I have become a huge fan of the Android Operating System since switching over to the HTC Hero.  The OS is versatile and extremely user friendly.  Even still, it is not perfect.  One of the big complaints I have had is that the apps in the All Programs screen are arranged alphabetically…that’s it.  There is no way to group similar apps together, no way to move frequently used apps to the top, no way to change the organization at all.  Which is why I am now such a big fan of Apps Organizer.

Apps Organizer is a pretty small app on your device, but it adds enormous functionality.  It allows you to create labels, which you can then assign to any app on your device.  Anyone who uses Google’s myriad of online apps (including Gmail) is probably familiar with labels as an organizational tool.

To use Apps Organizer, all you need to do is scroll through the list of apps and select the one to which you wish to assign a label.  Selecting an app will then bring you to a pop-up list of labels.  Simple check the one you wish to use, or create a new label from there.

You can even launch or uninstall any app from here by using the tap and hold menu.

You can also switch over to label view, which will show a list of all the labels you have created, with an expandable list of apps assigned to each label. 

Tap and hold on any label to pull up an additional menu.  From here you can rename the label, and even change the icon to personalize things a little.Really, the only thing missing here was the ability to drag and drop an app from one label to another.

The best part of the app, however, is the functionality it adds to your home screen.  Regardless of whether you use the Android Home Screen, HTC SenseUI, or one of the other myriad of home screen replacements, you can add any label to your app launcher screen.  This makes the launcher into a far more versatile and useful screen, giving you easy access to all of your apps instead of a select few favorites.  Simply add the label just like you would add any other app.  When you then tap on the label from the launcher screen, you will find a pop-up screen containing all of the apps which have been assigned to that label.

All I can say is WOW!  The lack of control over app organization on the All Programs page has been one of my biggest pet peeves about Android.  In one fell swoop, Apps Organizer wipes that concern away.  The system of using labels as folders is familiar and extremely intuitive, making it easy to use and control; and the interface blends perfectly into the Android system, with the pop-up windows for each label.  Not only that, but it also gives you complete control over the labels and their contents, making your device work for you.  Flexible and customizable…and the price is right…There is really no excuse for passing by this one in the Android Market.

Apps Organizer was developed by Fabio Collini, and is available for free in the Android App Market.  This review was based on version 1.4.7.

Do you love gadgets and mobile technology?  Are you the kind of person who your family turns to for free tech support on all things electronic?  More importantly, do you have a lot of opinions about mobile technology?   Well then, boy do we have a deal for you…

Just Another Mobile Monday is looking for a few good men (and women) to join the team.  As a team member, you will have access to all the latest news, some of the latest gadgets, and a heck of a lot of software…sometimes before anyone else.

What’s in it for you?  Well…

• The Hours: Are terrible.  Basically, we plan to suck up your free time.
• The Pay: Also stinks.
• The Benefits:  Let’s just move on…

The good news is that you will be joining a fantastic, diverse, and collaborative writing team, with a wealth of interest and knowledge.  We offer a fantastic opportunity for you to share your views and interests with the world (or at least that part of the world which subscribes to JAMM).  Oh…and occasionally, you can get some really cool free stuff.

So, if you have a love for mobile technology, and would like to share your knowledge and opinions, drop us a line at admin [at] justanothermobilemonday.com (replace the at with an @.)

Well, if you made it this far, then you must be interested.  So, go ahead and drop us an email today and we will send some more information.  Don’t wait…Uncle JAMM Needs YOU!

Trigna for Windows Mobile

INTRODUCTION:

CrazySoft recently introduced Trigna, an interesting little game, for Windows Mobile and other handheld platforms.  They were kind enough to grant me a review copy and as such, I’ve been spending some time with it on my HTC Touch Pro.  Grab yourself a glass of iced tea and join me as we get immersed into the addictiveness that is Trigna.

HOW TO PLAY:

Trigna is an interesting game.  After playing it for a while, I started to think about how I would label this game.  Many thoughts later, it occurs to me that Trigna falls into several different categories, being part educational in the fact that it could be used to illustrate triangles, part puzzle in the fact that you are continually examining different combinations.  Trigna also has a bit of throwback quality, reminding me somewhat of the old shooter style games, ala Duck Hunt for Nintendo.

As you start the game, you are greeted with full screen display including a control panel in the upper left and a dancing narrating triangle guy above the game board.  As the level starts, different colored circles appears (in Options you can enable Color Blind Mode to have the circles display shapes… nice touch).  Using a stylus, tap on three like colored circles to complete a triangle.

Tap Like Colored Circles to Create Triangles

The objective is to make as many different triangles as possible during the small amount of time provided.  The triangle guy dances at your success or labels you a “fail”, depending on the amount of triangles you compose as time passes.  I kind of get the feeling he is a little too tough on me as I have started in the Easy mode and find that it is quite difficult.  But, I know he just wants the best for me…. to make me quicker at finding triangles.  He does have me scared to try the harder modes though.

CONCLUSION:

All in all, CrazySoft hit a home run with Trigna.  It’s simple yet addictive.  It’s leisurely yet blood-pressure raising.  It makes one think in terms of mathematics and spatial relationships without flaunting education in their faces.  I highly recommend Trigna for Windows Mobile.

DETAILS:

Trigna is developed by CrazySoft.
Trigna is available here in the JAMM Store in demo form, or to register:

http://store.justanothermobilemonday.com/product.asp?id=51585&n=Trigna-%28PPC%29
The CrazySoft product page for Trigna is:

http://www.crazysoft.gr/Pocket_PC_PPC/Puzzle_Games/Trigna.asp

Trigna costs $9.95  to register.
Trigna is also available for these mobile platforms:  Palm OS, Blackberry, Windows Mobile Smartphone and Symbian

Palm Pre, Running WebOS

Palm, the Godfather of mobile computing, has all the right cards.  Palm, the company, doesn’t seem to be able to do hold their hand properly, though.  Let’s look at this:

Palm was dogged by critics for years for having an aging OS.  They went behind closed doors and created WebOS.  WebOS is in many ways, the best mobile OS available to date and for the foreseeable future.  But with Palm, having the best product doesn’t always mean much.  The lion’s share eludes them.  For some reason, they don’t ever seem to be able to carry momentum.  They dropped the ball in terms of third party application development by nixing a built in Palm OS API emulation layer, effectively alienating a huge user and developer base.  They have not recovered from this.  They have once again been plagued by somewhat poor build quality.  Just as Doug and Brent here at JAMM, as both experienced issues in build.  Byte for byte, their operating system is superior to others in many ways though.  Unfortunately this doesn’t mean much with Palm, though.

Let’s go back a little further in time, back to the Palm OS years.  The Palm OS is simple.  Many people complained loudly about this, but what caused some people to whine was actually the beauty of the operating system.  The UI (which Apple borrowed a bit of, I think) was fluid.  Actions inside of programs were an extension of logic.  A calendar entry or task was as simple as pressing a button while pulling out the stylus on your way to jot down the item.  A huge third party base application was built around the operating system that allowed users to watch video, play various types of music, create and edit Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents to name a few.  Palm could have made the competition mostly irrelevant if they would have only showcased the functionality in one of these devices.  Instead, they allowed the iPod to gain ground.  They allowed Windows Mobile to overshadow it.  They started listening to all those that whined and complained the loudest.  The squeaky wheel gets the grease, doesn’t it?!

Back to present day, actually earlier this week, and we are back to the same old familiar scenario.  Palm is setting there, holding a wonderful hand of cards, wondering how to capitalize.  Just check out the internal email circulated by Palm CEO Jon Rubenstein below (as found here by the Wall Street Journal):

Team,

This morning we announced preliminary results for our 2010 third quarter. Since the quarter has not yet closed, it is too soon to offer exact numbers, but we stated that we expect to report revenues for Q3 between $300 and $320 million. We also announced that we expect our revenue for this fiscal year to fall below the guidance we gave to Wall Street, which ranged from $1.6 to $1.8 billion. As we mentioned in our press release, our softer than expected performance is due to slower than expected customer adoption of our products, which in turn has prompted our U.S. carrier partners to put additional orders on hold for the time being. On a positive note, we expect to exit the quarter with over $500 million in cash on our balance sheet. We’re scheduled to announce our full financial results in March.

I realize this news is difficult to swallow. We made this announcement today to prevent a surprise for Wall Street when we announce quarterly earnings in March. In the meantime, the entire executive team has been working extremely hard to improve product performance, and have implemented a number of initiatives to increase awareness and drive sales.

Dave Whalen and I just returned from a very successful meeting with Verizon Wireless, where they acknowledged that their execution of our launch was below expectations and recommitted to working with us to improve sales. To accelerate sales, we initiated Project JumpStart nearly three weeks ago. Since then, nearly two hundred Palm Brand Ambassadors, supplemented by Palm employees from Sunnyvale, have been training Verizon sales reps across the U.S. on our products. Early results from the stores have already shown improvement on product knowledge and sales week over week. You may have also seen a growing number of Palm ads on billboards, bus shelters, buses, and subway stations—all getting the word out about Palm.

All of these efforts are examples of how we are working to accelerate adoption and grow distribution of webOS. In the next few weeks, your management will work with you to make sure your priorities are laser-focused, primarily on helping to increase sales, improve product quality and differentiate the Palm product experience.

Our goals are taking longer than expected to achieve, but I am still confident that our talented team has what it takes to get the job done.

We’ll schedule an all-hands meeting after our earnings announcement in March, and I’ll be happy to answer your questions.

Go team!!!

jon

[Image:  Palm.com]

HTC Incredible

Could Verizon soon be receiving their very first Snapdragon Android phone?  Well, the HTC Incredible has been spotted in Verizon’s inventory system.  It is rumored to have Android 2.1, as well as HTC Sense, 256MB of RAM, and a 3.7″ WVGA display.  This would be an excellent edition to Verizon’s Droid line.  I have been waiting to see a Snapdragon phone for Verizon.  Why settle for a slower processor when the fastest is just out of reach?  What I think  is odd is that there has been no mention of this phone from HTC.  With a phone this impressive, I would have definitely thought it would have been revealed at the Mobile Congress.

Truth or Rumor?  This V-girl is hoping its all true. 

Via Gizmodo