Like the majority of people I have used iTunes for many years now and have often carried an iPod and a smartphone around – which to be quite honest was at times a real pain. Why did I need to carry two devices about?!
When I switched to using a HTC Desire I was keen to find a solution that allowed me to easily store my iTunes library on microSD card and play the stored music from the Desire. I had heard about doubleTwist and tried it out – I have never looked back since. My iTunes library syncs perfectly with the software and then to my device. No longer do I carry an iPod and a smartphone, everything is integrated.
So why didn’t I tell you about this before? Well to be honest I just hadn’t got round too it and I know that often people have a system that works and are reluctant to change. But, I did recently read an article by Elliott Yinger at www.androidguys.com who had a similar issue to me and explained doubleTwist and how it worked so perfectly that I am compelled to share it, because if you have an iTunes library and have wanted to get it to your Android smartphone then there is without doubt no better application than this, especially as it is FREE.
Elliott’s full article can be read HERE, but some of the highlights and key points are as follows:
I compared my iTunes to the dregs of media player society: Cell phone music players. Though I tried as hard as I could to use the players on my last two Android-less phones, they left a bur in my boot, instead of a beat.
iTunes does not work on Android, as is common knowledge. Thankfully, Android developers put their heads together, and decided to copy all the functionality of iTunes, and call it doubleTwist… this app is pure genius.
On your PC, you download their media player and it then mirrors your iTunes player. From there, you can load up playlists, podcasts, or pictures to your Android phone, just like it was an iPod. They also have an array of other devices they support: cameras, Blackberries, etc.
The player on the phone is splendid. It has a clean interface and is smooth like butter on my HTC Evo. You can sort you music by artist, albums, songs, or playlists.
There are a few minor downsides that I can see to doubleTwist. The first, being, that it works rather slowly when first initializing and copying your iTunes library. This isn’t a bad issue, since most of your time will be spent using the phone version, which works quickly. The second, being a rather elitist issue, is having to download Internet Explorer 8 to use the Android Market. Lastly, my podcasts did not import, so I had to sign up for them again and re-download.
This love affair is complete with the fact that it automatically checks your iTunes for updates to playlists and the like. I am going to have to give this my Android Essential rating, because a good music player is essential to enjoying your super phone. The app is currently free and in its “beta” stage. I would definitely drop my Five dollar a week budget on this once they take it out of beta.
You can download the desktop version of doubleTwist HERE and the Android application from Android Marketplace or byscanning this barcode.
Optoma has recently released a new range Pico Pocket Projectors. These compact projectors can be easily transported between locations with several small enough to conveniently fit in to pockets. The range includes three products the PK102, PK201 and PK301.
The PK102 is the smallest of the range weighing just 115grams and features 4GB of integrated storage. It is able to project images of up to 60 inches and can instantly provide presentations with no additional equipment required.
Next in the range is the PK201, this projector weights 160 grams and benefits form a mini HDMI connection and integrated microSD slot. With the microSD card slot being compatible with up to 32GB cards, it is able to store demanding presentations and even movies. It can project images of up to 70 inches.
At the top of the range is the PK301, weighing 250 grams and benefiting from being able to project images of up to a 120 inches. Like the PK201 it features a mini HDMI connection and integrated microSD slot. The wide resolution of 854 x 480 should impress any audience.
This is a useful article from Talk Android about ‘rooting’ an Android device. You’ve probably seen the term ‘rooting’ used often on the internet but may not know exactly what it means. This article explains what rooting is and talks about the advantages and disadvantages of rooting your device.
In posting this device, we are not advising that you do or don’t root your device. One disadvantage that the article doesn’t list is that rooting your device will void the warranty, so if you do root it and it goes wrong, you will be responsible for any costs to repair the device and in the worst case scenario, may need to replace it completely.
My personal advice would be to avoid rooting your device if you are a novice to this kind of thing. However, if you really are keen on having a go at rooting, try it on an older device/one that you’re not bothered about breaking to begin with. The last thing you want to do is to brick your brand new HTC Desire as part of an experiment!
From TalkAndroid:
What is rooting?
Before we get started, I want to explain what “rooting” is. When you root your phone, you gain “superuser” privileges to the Android operating system. When you are using a stock device, you have the equivalent of “guest” privileges. If you are familiar with any Linux operating system, you know that the superuser privilege allows you to gain access to administrative rights. This level of access gets you down to the nitty gritty of the OS with no restrictions, lets you make changes to the system, and run scripts that would normally be blocked with a standard user account. As long as they are not encrypted, that is… such as the case of the Droid X, which has an encrypted bootloader. With superuser privileges on an Android phone, you can install programs that need complete access to the OS – such as ROM installers (like ROM Manager), theme modifiers (such as Metamorph), and simple apps like DroCap2, which takes screenshots from the device without having to plug it in to your computer.
The Asus Eee Pad EP101TC is one of several tablet devices planned by ASUS and will act as a Windows equivalent to the Apple iPad.
At the moment, the EP101TC is still in the development stage and is expected to get a Spring 2011 release. Pricing is yet to be confirmed, but some technical details have emerged to get the ball rolling.
The 10-inch touch screen device will run Windows Embedded Compact 7, a stripped down version of the forthcoming Win Phone 7 OS. Unlike the iPad, it features a USB Port, Webcam and SD card reader. It would be very surprising if it didn’t feature other connectivity features such as Bluetooth and WiFi.
The EP101TC weighs just 675g and is 12.1mm thick. The aluminium finish gives it a stylish finish, as does the detachable keyboard mount that will be released with it.
Below are two demo videos (via Slashgear) of the Huawei S7. While the touch screen looks questionable in the videos, they are demo units, not final production models. Its suggested that battery life will be approximately 12 hours standby with wireless connected, or approximately 100 minutes of active use. We’re expecting the first stock to be here later this month and are now taking pre-orders.
As of tomorrow consumers will no longer need to worry about accidentally running up a huge bill when connecting to data service abroad. This is an easy enough mistake to make and in some cases customers have received extortionate bills having not realised that their data connection is switched on, or that their usual data allowance does not include overseas use.
Thanks to new roaming rules from the EU, from Thursday 1st July, the data-roaming limit for travellers will be automatically set at 50 euro (41 GBP) excluding VAT (unless they have chosen another limit – higher or lower).
Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes said:
"There will be no more bill shocks for tourists or business travellers surfing the internet with smart phones or laptops while in another EU country. The EU is also cutting the cost of roaming calls for travellers. I am determined to make the EU’s telecoms markets more competitive."
Operators will have to send users a warning when they reach 80% of their data-roaming bill limit. The operator will have to cut off the mobile internet connection once the limit has been reached, unless the customer has indicated they want to continue data roaming that particular month.
In addition, maximum wholesale prices for data roaming will fall from 1 euro (85 pence) to 80 cents (68 pence) per Megabyte.
Samsung has confirmed that all versions of the Galaxy S I9000 (including the Captivate, Epic 4G, Vibrant and Fascinate) will be receiving updates to Android 2.2 FroYo later this year, which offers compatibility with Flash 10.1 and the ability to install Apps to your SD card, amongst other things. All devices will continue to ship with Android 2.1, meaning there should be some urgency in releasing the update seeing as FroYo has already been released.
The Motorola Milestone XT720 is due for release at the beginning of July and is set to add another strong device to the ever-growing Android portfolio. The XT720 is the follow up to the highly popular Motorola Milestone and has several eye-catching features. View the video below for an introduction to Motorola’s new ‘Powerhouse’ device.
The features that will make the Milestone XT720 such a desirable device are the 8MP Camera with Xenon Flash (a first for an Android device), high-speed web browsing – the XT720 offers HSDPA 10.2 & HSUPA 5.76 – and the ability to record HD videos, as well as share them through the built-in HDMI port. The image below gives a good overview of the XT720’s most important features.
Along with today’s news that the Hero 2.1 update is now available, as well as the 2.2 update for the Nexus One, comes the announcement that Android 2.2 will be available for the HTC Desire, HTC Legend and HTC Wildfire by the end of Q3.
This is the official statement that HTC have released with regards to the update:
We are working hard with our partners to update the HTC Sense experience on Froyo and distribute it to our customers as fast as possible. We expect to release updates for several of our 2010 models including Desire, Legend and Wildfire beginning in Q3.
Here’s a recap of the Android 2.2 introduction video:
The T3 Gadget Awards 2010 are now posted on the T3 website and they would like you to vote in 18 categories to help them to decide the winners for categories such as ‘Innovation of the Year’, ‘App of the Year’ and ‘Phone of the Year’. Once you’ve voted you have the chance to sign up and win an iPad for your contribution, so its definately worth taking 5 minutes of your time to make your choices. Unsurprisingly, the HTC Desire features in a few categories and its certainly got my vote for Phone of the Year!
Like the majority of people I have used iTunes for many years now and have often carried an iPod and a smartphone around – which to be quite honest was at times a real pain. Why did I need to carry two devices about?!
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