123johnrollins

Archive for June, 2010|Monthly archive page

It may not answer the phone, but it is more valuable

In Uncategorized on June 21, 2010 at 10:41 pm

I can be a little obsessive about know where my money is, how much of it i have, how it is spent and where it is going. As a father of three kids under 6 and a husband to a wife who wants to treat them to everything their heart desires, knowing where your money is going and how it is getting there is truly self-defense.

That is where A personal assistant from Pageonce.com app for android comes in.  It is the crossroads of my sanity. i can monitor many things in one place with this app.

I can make a purchase with my debit card and it will register with my      account and i have almost realtime access to my accounts with a clear interface that integrates with my various vendors seamlessly.

here is a list of what I can keep track of.

my bank account

my wireless phone and utility bills

401k and other investment accounts

cell phone minutes used

frequent flyer miles and flight itineraries

Netflix queue

a great quick glance at eBay and social networking sites.

All in one place.. and it is safe secure and simple to use.

you also get a great way to view it online.

the free version gives you a choice of 5 accounts and the paid version (6.99) gives you unlimited accounts with the added bonus of automatic updates.

this is a must have app for anybody who needs to stay on top of their finances…. simply one of the best personal organization apps there is.

A walk in the clouds.

In Uncategorized on June 16, 2010 at 10:14 pm

Scene. You are at an appointment. A client wants a price of a product, and you don’t want to boot up your laptop, log in to your system, have it reset, ETC. So instead you take out your Android phone, open Homepipe, and presto. The folders you chose on your desktop on your computer are right there on your device. Welcome to your own personal cloud. Everything (and I mean everything, there is no limit to the storage) you want to sync-photos, videos, music, files.  This app price is free or you can pay a one time $2.99 for an ad-free experience. I had this up and running within minutes with no hassle. Launch the app from your phone the first time and it will send you an email with registration info and a link for the desktop download. Once installed; you can access your cloud over 3G or wifi.

I get reviewed with a little help from my friends

In Uncategorized on June 10, 2010 at 9:59 pm

the last post was a gem from my friend Big Bad John. He and others have been invited to help me make this a valuable resource for the average and beginning android user.  If you have any ideas for what we should be reviewing or are wondering if there is an android app that fits the way you live your life; let us know.  We will be glad to see what we come up with. All of those who i will have as guest posters will be valuable members of the wireless community and will do their best to make it simple. so stay tuned.

So you graduated from your Iphone but you miss iTunes….

In media on June 10, 2010 at 9:48 pm


Well, then you are in luck. Double Twist Player is a free (for a limited time) app that you download on your phone and your desktop that integrates your iTunes with your Android device. Now I know what you’re thinking, sounds complicated. On the contrary, it couldn’t be simpler. Just download from the market, and the first time you open it, it will email you the link for your desktop. Once the desktop is installed, you are good to go. Now I know what you’re thinking, I don’t want to go back and make ALL NEW playlists. And they don’t want you to have to either. Just press playlists and it will sync them all. And your movies. And your podcasts. AND if the format isn’t compatible, it will change it for you automatically. Also, with built in podcast, Android Market, and music search and auto detection of your device, all you have to do is plug and play.

Well, then you are in luck. Double Twist Player is a free (for a limited time) app that you download on your phone and your desktop that integrates your iTunes with your Android device. Now I know what you’re thinking, sounds complicated. On the contrary, it couldn’t be simpler. Just download from the market, and the first time you open it, it will email you the link for your desktop. Once the desktop is installed, you are good to go. Now I know what you’re thinking, I don’t want to go back and make ALL NEW playlists. And they don’t want you to have to either. Just press playlists and it will sync them all. And your movies. And your podcasts. AND if the format isn’t compatible, it will change it for you automatically. Also, with built in podcast, Android Market, and music search and auto detection of your device, all you have to do is plug and play.

Doubletwist

Going once; going twice and not worth going

In Uncategorized on June 4, 2010 at 2:29 pm

I am a really big fan of getting rid of things you do not need. I often use eBay to sell stuff I no longer need and to buy the items I cannot find locally. (Some of the prices cannot be beat) I also want to make sure I keep track of my buying and selling while I am out and about.

There are three major apps on the market for eBay: the official eBay app, Pkt Auctions and Droid Auctions. All of them are great if you just want to see what is out there on eBay and want to bid or need to communicate thru the internal eBay message system. But two of them are stand outs because they have very specific features one for sellers and one for buyers.

If you are a frequent buyer on eBay and need some great search tools then Pkt Auctions is for you. The barcode scanner feature can save you time and energy by using it to scan an item and then have it come up on the search. It worked most of the time I tried it and worked best for books, movies and CD’s as the database for those items is already integrated into the Google infrastructure. It makes a good alternative to typing many items in.

Another feature I really liked about Pkt is the price check feature. It allows you to see how much similar items have sold for and an average price check so you know not to pay too much for the items. It also has a deals button that shows you some great deals on random items. I have not needed any of these items but, the prices seem low. It also has an internal board for only users of this app. I posted once, no replies yet.

As a seller on eBay I like Droid auctions. The summary page is the first you see and it has all of your auctions summarized in one place. The count of what you are watching, buying, won, lost, selling sold and unsold. It also shows how many watchers you have on each auction from the list page. This is very useful as a seller. Droid auctions’ sort feature is also more comprehensive and more like the experience on the standard website.

The message feature is also a bit better than the other choices as it not only shows the messages from other ebayers, but also the system messages from eBay.

The other applications did not offer this.

Another cool feature that Droid auctions has is the abitilty to have the end of an auction added to you calendar from inside the application. Simply hit menu while looking at an item and hit the calendar button, add it to the calendar. You will get a reminder about the auction when you need it. PKT auctions has a similar function but the one in Droid is more custom.

The interfaces on all of them were pretty smooth and I have made purchases thru each of the applications. No real difference between them. The PayPal integration was simple and straightforward in each case.

I would recommend PKT and Droid to both be on your device if you both buy and sell. Both would have their place.

Now, I have to get back to my Droid, someone just outbid me on a classic Beanie baby… I MUST HAVE IT!

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