Tag Archives : g1

With the announcement of a forthcoming Spotify app for Google Android, here’s some reasons why I prefer Android devices over the iPhone. Obviously as an Android user I’m completely biased here and I freely admit the iPhone is certainly a slick gadget. However, I think Google Android is better than an iPhone because: You’ll be able to run Spotify! You can multitask. You can scan regular barcodes. You can add standard micro-SD [...]

I don’t usually just repeat official announcements (I assume that if you’re here then you probably check the regular Spotify blog too), but since I’m a Google Android user I had to post this: Here’s a brief overview of (and a bit of speculation on) the five main tabs seen in the video: Playlist tab – Shows all your playlists. Scroll through them then select one to play, or click thru to play individual songs. [...]

I tried out StreamFurious today, a streaming audio app for Android that acts as a client for the popular SHOUTcast Internet radio streamer. It’s had a lot of coverage and praise from early-adopters on the Android Community, so I thought I should give it a try. Unfortunately I wasn’t overly impressed. The default stations are mostly low bitrate and not really my style of music (the list is mainly composed of talk radio, sports, [...]

I’ve been looking for the perfect music streamer ever since I got my G1 Android phone and decided that carrying a smartphone and an MP3 player into the shower was just excess baggage. I love my music: at home I have about 200GB of MP3s and a few hundred CDs (not forgetting the boxes of vinyl now in the loft). On the move, I used to take my 30GB MP3 player to listen to at work and on my 30-min walk home every day. I listen to a large [...]

Click the pic below to see my current favorite Google Android apps. This will take you to the photo on my Flickr page, where you can hover over the apps then click the hotspot notes to find out more:

Having lots of fun with the new offical Last.fm app for Android: It’s full of features, lacking only a few minor things like streaming playlists and group radio. I’m particularly impressed with the background streaming of this app: on average, I’m getting about a 5 second gap between songs (on 3G in the UK) which I reckon is pretty impressive. I spotted one tiny bug which it seems will be addressed in the next update.

There’s not a lot wrong with Google Android 1.0, or indeed with the G1 phone it runs on. But here are the few things I’d like to see improved: The Hardware: T-Mobile G1 The battery struggles to last even a few hours of use without needing a recharge. Granted my phone is all shiny and new and I want to play with it all the time, but even a “normal usage” situation would require a daily recharge. This is a bit of [...]

Google Android’s Market is currently free, so here’s what I’ve grabbed and rate: 5 apps to impress my friends with: ShopSavvy - scan a bar code (e.g. scan a book or CD or a game), displays item details, links to cheapest price on the ‘net, links to maps to show you the closest shop that’s selling it. Friends go “Ooooh that’s clever!” Shazam -Hold the phone up to some music playing on the [...]

Upgraded my phone from a Sony-Ericsson W880i to a T-Mobile G1 running Google Android: I’ve had it for just over a week now, so I’ve had a chance now to have a play and get used to the device. It’s an amazing piece of technology and although I have a couple of hardware complaints and one particular issue with the software, overall I’m well pleased with it. Previously I’d had to carry my W880i phone, Creative [...]