SPlog

I first heard about Ice Cream Sandwich a year ago. I remember getting the update for Gingerbread on my phone, and I decided to go online to see where how long it would be before I got the next major update. At that time Ice Cream Sandwich was just rumors. Many people thought it would be either called Android 2.4, or Android 3.2.

Here is a brief overview of how the Android software updates updates. (Notice the are going through the alphabet, and are all named after desserts. Mmmmmm.)
1.5 Cupcake
1.6 Doughnut
2.0 Eclair
2.2 Froyo
2.3 Gingerbread
3.0 Honeycomb (Tablets ONLY)
4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
??? Jellybean

Android 3.0 came out, and was a killer! If it weren’t for the overpriced tablets, awkward screens size, and low security , the android tablets would have skyrocketed. The design was amazing, and the graphics were awesome. Everyone wanted honeycomb for their phones since it was so sleek and powerful. The only problem was that Google didn’t release the code for Honeycomb. The opperating system was not optimized for phone use, and Google was afraid that phone companies would try to use the code for their phones, creating a very bad user experiance. So immediatelly Google said that the next major opperating system would tie in both phones and tablets together. All the great features of honeycomb, combined with the optimization for phone use, would bring about an amazing user experiance across all devices. So they decided to start the software as their 4.0 update. Ice Cream Sandwich was supposed to be really big.

The summer came and went with still only more rumors of the awaited software. Then toward the end of the summer it was announced that the first phone to run ICS would be released in the fall. The Google Samsung Galaxy Nexus would feature the new software, with only on screen buttons (a new feature for Android).

Finally in the early fall, the update was announced, features were shown, and the world had to wait a while longer for the release date to pass. Finally sometime in October, Google finally released the source code for their new ICS software. Android 4.0 was finally here! or was it? Google allows the manufature (like Motorola) to make their own version of the software, that then has to be reviewed and approved by the carrier (ie Verizon). So that part of the process can take an additional 6 months. So here we are in mid January with no release from Motorolla, HTC, or Samsung for their previous Android devices yet.

What’s funny is that aftermaket versions are already releasing ICS for their supported phones already. Showing that an earlier release date could be possible, if the manufacture didn’t have to jump through so many hoops to get their update approved.

Some may get their update before spring, some before summer, but I believe that the majority will get their ICS update in the summer and fall months (Almost a year after it was released). This is a huge problem that Google will have to address in the future.

I eagerly await the update from Motorola, but since I have a Droid2, almost 2 years old, I most likely won’t get the new update anytime soon, or maybe not even at all. If so, that will be the day that I install an aftermarket version on my phone.

More on Android Versions can be found at android.com

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There are a lot of music player apps on the android market today. Today I will list all of the top ones that I tested, and will give you my favorite features as to each. These are not in any particular order, each one functions just a little bit differently, so they each have their strengthens and weaknesses.

The first is the default Android Music Player. This app is not on my favorite list, and if you own an Android phone, then you know what I mean. The player isn’t the best designed music player, and is not as user friendly as other players. Just about everyone that I talk to that has an Android phone, hate their default music player. It does have tabs to access different categories of music like genres, albums, songs, and playlists. But once you start the song, it really isn’t as easy to access the view of the album and look at other songs. My guess is that the app was quickly built so the functionality isn’t as great.

WinAMP

Next is Winamp. This app is my absolute favorite free music app if I have music files loaded on my phone. The player is very sleek and user friendly. Personally I think it kills the iPod app for the iPhone. It runs smoothly and very efficiently. The ability to make and edit your playlist is the best of all the music apps I’ve tried. It also has lock screen buttons enabled so that you can access the media buttons without unlocking the screen. This allows the user to quickly pause or skip sons without actually unlocking the screen and opening the app. Full equalizer, and so much more! So this app is the absolute best if you have the mp3 files on your phone.

Doubletwist

Next is Doubletwist. This is the Android’s best app that mimics the iPod app. You can choose to download the doubletwist player for you computer (like iTunes) host your songs and make your playlists via the computer program, or it will even scan your iTunes library for songs and playlists. It then syncs to your phone so that you have your songs in sync with your computer, just like how the iPhone can sync to your iTunes. This is the best feature for this app. The player also supports lockscreen buttons that allow you to play, pause, and seek forward and backwards while the screen is still locked. The user interface is nice and smooth, it is even very similar to Winamp, but not as good. Winamp still beat Doubletwist for having a player to play your songs and such. However Doubletwist is best if you want to sync your music with your computer, as winamp can’t really do that very well.

Google Music

My favorite music player is Google Music. They allow me to upload up to 20,000 of my songs to their cloud. I then have access to my music anywhere there is an internet connection. This is really great for songs that I don’t listen to very often, but still want them accessible quickly when needed. They even make it where you can have your favorite music offline. Such a feature allows a person to access the music without a using the data. The user interface is nice, but not as nice as winamp or doubletwist. They don’t even allow for media player buttons on the lock screen. You have to unlock the screen first and then access the song player to pause. That because annoying a lot of times, but despite its many cons it does host all my music for free on the Google cloud. That is the sole feature I absolutely love.

Amazon MP3

Amazon MP3 is more of a mp3 store than it is a player, but they do have a built in player for any music on their cloud. If you purchase any music from Amazon it can be hosted on their cloud for free. They offer paid services to host you own personal music on their cloud as well. But as for their app, the style and design is not as good as Google Music.

REAL Player

Real Player, the only player on the list that does not come from a top developer. The company makes a really great music player for the pc, so I thought I’d give the android app a try. Although the app is still in Beta (and has been since I first got my android phone over a year ago) it  is still really sleek and well designed. The app is more of a media center than just a music player. It will scan you songs, videos, and pictures, and will load them to be played or viewed. The music part is the main reason for downloading so I will keep the review to that. It has a basic feel to it. The songs and albums load in list format just as any other media player would do. The functionality is basic while the design is sleak and nice. It has a nice feel to it, but it still doesn’t compare to Doubletwist and Winamp. However it does provide an upgrade compared to the default android music player, and it does effectively combine all media, pictures and music and video, into one well designed app.

PowerAMP

Equalizer for PowerAMP

Power Amp, the only one on the list that costs. The app is truly amazing. Supports both big screen tablets as well as phones. It comes with a really cool equalizer, and sound settings. It has separate Bass and Treble adjustment. They even have some presets you can browse through, or make your own custom presets. It has a customizable lock screen. The developer really did a great job on this, because it comes with swipe motions to make it more to advance to the next song or rewind. You can also use the onscreen buttons as well. You can longpress on the back or forward buttons to rewind or fast forward through a song respectively. Swipe the screen up and down to choose albums and such.
This app is really cool! I has a lot of advanced features that are awesome. It has the highest level of customization than any other music app I’ve ever seen. It supports lyrics for singing along. The design is sleek and stylish. It comes with 4 configurable widget types. It has headset support that can (it’s optional) auto play/pause when disconnected and reconnected by headset or Bluetooth. They have great support, and even a q/a section in the app description on the Market. If the app didn’t cost, I’d use it for good. You can download a 2 week trial for free, but the full app costs $4.99. This app surpasses all music apps by far, just using it once will convince anyone.

So in conclusion, currently I only use Google Music because it hosts all my music online, and I don’t have to keep any on the drive. If i had the music on my phone, then I would probably be really tempted to buy Power Amp, as it is by far the best music app I’ve ever tried. But knowing that $5 is hard to justify just for a music player, I’d use winamp instead. I may download doubletwist for movies, since it has a great movie player, but I really wouldn’t use it at all for music. Although the Real Player app is a great idea, it really hasn’t been developed well enough to use it seriously. I use Amazon MP3 mainly just for downloading new songs, and rarely ever use the music player that’s built in. And last of all, I will never use the default android music player for any of my songs as I absolutely detest it.

Last year I had purchased a nook color just for the purpose of hacking it, and installing CyanogenMod 7 on it. CyanogenMod is an aftermarket version of Android, and the 7th version is based off of Gingerbread.

The nook color already had a heavily modified version of android on it, but with limited capabilities and features. Barnes and Noble did a add several of their own features on it. But in all retrospect, the nook color can do soo much more once it has a full version of android running on it.

The process was easy, and in just 10 minutes I had android up and running, with all the apps of my choice including, maps, music, Netflix, Skype, Facebook, and Twitter.

I was really excited when I found out that the nook color could be hacked and a fully functional version of Android could be installed, which includes all the apps in the Android Market. Features that not even the nook color used were unlocked. For instance Bluetooth was found, and actually works on it. So with the Bluetooth working, I could connect a keyboard to be able to type better.

The nook works great. The screen is very high quality, while the controls are very good. The accelerometer works perfect. The design is sleek and comfortable. Being the size of an average reading book, it is a good size to hold, and place in your backpack or purse.

The ironic part is that, I can still access my nook books via the nook app for android. But I can now also access all my kindle books as well, along with Google books, and other book apps. I am no longer limited to reading only nook books. This is a plus for me, especially since I have a few books I’ve purchased via kindle, because it was cheaper, and a few books purchased via googe books, because they are always available online. Kindle also sells most of my school book online should I chose to purchase them.

One of the biggest plus was that I have the full android market running on it. Giving me access the biggest android app store of all time. The apps are cheaper than the ones that you get from nook store, and there’s a whole lot more to chose from. For instance I could buy Angry Birds from Barnes and Noble for around $5, yet I can get it from the Android Market for only $0.99.

At the time that I hacked it, Netflix was just coming out on the Android. So I was able to watch Netflix movies on my nook as well. This was a huge deal for me, since the tablet is soo portable and easy to carry. It had the perfect screen for private viewing. However I will admit, Netflix finally came out on the nook app store as well. But that also makes another point. Not all android apps that are in the market are available on the nook app store. Some take awhile to finally make it, while others never come out for the nook app store.

Facebook, twitter, and Skype all work great on the nook, however there is no voice inputs, nor is there a camera, so no calls or video conferencing via Skype, just IM. Facebook works like it would on a phone since they haven’t made a tablet view for the app yet.

I have my music on the device as well. The tablet has a speaker on the back which makes it work well to listen to any audio. Also there is a headphone jack on the top.

All the hardware features mimic the first iPad. No camera, or microphone inputs, yet still has a speaker and headphone jack. It accesses the android market for all the billions of apps, and will even access other app markets such as the amazon app store (kindle fire apps) and the opera app store.

So in essence, by purchasing a cheap nook color. I paid only $200 for a tablet that will access all my books, Kindle, Barnes and Noble, and Google books. It will access just about any app, via the android market and the amazon app store. I can watch movies via YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, and even rent from android movies. I can purchase and listen to my whole music library via Google music and amazon mp3. And I can I can keep up with all my social media via the Facebook app, Twitter app, Skype, Yahoo Messenger, and much much more.

This makes the nook color only worth it, once it’s hacked. All in all, it makes me very happy to be the owner of a nook color running cyanogen mod7.