Android 2.0 Review: Almost Human

A year ago, Android was an unfinished OS for nerds, bursting with potential. With Android 2.0, it's evolved into something sleeker, more refined and focused—but still something not quite human.

Over the last year, Android's evolved more rapidly and appeared in more shapes than any other smartphone OS. Every major update has made Android more capable and advanced, while custom interfaces from companies like HTC and Motorola, mean it's constantly and continually shifting shapes. When you look at the bucket of bolts everybody started with, some of the oh-so-shiny end results were kind of amazing. Android 2.0 blows all of that away, and lays down a platform for the next year that's wildly more compelling, even as it retains a lot of the same fundamental weaknesses.

We reviewed on Android 2.0 on the Motorola Droid—our review of the actual phone is here.

New Skin, Same Awkward Body

Android 2.0 is glossy—not in an Apple "the whole world is shiny and reflective" kind of way, but more like molded plastic for a collectible action figure. The cartoon whimsy—the classic Google rainbow of bright colors—are gone. The iconography, redrawn for high-res displays packed with tons of pixels, is smoother and sleeker, more subtle, and forces you to ask yourself, "Google designed this?"

While icons and menubars have been polished to fine gloss, and some things are cleaner and better organized—settings, for instance—overall, the user experience is basically the same: three desktops, which you can pack with icons and widgets; the still brilliant drop-down notification shade, which pools everything Android wants to tell you; and a pop-up tab where all of your apps are at. This is all still fine, mostly, if a bit muddled.

The reason that cluttered interface confusion is mostly fine is that multitasking with Android is addictive, and it's a better, easier-to-use implementation than any phone but the Pre. The window shade, a simple but powerful concept, is what makes it work. If I'm browsing the internet and get a message, I can pull the shade down, check the message, and go right back to browsing. Or flip over to messaging, reply, and get right back to browsing. At this, Android 2.0 excels, especially now that everything runs faster.

The long press and menu button conventions are still used nearly everywhere throughout the OS, but almost always inconsistently. If you're trying to do something in-app and have no idea how, there's a good chance the action you're looking for is buried behind the menu button or a long press. But these controls do different things in almost every single app, and even sometimes in the same app, depending on the context.

Universal search, and in particular, voice commands which let you quickly access search, map or navigate with surprising accuracy (seriously, it deciphers my mumbling better than my mom), are probably the most significant improvements to usability. Universal search isn't quite as universal as we'd like, though. It only pores over apps, contacts, YouTube, music and the web—you have to go into the messaging and email apps separately to search through them, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

And while Android 2.0 iscapable of multitouch, other than making typing smoother, it's nowhere to be found, at least not where I want it: the browser and maps. Also, the portrait keyboard's still too tiny.

A Killer Machine, Sorta

Software is inextricably tied to hardware in many respects, and nowhere is that more true than performance. Droid, the first Android 2.0 phone—and the only one we've used—is ridiculously capable, with an ARM Cortex A8 TI OMAP3430 processor that's basically the same as the chips inside of the Palm Pre and iPhone 3GS. Point being, it's got heavy duty processor firepower.

So it's absolutely inexplicable that while it's overall the fastest version of Android yet—most apps fly open instantly, run zippily and practically zoom from one to another, even with a couple running in the background—very basic user interface elements, like the main pop-up menu on the home screen and sliding over from one desktop to another, often stutter or lag (with no apps running up front, and just a couple of widgets on the desktop). At this point, it's clear that these performance hiccups are an Android problem, not a hardware deficiency. It's maddening to hold a badass phone like the Droid and watch it handle menus like a pussy.

Accounts, Contacts, Exchange and Other Serious-Sounding Words

Besides Google Maps Navigation Beta, Android 2.0's most significant upgrade for regular people is all about contacts and networking. Like the Palm Pre and HTC's Sense UI, it integrates contacts from multiple sources—namely, Facebook and Exchange (no Twitter yet). The scheme works exceptionally well, with finesse that's almost out of character for Google. The way it pulls in your Facebook contacts actually makes sense: When you add the account, you can choose to add all 900 of your Facebook contacts, or just the ones who you have actual Google contacts for. Oh, sweet reason! It even managed to match our address book contacts with correlating Facebook accounts pretty accurately and seamlessly, with a few exceptions.

1. Everybody whose name is capitalized in the screenshot is matched up with Facebook—I loathe capital letters, but got over the inconsistency.
2. And the rarely mismatched contacts prove difficult, if not impossible, to completely straighten out.

Quick Contact is what keeps this orgy of personal information from getting too messy when it's time to get down to business—clicking on a contact's icon blooms a row of icons, letting you instantly ping them via SMS, phone, email, Facebook or whatever you want.

Android finally approaches a real smartphone when it comes to accounts. Multiple Google accounts and Exchange support come stock. What's that mean? Well, if you have a hosted Google apps account for work, and a personal one (like all of us at Giz do), you can use the awesome native Gmail application for both, instead of being forced to relegate one of the accounts to the separate, okay-but-not-as-good email app, which is what handles all of your Exchange, IMAP and POP mail. The only bummer is that you still have to toggle between each Google account mailbox in the Gmail app. (Yes, there are two different email applications. A Gmail app, and one for everything else. And they're completely different.)

There's one serious limitation to the multiple Google account support: The only Google calendars that sync to the phone are the ones from your main Google account, not your secondary one. Exchange calendars, on the other hand, use the separate-but-equal-as-far-as-I-can-tell "Corporate Calendars" app. We tested Exchange support using mail2web's free service, and everything seemed to show up correctly, FWIW.

Maps

The biggest change to Google Maps is Navigation, which Wilson Rothman, a Magellan for our time, reviewed extensively here. My assessment is mostly the same after a weekend in a car—it's pretty good, but occasionally befuddling and hard to get around. A potential point of confusion is that Navigation is both integrated into Maps and also its own distinct app, unlike Latitude.

Also new, sorta, is layers. Basically, every bit of information you wanna see in Maps is now a "layer." Like if I've got Latitude up on the map, and want to see nearby coffee places with satellite view, that's three layers—Latitude, a search for coffee, and satellite view. It can get a little confusing, especially if you're going from search to search or Maps to Navigation and then back to Maps—none of it's conceptually clean or simple, and the interface isn't always aren't entirely self-apparent. Also. Pinch. To. Zoom. I want it.

Browse Awesomer, But No (Multi)Touchy

The browser's faster, smarter and more powerful, and is probably the second best browser now, next to mobile Safari. It mostly cuts through lardass sites like Gizmodo with pep previous versions didn't, with more responsive scrolling and panning (slowdown doeshappen though). The browser actually starts you out on each site with a view of the entire page now, which is nicer in theory, but then it makes you want to pinch to zoom in—which, like Maps, is not enabled. You're stuck with unwieldly buttons and double-taps that never quite line the page up the way they should. If Palm, who's an insect by comparison, can pinch and zoom with impunity, why can't Google? Don't say it's out of friendship, because Apple doesn't even like you guys anymore.

Well, It Would Be a Better Camera

More controls! Yay! White balance, focusing mode, color and more. It's just too bad that on the Droid, the camera's completely unresponsive garbage. I don't know if it's software or hardware, so I'm mentioning in it both here and in our Droid review. Fix please.

Multimedia, or the Lack Thereof

The only way to get your music and videos on the phone is to manually drag and drop the files. There is no syncing, no easy way to get your music library onto your phone. How are normal people supposed to figure this out? Verizon reps actually joked about how putting music on the Droid is sure to make for a lovely Saturday afternoon. What. The. Shit.

And, there's not even a built-in video player! I have a phone with drop-dead gorgeous screen that I can't use to play movies without digging up my own video app, even if I could figure out how to get videos onto it. Correction: The video player's tucked inside of the slow and rather buggy Gallery application, where you also browse photos. And it wouldn't play videos that worked perfectly on a Zune HD or iPhone. Also, it and the music player are hideous.

Until I can magically and perfectly sync 12 gigs of music and videos over the air, you can't get away with not having a media sync desktop application. And DoubleTwist, a third-party app that can sync to Android, doesn't really count, since it's not bundled with it. (Update: FWIW, if you know where to look, Motorola offers a PC-only Media Link application for its Android phones. But it still doesn't solve the larger Android problem—Google needs to specify an easy-to-use syncing solution for people who need that.) Make no mistake, for a phone platform that's supposed to be ready for consumers now, this is a disaster, like a spaceship that's about to shoot into the atmosphere with a gaping hole in the side.

Goin' to the Android Market, Buyin' Some Apps

The Android Market has over 10,000 apps, and its state of the union is still a mixed bag. On the one hand, it's finally got official apps from Facebook, Amazon, Pandora and other critical names people expect on their phone. On the other, and almost universally, these apps aren't nearly as polished or full-featured as their iPhone counterparts (look no further than the Facebook app, which lacks even messaging in Android). And games? It's a pretty desolate wasteland, if you're looking for something beyond NES emulators. The library is getting better, and will undoubtedly keep getting better, but it's hard not to lament Android's comparative app ghetto, even as the platform's poised to explode. (Update: Another point I forgot to mention, and part of the reason Android games are limited in scope, is the storage limit for apps since they can't be installed on the SD card—for instance, it's 256MB on the Droid.)

A problem that's currently plaguing the ecosystem, and is hopefully not a foreboding omen of the fragmentation to come, is that many apps weren't designed for the higher resolution screens that Android 2.0 supports, so their icons and graphics render crap-ugly on Droid, even in the main menu. (Granted, the phenomenon is partly Google's fault for restricting access to the 2.0 SDK to all but a select group of privileged developers until basically the day Droid was announced.)

The Market itself, while it got a desperately needed facelift with 1.6, still has a ways to go. There's no way to update all of your applications simultaneously—you have to click through the update process for each one. And finding apps remains a problem. Browsing for apps exclusively on your phone is a tedious experience, especially when there's so many apps to wade through. Besides more refined browsing and suggestions, there needs to a way to look through the Market on your desktop. Also, Google's got this whole cloud thing going, why aren't my apps tied to my Google account, so if I move to another phone, they'll all magically repopulate it, like my contacts?

Wherefore Art Thou, Android?

I probably sound like I'm more down on Android 2.0 than I actually am. I like it a lot, truthfully. It's an amazing conduit for Google's services. If your online life is lock, stock and barrel Google, there really isn't a better or more powerful smartphone for getting stuff done in that universe. The Gmail app is a perfect distillation of Gmail for a small screen. The Google Talk app, if you have a bunch of friends using Gtalk, is fantastic. Google, really, is Android's greatest strength. Excellent multitasking is a close second.

In time, Android very well could be the internet phone, hands down, in terms of raw capabilities. And while it's not as easy to use or polished or seamless as the iPhone—or to some extent, Palm's WebOS—it's way more usable than most other smartphones, and keeps evolving, way faster than anyone else, continually closing that gap. Android 2.0's potential finally feels as enormous as the iPhone's, and I get kinda tingly thinking about it. I can't say Android 2.0 is ready for your mom yet, but it's definitely ready for anybody reading this.

Total Recorder Professional Edition

Total Recorder Professional Edition Main Features:

• Record directly in any supported sound format. PCM, MP3, WMA, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, APE and any format provided by a system codec are supported. Professional Edition also provides support for a number of high-quality stereo formats (PCM - up to 192kHz 24bit and float, FLAC - up to 192kHz 24bit, WMA Lossless - up to 96kHz 24bit, and formats provided by the Windows Media Audio Professional codec). For more information, see the Selecting an Optimal Recording Format Tutorial.
• Record local audio files or Internet broadcasts reproduced by other programs, such as RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, iTunes, Musicmatch Jukebox, WinAmp, and others. These recordings are performed without the need for special lines for your sound board and without a loss of quality due to redundant conversions from digital to analog to digital. Many additional options are available. For example, you can use accelerated recording to increase the recording speed or you can choose to suppress Internet transmission gaps. For more information, see theRecording an Internet Broadcast Tutorial.
• Record any sound passing through any line of your sound card. For example, you can record sound being played back by an external program, or sound from a microphone, an external LP, cassette, CD/DVD player, AM/FM/Satellite radio, etc. For more information, see theRecording from an External Device tutorial.
• Record both parties of Internet-telephony conversations when using programs like Skype, Google Talk, etc. For more information, see the Recording Internet-telephony Conversations Tutorial.
• Background record (i.e. capture) an Internet-broadcast in MP3, WMA and Ogg Vorbis formats. This feature allows you to do the following:
  – Record Internet broadcasts in their original format without decoding and re-encoding.
  – Record without using an external player.
  – Extract track information from a stream.
  You can also slow down or speed up the playback of an Internet broadcast.
• Convert files to any supported format (including on the fly converting while recording). For more information, see the Sound Format Conversion Tutorial.
• Edit sound files using a built-in sound editor. This built-in sound editor allows you to cut, trim, and join your recordings. Editing can be performed using a visual representation of the sound or using clipboard operations. All editing functions are performed without decompressing/recompressing to preserve sound quality and save time.
• Use the time shift feature to listen to the recorded sound while a recording is being made. While listening, you can move anywhere within the recorded part of the sound stream and start playback.
• Split recordings on separate clips. You can indicate that the sound being recorded will be split on separate clips during the recording. File tags can be created automatically.
• Split recordings on separate files. You can indicate that the sound being recorded will be split into separate files during recording based on different conditions (size, duration, low sound level, etc.). Splitting an existing recording can also be done. For more information, see the Splitting and Tagging Files Tutorial.
• Use Cue-sheet files. Total Recorder lets you create cue-points, which can be used for splitting a file afterwards. These cue-points can be created manually, for example to make a bookmark in a sound file. Or they can be created automatically during a recording session (based on pause reduction, changes of the clip information in an external player, etc.) or while capturing an Internet transmission and information about a track changes.
• Create and edit file tags. Total Recorder can work with file tags for any of the supported media formats. Tags can also include artwork.
• Play a media file at a slower or faster speed than normal while optionally preserving the original tone.
• Schedule playbacks or recordings using Total Recorder's powerful built-in scheduler. For example, you can schedule a recording and use a stop condition such as an absolute time, a duration, the absence of a sound signal, and so on. The scheduler includes many other options. For more information, see Using the Scheduler Tutorial.
• Normalize recordings to adjust the level of sound. Normalization of MP3 files is performed without re-encoding or any loss of quality.
• Perform general operations on playlists, such as merge multiple files in a playlist, rename files from a playlist using tag information, save a playlist, etc.
• Favorites are supported by Total Recorder. Favorites provide a faster and more convenient way to open a file, playlist, or URL. You can organize your Favorites list, use predefined sample links, and export and import Favorites.
• Put your computer in standby or hibernate mode when an automatic job completes.
• Use add-ons. Total Recorder supports add-ons that can be used for sound enhancements, mixing operations, integration with iTunes/iPod, and for other purposes. Refer to the Add-ons page for information on the add-ons available.
• Perform batch processing. You can use batch processing to convert, normalize, split, rename, tag, apply add-ons, or perform other operations on multiple files. For more information, see the Batch Processing Tutorial.
• Save an audio file with a different speed than the speed with which it was recorded. This can be useful, for example, when you have recorded a news transmission and you want to listen to the recording at a faster speed.

• rial Version

  You can download a no-cost evaluation version of Total Recorder Professional Edition. The evaluation copy is a fully functional version of the program with the exception that an audible noise will be inserted about every 60 seconds throughout each recording you make, and you cannot process more than three files during batch processing. For unlimited use of Total Recorder, you must purchase a Total Recorder license.

  Updating & Upgrading

  Total Recorder Professional Edition Version 8.0 is available free of charge to purchasers of previous versions of the Professional Edition.

  For a limited time only, licensed users of Total Recorder Professional Edition can upgrade to the VideoPro Edition for an upgrade fee of $18.00 US. Registered users of the Professional Edition should use this link to purchase the VideoPro Edition at this price.

  When you upgrade, the installation of the VideoPro Edition will remove the Professional Edition from your PC. If you evaluate the VideoPro Edition and decide not to purchase it, you must re-install the Professional Edition and specify your Professional Edition registration key. Your registration key for the Professional Edition cannot be used for the VideoPro Edition.

  Technical Support

  Free and fast technical support is provided even with the no-cost evaluation version of our products. If you encounter a problem that is not listed in either the Total Recorder Help (Troubleshooting section) or in the FAQ, e-mail us at support@highcriteria.com. If you have any suggestions regarding our programs, please do not hesitate to contact us.

  System Requirements

  Total Recorder Professional Edition requires: a sound card and a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows XP (SP2 or later), Windows Vista, or Windows 7.

Review - Daemon Tools Pro

For loading virtual disk drives, Daemon Tools is the best-known app around. The name comes from Disk And Execution MONitor, meaning that the program runs the minor task of drive emulation, so that virtual CD and DVD files can run.
The list of file types supported by the pro version of this program is impressive. B5T, B6T, BWT, CCD, CDI, CUE, ISO, MDS, NRG, PDI, and ISZ are all supported, as are up to 32 virtual drives. The benefits of running commonly-used discs from a hard drive instead of the disc itself are many, and go beyond reduced wear-and-tear on the disc. The app also converts discs into disc images, saving you the step of having to find a converter.
Daemon Tools also features events logs, device and image property displays, encryption, and panel locking, so that you can fix in stone the user interfaces' configuration. The UI is nothing to sneeze at, either, with a nav that naturally emulates the file explorer in Windows XP. For top-shelf disc image ripping and drive emulation, Daemon Tools is the premier choice for power users, but is easy enough to learn for beginners.
General Complaints n their solutions - Many people feel that the toolbar gets installed with it and other things come bundled but during installation you can uncheck them and install only what you need instead of an irresponsible "Next-Next-Done" install.
Also people feel that it does not have a 'system integration' and other similar features, but these features are available in the Daemon Tools Pro ver. which is offcourse a paid software and not a freeware unlike Daemon Tools Lite which is confused with the pro version.

What's new in the latest version:
Version 4.35.0308 includes: SPTD 1.62; New MDX (Media Data eXtended) format supporting; New powerful burning engine; GUI redesign and improvement; Windows 7 taskbar features for burning progress; Hotkeys in Image Editor.
Daemon Tools Pro--

• Price: Free to try (20-day trial); $35.77 to buy
• Operating system: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7

Review - Sony Viao X

CPU: 2.0-GHz Intel Atom Z550
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit)
RAM/Expandable to: 2GB/2GB
Hard Drive Size/Speed: 128GB SSD/N/A
Display Size/Resolution: 11.1 inches/1366 x 768
Weight: 2.2 pounds (with extended battery)

Price as Reviewed: $1499.00

t’s the ultimate status symbol—with a price to match. Once again Sony is shaking up the very clichéd netbook category, this time with a design that is not only half as light and half as thin other machines in its class, but also includes a battery that lasts twice as long as many models. It is the world’s lightest notebook, and at 1.4 pounds(with the four-cell battery).

So how was Sony able to achieve such a thin and light netbook? The VAIO X’s chassis is made of a magnesium alloy, and the lid is built from carbon fiber. The processor is Intel Atom Z-series processor, which uses less power but it is not the latest technology which means it will out date in another 6 months when new technologies further come in. With the exception of an undersized right Shift key, the keys were decently spaced and sized, but overall, it felt slightly cramped.

When watching content streamed over the Web or played off the VAIO X’s hard drive, the crispness and wide viewing angles of the display was impressive; you can turn it nearly 90 degrees to either side without seeing image reversal or egregious reflections. But while playing songs the baseline seems non-existent, and the speakers can barely fill a small room with sound.

The omission of an HDMI port is very surprising, although since this netbook isn’t designed to output HD content, it’s not a huge loss but you can forget about using it to play HD content on your TV when you don't have an HD content Player. While not overly detailed, video from the VAIO X’s VGA webcam is well balanced, and shows accurate skin tones in a call over Skype. But then it has integrated 3G and GPS.

Comparision between Internet Browsing Softwares

Hello again....lots of people get confused when they have to choose b/w the web browsers. Every browser has to be carefully rated in the so called battle of the web browsers. The comparison here is b/w Internet Explorer 8, Opera, FireFox, Chrome.

Internet Explorer( ver. IE8)- Even though there is newly added color-coded tab system, new exclusive security features & private browsing but it is quite the underdog. Speed is very slow and pages take a lot time to open. It is the least preferable of all the browsers. The lack of a download manager & robust extension ecosystem hold the browser back. But it has good integration guidance i.e. it can be integrated with software's like-Bitcomet, Download managers etc. Also you can keep the browsing private if you like.

Opera(ver. Opera10)- It is a very stable browser, no crashes. Also it comes loaded with a very good pop-up blocker. It has a new speed dial feature which is similar to favorites toolbar but gets displayed in the new tab option.....But the speed is very slow....Also it cant be integrated with other softwares. Also there is a new feature Opera Turbo which is awesome. It allows you to browse in even very little speed. it will open those pages which all other browsers cant open due to inadequate speed. Widgets is also a new exiting feature and the download manager also works fine. But it doesn't have any private browsing mode

FireFox(ver. FireFox3.5)- Though it is better in speed than the above two but the pop-up blocker doesn't work at all. There r a lot of plugins available for making the browsing interactive. These can be a lot of customization to make the browsing more private. tabs are good and the integration also works very well. But the speed is slower when compared to Chrome. Smart Location bar is also a very helpful feature. But overall it is a good and reliable web browser.

Google Chrome(ver. chrome4.0)- Its is surely the fastest browser in town. With unmatched speed and blazing site browsing it has a very good download manager. It amongst all the other browsers is the lightest. Uses very little memory. Google has given the word a solution to the web browsing problems. The InCognito feature enables you to browse privately and no history records r made. But it is still in Beta mode so it might crash often but it has a crash manager which restores the pages in case of a crash. Third party downloads r still little less. But it has lots of skins which can be used to give a very pretty look to the browser. It has all the features which a person need for browsing. Chrome lives upto its hype.

Comparision b/w Media Players

Well we have seen a lot of people switching between different media players.....the most common are Windows Media Player, VLC Player, Media Player Classic...so i m gonna compare all 3 for you guys!

Windows Media Player(Latest ver. WMP12)-its a very reliable player but it doesn't come with pre-installed codecs which r required to play the .avi, .mp4 files & many more. Although you can install the K-lite codec pack but its takes time to load everytime you open the media player, so there is a delay when you r playing your movies.....But you can get plugins which display your current music track on G-Talk which is a unique feature.Also you can customize the player according to d color u like which is also a very cool feature. it comes with a nice equalizer too.

VLC Player(Latest ver. VLC1.0.3)-its the fastest software of the three,it comes with pre-installed codecs. so u dont need to install anything......a unique feature is the sound boost. sound boost increases the volume of your movie by 400% so you can increase the volume of movies that have low voice recorded. Also you can increase this 400% by another 100%. You have very easy options of adding n removing the subtitles. If you want skins then u have to download them from the internet......It also has good keyboard shortcuts for forwarding the movie & inc/dec the volume.

Media Player Classic(Latest ver. WPC6.4.9.1)-it is a very good software which never hangs unlike the other two. It comes with pre-installed codecs. The plugins have to be downloaded. Although it is a very good software for preview of partially downloaded files which come with the Torrent downloads. Although less on features but u just cant ignore a player which works on a very simple and glitch free principle.