Along with this, many are saying that the iPhone on multiplier carriers in the US, particularly Verizon- who has given Android a huge bump over the past year, will put Android’s success in jeopardy. Although there may be an initial flurry of excitement over the Verizon iPhone, I think in the long run Android is still poised to be a strong competitor and here is why.

1. The Cloud- Google is currently the king of cloud services. Don’t get me wrong, Google has competition in certain areas here (such as Facebook) but these one-off services are not coordinated and/or living under the same roof. Not to mention, as far as we know, none of them are currently developing a phone OS or seriously working with Apple on integration into iOS besides an app.
2. LTE- I can promise you that the iPhone that is going to be announced this week will not be a 4G iPhone. There are currently a  number of 4G Android phones on the marked, or almost ready to ship. Having true broadband in your pocket is an incredibly powerful thing, especially when it comes engaging with rich content which leads me to #3…
3. Screen Size- I’ve had a number of phones of the past year, including a Droid, Droid Incredible, Sprint Evo and now a Droid X. I can say without a doubt that consuming content on a 4″+ screen is vastly more comfortable compared to the screen size of the iPhone.
4. Durability- Because Android allows for various pieces of hardware, we end up seeing more durable phones. The iPhone is fragile, besides the bezel the entire exterior of the phone is made out of glass. I’d venture to say that 9/10 any current android phone would come out with better results in a drop-test.
5. Apple’s App Store- As we all know Apple is a pain in the ass when it comes to approving some applications, Google on the other hand essentially lets any application into the market.
6. Android is Everywhere- Although Verizon gave Android a huge bump with their “Droid” phones, Android is everywhere. Its more versatile and cheaper than Apple’s offerings and available to everyone.
7. A Working Alarm Clock- Android’s alarm clock application works flawlessly while the iPhone’s has had some issues. Problem?

Do you think Android’s success is in jeopardy? Let me know in the comments!

Now there are a few new services like this, but the one I am going to be sharing

Photo Courtesy of Untappd

with you today is called Untappd. Untappd lets users check into what beer they are drinking, as well as the location (using Foursquare’s location API) in which they are drinking it. Unlike some of the other options out there, Untappd uses a mobile website opposed to an application which means the service is immediately available on essentially every web-enabled mobile device. As I am sure you can imagine, Untappd lets you comment on beers, earn badges and see what your friends are drinking. You can also link your Untappd account to Facebook and Twitter so you can syndicate out your boozing ways to non-untappd friends.

I’ve been using the service for a few weeks, and I am really impressed with responsiveness of the webapp as well as the database of beers. Given the social nature of drinking, the increasing level of beer-snobery and the desire to share good brews you find with your friends I see services like Untappd being a success and taking off in the first half of this year.

Cheers!

P.S. You can find me on Untapped here!

Now, this was obviously sarcastic. The chalk drawing is freaking horrible… it looks like the woman’s arms are made of spaghetti and her hands are 1/16th the size they should be.

Anyways, today @WholeFoods tweeted back at me with this gem.

Did they even bother to read my tweet and look at the photo? If you are going to dedicate resources to monitoring your social media channels- actually monitor them.

See the Macy’s Ad below…

Functionally the two are very similar when it comes to Twitter and Google Buzz integration, you start to see big differences when you realize that TweetDeck allows users to access FourSquare as well as Facebook. TweetDeck could conceivably take the place of your Android Facebook, Twitter and FourSquare apps. TweetDeck also includes a “speed dial” page where you can place profiles that you want to access quickly. This feature feels under-developed… but the application is in beta so it is likely to improve before a 1.0 release.

On the interface front I think that TweetDeck just looks better, the colors are more pleasing, the text is bigger, the buttons are bigger… all things that lend themselves very well to a mobile application. A handy feature built into TweetDeck is the timestamp indicator that scrolls at the top of the screen as you move through the timeline. This means as you scroll “back in time” the time/date start scrolling back as well. To switch between @ replies and your main stream you simply flick left or right (much like HootSuite.)

The only real way to tell if you are going to like TweetDeck over Seesmic is to install it. TweetDeck is currently in beta and not available in the Android market, if you would like to download it, visit their website and provide your email address… they will send you a link. There have only been two bugs that I have encountered, one is not letting me upload photos, and another not letting me log out of Facebook or FourSquare.

I’ve attached some screen shots below! Enjoy!

Dropbox
Dropbox allows users to create what are essentially “folders in the cloud”, meaning that the folder on your desktop computer automatically syncs to the web. Not only can you sync your files with your computer, but Dropbox has created an Android application that lets users modify, create and edit files that are stored in their dropbox. This has come in handy multiple times when trying to get work done between the office, the road, and my home!

Evernote
I have my phone with me far more often then I have a pen and paper, so when it comes time to write down a quick note Evernote comes in handy! Think of Evernote as Dropbox, but for notes. They have a desktop client as well as a mobile and web interface. Evernote lets you record voice, picture, text or other files and have them automatically sync with your account.  You can also share notes with others!

Mint
Keeping track of all your financial information & accounts can be tricky on its own, never mind about on your phone! Mint.com is a service that collects all of your account information and puts it in one place. They not only provide a central place for glancing at balances, Mint also provides graphs and tips on budgeting and saving money. Their Android application is gorgeous and lets you keep a pulse on where you stand.

My girlfriend has recently been trying to resolve an outstanding issue with Comcast. She has been getting incredibly slow internet speeds, and a technician was supposed to come out to her house and install a new modem. The technician called the day of the scheduled service and said there was no need to install a new modem and that there was likely another problem with her connection. Long story short- the tech never came.

When she received her bill this month, she noticed a service charge on there for the “house call.” She contacted Comcast to notify them of the issue, and they said that they would correct the bill and charge her next month correctly (perhaps issue a credit?) but she told them that this would not work as she is moving this month, and would be terminating her service with Comcast for the time being (ie this would be her last bill, and there would be no opportunity for them to correct it on next month’s bill.) She requested that they re-send her a corrected bill so she could square with Comcast and go about her life knowing all bills were paid.

Comcast said they could not do this, and she ended up writing an email to Comcast further explaining her situation. Comcast emailed her back this morning with copies of what they indicated were her bills from the past two months. The only problem… they are not her bills at all. They are bills of a random other person… these bills contain their personal information including name, address, account number, amount paid, amount due, their service packages and all On Demand movies rented. Now thankfully the person who’s account this is did not rent any adult movies or (from what I can tell) do any questionable things… but imagine if this person had? Imagine if someone had rented pornography through Comcast and then the record of this was shared with another random Comcast customer? How about if this other customer worked for the same company I did, went to the same church I did… what if I was a public or political figure and private information got out?

However Comcast is handling personal records is broken… there should be no way for Comcast to send my account information with such personal information as name, address and movies rented to another customer.

I have included the statements below as proof (of course I blurred out the personal information.) I have found who I am 99% sure is the other customer on Facebook and I am crafting a message to him now.

Just for fun, you can read Comcast’s Customer Privacy Notice here!

Seesmic for Android has all of the features that you’d want (minus a widget…) in a mobile Twitter application. Seesmic lets you handle multiple accounts, search, manage lists, select from multiple photo & video services and even integrates nicely with Bit.ly. One of the things that truly sets Seesmic apart, at least in my mind, is its interface. The Seesmic interface is clean & handsome, which is something that most of the other Twitter clients on Android can not say.

The application is free, and available in the Android Marketplace!

I’ve attached some screen shots below…

After I posted my experience with the contest, and how the netbook arrived, it received a fair amount of traffic from a number of other blogs. I typically have a fair number of readers, but the amount of traffic to my blog really blew my mind. Take a look…

I am still getting more and more traffic! Crazy!

Anyway, after the post being up a day or so I recieved an email from Neil, the Director of Fulfillment Solutions at ePrize. He explained that ePRize was running the contest on Microsoft’s behalf and Microsoft had nothing to do with shipping the prize. The reason that the netbook’s box had been opened was because Microsoft wanted to load a custom image to ensure that there was Windows 7 installed (as apparently you can’t buy the eee PC with 7.)

I have included his email below…

Hi Matt,

My name is Neil (redacted) and I lead the fulfillment team at ePrize.  I have been in contact with Microsoft directly and want to sincerely apologize for the condition of the packaging in which your netbook was shipped.  It was completely unacceptable and I’d like to speak with you over the phone to discuss some more details.  If you could reply to this email at your earliest convenience with a phone number, that would be appreciated.  Let me know what time works best to chat and I will do everything possible to accommodate.  Once again, I extend our apologies.  Microsoft had no responsibility for prize fulfillment and ePrize is taking full ownership of this issue.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.  Thanks for your time and consideration.

Regards,
Neil

I spoke to Neil over the phone and he was truly sincere and apologetic, which was refreshing to see from a company that operates in the space he does.

So this is where things stand now: the computer was not intercepted and loaded with spyware or a rootkit it was just the victim of some poor planning and logistical oddities  between Microsoft and ePrize.

I still kind of wish I won the xbox so that I can finally kill nazi zombies with my friends at home.

Feel free to hit me with any questions in the comments!