Free Logo Maker

Let's face it, if you Google the term "free logo maker," many hits will come up.  I did this myself, as I wanted to make a very simple logo.  After sifting through many sites, I came across one called LogoSnap.  I was immediately struck by the various brilliant designs as well as the ability to make my own logo.  In less than 10 minutes, I was able to create a very nice and professional looking logo.  I was then able to purchase and download the logo for less than $30!  What a deal!  Logosnap is now my new destination to create logos!

BlackBerry Torch 9800: iPhone/Android Killer?

First, let me give you some background on myself.  At any given time, I carry 2-3 phones, and at a very minimum one of them has always been a BlackBerry, and sometimes all 3 were BlackBerry.  Yes, while you do not see me blog much about it, I am definitely a BlackBerry fan boy.  The operating system is robust, quick, and consistent.  I get all my notifications and emails instantly.  Simply put, no phone rivals the BlackBerry for those of us who are time sensitive.
Now, I have to admit, I have been a little disappointed by lack of development from RIM for the past year or so.  The styling of the phones has improved, the hardware a little faster, but the operating system has not kept up with consumer needs.  It has kept up with business needs, sure, but the release of the BlackBerry Storm showed the industry they want to go after the consumer customer base as well.  Because BlackBerry leaves a few things to be desired, call me crazy, but I carry two phones.  One is always a BlackBerry Bold 9000 (I haven't seen a phone match it) and the other phone has a better equipped web browser and social media integration.  At the moment, it's an HTC EVO.
If you read carefully at what I just said, you will see the 2 desires RIM leaves unfulfilled, a fully equipped web browser and social media integration.  For the BlackBerry Torch to be successful, it must satisfy those 2 needs for it to be used more than a "notification device."  Don't worry, I am not arrogant enough to say if it fulfills those 2 personal needs, the phone will take off in the industry, but I think I've pinned down the 2 major obstacles for RIM as of late and allowing iPhone/Android to take market share.
For web browsing, personally, I expect HTML5 support and a full web browsing experience along the lines of iPhone or Android.  I see no reason why the BlackBerry Torch will not support pinch-to-zoom (unless they got scared by Apple's pending litigation against HTC).  Pages must more or less resemble their desktop/laptop counterparts.  I must also be able to "share" content seamlessly with the push of a button to email, Facebook, or Twitter.  Anything less would be a deficient mobile browsing experience.
Next, the integration of social media into the phone. Historically, BlackBerry has done a commendable job.  In fact, in some ways, they were ahead of the times.  When I got my BlackBerry in Summer of 2009, it allowed me to link my contacts from address book to Facebook to BlackBerry Messenger.  However, not much has changed since then.  When I first got my EVO, it detected which contacts from Facebook and Twitter corresponded to my address book and made accurate suggestions, and voila, fully integrated.  As for Facebook and Twitter itself...no surprises here, Facebook for BlackBerry does a beautiful job of telling me when someone has commented on something or wrote on my wall, but I do not get the full Facebook experience that I get on an iPhone or Android.  As for Twitter...wow, completely crippled my phone to the point that I had to uninstall.  It made my phone run very sluggishly...to the point that I could not reasonable use the phone.
No doubt, the BlackBerry Torch will be a big hit.  Many existing BlackBerry users will want to upgrade to the best BlackBerry yet.  But will it be successful enough to lure existing iPhone and Android customers away?  That has yet to be seen.  If it addresses the 2 aforementioned gaps, web browsing and social media, then definitely.  If the hardware and OS 6 end up being "more of the same," while many people may line up to upgrade to it, I will still deem it to be a failure.  The phone is set to be released on August 12 on AT&T for $199 on a 2 year agreement.

iPod Touch on Steroids for $149!

There is a new multimedia touchscreen device coming to the market called the Archos 32.  It has a 3.2" screen, Wifi 802.11gn, 8 GB capacity, built-in camera, Bluetooth and best of all ANDROID 2.1!  The device is selling for a reasonable $149 and is available for pre-order from JR.

This device seems to be going directly after the iPod Touch.  There are no pictures of it available yet, and I highly doubt it has the same unique styling as a Touch, but you have to admit you sure get a lot for $149.  The distinguishing factor is the built-in camera.  My only hesitation about this device is the last Archos device I saw did not allow consumers to download applications from the Android market.  If that is the case with this device, then I'm going to give it 2 big thumbs down.  I will be watching this device and let you know of any developments.

I Just Installed Android 2.2 On My EVO!

When I heard the HTC EVO will be getting the Android 2.2 update over-the-air on August 3rd, I was so excited that over the weekend, I kept incessantly trying to upgrade my phone anyway to no avail.  Around 6 pm PDT, to my amazement, my efforts had paid off because I got a message saying Android 2.2 was ready for download!


Without further ado and despite Sprint's best efforts to dissuade from using their network to download the upgrade (they preferred if I use WiFi instead), I went ahead and downloaded the upgrade which took about 15 minutes.  After the download, it took another 15 - 20 minutes to fully apply the download.

My impressions?  First, yes, the phone is noticeably faster!  Second, I noticed a few new applications added to my phone: App Sharing, Car Panel, and Flashlight.  The application names suggest exactly what the applications do.  I have to admit, I never have been so excited by a flashlight application on a phone before!  It is so beautifully implemented, with 3 varying levels of brightness, and it actually works exactly as promised.  I have not had a chance to use App Sharing, but I am fairly confident it will not violate licensing agreements (which is a good thing).  I find the Car Panel application intriguing, while I have not used it yet, the concept seems very cool!

There are some other fine tweaks and adjustments.  Gmail's controls let you read both newer and older emails on the same screen, and you can turn the screen to the right or left (very cool).  I have only had the upgrade for a few hours now, so I have not been able to go through everything, but those are some of the ones I noticed right off the bat.  If you want a comprehensive list, please see my previous article written yesterday.

Overall, this is an excellent and highly recommended upgrade.  For all you EVO owners, you do not have to wait any longer for this!  Just go under Settings -> System Updates -> HTC Software Update.  For the rest of you, stay tuned...the update will be coming your way soon.

Android 2.2 Features Summarized So Far

As you all know, HTC has released Android 2.2 (Froyo) for the HTC Desire.  Soon to follow in a few days will be the HTC EVO 4G in the United States for Sprint.  The Motorola Droid X has a Froyo update in the pipeline as well.  Here are some casual observations about Android 2.2 improvements:


Overall:
- It’s faster
- 720p recording.
- Screen can now also be rotated to the right!
- Dialer has new Android robot, kinda 3D looking one now.

Lockscreen:
- A delay can be set in the settings menu.
- Can now be a pattern lock, PIN lock or an alphanumeric password
- The lock pattern has grey middle buttons instead of black.
- Instead of just the time of the next alarm time. It also shows which day.
Settings:
- Wireless Networks contains settings for WiFi Hotspot
- New seperate menu for Screen settings.
- App screen is split up in 4 tabs: Downloaded | Only actived | All apps | On SD-Card
- Keyboard allows for Chinese input
- Keyboard allows for quick language change.
- New screen for speech.
New Apps:
- HTC Share App
- News & Weather
- Videos
- Voice Search
- WiFi Hotspot
- Torchlight
- Search (Google)
- Pictures renamed to Gallery
New Widgets:
- Calculator Widget
- Market Widget
Contacts
- Option to automatically send someone directly to voicemail now.
Messaging:
- The bottom box to type text is bigger.
- Now shows how many characters you have left from the start.
- New icon for send.
- New icon for attaching something.
- Scrolls smoother when a conversation has a lot of messages.
Gallery:
- Icons from the Sharing menu are smaller. In portrait mode, all are visible in 1 view.
Gmail:
- Now displays your email adres all the time in the upper-right corner.
- Displays a small icon of the person that send the mail if you have them in your address book.
- When viewing a mail, there are now buttons to go to the next and previous mail.
- Can copy text to clipboard now via menu button.
Market:
- New option to allow automatic updates.
- New seperate tab for app comments.
- Can now mark comments as: Useful, not useful and spam.
Music Player:
- When no cover available, the music note is now green.
- Pressing next has a MUCHHH smoother CoverFlow animation
- Genres are FIXED now.
- Pressing the left-button to open up the menu happens much faster.
- Shuffle seems better (not sure, but don’t bump into same song that often anymore).

[source]

Unlocked Android Phone for Under $150?

Have you wanted an Android phone, but either couldn't afford it or didn't want to be tied to a contract?  Huawei, the world's number 2 company in the mobile equipment industry (bet you didn't know that!) launched 2 new Android phones in India.  While the phones were not released in the US, nor are they particularly attractive, but the product launch demonstrates just how scalable the operating system is.

The first model we will discuss is the Huawei U8300 (pictured on right).  It has a, well, shall we say very unique look?  It has a disproportionate QWERTY keyboard, mid-size screen (looks around 2.5" inches to me), and 3G access.  I suspect it will come with Android 1.6.  The demographic this phone is targeting is youth and professionals who are into social networking so it comes preloaded with those kinds of widgets.  No other specifications are known.  The phone will be launched on August 1, and price point is estimated at $150(US)

The second model is the bit more stylish U8500.  While from the picture it is not very obvious, it has a slide out sliding keyboard.  The screen size is 3.2", so it has the same screen size of the HTC Hero or HTC Aria.  Again, I am going to speculate this phone will come with Android 1.6.  The price point for this phone will be approximately $225.

Again, the phones themselves are not particularly interesting, but the price point of these Android-based smartphones is.

Android 2.2 Update Coming to HTC EVO 4G

This is the biggest announcement for the EVO since its launch -- the EVO will be getting the Android 2.2 (Froyo) update starting August 3.  EVO users will be able to reap the benefits of bluetooth voicedialing, application storage on external memory, and Flash 10 support.  According to benchmark tests, Froyo runs 450% faster than Android 2.1.  Hooray!

Beginning August 3rd, users will be receiving notifications the over-the-air update is available.  By mid-August, all users will be updated.  If you're part of the group that can't wait (like myself), you can initiate the software update for the HTC EVO 4G under the Settings Menu > System Updates > HTC Software Update.  The update will NOT wipe out your personal data, but it is always best to backup your phone anyway.  Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to rush out and upgrade my microSD card to a 16GB so I can install a bunch of applications!