Getting Busy

  Hello again! I hope everyone has had a productive week. While on the subject of productivity, do you use your US Cellular Android powered smartphone to help you stay productive? If you do what apps do you find help you the most? If you are like me you are so busy I forget things, so I use a "To Do List" app. Here are a few of the ones I have tried at different times.
  The first one is very good. It is called GTask: To Do List. GTasks is a simple and efficient android to do list app. It help you to organize your life in a simple and elegant way. It has both local mode and google account mode. You can sync with your google tasks perfectly. And you can share you list or your task item easily via gmail/note in reader/messaging /google docs and so on.
  And here are a few of the features in this app.
1. Rich gtask (google task) client, simple todo list, checklist, note/notes pad tool.
2. Synchronize with multiple google accounts automatically, also support local mode. customize sync mode: auto,manual or sync when open/exit,background sync
3. batch add notes
4. scroll horizontally to switch between task/tasklist.
5. order your todo/notes items by due date/name/create order
6. order your task list easily by dragging them
7. view your events on google calendar
8. Indent, unindent, share, move easily
9. repeat reminder enable, set reminder one-time/daily/weekly/monthly... and so on
10. quick add task by pressing the search key
11. search all task with autocomplete match
12. Widgets(scrolling in LauncherPro/ADWLauncher/GO Launcher)

  And the one I am currently using is Any do. Some of the key benefits are: Seamless cloud sync, Speech recognition, Alerts, Snooze tasks, Google Task Sync, Notes, Sub tasks, Amazing Widgets, Repeating / Recurring Tasks, Missed call, Auto complete, In app actions, Gesture support & much more!
  Here are a few of the features of this great app. 
 Just like real life - Swipe a task with your finger to mark it as complete.
 Shake it away - Shake your device to remove all completed tasks.
 Powerful widgets - Add a widget to your home screen to see all the things you need to do - just when you need them.
 Don't miss another call - Turn missed calls into reminders.
 Take actions - With Any.DO you can easily make calls, text, emails and even schedule meetings from within the app
 Make it personal - Choose your favorite app theme (white or black).
 Do it your own way - You can easily customize your folders, so you can organize your tasks to best suit your needs (for example: Work, Home, Errands). Plus, you can have as many folders as you wish.
 Your tasks, Your choice - You can switch between Date view (Today, Tomorrow, Upcoming & Someday) and Folder view, it's up to you.

  So now pick one of these or choose another from the Google Play Store and get organized! 

  If you have any questions about switching to US Cellular, any of the apps you see mentioned in this blog, or just Android in general contact me through Google +, or in the comments. 
  Thanks for reading!

John USCC Customer Crew Member

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Messaging apps

  Well another week has gone by in this new year, I hope you are having success with your resolutions! If one of your resolutions was to keep in touch with family and friends I hope you got a new device from US Cellular with free incoming text, voice, and picture messages! And if you are like me you don't like the stock messaging app that came with your Android powered smartphone from US Cellular (or any other carrier for that matter).
  I have tried several from Handcent to Go SMS Pro, to the stock AOSP based Android 4.1 JB Messaging SMS. But today I found my new favorite Sliding Messaging, and in as much as I like the vanilla (AOSP) this one fits perfectly as it is a minimialstic look and feel.


 Easily manage text messages in a new and up to date format compliant with the Android design guidelines and visually based on the stock messaging app from Google, with added features.

Features:
- Easily switch between conversations by dragging out the sliding menu on the left side of the screen.
- Start a new conversation by sliding out the menu on the right side of the screen
- Manage old messages with a single click
- Choose between light and dark themes
- Emoji support
- Adjust text size and control notifications and theme though settings
- Quick reply popup
- Multi-window support for Galaxy Note
- Light Flow support (will be active once Light Flow has been updated)

Please note: As of now, this is just a basic messaging app with a great layout and simple features. Currently, MMS is not supported, but it may be added in the future along with other feature requests, please sound off in the comments of what you would like to see in future versions!

If you are having problems receiving notifications, you may need to uninstall 3rd party messengers such as Go SMS.

When using this app, do not disable the stock messaging app as I use it to permanently save messages to the phone. You can however, disable notifications for it so that you don't receive 2 of them.

If you have any questions about this or any other messaging app, US Cellular service, or Android in general feel free to contact me through Google+, or in the comments of this blog. 

John USCC Customer Crew Member

PS Since I installed this app, I have gotten consistent updates. I penned this blog on Saturday afternoon, and have gotten3 updates since so the secs are every responsive. Just remember this messaging app does not support MMS at this time. John USCC Customer Crew.

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Best of the Best

  Hey everyone! This weeks post is going to be short and sweet.
  I recently posted a survey on Google+ asking what is the best phone? I got several interesting answers, but as it turned out the best was the Samsung Galaxy Note II.
  This phone is packing a 1.6 GHz. quad core processor, a 3400 MhA battery, and sports a 5.5 inch super AMLOED screen.
  Coming in second was the Samsung Galaxy S III which has a Snapdragon 1.5 GHz dual core processor, a 2100 MhA battery and a 4.8 inch screen.
  So the moral of this survey is get down to your local US Cellular store and try them both out and see which one is the best of the best for you!

As always if you have questions about US Cellular or Android in general feel free to contact me through Google Plus or through the comments section.

John USCC Customer Crew Member

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Note II Initial Review

  Hi! This week I am going to do a slightly different blog. I am going to give an initial review of a device. I know this is a very subjective issue but here we go!! I will be giving a short review of the Samsung Galaxy Note II from US Cellular.

  I was intrigued by this device at first, then went to a store and held one and played with it a bit. My first opinion was it was too big, and I could not use it one handed. I kept watching the YouTube reviews and listening to friends who had this device and decided to give it a try. After a few days I still am inclined to think the device is a bit to large, but have learned to compensate for most applications.

While the device is large, the screen is amazingly bright and vibrant while watching movies, gaming, or just normal applications and the Spen makes navigating the huge 5.5 inch screen a bit easier.
The 8 MP camera takes digital SLR quality photos and video. The burst mode is an excellent feature in my opinion and the ability to take still photos during video capture is great.
With the release of the latest update the multi-screen option is going to make multitasking at work much easier.
Overall this is one amazing device, but not for a first time smartphone buyer in my opinion, you would be overwhelmed at the things you can do with this device! But if you are upgrading from another smartphone I would recommend this one if you don't need to operate your device with one hand.

If you would like information or help switching from your current carrier to US Cellular or have questions about Android in general, feel free to contact me through Google+ or through the comments of this blog.

John USCC Customer Crew Member

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