5 Minute App Review: Memory Booster Ad-Free

It's a sad day when the Free App of the Day is something that 85% of Android users are unable to take advantage of, but it's even worse when that 85% chimes in to beat the product to a pulp.

Now rated at 1.5 stars, Memory Booster has been destroyed by users right and left for being an application that didn't work or isn't needed. Being an Evo user, you fall into the not needed/won't work crowd, but if you still know people carrying the older Hero, Moment or other low physical memory device, this appears is pretty sweet.

The premise is simple, it kills application and, for lack of a better term, defrags your RAM by clustering open space and freeing smaller chunks. It's not a necessary operation, and may not even work all together, but it does seem to make older devices run faster and more efficient.

While we don't recommend this for Evo users, for older devices it pretty well rocks.

Memory Booster Ad-Free is available in the Market or Amazon Appstore for $2.99.

Memory Booster Ad-Free: 2 out of 5 stars for Non-Evo users only (Android 2.1 or earlier or less than 128MB of RAM)

Slacker Slacks Off For Evo Users

Our long time favorite online streaming App has been giving us some major headaches of late. Slow buffering times, major drops, and just overall poor quality. The quality drop is something we can live with short term, but the buffering times and song skipping is getting old really fast.

When asked for a comment, Slacker simply explained that all their versions are extensively tested before a release is made and to check without network provider to see if there were outages or drops in our area. That’s easy enough to do and 2 weeks later, we still have the same issues – without any outages on the Sprint network in our area.

So, hopefully the kinks will be worked out soon and for now, you can set the Local Media Playback to ON instead of Auto for better performance.

Root Returns With rEVOlutionary Method

After that long wait since Gingerbread boinked the standard Evo 4G root method, owners are once again happy to have that all important Superuser APK. The greatness that is EVO root allows for accessing additional features, removal of non-used applications and of course, installation of custom ROMs.

REVOlutionary is an amazingly simple root method that requires a quick download from your PC, then a quick powercycle or two, and you are rocking a completely unlocked Evo.

Check out http://www.revolutionary.io for all the details and downloads.

Editorial: Sadly, It's Almost Time...

Strangely, I feel a bit of remorse writing this piece. It's always hard, especially in the cell industry to hear three little letters - "E-O-L" - which in terms that non-tech can appreciate, means that dinosaur is dead. According to a screen shot captured by a faithful Sprint employee and leaked on to SprintFeeds, the EVO 4G is destined for the refurb yard as early as September for the white model and October for the black.

Normally, pieces like this are a dime a dozen, but normally, they don't involve a device that possibly saved a wireless carrier. Sprint was in disarray, losing customer share left and right, bleeding money and had almost nothing to offer a consumer to jump on board. The Pre was a year old, the Moment was plagued with issues and the Hero just didn't have the guts to keep up with the newer devices anymore. They were treading water...

Along came the world's first "4G" phone and the front facing camera to the US. The commercials made it seem almost too amazing - and for the record, they did fudge a little. Sure, it had it's issues, and the battery life was pretty pathetic, but overall, it's about all you can ask for in a smartphone and more - even today.

The marking down to $99 on contract was the first step in the eventual kiss of death to the original EVO, but the lackluster response to the EVO 3D almost breathed new life into the aging device. Perhaps it would be wise of Sprint to consider dumping some of those "Entry Level" LG Optimus handsets and maybe a certain under performing Zio and think about keeping their "cheap" handset offering in the form of the EVO 4G?

We know, wishful thinking, but doesn't it really make more sense than pumping cheap crap in to the market where users become dissatisfied and leave for another carrier? Just our 2 cents...

Picasa Storage Not Killed With Google+ Instant Upload

 

For those that were lucky enough to land that early Google+ invite, using the application from your EVO has been monumentally awesome. Sure, there are bugs in every beta program, but the auto upload feature, combined with Sprint Unlimited data just makes like amazingly simple. Simple is good, but even better than simple is the astounding - wow factor - item that we have discovered.

The original instructions stated that any image that was 800x600 or less would not count against your 'Google' limit when uploaded and you could share all you wanted. We decided to test this and launched an all out assault on our Picasa account last evening with a 244 photo upload directly from our device through the Google+ instant share feature. 400MB later, our 244 images were placed in the Instant Upload folder on our Picasa page with no additional data used from our Picasa cap.

Hopefully, someone from Google will reach out to our requests for an explanation on the new system and how the data usage works, but for now, consider your instant uploads from the Google+ app as freebies until further notice.

Can You Run a Business From the EVO?

With the economy continuing to struggle, many individuals have left behind their jobs - whether by their choice or not - and started profitable home businesses. Websites like Etsy, Ebay and Amazon offer prospective crafters, pickers and resellers excellent values for marketing products. The digital age has brought commercial photography setup costs to new lows. Online billing, data entry and call center jobs have also been brought in to the home with amazing ease and a high speed internet connection. This lead us to look at how the EVO can help you run your business, or even run it for you...

Staying Connected: This one is obvious. With the EVO, your entire communications suite is in the palm of your hand. Email, Voicemail, Instant messaging, Skype, Video conferencing and more are all just one app away. These valuable programs mean faster response times, less time in front of the computer and better experiences for those contacting you.

Business Presence: So, you have your Sprint cell number, but you need a business line as well. The simple answer is to set up a Google Voice account for your business. You can have it ring through as your "Business Number" so you always know that a client is calling instead of that telemarketer. You can also use Google Voice's online setup to customize a message, select ring-through days and times and more. Nothing is worse than not having an existing business number, and Google will even port your normal number for a flat $20.

Accepting Payments: Did you know that with apps like Square you can accept credit cards right on your EVO? A simple swipe of the card and 3% later, your money is on the way to the bank. No more waiting for payments, accepting checks from unknowns or having to risk carrying $100's from the flea market. Paypal is also available as a great option for those that aren't in with Square or other payment processor.

Time Management: This is often the most overlooked form of waste in companies, big or small. Time is something most don't calculate in to that bottom line figure. With a good time management program, you can easily free time in you schedule for fun, while making the most of the time you spend working. Lost items are probably the biggest form of wasted time in the office. If you can't find a document or appointment, you just lost the time you spent looking for it, plus the time to redo it. Programs like Scan2PDF, FilesAnywhere, and Docs can turn your phone into an PDF creating, Document faxing, cloud storage processing monster that keeps your data all in one place - neatly organized and ready to go.

Organization: This goes directly back to time management. If you are well organized, you will have mastered your time management. Specifically, if you aren't wasting time, you are going to be more productive. Organizing on the EVO is simple. The integration of Google Calendar allows you to create multiple calendars for business, personal and family events. A simple color change and you can easily tell what's coming and if it's a business event, personal item or even something that someone else invited you to. Use the Google Calendar integration with the HTC Agenda widget and your calendar is right on one of the 7 home screens with one touch access to everything else on the schedule.

Bids and More: Some businesses require customer bids and quotes. There is nothing faster for generating a quote on a mobile device than Google Docs. If that is a bit more than you want to deal with, you can easily download Handy Quote (full) from the Market that allows customized quotes right from your device as well. By CC'ing yourself on the email, you can also use apps like Printershare to print that invoice/estimate from anywhere right to your home PC's printer.

Replacing the Home Office: There is nothing worse than having that dedicated workspace at home, and finding it a mess on a daily basis. The EVO can help by keeping your time organized, your documents in the cloud, your calendar in your pocket and notes on your home screen. No more post it notes stuck everywhere. No more piles to be filed. Just simplistic document management, equipment management and time management.

Overall, although they aren't quite there yet, smartphones are quickly replacing our home offices, mainly because we don't want to be in our home offices. Offices clutter the home, take time away from our families and really become more of a dumping ground than a functional workspace. Our offices become our space to hate, just like the old 9-5 that we left before having a home office. The EVO really does a great job, for most business uses, of standing in for an office when we can't be there. Email, Quotes, and even printing hard copies of items are all possible from anywhere with your EVO. While you might not think so, you can actually replace your home office for one on the road.

Think of this as another excuse to order your free EVO today before they are gone. Get it at http://www.getsmartphones.info while supplies last. If you prefer a bit more horsepower for your device, the EVO3D is also available at $179.99.

Other's Moving On, We're Still About The 4G

One by one, the EVO sites are slipping away from their 4G roots and moving onward to greener pastures. The strange part is, it's times like this when new users need more help than ever, and we are sticking around to be there for you. The EVO 4G is on deal central everywhere right now, for crazy prices like FREE - get yours today at http://www.getsmartphones.info in black or white - and more users are adding them for family lines, replacement phones or just because they are tried and true performers.

The more blogs that drift away from the 4G and move on to the 3D or even the View, the more users will need quality information. The EVO is our device, we have a few of them in our midst and don't plan on switching any time soon. The device still has plenty of horsepower for today's applications, and with SD card installation for apps, you have plenty of storage available too.

Sure, the EVO has some shortcomings, but pound for pound, dollar for dollar, it's still one of the best smartphones on the planet. So, keep following us for more information and how to's coming soon. We will continue waiting for a 2.3.3 compatible screen capture program (that we don't have to purchase again) that will work without rooting, but until then we will keep using stock captures from the market for reviews and more!