Android Problems Solved

Whether you’ve got a Desire, Galaxy S, Droid or Nexus One our troulbleshooting guide will help you solve these common Android problems.

How do I re-install purchased apps?
You need to make sure that you have setup your Google account on your Android device, the same account you used to purchase the app, and then go to ‘My Downloads’ to retrieve the app. Free apps are not held in the My Downloads section, but can be retrieved direct from Android Market.

How can I soft reset my Android phone?
Try pressing the End, Send and Menu keys at the same time. This should restart the phone in working order, but if it does not try a battery pull.

Can I tether my Android phone to my laptop?
Yes. Many Android phones are supported by EasyTether which will allow most of the popular models to stream their mobile data via a laptop or desktop. Remember that a 3G connection is required at the very least to make the experience worthwhile.

Why are some apps not available in the Android Market?
Some apps will only work on specific phones with set screen resolutions. Check the developer’s product page for more information regarding which phones are compatible.

Should I worry about OS updates?
The Android OS does get updated often, but the only real advice is to buy the best model you can afford which should ensure that it will cope with at least the next 2 or 3 updates.

Is it safe to run Android on a Windows Mobile phone?
This is a difficult one because it is in many ways, but the overall experience will not live up to Android on a phone that has been designed for the OS. Some people have ported the OS, but a full backup should be a minimum precaution before you attempt to do this.

My phone can’t connect to my home Wi-Fi!
This is a common problem on some Android phones such as the Hero, but some quick steps could solve it. Wireless N routers are problematic with some Android phones so make sure you switch on B/G compatibility and that you have the latest router firmware installed. With luck your problems will be solved.

Can I send group SMS messages?
This has been a problematic issue for a while now, but there is a solution. Look for ‘Text Easy’ in the Android Market which has the features which allow you to create groups and select multiple contacts. It is free as well.

Where did my new contact go?
Sometimes when you add a new contact on an Android phone it will not show up in the contacts list. It is without doubt a problem that needs fixing, but the quick solution is to go to Google Contacts in GMail and you will see the new contact. Now, click the Groups button and then the ‘Add to My Contacts’ button. It will now appear on your phone.

Viewing photos is too slow!
Trying to view lots of photos in the native Android gallery app can be painfully slow especially if you have recently cleared the cache. The best solution is to search for alternative solutions in the Android market, of which there are a few, and see which works best for you.

Wrong email headers?
Some Android users suffer from an anomaly where email subjects do not match the emails themselves. The way to fix it is by resetting up your email account and clearing the original data. Go to Settings / Applications / Manage Applications and then choose the email application and ‘Clear Data’.

Can I back up my Android phone online?
Lookout Mobile Security will do the trick and allows you to backup your personal data and to also access it directly online. It is a free download and should offer some peace of mind.  Image: lookout.tiff  Lookout will look out for your data.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 (Wi-Fi)

Bigger isn't always better. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 is pretty much just the Galaxy Tab 10.1 ($499, 3.5 stars), minus 1.2 inches. It's a shrunk-down version of Samsung's flagship tablet, at a slightly shrunk-down price: $469 instead of $499. We judge it a slightly better deal all around and one of the best Android tablets, although the Apple iPad 2 ($499, 4.5 stars) is still our top tablet choice.

Physical Design and Networking
Samsung is currently making the best-looking Android tablets in the business, although its tablets look too much like the iPad for some Apple lawyers' comfort. The Galaxy Tab 8.9 is no exception; it's a black and silver slab with no physical buttons on the front, just a bright and somewhat-reflective 1280-by-800-pixel display; the same resolution as the larger panel on the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Since the 8.9 is a smaller screen, the pixels are denser, which is more pleasing to the eye.


The Tab 8.9 is very slim, and relatively light at 15.7 ounces and 9.1 by 6.2 by .33 inches. There are power and volume buttons on the top, along with a 3.2-megapixel camera on the back and a 2-megapixel camera on the front. The back is a smooth gray plastic; you can't open up the tablet to replace the battery. On the bottom, along with the stereo speakers, is the single port, a proprietary docking port.

A Wi-Fi-only tablet, there's no 3G/4G option for the Tab 8.9. You do get Bluetooth, which supports both mono and stereo audio, and built-in GPS. In my tests, the 6100 mAh battery powered the tablet for a very good 8 hours, 15 minutes hours of video playback.

Performance, OS, and Apps
Just like Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1—and a number of other current Android tablets—the 8.9 runs Honeycomb 3.1 on an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. Benchmark performance is identical to the 10.1 and to many other Tegra 2-based tablets. I didn't encounter any bugs, problems, or major slowdowns in my testing. But there's no schedule for an Android 3.2 update, according to Samsung, so you should treat this as an Android 3.1 device. The company has dressed up the interface with TouchWiz, a set of widgets and interface extensions that seem to slow the tablet down a bit, but make some activities more convenient.

Samsung throws a bunch of default widgets onto the seven home screens, which I like because it makes the tablet appear to be more than just a blank slate. Most of the built-in apps have had subtle aesthetic redesigns. The Mini Apps Tray is especially welcome: It's a set of six frequently used apps/widgets which can pop up from the bottom of the screen. For more on TouchWiz, check out our review of the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Thus far, Google's Android Market for Honeycomb isn't a winner on tablet apps, showing too many apps that run poorly on tablets. So along with the standard Google stuff, Samsung has packed this slate with tablet-centric stores: its own 7digital-powered music store, both Samsung's and Google's video stores, and even Samsung's own app store. As an Nvidia Tegra 2 tablet, the Galaxy Tab also works with Nvidia's Tegra Zone game store.

Unfortunately, none of these stores solve Honeycomb tablets' most critical problem: not enough apps. Samsung's app store, for instance, only has from one to five apps in each of its categories. Samsung insists thousands of phone apps run well on its tablet, but thousands of others don't, and there's no guide to distinguish them. That makes all Honeycomb tablets far inferior to the iPad with its 90,000+ well-tailored, tablet-specific apps.

Seven-inch tablets running Honeycomb 3.2, such as the Acer Iconia Tab A100 ($329, 4 stars), get around this problem somewhat by presenting phone apps better than those with larger screens. But bigger tablets without Honeycomb 3.2's zoom mode give you ugly interfaces when you try to run many apps designed for Android phones.

The Galaxy Tab syncs contacts and calendars with Samsung's Kies software on PCs, and lets you drag and drop files in Windows Explorer onto the tablet. But Mac users should beware: There is no Mac USB compatibility here.

Multimedia
There are lots of media options to fill the Tab 8.9's 13.1GB of free storage. (You get no memory card slot.) Samsung provides the aforementioned 7digital-powered music store where songs average a dollar each, and a more promising video store where TV shows cost $1.99, but you can get a bunch of children's and reality programming for a penny. I downloaded an episode of "Avatar" (the kids' show, not the movie) and it looked sharp.

All of our sample files played on the Tab, both music and video, and sounded unusually good through the device's stereo speakers. The Tab also includes a pair of earbuds, but it has both a standard 3.5-mm headphone jack and Bluetooth, so you can use whatever headphones you have lying around.

There's one false note here, though: There's no video out, so you can't play your movies on a big screen. Samsung advertises a dock with HDMI out but it's not included with the tablet; the only port here is the unique dock port, and the only cable you get in the box ends in a male USB plug.

Streaming video options are mixed. The TV.com app is available, but Hulu and Netflix, notably, aren't.
The Tab's two cameras are both of very good quality. The 3.2-megapixel camera on the back takes razor-sharp, if not terribly quick photos at 1.1 seconds of shutter delay. The 2-megapixel camera on the front is similarly sharp. Both cameras record 720P HD video.

Conclusions
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 is really just a tweak of the existing 10.1-inch Tab, but that tweak makes it a bit more appealing. It's a little more portable and a little less expensive, without losing a pixel of screen resolution, a hertz of processor speed, or a byte of storage.

That said, we have the same problem with this tablet that we do with most high-end Android tablets this size: It's going up directly against the iPad, which has far more apps and a stronger ecosystem. Seven-inch Android 3.2 tablets at least have the benefits of being more portable and having phone apps look decent in zoomed mode. But it's hard to argue why the masses, when presented with this device and an iPad, should pick the Tab 8.9. If you're not an Apple fan, though, and you want the thinnest Android tablet you can get, the Tab 8.9 is a solid choice.

Ice Cream Sandwich Android Update to Be Release

Ice Cream Sandwich

Latest reports have revealed that the Samsung Galaxy Note, Samsung Galaxy S2 and other Android-powered Samsung (SEO:005930) tablets will be receiving the Ice Cream Sandwich Android update.

The Ice Cream Sandwich Android update for these devices was confirmed through a recent statement from Samsung Italy although the actual release date has yet to be confirmed. However reports have pointed to a possible release of the update by April to June of next year.

The other Samsung devices that will reportedly receive the Ice Cream Sandwich Android update include the Galaxy Tab 7.0, Galaxy Tab 7.7, Galaxy Tab 8.9 and the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Reports on the release of the update for the devices began circulating a week ago and some industry watchers have hinted that Samsung Galaxy S2 users in the United States may have to wait longer before the Ice Cream Sandwich Android update will be made available.

It was also noted that the Ice Cream Sandwich Android update will only be available for the newer models of Android devices such as the Motorola Droid Razr, Motorola Droid Bionic and the Nexus S.

Older Android devices such as the Nexus One will not receive the Ice Cream Sandwich Android update since the 1GHz processor of the device is not fast enough to utilize the latest version of the Android OS even as some representative from Google have revealed that devices using the Gingerbread Android have the potential in using the latest Android OS.

Both the Samsung Galaxy S2 and the Samsung Galaxy Note are shipped with the Gingerbread Android OS. No information was released on whether these devices will be receiving the Ice Cream Sandwich Android update without any customizations on the user interface by Samsung or not. The Samsung Galaxy S2 and the Samsung Galaxy Note feature a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and 1.4 GHz dual-core processor respectively.