So I made the move from Motorola’s Droid to Droid X
A little over a week ago, a new Motorola Droid X was given to me. While I was pleasantly surprised, I was not looking forward to the time and effort I thought it might take to move all the data and applications from my current Driod my new Droid X. Also, I had been very satisfied with the Droid and so was not too sure I would like the Droid X any more than the Droid.
I did a little research and quickly found what seemed to be a quick and effective way of making this transition. I found a backup and restore app called MyBackup Pro. It was only around $5, so I made the purchase and backed everything up. Then I hooked up the Droid to the computer and transferred the backup files and my other files on my phone to my computer. I then activated the Droid X, associated it with my Google account (along with some of my other email and social networking accounts), hooked it up to my computer, transferred the backup files over to the Droid X, found and installed the MyBackup Pro app and then hit restore.
Everything at this point had all gone quite smoothly and quick, but I was unaware that one of the steps I mentioned above would really give me a headache. Can you guess which one? So I started using the phone and everything was working pretty smooth, except for certain apps would take forever to load and sometimes just close on me. The one app in particular that was stalling or freezing up on me the most was the text messaging app. It got to the point where I could not stand it. So I started looking into it and found quickly that I was not the only one with this problem. Others had experienced it and the two solutions I kept seeing were to either do a factory reset and install everything one at a time or try removing the social networking accounts that I had initially set up. I figured this may have been the case as when I linked those accounts with the Droid X, I chose at the time to link those contact with my phone and so all of the sudden my phone’s contacts were in the thousands.
I did take the advice and removing my Facebook and Twitter acounts, then did a soft reset of my phone. However, that still did not do the trick. So about a week after having the Droid X, I backed up files and copied to my computer again and then reset my Droid X to its original factory settings. I then set up everything manually at this point one app at a time and was very careful as I added email and social networking accounts to make sure only certain contacts were pulled in by my phone. This actually went pretty fast as well. It has been three days now since I have done that and the new Droid X has been working like a charm.
While it has been easy to get used to and I am really liking it, I am still keeping my old Droid around for a while just in case. Some of the main things I have noticed between the two devices is that the Droid X has a bigger screen that is brighter and a bit clearer than my old Droid. The phone also seems to be a bit lighter. I did not know if I could get used to not having a keyboard any more, but the new Swype keyboard option that comes with the Droid X has been extremely nice. I cannot say enough about that feature, it really makes typing on the device much easier and very fun. The camera and video camera also seem to be a bit better quality than the old Droid.
I may have more feedback and experiences to share about my switch later, but this is it for now…
How to filter Internet content on your Motorola Droid
The other day I was looking for an Internet filter app for my Motorla Droid, but couldn’t find anything. My kids use my phone more than the computer right now, so figured I better get something on there as well. I kind of gave up last week looking as I really could not find much, but today while logged into my Verizon Wireless account online, I came across a section that allows you to set parental controls for Internet access on the Droid! I am sure an Internet content filter app will eventually be available for Android devices, but this solution looks like it will work just fine.
If you came across this article and know of an app or another solution, feel free to leave your comments below.
Top 9 free Android apps & games for young kids!
I have spent a lot of time browsing the Android market for just the right kind of games and apps that I think my kids will enjoy. I have installed and uninstalled a lot of different apps and will list for you today the ones that have remained on my Droid for my kids. My kids are all under 5 years old, so while there are some other cool games and apps out there, these ones have shown to be the best thus far. Note: when I say best, I mean the ones that have held their attention the longest. 🙂
Basket Ball Lite
So this is a cool game for adults as well, but my boy has a good time trying to get the ball in the basket.
Kidroid Demo
This app lets you match images, text and audio. Since it is a demo, you are limited to the items you can match, but it lasts about as long as my kids attention span.
Light Racer 3D Basic
This one is another game that is great for adults, but my kids like playing this one. They crash almost immediately, but I think they like the cool sounds.
Raging Thunder Light & Wave Blazer Lite
This is another game that is cool for both adults and kids. Great for the kids though as they can play it by just holding the phone and tilting to steer.
Solo Lite
A cool little virtual guitar. My kids love just opening it up and making music!
Trace Blast FREE
Another demo app, but is really cool. This one lets you trace letters, shapes, pictures or you can create your own template to trace. This is great for helping my kids learn how to write their letters and numbers.
Whiteboard
This app doesn’t hold the kids attention for long, but is a place they can go and draw stuff in different colors and erase.
Zebra Paint
Saved the best for last! This one has been the favorite by far. This is basically a coloring book. Your kids can pick the picture they want to color, then pick a color from the color palette, and then touch a shape to fill in that shape with the chosen color.
If you know of any others that you have found that you would like to share, please list them below in the comments section.
How to connect your computer to the Internet using your Droid or Android phone
Last night I finally tested out one of the tethering apps for my Motorola Droid. If you don’t know what tethering means, no worries, it is just a term used to describe using your phone and its Internet connection to access the Internet on your computer. So your cell phone basically acts like a modem. So lets get started.
What you will need:
– a PC with Windows 7/Vista/XP
– a smartphone with Internet access
– a USB cable to connect your phone to your PC
– USB tethering software from mobile-stream.com
Steps:
1. Go to the Market app on your phone and then search for the keyword tether, a list of apps will pop up. There are a couple available, but the one I chose to use and that worked well was the EasyTether Lite app by Mobile Stream. And this version is FREE! Install this app. After installed, open the app and follow further install instructions.
2. Install the USB tethering software on your PC from mobile-stream.com mentioned and linked to above. Follow install instructions.
3. Connect your phone to your PC with your USB cable.
4. Right click on the new icon you see at the bottom right of your computer screen and click on connect.
Now you are ready to surf the net on your PC via your mobile phone’ Internet connection!
I may try some other tether apps out or purchase the full EasyTether app and will post more if I do. If you have tried any others or this one and want to comment, question, or whatever, please do so below.
How to listen to music downloaded from amazon on your Droid?
So this article is straying a bit from the realm of Internet marketing and web development, but I recently got a Motorola Droid and thought I would write about it from time to time. What prompted me to write tonight was because I downloaded my first mp3 to it yesterday via amazon’s little app. Everything went super smooth, but then when I went to my media player to listen to it, it was no where to be found. I did a little digging online to see if others were having similar issues and did find a couple forums where this was talked about, but never a solid answer. I assumed if I could connect the Droid to my computer, I could find where the mp3 was located and move it the the appropriate folder, but I was at work and so could not connect tom my computer. Luckily I stumbled across a free app called OI File Manager. Once I installed it, I opened it up and it showed me all the folders on my Droid and on the SD card. There is one folder called amazonmp3 and that is where I found the mp3 I downloaded from amazon. Then all I had to do was touch it and the song started playing. Simple fix for now.
