Blogger App for Tablets

I will just go ahead and say it: the Blogger app on Google Play is terribly lacking.

With all my excitement on learning the availability, I was slightly disappointed when I logged on to use it for the first time. I kept going back to the online platform to finish my work.

This post was typed out and if I succeed then its not all doom and gloom. The beauty of it and I think the idea behind it is to be able to send out a post wherever you are. The problem is that it comes across as incomplete when you drill down to the depths like you would be tempted to do once you start.

The text editor does have the essentials but more could be added. (Update: Forget it! I couldn't get images placed at the right spot and I had to add decent line spaces on the web so the post would look decent)

Problems noticed:

It's slow: Where other apps access the internet and dish out information at warp speed, the blogger app bare stutters along. Leaves you wondering if it logged on a different network!

No comment follow up. The reason I logged on first on this app was to respond to a comment posted on another post on this blog. Being unable to find any link to it, I had no other option but to use the web.

Poor social network integration. They are present, the links to Facebook, Twitter and the rest. The problem was that it took ages to access them and post something. It could be related to the first point but implementation could be greatly improved.

Bare bones. The app really needs to be fleshed out and optimised for speed. Being a Google app, I was surprised to see it feeling half baked.

.

I am currently using it on a Nexus 7 but I doubt the experienced will be different on other devices. Do let men know how your encounter was or is with the subject.

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What Tablet Should You Get?

Since the introduction of tablets to the mobile computing arsenal for human consumption, the world has become a better place; or has it? I will leave that for the analysts to judge.

My interest in this piece is to help the average Nigerian who has been inaundated by the media and word of mouth evangelists with less than genuine care for their audience. The same Nigerian in question has received little elaboration as to what and how to choose the most reasonable device for his peculiar circumstance.

How many of you readers have purchased a tablet computer hoping to get your money's worth only to realise thar the thing was a wifi-only device. "It cant accept SIM card?" You scream on realisation. But it's too late to return it, the merchant you bought it from has moved on or worse, can't do anything about it. Well, there goes your early adopter dream and your hard earned cash.

One major problem is that most manufacturers overlook the Nigerian market to their peril. What must have been a good reason 10 years ago has simply become obsolete - ask Apple or Google or RIM!

Dear tech compliant reader, you have to be careful when you make your choice. Even if many have thrown in the towel and jumped head first on the bandwagon, never leave critical decisions on how to spend your money to the uninformed crowd. The risks are more often than not exhorbitant overpricing which by the time you find out, the gadget would have experienced the inevitable depreciation.

So what do you look out for? Good question. My advice,
1.  Know what you want (that could range from the sensible to simply just wanting to pose, it doesn't matter)
2.  Do a preliminary research. Go on the web, compare detailed specification sheets for the devices you are interested in. this will give you a good understanding of what it can do as well as user and expert reviewse. You dont want to be the guinea pig here now, do you?
3.  Verify if it was designed for the Nigerian market. I'm looking at you Kindle Fire, yes you! Shior!
4.  If the point above is in the affirmative, then, it's time to do the next klogical thing: compare prices. Check online stores, (do I have to mention names, seriously?)

If you complete all the above points and you come out with flying colors, take aim and fire. Till next time, may the odds forever be in your favour!

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Convert Videos to Any Format Even Audio

There's a piece of software I am very happy with, no excited about. After trying to have some .FLV files converted into .AVI that I could watch on my home theater system, I was beginning to lose hope about it's possibility.

Tried the very popular Any Video Converter and a host of others both paid and free but was hitting a road block with errors and every imaginable excuse was given to me by these less than stellar programs until I stumbled upon Format Factory.

Oh, what a well crafted piece of software! And the amazing thing is that is a Freeware - yes, you pay not a dime to use it amazing powers to fulfill your media fantasies.

If you've ever used a video converter before, Format Factory's interface will be a breeze to use. It's simple and neat. It will help you convert from almost all standard video / audio format to almost any audio / video format: avi, flv, 3gp, mp3, mp4, m4a, you name it. A quote from their website:

Format Factory is a multifunctional media converter.
Provides functions below:
All to MP4/3GP/MPG/AVI/WMV/FLV/SWF.All to MP3/WMA/AMR/OGG/AAC/WAV.All to JPG/BMP/PNG/TIF/ICO/GIF/TGA.Rip DVD to video file , Rip Music CD to audio file.
MP4 files support iPod/iPhone/PSP/BlackBerry format.
Supports RMVB,Watermark, AV Mux.

Format Factory's Feature:
1 support converting all popular video,audio,picture formats to others.
2 Repair damaged video and audio file.
3 Reducing Multimedia file size.
4 Support iphone,ipod multimedia file formats.
5 Picture converting supports Zoom,Rotate/Flip,tags.
6 DVD Ripper.
7 Supports 62 languages

OS requirements: All Windows OS

You can download it from here. Enjoy!

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Jumia's iPhone 5 sales

Jumia, the online retailer taking the Nigerian websphere by storm, is selling iPhone 5 at what they are claiming to be a bargain price.

Follow the link to get detail.

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Windows 8 Shortcuts

Hi Everyone!
It's been a long time but here we are. It's been very busy in the world of technology this past few weeks and the launch of Windows 8 definitely changes the game... forever.

I don't want to bore you with speculations and specs I just want to copy what a fellow blogger wrote down (it's not normal practice) that I find really essential for your Windows 8 joy: the really essential shortcuts for navigating the UI.

• Windows: Switch between the start screen and the traditional desktop.
• Windows-C: This shortcut opens the new Charms Bar. It works both on the start screen and on the traditional desktop.
• Windows-X: Opens an advanced tools menu on the desktop in the location the start menu was located in.
• Windows-Q: Opens the Apps search menu on the start screen that you can use to search for applications and programs.
• Windows-W: Opens the settings search menu on the start screen to search for settings, Windows tools and control panel applets
• Windows-I: Opens the Settings Charm. This works in both interfaces as well, and displays the settings of the selected item, e.g. an app or the start screen.
• Windows-F: Opens the File search menu on the start screen to search for files.
• Windows-K: Opens the devices charms menu.
• Windows-Z: Displays the App Bar when an application is running. The same effect can be triggered with a right-click. (when you are in Google Chrome, this shortcut leads to a full screen switch)
• Windows-Ctrl-B: Open the program that is displaying a notification in the notification area.
• Windows-.: Moves the active application to the right so that it takes up 1/3 of the screen space.
• Windows-Shift-.: Moves the active application to the left where it takes up 1/3 of the screen.
• Windows-O: Lock the screen orientation.
• Windows-V: Display all notifications

(culled from Ghacks.net)

It takes getting used to and after a while of usage, you will. I definitely found this helpful and I'm sure you will.

Enjoy!

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What Will Happen When True 4G Comes to Nigeria?

It was truly annoying when I first saw Swift Networks in Lagos, Nigeria advertising that their network was now a 4G network. So I decided to give them a chance and find out what they had done differently this time (I had used their network before they did a massive overhaul).

Unfortunately, Swift is not the only network staking a claim to 4G-dom. Mobitel readily comes to mind as one other. The truth is the unknowing customer might suffer a similar case as someone who is poorly trained in a skill when all the while he thinks he is a master until he meets another person who has proper training in that particular skill.

So what is 4G?

That is where we should always begin our quest to understand a new term, claim or service. Asking the question "why?" always solves a lot of problems. To avoid getting too technical and spewing out figures and data download/upload rates, 4G networks are supposed to be better than 3G, it makes sense doesn't it. Well, 4G or fourth generation is described by Wikipedia as: "In telecommunications, 4G is the fourth generation of cell phone mobile communications standards. It is a successor of the third generation (3G) standards. A 4G system provides mobile ultra-broadband Internet access, for example to laptops with USB wireless modems, to smartphones, and to other mobile devices. Conceivable applications include amended mobile web access, IP telephony, gaming services, high-definition mobile TV, video conferencing and 3D television."

Thank goodness that our telcos e.g. MTN, Airtel, Etisalat have not started claiming that their networks are 4G instead they say it is 3.75G. Well, I will forgive them for creating a totally different market segment because there's surely something between old regular 3G and 4G. But the big fact is that these guys haven't truly delivered on 3G. Let's not get into how many times I have connected USB modem and to my laptop and pray that the video I really needed to watch will buffer enough to be watchable. Truth be told, they have made progress from where they were a year ago.

Another important thing to note is that there are two sides to the network coin: the sender and the receiver. I have heard some Swift customers, for example, bitterly complaining about the speed of their modems while others say it is faster than anything they've seen. So what's wrong? One issue I can think of is proper coverage. If there's poor coverage in your region from the internet service provider, ISP, you will have poor speeds whether they claim 4G or 5G. This goes for your mobile operator as it does for regular ISPs. So what you, the customer should take out of this is that where you live really matters.

So, when true 4G comes to Nigeria, we will know. There won't be gray areas. It will work, it will be fast, we would be able to watch TV on our laptops or SmartTVs without buffering, buffering and buffering. Emailing and surfing the web will be child's play and we will all be doing stuff on the internet at the true speed of light!

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MTN's Super Saver Tariff Plan Makes them Competitive again

MTN has a terrible track record of keeping its mobile telephony customers happy. They are usually the last to adopt market rates that other telcos begin introducing. However, they seem to have outdone themselves in a new offering for their teeming subscribers.

Among all the new tariff plans, only one stands out IMHO and a worthy competitor to many available from other telcos like Etisalat, Glo and Airtel. This is the MTN Super Saver Prepaid.

According to the MTN website, you can "enjoy call rates of 10 kobo per second on all your MTN - MTN calls after the 1st minute of call for of the day on the Super Saver plan and 30 kobo per second for calls to other networks.  Also call US, China, Canada and UK landline at 20 kobo per second from the very first minute and UK Mobile at 42k kobo per second."

Other benefits of this plan also includes:

Free voice calls from 12:30am - 04:30am everyday including weekends with a minimum balance of NGN100.00.Discounted voice and SMS rates when you buy any MTN Bundle

To join the MTN Super Saver plan, simply text 408 to 131 or dial *408# from your phone.

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