Pie Controls

  Hello everyone! To start this weeks blog, I am going to say if you know me you know I love my Pie controls on my US Cellular Samsung Galaxy S4. Now don't ask how I got this coolness on my phone!!! ;)
  If you haven't heard of Pie, it is a custom application that requires you to modify your device to use it, but it is really cool in that it gives you quick access to several of your most used apps.
  But fear not, good news is here! Now you too can have a form of Pie Control with Floating Toucher, (Play store link will be at the bottom of this post). This spin off of the Pie control does not require you to modify your device, is highly customizable and gives you the features of Pie. Here is a short video of the app in action. Give it a watch and see if this app is for you!  

  Here is the link to Floating Touch in the Play Store.
http://goo.gl/9XsdXz
  If you like the app and have any questions feel free to hit me up in the comments on on G+.
  Also hit me up if you have questions or need assistance switching your service to US Cellular.

John USCC Customer Crew Member

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Road Trip

  Hey everyone summer is here and that means road trip! So with that being said I am going to try to give you some must have apps to install on your US Cellular device.
  The first must have road trip app is Google Maps. Download the latest release of Google Maps, and never carry a paper map again. Google Maps for Android with Navigation (Beta) has:

* Detailed maps with 3D buildings
* Voice guided turn-by-turn GPS navigation
* Driving, public transit, biking, and walking directions
* Live traffic information to avoid congestion
* Local search and business reviews
* Google Maps Street View
* Indoor maps for select airports, hotels, retail stores, and more

Whether you need directions to your destination, the closest good place for a bite to eat, or just a sense of where you are, Google Maps for Android can help.

  Next up is the Holiday Inn app for Android. The Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts App makes it easier than ever to research, book and manage your stay at Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts and the entire IHG family of brands.

  From within the app you can also enroll in IHG® Rewards Club to earn Reward Nights and other extras. We are now the only hotel company that rewards you when you explore more of our family of brands. When you stay at multiple IHG brands, you can fast track to Gold Elite or Platinum Elite status. Gold Elite members will be offered free internet in 2013 and in 2014 we will also be the only program to offer free Internet to all members at every one of our hotels.

App Features:
- Book stays at any IHG hotel
- Manage upcoming stays with easy contact and directions to hotel
- Receive special offers and discounts from IHG
- Be secure with our Best Price Guarantee – our promise that the best hotel room prices for any IHG property can be found here or on our website(s) or your first night is free.
- Get special rates using your corporate ID
- Learn about the unique services and hallmarks for each of the IHG's eleven brands
- Use IHG® Rewards Club Points to redeem free Reward Night stays
-Use GPS and interactive maps to easily find hotels near you
-View and cancel upcoming reservations
-View photo galleries and amenities for each hotel
-Click-to-call for each hotel
-View points balance and membership status
-Get access to special offers
-Update your IHG® Rewards Club profile information.

  There is also a Holiday Inn Express app if you prefer. 

  Now what is a road trip with out games? My personal favorites are Angry Birds Rio and Bad Piggies. 

  Also worth mentioning is Google Search to find all of those interesting places while on the road!

  So load up some of these apps and hit the road!

  As always if you need assistance with switching your service to US Cellular, have questions about Android in general, or any of the apps mentioned in this blog feel free to contact me through the comments section or on Google Plus at https://plus.google.com/u/0/103434089999451438835/posts 

John USCC Customer Crew Member

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Keyboards

Hey everyone what's up? Did you recently get a new Android device from US Cellular? Or are you looking for a quick change?
  If so I have a few suggestions for you.
  One of the hardest things to find is the perfect keyboard for your device, so I am going to try to give you some insight into keyboards in this weeks edition. I will start with my favorite (remember I like the "pure" Android experiance)!

  First up is the Google Keyboard. This one is straight from Nexus version of Android (and now the Google edition of the Samsung Galaxy S4). Here is the discription from the Google Play Store.

  Google Keyboard makes text input smart and easy. Glide through letters with Gesture Typing – just lift to finish a word, no spacebar required. Compose notes on-the-go with Voice Typing. With amazing word recognition and next-word prediction, Google Keyboard helps you type faster and more accurately on all your Android devices.

Key features:
• Gesture Typing with dynamic floating preview
• Voice Typing
• Next-word suggestions and current-word completions
• Dictionaries for 26 languages
• Advanced keyboard layouts
• Works across your Android devices (tablets and phones)

  Next on my personal list is Swiftkey Keyboard. This one has a free version also but it will lack a few features. 

 This is the #1 selling app in 57 countries, over 150,000 ✮✮✮✮✮ reviews

“Shockingly accurate, making for a creepy-fast typing experience.” - TIME Magazine

SMART & EASY
- SwiftKey replaces your phone’s keyboard with one that understands you.
- It predicts your next word before you’ve even pressed a key.
- It provides the world’s most accurate autocorrect in 60 languages.
SwiftKey makes touchscreen typing faster, easier and more personalized no matter what app you’re typing in!

LEARNING
- SwiftKey learns as you type, adapting to you and your way of writing.
- Train SwiftKey on your message archives from Gmail, Facebook and Twitter, or your blog.
- SwiftKey doesn’t just learn your popular words, it learns how you use them together.

TAP OR FLOW YOUR WORDS
- Switch between tapping and gesture-typing with SwiftKey Flow.
- Flow combines the mind-reading capabilities of SwiftKey with the speed and ease of gliding your fingers across the screen.
- Flow gives word predictions in real-time as you gesture.
- Type entire sentences without lifting your finger from the screen, simply by sliding to the space bar between words -- what we call ‘Flow through Space’.

MULTI-LINGUAL
- SwiftKey supports contextual prediction in 60 languages and counting.
- Enable up to three languages at once.
- Naturally combine languages without having to change a setting.
See http://www.swiftkey.net/en/#features for full list of supported languages.

VIDEO TIPS & SUPPORT COMMUNITY
Visit our awesome website for tips, videos, support and much more: http://www.swiftkey.net/

  Enjoy the short Swiftkey video below.

  For my tablet use I like to use Thumb Keyboard. And here is why!

Thumb Keyboard for Android™ is a keyboard with many, advanced customization options that allows the user to adjust it to his or her preferences. This groundbreaking keyboard introduces a lot of innovations. Besides a standard layout it has a new (patent pending) "split" layout for tablets and phones that makes thumb typing more natural and comfortable. It also introduces a lot of useful and advanced functions that will improve your productivity and makes typing on your mobile device more fun and comfortable.

  Here are some of the features I like about Thumb Keyboard.

FLEXIBLE KEYBOARD LAYOUTS
• Full featured standard layouts
• Split layouts for tablets and large screen devices: Better accessible keys for thumb-typing on large and small tablets and 4"+ phones
• Special tailored layouts for phones, 5" 'phablets', 7" tablets and 9-10" tablets
• Option to select separate layouts for portrait and landscape
• One-handed operation mode for large-screen phones

No more unnatural stretching or juggling with your tablet or phone…

STATE OF THE ART KEYBOARD TECHNOLOGY
• Continuous Voice Recognition (Android 4.x): real time voice recognition using the latest Google Voice typing service
• Multi-touch
• Variable key spacing
• Long press symbols and characters (customizable)
• Auto-correction
• Auto-correction feedback in text to reduce errors caused by unnoticed auto corrections (Android 4.x)
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Text to speech feedback
• Voice input (Non Continuous for Android 2.2 and higher)
• Bigram word prediction (predict word based on previous word - for Android 2.3 and higher.)
• Swipe gesture support
• Adjustable keyclick volume
• User dictionary
• 3D "coverflow" theme browser with 25+ themes

FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE
• Option to change the long press symbols on the letter keys!
• Save much used phrases and enter with a touch of a button
• 25+ Themes
• User definable auto text substitutions (For example: thx -> thanks etc)
• Optional user customizable key row
• Change colors and size of keys, font etc.
• Customizable background (choose your own image)
• Full color customization!

LANGUAGE SUPPORT:
English
German (with special QWERTZ keyboard ánd special german keyboard)
French (with support AZERTY)
Spanish (with modern Spanish keyboard layout)
Russian (with cyrillic keyboard)
Italian
Portuguese
Dutch
Norwegian
Swedish
Finnish
Danish
Polish

• All special keyboards are also available as special (split) keyboards.
• Possibility to change the long press symbols by special international characters!! Directly enter your typical language letters with a simple long press. 

  

  Enjoy this short video of some of the features of Thumb Keyboard.  http://goo.gl/lqSK4

  So this is just a couple of my favorite keyboards. Visit the Google Play Store to find the one that is right for you!

  As always if you have questions about switching to US Cellular, any of the apps mentioned in this blog or Android in general, feel free to hit me up in the comments or on G+! 

John USCC Customer Crew Member

  

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