App Review: Blue Skies Weather App for Windows Phone 8.1

There are a number of weather apps available in the windows store to choose from. I like to try different apps to bring you the best of what is available and I came across this sweet weather app from Blue Skies.

Blue Skies is designed and developed by Rohit Rajendran who did an amazing job. He literally thought of everything you need from a weather app.

Blue Skies has a well designed UI that is very easy on the eyes, and is simple to navigate. There are light and dark themes to suit your needs. On the first screen you will see basic information about weather in your city. If you tap on the circle it will give you wind and chance of rain. Near the bottom of the screen it will tell you how far the nearest storm is from you.

Heading over to the next screen on Blue Skies you will see your high and low for the day, humidity, precipitation, sunrise and sunset. The boxes at the bottom of the screen will show your weather throughout the different times of the day. Just scroll through the boxes to see if you will need sunglasses, your umbrella or snow shoes! Continue reading “App Review: Blue Skies Weather App for Windows Phone 8.1”

Google Quietly and Oddly Pushes Lollipop 5.1 Update to Android One Devices

android oneThe 5.1 update isn’t a typo. It’s real and it’s already available on entry level Android One devices designed for emerging markets.

In the nomenclature of updates, it’s a fairly large jump from 5.0.2 to a full 5.1, though we don’t have an official changelog on whats included. AndroidPit published a list in December on what was coming in 5.1. They expect we’ll see the Silent Mode return alongside improvements to performance, RAM utilization, and radio management.

It’s just somewhat odd that Google would launch a decimal point update like this with virtually zero fanfare, though it’s interesting to see what phones Google selected first to receive the new software. Android One is one of the few areas that Google can almost completely control the software experience on a smartphone. It’s an area where even the Nexus experiment can falter when carriers get involved in support. Continue reading “Google Quietly and Oddly Pushes Lollipop 5.1 Update to Android One Devices”

Android Wear: What is Sync Loop? How to Unlock Developer Options, Take Screen Shots!

I’m just starting to find my sea legs on Android Wear, and one of the things that puzzled me was the persistent notification on my phone. What the hell does “Connected, running sync loop” mean? Here’s the answer!

Shop Android Wear on Amazon.
Shop Android Wear on Google Play.

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Google Earth Pro is Now Free for All

gep-post-pdx-resizedGoogle Earth was one of those services that really showed off what a company could do with mapping data, and I’m sure many man hours have been spent doing virtual flyovers of spots around the world.

While there was a free consumer version of Earth, for professionals needing high resolution imaging, a subscription for Earth Pro used to cost $399 a year. Now everyone can join in the fun by requesting a free license, which will also allow for high res printing and the ability to create animated videos.

Will you be signing up? Because it’s free… So why wouldn’t you?

Google’s full PR is below.

Continue reading “Google Earth Pro is Now Free for All”

Microsoft FINALLY brings Tablet Optimized Office Apps to Android!

After we saw a demo of an iPad running Office apps, Android fans wondered, rather vocally, when we would also get to take part in the business grade festivities.

Oh sure we had an Office Phone app for basic viewing, editing, and formatting, but it lacked proper tablet support.

Microsoft office word document for android tablet app somegadgetguyAll that changed yesterday when Microsoft’s Word, Excel, and Powerpoint tablet apps were finally approved on Google Play. Each service is an individual app, and downloading the apps is totally free. When not linked with an Office 365 subscription, the apps function as viewers, and wont allow you to edit docs or spreadsheet. Though with unlimited cloud storage coming to OneDrive with an Office 365 subscription, it’s not a bad value when compared to other cloud storage solution.

Linking to Office 365 opens up a full world of document and presentation creation and editing, very similar to what we saw on the iPad version. The full toolsets of Office are included, with advanced formating and formula support, and are well optimized for touch screen use. Tied directly into Office Online, OneDrive, and can be linked to DropBox, it’s a fairly robust ecosystem for sharing and collaborating.

Microsoft office excel for android tablet app somegadgetguy

As they’re beefy services, the download sizes are pretty large. Expect all three apps together to clock in at around 370MB. There’s also an issue with compatibility. Most of the tablets I ave lying around are not yet approved to install the apps. No Asus Transformer, no NVIDIA Shield, even the newer Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 was a no go, so my first impressions were performed on a Nexus 7.

Still it’s a great collection for Android, and now Windows Tablet and Phone fans can start the waiting game as we should see touch optimized Office apps arrive with Windows 10.

Microsoft Word on Google Play
Microsoft Excel on Google Play
Microsoft Powerpoint on Google Play

Smartwatch Review: Martian Notifier – Notifications on an Analog Watch

The smartwatch market is still wide open, with a spectrum of options for what you can wear. While some watches focus on strapping a phone to your arm, Martian’s approach is far more conservative. Let’s see how it holds up in a growing wearable market.

Shop the Martian Notifier on Amazon.
More info on Martian Products.

Microsoft Updates Office for Android with Dropbox Support

microsoft office android app update somegadgetguyWe wrote about this partnership last month, but it looks like Microsoft and Dropbox are finally moving forward as cloud storage BFF’s.

In an update pushing out to the Office app for Android, one of the new features allows users to connect their Dropbox account to edit any Office compatible files stored there. Microsoft has also improved support for high resolution displays, hopefully making this app a bit more accessible to a variety of phone owners.

Now we’re just waiting on Dropbox’s side of this bargain, which was to release a native app for Windows Phone…

Microsoft Office Mobile for Android (Google Play)

Google Play Store App Brings Back Purchase History

It’s been a frustrating omission in the Google Play Store app for some time now.

You’ve always been able to see every app you’ve ever had on any phone you’ve used, but for some reason Google removed the ability to track your purchases. An update coming soon to the Play Store will bring back the ability to track purchase history.

Screenshot_2014-12-04-21-24-40Once you get the update head over to “My Apps” then into “My Account”. From there you can see your payment methods, if you have any store credit, and below that HUZZAH! Order History!

Kind of a fun game to scroll back through everything to see my first app purchases. Apparently I started using Android during some kind of freak holiday app sale…

The updated store should be rolling out to phones over the next couple weeks!