Tag: android

Categories
Cellphone

RMA HTC Incredible

My recent (smart)phone is an Incredible-2, and it developed a dead zone on the touch screen lately. I brought it in to Verizon and was slightly disappointed to find out that it was under warranty and they would replace it for free! Disappointed because frankly that new Samsung Galaxy looks sweeeeeet as long as you ignore the kill code that people found on it.

Anyway, new free phone sounds good, so ship it I said. I got the package in the mail with nice & easy instructions and I swapped phones quickly. Kudos to Verizon for making it easy!

The one big bonus I have now is that this phone has MUCH BETTER reception than the old one! I’m not sure why, but in the past when I would drive through the “rainbow” tunnel at the end of the Golden Gate Bridge I would ALWAYS lose signal and my calls would drop. But this new phone has no issues. I can only deduce that not every phone has a nice clean routing of the antennae through the case?

So there you go, next time you get dropped calls, trade your phone in and presto! Happy days!

 

Categories
Cellphone

HTC Incredible 2 Tips

I was using the Android Motorola X for over a year when the GPS function stopped working… not sure if it was because I dropped the phone or something, but when the big Black Friday shopping day came around I decided to switch to the Incredible 2 from HTC. I had used the Incredible 1 in the past and liked it, I switch to the X for the bigger screen and HDMI output.

But after a while, I missed the small form factor of the Incredible! So now I am back it it and really do like the little things HTC adds to its version of Android. Here are a few tips I can offer after taking the time to bring this new phone up to speed.

  • Install Amazon app store. I like this store, and it does a great job of keeping your apps and making them easy to re-install when you switch phones.
  • Ignore the Skype that comes w/ the phone. You can’t (easily) uninstall it, but just go to the Android marketplace and install the official Skype (NOT the one from Verizon) then you can do web calls w/ the front facing camera
  • If you use Swype (and if you don’t, you should try it), the Incredible 2 does not come with it installed. You need to visit swype.com and download the “beta” which is really better than a beta at this point.
  • Install Vlingo for voice recognition functions like calling, asking questions, etc. It’s Android’s “Siri”.
Categories
Cellphone

Android Version 2.3.3 Sucks Battery?

I just updated my Android X to version 2.3.3 a few days ago, and now it seems my battery doesn’t last as long!

I haven’t changed any settings, I only keep the bluetooth on (no wi-fi or gps) and whereas my battery would usually last around 14+ hours with normal usage, this new version seems to die in around 8 hours.

UPDATE: I had a reason to flush my android and start from scratch, and this seemed to clear up the battery problem! Why? Who knows! Logic would indicate some app was causing a problem, but I am careful on apps and when I reinstalled everything the battery life was still good.