PC Brain Trust's archives

Groove Shark, PC Brain Trust, Pandora, The Missing Sync, apps, iTunes, music, news

How you listen to music on your phone? [PC Brain Trust]

August 30th 2010 | Posted by Robert Werlinger

We’ve asked you about your favorite apps and your favorite tweaks in previous editions of our ongoing PC Brain Trust series, and the topic this time is music.

There are a number of approaches to listening to music on our webOS devices.  We can sync our music manually by dragging and dropping files from folder to folder, we can use old versions of iTunes or programs like The Missing Sync to automatically sync music to our devices, or we can use cloud based solutions like DropBox and streaming solutions like GrooveShark to pipe music in without going through the hassle of syncing.  

With the myriad of options available, we have to ask:  how do you choose to listen to music on your phone?  Do you stream exclusively, preferring the variety associated with the huge libraries of music companies like Pandora and GrooveShark have access to?  Do you you prefer the fidelity and control offered by having high bitrate MP3’s and WAV files hosted locally on your device?  Or do you pursue an approach that mixes the two?

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PC Brain Trust, brain trust, news, patches, tweaks

Your Top Patches & Tweaks [PC Brain Trust]

August 2nd 2010 | Posted by Dieter Bohn

 

On webOS Homebrew’s Birthday, we asked you what your top patches and tweaks for webOS were. You answered and here they are, in alphabetical order:

  • 4×4 Launcher icons (or several different variants): Changes the number of icons visible on a Launcher page
  • Add Bing and Yahoo: Adds more options to universal search. Some also remove Twitter
  • Ad blocker: blocks ads. Makes bloggers cry
  • Add Date to Top Bar (either MM/DD or some variants): Adds the date next to the time in the top bar
  • Advanced Configuration for Launcher: A grand, unifying patch that adds a ton of options to the launcher
  • Advanced Reset Options: Replaces the pop-up menu that you get by holding down the power button with something much more powerful
  • Audio/Video Attachments: More MMS options
  • Battery Icon and Percent (and variants): replaces the battery icon with a percentnage
  • Call Duration in Call Log: Shows the call duration in the call log.
  • Character Counter: Shows a character counter in the Messaging app
  • Close slider to end calls (& variants): Makes hanging up much more satisfying
  • Device Menu Megamix: Adds options to the righthand dropdown menu, giving easier access to the Flashlight, GPS, Brightness, and Phone settings
  • Enable Verizon aGPS Server for Improved GPS: Helps the busted GPS on Verizon webOS devices
  • Faster Card Animations (& variants): Adds the illusion of speed by shortening animations and transition effects
  • Glass Effect: replaces the dull grey background of the launcher with something much better looking
  • Hiding Apps (various versions): Don’t like any of the preloaded carrier apps? Hide them
  • Match State to Area Code: If you don’t have a caller in your address book, you can at least see what state they are calling from
  • Notification repeat: Repeats the notification sound
  • Open to Alarm List: When you open the Clock app, jump right to the alarm view
  • Read/Delete All Email: Adds the ability to triage your email
  • Ringer Switch Icon: Shows an icon in the top bar indicating your ringer switch state
  • Slider Blocks Orientation Change: Stop webOS from going into landscape mode when the slider is open
  • Unthrottle Download Manager: provides for faster downloads
  • Video Downloads (for YouTube): Gives you the ability to download and save YouTube videso
  • Virtual Keyboard: Adds a virtual keyboard to webOS.

That’s how your average PreCentral patcher tweaks up a Pre. Everybody is a little different, though. Any of your favorites that didn’t make the list?

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Hacks, How To, PC Brain Trust, advanced, brain trust, homebrew, patches, power user, power users, tweaks

webOS Power Users: Show us your tweaks [PC Brain Trust]

July 25th 2010 | Posted by Dieter Bohn

 webOS Power User

Once you get starting down the path of homebrew and patching, it can become pretty addicting to tweak the heck out of your device with your own mix of patches and apps. PreCentral forum member snowdizx put together his list of patches and tweaks that truly make his Pre a power user’s dream.

After the break, find his list of patches and tweaks and settings, all done, we might add, without the need to flash a ROM, unlock a bootloader, or ‘get root’ on the device. Yeah, webOS is truly open even if it’s not opensource.

Since today is the homebrew-aversary, we thought it would be a good time to ask our Power Users: what is the mix of patches and tweaks that make your webOS device yours?

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Games, PC Brain Trust, apps, brain trust, cheap, half off, news, sale

One Day Left for Half-off Apps. What are you buying? [PC Brain Trust]

July 22nd 2010 | Posted by Dieter Bohn

We’ve asked about Social Media apps, Games, and Travel apps, now we’re just straight up asking: the Half-Off sale on webOS apps ends tomorrow and so tell us: what have you purchased? What will you purchase? There are a ton of good apps out there (a few of our faves are after the break) but tell us in the comments what you’re rocking and or rolling.

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Facebook for webOS, LinkedIn, PC Brain Trust, apps, foursquare, news, tweed

Your favorite social media apps [PC Brain Trust]

July 15th 2010 | Posted by Robert Werlinger

We asked you what your favorite social media application were, and you responded en masse.  Here are the apps that you and your fellow PreCentral readers simply cannot do without in the social media scene:

Facebook for webOS, free:  Developed by Palm’s developer relations team, this Facebook app has seen rapid growth and is well on its way to becoming on of the best on any platform.

 

Tweed, $2.99:  One of the first and one of the best Twitter apps in the Catalog (and this blogger’s personal favorite), Tweed’s simplicity and speed have a good number of you hooked.

 

LinkedIn, free:  It’s like Facebook, but exclusively for your professional goings on.  It hasn’t been updated much since hitting the App Catalog last year, but it does the basics and it does them well.
 

Foursquare, free:  Zhephree’s excellent Foursquare client let’s you "check-in" to venues in style, all while updating your friends on your whereabouts via Twitter and Facebook and competing with them for mayorships at your favorite locals. 

Digloo, $1.99:  A great Digg app for webOS that does everything you’d expect Digg to do while mobile: Digg and bury stories and comment, browse individual topics relevant to your interests and other such Digg-ey things.

 

 

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PC Brain Trust, apps

What are your favorite social media apps? [PC Brain Trust]

July 12th 2010 | Posted by Robert Werlinger

We’ve been spotlighting our own favorite apps on a regular basis here, but the truth is: our members’ collected wisdom is greater than ours. We’ve asked you what you’re favorite travel apps and games are in previous installments of the PreCentral Brain Trust series and you’ve responded en masse. Here’s how it works:  We pose a question, you tell us in the comments what the best stuff is, we gather up your favorites, and report back on what’s hot.

This time around, we want to know what your favorite social media applications are.  There’s a large and diverse selection of Twitter apps, WordPress apps, and location-based apps like FourSquare and GoWalla – so much so that the choices can be overwhelming at times.  So tell us, PreCentral Nation, what social media apps can you just not do without?

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Asphalt 5, Critical Mass, Defensive Warfare, Glyder 2, Let's Golf, PC Brain Trust, Paratrooper, apps

Your favorite webOS games [PC Brain Trust]

July 6th 2010 | Posted by Robert Werlinger

We’re in the thick of Palm’s “half-time” sale where everything in the App Catalog is an easy-on-the-wallet 50% off of its normal asking price,  we’re on the cusp of the PDK Hot Apps contest, and what better way to spend the money that’s undoubtedly been burning a hole in your pocket then on some great gaming titles. We asked you what your favorite games are and you showed up en masse to let us know.  The results are interesting: there’s a good spread between big name titles from likes of EA Games and Glu Mobile, and games from indie developers such as Paratrooper and Defensive Warfare.  Head on past the break to find the games, both paid and free, that you and your fellow readers like the most.

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Games, PC Brain Trust, apps

What are your favorite games? [PC Brain Trust]

June 11th 2010 | Posted by Robert Werlinger

We’ve been spotlighting our favorite apps on a regular basis here, but the truth is that our members’ collected wisdom is greater than ours.  Here’s how it works: you tell us in the comments what the best stuff is, we gather up your favorites, and report back on what’s hot.  

Gaming is a big deal on webOS, with the gaming category representing a large majority of what’s available in the App Catalog.  There are plenty of styles and genres available to users of the platform, from epic 3D titles like Need for Speed to games from independent developers like Paratrooper, and we want to know: What are your absolute favorites?

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DrPodder, FlightView, PC Brain Trust, The Weather Channel, WHERE, apps, news, travel apps, yelp

Your Favorite Travel Apps [PC Brain Trust]

June 1st 2010 | Posted by Robert Werlinger

We asked you what your favorite travel apps were, and you weighed in.  Here’s what the PreCentral readership can’t do without on their travels:

  • Flightview, $4.99: Flightview gives you real-time flight information that you can act on. Track upcoming and in-air flights, use the air map to see flight progress, save flights, and get notifications when a flight’s status changes.  
  • Sprint Navigation (TeleNav), Free on Sprint and available for a monthly fee on other carriers: TeleNav’s excellent turn-by-turn GPS navigation program for webOS.
  • Where: Where is a location aware program that enables you to quickly access local information, including: including weather, news, gas prices, movies and much more.  
  • The Weather Channel: One of the more popular (and free!) weather applications available to webOS users, The Weather Channel lets users browse interactive radar and satellite maps, check current coditions and hourly forecasts, and check out 36-hour and 10-day forecasts.
  • Yelp: This app’s implementation on webOS is as effective as it is simple. Using the on-board GPS, Yelp for webOS allows you to search nearby restaurant, bar and shop listings while on the go.  
  • DrPodder, $0.99: Travelling would be a bore without your favorite podcasts in tow, and this long-time homebrew favorite turned App Catalog success story lets you manage them in style 

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