The top three Android productivity apps of 2011

Let me first begin by saying that I don't even know if these apps came out in 2011. Maybe they came out before that. But, I found them and loaded them and used them in 2011...so I'm calling them 2011 apps. So there.

What criteria did I use to determine the top three? I used the following complex formula:

1) I thought: what are the three productivity apps I like best?
2) The first three that popped into my head won.

Research complete:

Pulse News App

If you're looking for a great source for news and information, you'll love Pulse. Easy to navigate, lots of content, many categories (top news, technology, fashion, entertainment) and my favorite feature, when you want to read the entire story from the web, it loads right into the Pulse interface, rather than making you open a browser to go to the web. Read my entire review here.


Vlingo Personal Assistant 

This app is incredibly useful and they keep making it better and more responsive to voice commands. I use it for hands free texting (just say "text Joe followed by the message" and it does it all), I use it to make calls ("call Jim on mobile") and I use it to open other apps rather than having to search for them ("open stopwatch") Read more here...

Square Credit Card Processing App

I still think this is revolutionary, even though the competition is getting thick (review of Intuit coming soon). Imagine being able to accept a credit card, swipe it into your Smartphone, and have the money deposited into your bank account and the receipt sent to the buyers email, text or you can print it out for them. All with no monthly fee. Only pay when you process a sale. Too cool. Read all about it here...

So, there you have it. If you don't already have these apps, download them now. They are all free, fun and/or useful.

Get paid to download apps on your Android device. Really? Yup!

Some of you may be familiar with my other blog Slow Online Wealth, where I realistically examine methods to earn money online. Many of which I am involved with on a daily basis. I am a major proponent of diversification. If you can make $150 on Google Adsense ads per month, $50 from your Amazon affiliate account, $80 selling your own products or services, etc., before you know it, you've got a nice little chunk of change added to your bank account.

Well, here's a way to make some extra money that will definately NOT make you rich. But, it will add a little dough to your PayPal account on a daily basis.

All you need to do, on your Android device, is download an app in the Android Market called Make Money with Downloads. Within this app you will be able to view a variety of other apps, videos, offers, etc. and for every one you download or participate in, you'll get "points." These points are then redeemable for cash, which you can have transferred to your PayPal account.

As I said, you won't get rich with this, but I did test it by downloading enough apps to reach the $1.00 minimum plateau for transferring to PayPal and it worked as promised. To make things even a little better, there were a few apps there that I've been meaning to download anyway (like Intuit, which is a similar program to the Square credit card processing app) and Zarly (an app that lists things for sale in your area).

How many points you get for the download varies from app to app. You might only get 16 points, or as many as 900. Each point is equal to about half a penny, so once you acquire 200 points, you can transfer $1.00 to your PayPal account.

Some apps apply the points just for downloading and opening the app, others require you to get past the first level, or return to the app on the second day before you collect your points. Some require you to actually buy something (flowers, gifts, etc.) or register (dating sites, insurance quotes).

I'm not sure how long this will stick around, but in the last couple of days, just playing with it in my spare time, I have earned over three bucks. Hey, sometimes I don't make that much from my Google Adsense account.

Obviously, the developers who offer their apps find it worth a few pennies to get people to download their apps (mostly games, some productivity), in the hopes that they won't uninstall it, and maybe, just maybe click on one of the ads within their app.

So far, I have downloaded a couple dozen apps through this program, and even kept a couple that I liked.

If you want to try it and have the money you earn sent to my PayPal account, the address to use is gary@metroweblinks.com. :)

Hey, is that so much to ask for all of this great info I share with you? Okay, maybe it is.

Review of JuiceDefender - battery saver app. Does it really work?

If you've read previous posts, you know that I'm currently using the HTC Thunderbolt 4G Android device. You can read some the pros and cons here. One of the main cons of the TBolt was how quickly the battery drains when the phone is set to 4G. I quickly learned some things I could do to preserve battery life, including figuring out how to switch from 4G to 3G because HTC forgot to include a toggle in the Thunderbolt.

So, most of the time I have my phone in 3G mode and for the most part it works amazingly well. I switch on 4G only when I want to watch streaming video or for downloading apps and programs.

But, as with any Smartphone, if you want to stay really connected you have to deal with the issue of much shorter battery life. Sure, you can purchase an extended-life battery, but most of them are manufactured by after-market companies and the bulk of the reviews I've read is that they don't perform much, if any, better than the OEM shorter-life batteries.

Enter the JuiceDefender app. This free Android app (with pay versions if you're so inclined) claims to dramatically extend your smartphone battery life by managing your mobile date, wi-fi and CPU speed.

It's very easy to set up in the default mode. Just follow these simple instructions:

1) Download app
2) Enable

That's it.

Now, the standard settings recommended by JuiceDefender Battery Saver will control your battery life and give you noticably extended periods between charging. Or so they claim.

Does it work? From my experience, absolutely. The biggest thing that I can see that it does (because I already make sure my GPS, Bluetooth, etc. is off unless I need it), is it disconnects you from the 3G or 4G network when you put it in standby mode, periodically connecting to grab anything that may be out there looking for you. When you take your phone out of standby it automatically reconnects you to the network and you move on with your cyber life. From the app's onboard calculation I'm getting almost twice the battery life than before. From my perception, that seems about right.

My only complaint so far, is that when your phone is idle and then you grab it and power it out of standby, it sometimes (usually it's quick and seamless) takes a little while for it to reconnect to the 3G or 4G network. Usually it reconnects in two to five seconds, but I have had a couple of incidents where it took well over a minute to reconnect in an area that has excellent coverage.

That being said, would I recommend this app? Yes. Even if you have to wait a minute or two to connect to the network, it's a much shorter time than if you discover that your battery went dead.

HTC Thunderbolt 4G camera review - great phone, but not without flaws

I've owned the Verizon HTC Thunderbolt 4G since shortly after its introduction in March 2011. It's a great phone in many regards, but not without its shortfalls. You can read my original review here.

I know a number of people who are considering purchasing this phone since Verizon has lowered the price to less than $100 (watch for sales) and you can order  new and refurbished Thunderbolts on Ebay, Amazon and elsewhere in case you want to activate it on 3G without a contract or committment. All in all, I think it's a great phone and would recommend it, but a buyer should always consider the features that they use the most used and how well they fit into their lives.

The one inferior feature that annoys me on the most regular basis is the camera (just slightly inching out the crappy battery). The HTC Thunderbolt camera's performance is actually pretty amazing with some features that I love. Touch focus, fast loading, easy access to a flash toggle. All good. But the fact that there is no physical key to press when you want to take a picture diminishes my love substantially.

Let's say you're one of those people who likes to pose and take shots of yourself with friends. Just flip the camera over with the lens pointing at you and click. Not so fast there Annie Leibovitz! This is a near impossibility and a real pain in the ass with the Thunderbolt. There is no physical button on the TBolt. The shoot key is only on the screen, which you obviously can't can't see with the camera flipped around.

They have provided a second camera on the front which is great for video chatting (works with the Tango app, not with the Skype app), but there is no flash and the quality of the image is much less than the main camera on the other side.

So, If you happen to run into, say, Scarlett Johansson and you ask her if you can take a quick photo with her, you'll probably screw it up and/or piss her off.

But, if egotistical picture taking isn't something important to you when it comes to selecting a Smartphone, then the HTC Thunderbolt might be a good choice at Verizon's lower price or one of the other options out there.

NOTE: If you're new to Smartphones and want to take the plunge into the future without a major investment or long-term contract, you can purchase your phone anywhere (like Ebay or Amazon.com), and get it activated through Kitty Wireless (on the highly rated Page Plus program) for as little as $29.95 per month and get 1,200 talk minutes, 3,000 text minutes and 100 megabytes of data transfer. Great place to start.

Activate a CDMA Android device with no contract for $29.95 per month - WOW!

Wouldn't it be great if you could purchase a CDMA (Verizon) Android phone wherever you want (Ebay, from a friend, craigslist) and get it activated with the amount of minutes, text and data that fits into your life---without a contract? That's exactly what Kitty Wireless is doing by offering flexible Page Plus plans with everything from pay-as-you-go plans that cost as little as $30 a year (yes, I said A YEAR), to unlimited calling and text with half a gig of data for only 50 bucks per month. Again, with no contract. Nice.

I was turned on to this program by a friend who signed up with their Talk n Text 1200 plan which includes 1200 minutes of talk, 3000 text messages and 100 meg of data for $29.95. He loves it and is very impressed with their customer service. It's also easy to upgrade or downgrade if you discover that you want to spend more or less time online, need more minutes or you discovered sexting.

Their web site isn't slick, but as they point out, they're a small business whose main focus is providing innovative wireless plans that work well.

Check them out and tell your friends. Anyone who isn't experiencing this wireless revolution because it costs too much money may have run out of excuses.