One of the things I love about the Android interface is the use of widgets on the home screen.  Widgets allow you to put virtually any information right in front of your face where you need it most.  My only complaint is that not nearly enough companies utilize widgets effectively.  Fortunately, aniFree is out there for all of your widget needs.  You probably remember them from my recent view of their previous offering, aniAgenda.  Now they are back with the extremely flexible aniWidget app.  They sent me a copy to check out for this review, so let’s go ahead and take a closer look.

AniWidget is a fantastic little tool which puts all the power of eight widgets one tiny space.  You can choose to display:

• a clock
• current date and time
• monthly calendar
• daily agenda
• notepad
• weather
• newsfeed
• tools (including flashlight, radio toggles, and more)

What is nice here is that the standard aniWidget module takes only a quarter of the screen, meaning you can fit up to four independent widgets on the screen.   In addition to that standard widget, there is also a larger (1/2 screen) widget, which includes a larger version of the weather widget, larger newsfeed widget, and several different combinations of the remaining standard widgets.

Once you have setup the widget, toggling between the various options is easy.  There are two hidden buttons on each widget.  One on the lower right will flip to the next widget in the cycle.  If that is too slow for you, however, just tap the tools button on top (it is centered on the standard widget, but in the upper left corner on the large widget).  This will open a new panel, which allows you to set any widget in that space, access the settings, toggle any of the tools, or seek additional assistance from the help screen. 

There is also a third hidden button in the upper right hand corner, which allows you to interact with the widget.  This button changes, based upon the widget you have activated.  For example, from the daily agenda view, it will jump to your agenda.  Tap the same button from the notepad widget to create a new note.  Weather and news will find a refresh feed button in that space.  And, well…you get the point.

Now that you know how these widgets are going to work, let’s go ahead and take a look at how they look.   I have to admit that while I was impressed by the functionality in this one, I was a little disappointed by the look of some of these widgets.  Not that there was anything wrong with them, they just felt a bit plain. 

Sure, you can customize the face of the clock widget, but I was really hoping for a little more razzle dazzle out of these widgets, something that would really “wow” the people who glance at my phone and see them running.  For the most part, what you got was a translucent white background with some text or icons.   No fancy borders, graphics, or other animation.  There is a bit of a tradeoff here, as fancy graphics and animation could clutter your screen or slow your device.  Nonetheless, it would have been nice to have seen a little more attention spent on the lock and feel of the widgets, making them a little more attractive on the screen.  The clock is a great example of this.  With several different faces, you could add a little customization and flair to the widget.

I really think aniFree is onto something with this one.  It allows eight widgets to take the space of one.  And each is useful in its own way.  I was really quite impressed overall by the functionality and flexibility of this one.  I would have liked to have seen a little more attention on the look and feel of the widgets on the screen.  That being said, I think the functionality of a widget like this far outweighs any concerns I may have had with the look or feel of the interface.  This one functional spectacularly well, packaging some of the most necessary features into a single flexible widget.

AniWidget was developed by aniFree, and is available in the Android Market for $2.99.

I am always looking for the next big thing for managing my tasks.  So, I was pretty intrigued a while back when I received an email from the folks at gtdagenda a while back announcing the release of their online task manager.  I gave it a spin and it worked pretty well.  Plus, from time to time, they send me emails with time management tips, which is a nice bonus.

Gtdagenda has been available for the iPhone for a while now, but they certainly took their time branching out to other platforms.  Today, at long last, they released a free app to the Android Market, allowing you to manage your day from your home, work, the bathroom, and pretty much anywhere in between. 

The new Android version features:

• Import your Tasks, Projects and Contexts from your Gtdagenda
  account
• Add, edit, delete Tasks, and mark Tasks as done
• Set Next Actions
• Inbox
• Sync your device with your Gtdagenda.com account (premiere account only)

For more information, check out Gtdagenda’s Android page, or click this link from your Android device to jump right into the Android market.

As Android fans everywhere are really touting the recent statistics by Comscore, it makes you wonder what really plays into these numbers.

While the percentage is staggering, is it really anything we didn’t expect?  I personally don’t see how the Android operating system even compares to Windows Mobile 6.5.x.  (that’s a good thing for Android).  As for Palm and RIM, well they don’t really have the presence as fun phones.  The corporations that hand them out, like it that way, I can only assume.  So until Microsoft finally releases its Phone 7 and we can see if it stacks up, it looks like Apple and Android are the only real players in this specific demographic.

I suppose it is to be expected that if a company like Google brings a handset to market, that it is going to be a hit and grow in its infancy.  Not really a shocker there.

Until the rumors started to fly on Window Phone 7 I was definitely moving in the Droid direction.  Now I guess I will wait a bit longer to see if Microsoft has actually pulled something out of their hat or if it’s all just smoke and mirrors as in the past.

Thanks to www.phandroid.com for the growth update.

Blackberry owners are all probably more than familiar with Tether, which is turning one year old this week (check out their one year contest, in which they are giving away six brand new phones).   In addition to that giveaway, though, they also announced they are branching out and offering their service to Android users.   For those of you who are not familiar with it,Tether is an application that allows your PC to take advantage of your smartphone’s data plan, allowing you to access the Internet on your laptop anywhere there is cellular coverage.  Until now, this service had only been available for Blackberry…until now.  Last night,I received an email from the folks at Tether announcing that their new Android app is now available to Beta testers.  According to them, the Android tether app is already marking speeds up to 6.8 Mbps.  head over to Tether to sign up for the Android Beta.

One of the most talked about apps around lately seems to be Swype.  I have seen it mentioned all over the Internet, including here on JAMM.  The problem was, as much hype as there was over Swype, it did not seem to be available anywhere.  But maybe I am getting a bit ahead of myself.

Swype is a soft input panel (SIP), also known as an onscreen keyboard.  Like ShapeWriter, Swype relies on some of the latest soft input technology, allowing you to draw a line connecting the letters in the word you want to type.  A powerful algorithm then translates the line you drew into a word. Really, pretty cool stuff.

Like I said, though, until recently, Swype has seen an awful lot of publicity, but not a lot of face time.  It was only officially available for one or two devices, and even the unofficial version had pretty limited compatibility.

Finally, at long last, I received an email yesterday notifying me that I could finally jump onto the Swype bandwagon.  It seems that Swype for Android is now available as a public beta, so any Android users can check it out.   Here is the full text of the announcement:

Thanks for being part of our beta. Activate the link below to download the Swype Beta Installer to your device. By downloading the Swype Installer you agree to Swype’s Terms and Conditions.

https://beta.swype.com/android/get/

If you have problems or questions check the Swype forum to see what others are saying or feel free to send us an email at androidbeta@swype.com. We’ll get to it when we can.

Thanks!
The Swype Team

Not much there, but that short message contains the critical piece of information that every Android user is going to want: yeah, the link to beta program.  If you are interested, make sure you sign up soon, because there are limited slots available in the beta.   New features are being added all the time, but remember this is still a beta, so not all features are going to be fully functional.  Interested?  Here is that link again for you to check it out:

http://beta.swype.com/android/get

I have been using it since yesterday, and I have to say that so far I am pretty impressed.  but don’t take my word for it, check it out,and then come back and let us know what you think.