Social networking

In this week's edition of My Android Life I am going to take a few minutes to review something we all use....... social networks on our phones. First go to your localUS Cellular store, and choose your favorite Android powered phone.
 Ok the first and most obvious is the Facebook for Android, this is the "official" app for Facebook, and in my opinion it is the worst. With the latest update, they have added a camera app which links directly to FB and looks almost exactly like the stock camera app on your Android phone. Also with this app you don't have the ability to "favorite" pages, but it is handy to get to your groups.
  The next is Friendcaster for Facebook. This is my app of choice for Facebook. With it you can star your favorite pages, and have a separate page for your groups.
  Fast for Facebook is a new app which is in beta and I haven't really tested this one yet, but feel free to give it a try and review it.
  All of the above Facebook apps work with Facebook Messenger, and Friendcaster comes with its own version of Facebook chat, so check them out.
  Seesmic is a combination of Facebook client with a Twitter client built in. This is a really nice social network app but the paid version is needed to get around all of the ads.
  And then there is always the mobile site for the ones who don't want an app.
  Now on to the Twitter apps. Twitter is the "official" app for twitter and again it is my least favorite, but it is easy app to use for the beginner "tweeter".
  TweetCaster is my favorite twitter app, it is another combination app which will let you combine your social networks in one app which also has some nice analytics built in.
  UberSocial (formerly Twitdroid) is another top notch full featured twitter client.
  Then we come to my favorite social network app of all, Google Plus. This social network is Google's entry into the world of social networks. It includes a messenger add on which will allow you to have "hangouts" with others who are currently on G+, (this is basically a video chat with multiple people).

This is not a complete list by any stretch of the imagination! There is 4square, Pinearest, Linkedin, and countless others so choose your favorite and socialize!

As always if you have questions, post them in the comments section or message me in G+!

John USCC Customer Crew Member

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Unwanted Callers

Hello folks. It is time for this week in My Android Life.

  I have noticed a lot of questions regarding unwanted callers on Android phones. Unfortunately there is no way, in the native Android dialer/contact list to block unwanted callers. But there are several good third party apps to do this, and we will do a quick review of them today.

  First up is Dialerone, this is a fairly simple and light dialer which has several features. It allows you to add custom ringtones to contacts, allows you to group contacts by favorites, work, etc., swipe between contacts, favorites, and dial pad.

  Next up is exDialer. This was my first entry into third party dialers, and I still use it from time to time. This is another simple and light dialer which comes with contacts and the ability to block unwanted callers.

  Now to my daily driver as far as dialers are concerned. Go Contacts. This contacts manager comes with a built-in dialer and also comes with the ability to set custom ringtones, and block unwanted callers.

  All of these dialers come with several themes and can be customized to suit almost any taste.
  If you are set on keeping your stock dialer and contact manager and still need to block unwanted calls on your Android powered phone, try Mr. Number to block unwanted calls and text messages.

  Now go to your local US Cellular store, pick out an Android phone, and start custominzing it to be yours!

John US Cellular Customer Crew

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Weather apps

Hello everyone, I hope this week's blog finds everyone safe, which brings me to this week's
subject.
  In light of this weekend's severe weather I want to take a few minutes to give you some insight into some must have (in my opinion) weather apps for your  US Cellular Android 
powered smartphone
  For a lightweight everyday weather app I like 1Weather by OneLouder apps, it has a very neat, and if I must say different UI. This is my daily driver for a weather app.

  The second is The Weather Channel app, while this app is a little more involved, it also has the power of the weather channels 200+ meteorologists, weather maps, detailed forecast for
multiple locations, and severe weather alerts of varying levels.
  These apps are free in the Google Play Store. Now on to some good paid apps.
  First up from the Amazon App Store, is Weatherbug Elite. This is a very powerful, full
featured app with detailed forecasts, animated maps, severe weather alerts, several 
handy widgets, and was voted the 2009 Best Weather App.
  Next up is Weather, USA Radar, Alerts, Quakes, Barometer, this is probably the most full 
featured weather app I have found. It has current conditions, hourly, daily, and 10 day forecast 
for temperature, precipitation, humidity, barometric pressure, winds, and even UV levels! 
  So in closing I hope you will go to your local US Cellular store to pick out your Android 
powered smartphone, then try these weather apps and choose the one that is right for you and 
stay safe!!!


  As always if you have questions about any of these apps or questions concerning US Cellular,
feel free to message me through Facebook or Google+, and I will be happy to help!


John Proud US Cellular Customer Crew Member

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Instagram

As most of you know Instagram for Android was released this week and if you read any of the tech blogs you will see praise and hate from both the Apple side who are upset that they lost their exclusive app and the Android side who want to know what the big deal is. There are any number of quality apps in the Google Play Store which will allow you to apply all sorts of neat filters. Here is a very well written article featuring a few of these apps.
With Facebook, Google +, and any number of other photo sharing sites, you can upload your photos instantly, so this can't be the appeal of Instagram, so what is it?
I think Instagram has been over-hyped and the average person using it is just looking for their "15 minutes of fame" through the Instagram community.
I personally am not a photo person, but I have to wonder why people pay a lot of money for a phone with a great camera, would then add an app which adds filters to their photo to take away from the awesomeness of that same camera! I know part of the reason I bought my Samsung Galaxy S II from US Cellular was because of the great (8 MP) camera. Like I said I am not a huge picture taker, but when I take a photo I want it to be the best, clearest it can be.

I am just throwing this out there for you to think about, why do you want the Instagram app? Be your own person, don't be a follower. Which is why I have chosen US Cellular as my wireless provider, they are leading the way with one and done contract, giving current customers rewards with their industry leading belief plans, and everything incoming free, no matter what carrier or time of day.


John USCC Customer Crew Member

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File explorers

Hello again!
This week I am going to take some time to talk about everyone's favorite topic, file explorers. You can use file explorers for a multitude of things, but we are just going to touch on the basics here.
First go to your local US Cellular store and pick up a great Android smartphone!
Next I suggest downloading a third party app for this. I am currently testing two which I think are the best on the market. The first is ASTRO File Manager. This is the very first file manager I used and it is a good one. The next app I am going to mention is ES File Explorer.
While both are excellent apps I personally have come to use the ES file explorer as my main file management app.
Now you may be asking "why do I need to worry about managing my files?" Well first (and most important to most) you can back up you apps to your SD card. It is important to do this on a routine basis, because most, if not all of us have had to do a factory reset at one time or another, and know the joys of trying to remember all of the apps we had downloaded! Also with a file manager you can share your files with others easily and quickly. First less do a quick back up of our apps using ASTRO.

• Open your app drawer and select Astro
• Click application back up, you will notice in the upper left corner it will say "Installed Apps", be sure this is highlighted.
• Check the box on the top right (this selects all of your apps), or conversely you can select individual apps to back up
• Press Backup on the left just below Installed Apps and let it do its magic! 

Now that your apps are backed up we will go through the re-installation process (you know you will need it)!

• Open ASTRO and select File Manager
• Choose the folder labeled "backups"
• Choose the folder labeled "apps"
• Choose the app you want
• Click install

There is much more you can do with the file manager, but we are running out of time for this week.
Next week we will go through the ES File Explorer.
If you have specific questions please ask them in the comments section and I will try to answer them.

John Proud US Cellular Customer Crew Member

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Tablets

This weeks post is about Tablets. Almost everyone is now jumping on the Tablet bandwagon with an abundance of Android devices to choose from, and with Apple announcing the iPad3.
I personally have a Samsung Galaxy tab and I have been very satisfied with, very few if any issues.
Tablets come in many sizes and prices, with Acer, Samsung, and Amazon being the leaders in the 7" range. Asus and Samsung seem to be leading the way with the 10" size range in the Android OS race.
You can get tablets which are WIFI only, WIFI/3G and now even 4G!
While speaking of Samsung, my carrier, US Cellular has just announced the release of the Samsung 10.1 LTE Tablet this week. This is the newest and fastest tablet offering from Samsung, sporting a speedy 1.2 GHs dual core processor, and running Androids 3.2 Honeycomb OS.
If the Samsung 10.1 LTE version is not for you check out US Cellulars HTC Flyer, a 7" WIFI/3G  tablet with a fast 1.5 GHs single core processor, running the familiar 2.3 Gingerbread OS.
I personally like the 7" model because it will fit in my pocket, but my next purchase will be the 10 " model, which is still portable but with a slightly larger screen for my "old" eyes.
In short go to your nearest US Cellular store and check out both of the great tablet offerings and get in on the tablet revolution!!!


John Proud US Cellular Customer Crew Member

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Belief Points

This week I want to tell you about the Belief Plans from US Cellular! This is a whole new concept in wireless plans. You sign a two year contract (or switch to a belief plan in the middle of a contract) and never sign another contract as long as you are a US Cellular customer! With the belief plans you get reward points just for being a customer and paying your bill on time! How great is that?
You can also save up to 5% on your bill by signing up for paperless billing, and auto pay.
So go see how much you can save by switching today!
You can use your points for early phone upgrades, phone accessories, or like I am doing upgrade the wife's phone early and earn reward points at home!

John US Cellular Customer Crew Member

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