Top 200 best Android apps 2012 | News | TechRadar

Thanks to Beverley A Harper who shared this link on Facebook.

Top 200 best Android apps 2012 | News | TechRadar:

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Library Books

In a post today James Tanner talks about borrowing eBooks from libraries.

Check Out Books from and Online Library?


Have you used your Android for this purpose?

Tamura Jones List updated

Tamura has updated his list of free Android genealogy apps. Check it out for his evaluations.

http://www.tamurajones.net/FreeAndroidGenealogyApps.xhtml

A New Toy for Geniaus

I took delivery of my new Samsung Galaxy S3 yesterday and have already spent too many hours playing with it.

I had been tracking the device's trip to Australia from the Kogan warehouse via the internet and,from the info there, guesstimated that it would arrive yesterday. I had just about given up when the postie tooted his horn around 4:00 pm to announce his arrival. I could hardly contain my excitement when he handed me the small parcel housing my phone. I was expecting him to deliver a case of wine not my phone that I thought was coming via  DHL.

Screenshot from my S3

My first discovery was that one pays a price for buying from Kogan (but it was over $250 cheaper then at Telstra); the getting started booklet was in French. I was able to understand most of this thanks to schoolgirl French.   I G+ed about this and Tamura Jones came to my rescue with a link to the guide online in English.

Having downloaded the guide I realised that I really didn't need it as there are clear instructions given during the setup process. This was not tedious and didn't take too long as I seemed to get connected to the home wireless in a flash.

My next task was to install the SIM from my other 'phone into the S3; I tried to wedge it into the slot until I twigged that a micro SIM was needed. I consulted the internet and found that I could cut down my SIM to fit but chickened out. I had plenty to do to set up the device without bothering about getting it ready for phone calls.

Today saw me heading to the local Telstra store ready for a fight; the young lady there swapped my SIM for a micro and advised me that the micro SIM would be working within 15 minutes, and it was.

I had no trouble connecting to Hungry Jack's Free Wifi while I was in the shopping centre even though I don't know where the Hungry Jack's store is! So that's another tick for the S3.

Back to basics. The phone is nice to hold, it fits snugly in the palm of my left hand, the touchscreen is very responsive, and I seem to be able to type accurately on the screen (that was one of my fears). Having had a good feel of it I set to adding my fave apps some of which downloaded automatically from the Playstore. Some didn't download so I added them manually - go figure!.

I ditched some of the icons on the home screen in favour of things I use more frequently; this will change as I determine exactly how I will use the device.

Navigating the S3 seems intuitive to me but that may be because I had an older Samasung smartphone as well as a Galaxy Tablet. As most of the functions are the same or similar I felt very comfortable using the device straight away.

One of my first photos with the S3 - Can you see the ducks in our dam?

One of the reasons for getting the S3 was for the camera. I have a large camera and, until earlier this year, had a small camera that I carried around in my handbag. Sadly it had an accident at The Grand Canyon and was pronounced dead. Although it only has 4x zoom I think that the Galaxy will serve as my handbag camera. This was one of the reasons I purchased the 32 gig model; I can use the 50 gig Dropbox account that came with the S3 for backing up my photos along the road but will wait for a wifi connection to do so.

So far I have used the S3 to read and send emails, make calendar appointments, read my RSS feed, compose most of this blog post, play Scrabble online, search the web, make a phone call, send a text message, access Facebook, Google+ and Twitter, save links to Evernote and take photos.

And I have only had it for just 24 hours!

In a future post I will let you know what apps I have installed on the S3.

Ice Cream Sandwich Tips

My new phone is running on Ice Cream Sandwich which is a newer Operating System than my tablet which runs 2.3. This post from MakeUseOf should help me get more from my device.

15 Android Ice Cream Sandwich Tips You Should Already Know

In the market for a tablet?

Read this before you head to the shops.

What You Need To Know Before Buying A Tablet

Ancestral Breezes: Using Mind Mapping

A review from genealogist, Jen Baldwin, of  mindmeister a mind mapping tool that is a Chrome extension. The basic plan allows one to create up to three mindmaps - so one can try before buying.

mindmeister is also available for Android.

Ancestral Breezes: Using Mind Mapping:

I'll be having a play with this tool.

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Moving up in the Galaxy

After much deliberation I have ordered an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S3 and hope to take delivery of it early next week.

I am presently looking at the apps I have loaded onto my 7" Galaxy Tab and determining those which I will load onto the S3 which will be running a much later version of Android than the 2.3 my tablet is running.

I also need to investigate a travel SIM card for Europe for when I journey there later in the year.

If any other S3 toting genies can offer me suggestions for getting the most out of my new toy I'd love to hear from you.

Podcasts

I love podcasts. While I download one radio program, The Conversation Hour, the remainder of tbe podcasts I download for later listening are genealogy related.

I have been using Doggcatcher to manage my downloads but was interested to see this list from Make use of.

6 Of The Best Podcast Apps For Android

What do you use?

Pinterest for Android

I tried Pinterest when it first appeared but didn't get into it because I could use it from my Android tablet, the device that travels with me everywhere. At that time peopke were mainly using Pinterest to share recipes, home decor and fashion items.

Since I gave up on it I have noticed that several genealogists have begun to use it fir genealogy purposes. Now that there is an Android app I may play with Pinterest obce more.

This review projects a positive view of the product.

Android Police[Review] Pinterest For Android: A Perfectly Designed Android App (That's Not Just For Women)

Do you use Pinterest for genealogy?

It's like Twitter for photos

Earlier this week  I attended a webinar about Instagram hosted by mother and daughter duo, DearMyrtle and Carrie Keele . After hearing Carrie utter just one phrase "It's like Twitter for photos" I got it.

At the behest of my daughter I had downloaded  Instagram onto my Android devices several months ago but I didn't quite understand what it was all about. Now thanks to the webinar I have a good understanding. I'm not sure I'll be using Instagram a lot but it's nice to know what it's all about. Although the presenters used iProducts for the webinar presentation the examples shown apply to Android devices.

If you aren't sure about this  Instagram  thing you can tune into the recording of the webinar where all will be revealed.

DOWNLOAD Your Unofficial Kindle Fire Manual

Thanks to Thomas MacEntee for sharing this free resource on Facebook.

DOWNLOAD Your Unofficial Kindle Fire Manual:

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