MobileViews Blog

Category: Mobile Devices

  • Google Docs app became Google Drive on Android. Widget disappeared. Rate going up 600%?

    Google finally announced its Google Drive product that competes with Dropbox, Box, Microsoft SkyDrive and other cloud storage products. One of the effects of this launch is that the Google Docs for Android app was updated and renamed Google Drive. Installing the updated and renamed app on my Android tablet resulted in its widget disappearing from my home screen. This was remedied by installing the updated widget. But, it would have been nice if Google had done that for me during the update.
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  • Samsung announces Android Ice Cream Sandwich updates 6 month after OS release

    I realize that most people don’t care when or if their Android phone or tablet gets a major OS upgrade. But, I do and have been annoyed by how long it takes vendors to get upgrades out the door. Android 4.x (Ice Cream Sandwich), for example, was released on October 19, 2011 – 6 months ago. The first ICS device, the Galaxy Nexus, was released a month later (Nov. 14, 2011). However, Samsung is only now announcing the list of their devices that will eventually get ICS upgrades. These upgrades aren’t actually available. But, there is the hope that upgrades will be available soon.

    While carriers are sometimes the cause of these delays, why is it that Samsung’s WiFi-only tablets have not been upgraded yet? My guess is it is because of the no-value TouchWiz graphical layer Samsung lays over Android’s native interface. If vendors would stop fussing with their ugly and generally useless GUI overlays (with the exception of the screen capture utility Samsung adds with TouchWiz), I bet these upgrades would be available a lot faster.

    So vendors, dump TouchWiz, TouchSense, Blur and all those other GUI overlays. They add little or nothing and keep desired new features and bug fixes out of your customers’ grasp.

  • Time Warner updates TWC TV for the Android 1% – only works on Ice Cream Sandwich devices

    Six months after its release, Google’s Android 4.x (Ice Cream Sandwich) only accounts for 2.9% of the devices that access the Google Play store. Toss in the popular Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook Color, which do not touch Play at all, and ICS probably accounts for only 1% of all Android devices. And, yet, Time Warner’s anxiously awaited TWC TV update that adds live TV streaming to the Android app only provides that streaming on ICS devices – the 1%. What’s up with that?

  • Note to self: MYK (Manage My Kindle) page

    I ran into the Kindle app registration limit the other day. This is the result of using it on a number of devices over the years. Some of those devices are no longer in use or were test devices loaned to me. So, it was time to clean house and deregister Kindle apps on those devices. Amazon provides a landing page to do this and more Kindle devices and apps. You can find it at:

    amazon.com/myk

  • Instagram for Android updated to support tablets

    The recently released Instagram for Android got an update that adds support for tablets and the ability to install the app on SD cards. The app worked on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. However, it seemed to me that it did not provide a cursor to indicate text positioning in some situations (caption box to enter text). The app posted fine to Facebook in my test.

  • Ultra-cheap stand for a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

    I just bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet and needed a way to stand it up when using it with a Bluetooth keyboard. Instead of looking for something like the iPad’s folding smartcover or buying an expensive stand, I found that the simple business card holder seen in the photos here does a good job as a stand when the tablet is in a landscape orientation. I don’t remember what I paid for it. But, I would be surprised if I paid more than $3 for it. It was originally purchased to hold a smartphone while charging.

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