Droid Life

Year: 2010

  • how to sync facebook contacts on your motorola droid

    this is one of those questions we get quite a bit actually. “hey droid life! how the heck do we sync facebook with our contact list?!? only some of them will show up!” and obviously this is a good question as the facebook sync is pretty much the most wishy-washy thing on the planet. (did facebook forget about android? i’d say so.)

    fortunately for us this process is pretty simple.  and here we go…

    1. open up facebook and go into your “friends.”
    2. find the friend that you want sync’d.
    3. tap on their picture and choose the “contacts” icon.
    4. tap your options button and select “edit contact.”
    5. tap options button again and select “join.”
    6. if the correct contact is not suggested, tap “show all contacts.”
    7. choose the contact you want and select “done.”
    8. bam, that’s it!

    as always, let me know if you run into any issues with that.

  • google releases "shopper" android app

    google just released their “shopper” app to give you another way to shop for DVDs, video games, CDs and books using their cover art.  shopper also gives you the ability to scan barcodes, use voice search, or just do a manual search if the cover art option isn’t working.

    my first impression is sort of the same impression i got from google goggles which wasn’t necessarily a good one.  maybe if you are a big time shopper and have found some success using barcode scanners in the past then this may be your go to app. let me know what you think!

    video action…


    download…

  • motorola droid 2.1 ota update leaked?

    just after we broke the news of the droid eris receiving the 2.1 update earlier in the week, we’ve got new news which may have our droids running 2.1 very soon.  developer pete, who is one of the masterminds behind the bugless beast rom has leaked what he is claiming as the android 2.1 update that was supposed to have been released to all of us last week.  he has also added in video of his droid working flawlessly, but as you’ll notice, without the 3d app drawer and without 5 screens.

    the file which is not installable and is really only useful to developers at this time is available, but please don’t ask me for instructions on how to get it working.  🙂

    file:  system.rar

    if you extract the contents of the file you’ll notice a few things:

    • Gallery3D
    • Genie Widget
    • Google Goggles

    update 2/19 12:18pm:  build info (thanks @silverton)…

    build properties
    # autogenerated by buildinfo.sh
    ro.build.version.release=2.1-update1
    ro.build.date=Fri Jan 29 12:50:49 PST 2010
    ro.build.date.utc=1264798249
    ro.build.user=android-build
    ro.build.host=apa2.mtv.corp.google.com
    ro.product.model=Droid
    ro.product.brand=verizon
    ro.product.manufacturer=Motorola
    ro.product.locale.language=en
    ro.product.locale.region=US

    (via alldroid and android overdrive)

    big thanks to coffee and the other half dozen readers who sent this over!

  • video: verizon fios android app

    a few weeks ago we covered the release of the verizon fios app for the motorola droid and today they came out with some video of it including all of its nifty features.  with this app you’ll be able change channels by using your droid as a remote, sync pictures to your tv as a slideshow, set up favorite channels for quick surfing, and even mute your tv if you receive a call.  purely awesome.  well if you have fios that is…

  • droid eris receives 2.1 update today? **UPDATED**

    news broke yesterday that htc would be releasing android 2.1 to a bunch of their phones with one being the droid eris.  this was good news to eris users as they had never really heard a firm confirmation on what os update they would eventually be receiving.  so “yay!” to that!

    and then we received this comment this morning…

    john,  February 17, 2010 9:15 AM 
    My IT guy recieved an update on his Eris today that seems to be 2.1 It did not go well either. It wiped all content including apps on his phone. Why are they send the eris updates before us? I google it and have not seen any other chatter about this.

    update 10:15am:  another comment through the cnet link up top refers to the same update with the same results as our secret commenter including no sense ui?  huh?

    by ririboy February 17, 2010 7:21 AM PST
    Actually I got the update this morning. It took quite a lot of of time. It includes Android 2.1 but not the Sense UI update. The new UI is much more responsive, however be careful, it will simply erase all your data on the phone. With no warning… You’ll have to run the setup wizard again, which is really a shame.

    update 3:09pm:  we’ve got photo confirmation of the droid eris update to 2.1.  what. the. hell. (via androidforums.com)

    update 4:04pm:  one of our sources has confirmed a call from a motorola droid user who received an ota update to 2.1, but came across issues while attempting to install it.  after 2 attempts at the update, they were still on 2.0.1.

    update 6:34pm:  our original source returns…

    John,  February 17, 2010 6:34 PM 
    I posted the first comment about the eris with 2.1 and my IT guy. Well one thing he said was it did add the car home feature with turn by turn directions with the update. I have not seen it myself but that is what he emailed me this afternoon. Sorry for the poor grammar in my first post. I was typing from my phone.

    it’s now sounding more and more like eris users truly are receiving some sort of an update to 2.1.  some are reporting that sense ui is missing while others apparently still have it.  and now after our source has confirmed an update request from a droid user, we have to wonder what verizon has done this time.  this is shaping up to be a huge disaster for htc, motorola and verizon.

  • how to take screen shots without rooting your droid

    since we just gave you this application to take screen captures with a rooted phone, it probably would have been nice of us to give you an option without rooting right?  luckily we have the greatest readers on the planet and they quickly pointed out this link which gives you the instructions to do just that…

    How to take the shots:

    1. Download and install the Android SDK. Don’t worry – unlike some SDKs, installing the Android kit is completely straightforward.
    2. Enable USB Debugging on the device by going to Settings -> Applications -> Development and checking the proper box.
    3. Plug the Android device into the USB port.
    4. Find the folder containing the SDK you just installed. The location will vary depending on which operating system you’re using, and where you chose to install it. On all platforms, the folder name should begin with “android-sdk-”. For example, the folder for the current build on OS X is “android-sdk-mac_x86-1.0_r1″
    5. Open the tools folder within the Android SDK folder.
    6. Double click the file titled “DDMS”. This stands for Dalvik Debug Monitor Service.
    7. In DDMS, your device should be listed. Highlight it by clicking on it.
    8. In the application’s top menus, go to Device -> Screen capture.

    You should be good to go. Use the handset to navigate to whatever screen you want a shot of, press the “Refresh” button to recapture the screen, and once you’ve got it just right, hit the “Save” button. Once you’ve gone through it the first time, the process is actually easier than busting out the point-and-shoot.

    thanks andrew!

  • android app review: drocap2 – a screen shot app

    ever wondered how people post those crystal clear screen shots of their desktops or applications? it’s with a little application called “drocap2” which is unfortunately only available to “rooted” users. grab this little guy in the market for free right now.

    a few screenies we just grabbed with it…

    download…

  • android app review: desk home

    just wanted to cover a quick application today to give those of you without a multimedia dock the opportunity to still use the fun little clock feature which is included with your droid but may be hiding.  a little application in the market called “desk home” is available for i believe $.99 which is, well, less than a double cheesburger at mcdonald’s.

    if you aren’t aware of what the docking app is, it basically pulls up your weather, time, music, and photos all while acting as a replacement alarm clock for you.  it’s definitely a cool thing to have and with “desk home” you can play with all of those features without a dock.  just plug your phone into a charger and it’ll pop right up.  you can also set it to run without plugging in. 

    update:  as a few people have already pointed out, there is an app called DockRunner in the market which is free and does basically the same thing.  for me personally, i like the two options that come with Desk Home:  “auto dock” and “keep screen on.”

    download…