Making the switch from iPhone to Android
July 21st, 2010 by Timothy Hoogland
So as you may remember I wrote an article about how Android wouldn’t replace the iPhone any time soon. Well for me it did. Why? Read on. Warning!!! Mini-rant ahead.
I have a number of reasons for making the switch. Part of it is with the issues that I experienced with the iPhone 4′s design and Apple’s lack of actually fixing the issue. I originally bought a case at the AT&T store when I got my phone on the 24th. I purchased the iFrogz case but it was poorly designed as it interfered with the camera flash. So I returned it and got an Incipio case which interfered with the proximity sensor. I went back to the AT&T store and returned the Inicipio case and talked to them about getting a bumper for free as this is a defect in the phone. Well they wanted nothing to do with that. So I called Apple and pleaded my case and told the guy on the phone that I either wanted a FULL refund on my applications or a free bumper case. After being put on hold for about an hour he came back and said that they were going to refund my applications. SO I returned the iPhone 4 (on Monday July 12th, 2010). What really sucks is that not only did Apple announce that Friday that they were giving away the bumpers but Apple called me and informed me that they were NOT going to refund my $300 something odd dollars in applications like they said they were going to. That’s alright as I am in the process of talking to a lawyer as I recorded the call. I also had to fight with the AT&T store rep (who was a complete idiot, LaKesha I believe at the AT&T store in Crestwood, IL) over a restocking fee on a defective product. Either way I ended up moving to Sprint as the EVO was quite attractive to me (I also considered the Droid X but I wanted the front facing camera) and Apple and AT&T are a match made in hell.
Moving on…
So after being on the iPhone platform for about 3 years it was time to learn the Android OS. The HTC EVO runs the 2.1 version of Android and should be getting an update to 2.2 later this year. There are many advantages to using Android over an Apple iPhone.
Pricing & Features of Sprint’s Network
The HTC EVO runs on Sprint’s 3G & 4G network. I was warned by a friend (who works for AT&T) that I would be disappointed by any other network’s 3G speeds. Am I? No. Sprint’s 3G network averages between 1.2mbps and 3mbps. I live in the south Chicagoland suburbs and get great coverage. I consistently have 3-6 (50%-100%) bars. I have yet to drop a single phone call even when holding the phone normally. I even get good 4G coverage around my house and most areas that I am in. The 4G speeds are amazing. I average between 4mbps-7mbps with only 1 bar (out of 3) of 4G signal. The only downside to 4G is that it is not available everywhere right now. Luckily I live in a 4G coverage area.
As for pricing I am paying a total of $88/month (taxes and fees included) for my line (this is before my 15% discount from work). This includes 450 anytime minutes, UNLIMITED data, UNLIMITED texing/mms, and UNLIMITED calling to ANY mobile phone. This works out VERY well as I am a heavy data user (2-6GB a month) and about 95% of my contacts are on mobile phones. With AT&T I was paying almost $100 for less minutes and limited data service (and terrible service in general).
Customization of the OS
The Android OS has come a long way in a mere 2 years. HTC has also done a very nice job with their SenseUI that they include on their latest smartphones. The SenseUI out of the box has a nice large clock on the main screen with the weather just below it. Along with the Clock/Weather Widget you also get a very nice contact integration with Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. The email app that comes with the SenseUI is good at best. It does it’s job and looks nice.
The major thing that I love about the Android OS is the fact that is like like an ACTUAL operating system. What do I mean by this? Well lets say I don’t like the standard web browser that comes on my OS? I can install a 3rd party web browser. The difference between Android and Apple’s iOS is that I can set the 3rd party browser (like Skyfire) as the DEFAULT application for web browsing you cannot do this on the iOS. This goes for all programs. Google’s Google Voice application seamlessly integrates with the Android OS and makes sending texts and making calls through Google Voice easy.
Now no matter how awesome HTC’s SenseUI is I found that you can even replace the home screen application (HTC SenseUI by default) with 3rd party applications. There are a few good ones out there like LauncherPro that give you even more customization than the stock SenseUI. I have tried a few but ultimately came back to the SenseUI because of their offering of gadgets. If you go from the SenseUI to a 3rd party one you will NOT be able to use the HTC SenseUI gadgets on the 3rd party home app. I like the ability to use whatever suits me.
Applicaton Restrictions
As any iPhone/iTouch user knows “daddy” Jobs has severly limited what can and cannot be installed on their devices. Apple tries to “protect” their users to the point of crazy. What do I mean by this? Well let’s say I want to write an application for the iPhone platform. Well I have to fill out a form and send it to Apple. Then if my application is approved I have to pay a $100 fee to Apple. Then after all that once I have an application written it has to be submitted to Apple for approval. They can then deny or approve the app for any reason that they see fit. The problem with Apple’s App Store is that they will approve stupid apps like one where you set your cigarette on the screen and it flashes different colors to “make the cigarette taste bad” but then deny practical ones like one called WiFi Sync that allowed syncing over a wireless/bluetooth connection.
On Android you have the Google Market that is loosely regulated by Google but not to the point of crazy like Apple does. While Google does not always approve app submissions they are really lenient on what can and cannot enter. The Google Market also gives the consumer a 24 hour period in which if they do not like to app or if it does not work to uninstall the application and get a FULL refund. Try doing that with Apple on your cigarette app.
Now the Android market is great but if you enable unrestricted application installs you can simply download Android app installers (APK’s) to your phone and install anything you want. There is a cool 3rd party marketplace called SlideMe. You can check them out at SlideME.org.
Tethering
Now the HTC EVO comes with a Hotspot utility from Sprint that allows you to connect up to 8 devices to the EVO’s internet connection. Now according to Sprint’s website you have to pay an additional $29.99 for it but I have been able to use it many times and there has not been any charges on my account for it. But just to be on the safe side there is an app called PDANet that is available in the Google Market that allows for bluetooth and USB tethering to your PC. It works well and I ma able to take advantage of the full bandwidth that the phone has.
Closing
Overall I am very happy with my new Android powered phone. I will be writing another article soon about rooting your EVO and using Custom ROM’s to get better speed, more features, and updates before they are released. Despite Apple’s App Store having over 200,000 apps where the Google market has over 50,000 apps the selection is just fine and the freedom that Android offers is well worth the work to find apps that do the same thing that iOS apps do. Also check out DoubleTwist for a media player on Android. It is in beta stages but works perfectly without any issues.
Posted in Company Issues, Computers & Technology
What Ubuntu needs to fix to go mainstream
June 16th, 2010 by Timothy Hoogland
My brother Jeff Hoogland is a well known blogger in the Linux communities and recently published a very sarcastic article entitled “Why Ubuntu is harder than Windows“. I do think that he had some valid
arguments when it comes to the bundled software. However I will add that most of the opensource software that my brother likes Ubuntu bundling on the OS CD is available for FREE (like OpenOffice.org) online. If they have a connection to download a Ubuntu ISO why can’t they download a 200MB file to get OpenOffice or other programs? The main problem is that he completely misses the other crippling issues that are preventing Ubuntu from going mainstream. I myself have kept up with Ubuntu and have used it on many of my PC’s over the years. It is a nice OS but there are still issues that need to be fixed.
64-Bit OS Support:
Now as we all know computers are now coming with 64-bit capable CPU’s and with more than 4GB of ram. The latest version of Ubuntu has the PAE kernel automatically installed if it detects more than 3GB of ram. This is fine but what about applications that need the extra processing power and headroom that a TRUE 64-bit OS offers? Well you can go and download the 64-bit version of Ubuntu and install it but good luck getting any 3rd party software installed easily (or even at all). The problem is that software (like flash, adobe air, drivers, and many other software) is mainly programmed for the 32-bit version of Ubuntu because that is what the majority of users install and use. I have had first hand experience with this issue.
I installed the 64-bit version of Ubuntu Desktop 10.04. I proceeded to install flash-player and was met with nothing but errors. After a bit of googling I found a way to install it. Great! There is 30 minutes of tinkering to get something working that is easy to install in Windows or 32-bit Ubuntu. Now I use TweetDeck on a daily basis to keep up with my social networks. TweetDeck uses Adobe’s Air platform. Again a simple process that should be a “click this button” installation turned into a 2 hour process that just wouldn’t work. So I call up my brother and tell him about this problem and he tells me that I shouldn’t use the 64-bit version of Ubuntu and to go to 32-bit. Lo and behold after changing over to 32-bit everything started working properly. This is fine and dandy but it is 2010. We use 64-bit operating systems here. In contrast the only 64-bit version of Windows that was downright terrible was the 64-bit version of Windows XP as it was basically a re-badged version of Windows Server 2003 64-bit. As for 64-bit Vista and 7 I have had no issues that are 64-bit related and they are well supported by hardware and software makers.
802.11x WiFi/Wireless:
In my brothers article he says things like
If you have one of the millions of pieces of hardware that is supported on the Linux platform then 99 times out of 100 once you attach it to your computer it still start functioning right away. What about that hundredth time? Ubuntu will offer to automatically download and install any closed source drivers the hardware needs to function.
Now while this is true with hardware like graphics cards and….well that’s about it. Wait? What closed source drivers is he talking about? It can’t be wireless or bluetooth (ask him about the cheap wireless cards). I cannot tell you how many laptops I have installed Ubuntu on and not had working wireless out of the box (if you have an Intel Wireless card yours will probably work). Now almost every single laptop on the market that is sold today comes with some form of integrated 802.11x wireless card built into it. They work perfectly on Windows because they were designed to work with Windows. Now some linux developers have made a package called “NDIS Wrapper” to try and fix this issue. NDIS Wrapper is a program that allows the use of MOST Windows wireless drivers to be used with Ubuntu, almost all with limited functionality (who needs SSID scanning anyways? real men manually enter their SSID.). The only problem with that is the setup process that is involved. Just have a look here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/Ndiswrapper. I have used this before and it’s a 50/50 chance of it working and if you ask in the Ubuntu forums for help you will most likely not get anything more than rants from linux fanatics about how “it’s the hardware manufacturer’s fault”. Also if your wireless card is controlled by a “FN + F1-12″ combination you will have even more issues. You might even have to reinstall Windows to turn the wireless on with the manufacturers software and hope that it stays on when you are back in Ubuntu.
Bluetooth:
Let me put it simply. If you have integrated bluetooth that can be turned off and on with a “FN +F1-12″ keycombination there is a 1 in 10 chance that it will work in Ubuntu. The problem here is that the linux kernel doesn’t have support for the software that turns the bluetooth radio on and off (as with Wifi). Solution? If you really want bluetooth go buy another bluetooth adapter that plugs into the USB port. Those usually work most of the time.
Updating the Operating System:
In my brothers article he talks about how Windows basically forces users to install updates. What he completely misses is that the user is the one who selected the option to install updates when they setup the operating system. You can also change the update setting by going to the Control Panel and going to Windows Updates. Once in there you can change it to never check for updates, notify me of updates, download but don’t install updates, or automatically install updates (default). This isn’t a vaild argument against Windows just because he is annoyed with something that he selected and is too lazy (or doesn’t know how) to change. He also goes on to talk about how Windows goes through 1-2 reboot cycles to install updates. This is because Windows cannot update files while they are in use. This updating process is new to Vista and 7. Microsoft did it this way because it is the most stable way to update the operating system. Ubuntu on the other hand will basically force the update in and not check to see if it broke anything. There have been multiple times (from my experience and my brothers) where Ubuntu will not even boot after installing updates because the updates broke something. Don’t believe me? Check this out for proof: “ubuntu not booting after update” Google search. Usually this is caused by a kernel update and involves using the old kernel to boot and undo the kernel update. Not a big deal right? Well unless that kernel update patched a major security hole.
Power Management:
This is another that has plagued mobile Ubuntu users for years. Try going into Standby (S1 or S3) or hibernation. On their 10.04 release it worked fine on my laptop (Gateway P-78) but only on the 32-bit version. On most other laptops it just simply doesn’t work. There is no simple fix for this as there are too many manufacturers to support out of the box. But you can get it working most of the time if you have about 6 hours of time to dedicate to trying this and that to get it to work.
Gaming:
I wanted to put a long “LOL” here but I am trying to keep it professional. There are ways to get games to “run” on linux and I use the word “run” very loosely. When I say “run” games I mean it doesn’t matter if you have a fully loaded top-of-the-line computer it will still not run games smoothly or with detail. The support just isn’t there because 90% of mainstream games use Microsoft’s DirectX. There isn’t any easy or efficent way to emulate or port DirectX over to linux. This is one of the main reasons my desktop will never have linux on it as I use it for gaming and multimedia creation (also not easy to do on linux, ooh boy here come the Blender guys with the pitchforks). Bottom line is that if you want to play games or want to do multimedia ceation use Windows.
Closing:
It may seem that I really hate Ubuntu but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I believe that Ubuntu is a nice operating system but is a little rough around the edges and lacks necessary system features that just work on Windows. This combined with the “elitist” attitude of the linux community it makes the operating system pretty un-approachable to the average Joe. If they could get these issues worked out then it would truly be a marketable operating system for everyone. But for now Windows is going to be the standard for a while. And Jeff it’s not that Ubuntu is “too hard to use” and people aren’t giving it a chance. It is that most people value their time and don’t want to be fighting with their OS to do things the their current OS just does (whether 3rd party software is involved or not).
Posted in Computers & Technology
Why Android won’t replace the iPhone OS/Device any time soon
June 12th, 2010 by Timothy Hoogland
It seems like it has been much longer since I first got my iPhone 3G back in October 2008. It is probably because I am a technology connoisseur and love to have the latest and the greatest when it comes to gadgets. Being that way I have thought of going to an Android or Windows Mobile 6.5/7 phones (I am not going to even review Windows Mobile because it still is lacking too much). It’s not that I didn’t like the iPhone it is just that I like something different. Well unfortunately for me my journey took me back to where I started, my iPhone.
Let’s get started with a step by step of why the iPhone platform is the best out right now (and no I am NOT an Apple fanboy, just simply stating the facts here). I know there is jailbreaking and rooting for each platform but I am not going into that right now. I will however say that jailbreaking the iPhone makes its functionality improve greatly because of the additional features and apps that you have access to. I have limited experience with rooting the Android devices so I cannot make a well informed comment about them. Let’s get started!
1. Overall UI Look and Feel:
I have tried many Android based devices, including the new Sprint HTC EVO 4G. The problem that I had with all the Android based devices is that they ALL felt clunky. The user interface was not smooth and had an “under construction” feel to it. For example when I am flipping through pages on my iPhone it’s is smooth and fluid. Where as when I moved through the pages on the Android it was choppy and laggy (like playing Halo on a bad internet connection). Now this is not to say that their user interface is bad. I am just saying that it needs some work. But unfortunately that isn’t the only place where the Andriod devices lack flair.
2. Applications:
Let’s face it. The applications make the phones now, for smartphones anyways. The biggest reason that the iPhone was such a success is that there are over 200,000 applications for it. Now there are some useless and ugly apps for the iPhone but the majority of them are pretty nice and work well. It is quite the opposite for the Android Market. There are roughly 50,000 applications for the Android platform. Now there are applications on both platforms for the same services (Facebook, Foursquare, Pandora, etc..). The problem (it’s not Androids fault) is that they are not all created equal. The worst offender is the Facebook application on the Android. It is clunky, ugly, and not very functional. On the other hand the Facebook app for the iPhone is quite nice and very functional. There are some applications that are good on both platforms but the sad reality is that most of the Android apps are all quite the same, clunky and not very functional, when compared to the iPhone counterparts.
3. Device selection:
Now one thing that Android devices have over the iPhone is device selection. Android is popping up on devices everywhere and there is a new Android device almost every other month now. The latest one, The HTC EVO 4G, is quite nice hardware wise but even with the high processor speed and great looking screen it still doesn’t feel as refined as the iPhone 3G S. They should be able to get this down by now! I will say that I was practically drooling over the HTC EVO before it came out but once I actually got to use one I realized that despite the awesome hardware inside it wasn’t going to be able to replace my iPhone. I also want to add that while the Android market share has FINALLY passed the iPhone please remember that the iPhone is ONLY available on AT&T (unfortunately, unless you unlock and use a different carrier) AND there are only 3 iPhone phones out there versus the 30+ Android based handsets (most of them simply are junk). So statistically if there are 10 times the number of devices running Android versus the 3 iPhone’s they better have a bigger market share.
4. Misc Points:
Now there are a few other points that are important but don’t need their own section. 1. OS compatibility and upgrades. Surprisingly Apple has consistently updated all the iPhones from the original 2G model to the latest 3G S model. Try upgrading any Android 1.6 device to another version. Nine times out of ten you can’t or you will brick your phone trying. 2. Charging/Sync cables. Another plus one the iPhone side is that while they do use the proprietary Apple Dock connector the upside is that they have been using this for YEARS across their iPhone, iPad, and iPod lines. Finding cables and chargers is easy and when you go to the new model you can keep your sync and charging accessories. 3. Cases and other accessories. Because of the popularity of the iPhone there are plenty of cases (cheap and expensive ones) on the market and are readily available.
5. Closing Thoughts:
Now there are going to be people in favor of both platforms and devices. The problem is that most of the people who are on Android and love it have not owned and iPhone and don’t know what they are missing. After using the iPhone for almost 2 years using any other touchscreen phone (Android, Windows Mobile, Proprietary ones) they just seem like cheap Chinese knock offs of the iPhone. I just hope that Android 2.2 will add a little flair and give the OS the look, feel, and performance that it desperately needs. One feature that I would like to see on the iPhone is a user replaceable battery. I know there are battery packs but it’s still just not the same. I hope one day an Android device can prove me wrong but with the iPhone 4 coming out soon it may be a while.
Posted in Computers & Technology
AT&T to Change Unlimited Data plan for iPhone and iPad Users – Thoughts and legality
June 2nd, 2010 by Timothy Hoogland
Earlier today Gizmodo (Gizmodo Article #1 & Gizmodo Article #2) posted an article on AT&T changing their data rates and plans for the iPhone and iPad 3G users. Up until now iPhone and iPad users could get an unlimited data plan for $30 a month + tax. That was a ok deal but now they want to charge you $25 for a 2GB data plan. I know that is definitely not enough for someone like me who streams music about 200+ hours a month (when my connection is working) as well as video and email. Tell me AT&T why are you constantly screwing over your customers? Why are you messing with out plans instead of fixing your spotty network?
What I really want to know is that if they are going to force everyone over to the new plan or will it remain on your account until you make a change to it? I know that when I got the iPhone in October of 2008 the contract stated that I agreed to keep the $30 unlimited data plan on the phone as long as I had the iPhone active on my account. If they are going to force us to use something that is lower cost and far lower data I will be closing my AT&T account for good. I believe that would count as a breach of contract if they did force current users under the old contract over to the new data plan.
Here is a chart for comparison:
Posted in Apple Happenings, Company Issues
A fork in the LAN Party hosting road
June 2nd, 2010 by Timothy Hoogland
So on May 29th, 2010 I held a LAN Party under my newly launched gaming group Gx3LAN.com. We had 31 people that signed up and said that they would be there. When it came to the actual event day we only had 17 people show and 2 were spectators. I honestly can say that it was a pretty good group of people and I had a good time playing some games with them but it brings me back to the reason why I stopped hosting LAN parties in the first place….attendance issues.
I have had and attended LAN parties that I have hosted that had bad internet, power issues, and virus infestations. But those issues are nothing compared to having a perfectly setup and planned LAN party and then have a poor attendance. As a LAN host it is the ultimate feeling of disappointment after dedicating many hours to promote the event and set it up when you barely get half the people that said they were going to be there. So this brings me to my next point of discussion…What do I do?
I have split feelings on whether to host another event as I am afraid of wasting my time again. I have very fond memories of hosting and attending LAN parties but is it worth the effort only to be let down? LAN Parties aren’t about the games or the prizes. They are about the people that attend them. So if no one attends them then why bother?
Posted in Computers & Technology, Gaming
USA Scholarship Scam
May 24th, 2010 by Timothy Hoogland
A few days ago I received a letter from a place called “USA Scholarship”. Upon opening it I was excited to find a letter stating that I was selected to receive up to $7500 in tuition. It was supposedly to be a scholarship only for Computer Science students. So during breakfast I was telling my mother about this and she said that I should look into it more and make sure it wasn’t a scam.
So lo and behold I type USA Scholarship into Google and find multiple pages and sites with people wanting to know the same thing as well as people that sent in their checks to pay their $29 “processing fee”. What this person (or persons) is(are) doing is making money off of other people’s processing fees. I also called their number (202) 508-1489 and a woman picks up. I told her that I wanted my name removed from their list she said hang on and then hung up. I called back and told her that I will be reporting her for fraud. She then got all apologetic and asked me what my name was so she could remove me. I told her my name and she said that she will tell her boss.
I scanned all the documents that were sent to me from them so other people can see what they are doing. Also be very concerned if you sent these into them as they now have all the information necessary to steal your identity.
Posted in Company Issues
GenVibe 2010 Annual Illinois Chapter Meet Video
May 5th, 2010 by Timothy Hoogland
Posted in Uncategorized
A step down for the better. MSI Radeon 5770 Quick Review
May 3rd, 2010 by Timothy Hoogland
So as you can see two posts ago I did away with my SLI setup in favor of a Radeon 5850. Well after the stickers kept coming off the $320 card I said screw it and took it back to Fry’s. I almost bought another Nvidia card (GTX 260) but then I saw the MSI Radeon 5770 with overclocking features for a mere $150 and a $20 MIR. I pulled up the reviews online and this little card was able to keep up and even beat the GTX 260 in most cases at stock speeds. And not only is it fast out of the box but the card comes with the MSI Afterburner software to not only easily overclock the card but also to adjust the vCore voltage of the GPU! It is stock at 1.15v and allows adjustment up to 1.5v.
With some time and cranking the fan to 100% I was able to achieve a whopping 1GHZ core speed (stock is 850) and a ram speed of 1500MHZ (3000mhz actual DDR). I saw a 20% increase in frame rates in my games across the board. I can say that this card is a real winner. It handles anything that I throw at it even at 1920×1200 with a second 22″ monitor connected to it. I did add some additional ram heat sinks to the back of the card to help keep them cool but it’s just personal preference.
All in all I think I found a great balance between price and performance. I give the MSI Radeon 5770 two thumbs WAYYY up.
Posted in Computers & Technology, Gaming
I am an IT Professional with many years of experience in everything from network design to video editing. This blog is an outlet for my technology thoughts and a central place for employers to get to know me.
