App Review: OneNote for Android

In all of the hype Tuesday about the Chrome browser for Android, another app was released that is useful to many Microsoft Office users and may have been overlooked. OneNote for Microsoft Office was finally released for Android. That's right, a Microsoft Office app on Android.

I was a big OneNote user for a very long time. I used it to write down everything. Personal, business, to do lists, screen captures of apps and errors all were captured into OneNote for me to be able to search and find at a later time. About a year and a half ago I became increasingly frustrated that I could not take these notes with me on the go. Since there was no Android app for OneNote I eventually started using Evernote. I like Evernote in as far as it has a client for almost every platform and I like that it syncs across devices.

However, one area where I get flustered with Evernote is in the tagging and creation of documents. In OneNote I can set a default template for when I want to keep all of my notes in a section looking the same. I also have tabs in OneNote that I can label and just create a new note under that tab which is essentially tagging it. In Evernote I have to create a new note then tag it to keep it together with other like documents. If I want it to look the same as other notes I had to create a template. I open the template first and copy the entire note then go open my new note and paste all of this in. I then have to go tag it. Several steps to do what I can do in OneNote in one or two clicks.

Now that Microsoft has released the Android app for OneNote I have started moving back to OneNote. In fact, I am using it to write this review. At this moment I have over 500 notes in Evernote. Getting all of those documents over to OneNote again has proven to be a labor of love. I found a free tool that will move 50 notes at a time over from Evernote to OneNote. If you have a large number of notes you may want to consider alternative methods of moving the notes over. None of the options are great but it can be done.

When you open OneNote for Android it prompts you to login to your Skydrive account to download online notebooks. I used my credentials and the app showed my notebooks in the list. Because I had so much data stored there it took a few minutes to get everything down to the phone. If you have local versions of notebooks it is probably a good idea to create Skydrive based versions of them to allow your phone or tablet to sync them. With the free web based version of OneNote now available you could also open them from a browser if you are not able to use the full client. I have used this at times and found it to be very handy.

Another advantage I see of OneNote over Evernote for Android is editing notes. I want to just open the app, create or open an existing note and start typing. When you open a note in Evernote I don't like how it makes you go into the menu and select edit on an existing note. It can take too long and just seems cumbersome. With OneNote you open a note and can click to start typing. This is a much more efficient way to use notes on a mobile device. If someone needs to tell me something that I want to jot down I want to open the note and go.

There is no widget for OneNote yet but since this is a new app for Android I would hope that someone will develop it. Since the app loads so quickly I find just the icon is sufficient for now. Having all of my notes in the cloud and across all of my devices through a familiar application is going to save me time and frustration. If you are a OneNote user or your company supports users of Office products give this app a try.

The free version works with up to 500 notes. To buy the full version you can purchase it within the app at a cost of $4.99. I bought the full version since I was over the 500 note limit and I know that I will use it daily. For most people the free version will work to allow you to really see how nice OneNote really is.

Shared Data Plans

In the year 2012 I find it frustrating that we buy unlimited cell data plans and we cannot use the data how we want. For example, if I buy an unlimited 5GB monthly data plan I can only use that data on the phone or tablet that I buy the data plan with. If I did not pay for tethering of my PC I am unable to use the data for that purpose. I cannot take my other cell based products and just use my account with those devices. I am only allowed to use that 5GB of data for one device.

I know as well as all of you that there are ways to get around these limitations.  Koush's new tether app  for instance will let me tether my phone to my PC and supposedly it is undetectable by the carriers. There are wireless tether apps that will let me use my phone data plan to connect my other wireless devices and share the data that I am paying for. However, if I am caught doing this, which is a violation of the terms of service, I could be charged additionally or even cut off.  I do not want to go around the terms of service or take the chance of additional charges. But shouldn't I be able to use the 5GB of data I pay for each month and use it how I see fit? I have paid for it and I am entitled to use it. If I use the data to the limit on my phone I would not be penalized. The carriers know that we could potentially use that much data. Why does it matter so much to them where it is being used?

I pay for cable TV each month with the expectation that I will use as much as I want. In fact, I have five tuners hooked up to the system and I could very well leave them all on 24 hours a day for 365 days a year. The shows that I watch are not throttled because I have watched too many episodes this month of The Big Bang Theory. The cable company does not charge me extra because I am watching TV on a large screen and an old TV. In other words, they do not care how or what I am watching TV on. And if we get down to it, isn't TV just a digital media being sent down a cable?  Much like the data we consume, IP traffic is data being sent over a wire. I know there are technical differences but essentially it is all the same principal of data going down a wire. One type the carriers want to charge you for if you don't buy a plan for each device and the other is an unlimited supply.

We pay for home Internet services and I have (surprisingly) never hit a data limit on the amount of information I can download. At one point I was a trainer downloading training materials from an unnamed Redmond based OS company where the materials were all 1GB or larger. In one month I downloaded 20 of these manuals. In addition to downloading all of these manuals I also surfed the web and streamed music. My wife surfed the web from her PC and my kids were playing online games. Multiple devices all using a shared data plan.

Ok, I know that cell services are a different technology and there may be constraints. That is where the data plans come in with caps. I am not saying that I should have a truly unlimited plan without paying a premium. What I am saying is that I should be allowed to not only be able to use that data however I want, but also only have to buy one plan for myself and be able to use that data across all devices. I bought a wifi only tablet because I did not want to incur another cell bill for a tablet that I only use some of the time. Imagine if I could share the data plan. I would have bought my tablet from the same carrier that sold me my phone. I would have been willing to pay full price for the tablet since it already would have had a data plan that I could use with it. I would have been willing to pay for another 1GB of data at a higher rate some months if I went over. Instead, I bought the wifi only version and I did not pay the carrier for the device and I did not buy an additional data plan. They did not make any money on me. I would have been inclined to pay more if I could have shared that data that I am already paying for and not getting close to using each month. I would probably have opted for a larger data plan if I could tether my PC to my service just for the convenience of having it whenever I need it while I am out. The carriers are missing the big picture.

There were truly unlimited data plans years ago and no one took advantage of those because the technology and speeds were not there. Today we have the data speeds and the devices to really use the data we are given. Carriers could monetize on overages and by selling other cell based devices to tech hungry consumers. Instead, they worry about trying to sell us a data plan for each phone, tablet and hotspot they offer. I think they could make much more money if they allowed us to use the data they tell us is ours and would allow us to tie all of these devices to the same plan. How would your usage differ if you could buy one data plan and use it however you wanted?

Image: Michal Marcol / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

App Review: Groove IP

I have spent the last month living without cell minutes. No, I wasn't living on a tropical island somewhere away from civilization. I was using Groove IP by snrb Labs for my calling minutes. Groove IP is a Voice Over IP (VOIP) client that works with your Google Voice account to route your calling over data connections. In other words, when I call or get calls it sends the voice through the data connection to or from Google Voice. Google Voice then routes the sound to the other phone. This saves me minutes on my calling plan.

For those of you that have unlimited calling and could care less about saving your minutes may think this isn't for you, but using this app could potentially save you hundreds of dollars. For some of us cheap more thrifty people, we only have the bare minimum amount of minutes that the provider will sell us. In my case I now only have 450 minutes to use per month with Verizon. I normally would only talk about 250-300 minutes total a month. Buying an unlimited calling plan would be money wasted for me. I have used Google Voice since they were Grand Central back in 2006 and have kept my number all of those years. I now use it as my only cell number and even text from it exclusively. In fact, I have not given anyone my actual cell number since getting the new phone. But since Google Voice rings me at all of my phones depending on the time of day, it is all I need. I say all that to tell you that if you are going to use Groove IP you need to be committed to Google Voice since it only works with the Google Voice service.

One other reason you may want to look at Groove IP even if you have unlimited calling would be to save money while traveling abroad. According to the developer, one feature that many people do not know about is that you can call back to the US while traveling internationally. With just a wifi connection you could call home without paying to get a costly international calling plan. If you have ever traveled overseas you know how much it can cost to call home even for just a few minutes.

The setup of Groove IP is rather simple. You download the app to your phone or tablet. Once it is installed you open the app and sign in to your Google Voice account through the app. This is your connection to Google Voice. That is it, you are ready to stop using minutes and start using VOIP. The app has a dialer that you use to call out or you can use the standard dialer. However, the Groove IP dialer works just like the standard dialer and seems to handle calls better. It has tabs for recent calls, contacts and favorites. You have a number pad for normal calling. The settings let you determine how to use Groove IP. You can select to use 3G/4G calling which will route all of your calls over data. I have this option turned on. As long as I have a wifi or cell connection I can make calls through the app. If for some reason I do not have a data connection the phone will prompt me to revert back to a cell connection when I try making a call. You can control the native dialer and call logs in the settings also. If you have problems with audio there is a section to help you get a better sounding call. The troubleshooting and miscellaneous settings have many useful options for you to make Groove IP work the way you want it to.

Just using this app on the phone in the last month has saved me minutes used. At day 26 of my billing cycle I am at 2 minutes used through Verizon. Those calls were while I was setting it all up and I did not have calling over 4G enabled. You might think that this has eaten away at my precious 4GB of data I have per month. I don't know if Groove IP compresses the data or not, but I have only used 300MB of total data. That is wifi and cell combined. I have talked on my phone over 5 hours (300+ minutes) this month. I have talked more on the phone knowing I am not using my minutes and can keep talking as long as I want when I am on wifi. I know this is crazy, but I may actually start using my phone to make phone calls again!

The sound quality through Groove IP has been outstanding. I have only noticed a few calls while I was at the edge of wifi coverage that sounded like a bad cell signal. I was between the wifi network and switching over to 4G. Those instances have been the exception. Most of my phone calls have been loud and clear. I have not had any complaints about not being clear to the people I was talking to and no noticeable delays or echoing.

I loaded the app on my wifi only Galaxy Tab and my Samsung Vibrant without a SIM card in it. I have been able to send and receive calls on both over only wifi. The Tab does not have any cell capabilities in it at all. Granted, it only works on wifi but with that massive battery it has I could use it as a backup if I knew I was going to be on a long call and using wifi the whole time. Essentially, you could use an old wifi enabled phone to be used with your Google Voice account using it like a house phone instead of a land line.  To accomplish wifi only calling the app uses Google Talk to communicate with Google Voice over data. With my Nexus I was getting two rings at first when I setup Groove IP.  The app was routing an incoming call to my phone through Google Talk and the Google Voice app was routing the call to my cell number because I had it set to ring there as well. Both dialers were ringing. I remedied this by going into the Google Voice settings and selecting the Nexus phone number to never ring. I left Google Talk enabled. Now when I get a phone call only the Groove IP dialer rings. I still can use the Nexus through Google Voice since I have it enabled but not ringing.

This was a little confusing at first but the support page over on Facebook is a very active site. The developer answers questions all of the time and the other users help each other out too. I almost never Like anything on Facebook but I have done so for this app. I wanted to see the updates and be able to get feedback. Several of the additional options in the settings came from the support page and suggestions from users meaning your feedback does matter.

Groove IP is $4.99 in the Android Market. I strongly recommend buying it since it could save you in monthly costs. If you have decent data coverage or use wifi connections it is possible you could drop your calling plan down to a limited amount of minutes and save hundreds of dollars a year. You will have to use your Google Voice number or you can even port your number to them now. This app is a great way to save money and still be able to use your phone. Though it is not for everyone, Groove IP is worth a try.

The Biggest Threat to Android

The biggest competition to Android may not be Apple or Microsoft but rather the constant onslaught of newer devices being offered by manufacturers causing them to ignore older phones and a large amount of customers. Some manufacturers have vowed to release less models this year. We can only hope the reason for this is to allow them to focus on supporting existing customers in terms of updates.

I bought a Samsung Vibrant shortly after they were released. I did not buy the phone for Eclair 2.1 that it shipped with, nor did I buy it for Touchwiz. I bought the phone for the hardware. My hope was that it would run the OS releases for the next two years. When it hit my hands, that phone was a super phone compared to what was on the market at the time. With a 1GHz CPU and the Super AMOLED screen the phone was the new standard of Android phones. However, I soon found that Samsung was more focused on releasing new phones and less on keeping older models up to date. The subsequent phones that were released were not great improvements over my Vibrant but some did have FroYo and later Gingerbread. Samsung, despite the cries of the customer base ignored the millions of Galaxy S owners asking for OS updates. If you asked any of the Samsung support people on Twitter if they had any update information they told you that the company does not comment on release dates.

When you buy a Nexus phone you are not just buying hardware but also the true Android experience with fast updates to the latest OS. The Nexus line has always been the new standard of hardware and software for the coming year. Many Nexus owners have seen multiple OS versions run on their phones. If I buy a $500-700 smartphone that is not a Nexus I still want it to be on the latest OS until, at the very least, the next OS and Nexus phones are released. In the case of the Vibrant, I bought mine the month that FroYo was released. As a customer, when a year goes by and I still don't have that release on my phone I may have second thoughts about buying another Android phone. For some people buying a Nexus is not what they want. But I think we can agree that most owners would like to get at least one major upgrade regardless of the phone they buy.

Look at Apple for a moment. They upgrade their phones every year. You know it is coming and if you are ok with last years model you can buy that phone at a lower cost. Even buying an older model you will probably get OS updates for a couple of years. If you opt for the new phone it will be the top standard for at least a year. Next year the OS will be updated and you will get it. Two years from now you will be out of contact and can again update to the newest version. Love it or hate it, Apple has a good plan for buyers looking to update their phones.

Looking at my Vibrant, I bought it with Eclair and never got an official OTA update to FroYo. After a year and a half I break my contract and go for a Nexus so that I can get an official ICS phone. Samsung not only released a ton of phones after the Vibrant they have neglected customers in terms of updates. I always felt slighted as a customer. Samsung sold over 30 million Galaxy S phones as of October of last year. That means that most of those customers never saw an update and either A. Abandoned their Galaxy S phone as I did to get official updates, B. Are still stuck with the original OS (or at least FroYo, not Gingerbread) or C. Rooted and put a ROM on the phone. Don't get me wrong, I put a ROM on my phone at day 2 of owning it. I bought it for that purpose. However, most customers did not buy their phones to do that. But even today there is not any source code released of Gingerbread for the Vibrant. Every ROM that is out there running 2.3 is a hacked version. If they had released the source code CyanogenMod would still be supporting it. As it stands, they have dropped official support since Samsung has not released the source and that is how they operate.

HTC and Motorola have agreed to slow down releases. I hope that this is to allow themselves time to support the millions of customers that buy their phones. Samsung is still releasing models one after the other. They are also notorious for not releasing updates. Samsung is not the only company doing this but if they keep releasing phones without supporting existing customers it hurts not only Samsung but the Android community. It sours the customer experience for everyone. The customers who pay their hard earned money for these phones deserve to have OS updates for most of their contract. Apple gives most buyers an upgrade every year, normally for more than two years. I know some will argue that they don't make major upgrades on the hardware or software, but users still get it either way. Google needs to step in somehow and make sure they protect customers from buying a phone that will not be updated for at least a year.

We talk about fragmentation in Android and lawsuits threatening the platform. The biggest threat Android faces may not be from Apple or Microsoft but rather from Android manufacturers themselves. Let us hope that Samsung and the others see that slowing the release schedule and offering better customer experiences for the life of a phone is more important than pushing mass quantities of phones.

Review: Wi-fi Talkie

Even with all of the capabilities cell phone have today, there are times when being able to talk quickly with people without having to initiate a full blown phone call would be nice. Remember as a kid using walkie-talkies to talk to friends that were close by? There was no need to have a full conversation but just short bits of information. The Wi-fi Talkie app by Remaller is an app that promises to bring walkie-talkie style communication back to your Android phone.

Incoming call

As a kid I played war games in the woods with my friends all of the time. We would often use walkie-talkies to communicate with each other. The beauty of it was you just pushed the button and talked, simple but effective. As I got older the days of the Nextel push to talk technology took communicating this way much further by opening up the range to include people worldwide. The best part of it was that you would just convey a message without all of the peasantries of a formal phone call. It was quick and easy. That is essentially the thing that makes this type of communication work so well.

Wi-Fi Talkie starts up with a clean interface. You have two tabs and a settings button. The app uses long presses to show options available to people you are trying to communicate with. In addition to calling other phones connected to the same wifi you can also send files and chat. One unique feature is the included Wi-Fi Hotspot option. Since with Wi-Fi Talkie you can only communicate with other phones attached to the same wifi network, the app has the option of turning on the Android hotspot on your phone to create your own network. It allows you to turn it on in two clicks. Once it is on others can connect to your hotspot and they will show up in your users list. To call one of the other phones, long press the name and select call from the menu. It would be nice to have a faster way to call to make it more walkie-talkie like. The long press and select makes it more like a phone than a push to talk or walkie-talkie device.

Wi-fi Talkie Preferences

By long pressing you can also chat or send files. I really believe the file transfer part of the app to be the most useful. Here you can send files of any size between phones. Since this app requires a fairly close proximity to one another I can see a real use for this. I was able to send a MP3 file from one phone to the other very quickly. It works device to device so there are no servers in between to manage the transfers. The chat feature works like you would expect. Between users message are sent and received within the app. It looks similar to the text messaging app in Android.

The app works better than other similar type apps that I have tried. It works without any sign in or setup. All of the features are there that you would expect. However, the biggest shortfall I see with Wi-fi Talkie is that you have to be on the same network. This limits who you can talk to. The app does work across a VPN connection to extend its reach but this will not help you to save minutes talking to people that are far away on other unconnected networks. I have tried to find uses for this app and I would think for people on a campus wide wifi network who want to be able to talk and chat without using their cell minutes and data that the app would work great. I could see communication between people working that cannot leave a location or that have limited cell reception using this also. The developer mentioned it being

Wi-fi Talkie Chat

used by people with motorcycles traveling together. One could start a hotspot and the others could all connect in. Using helmet hands free devices they could talk hands free while driving. I could see this being helpful on long trips.

If there was an option to sign into a central server and use it on a wider scale that would make the $1.99 price for the Pro version an easy purchase. As it is, I can only see this being a niche product. The Lite version has many limitations and is best used to try the app before making the purchase. I would like there to be a Lite version that would allow users to talk without limits but add the file transfer and chat features in when the full version is purchased. Even an ad supported Lite version would be useful.

If you are looking for a way to talk to others without using your cell minutes or data, Wi-fi Talkie is a working solution. It delivers all it promises and shows signs of a greater potential.

[app]com.remaller.android.wifitalkie[/app]

Review: OtterBox Cases

OtterBox has become a well-known brand for creating cases for iPhones, Android phones and more than ten other device and manufacturers. With most smartphones costing over $300 it is wise to protect your investment.
As more phones add glass and plastics to their designs it becomes increasingly important to cover corners and screens. Since Gorilla Glass and similar type protective glass is not standard on all phones, a well placed scratch or crack can render a phone useless. By using a protective case you are likely to extend the life and usefulness of your phone.

In researching cases you realize that hardly any of them make many claims to the level of added protection you will receive by buying their product. It is difficult to determine what percentage of users that buy protective cases actually benefit from them. However, if you drop your phone once and have it land on the screen or corner it will have paid for itself. Screen repairs on some of the newer hi res screens and larger screens can cost half of the price of the phone. If a $30 case can stop a $150 screen from scratching or cracking the investment is worth it.

The downside to adding a case is the weight and size it can add to an otherwise thin phone. As manufacturers are creating larger flat phones a case can quickly add bulk. Some cases are just protective sleeves, others are full body cases. Many users prefer not to cover the screens with scratch resistant films because they reduce the responsiveness or cause annoying glare in bright light.

OtterBox cases come in four different models addressing all of these points. The Defender series is more of a full body case. They incorporate a clear membrane screen protection as part of the case to reduce dust and dirt as well as scratches and dings. The corners are also padded for better shock protection. The Commuter series is the next step down from the Defender. It has a silicon case that goes around the outside and back of the phone. A hard molded shell covers the back, sides and ends of the phone but does not have a screen protector built in. Instead, the Commuter comes with a stick on screen protector. The Impact series does not include the hard outer shell that the Commuter does but this reduces the weight and size while still protecting the outer edges of the phone. It also includes the stick on screen protector. Finally, the Reflex series is a two piece case with crumple zone type corners. The case is designed to absorb a drop by crumpling in a reflex zone when an impact occurs.

With the four choices OtterBox offers you are likely to find a case that fits your phone and suits your needs. For the Galaxy Nexus, OtterBox offers a Defender and Commuter case. The Commuter case tested came in the box with the silicon case, the hard outer shell that slips over the case, a screen protector with squeegee and a cloth to clean the screen. The installation of the case and protective outer shell is simple. Putting on a protective screen film is never easy to do without getting fingerprints or dust on the film. Cleaning the screen completely before applying the film has to be done to ensure that the screen is clear. On OtterBox's website there is an installation instructional video to show how to install the film properly. Their product also has tabs to help reduce fingerprints and smudges.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus OtterBox

The case for the Galaxy Nexus allows enough room to fit the phone with the OEM 2100mAh extended battery. Since the case is only slightly larger than the standard battery the OtterBox slips on without any problem. The case feels snug and stays in place even as you slide it in and out of pant pockets. However, the silicon cover does seem to attract lint and dust. The covers for the power and headphone jacks snap in place easily but do not pull out in normal handling. The covers should protect the ports from getting dirt and dust in them if they are closed since they fit so well. On the other hand, the Samsung Vibrant Commuter case headphone port did not stay in as well. Each model will vary depending on the design of the phone and cases.

Overall, the OtterBox cases are a wise investment for the consumer that wants to keep their phone looking like new. The Defender series and Reflex series are ideal for people that are very rough on their phones or need extra protection. The Commuter and Impact series are lighter versions of the cases with great corner and back plate protection. OtterBox even offers waterproof cases for some phones. With a case for so many phones and styles to match your needs you should consider OtterBox case as an essential accessory purchase.

The company I work for released the first Android PEO app

The company I work for released the first Android PEO app. Check us out at www.accordhr.com.

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