Did You Get a New Android Phone? Do These 5 Things Immediately

If you got a new Android smartphone for the holidays, here are some things you want to do right away!

1. Don’t Skip the Google Account Setup

When you set up your Android for the first time, you’re asked to provide your Google account credentials. Doing so is the fastest way to set up your email, calendar, and contacts (core PIM functionality), but it’s optional, some people don’t have Google account, or for whatever reason they decide to skip the step. If you skipped it, go back and complete it, even if you’re using someone other than Google for your basic PIM functions.

Why? There are a few reasons. Not only will your contacts be synchronized with your Google account, they’ll also be synced with any Android’s you get in the future (if your current phone is lost, stolen, damaged, or in a year or so when you decide to upgrade). Additionally, you’ll need it for the Android Market.

While it’s probably true that you don’t need the Android Market to install apps on your phone, there is one case in particular where you’d want to: if your phone is lost. To the best of my knowledge, the Android Market is the only app store for Android that allows for remote installation of apps. Simply log into the Market using a desktop browser, then find an app called Plan B and install it (remotely) to your phone. Within minutes you’ll have an email telling you exactly where your phone is! Of course there are other apps that let you do similar things, but most have to be installed and configured before you lose your phone. The appropriately named Plan B app takes care of all of that for you, all you have to have done is set up your Google Account.

2. Get a Car Kit

It’s becoming illegal in more places — and is generally frowned upon everywhere — to use your phone in your car. Take that as an opportunity to trick out your ride for Android!

Two things you’ll want to get are a Bluetooth headset and a USB car charger, but if your phone has a car dock built specifically for it, you’ll probably want to consider that option first.

A car dock usually attaches to your windshield or dash and holds your phone where you can see it. Many have a charging solution built in (some will plug into your phone’s USB charging port, others, like the dock for Nexus One charge using three gold dots to carry the power — the dock for the Galaxy Nexus isn’t readily availableyet). Some also connect to your phone’s audio, which not only lets you listen to music on your car’s sound system, they also do double-duty as a speaker phone.

Whether or not you opt for a car dock with these features built-in or opt for a USB charger and Bluetooth headset, you’ll appreciate having a fully-charged phone when you start your day at school or the office, and will be much safer keeping your phone out of your hands while driving.

3. Turn on Your WiFi
There are three reasons why you’ll want to turn on your WiFi right away.

WiFi is probably faster than your phone’s 3G or 4G data connection, so when you’re under a WiFi bubble, your phone will be faster!

WiFi uses less power than traditional cellular data, so your battery will last longer when using WiFi rather than cellular data.

With almost all carriers throttling or limiting your data once you hit their data threshold, using WiFi whenever possible could save you quite a bit of money and frustration, which lets you save your cellular data for when you need it.

4. Set Your Data-Hungry Apps to Update Less Often

If you’re like me, you’ve got at least a couple social networking apps, a couple news and RSS apps, and maybe even a couple weather apps installed. These apps try to connect to various data services to keep the information on your phone up-to-date. This makes their apps feel faster because the information is already on your phone, before you ask for it. Unfortunately that means the app is going out on the Internet frequently to get updates — updates that you may never see.

To help keep data usage down and battery life from magically disappearing, you should open each type of app that I mentioned above and check its settings for “Update Frequency”. Some social apps are come set top update every 15 minutes. I set mine to update every 4 hours, or “only when charging”. Some apps even have an option to only sync when connected to WiFi. Keep in mind that some of the smarter apps use something called “push notifications” which only update when the server “pushes” a notice to them that there is something to update.

Check your apps and set them to something that’s more in-line with how often you actually use the apps.

5. Log in to Google Talk
Google Talk is the chat app that comes built-in to your Android, and it’s terribly under-used. You can use Google Talk not only to instant message people with other Android smartphones, but also those who use Gmail on their desktop and laptop computers.

What’s really cool is that many of those computer users have microphones and speakers, and with the right plugin can audio chat with you. This is essentially a free way to make voice calls to anyone in the world with a Gmail account — and it’s built in to every Android out there.

What’s more, if your Android Smartphone has a front-facing camera, you can also use Google Talk to make and receive video calls! You can video call with other Android users, or computer users that have a webcam. This comes in particularly useful during the holidays when friends and family may not be able to come together. Unlike other video chatting solutions, Google Talk should work just fine over 3G, 4G, or WiFi.

What Next?

There’s so much more that you can (and should) do with your Android-powered smartphone, but those are the pocketnow top five things you’ll want to do right away!

What about you? What five things did you do after getting your new Android?

Verizon Kills $2 Fee Plan Amid Consumer Outrage

The public has spoken and they don’t want to pay fees. Verizon is the most recent company to announce a fee, in this case a $2 fee to pay your bills online, and back-out less than a week after it was reported.

The public has proven that if a strong consumer backlash is instigated, companies will respond. The interwebs got word of the fee on Thursday. Soon after, many on Twitter were tweeting their outrage about the proposed “convenience fee.”

Then, to make matters more sticky for Verizon, the FCC got involved. FCC officials would not comment on the exact nature of their investigation but did say in an email shortly before Verizon backed out of the fee plan, “On behalf of American consumers, we’re concerned about Verizon’s actions and are looking into the matter.”

A Verizon spokesperson soon thereafter issued a statement on their website saying they were not going forward with the fee.

Samsung Shipped 1 Million Galaxy Note Devices in Two Months

Just two months after Samsung released its Galaxy Note tablet-phone, the company announced it has shipped more than one million units of the device worldwide and that it’s coming to the U.S. in the near future.

In October, Samsung unveiled its 5.3-inch, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) smartphone, which doubles as a tablet. It also comes with a stylus pen for drawing and note taking.

It’s expected to receive an upgrade to Android 4 or Ice Cream Sandwich in early 2012.

Samsung noted in a press release that sales of Galaxy Note are on the rise in Europe and Asia, particularly in France, Germany, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

“The rapid global sales of Galaxy Note are notable since it is creating a new market for something betweensmartphone and tablet PC,” the company said. “The speed of the global sales is expected to accelerate further next year when it will be available in the US.”

We should note, however, that Samsung has shipped 1 million devices to retailers and other partners. Samsung has not revealed actual sales numbers.

“One million global shipping of Galaxy Note means it has well positioned itself as a market creator,” Samsung said. “Samsung will continuously strengthen its leadership in the global smartphone market as well as create new markets with innovative devices.”

Still Confused About iTunes Match? Apple Explains it in Detail

Although Apple’s music matching service has already launched for most regions, most people don’t fully understand how it works. Because of the outcry of users who don’t understand it, Apple recently added aniTunes Match how-to section to its site. This section lays out exactly how to set iTunes Match up and also includes a FAQ to help answer your questions about the music service.

CUPP's PunkThis graduates to tablets, earns a degree in security

Remember CUPP Computing's PunkThis board we played with at Computex 2011? It's now left the confines of its 2.5-inch hard drive form-factor and jumped ship from a standard Asus netbook to a Core i5-equipped Eee Slate EP121, taking residence alongside the tablet's battery. As a refresher, PunkThis puts a complete ARM-based system into an x86 computer by replacing the SATA HDD with a single core 1GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 3730 processor, 512MB RAM and WiFi, along with a mini-PCIe socket for SSD storage, plus connectors for the host's video, audio and USB interfaces. While CUPP computing is still working hard to make PunkThis commercially available for tech-savvy individuals, it acquired Israeli security company Yoggie last July and built this demo machine to attract another kind of customer.

The tablet we tested was running Windows 7 Home Premium and Android 2.3.4 simultaneously, and was equipped with an additional button for switching between x86 and ARM modes. Since the Asus EP121 already uses a mini-PCIe SSD instead of 2.5-inch SATA storage, a prototype PunkThis board was designed to fit alongside a modified battery. Gingerbread didn't break a sweat supporting both the 1280x800-pixel capacitive touchscreen and pen-based Wacom digitizer thanks to some additional hardware and software tweaks. Beyond the ability to switch between Windows for heavy lifting and Android for improved battery life, it's possible to use both x86 and ARM side-by-side. Imagine antivirus and firewall software running on the PunkThis board in mission-critical security applications for enterprise, and it's easy to see where CUPP Computing is going with this

PS Vita gets second firmware update, nixes software bugs

There's not many things worse than when your new imported tech toy is hobbled by teething issues. Just over a week since its launch and Sony's great portable hope has been gifted its second firmware update. Version 1.51 can be grabbed through your PC, PS3 or the Vita itself and promises to fix issues with "game progress" -- mentioning launch title Dynasty Warriors: Next in particular. However, gamers have already figured out that playing through the title offline side-steps the software hiccups that this patch hopes to remedy. Early adopters can hit up the system update option to ensure their machines remain in peak condition or hit up the source for the PC link

M-Edge suit accuses Amazon of corporate bullying, patent infringement over Kindle cases

Case maker M-Edge filed suit with a Maryland court last week accusing Amazon of "unlawful corporate bullying" and patent infringement relating to the company's line of Kindle cases. According to M-Edge, the company signed a three-year agreement with Amazon in November 2009 for a 15-percent sales commission, only to have the retail giant demand a new contract with a 32-percent cut a mere two month later. A lawyer for M-Edge told The Wall Street Journal that Amazon punished the case maker over its refusal to play ball, after threats of burying the company's products on its site. According to the filing, M-Edge finally caved and signed a new contract in July of last year, given the fact that Amazon apparently drives nearly 90-percent of the small company's revenue. The suit also accuses Amazon of "knocking off" its reading light-packing covers with lighted jacket designs for the Kindle 3. Amazon, for its part, has refused to comment on the matter.

Intel starts shipping Atom N2600, N2800 processors for netbooks, ten hours of battery life promised

We've already seen a few benchmarks and other hints that they'd soon be shipping, and Intel has now officially announced that its new Cedar Trail Atom processors are finally available, with the first systems using them set to roll out early next year. The two chips you'll likely be seeing the most of are the Atom N2600 and N2800 -- both dual-core, and both designed for use in netbooks, where they promise to allow for up to ten hours of battery life and "weeks of standby," and offer support for 1080p video playback. Also rolling out today are the D2500 and D2700, which are designed for use in entry-level desktops and all-in-one computers, as well as more commercial systems. As for all those systems themselves, details remain a bit light, but Intel says you can expect to see some from Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and Toshiba.

Italian anti-trust body fines Apple for misleading customers on product guarantees

Apple Italia has been fined a total of 900,000 euros for failing to inform its customers that products purchased were already covered by two years of free assistance under national law. It appears that Apple employees encouraged the extra purchase of its own AppleCare plans. With the European court's continued investigation of possible e-book price-fixing and ongoing legal jousting with Samsung unlikely to end any time soon, it looks like Apple will be busy in the courts next year too.

DISA gets a spoonful of Froyo, approves Dell Venue for military use

Remember when the DoD approved the Android-powered Dell Streak for military use? Well the DISA's latest list of approved gear now includes Dell's Venue and the custom version of Froyo that it runs. Sadly, there are some limitations: operatives won't have access to the Android market, all surfing has to go via a secure proxy server and there's a ban on all classified information being received on the handset. Now if you'll excuse us, we're gonna imagine a unit of Venues at boot camp all chanting "If I play Angry Birds in a combat zone, box me up and send me home."

RunCore outs new storage solutions for CES, Marvell-based Falcon series included

If you're looking to quell your inner storage enthusiast after the holidays, RunCore may have something to satisfy your appetite. The company announced that it has two products intended for launch at CES. The Falcon series is a Marvell-based storage solution that boasts R / W IOPS speeds that best the outfit'sPro V SATA 6Gb/s SSDs. Speaking of the Pro V series, RunCore is looking to set up shop in Ultrabooks with a 7mm model of its 2.5-inch SATA 6Gb/s SSD with 540 MB/s read and 500 MB/s write speeds. Looking for a bit more info?

Researcher finds vulnerability in WPS protocol, looks for manufacturers to offer fix

On the plus side, your router's mostly secure. Security researcher Stefan Viehbock has just discovered a major security hole which allowed him to use a brute force technique to access a WPS PIN-protected network in about two hours. According to Viehbock, a design flaw allows the WPS protocol's 8-digit PIN security to fall dramatically as additional attempts are made. With each attempt, the router will send a message stating whether the first four digits are correct while the last digit of the key is used as a checksum and then given out by the router in negotiation. As a result, the 100,000,000 possibilities that the WPS should represent becomes roughly to 11,000.

The US-CERT has picked up on this and advised users to disable WPS on their routers. Viehbock, in turn, claims to have attempted to discuss the vulnerability with hardware vendors such as Buffalo, D-Link, Linksys, and Netgear, but says he has been roundly ignored and that no public acknowledgement of the issue has been released. As a possible final step, Viehbock has promised to release a brute force tool soon, thereby pushing the manufacturers to work to resolve the issue. In other news, that evil supercomputer from the movie War Games just got a few more digits of the nuclear launch codes -- maybe one of Stefan's pals can look into that one.

Xbox Live companion apps now available for Windows Phone and iOS

As expected, Microsoft has made its new and improved Xbox Companion app for Windows Phone available to coincide with the latest Xbox dashboard update -- what's not so expected is the iOS app that also rolled out today. Dubbed My Xbox Live, the iOS app (optimized for both iPhone and iPad) is expectedly a bit more limited than its Windows Phone counterpart, but it will let you read and send messages, edit your profile and update your avatar, manage your friend list, and keep an eye on your achievements (and those of your friends). The new Windows Phone app, on the other hand, brings with it a decidedly more integrated experience, including the ability to search for games, music and movies available through Xbox Live, and view second screen information while you're using your console.

Twitter gets a new look: faster, simpler, cleaner

Are you someone who has yet to jump on the Twitter bandwagon because it's just too darn complicated to use? Well, the time to spread your tweeting wings has come, because the service has just done a redesign of its web portal and mobile apps around four new tabs -- "Home", "Connect", "Discover" and "Me" -- that make for a less complicated and more streamlined experience (sound familiar?). Twitter's new threads will be rolling out universally over the next few weeks, though the Android and iPhone apps have already been refreshed. All you 140-character mavens can head on past the break for a video of the new look or hit the source links to learn more. For those of you in need of an even simpler Twitter interface, well, we hear there's a guy with a rotary phone who can deliver just what you're looking for.

Toshiba's Excite Honeycomb tablet confirmed for Canadian launch in January

We've already heard a fair bit about Toshiba's forthcoming 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet, but the company has only now finally confirmed a name -- Excite, previously seen in a trademark filing -- and a launch date (or month, anyway) for the tablet outside of Europe. You can look for it to roll out for an as yet unspecified price sometime in January -- in Canada, at least (though we'd presume a US launch will be around the same time). It will come in both 16GB and 32GB versions, each of which pack a 1.2GHz dual-core OMAP 4430 processor, a 2 megapixel front-facing camera, a 5 megapixel cam 'round back, and a microSD card slot and a micro HDMI port. Toshiba also boasts that it's the "world's thinnest, lightest tablet," with it measuring just 7.7 mm thick and weighing in at 558 grams (or 1.23 pounds).

SPHERE 2 mouse turns the premium dial up to platinum, can hide in perfumeries

You can't have enough premium spherical mice, can you? OreObject is hoping not, trumpeting its "environmentally sensitive" sequel to the SPHEREtouch. Sure, the SPHERE 2 still packs all sorts of curves, but it's now been crafted from "surgical grade" stainless steel, with four-way navigation chops and a detachable, tangle-free USB cord thrown into the mix. It's the curious scroll wheel at the apex of the sphere that now furnishes the orb with four-way scrolling, and the peripheral will be available in three different finishes: titanium ($185), gold ($290) and platinum ($320). The one percent among us can sniff out the preorder form at the source link below. Or get the butler to do it

AT&T's 4G LTE network is live in San Francisco

New York City by the end of 2011? How's about San Francisco by the end of December 8th? We can't say for certain that it's lit up for good ("testing," you know), but at least for now it's absolutely screaming on our LTE-equipped AT&T handsets in downtown SF. Seeing similar? Let us know how it's going for you in comments below, and feel free to stick your tongue out in the general direction of the Big Apple.

Smart to unveil tiny For-US electric pickup at North American International Auto Show

Do you dig the size and efficiency of the Smart Fortwo, but need something a little more manly than that snub-nosed hatchback? Well, it looks like your prayers will be answered at January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Reports have it that will be where the For-US, Smart's plug-in pickup, will have its official unveiling. At about 12 feet long the "truck" is almost 50-percent larger than its sub-compact counterpart, but that extra room is put to good use. The bed in the back is home to a pair docking stations for the company's Ebikes. It's a pretty interesting concept, but we're wondering how lugging two heavy electric cycles will affect the range of 17.7kW/h lithium ion battery. Head on past the break for one more image, and hit up the source for even more sketches of the upcoming mini EV pickup.

Spotify Radio feature turns into an app, offers Pandora-like stations with unlimited skips

While Spotify has had little trouble cranking up its subscriber base so far, one feature that has notably been lacking is its radio / auto playlist feature. Today (tied in with an appearance by CEO Daniel Ek at LeWeb 2011) that's been upgraded, as the freshest preview builds move the Radio section down among the new Spotify Apps, where it now lets you drop in any song from your library for it to automatically create a radio station of similar music around. Subscribers not interested in upgrading yet can find similar functionality tied to Spotify's library with the EchoFi tool, but this venture represents the service's debut of an "all-new intelligent recommendation engine" meant to dig the tracks you want out of its millions-deep library. Advertising "unlimited skips" is a clear jab at Pandora, but it's not immediately clear if you'll still need a premium paid-up account for truly unlimited listening (well,maybe not). Hit the source link to grab a Radio-enabled preview build and see if some algorithm can defeat even the mightiest Yacht Rock playlist crafted by our own Brian Heater.

AMD Radeon HD 6000 cards receive VESA DisplayPort 1.2 certification, merit badges

When the certifications come in, you wipe a tear from your eye and ponder how proud you are. On Thursday, the Video Electronics Standards Association announced that AMD's Radeon HD 6000 series graphics cards, including the high-end Radeon HD 6990, are the first to receive DisplayPort Version 1.2 certification. That means the cards are rated to support DisplayPort's 5.4Gbps HBR2 data link speed and also feature increased display resolution, color depths and refresh rates, plus improved support for Full HD 3D stereoscopic displays. For the multiple monitor die-hards, there's also better support for multiple monitors connected to a single DisplayPort receptacle to make your lives easier. Full technical details are in the PR below, but it's good to see a capable card series grow up a bit / become a man.

Coby to intro five Ice Cream Sandwich slates at CES, satiate your budget tablet cravings

Not prepared to pony up for the ICS-ready Transformer Prime? No worries, Coby has five alternative flavors, each offering its own helping of Android 4.0. The quintet of tablets bear the same model number format as the outfit's Kyros tablets, and all share the same 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU. Coby plans to debut the slates at CES 2012, making them available to consumers within the first quarter. The slabs range between seven and ten inches, and will offer up to 1GB of RAM with up to 32GB of expandable memory -- WiFi radio and HDMI-out come standard. Want to see the official details? Hit the break, we've got a good 'ol fashion press release just waiting for your peepers.

Skype co-founder's latest company signs deal with LightSquared, promises free broadband and voice services

A mysterious startup promising free wireless broadband and voice services to all Americans should rightly prompt a fair bit of skepticism, but FreedomPop isn't quite your average fly-by-night organization (despite appearances). It's backed by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom, and it's just signed an agreement with LTE wholesaler LightSquared to provide the backbone for the service. Unfortunately, details remain decidedly light otherwise. The company says that the service will launch sometime in 2012 (LightSquared's network itself is slated to go live in the second half of the year, though it still faces some hurdles), and it will apparently be focused on serving markets most in need of wireless broadband initially, before rolling out across the country. As FierceCable notes, the service brings to mind the many free internet dial-up services of the 1990s, which relied largely on advertising, although it remains to be seen if that's the route FreedomPop has in mind.