owner was not the greatest as he quickly noticed some problems. No easy 1 button click to a silent mode and syncing email to exchange was problematic from the start. Soon he updated to Froyo 2.2 (found here) and quickly followed with using custom ROMs, via ROM Manager and Cognition. His happiness was only short lived with the Captivate and the new ROMs as he began to have the phone shut-off at random. This seemed to be strictly a hardware issue and was resolved with a trip to AT&T and getting a replacement. Since email was high priority use of his phone and the issues for email continued, He actually contemplated going back to his iPhone. Enter the htc Inspire, the latest Android phone from AT&T. Within 28 days of first purchasing the Samsung Captivate he had, upgraded to 2.2, used custom ROMs, replaced the phone and finally traded it back in for the htc Inspire. He has only had the Inspire for less than 24 hours as I write this, but has implied clearly that it has been a better purchase than the Captivate and may lie on the same playing field as the iPhone.

So to summarize the issues and ratings he has suggested; Captivate had problems with exchange and playing music stored on the phone. He rates the Captivate under the iPhone for these reasons and currently rates his new htc Inspire at the same level as the iPhone. He is as of now still currently happy to be away from Apple and I will update this once he has had the Inspire longer.

I tried to keep my own thoughts and opinions away from everything up to now, you honestly didn’t think I would leave my opinion completely out did you? Some things I would like to point out is obviously the no easy button for silence is user preference, working with anything custom is always prone to bugs, however he did point out that he had the email issue prior to touching the OS. I know of another Captivate user that seemed to be having problems with email as well. His wasn’t exchange, but actually Yahoo. Myself I get to much personal email to mess with my main Yahoo email, so I send only a very small amount to my Gmail account which I get on my phone. Another few that I’d like to point out is that the Captivate and Inspire have the same speed CPU. Captivate has 4 times the internal memory and a Super AMOLED screen. The Inspire has an 8megapixel camera with an LED flash as well as .3 inches more of a screen. Inspire is also a 4G phone, although it’s not wide spread yet. I think the biggest thing to point out is that the Inspire comes with Froyo. This is huge because it works and is made to work and will be less likely to have bugs unlike the Captivate which is sure to have many since Samsung doesn’t care. Having 2.2 can only be accomplished using custom ROMs’ or custom upgrades which although helps getting flash and hotspot ability, it also brings more bugs.  Overall I think the Captivate was a big shot that only has become a failure due to the lack of OS support and updating from Samsung. The biggest example of this is the GPS a feature that only works well if you have used a custom ROM. They have taken a great piece of hardware, shoved it out the door and never looked at it again.

With all the devices coming to the market at increasing speed, everyone’s phone is sure to be outdated by the time they get it home. So, I guess what should become a big part in the decision of you next phone isn’t as much the hardware, but more will the maker support the damn thing after you get it home and update the OS. Samsung obviously won’t. Will I trade in my Captivate for the Inspire or the upcoming Atrix? No, I’m still going to stand behind my Captivate and keep it as it still does what I want it too and works pretty well. -Greg