Samsung Galaxy I9000 Replaced My iPhone

After owning an iPhone for over a year, I’ve finally decided to replace it with a new phone. I had a choice between an iPhone 4 or an Android based device. Having an iPad helped in the decision to not purchase yet another Apple device. I wanted something different to play with.

Transitioning from the iPhone to the Android device was hard actually. I found out that to get the best out of your device, you need to know a LOT of things :). Everyday users will most likely use the phone as a phone and not much more. For myself, the actual phone functionality is secondary.

Only a few years ago, the first thing one does when they get a new phone is to set up the ringtones, messaging etc. The first thing I did when i got the new Samsung was to “root” (jailbreak for iphoners) the phone and set up my email and work apps. I didn’t even realise that the time on the phone was all wrong until the next day.

If you look at my current home screen attached, the phone icon isn’t even on the main screen.

The Samsung is not perfect, but I’m growing to like it a lot. Wifi tethering out of the box, the level of customisation as well as the ease of developing widgets/apps for it is something I’m looking forward to exploring for the rest of the year.

After finally setting up my homescreen just the way i like it, now am looking forward to putting the latest version of Android OS on it (2.2) – it should be out (via legitimate means) in the next day or so.

New Toy– finally bought a new iPad

Yup, took the plunge and got myself an iPad 3G 32gig. Already jailbroke it. Expect some iPad and iPhone posts coming through soon.

Because I travel frequently, I wanted to have a device that can work well with my iPhone and can replace the need for having a netbook as well as a paperback stored in my hand luggage.

The iPad has finally delivered an on the go solution that allows me to connect to my work machine whenever i need to, carry a range of electronic books and media with me for the plane/hotel and being able to browse on a larger screen (than the iPhone).

How to Add a Custom Background to Google (like Bing)

The main search page for Google has always tried to have a minimalistic design. However, recently, Google seems to have taken a page out of Bing’s playbook and now offers a way for users to customise the background of their Google main search page.

In order to make best use of this, you need to be logged into your Gmail/Google account.

Once logged in, there is an option on the bottom left hand corner of the screen to “Change Background Image”.

This allows the user to change the background with a picture from their Picasa Web Albums, or uploaded from their computer or from a public gallery.

In order to use your own pictures, the minimum image size is 800×600. The image is scaled as the window is resized.

The results are still displayed against a white background. It is a bit flaky and doesn’t “feel” like Google. But hey, if anyone wants to, here is it :)

Office Web Apps – Alternative to Google Docs

Up till now, Google Doc’s has been a free service that gives the user an ability to create, maintain and store various documents online. It had functionality to allow the user to upload and read Microsoft Office documents as well.

Microsoft has now struck back by releasing free online versions of its Office Suite and giving the users an alternative to Google Docs.

Called Office Web Apps, this suite is a cut down version of the desktop applications and allows for document viewing, sharing and light editing.

The consumer version of the tools are free and store the documents on Live SkyDrive. The corporate versions can get self hosted versions of the applications using Sharepoint.

Being online applications means that the applications will work regardless of the operating system and have been tested in Windows, Mac’s and Linux based machines through various internet browsers.

If you have Office 2010 installed, then Office Web Apps takes advantage of offline and online editing and can present a richer experience for users.

Office Web Apps are also supported via mobile browsers and allows the user to view documents saved onto their Live SkyDrive account directly on their mobiles.

Read below on how to use Office Web Apps.

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How to Store Files Larger than 50megs on Live SkyDrive

Currently Live SkyDrive has a limitation of a maximum file size of 50megs per file. This is intentional to avoid abuse of the free 25gigs of space that it offers its users.

Users can use Gladinet Cloud Desktop to get around this limitation through the use of Chunking.

Chunking is a process where Gladinet breaks up a large file into multiple smaller ones (similar to multi-part zips) and uploads this to the SkyDrive account. Read below for advantages, disadvantages and how to enable this technology in Gladinet.

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Live Skydrive – How To Set Up as Network Drive via Gladinet Cloud Desktop 2.1

Now that the latest version of Gladinet Cloud Desktop is out, my previous guide is now quite outdated.

Here is an updated guide on how to install, and configure Gladinet Cloud Desktop 2.0 to map your cloud storage as a network drive.

Windows Live SkyDrive is a facility that allows you up to 25gigs of storage space for free. The storage space is available anywhere and while its an excellent storage mechanism, it can get cumbersome dealing with uploading files and working through the web based interface.

Ideally, you want to have a folder structure set up on your computer so that you can just navigate through your SkyDrive just like you do any of your other hard drives. Gladinet is a cloud based service that does just that.  It brings online applications and storage to your local machine. Read below for more information on it.

Gladinet is a fully featured service that allows for (amongst others):

• Drive “mounting” (act of setting up an online storage like SkyDrive or Picasa or Google Docs as local hard drives)
• A Cloud based desktop that enables users to use online applications to work on local files.
• Task schedulers to cater for scheduled transfers of data (eg as backup)
• Smart file transfers that allows for encryption, compression and reliability.
• It allows you to upload images without resizing!! (If you use the web interface to upload images, they get resized automatically – this way it treats image files as data, so SkyDrive doesn’t resize or constrain the image in any way).

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