Friendly Security Reminder: If you got a Droid, remember to shred the paper you wrote your Gmail address & password on for the tech rep. I just found mine and fed it to my Fellowes.
Wait, what? Buying an Android phone from a carrier's store requires you to compromise your Google identity and all information that flows in and out of it by forking over your Gmail password to a rep?
- David Chartier
from iPhone
You can't get the phone without a Gmail account, and the tech reps are the only ones who can enter that info for you. I thought it was odd too, but if you see Ima's comment apparently T-mobile does it too. TBH I was horrified at the idea, but the rep told me he'd return the paper (which he did). Kinda unnerving though
- LANjackal
from IM
But I mean think of how many times you hand over your SSN (at the doctor, to your carrier/utility provider, etc.) and you never get the paper back. Nothing to freak out about, just make sure you destroy the paper so you don't have your login credentials floating around out there by accident.
- LANjackal
So, no biggie, just go home and change your password after you get your phone.
- Jeff P. Henderson
To elaborate more on my experience, when I bought my G1, I specifically requested to type in my own gmail account and SSN on their keyboard. I purchased mine at a local Costco. I did have to write down my personal information on a piece of paper. I took it home and shredded it.
- imabonehead
The same ease of use on the Mac too. The SD card just shows up as a mounted disk.
- Jason Huebel
from Android
this is cool! one more question...do you have to find android specific app to install to use or does it work with win os (or linux) apps? like firefox or pdf viewer or openoffice...
- brainno722 (Peter)
I'm not really understanding that question ... since it shows up as an external drive, it functions as one and is accessible from any program on your PC just like any other drive ...
- LANjackal
@Peter, it looks just like you plugged a USB stick in. So anything you could normally do with a plain Jane memory stick you can do with this.
- Jason Huebel
from Android
Because dragging and dropping files back and forth like we used to in 2001, instead of using modern dynamic media databases and smart playlists, is so awesome.
- David Chartier
from iPhone
@David: Because NOT being limited to any particular syncing app is so awesome. I MUCH prefer devices that mount as simple storage to those that are tied to a particular syncing client. The former is simply a LOT more flexible because you're not tied to any particular transfer method. You can always use a 3rd party syncing app with a common storage device, but if the device requires its own syncing app then you're locked into that
- LANjackal
@David: I have yet to come across a default OEM syncing app that I like. I'm glad none ships with the Droid. Also, the Droid automatically finds any music you drop into it regardless of where you drop it, so ... *shrugs*
- LANjackal
@Chris: As much as I'd like to say wait for WinMo 7, MS' track record leads me to believe they'll make the same sync client mistake with that too
- LANjackal
You kidding? Hell, the way they seem to be drooling at the iPhone market, Microsoft probably wants to lock things down even more than they already are.
- Chris, Taskerrific Guy
Well TBH it *might* not be that bad. I've noticed that many devices that ship with WMP sync capability (no download/installation necessary) can also be mounted as simple storage in Windows (see Archos devices as an example).
- LANjackal
The only way MS has a chance against the iPhone (or Android, for that matter) would be if they completely rewrote Windows Mobile. It's a dinosaur.
- Jason Huebel
That's what's happening for v7, actually ...
- LANjackal
from IM
Not really, Win7 is still based on CE, but the WinMo components are getting a total do-over.
- Chris, Taskerrific Guy
So, same old pig, just putting some lipstick on it.
- Jason Huebel
Not quite. That's like saying Windows 7 is the same as Windows NT just because the former descended from the latter.
- LANjackal
Actually, it's more like saying that Ubuntu 9.10 is the same as Slackware v1. Same basic kernel at the bottom, but newer versions, and much different at higher levels.
- Chris, Taskerrific Guy
@posterous is a very very impressive application. It is just starting to flex it's muscles, now importing from major blog platforms. It's strength is very simple, not everyone blogs every day, but everyone sends email ... daily. Think about that for a moment. (via http://friendfeed.com/byronne...)
Only 24% females don't read manual, oh well, I don't like manuals but I do keep em as reference & I do troubleshoot before I need 2 reference my manual or the consumer service or vice versa.
- polou/indigo_bow
from Bookmarklet
RT @Scobleizer: RT @TechCrunch: NSFW: After Fort Hood, another example of how 'citizen journalists' can't handle the truth http://www.techcrunch.com/2009... by @paulcarr
Accuracy is the most important 2 me, when possible, info that I obtain r accurate as they r as press time, as I strive 2 make this a number 1 priority, not #1 in getting news out 1st.
- polou/indigo_bow
Does anyone know how to get upload full-size pics into Facebook via the Android app instead of the itty bitty ones? No obvious setting I can find. Thanks! (UPDATE: FIXED)
"The largest dimension should be at most 604 pixels (the largest display size Facebook supports)" -- http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index... You can use Pixelpipe to upload to both SmugMug, etc. (for the original) and Facebook at the same time.
- Tracy
What I meant was pics that appear as full-size on Facebook instead of looking like thumbnails. Does that make sense? For some reason although my Droid is taking 5MP pics they're getting scaled down to 300px or something when uploaded to Facebook
- LANjackal
from IM
PROBLEM SOLVED: The answer to this is to simply take the pictures directly in the Android 2.0 camera and upload to Facebook from there. Do NOT use the Facebook for Android app itself.
- LANjackal
Thanks for all of the above, I subscribed to quite a few. Big shoutout to Kevin Mohr who's been stumping for Android since I first saw him online
- LANjackal
Does anyone know the name of the charity that donates unwanted cellphones to abused women who need an emergency line? I wanna donate my old Samsung that my Droid replaced. Thanks :)
Try contacting your local shelter or an abuse support group. If the program doesn't exist, you could be the one to start it in your area!
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
Hmmm I'll see what I can do, the local shelter is actually in dire straits, there was a newspaper article about it this week :/
- LANjackal
"we find some evidence that use of social networking services (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn) substitutes for some neighborhood involvement."
- LANjackal
from Bookmarklet
Hotmail.com adresinden giriş yaptığımda “Henüz bir posta kutunuz yok, windows live hotmail için kaydolun" sorununun çözümü..!
- ★ Soner Gönül
from Bookmarklet
A Pew Internet & American Life study has refuted the idea that use of the Internet necessarily leads to decreased social isolation.
- polou/indigo_bow
from Bookmarklet
tempted...but tied to iPhone contract...Android 2.0 is def looking better
- brainno722 (Peter)
I really think I'll be getting one, but I think it's smart to wait for independent reviews. It's gotta at least be better than the Storm 2 for me to bite
- LANjackal
is it really true according to BillShrink.com...that there are over 10k apps in Android market?
- brainno722 (Peter)
I'm seriously considering picking up a non-phone Android 2.0 device when they come out. The android platform is evolving rapidly and I'm excited to follow along.
- Sparky Crocker
brainno: 20k+ is more like it, actually
- LANjackal
from IM
One of the reasons we switched from VZW to TMO was that we could get the same functionality on our Treos for about 1/3 the price (VZW's data plan was $45/mo.). Android 2.0 looks great, but not great enough to go back.
- John Craft
I'd love to grab a Droid, but I'll likely wait a bit (just got a new phone).
- ‘-.-’ Tutivillus Grift
Peter, I haven't counted ;) , but I've seen that number many places.
- John Craft
I'm not sure that the number of apps is a good indicator, anyway, given that games and wallpapers get counted as apps. I use the Weather channel app, an FTP client, several Google Maps add-ons, Twidroid, a file manager, a stopwatch, subway maps, OpenTable, and of course the Flashlight.
- John Craft
John: I won't lie, VZ's expensive. The only reason I can afford their unlimited service is via a corporate discount. The good thing about them is the predictable bill, unlike some carriers (I'm looking at you, AT&T) and amazing coverage. You'd have to be on the moon to not get a VZ signal
- LANjackal
from IM
price is a big factor for me...but i don't like iPhone's closed OS...i hope Android is more open...and yeah...VZ is also expensive...T-Mob is going to gain popularity from pricing...too bad they don't have good reception in my area...
- brainno722 (Peter)
VZ's MO is QoS >>>> everything else. Including, unfortunately, features and handsets. Until next week :). But then again before the iPhone AT&T's handset offerings were nothing special either
- LANjackal
from IM
yeah I was using Sprint cuz of their sleak Samsung phone...then iPhone came out and I drooled...still waiting for a driving factor to switch out of iPhone though...
- brainno722 (Peter)
"You'd have to be on the moon to not get a VZ signal" - I'll give you that. TMO was pretty deficient in even providing a signal in a lot of rural areas. I was pleasantly surprised in September to be out in rural Michigan and get full 3G in places where before my G1 was a paperweight.
- John Craft
I really like the HTC Hero, but not the DROID so much
- Shevonne
If the UI is smooth, I'll get it. If not, I may wait for the other Verizon Android phone from HTC.
- Tony C
It looks really good, but I'll wait and see how much people like it.
- SmallCapVoice
i don't get touch-phones with a keyboard...i know ppl are still getting used to it, but wouldn't 20+ million iphone users show that it's not that hard to learn? touch+keyboard just makes the phone bulky...
- brainno722 (Peter)
One of the nice things about a physical keyboard is that you don't use up screen real estate displaying one :)
- LANjackal
from IM
touche; still, i wish there's a way to be best of both worlds: sleak and sexy
- brainno722 (Peter)
getting it as my work phone as soon as i am upgrade eligible again
- Isaac Zahavi
Congrats LAN, look forward to reading the joys of using it.
- Travis Koger
Thanks, it's a fantastic device thus far. Love the push Gmail and automatic mail syncing :)
- LANjackal
how is the video and picture taking options? Also, surfing the net and battery life?
- Amani
from IM
I'm at work now and I'm about to enter a webinar and get some other stuff done. I'll find out more about all of the above as I play with it over the weekend
- LANjackal
"If you have a reasonably new laptop with an Intel WiFi chipset then I have some good news. A set of new Intel WiFi drivers made available just a couple weeks ago, version 13.0.0.107 if you’re playing along, finally adds the necessary driver-level support for the new native Virtual WiFi technology in Win 7"
- Adi
from Bookmarklet
Nope, the tech allows your NIC to perform several roles at once. For example, it can behave both as an access point and as a regular client at the same time
- LANjackal
Clark do you mean facebook chat is not reliable? I use palringo http://palringo.com on phone and pc and have problems with facebook chat.
- David Gross
from email
Screenshot from email shown above. Netflix is shipping my PS3 streaming disc today for delivery tomorrow. Anyone else getting one?
- LANjackal
Something seems oddly amusing about this.
- Cristo
Yeah, like why the heck you should need a *disc* for a streaming service? According to sources that requirement should be gone by next year, but I suspect it's because Sony's software delivery network for the PS3 doesn't support 3rd party stuff, OR the necessary server side/native PS3 app development hasn't been done yet, whereas the PS3 already has interactive BD capability built in.
- LANjackal
from IM