A few weeks ago I wrote about how you can easily take screenshots on your Android phone without an app or rooting. That has been a life-saver for me as I have started writing for this blog as screenshots can be extremely illustrative in a post. I have always been somewhat annoyed, however, at the necessity of needing a cable to transfer those files onto my PC. It is a wireless phone, so why can’t I do it wirelessly? It seems that others have shared this same frustration and someone finally decided to do something about it. If you’re still with me, read past the break and I’ll explain exactly how you can do this for your self in a few relatively simple steps.
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Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference between features of Android and features vs enhancements provided by the hardware manufacture. On the Motorola Droid Bionic if you press the ignore button on an incoming call you are prompted with the option to send the incoming caller a SMS message. This feature provides the option to create a new message or use predefined messages which is sent to to the missed callers number.
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A few weeks back I was sitting in my office, where I normally have a very nice 4G signal, and all of the sudden I could not get a data connection whatsoever. I went and grabbed my wife’s phone (we work in the same office and have the same phone) and she had a 4G signal and complete data coverage. After several calls to T-Mobile to no avail, my old friend Google finally came to my rescue in the form of a secret Android developers code. I’d like to take you through the process of how I was able, with just a few button presses, to restore my phone to its 4G glory.
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I thought that it might be worthwhile to show how my battery usage went after my first full and long day on the road, using the Droid Bionic. This included a very early start (5 am), 2 canceled flights, a change of airline carrier, 7 hours sitting in an airport, 90 minutes of travel through heavy city traffic and dinner with colleagues before I hit my hotel at 11 pm. You will note that I got about 1 hour of recharge time during the cross-city drive by plugging into the convenient USB port of my rental car. The lowest my battery got was somewhere between 25-30% remaining. I could easily see that that was not going to get me through the evening.
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A few months ago, to everyone’s delight, Netflix announced that it would finally be releasing an app for Android phones. That is, until you read the fine print. The official app would only work on a few select phones, including the T-Mobile G2.
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If I wanted to compare the Droid Bionic to a vehicle, I would need to think about a Smartphone that sucks down battery power faster than a locomotive can consume fuel. When I am using the phone a moderate amount, the battery can drain in 3 hours 30 minutes. That is roughly 525 mAH/per hour, considering the battery is only 1735 mAH, this is terrible. Now, mind you, I am using the phone as it comes from the carrier without any of my special tweeks to extend battery life. Over the first couple days, the battery life has been so bad that it actually takes significantly longer to charge the battery than discharge. See the chart above about, 5 hours to charge, 3 hrs 30 minutes to drain the battery.
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A new Gingerbread update to version 2.3.4 began rolling out on August 18 for devices like the HTC Sensation 4G and the HTC Evo 3D. Of the numerous changes made to android, which can be found here, there was a feature that was not listed on any of the websites that I perused, namely the ability to take a screenshot with the touch of a button (or 2, as the case may be). Let me show you how this works.
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If you have ever been a fan of Madden NFL you have wasted many hours in front of a TV and now you can waste that time anywhere you have an Android Phone. EA sports has announced that Madden NFL 12 is available in the Android Market. The app requires android 2.1 or higher but unfortunately is not available on Android tablets.
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Well, it is official. The LG Thrill 4G is coming to AT&T on September 4. This phone was previously known as the LG Optimus 3D, in case you are totally confused about where this came from. The 4.3″ glasses-free 3D phone has a dual-core TI OMAP 1 Ghz CPU, and should be a great device. Rumor is that it will be on the market at an amazing price. We have seen prices of just $99 from AT&T with a new 2-year contract rather than the usual $199 price tag. As well as $79 in Target and RadioShack ads. If you decide to pick up this device, let us know how it goes.
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If you own the HTC Thunderbolt it is likely and have tried a video call with Skype it is likely you could only use the rear facing camera. We have heard from many readers that they cannot get the Thunderbolt to switch to the front facing camera. We have confirmed this behavior and all we know is Thunderbolt Users may have to wait on Gingerbread for a fix. Hopefully that is not the case.