Brad Ganley - 4/11 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Brad Ganley

An Android power user, Brad consumes most of his free time with unhealthy amounts of cell phones and cell phone related things when he isn't playing with his son. Brad is also an avid movie-watcher and tea-drinker.

Mar

[Review] Texty Brings Texting To Your Computer Because You're Not Texting Enough Already

Posted by Brad Ganley in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, News, Reviews

Last Updated: February 8th, 2012

If you're anything like me, you text constantly. There are times, however, that I put my phone down and hop on the computer to do some more in-depth tasks or just enjoy some good, old-fashioned big-screen browsing. When I'm doing that, it's usually a pain to receive a text message, have to dig out my phone, open the messaging app, and use a tiny keyboard to reply, even though I'm sitting at a much larger, easier to use keyboard. Well, that's not a problem anymore - now I've got Texty.

Texty is an app that will forward your text messages directly from your phone to your desktop (specifically, Chrome) using cloud magic and allow you to reply from your computer through your phone's messaging app.

Feb

[Hands-On] Neato: Asurion Steps Up Its Game, Sprint TEP Subscribers Reap The Benefits

Posted by Brad Ganley in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, Carriers, News, Reviews, Sprint

Last Updated: September 11th, 2012

Good news for all you prepared individuals out there who are subscribed to Sprints TEP (Total Equipment Protection) plan: You now have access to a new app that adds a whole new level of useful to protecting your device through Asurion, the third party company that handles the insurance rigmarole for Sprint (and pretty much every other U.S. carrier, but they don't get an app).

The Sprint Total Equipment Protection App essentially mirrors the functionality of services like Lookout Mobile Security (but without the antivirus part): It can be used for locating your phone via GPS, helping to find it by sounding an alarm (even when on silent mode), backing up your contacts, remotely locking your device with a pin code, and remotely wiping the contacts.

Feb

[Video Review] The Jawbone ERA Puts All Your Other Bluetooth Headsets To Shame

Posted by Brad Ganley in Devices By Manufacturer, Jawbone, News, Other Reviews, Reviews, Videos

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

I recently broke down and picked up a Bluetooth headset. I needed something to talk on while driving a stick-shift or working with both my hands. I wanted to get something awesome because, honestly, it's go big or go home when it comes to Bluetooth headsets, and you get what you pay for. I paid for a Jawbone ERA, and I got the best Bluetooth experience I've ever had (and I've had every iteration of the Jawbone at one time or another). I shot a quick video to show you all the features, but I couldn't show you everything using my camera, so there will be screenshots and explanations after that.

Jan

Worms Now Available In Market, Productivity Takes Another Massive Hit World-Wide

Posted by Brad Ganley in Apps/Games, Games, News

Worms, the much-anticipated game by EA Mobile, is now available in the Android market for $2.99. Between this and Angry Birds, you're never going to get any work done.

Worms is a turn-based strategy game centering around your battle worms duking it out with other battle worms. You get all the classic weapons from the original Worms, as well as the hilarious dialogue and animation. The game looks great and gameplay is buttery-smooth on my Evo. If you like bugs, crazy weapons, and/or explosions, this is the game for you.

You can grab it from the market by scanning this barcode:

Jan

Task Identifier Tells You Your Apps' Secrets

Posted by Brad Ganley in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, News, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

XDA user x2kjosh got curious about what exactly his phone was doing at any given time, as I'm sure we all have at some point. Your GPS icon randomly showing up in the task bar is a perfect example: What the hell is it doing there? What app is getting my location? Obviously tired of all the questions, Josh wrote a handy little app called Task Identifier.

The idea of it is simple: Notify the user whenever an app is loaded into memory. It's a pretty straightforward concept, but it is actually really interesting to use. It's hard to explain, so I'll just put the description for the thread and some pictures here:

This is not another Auto Task Killer, no.

Jan

[Review] Thumb Keyboard Makes Two-Handed Typing A Breeze

Posted by Brad Ganley in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, News, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

If there's one thing an Android power user really appreciates, it's options. I personally enjoy having a myriad of different apps to choose from for a single task so that I can find the one that best suits my needs, one of which is typing.

By now, we all know that there is no shortage of keyboard alternatives for Android users to choose from, but truly great and innovative keyboards can be somewhat hard to come by. If you like typing with two thumbs, though, I think I've found the perfect keyboard for you.

Thumb Keyboard is an input method that, at first, looks a little bit intimidating.

Jan

Videosurf Will Bring Video Recognition To Your Cell Phone; "It's Like Shazam, But For Video."

Posted by Brad Ganley in Applications, Apps/Games, News, Videos

With all the mind-blowing news coming in from CES 2011, it's easy to forget that interesting and innovative things are coming from other sources at the same time. Here is one of those sources.

A new service somewhat reminiscent of Shazam and Sound Hound has surfaced on our radar, but with one major distinction: this app does videos. Using proprietary algorithms and software (read: magic), newcomer Videosurf will not only help you identify what T.V. show or movie you're watching, but what episode you're looking at, summaries, actors, actor information, and all kinds of information you didn't know you were missing out on right there on your cell phone.

Jan

Pretend You're A Musician On The Go With Rock Band Mobile, Complete With Multiplayer

Posted by Brad Ganley in Apps/Games, Games, News, Verizon Wireless, Videos

Well, folks, the hits keep on coming from CES. Verizon, who seems to be dominating the Android portion of the conference, has just sent us word of its latest foray into the gaming world with Rock Band Mobile. For now, it is only available on Verizon LTE devices and allows you to play some of your favorite songs wirelessly with your friends. It also allows you to play all of your favorite instruments from the console version, including vocals, which will, arguably, be the most fun to do in a quiet waiting room. We've got a video and a press release for you so you can have all the fun details, too:

ROCK BAND™ COMING TO VERIZON WIRELESS’ 4G LTE MOBILE BROADBAND NETWORK

Popular Music Game, Designed for Android, will Bring Friends Together Over a Cellular Network for the First Time

LAS VEGAS and BASKING RIDGE, N.J.

Jan

Android 2.4 Is Real, Possibly An Incremental Gingerbread Upgrade

Posted by Brad Ganley in Android OS, Gingerbread 2.3, News

It's been a very confusing ride trying to figure out the official version number of Honeycomb, what exactly Honeycomb will be, and what devices will get it. Thanks to CES 2011, though, we're finally getting some answers.

At first, we all assumed that Honeycomb would be Android 3.0. Then we saw some evidence suggesting the existence of a Android 2.4. After that, we got the official, final word on the matter: it's 3.0.

Today at CES, a member of Tweakers.net got his hands on one of those new Sony Xperia Arcs that turned out to be running what looks like an early build of Android 2.4.

Jan

Android + Device Built Into Handlebars = Bike Navigation Evolved

Posted by Brad Ganley in Development, News, Videos

In a very awesome and useful display of the innovative genius that we've come to expect from Android developers and modders, Interaction Designer (how awesome does that sound?) Michael Fretz and his team have come up with a bicycle navigation system that can only be described as ingenious. The awkwardly named Punkt.Fizen is a truly creative, original idea that utilizes the power of the Android platform and the versatility of the Arduino.

When I first read about the idea, I wasn't too sure about it but, after reading the intro and description, I got interested: