Android Strengths and Ailments

I posted these on my twitter timeline. So, if you haven't already, follow me @arnab_das

Android Strengths:

Android Strengths #1 : Extremely user friendly interface. Widgets, home screens, etc. make this one of the most user friendly OSes.

Android Strengths #2 : Notifications. Even the iOS users admit that the notification system is THE feature of Android.

Android Strengths #3 : 15 minutes payment return policy on apps. Okay maybe 15 minutes isnt enough, but for most apps, it is actually.

Android Strengths #4 : OS compatibility. Most android phones work perfectly with Windows, Mac and Linux, at least in the Mass Storage mode.

Android Strengths #5 : Root Access. This can be done with the "other" OS as well, but being open source it can give unprecedented control

Android Ailments:

Android Ailments #1 : Extremely Poor Support. Getting support from Google is tougher than seeing God Himself. No form of official support.

Android Ailments #2 : No policy to control apps. Malicious, unstable apps are flooding the market. Google is taking action way too late.

Android Ailments #3 : Compatibility. There is absolutely no guarantee that an app which runs on one android device will work on another. This is actually worst when the apps one is talking about turn out to be "paid" apps. Thats when it hurts.

Android Ailments #4 : No control over updates. One has absolutely no idea when one's phone will go out of date. Could be a year or a month!

Android Ailments #5 : Overall app interface, stability and usability still needs a lot of work. Force-close/hangs still very common issues.

It's official, Gingerbread by second week of July

Samsung has made it clear that the Gingerbread update for Galaxy SL (i9003) will be available to users by the second week of July.

Here's the link: http://twitter.com/#!/Samsung_India/status/75890096288702464

Then again, this is Samsung, so I guess one will have to wait till August for sure. :)

So, now we wait.

My favourite paid apps on Android 2.2

I recently got myself an i9003, a Galaxy S variant. This is my first android device and so it took me some time to figure out what apps to download and what to avoid.

So here's a list of my favourite apps.

1. Poweramp - Without a doubt the most functional and versatile music player on the android market. Plays any audio file you throw at it and has exceptional library/organizational abilities. A must have app for around $4.

2. Read It Later - This is a special app. What this does is that it gives you a reformatted version of web pages so that's it's easier for you to read articles. This is much like the article view on Kindle 3. Although not free, this is very much worth what the guys are charging for the app. Also future developments and browser integration only justifies that price tag.

3. Doggcatcher - One of the more expensive softwares out there. This $6 app is a podcast manager like no other. With integrated Google listen/reader syncing ability, the ability to auto download content, this one app is a must have for any podcast enthusiast. There are of course other free and paid podcast apps in the market, but none are nearly as efficient and customizable.

4. CacheMate - This thing is only available for users who have rooted their phones. Outstandingly simple to use this extremely cheap app lets you clean cache memory from each and every app saving you precious disk space.

5. Juice Defender (Ultimate) - Juice Defender is actually quite a popular app. It lets you save up on and reduce data usage on your mobile device thereby substantially increasing battery life. Although it is difficult to say the extent to which this battery saving ability works, its pretty evident that it does take visible measures to reduce data loss. I would recommended the ultimate version as its more useful and cheaper in the long run.

No online music stores? Really?

I was at a complete loss for words the other day when I found out that India does not have any online music stores. Sure there are the ones like flipkart and infibeam which will ask you to buy entire albums, CDs to be more specific. But nothing in the lines of iTunes or Amazon mp3 store. Hence we are left with no other option but to physically go out and buy music CDs of entire albums even if just one track in the entire album is worth listening to.

This is quite a shame to be honest. India is regarded throughout the world as a music loving nation. To stifle the average music lover with lack of digital downloads is a sin. Fortunately for the native music industry there are places like raaga and saregama which will offers digital downloads but those online stores are strictly without anything remotely western music.

I have stopped blaming iTunes for this though, as Apple is a company which likes to believe that the world has just one country and the rest don't exist. Well that's why Apple doesn't matter to me. But I really can't understand why companies like Amazon and Google are shutting their doors to international users.

No wonder then that music piracy at least of international albums is rampant throughout the country. People willing to pay are being forced to take the illegal route as its way simpler. For heaven's sake downloading torrents is the easiest thing ever. Why would anyone stop doing that and spend money on fuel to drive to the music store? Its not that I support piracy, I totally don't.  But I do understand why people would want to pirate music.

Message to the music labels? Make internationally recognisable stores available in this country. Give users the option to buy individual tracks instead of forcing them to pay big bucks for entire CDs. Make music accessible to users, the users will be accessible to you.

Aww That Was Sweet!

This is one of those "I know what you did when you were a kid" videos. Innocent. Pure. Beautiful.

Watch "High five for first kiss (original)" on YouTube