Back To the Nexus S 4G, GoodBye Palm Pre

I have gone back to my Nexus S 4g for two reasons, 1st, I like it and I missed it. The pre was great but there have been some apps updated that I have missed, features that I have not seen since I switched phones and over all apps that I like using, like Google Now. Palm built a great phone back when it was indeed palm, but that is gone.

2nd, I got a new job working at a Google Nexus call center! I figured having my palm phone doesn't really prepare me for that whole thing. I will go back to the palm phone sometime in the future, maybe it will be when they figure out Android 2.3, with calling and more features, course, then again, could I go back? Android 2.3 seems so long ago now even though I just reviewed phones with that OS on it, even though I have a phone that technically should still be on good old 2.3 Gingerbread! I know that it seems no one will ever put 4.0 or 4.1 on the palm pre, they can not even get 2.3 working solid, I hope to get a pre 2 or pre 3 in the future, when I have lots more disposable income.

So I am glad to be back with my Nexus S, I have my nexus 7, hoping to get a Galaxy Nexus!

My Week With the Palm Pre: Day 2

So I am at day 2 of this device. A palm pre, a phone that is no longer supported. I have looked around the web and it turns out that not only can I get android on it (with no phone calling and no sound) but I can also get palm OS version 2! I have not done either and will not be doing either until after this week is over, maybe even a few weeks. Palm version 1.4.5 is nice enough for now. I have come to realize how much I like 4g service, whether it be LTE or wiMax it is quite nice to have, the palm pre has EV (Ev-Do), which is basically just 3g from what I can tell.

The apps I like just aren't there, yeah there is homebrew but I am having a few issues loading certain homebrew apps. I am still figuring it all out and getting it all working. I am excited to test it all. So for me the future holds some homebrew and upgrading the OS. The OS upgrade seems really cool, version 2 comes packed on the HP errrr Palm Pre 3, which is a phone I just don't have access to. Since this old phone can get version 2 of the OS I figured I would give it a shot. So far it seems a bit difficult to do so.  I need to run WebOS Doctor and another program or two, so far I am just getting all the downloads finished. I guess I will let you know how this all goes so that in a few weeks I can load it up and be ready to go!

I am still missing Google+ as an app and if I didn't have other phones to review, I would probably go back to my nexus s, but this little experiment is working quite nicely since I have other means.

My week with a Palm Pre: Day 1

Saturday the 22nd I found it, a phone that I was latter the game in finding. I've used few other phones by the same artist and loved them. Now here, Saturday the 22nd was my day and when all was said and done I was able to purchase it for 50 bucks. I am talking about the sprint palm pre. The other phones by the same designer are the sidekick 2 an 3 as well as the nexus s, not to , mention the hp veer 4g and the hp touchpad. The designer is matias Duarte and by proxy Andy Rubin.

Rubin and Duarte have worked together on a few projects, Android is the latest and Sidekick was one of the most notable. Duarte also worked at Helio.

If you notice any similarities between his run at Palm and Helio, this is why. 

So we are going back a few years to where Duarte worked at Palm, the Palm Pre, a phone I now own and have been using for about a day now, a day plus some. Here are some of my musings, some things I have noticed. 

1.  webOS is very pretty. 

it is a pretty and functional OS, it of course has a browser etc and it works well. You can see a lot of webOS in android, a lot! Cards are a part of webOS and on Android there are cards when you click the recently used button.

2.  The Keyboard is awesome!

I am a fan of the smaller, nice palm pre keyboard, it is a similar one that was on the HP Veer 4g and I quite liked that device as well, a bit small for me, but where the Veer was too small, the Pre is just about right!

3.  The phone is a great shape

This phone slides up to reveal the keyboard i just spoke of, it has a curved design that reminds me of the nexus s or galaxy nexus, it when fully opened it reveals the curved design I mentioned. 

These are just day 1 thoughts, I will go through out the rest of the week, new post tonight or tomorrow with more thoughts and ideas, I am toying with hitting up the android port for this device, but right now, it is kind of... not working well.

Another Guide To Google+

Wait a second! Sooooo Google+ is Dead?

No it really is not, those are just the words of people who really do not know how to use it correctly. The average user signs on, wishes they had friends on the site and doesn't sign in for a few months, when they do... they post "chirp chirp chirp, wish this place wasn't a GHOST TOWN!" 

You need to GET STARTED! 

If you do end up getting through that and still don't know anyone at all, you should EXPLORE a bit! Find out what topics are hot, what others are talking about. I also like to search my favorite topics. 

These are some of my favorite things. I like a broad list of topics, from wrestling to phones to gaming. I am a big fan of a lot of this stuff and i get a full list of posts every time I search. I love meeting new people who have similar interests. I just start talking to people who's posts I find, it usually ends up friendly, unless I have a slightly opposing view, then sometimes it goes poorly. 

I have met many people over a year on the site, and I hate to brag, but it proves a point, I have over 10,000 followers and I am NOT the only one. I have many of my friends who have far more followers than me. The point is, many people I follow and many people who follow me have thousands of fans and that means the site is far from dead. My stream is full every day and it updates a lot. Facebook is boring and dull usually while my G+ stream is just as popular as my twitter feed, it is usually more active than my Twitter feed as well, due to the fact that I get people to interact, I actually have interaction circles where people are mostly interact with me, so I post to that circle! 

I am a big fan of Google+ and that is quite evident, Twitter rarely gets used and Facebook is just so I can see how the family is! 

Google+ hangouts are another key, once you meet a few people, start a hangout or if you are truly brave, feel free to go Public and invite a bunch of people. 

This site has changed over the course of a year, very much. It is much more interactive and useful as well now. You can start a PAGE now, that is like a group or a page on Facebook, you can also start a page and do a hangout from it. 

There is much more and I am sure I will talk about it in the future. Use these steps and you will be fast tracked into the world of G+

I have so many people that do not want to come to Google+ and some people calling it a failure. It must suck to be on the team at Google in a way because you hear this negative stuff when people have barely given it a chance. 

MySpace never reached this level of popularity.
It took Facebook a very long time to get where Google+ is as well.
Twitter just reached this level in the past few years.

What can be done to get people over from these sites and get them to engage? I think Circles are important and it seems to be something people do not understand. Since this site looks and feels more like a Facebook, it is treated as one, a lot of people expect others to follow them, or for a friend finder system to say oh Joe EveryMan is on here and you went to the same school. That doesn't happen as much. It seems this site is built around interests, are at least that is how I use it. I have 53 circles. Sometimes I share very specific things and other times it is very bland, other times it is cool and important and it goes public, or maybe I just want an opinion from a lot of people. 

The very specific things I share are about food and other such specific topics. I think circles need to get used in a better way for the new people. I also think the mobile app and site need a few changes, nothing major, just a few things to keep it in the loop of tech. +1 on posts is important to me, so is editing, how many times have I spelled a word wrong due to auto correct? 

All this said, I have 600 people circled and I share content as well as comment on content, I use hangouts nightly, usually in 3 or 4 a night. Do not be afraid to hangout, what is the worst that can happen, you may learn something? 

Google+ Invites

These are Google+ invites, now you too can be part of it! YAY!

https://plus.google.com/i/ANKUpg-7dOY:NFuIBIj8EQY

The link looks weird but, hey, it's an invite

Black Google

via DestroyTwitter

Quitting Facebook: New Trend.. I might!

Well, I guess this is the ANTI-facebook logo, kinda cool? But it looks like me and a few others are finally getting fed up, famous bloggers are quitting, regular people are quitting, those who never used it are going on with out it. But what do you or don't you get from quitting? If you quit, it will probably free up a BIG portion of your life, but you also lose contact with, well everyone! My dad, mom, wife, sister, grandma, two uncles, aunt, her kids and all my friends are there.

So really if I leave I kinda miss out on what is going on a bit, they all post ALL their lives their, not just silly things like, oh I lost my first game, or oh no we had pork for dinner, er whatever! But like, "I have a game Friday, come support me". Or how about "So and so's party got changed to 5 not 6! Be there at 5!" So if I quit, will I end up losing all that? Will it even matter? I am thinking that before I quit I will add all my numbers to Google, so that I don't lose ANY phone numbers, or at least save them to my SD card. I will probably try to save all the emails too. Now granted, a lot of the people I don't and never will end up calling, nearly ever! But its nice to have.

The reason to leave though, this is the important part. Why should you leave, PRIVACY! They are not doing a very good job at keeping private things too private! Its not right, kinda down right dirty. Lots of people are leaving. Plus its kind of just not fun anymore, you can't do what they said you should be able to, or at least not easily! You were supposed to be able to share whatever with whoever and block out everyone else, its just not that easy or fun! Zynga is even reportedly leaving, yeah Farmille, petville, Mafia-Ville, Treasure Game Ville, whatever! Ville! So if Zynga is leaving, you may want to take your exit NOW.

I think I will give it til the end of the month and I will likely be gone. I tweet and I still am "LinkedIn". I have a droid, I am social with out facebook. I BARELY EVEN UPDATE ANYMORE! I just get on for Petville, do I need that in my life, doubt it. Hmm, when I started writing this, I was thinking maybe I won't quit, now I am thinking, WHY NOT, just do it.