Now, I preface everything here with this…

I am a long-time iPhone user. I took a temporary hiatus into the world of Android awhile back, and was quite disappointed.

So, what did I think about the Samsung Galaxy S4? Here’s a video…

Watch This Video on Youtube.com

So, if you’re an iPhone user, what would it take to get YOU to consider switching over to Android?

Twitter has, I’ve noticed, undergone something of an evolution since I started using it.

It’s much more than 140-character thought-fragments now. Users frequently share articles, images, long-form musings (through applications such as TweetLonger), and even music and videos. In a sense, the platform has evolved beyond its micro-blogging roots. Unfortunately, the interface has remained relatively constant since Twitter’s inception. While this isn’t necessarily a problem on the PC, this can be something of a pain on a mobile device. This is particularly true if you’re following a large number of people. Sorting through all that content can often seem like more trouble than it’s worth.

Not surprisingly, there’s an app for that.

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Tweetbot. Developed for the iPhone, iPod, and iPad by the folks at Tapbots, Tweetbot bills itself as “a Twitter client with personality.” At first glance, it’s definitely an impressive sight. A recent update has given Tweetbot a rich-media timeline view. Vine, Instagram, and YouTube videos are all displayed right in the stream, with the tweets themselves serving as captions for the content, which can be accessed without having to navigate to another page. The trade-off is that Tweetbot by default omits tweets that don’t include any content outside of text. This feed can be easily toggled on and off at the top of the timeline.

The media-rich newsfeed of Tweetbot isn’t the only thing that’s impressive about it. It also features a function which works in tandem with Twitter’s “lists” feature, allowing for the creation of multiple timelines which can be swapped between at your leisure. If, for example, you’re lounging about at home and you don’t really care to see anything related to work, you can look at your Family or Friends timeline instead of your Co-Workers timeline.

All the basic functionality of Twitter is there, as well, translated masterfully into a mobile format. Swiping to the right, for example, will display the context of whatever tweet you happen to be viewing, while different tap gestures can be set to expand, re-tweet, favorite, reply, or translate a tweet between languages.

Tweetbot is also highly customizable, and the menu bar at the bottom of your feed can be tweaked to your heart’s content. Even better, management of multiple accounts is a breeze. Each account can be custom-tooled with its own personalized settings, and tweeting/re-tweeting from a different account requires nothing more than a simple tap. Admittedly, this is something you should be careful with: the ease with which you can swap between twitter profiles means you could well find yourself sharing something with your colleagues which was meant for your friends.

Tweetbot also includes URL shortening and the ability to seamlessly upload images, links, and videos, in addition to working with several of iOS’s prominent browsing and content consumption apps.

To be honest, there’s only one real problem I can think of with Tweetbot at the moment (though I’ll be spending a bit more time with the application over the coming weeks): it’s not available for Android. Sorry, folks. Unless you have iOS, you’ll have to sit this one out. If you do happen to be using an iPhone, iPad, or iPod to look through your tweets, Tweetbot’s probably one of the best solutions out there. Download it here for iPad, and here for iPhone/iPod.

Problem is, mounting a smartphone onto a tripod requires some extra gear. Whereas almost all cameras have a tripod mount on them, phones do not.

There are a number of options out there for tripod mounting a smartphone, but many of them require using a special case. This can be pretty annoying because it forces you use a special case you may not otherwise like. Or you have to switch cases just to record a video.

There is another option, and here’s a video on it:

You can check out the iStabilizer on Amazon.

This is a great little, universal grip. It will work on any smartphone, not just the iPhone. Definitely check it out if you want to use your smartphone to make decent videos. And, let’s face  it… today’s smartphones have pretty killer cameras in them, so they are every bit as capable of making great video as any point-and-shoot camera.

Garbage, that’s what. The resulting audio is noisy, full of hiss in some cases, and it picks up every little background noise going on. The subject of the video sounds distant and echoey.

The solution is to use an external microphone. Many cameras have a plug on them for an external mic. However, many smartphones do not.

The iPhone, specifically, doesn’t have an external, dedicated microphone jack. It has a combined port which works both for microphone AND headphones. The little white Apple headphones that come with the iPhone are built to work with it, and there is a mic included. But, once you get away from Apple’s own gear, what do you do?

Well, there’s an adapter for everything. Here’s a video.

You can check out this adapter from KVConnection.

Your alternative is to use a separate audio recording system and then couple your video and audio together in post-production. It takes more time, but works just as well. Here’s a video I recorded some time ago which talks about how to do that: How To Record Awesome DSLR Videos Without An External Microphone Jack.

Set it to vibrate. That way, we’ll still know when it’s ringing – we’ll still know when someone is trying to get in touch with us – and no one who’s with us will know. That’s the theory, anyway. I’ve found that a lot of modern phones tend to make as much noise (if not a bit more) when they vibrate as opposed to when they simply ring. They’re certainly more disruptive – but that’s neither here nor there.

The main downside to setting a phone on vibrate is that, for those of us who have custom ringtones set for our contacts, there’s no real way of telling who’s who. Someone we desperately want to talk to has the same vibration as someone we’d rather ignore. What’s a savvy user to do?

There’s always a way.

Custom Vibrations On iOS

Setting up a custom vibration alert is actually extremely easy in iOS, but the process varies slightly depending on what version happens to be installed on your particular device. Assuming you’ve upgraded to iOS 6, setting vibrations to your contacts involves going to each individual contact to which you want to assign a vibration. Tap the contact you wish to change, hit “Edit” and then scroll down to the vibration section. You should receive a prompt asking you if you want a standard vibration or a custom vibration.

Rinse and repeat for every contact you feel is important enough to warrant the effort.

For versions of iOS below 6 (I believe 4 is the lowest version which includes this feature), you’ll need to navigate to Settings->Accessibility->Custom Vibrations. From there, you can set and customize your personalized vibration patterns, at which point you can assign each pattern to a contact (or several). Pretty simple, right?

Custom Vibrations On Android

Unfortunately, to my knowledge, Android doesn’t actually have a custom vibration pattern feature built-in to the OS, and most droid phones haven’t bothered with the feature, either. As such, if you’re looking to set up some sort of solution, you’re going to need to use a third-party application.

For the purposes of this tutorial, we’ll assume you’ve settled on a handy little app known as Vybe. You can grab it from the Google Play store for free. Once you’ve downloaded and installed it (the process shouldn’t take terribly long), you can set to work customizing your vibration alerts. The interface is smart, sharp, and crisp, in addition to being quite simple to use.

To set up an alert, all you need to do is tap the “record” button, then tap in the sequence. Once you’re done, hit “save” and the alert will be committed to the application’s memory, at which point it can be assigned to any number of contacts of your choice. Unfortunately, Vybe has one rather glaring weakness – there’s no way to name any of the vibration alerts, nor is it possible to tell which contact has been set to which alert. This is, hopefully, something which will be fixed in future releases. In spite of this weakness, Vybe is definitely one of the best choices for setting up custom Android vibration patterns.

While I’d certainly love to say my cell phone provider is one hundred percent to blame for this (I’ve never been a fan of big Telecom in Canada), realistically this isn’t a problem that is unique to me or my service provider. At my old place, only one of my roommates could ever use his cell phone. The rest of us were completely out of luck.  My room – along with the basement – were both absolute dead zones. Even when I could get a signal, my phone would swap between networks with such frequency that maintaining it was an exercise in futility.

I’m sure most (if not all) of you have had a similar experience at one point or another. No matter how hard you try, it seems as though your phone simply doesn’t want to function as…well, a phone. This is problematic for several reasons. First and foremost, you’re completely disconnected from all the people you might ordinarily be talking to through the device. The more pressing reason is that having your phone constantly trying to connect and continually searching for a signal, your battery is going to drain with remarkable quickness.

Suffice it to say, you want to do everything you can to improve your signal.

Option One: A Simple Solution

Before we get into anything too complex, let’s go over a few simple fixes. First and foremost, try removing it from its case, if you’ve got one. Believe it or not, your cell phone’s protective covering, depending on what material it’s composed of, can actually cause a great deal of interference as far as the signal is concerned. In many cases, removing the phone from this case might actually result in a marked improvement in signal quality.

Next, consider how you’re holding your phone. Don’t laugh – the way you hold your phone can cause interference from either the position of the antenna or the position of your hand. Unfortunately, the optimum angle differs with the model of phone – you’re going to have to experiment a bit. Try adjusting how you hold it to see if you can bring about any improvements in quality, or use a headset/hands-free array.

If you want to attempt a solution that’s really out there; try placing your phone in a glass tumbler or other piece of glassware (thanks to Make Use of User barstep for this tip). The material could potentially improve your signal, though there’s really no explanation as to why.

Last, but certainly not least, try updating the firmware/operating system on your phone. There’s a chance – albeit an extremely small one – that part of your problem is related to a software glitch or an outdated operating system. If that’s the case, a software upgrade could very well be the solution you’re looking for.

Option Two: Location, Location, Location

There are some spots that are going to be a dead zone for your cell phone no matter what you do.

Consider where you are geographically, and where you might be relative to any nearby cell phone towers(in other words, if you’re out camping, there’s a good chance you’re not going to get a signal no matter what you do).

Terrain can also cause a certain degree of interference (such as hills, mountains, trees, et-cetera) as can structures like skyscrapers or office towers.

Further, look at the material of the room you’re in, as well. If it’s composed of concrete or metal – particularly if the roof is made of these materials – your best bet is to step outside for a few minutes.

Option Three: Signal Boosters

If you’re really starting to get frustrated with your phone, and none of the previous options seem to be doing the trick,  it might be worth looking into a signal booster, and see if that solves your problem. What this peripheral will look like depends both on your phone’s model, your carrier, and what band your phone is on (2G, 3G, 4G, or LTE).  If purchasing a peripheral isn’t really your style, you might want to look into a few of the DIY signal boosting projects floating around the net. Do note that creating such devices might well void your warranty, so do this with caution.

A Femtocell is another possibility. These are essentially personal cell phone towers designed to emit a signal to all wireless devices in range. If all else fails, this is the solution you’re going to want to settle on.

In Closing

So…there you have it. A few quick, easy ways to improve your cell phone reception. If you’ve tried everything on this list, and nothing seems to work, I’m not sure what to tell you. It might be time to purchase a new phone, or look into signing up with a new provider.

While Apple won the battle on U.S. shores, it lost in several other nations all around the world, including South Korea, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Commentary on the sorry state of American patent law aside, the echoes of that lawsuit have lately gotten me wondering…what exactly is the difference between iPads and Android tablets? Obviously, if Apple brought such a cumbersome lawsuit to bear against a former hardware partner, it thought there were enough similarities between the two products.

So…with that in mind, how exactly does one differentiate between the two?

Note that I’m going to be carrying out an objective comparison. I’m not going to favor one device over the other. We’re interested in the difference between the two, not which one is ‘better.’

Android vs. iOS

Well, the most obvious distinction between the two different breeds of tablet is that they use different operating systems. Android tablets run on Google’s java-based Android operating system, while iPads run on the C++/Objective C-coded iOS.

Believe it or not, that in and of itself isn’t actually as much of a distinction as one might expect: you might be surprised to hear this, but interface-wise, the two operating systems are actually  close to identical. While the two interfaces are noticeably different from one another, in terms of usability, they more often than not tend to be virtually identical (at least in the top devices).

The chief difference actually lies with the apps available on each platform. iOS tends to function more easily with Apple software such as iTunes, while Android is more closely tied to Google’s various services than its rival OS. While a few variations on the interface do exist within Android based on device, as a whole there’s not a lot of difference.

Obviously, we’re going to have to dig a little deeper.

Openness vs. Control; Unification vs. Fragmentation

Honestly, this is the penultimate difference between Android Tablets and iPads. Every other difference is secondary: the whole debate between Android vs. iOS often tends to come down to a single argument: openness versus control. Apple’s operating system is closed and proprietary, Google’s system is free and open-source.

Consequently, Google doesn’t exert a great deal of control over Android, allowing users to freely and readily ‘root’ their devices and customize them in ways beyond what might have originally been allowed. It’s also free for developers to use and tweak as they see fit. The fact that Android isn’t a proprietary system means also that there’s a considerable degree of platform fragmentation where Android tablets are concerned. Just about anyone can make a ‘droid tablet, while iPads are one-of-a-kind. While this does mean you have a great deal more variety when it comes to hardware choice, it also makes the lives of application developers considerably more difficult. On Android, you have no guarantee your app is going to work on every tablet on the market.

Plus, you’re bound to wind up with a few lemons.

Contrast this with iOS, which is a closed, proprietary system – one over which Apple holds a considerable degree of influence.  This may sound like a rather unattractive way of doing business, rather than Google’s apparent “do what you like” policy, but it actually does have a few advantages of its own (these will become clear as we move forward). The unified infrastructure of the iPad means that Apple can more readily offer support for technical issues and exert more control over its brand, while app developers can sleep secure with the knowledge that if they develop an application, it’s going to work on every iPad that goes to market.

The iTunes Store vs. The Android Marketplace

Interface-wise, the differences between the iTunes Store and the Android Marketplace are mostly aesthetic. As with the hardware, the primary difference between the two hearkens back to the “openness vs. control” dichotomy.

Much like iOS itself, the iTunes Store is a tightly-controlled, highly-regulated environment. Apple dictates which apps actually make it to market, determining on a case-by-case basis whether or not a developer is violating their application store’s terms and conditions. While this does make it somewhat more difficult to put out apps for the platform (the approval process can take a while, particularly if your app gets rejected for some reason), it also means the iTunes Store is virtually virus free. Sure, a few pieces of malware might slip through the cracks here and there, but as a whole, it’s safe.

The Android Marketplace, meanwhile, doesn’t have an approval process, nor is it the only means of obtaining apps on Android.  While this does mean that you have a larger variety of applications, it also means that you’re going to need to exercise a great deal more care in what you download. Malware is much more prominent on the Android Marketplace, simply by its open nature, while third-party app stores can hide a whole host of nasty surprises behind their digital shelves.

Flash Support

Last, but certainly not least, iOS doesn’t actually offer native flash support, while Android offers both Flash and HTML5.

Steve Jobs back in 2010 gave a fairly detailed explanation for his decision not to allow Flash on iOS, including differences in philosophy, security and stability concerns, interference with application development, and a lack of touch-screen support. What this means for iPad users is that a wide range of content will be unavailable to them, while Android users will suffer from no such difficulties (though, as Jobs pointed out, most of this Flash content is readily available in a new, more modern format).

Conclusion

So at the end of the day, the main difference between Android and iOS lies in the fact that one’s open-source, the other isn’t. Every other difference: from the various hardware variants of Android Tablets, to the store, and arguably even Flash support can be linked to this.

As such, it ultimately doesn’t really matter which of the two you use – it’s just a matter of preference, truth be told. Neither is really all that superior, as both platforms have their strengths and weaknesses.

Turns out that didn’t happen. Almost two years later and the Chromebook is more or less forgotten.

It was a very unique idea and one that no one had attempted before – a laptop well and truly relied on the cloud for the vast majority of its computing needs. A secure, browser-based operating system. A fast, efficient workplace device. On paper, it seemed like a rather brilliant idea.

In practice however, the Chromebook didn’t really work out. Primarily, I feel that this was simply because the world wasn’t quite ready for the technology yet. Until we have a readily available network connection at every corner, until we can lock down secure, reliable Internet worldwide; devices based wholly on the cloud simply aren’t feasible or viable. The Chromebook… while it was a unique, efficient, and well-made device, simply wasn’t meant to be. An over-reliance on the cloud essentially killed it.

Two years down the road, and Google’s not yet given up on the brand yet. They’ve released an updated model, designed to compete with the high-rent computing sector against the likes of the Windows 8 Ultrabooks and the Macbook Air. It’s called the Chromebook Pixel, and it’s been said to represent the next tier in Google’s Chromebook portfolio. It is all a part of what IT Pro Portal terms a deliberate, intentional strategy. The original Chromebooks were just the first step. They were Google’s idea of testing the water.

The Pixel is the next step. Again, it looks very good on paper. It’s got a full terabyte of storage on Google Drive for free, a beautiful 2560×1700 display which puts most laptop screens to shame, 4 GB of RAM, Intel Core i7 processors, integrated HD 4000 graphics from Intel, and (on the $1449 model) an LTE connection. It’s also got touch capability, incredible speakers, and a top-notch keyboard.

All things considered, it’s a rather sexy beast. Unfortunately, it still suffers from the exact same failing as the Chromebooks before it: its operating system is a web browser. What this ultimately means is that while it’s a compelling system, it loses a great deal of its draw when a network connection isn’t available. Worse yet, while the previous Chromebook models boasted rather impressive on-board batteries, the battery life of the Chromebook pixel is reportedly rather sub-par. That coupled with the severely limited on-board storage (also a sticking point for older Chromebook models) will be a considerable sticking point for many.

Of course, there’s also the fact that, given the Chromebook’s price point, it’s not a very high end system.  It’s certainly got a few impressive features over Google’s previous models,  but when compared to several other notebooks at the same price, it falls far short of the mark. Most people aren’t going to want to drop over a grand on a system that only runs web apps, no matter how pretty it might look .

So, as to the question of whether or not the Chromebook Pixel is worth buying? For most users, the answer to that question is a resounding “no.” However, if you’re looking for an ultra-portable, lightweight, cloud-based laptop and constant connectivity isn’t of much concern to you, the Pixel’s an excellent choice.

Ultimately, I’d say we should just wait and see what Google does with this nifty little device.  Who knows? We might be surprised.

Modern smartphones are rather impressive devices, aren’t they? Even the lowest-grade droid on the market can outperform the vast majority of pre-2000 computer systems. That includes old-school game consoles, of course.

I’m sure you see where I’m going with this: Given the right apps, a smartphone or tablet could be turned into a full-featured gaming device, complete with all the greatest titles of yesteryear.

Unfortunately, if you’re looking to play games spanning more than a few consoles, things can get a touch complicated. Before long, you might well find yourself juggling eight different apps and a confusing mishmash of games.

Alternatively, you could simply use RetroArch. Designed for Android phones, Retroarch serves as a front-end for a wide array of emulators, and can run anything from Nintendo to Sega to Playstation games.

The following engines are currently supported by Retorarch(via MakeUseOf):

• PlayStation 1, using PCSX ReARMed
• Super Nintendo, using SNES9x Next
• Nintendo Entertainment System, using either CEUmm or NEStopia)
• GameBoy and GameBoy Color, using Gambatte
• GameBoy Advance, using VBA Next
• Arcade games, using Final Burn Alpha
• Neo Geo Pocket Color, using Mednafen NGP
• Virtual Boy, using Mednafen VB
• Sega Genesis or Mega Drive, using Genesis Plus GX
• Sega Master System or Sega Game Gear, using Genesis Plus GX
• Sega CD or Mega CD, using emulator: Genesis Plus GX
• PC Engine or PC Engine CD, using Mednafen PCE Fast
• WonderSwan Color or Crystal, using Mednafen Wonderswan
• Cave Story, using the NX Engine
• Doom 1, Doom 2, Ultimate Doom or Final Doom, using prBoom

Installation

Unlike many of the Android emulators currently on the market, it doesn’t require you to root your system in order to install. It’s actually available for download on the Google Play Store. You can get it here. From there, just install it as you would any other application. Quick, easy, and entirely painless, right?

One disclaimer is worth noting before you start using it, though: You’ll still need to use a touch-screen controller to play all the games you’ve installed. Given how terrible those tend to be for gaming, I’d recommend nabbing some sort of peripheral controller (perhaps the Razer Edge, once it releases?) to make things easier on yourself.

Using the App

Using Retroarch is a fairly painless process. When you open it, you’ll be presented with a list of game engines supported by the system. Tap on your engine of choice, and then browse your device until you’ve found a ROM that’s supported by the engine. I’d recommend keeping all your Roms in one folder to make the process a bit easier on yourself.

Once you’ve selected the ROM that you want to play, you’ll be launched immediately into the game, with touchscreen controls displayed on the sides.  An additional button on the right-hand side of the screen (a downward-pointing arrow) will bring up the emulator’s in-game menu. Here, you’ll find the typical save and load state buttons, as well as rewind, slow motion, and fast-forward commands. You can also select a number of alternative overlays, or even disable the overlay altogether.

Let me paint a picture for you, ladies and gents. You’ve got a song stuck in your head. Not a whole song, though. All you can remember of the song is a few bars, perhaps the chorus. We’ve all had this happen before, and it’s one of the most irritating things in the world. Until you can actually listen to the song in question, all you can think about is the song. It plays over and over in the back of your mind until it reaches a fever pitch and drowns out intelligent thought altogether. Tracking the song down and listening to it is the only way to save your sanity.

The worst part is, unless you actually know several full lines from the song, you’re completely out of luck. Google can’t really help if all you can do is hum a beat.

Believe it or not, there’s an app for that. It’s called SoundHound. This app is slick. Designed for both iOS and Android, it boasts a comprehensive collection of music which it combs whenever you submit a query to it. The sheer volume of its library allows it to recognize and identify virtually any song.

The biggest draw of SoundHound is the ability to search for music by singing, humming, or playing back a brief recording into the microphone of your device. As with all voice recognition software, it’s far from perfect. Sometimes the application has a bit of trouble matching a song to someone’s voice, but other than that, it works pretty much flawlessly. Plus, it’s hard to say whether or not it’s a problem with the app, or with someone’s sense of musical tone.

Of course, SoundHound is far more than a search engine. The SoundHound charts display the most frequently-searched songs in the app’s database,while the SoundHound Headlines allow you to listen to free songs and stream the work of new artists. There’s also a map that’ll display for you what people are listening to both in your city and throughout the world.

Not only that, SoundHound will trawl both your library and what you’ve searched and streamed most frequently. From this data, it will provide you with additional information on your favorite songs and artists along with the artists you’ve searched and streamed. Further, new artists and songs which fit with the genres you most enjoy will be recommended to you through the application’s crisp interface. Through it all, you’ll be able to read lyrics in real-time as your songs play.

SoundHound is, as I’ve said, available on both iOS and Android. You can download the Apple version here on the iTunes Store, while the Android version can be found on the Android Marketplace.

If you’re stuck on the name of a song you particularly like, or you’re just bored with your current music and looking for some new stuff, then SoundHound is your new best friend. It’s a powerful, full-featured music discovery application with an easy-to-use interface and a library large enough to keep you listening for days on end.