Battle of the PDF Readers - G1 Apps and Games

After doing some research and banging my head against a wall, it seems I've come down to 2 choices.
BeamReader PDF Viewer or Documents to Go
Having read review after review, Beam seems fine for what I need (reading PDFs on the go), but it still seems a bit of a mixed bag. Reports indicate it's not as "feature rich" as Docs to Go. Of course, the "feature rich"-ness of Docs to Go includes editing MS Office docs on the go... something I don't have a real NEED for at this time... but could in the future.
The obvious solution is to just purchase the cheaper of the two (Beam) and live with my choice if I do need better features in the future.
Instead, I'd rather go for the final showdown and get the view from fellow forum members.
Thoughts?
(Lack of links to said apps on Androlib is a result of my n00b status:
To prevent spam to the forums, new users are not permitted to post outside links in their messages. All new user accounts will be verified by moderators before this restriction is removed.)

There is a free PDF reader by Maciej that does a perfect adequate job for those who occasionally need to view a pdf. It's not the fastest, but doesn't appear any worse that Beamreader when I tried their free trial.

I'm happy with Repligo Reader

Related

RSS / Podcast Fever!

Hi guys. I'm kind of newish around here compared to some/most of you... I just realized how cool and useful and stuff it can be to use my 8125 to read RSS feeds/podcasts. I was hoping some of you guys who subscribe to RSS stuff (not just with your phones, but PC too) wouldn't mind sharing some of your feeds with me. Blogs, news, comics, miscellaneous stuff... I don't care, I'll be the judge of if I want to see it or not.
I see with some readers, they are able to import/export lists in OPML format.. so I figured that would be a good standard to go by, unless you just feel like typing everything out, that works too.
This isn't just for me, it's for every inquiring mind who wants a new feed to look at in their daily routines.
I'm still deciding on what RSS reader to use... I'm testing out egress and newsbreak. Hubdog takes up a lot of memory but at least it's free (and it was pretty good except for the memory stuff). pRSSreader is free but it was also pretty good. I know there are a LOT of threads on RSS readers for these mobile phones, but if anyone wants to throw in input, maybe hand me a reader I haven't thought of/heard of before, I would appreciate it.
Thanks guys, I'm looking forward to what everyone likes/thinks is worth their time.
I use SPB Insight not free but very good, has a feed guide built in with the top threads. Might be worth thinking about.
I personnaly use pRSSreader, a great freebee...
See more here : http://pda.jasnapaka.com/prssr/
What i like best ?
The ability to cache some webpages on a SD (let's say) to have an off-line reading...
thanks guys, I was really looking for what feeds you subscribe to and stuff
I like pRSSreader too. i haven't tried SPB Insight, hope they have a free trial!
Anyone else?
Make it free
jonflow said:
thanks guys, I was really looking for what feeds you subscribe to and stuff
I like pRSSreader too. i haven't tried SPB Insight, hope they have a free trial!
Anyone else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this "65217953" and make the insight free.
banerjeez said:
Try this "65217953" and make the insight free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks my friend but it didn't work!
Not sure if I like SPB Insight anyway.. I only do a couple feeds that contain podcasts, but it doesn't look like insight supports podcasting at all. I don't want to be hindered later...!
Anyone else have any RSS lists they don't want to submit?
the two forums that i probably check the most often are the xda wizard ones...and fatwallet.
hot deals at fatwallet
http://www.fatwallet.com/rssfeed.php?c=18&deals=50
free stuff at fatwallet
http://www.fatwallet.com/rssfeed.php?c=22&deals=50
finance at fatwallet
http://www.fatwallet.com/rssfeed.php?c=52&deals=50
for reader, i usually futz around with pRSSreader...only because it's free and functional.
I found a great site for OPML sharing, it is located at http://share.opml.org
Thanks to all zero of you were nice enough to suggest an RSS reader (i asked you not to do this) and to share your RSS feeds lists (only one person got close). You really made this thread worthwhile. I hope the extra ~60 seconds it would have taken you to export your feeds to an OPML file and upload it here were spent wisely.
Nice find jonflow, that site has helped me fill up my list of feeds quite nicely. I've avoided the RSS reader thing altogether and just sync accross my RSS feeds using Outlook 2007. They appear in an RSS feeds folder in Messaging, and they even get pushed out right away with OTA sync, it's an intergrated lazy man's match made in heaven.
Try looking at NewsBreak2.0 I tried it out with some video podcasts too, but for some reason they would always lag, otherwise I really like it.
Eh, I don't subscribe to any podcasts, vidcasts, etc... I don't really get anything through RSS that's easier for me to get through email, so I've never seen the need for another app in RAM that'll check info thats a pain to read on the small screen. I've also been testing rssfwd.com, and I'm really liking that since it makes it much nicer to get a daily digest like with Slashdot.
Code for SPB Insight 1.5.1 newest version (trial can be downloaded from spbwarehouse.com)
Admin edit: code removed.
Code is my personal unlimited license (can be distributed as much as I want " my reward for beta testing")
enjoy

Optimizing Views

Hey guys, wanted to post this publicly because I think we can throw ideas around, not just between people on XDATV but with anyone interested. Basically, I want to share some of the things I've learned from youtube over the years about optimizing the impact of our videos. If we work together on this, everyone benefits.
I assume everyone wants to see their view count go up. We make videos for people to watch, and the view count says how many times they've been watched. So that's the goal, and these ideas are all about achieving that goal. For each idea, I'm putting what we'd do, and then explain why.
1. Post only on your designated day--or if you must, on a day when no one else is posting--so there is only one video posted per day.
Most of the views come from that Latest Video on XDATV box on the right hand column on the portal. At the very least this idea is a courtesy to one another because we aren't taking time on that prime real estate away from each other. Our videos shouldn't compete with our other videos. We're working as a whole, however disjointedly. I wouldn't post more than one video a day even on my own channel for the very same reason. Actually, that's not true... I have posted more than one video in a day on my youtube channel before, with the explicit intention of burying the first. Because that's what posting more than one video a day does.
Videos do not work like blogs. Especially not when the videos are time-sensitive, as many of our videos are. And looking on every other tech blog that also makes videos, you'll see they do this too. The reason the first video gets so few views is because even the most dedicated viewers tend to check Youtube only once per day. Also, the longer a video goes before the next is posted, the more views it gets. Something to keep in mind if you want to post more in a week than your timeslot allows.
2. Tell the viewers to subscribe to the youtube channel, or at least to check out more of our videos.
Currently, our videos are averaging more views than the xdadevelopers youtube channel has subscribers. While that's a good indication of future growth, it still means that more people are watching than are subscribed. Often, people just forget to do it. Given the linear growth in subscribers versus the radically varying video views, it means that we aren't building a steady viewer base, we're mostly getting one-time views in passing.
Now, I know we're here more or less to provide a service to the forum, and if that's all we want XDATV to be, then there's no reason to follow this idea. However, XDATV could be a great marketing tool for xda-developers, which would make the relationship between XDATV and the forum less parasitic and more symbiotic. Bad analogy, but I can't think of a better one right now. I can't think of any reason why we wouldn't want XDATV to bring people to the forum and likewise, instead of only the forum bringing people to XDATV. Our subscriber count means nothing on the forums, but on Youtube, subscribers mean baseline views. (And if videos are getting far fewer views than the channel has subscribers, something went very wrong. That's the case with my channel, went on too many hiatuses.) Building it needs to be a big focus.
3. Provide links, article titles, tags, and video titles with each video.
For the most part we all provide article titles and links, but the more, the better. Internet searches pick up on everything in the video description, so the more detailed it is, the more traffic your video will get. Tags and video titles are the same, but we don't do them. Tags provide keywords. You know this, I'm just reiterating. Imagine every reason you can that someone might need your video. Your tags should be all the words you think they would search to find your video.
Lastly, the video titles. When I find tech videos for other sites, if it's news they title it with one or two of the biggest headlines, put ambiguously. That way people searching for any related headlines will be more inclined to watch. Stuff like "NEW EVO 3D!!!!" or "Xperia Mini Revealed!" And so on. And trust me, people click it. If it's a tutorial, review, or even interview, the title tends to be what you can do with the info in the video. Chad sorta did that a bit ago, but it should be simpler. Something like, "Root Your Desire HD". Shawn, your interview with Mendozinas could have been titled "Make Your Own Themes on Android". The titles are relevant, but capitalize on what people can get out of it, rather than what it's about or, as we're titling them now, what it is. And then, providing these things for Svetius will make his job a whole lot easier.
I was pretty sure I had more, but I forgot for now. So go make words below this post, preferably in some coherent order and pertinence.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA Premium App
Werd. Agreed. I don't give XDA as much love as I give the other two sites I work for. I might start soon.
Azrienoch, the podcast should also pick up the viewing count and any description added to the files, so such information is always good, particularly links.
I just hope that we can get the update process sorted out so you guys can do your encoding and then update the podcast without any effort on your part. I'm not sure what we need to do to submit the podcast to iTunes etc, but I am reluctant to do so until the podcast is updated promptly (I guess I could open it up for other users to upload the videos instead, but that creates other issues).
At the moment, there will be a two week gap in updates as I won't be able to do it until the end of the month.
There are still some adjustments I want to make to it (icon, description etc), so if you guys want anything altered or changed then let me know. Most parts are adjustable (I've noticed that meltwater is in the copywrite bit - it only showed up on my GoogleReader, I'll remove it when I can - it is because I'm using my FeedBurner version of the youTube feed to get around my access issues...which I setup a while back).
If we want to move it to a common account or something then it will have no effect on the podcast link itself (as you just update feedburner account). Also we can set-up a common feedburner account too if you guys want to view the stats.
As of Today, the stats are: 896 views of 34 items
If only youtube would re-enable the rss feeds directly and then the podcast would also count on the viewing count too. I can also add a podcast item about subscribing to the channel too, but not everyone wants to use data-plans to access content on the go.
A better line of communication with the news team and owners/maintainers of the site wouldn't hurt, either. At the present time it's like a 5 story office building, and the door is locked to each floor, so you have to call and request it to be opened over intercom.
Today's stats are: 1,446 views of 34 items
Shame as it is just starting to grow, it won't be updated for a while.
meltwater said:
Today's stats are: 1,446 views of 34 items
Shame as it is just starting to grow, it won't be updated for a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries, man. We're in this for the long haul.
azrienoch said:
No worries, man. We're in this for the long haul.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shall look forward to the new videos when I return! Cheers.
Great tips, Jeff.

Who wants to be in podcast/video show?

Attention Mods/XDA staff. We have permission from svetius to post this here. I wasn't sure about doing this either, so I made sure to ask first. We will not directly link to our site so that we do not leech traffic from XDA. We aren't trying to compete with XDA either. We are looking for interns/unpaid staff interested in tech and mobile news, so the job board doesn't fit us.
Alright guys, here's the deal. I'm looking for video/podcast personalities for a website I'm involved in. The site is Install or Not dot com. I'm not linking to it directly so we don't get in trouble with XDA by leeching their traffic.
If you are interested in becoming a personality and can commit to several hours a week in recording audio and/or video, please post a reply here, and we'll talk about it.
There are three unpaid positions available at the moment. We're looking for video personalities, podcast personalities, and media editors. Requirements for the positions are listed below. You may be able to do more than one thing if you want to and are good enough.
All positions must adhere to the following rules:
- You MUST be able to commit at least five hours per week to recording and researching the shows.
- Media editors may need to commit ten or so hours, depending on skill if they are doing shows as well. You need to be available during the week and on weekends.
- You must be able to work within the site guidelines that we set.
- You must be able to be fair and unbias in your discussions. I don't care if you hate Windows Phone, iOS, or Android. You have to be a fair reporter.
To apply for a spot, please prepare a sample of your ability for me to preview.
Podcast sample should feature you talking about two different articles of your choosing for a minimum of ten minutes. Podcasts are meant for spinning out the news and discussing it with others. Try to put your own spin on the news. Make it entertaining. It doesn't need to be funny, it just needs to hold my attention. Feel free to work on submissions as a team if you know other people who want to be involved.
Video samples should follow the same guidelines as the podcast. I'd prefer to see a ten minute video of you talking about a few articles or topics that interest you. Videos are more generally targeted than podcasts. Again, this needs to be interesting and entertaining. it does not need to be funny, it just needs to hold the viewer's attention. Videos are solo pieces.
Editors should either team up with others who are submitting clips, or make a work on their own from the podcast and video guidelines. If you have prior experience in editing, you may submit any prior work as well, so long as it is appropriate. (no porn )
FYI: The positions are unpaid internships.
Site guidelines are set by myself and the owner. They may change from time to time, but you will always know in advance. Generally, just use common sense. It's not MTV or Cinemax; it's a tech news blog.
We don't want excessive profanity in any media on the site. A few bad words throughout the media is fine, but nothing excessive, and nothing horrible. If you can't say it on cable TV, you can't say it on our site either.
Be open to new ideas and other operating systems or OEMs. I don't care how much iOS pisses you off, or how bad Samsung screwed you over on a phone. You will report on the news in a fair and balanced manner. This includes reporting on iOS, Apple, Motorola, RIM, webOS, Symbian, and anything else you can think of that might make you cringe. If you can't wrap your head around being fair to everyone, do not apply.
I too being involved in the site can say, this may look like not such an appealing postition for now, as it's unpaid - but we will surely value your contribution, which can in future but you on our regular team.
Some of the incentives of doing the job are:
Attend tech events
Gadgets to review
Meet big shots of the tech arena
Make a name and get fame for yourself
Adds value to your CV, which employer would not like a person who is popular on the internet ? This might become your full time job, who knows ?
A business card with a fancy position
An identity which can never be erased, yes that's the beauty of the internet - you might be gone and forgotten in the world, but on the internet your name and work will always stay !
And some other perks too, which I'd rather not mention on a public domain.
Besides, I would also like to tell you, you don't need to be a pro at anything to do this job, just be enthusiastic, dedicated and responsible - though you should know tech and shall be able to speak english !
Age, Nationality, Location, Occupation or Gener all of those do not matter as far as you can do the job !
So hit us up if you think you are in for it !
PS: If you think, audio or video is a bit too steep you can even write for us
Bump to the top.
Okay guys. I would like to participate in it. As you previously said that we can even write articles for you, I might be interested
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using xda premium
Back to the top.
If you guys know anyone who might be interested in doing this, please send them here as well.
Bump to the top, for the interested lot ! Send those PMs right away
Bumpity bump bump
boborone said:
Bumpity bump bump
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interested, or just sending to the top?
We're looking for news writers as well.
cajunflavoredbob said:
Interested, or just sending to the top?
We're looking for news writers as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Too ugly for on air but yes I am interested in a writer position. Unpaid is completely fine with me. Plus a bump for old xda'er buds.

[WEEKLY POLL][N0.1]What is the best MS Office suit?

I am starting a poll series, with one new poll on APPS and THEMES every week. Please vote above and we all appreciate your help in choosing the best apps for our beloved Nexus S.
This week's question is: What is the best MS compatible Office app for free and paid?
i choice smartoffice2 due to hardware accel. and best document interpretation (only read, not modify)
the only problem is the invasive and non-android compliant interface
quickoffice!
i've tried docs to go, quickoffice, and office suite. voted for officesuite as it was the only one i could find that could properly handle password protected files. this was somewhere around christmas time though so...maybe things have changed.
Buy a winmo if you want the best office suite. This is Android, we have Google docs. Period
I am Shark On Land, and I approve of this message.
Kingsoft- it's the only one of ALL of those that'll open my huge human geography powerpoints with 100+ slides and, even tho the background loses some of its eye candy, it's good enough for me.
I personally prefer think free, it is fully featured and I'm just used to it.
oops! accidentally beamed from my awesome NEXUS S!
Anyone looking for an app for a specific use? we can have a poll to help!
SmartOffice2 has one very nice feature that I think is unavailable on other suites: the ability to convert Office files to pdf.
Little late, but office suite pro is on sale for 99¢ on the play store until tomorrow.thought I'd share.I had to buy it.
Sent from the other side of town.

Google's Philosiphy

Google sure doesn't seem to be sticking true to their own philosiphy. It says we can hold them to it. The way they are treating this device launch goes back on their own statements.
As seen here: http://www.google.com/intl/en/about/company/philosophy/
Ten things we know to be true
We first wrote these “10 things” when Google was just a few years old. From time to time we revisit this list to see if it still holds true. We hope it does—and you can hold us to that.
Focus on the user and all else will follow.
Since the beginning, we’ve focused on providing the best user experience possible. Whether we’re designing a new Internet browser or a new tweak to the look of the homepage, we take great care to ensure that they will ultimately serve you, rather than our own internal goal or bottom line. Our homepage interface is clear and simple, and pages load instantly. Placement in search results is never sold to anyone, and advertising is not only clearly marked as such, it offers relevant content and is not distracting. And when we build new tools and applications, we believe they should work so well you don’t have to consider how they might have been designed differently.
It’s best to do one thing really, really well.
We do search. With one of the world’s largest research groups focused exclusively on solving search problems, we know what we do well, and how we could do it better. Through continued iteration on difficult problems, we’ve been able to solve complex issues and provide continuous improvements to a service that already makes finding information a fast and seamless experience for millions of people. Our dedication to improving search helps us apply what we’ve learned to new products, like Gmail and Google Maps. Our hope is to bring the power of search to previously unexplored areas, and to help people access and use even more of the ever-expanding information in their lives.
Fast is better than slow.
We know your time is valuable, so when you’re seeking an answer on the web you want it right away–and we aim to please. We may be the only people in the world who can say our goal is to have people leave our website as quickly as possible. By shaving excess bits and bytes from our pages and increasing the efficiency of our serving environment, we’ve broken our own speed records many times over, so that the average response time on a search result is a fraction of a second. We keep speed in mind with each new product we release, whether it’s a mobile application or Google Chrome, a browser designed to be fast enough for the modern web. And we continue to work on making it all go even faster.
Democracy on the web works.
Google search works because it relies on the millions of individuals posting links on websites to help determine which other sites offer content of value. We assess the importance of every web page using more than 200 signals and a variety of techniques, including our patented PageRank™ algorithm, which analyzes which sites have been “voted” to be the best sources of information by other pages across the web. As the web gets bigger, this approach actually improves, as each new site is another point of information and another vote to be counted. In the same vein, we are active in open source software development, where innovation takes place through the collective effort of many programmers.
You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.
The world is increasingly mobile: people want access to information wherever they are, whenever they need it. We’re pioneering new technologies and offering new solutions for mobile services that help people all over the globe to do any number of tasks on their phone, from checking email and calendar events to watching videos, not to mention the several different ways to access Google search on a phone. In addition, we’re hoping to fuel greater innovation for mobile users everywhere with Android, a free, open source mobile platform. Android brings the openness that shaped the Internet to the mobile world. Not only does Android benefit consumers, who have more choice and innovative new mobile experiences, but it opens up revenue opportunities for carriers, manufacturers and developers.
You can make money without doing evil.
Google is a business. The revenue we generate is derived from offering search technology to companies and from the sale of advertising displayed on our site and on other sites across the web. Hundreds of thousands of advertisers worldwide use AdWords to promote their products; hundreds of thousands of publishers take advantage of our AdSense program to deliver ads relevant to their site content. To ensure that we’re ultimately serving all our users (whether they are advertisers or not), we have a set of guiding principles for our advertising programs and practices:
We don’t allow ads to be displayed on our results pages unless they are relevant where they are shown. And we firmly believe that ads can provide useful information if, and only if, they are relevant to what you wish to find–so it’s possible that certain searches won’t lead to any ads at all.
We believe that advertising can be effective without being flashy. We don’t accept pop–up advertising, which interferes with your ability to see the content you’ve requested. We’ve found that text ads that are relevant to the person reading them draw much higher clickthrough rates than ads appearing randomly. Any advertiser, whether small or large, can take advantage of this highly targeted medium.
Advertising on Google is always clearly identified as a “Sponsored Link,” so it does not compromise the integrity of our search results. We never manipulate rankings to put our partners higher in our search results and no one can buy better PageRank. Our users trust our objectivity and no short-term gain could ever justify breaching that trust.
There’s always more information out there.
Once we’d indexed more of the HTML pages on the Internet than any other search service, our engineers turned their attention to information that was not as readily accessible. Sometimes it was just a matter of integrating new databases into search, such as adding a phone number and address lookup and a business directory. Other efforts required a bit more creativity, like adding the ability to search news archives, patents, academic journals, billions of images and millions of books. And our researchers continue looking into ways to bring all the world’s information to people seeking answers.
The need for information crosses all borders.
Our company was founded in California, but our mission is to facilitate access to information for the entire world, and in every language. To that end, we have offices in more than 60 countries, maintain more than 180 Internet domains, and serve more than half of our results to people living outside the United States. We offer Google’s search interface in more than 130 languages, offer people the ability to restrict results to content written in their own language, and aim to provide the rest of our applications and products in as many languages and accessible formats as possible. Using our translation tools, people can discover content written on the other side of the world in languages they don’t speak. With these tools and the help of volunteer translators, we have been able to greatly improve both the variety and quality of services we can offer in even the most far–flung corners of the globe.
You can be serious without a suit.
Our founders built Google around the idea that work should be challenging, and the challenge should be fun. We believe that great, creative things are more likely to happen with the right company culture–and that doesn’t just mean lava lamps and rubber balls. There is an emphasis on team achievements and pride in individual accomplishments that contribute to our overall success. We put great stock in our employees–energetic, passionate people from diverse backgrounds with creative approaches to work, play and life. Our atmosphere may be casual, but as new ideas emerge in a café line, at a team meeting or at the gym, they are traded, tested and put into practice with dizzying speed–and they may be the launch pad for a new project destined for worldwide use.
Great just isn’t good enough.
We see being great at something as a starting point, not an endpoint. We set ourselves goals we know we can’t reach yet, because we know that by stretching to meet them we can get further than we expected. Through innovation and iteration, we aim to take things that work well and improve upon them in unexpected ways. For example, when one of our engineers saw that search worked well for properly spelled words, he wondered about how it handled typos. That led him to create an intuitive and more helpful spell checker.
Even if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, finding an answer on the web is our problem, not yours. We try to anticipate needs not yet articulated by our global audience, and meet them with products and services that set new standards. When we launched Gmail, it had more storage space than any email service available. In retrospect offering that seems obvious–but that’s because now we have new standards for email storage. Those are the kinds of changes we seek to make, and we’re always looking for new places where we can make a difference. Ultimately, our constant dissatisfaction with the way things are becomes the driving force behind everything we do.
What exactly are they "going back on"?
"The way they are treating this device launch"
What? They took preorders and said 3-4 weeks. That timeframe still isn't up, and they are currently sending out stock to brick and mortar retailers so they can have a unified launch. What exactly is the problem?
*philosophy
Trollololol
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
Really?! For a TABLET?! It's not that serious.
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2
Damn dude. Get a grip.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
jamerican413 said:
Really?! For a TABLET?! It's not that serious.
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is serious. It's life or death :laugh:
Seriously though, I was just trolling to stir the masses. Take this sh*t with a grain of salt.
Idiots. It will be shipped mid July. Quit crying. They are planning to do (and will likely achieve) EXACTLY what they said.
You could get yourself an iPad...
timmytim said:
It is serious. It's life or death :laugh:
Seriously though, I was just trolling to stir the masses. Take this sh*t with a grain of salt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to much time on your hands
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
P1 Wookie said:
Trollololol
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trollololol Guy
chROMed said:
You could get yourself an iPad...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would never own that peice of over priced trash but thanks for the advice :good:
Got to get in before the ban hammer.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Categories

Resources