Check out the latest design over at our online store.

“Exploding Spray Paint” T Shirt.

Is it worth losing the Root capabilities in exchange for Flash abilites?

Ok, to clarify versions of FroYo for those of you who may not know, I have been using Android 2.2 (the first, non-flash capable version for Droid, FRG01B) for about a month now, to be exact.

Last week,  my phone received the noticement of the 2nd OTA update, (FRG22D) this one bearing the 1.6mb download that contained this ability to make your phone natively capable of using Flash 10.1. I avoided for several days downloading the update, as I knew that I would be losing my freshly rooted access capabilities, having just recently purchased Easyroot a few days before hand, as to not have to jump through the hoops of manually rooting again, and also to see what all the hoopla was about when concerning “Cheat Roots”.

Now taking Easyroot into consideration, I realize its not a huge deal, especially since this is just a “Cheat Root“, and was meant solely to “get me by” til I had the time to sit and do it the right way. That being said, when I decided to update,  I should have taken the time to just run a simple back-up of the system using Nandroid, but I was impatient as usual, and just wanted to check out the Flash 10.1 update, and see if it delivered on what my expectations were.

FRG22D’s Job

With all performance and hardware issues being mostly addressed in the initial 2.1-2.2 update, there is really nothing for FRG22D to do but hand out the ability to view and use Flash content, and fix some obscure “security issues”. (Making it so your phones not rooted anymore for instance.)

As far as performance and built in features, you will receive NO advantage with the FRG22D update, but you do gain the ability to surf almost any website that is in existence! (At least thats the idea…)

After install of the update, (1.6 mb DL, so a rather quick and painless update) I proceeded to download the Flash 10.1 application from the market, along with the Adobe Flash Showcase that is present for use mainly in first time experience guidance of featured flash sites and applications. I spent the next few hours playing with the newly enabled Droid, perusing the available showcase and then eventually wondering off to have a go at the uncharted territory. Over the next few days as I have continued its use and testing,  I have come to a decision on the performance and quality of my personal Flash experience on a Motorola Droid, and will say right now that its exciting to see where we are going with Mobile Flash, but am not exactly wowed by the general experience, at least not right now. I see huge amounts of potential, and as we venture into new territory, it will be exciting to see the change and the experience become a better molded example of what is possible using Flash and mobile device mate ups.

FLASH 10.1 – The Breakdown

Initial Impressions

and Content Specific Performance Issues

Well, I can definitely say it was not worth losing any root over, phone dependent feature and performance wise, which I already knew and expected, bu am hoping to be wowed enough with the Flash capability to put that behind me.

While having Flash is great, and I was able to play some interesting Flash games and puzzles, peruse videos on CNN, and take a look at Comedy Central’s upcoming lineup, I stumbled into some issues pretty fast. It’s performance is rather slow a large amount, with jerky interactions, the UI experience suffers at tumes. Even with great connectivity (Over 3g) , running about 1.6 mbps down, I am having a hard time getting any kind of completely “smooth” experience in playback quality and UI feedback. Now, I have realized that a lot has to do with the actual content provider/website you are visiting, and how that information is being treated on the provider end, such as whether content has been mobile optimized, and whether your phone actually has the processor power to run some of these complex sites/applications.

When I am located at a hot-spot that has relatively good wi-fi (I like to speed test before I do any reviewing, and have consistently been getting 1.5 mbps on 3G, and 3.5-4.0 mbps on wi-fi), than my little phone can often impress, buta lot is still just dependent how how “Mobile-Flash” ready some of the sites are. Some of the sites visited were obviously not ready for a mobile friendly flash experience, and the Droid seemed to handle these at a much slower rate, at times pausing for minutes on end with seemingly nothing happening, with no apparent processing happening at all, at least visually. Either backing up or closing the browser would end the process, but I was still fighting frustration over some basics not working, with more than a few issues taking place on the Adobe Flash Showcases.

Video quality was good, and at times excellent, and its very nice to be able to tap a player or interaction window and have it expand to full screen, giving ability to control player/window just as you would with a built in application. My biggest issue was a large majority of time there was a heavy amount of delay between when UI was interacted with, and the following lag time that player/window would respond. This led to some frustration, not being able to really fast forward very succesfully, or to just pause or jump to next video, and at one point not being able to grab boxes and lift them in time.  Let me assure the readers that this was not the case on EVERYexperience by far, but did seem to be a common issue that reared its head more often that I really liked.

*I am still trying to figure out if this is a combination of processor/memory/data or if it is a problem more relevant to just data stream, or vice versa. I am still working on figuring that one out, and will do some more in depth tests tomorrow.

While these apparent freezes and lags did happen often at times (Especially on Mobile Broadband) I was impressed by the ability to experience videos and Flash based applications in a new light, and was happy to find that a large majority of the time when it came to smaller applications with less of a memory footstep, the performance was often great to impressive.  I was able to enjoy some gaming and video experiences in a different light, and the entertainment factor is definitely there. I can’t deny that was not a blast to be able to surf some of my old time favorite flash based gaming sites and go back to pounding down popping out moles, or playing one of my favorite puzzle games, right from the browser.  I am looking forward to the development of more work related applications, built in Flash specifically for mobile use.

I can see how this is going to be a great tool to have in the near future, and it willvbe interesting to see what the next generation of mobile browsers, mated with the upcoming high performance hardware of upcoming handsets, are able do with the availability and capabilities of this technology. There are some really interesting doors that could possibly be opened in the future and I am excited to see that we will most likely not be so application dependent, and will be able to perform daily tasks and chores on a hopefully more “cloud based” experience. The ability to perform these tasks without having to have “an app for that”, at least in some small way for the forseeable future, will be exciting and will give programmers and devs a new playground to get dirty in. (Lists, cloud based calendars and agenda experiences, and even mobile gaming, etc).

A Step Forward

but whats next?

Well, its a step in the right direction. Its obvious that even with hiccups and bumps, the Android OS build is now capable of achieving full internet browsing rights and capabilities. I really do think its going to be interesting to see the Flash platform developed more, and tuned more into mobile applications, and what will transpire once the devices and the content are streamlined to a better and more rewarding user experience.

I find it hard to believe that Steve Job’s statement that Flash was dead will hold any merit, and Flash will continue to power the web and its applications for awhile to come.

Now, if your rooted and don’t want to have to do it again, or don’t know HOW to root manually, I would recommend sticking with your FRG01B Build if you still have it.  Its not worth it at least until someone releases an “easy root” for build FRG22D of FroYo for Droid.

There are several links that are going to be included at the bottom of this post containing helpful information on Rooting, hacking, and in general, making your android device function how you want it to function.

Moving on…

A few things I miss about the rooted Droid:

I first rooted my Droid 1 about a month after I got the phone, which was just a matter of weeks after it came out. I have since then continually kept my Android phones for the most part, in a rooted state. I am by no means a pro, have made mistakes, and I have more in common with the tech savvy end-user crowd then the hardcore geek squad.

After my first Root attempt / success (6 hours in a hotel room, in Los Angeles, shaking because my hands were so tired, ready to kill this one stupid fly that would not leave me alone!)

Well, at that point I also installed my first ROM, and so I was attacking two birds with one stone, and it was little bit much to chew off for a non-programming, semi-phone savvy person like me. It had been awhile since I had attempted any type of phone modding (Back since the first HTC Windows phones, and the Nokias before) so I was careful to pay extra attention to everything I did, and to always make sure I had a back-up ready to restore if ANYTHING went wrong.

Well, after the successful Root and then ROM install, I was elated to have finally opened up a new world on my Android device. Here are a few of my MAIN things I get the most use out of using a rooted device.

1. Wi-fi hot-spot (Essentially “Mi-Fi”) This comes in handy, esp. when visiting a good friend of mine who doesn’t have internet at his house. I could leave my device near the middle of the room, and he was able to access the hot spot from anywhere in the house. Really handy. When tethering to my own computer, I would typically stay with the good old USB tether, right through PDAnet… (Worth a look here)

2. Over-Clocking Capability. I am not into tweaking the CPU up real high on android devices, but love to give it an extra little bump of power at times. This can be nice, as your general performance will be increased (Frame rate, GPS lag, Application performance, Web browsing, etc)  Be warned, this does often have some side effects. Broken Wi-fi has been reported and a various list of other small things. Keep in mind to always ALWAYS back up before attempting more in-depth tweaking such as OC’ing. I experienced a good amount of heat gain when clocking to just 800mhz, and it of course grew even hotter the two days I brought it up to a steady 1.2 ghz.  Like I said earlier, just be careful, know what your doing, and don’t brick your phone.  Following are some quick links I through up that should be at the least interesting to read, if not take a crack at some of them, depending on who you are.

(OVERCLOCKING 101) (ROOTING 101)

3. Screen Capture. (Via DroCap) I dont know why Droid has never had this built in, but the feature is handy. Android not having fixed this seems like somewhat of an oversight. I guess they are the ones that know how many complaints they are getting vs. people who are fine with no screen cap. It was not the most useful rooted abilities, as the screen would typically spawn a pop-up message saying that Drocap had been rendered SUPERUSER PERMISSIONS, and I could not find anyway to turn this stupid notification off, so I gave up eventually, and ended up uninstalling DroCap anyway.

4. General Freedoms. There are more than a few little things that I enjoy having when taking advantage of a rooted Android device, and I wish I had time to go through and break them all down, but to generalize, the general freedom that one gains through breaking down that little barrier, and overstepping the technical boundaries set forth by our Oh So Mighty Carriers (Even though, when compared to other devices, Android is like an open door, waiting for you to come tinker within). There is something satisfying about being the full master and commander of your little world in your hand, and nothing can be held back from you.

I will eventually post an update on this post with a link to a Root for FRG22D, and will also be adding some reviews on more recent applications, games and tricks involving the Android OS.

I must return to other things at hand, as these have become pressing in the last few days, but I need to at least start writing this post, as to attest to my feelings on the android system, where its heading, and what so far they have come up with lately to keep us and our big noses out of the brains of their phones

1. TASK KILLERS?
2. BEFORE Rooting
3. Rooting 101
4. Over-clocking 101
5. Learning the “Lingo”
6. More?

FORUM Discussion:

1. Discussing the ability to root FRG22D - DroidForums.com “Hacking/Rooting Droid”

]]> http://studio85modesto.wordpress.com/2010/09/05/android-2-2-arrives/feed/ 2 Studio85 - Modesto Graphic Design Android Robot, logo Droid Update android-logo-robot USEFUL LI http://studio85modesto.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/sketch-update-preview/ http://studio85modesto.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/sketch-update-preview/#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:53:05 +0000 Studio85 - Modesto Graphic Design https://studio85modesto.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/sketch-update-preview/ ]]>

Preview of a sketch being finished for SEF Creative.
Artist: J.D.

Working from early mornings til evening has physically challenged me this week… but I met my goals and am satisfied with a job well… almost done. Tomorrow brings some more work but it shouldn’t be the heavy one of this past week. I am looking forward to a mostly relaxing with the fiance, and maybe a few hours at the lake tomorrow… included in this post are several images of some late night dodle work to round out my textures library for SEF Creative. Let me know what you think.

Just a quick bit of info… Our long awaited apparel branch (SEF Creative) has finally opened! Make sure and check out the latest and greatest out at the store.
Visit us at (by clicking HERE or the above banner) to check out our Spreadshirt site, and keep tuned for the full site coming soon!

The Apple’s iPhone 4 is off to a rough start (sales numbers, excepted).

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-4-problem-2010-6#ixzz0tdrigrfh

There are several pressing issues that are concerning iPhone users as of late with the latest model (iPhone 4) release.  The signal problems (Seemingly now proved as hardware AND software problems) have led to a howling amongst even some of the most die hard iPhone fans…

Apple has acknowledged the antenna problem. Steve Jobs told one iPhone 4 owner to hold it differently. He told another that “there is no reception issue. Stay tuned.”

What to believe? It seems that the latest consumerreport.org reports that speak unfavorably in the iPhone 4′s favor (Directly leading to a drop in Apples stock value) have even led to the outcry for a recall from Apple.

Even though sales reached and surpassed previous figures and records set by previous iPhone sales, this could turn out in some ways to be worse for Apple in the long run.

With more people than even before jumping onto the Apple iPhone bandwagon, expectations for the iPhone have been higher than ever, and the people that have now experienced the failure are sure to feel the brunt of the failure.

While not a huge, horrible tangle of a mess, the antenna issue, couple with the Apple reported software glitches that causes false readings on the signal bar…. This seems something that for the first time that has real potential for an Apple set back.

I personally think that the issue could possibly lead to a more even playing field when it comes to the Android vs. iPhone battle that is so often discussed.

MORE TO FOLLOW AS UPDATES ON THE IPHONE 4 PROBLEMS ARE RELEASED.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-4-problem-2010-6#ixzz0tdpu4LiT

Good related Links and Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYmVpoccPnc

Specs: http://www.androidcentral.com/android-vs-iphone-4-specs

:: NEWS AND REVIEWS ::

There have been some recent new apps release for Android platform, and there are a great amount of other applications available that do some great and amazing things.

The android market has been growing and growing! Androlib.com has just announced that by their accounts the Android Market has just reached the milestone of 50,000 Android Applications.

Below you will find my take on some of the newer releases, and also what I think of some of my most used applications.

:: Recent Android Application releases ::

::

New York Times Application

A cool video display experience, different font size options and the ability to share articles through e-mail, TXT (SMS), and Social Media applications such as Twitter and Facebook, and it works on Android smartphones with operating system version 1.6x or higher.

Designed to take advantage of the advanced capabilities of the Android user interface and includes formatting designed specifically for your Android phone.

New York Times will be a free app available on Android Market.

-

(www.AndroLib.com Description)

3rd part New York Times app comes to Android market! Enjoy the high-quality journalism of The New York Times on your Gphone
-Online/Offline reading
-Full screen view
-Scalable fonts size
-Share with friends via Email/SNS/SMS
-Save interested articles
Updates:
-Performance Optimism

Other related articles here:

(Related Article Here) ditii.com

(And Here) Androidspin.com

::

PINGDROID

Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, Brightkite and more! Update all your social networks from your phone using your Ping.fm account.

* Post status, microblog and blog messages
* Upload pictures
* Add geographic location using GPS
* URL shortening (tinyurl.com, tcp3.com, tr.im, bit.ly)
* Full integration with android apps

::

PingDroid is a Ping.fm client. A darn cool one, and I am glad that something has been released finally that works well and takes full advantage of my Ping.fm account. Before Pingdroid I was going back and forth between my Facebook and Twitter to post. Now I just simply open up the clean looking application, and update simultanesly across all my social media platforms.

The application design is SIMPLE! I like the lack of clutter and the simple setup and ease of use. On the other side of things, I could see people feeling the minimal design as lacking.  The memory footprint is nice and small (580 KB). The buttons are nice and big, and relatively straightforward in their use. One of my complaints is the enter button on the virtual keyboard directly submits your post, and this can at times be annoying, but you get use to it, and it can even at times be handy.

The Menu button brings up several options: Camera, Image, Location, Services and Settings. They all are pretty self explanatory. Location brings up a list of locations. Sometimes I will receive a notice that I need to enable my GPS (When I have GPS off), and other times it will just bring up a list of surrounding places.

PROBLEMS:

The biggest problem is the camera feature. I repeatedly am getting a force close on its use. I can open up the camera, then take a photo, and then after about 2 seconds, the application force closes, and returns to the main screen of the application.

Well, this post is going to be a little different than what I normally write about. This post is about MY city, the place I work, play and live in… Modesto, California. I am going to start with a little background so you now where I came from first, and a little bit about how I got here.

My Origins

I was originally born in Moreno Valley, California… Way down south in the greater empire area of Southern California, east of L.A.  I really only remember a little bit of living there, but I remember enough to know I liked it, and loved the area the that I lived in.

We lived right on the edge of some small mountain ranges, and there was a little horse ranch down the street, and I have fond memories of feeding the horses with my Dad when we would go ou ton long bike rides, with me sitting in the backseat of the old ten speed. As I recall, we lived right on the edge of the city, and not very far from a small golf course and park that were located slightly up the mountain. My brother, Dad and I used to go out  near the golf course and throw rocks in the evening for the bats to swoop and chase, and used to dig in the piles of cut grass for lost golfing tees. I have to admit, it was a good life. Then came the news.

On Us Moving North

Well, when I had just turned 6 years old, my father decided to move us. He had been offered the ownership of a company in Modesto, and my grandfather already also held a position in the company (Environment Control). AS I remember, I was rather upset, as this was the first and only house I had known. I really loved the house, and never thought something could compare to what I had there. Even more upsetting was the fact that we were moving only a few days after my birthday, and that seemed to take away all birthday type celebrations, in my young mind.  I know that in reality things work out for the best, and sometimes parents can’t help but do things certain ways and at certain times… And no matter what, sometimes it will hurt and disapoint their kids.

Well, to make a long story short, we moved to Modesto, California, the 17th largest city in the state of California.  I remember being amazed at the number of trees the city had. There seemed to be trees, big trees, everywhere. Our first house here in town was a small brick fronted rental on Bronson Ave, right across the street from Roosevelt park, and down the street from Roosevelt Jr. High.  The house had a large backyard and a small front yard, with small comfy bedrooms and a brick walled garden that we planted tomatoes in. We did enjoy, as children, the year we lived at the house, as much as I do remember.

After a year or so, we ended up moving down the street, and purchased a house, where we lived for another six years. These six years were spent in child like bliss. The house had everything you would want as a child. A large sandbox took up a good part of the backyard, and in this sandbox sat a large playhouse that was raised up into the air on stilts. My father had taken care to provide us with the simple and profound joys that make such a difference in childhood. One of my fondest memories was our large “Blue Barrel”… This was a large plastic 55 gallon drum that had been used previously to store some type of chemical at my Father’s shop. We used the barrel for many things, including a small swimming pool and a downhill transportation device. Between the sandpit fights and the other million things we enjoyed at the house, the blue barrel still remains one of my fondest memories. As time went on,  my family slowly came to the realization that we would be best suited to live out in the country, and the goal of my parents became to move us out of the city. A large family such as ours (5 brothers, 1 sister) seemed more suited to the country style of living as it was, and also counting on the fact we were all home-schooled from day one, made it so that a large country setting would be ideal.

Moving out of the City

After several years, the finances became available to move out to a large house outside of town to the north, nestled right between Modesto and Riverbank. It was in the middle of 10 acres, surrounded by cattle and some random livestock (Which as children, we had took a special liking to), and several large houses were also located a few acres apart to the left and right of us. This house was again a rental, and even though we did not own the house, it was a home and I can honestly say that the memories that were made at the house were irreplaceable and I could have never have asked for better. We lived for some years in that house, enjoying the benefits of no real neighbors, and no one to bug or to harass us, being rambunctious and rather loud children, which allowed us to be able to discover the joy of explosives, guns,  mud wrestling and the simpler joys of life. After several years, the opportunity to purchase a house on the other side of the city, again one that was outside the limits of the city, (Just barely), presented itself. This house was beautiful and I really was very excited to have the opportunity to move into such a great place.

We ended up moving again when I was 16 years old. Now, This house was one of the nicer houses that we had lived in, although while smaller than our previous rental, it was spaciously built, and the house had been remodeled and it was beautiful, inside and out. A classic farmhouse, white with green trim and a red roof, the house stands out, and was admirable in every degree. This house also had a great property area around it. A huge barnyard and a great backyard that surrounded the whole entire house.

This place, well… It’s an amazing and beautiful house to live in, and I especially think that you really could not ask for better when considering a place to live, especially in the area of Modesto.

Now, Concerning Modesto.

I don’t like living here. In fact, at times I really find myself hating it. I hate how tiny it is. I hate how the people here act and how much crime we deal with. I hate the fact that our streets our not safe and we face a huge problem with crime and drugs. I hate the fact that I might be raising my kids here. I hate that I find myself in one of the worst places to live in the United States (Forbes). I hate the fact the I can’t feel safe while walking down the streets in My city, and have more than a good chance of facing some unsavory character that will challenge my right to walk on that side of the street.

Well, we now come to the subject of Modesto, our original subject of discussion for this post. Lets start with some basic facts about Modesto.

The Good

• CENTRALIZED LOCATION:  Modesto is located in Northern California, 92 miles east of San Francisco, 68 miles south of the state capital of Sacramento and 66 miles west of Yosemite National Park.
• Modesto, a 29-time Tree City USA honoree,^[2] is surrounded by some of the richest farmland in the United States, lending to a ranking for the county as 6th among all California counties in farm production.
• Home to the critically acclaimed Gallo Center for the Arts
• The Xclamation Festival, X-Fest. Now ten years running.
• Modesto is also the home of E. & J. Gallo Winery, the world’s largest producer and exporter of California wines.
• Social Activism: Modesto TweetUp, Love Modesto, A Clean Modesto, and other community and social media movements have become a driving community force in the 209 area.

The Bad

• Modesto is known by several nicknames, some well deserved: “Car Theft Capital of the World“  ”Meth Capital of the World” “Meth-Desto” “Modestojuana”
• Modesto is Forbes 8th most miserable city in the USA (2008) . (Read Article in Modesto Bee here)
• The small town feel has become personally suffocating, and there is a noticeable lack of entertainment and venues catering to quality entertainment. Even “High-end” eating is sub-par and lacks luster.  I admit this is when compared to places such as Sacramento and San Francisco.
• GANG VIOLENCE: There is a massive amount of gang violence in Modesto, especially in South/West Modesto (Related Article) (Related Video)
• The lack of real job and career opportunities: We are experiencing some of the nations highest unemployment rates. (19.1%) (Facts here)
• Lack of good local schooling: High School students and Jr. High students tend the be lower than standard on testing performance.  (Related Video)
• Traffic Congestion: Areas especially around Standiford/Sisk and Pelandale/Sisk have are notorious for afternoon and morning congestion.
• Availability of drugs: I have found that Modesto seems to have a large amount of drugs easily available. In most cases, drugs of any kind are available by just a simple phone call.

Now, some of these points above are matters of personal opinion, and not a city wide felt opinion by any means. While I have laid down some of the points in a rather harsher light, this just comes from living and experiencing a lot of the bad around here in Modesto. I admit, I am young and there are a lot of good things about living here too… Although, when you lived immersed in a world of news and social media, you really do realize how much better things could possibly be.

Now, the good things and the bad things about this city bring to mind several things for me. I find that if my current city is so bad, then we have nowhere to go but up. We can get caught up in the negative things, and focus on all the horrible things that this city is going though, but we can and will approach these things with a positive attitude that will in turn yield a better city, whether it be sooner, or later. I know that we are all responsible for what is going on in this city, good or bad, and we all possess the power to turn around and change the things that make this city what it is.

People doing.

There are many groups and organisations around the city that are doing great things around the city, and they are actually making big differences. Big Differences. I see hope amongst all the clutter, and I know that through real effort and with real people, real difference can be made.

I have actually started to take real notice of the efforts being made to

–

You can watch the video here (BLOWING UP AN ORANGE)

Also make sure and come fan or “like” my new page on Facebook called “I like to blow up things” … Its a great place to share photos and stories of blowing up stuff…

While I have personally have been using a 2.1 ROM for awhile now (Smoked Glass 6.0.1) (TRY IT HERE) I still have been waiting to try the “official” update and see what Android has decided to do with the features that are capable in 2.1.

Android 2.1 brings a fairly large number of improvements and functions for a point release. We’ll all have different thoughts on what specifically will be most welcome in the update since we all have different needs, but voice-to-text and multitouch support in native apps are tops on my list.

While not as visually stimulating as the previous ROM I was using, I still find some of the aspects of the OS have improved. The UI performance is much more “snappy” and the response seems to be much more exact. Also, the built in pinch zoom is a nice standard feature to have, and is useful. There are also a few apps out there now that I have can install with 2.1, (Google Earth, etc) and those are always nice features to have around.

The biggest disapointment I have found so far is the lack of changing the GUI at all. While this may be a somewhat unimportant feature in most aspects, I find that when I get a major and much awaited update (Especially a release that has been delayed over and over again), I really do like a fresh feel and look to be included, even if in some small way. I would have especially enjoyed the NEXUS ONE style launcher, but I can’t complain, as I still do enjoy the slide up drawer that the DROID is still using. (There is an alternative downloadable launcher on the market known as the HELIX Launcher and its included in the Smoked Glass ROM) that does style itself somewhat after the NEXUS ONE style launcher, but I really don’t find that this is necessary, and tends to be a memory bloat of sorts.

Here is a quick list of some of the updates that Android 2.1 includes:

*Key Advantages:*

• Email – Yahoo Mail is now supported – customers can simply sign in with their Yahoo! Email address and password. Note: Yahoo! Email is not available over Wi-Fi
• Pinch to Zoom now available in the Browser, Maps, and Gallery
• Speech-to-Text – Customers can now use their voice instead of typing whenever a text-entry box appears.
• Google Goggles is now preloaded
• The new Gallery application uses 3D layout and shows both pictures taken with the customer’s Android device and images from Picasa Web Albums account online.
• Live Wallpapers offer richer animated, interactive backgrounds on the home screen. Access them with a long press anywhere on the home screen. Tap Wallpapers, then Live Wallpapers.

Concerning Live Wallpapers:

When using the live wallpapers on the Droid, I tended to see some decreased response speed in the scrolling on the home screen, and I also experience memory bloat, which in my personal way of doing things, is bad. I tend to lean towards sacrificing “coolness” in favor of saving memory and maintaining speed. I get plenty of pleasure taking a picture of some cool texture around the house, throwing some cool effects on it in Picsay, and then making that my background. The live wallpapers are cool when showing off the phone, and they do make somewhat of an impression, even if limited in sorts depending on what sort of crowd you tend to be around when showing off your technology ( I can personally tell you someone like my mother or my non-tech friends really could not give a hoot about floating leaves in a pond on the background of the phone)

Here is a cool video detailing some cool stuff with live wallpapers. (YOUTUBE)

Cool 3D Photo Gallery

Developed by Cooliris, the new gallery makes the previous and any other gallery option simply appear obsolete. The gallery is interactive and makes viewing and showing off photos and videos on the phone fun and impressive, and the speed and response is remarkable. Swap & move albums and pictures around. Double tap plus Pinch Zoom in and out of photos. Activate the camera or camcorder conveniently from the application. The live type background that changes on sweeping through the photos is also a nice touch.

Native Pinch-Zoom in Apps

Thanks to Apple/Google recent corporate fights, the Pinch-Zoom feature similiar to iPhone was incorporated into native apps like the browser, Photo Gallery and Google Maps.