As I have stated in previous posts, one of the greatest things about the Android OS is the level of customization that is available. You can change anything from the keyboard on your screen to the calender that you use, or the way that your homescreen is set up.
One of the ways that you may want to customize your Android experience is in which browser that you use. The Android phone comes with a built-in browser that does fine, but does not allow you to all of the things that you web addicts may need to do. Since there are several different browsers available on the Android Market, I'm just going to list a few of them and give you a little bit of an idea of their capabilities, but I will come back and do individual reviews on these apps at a later point.
Steel
The Steel browser is a basic tool with a delightfully simple interface. All of your buttons and tools are hidden until you want to access them, and the long press menu is a thing of beauty. I personally played with it for a good fifteen minutes just zooming in and out...But, then, I am very easily entertained. If you want to try the Steel browser though, you may want to hurry, as they have recently been purchased by...
SkyFire
SkyFire is a browser for the Android device that allows you to play Flash videos in a separate page when they are available on the web page that you are browsing. This browser comes with a little tutorial to let you know how to use it, and also has the toolbars that you can hide. Like Opera Mini, SkyFire actually routes all of your page requests through their own servers in order to compress the page and allow you to load it faster. I personally would like it better if it had the long press menu that I loved so much in Steel, but it is still a good way to browse your favorite Flash-laden pages.
Opera Mini 5
Opera Mini is a decent little browser, and is at this point in sort of a beta stage. Your page requests are routed through their browsers in order to compress the page for your phone first, and you have a speed-dial homepage. The Opera browser has some advantages over the stock browser, but SkyFire beats it with it's flash video support. It's a decent little browser though, and more polished versions should be on their way.
Dolphin
This app was for a time the most popular browser on the Android OS, but it has fallen from grace somewhat, partly because of Opera's introduction of their app to the Android Market. The gestures on Dolphin certainly have their use, but, for the most part, I would rather use one of the other browsers. Dolphin also seems to be a lot slower than most of the other options.
So now you know of some of the browsers that are available to you on the Android OS. Go and check a few of them out, and, by all means, let me know what you think!
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Keeping Up With the Androids
One thing that I like to do on my Android is keep track of what's going on in the world today. I like to read about what my friends are doing, and where they're going. I also like to know what's popular, and I like to know what's going on in the world of technology. I'm a curious man. Fortunately, my Android phone has a number of applications to help me keep up with the world around me.
Friends
Facebook
Everybody is on Facebook. Seriously. It seems that every time I log on there's someone else that I used to know that has a Facebook profile. I myself have a Facebook profile, and three fan pages that I admin. So, if your going to keep up with people, it's probably best that you have a Facebook app on your Android. The official Facebook application available on the Android Market works just fine for this task.
Myspace
Myspace seems like a dinosaur at this point, but, for reasons unknown, is actually the number two downloaded social networking app on the Android market, and, for a good while, was actually in the number one spot. With the ability to check and write blog posts, messages, and bulletins, you will be able to keep up with the few friends that may still check their Myspace.
Gowalla
This is, currently, my favorite social networking site. Having the ability to check in to places, and to see where my friends have been hanging out is actually really cool, and I love getting stamps and pins!
What's Popular
Yelp!
I don't know about you guys, but I love trying new things, and one off the best things to have when your going out into the world to try something new is Yelp. Yelp is an online review community, and is one of the best places to look if you want to know what everyone else is saying about the place that you want to go. As their database is community updated, you can find anything in the reviews from what to eat to where to sit. I usually use Yelp to find restaurants, but they cover pretty much anything that there is, and you can add your review on a bank, gas station, or even a public place.
Digg
Is anyone else here interested in what the popular web trends are? Digg is a page ranking site. What happens is that a user submits a website, and other users either dig it or bury it. You can see some of the most popular topics according to the crowds if you just spend a little bit of time looking around in here, and you can make your opinion count as well.
News
Express News
Express news is a news aggregator which, with a little bit of settings adjustments, delivers the news that you want to hear about, and leaves out the stuff that bores you. Political junkie? There are plenty of political channels for you to choose from. Are sports the only thing that you want to hear about? You can make this your sports news app. With its customization options, this is one of the best news applications that I have come across.
NPR News
This is really only on hear because I know that there are a lot of NPR junkies out there. You can browse the NPR topics, add items to your playlist, and listen to them all when you get ready. It's a well-made app, and is worth the download.
Twitter! (Seesmic)
For those of us who like to read our news articles online, this is probably one of the best sources of news you can find. I follow most of the technology and Android review sites, and having Twitter notify me that a new article has been written allows me to stay on top of the tech world. The Twitter client that I use is Seesmic, and I have no complaints about the interface.
There are more options out there that I did not touch on, but that is largely because I don't use them, and I don't want to review it unless I use it. This list is my current method for keeping up with what's going on in the world and with my friends, and I hope that you find it to be useful!
Friends
Everybody is on Facebook. Seriously. It seems that every time I log on there's someone else that I used to know that has a Facebook profile. I myself have a Facebook profile, and three fan pages that I admin. So, if your going to keep up with people, it's probably best that you have a Facebook app on your Android. The official Facebook application available on the Android Market works just fine for this task.
Myspace
Myspace seems like a dinosaur at this point, but, for reasons unknown, is actually the number two downloaded social networking app on the Android market, and, for a good while, was actually in the number one spot. With the ability to check and write blog posts, messages, and bulletins, you will be able to keep up with the few friends that may still check their Myspace.
Gowalla
This is, currently, my favorite social networking site. Having the ability to check in to places, and to see where my friends have been hanging out is actually really cool, and I love getting stamps and pins!
What's Popular
Yelp!
I don't know about you guys, but I love trying new things, and one off the best things to have when your going out into the world to try something new is Yelp. Yelp is an online review community, and is one of the best places to look if you want to know what everyone else is saying about the place that you want to go. As their database is community updated, you can find anything in the reviews from what to eat to where to sit. I usually use Yelp to find restaurants, but they cover pretty much anything that there is, and you can add your review on a bank, gas station, or even a public place.
Digg
Is anyone else here interested in what the popular web trends are? Digg is a page ranking site. What happens is that a user submits a website, and other users either dig it or bury it. You can see some of the most popular topics according to the crowds if you just spend a little bit of time looking around in here, and you can make your opinion count as well.
News
Express News
Express news is a news aggregator which, with a little bit of settings adjustments, delivers the news that you want to hear about, and leaves out the stuff that bores you. Political junkie? There are plenty of political channels for you to choose from. Are sports the only thing that you want to hear about? You can make this your sports news app. With its customization options, this is one of the best news applications that I have come across.
NPR News
This is really only on hear because I know that there are a lot of NPR junkies out there. You can browse the NPR topics, add items to your playlist, and listen to them all when you get ready. It's a well-made app, and is worth the download.
Twitter! (Seesmic)
For those of us who like to read our news articles online, this is probably one of the best sources of news you can find. I follow most of the technology and Android review sites, and having Twitter notify me that a new article has been written allows me to stay on top of the tech world. The Twitter client that I use is Seesmic, and I have no complaints about the interface.
There are more options out there that I did not touch on, but that is largely because I don't use them, and I don't want to review it unless I use it. This list is my current method for keeping up with what's going on in the world and with my friends, and I hope that you find it to be useful!
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