App of the Day: iSyncr WiFi Add-on

I'd been using iSyncr for a while with iTunes, but to be honest, I wasn't actually buying too much music on iTunes since it had a brain fart and wiped out $150 worth of my music.

But I recently set up a PC with Windows 7 Professional and iTunes was one of the applications my daughter uses a fair bit to sort out music and playlists for his iPod.....and I got back into it.

OK, so I bought some songs. Time to check out how to best handle them with my Samsung Galaxy S Android phone.

I bought the iSyncr Wifi Add-on (US$1 / NZ$1.22). It works with iSyncr 'regular' except you don't need a USB cable to sync. You do need a Windows or Mac PC for the PC 'server' of the iSyncr app to run on. (I have not tried it in WINE on Linux...mainly because I don't run iTunes on Linux - yet).

The app let me choose the categories I wanted to sync (music, movies, photos...etc) and then it just syncs them. Playlists, too. DRM-protected movies do not sync. Music comes across fine as mp4 files as usual if you use iSyncr. That's what I was mainly interested in and it works great.

If you have any use for iSyncr then I recommend this add-on. Getting rid of the USB cable is just that wee bit better.

My New HTC Sensation

I received my new HTC Sensation smart phone today. It's compatible with the Telecom XT network (and AT&T in the US; Rogers, Telus and Bell in Canada; Telstra in Australia).

I cut straight to the chase, ripped the box open....and made this video!

My Lifestyle transition from 'Big Iron' to 'Mobile Man'

I worked on the Big Iron (mainframes) in the 1980s as a mainframe operator and systems programmer. I moved to PCs and servers in the 90s. In the Naughties I became a citizen of Laptop Nation. Each step enabled me to be more free and more mobile and to access more "stuff": multimedia, Internet.....anything digital.

Now? I'm Mobile Man. If the device can't transmit, I don't want it. Dead weight. Why would I want a camera that can't instantly send images to wherever? Or a PC I can't just put in my shirt pocket?

I gave away my laptop over a year ago to my uni-engaged daughter. My main computer, camera (still & video), stereo (nice old word), comms device of all types (email, txt, FB, Twitter, phone), is my (multi-tasking, access any data anywhere, any time) Android smart phone.

The last bastions of PC required-ness are the touch-type keyboard for lots of words in a short space of time; playing big games on a big screen; and video editing....and even then it's a close-run thing on all counts.

The SlideIt "swipe" soft keyboard I got from the Android Market for lunch money allows me to quickly type a lot of words very accurately by just swiping my finger around the screen. I'm writing longer and longer things this way.

My phone has an HDMI out port, so if I had an HDMI TV ( I don't - my bad), I could already be playing phone games on a huge screen.

For video editing. "Vid-Trim Pro" lets me me basic selection of the chunks of video I want. Usually thats all I need anyway. The PC still does the heavy lifting.

But on all counts....I can see the day very soon when a large screen phone or phone / tablet / netbook device will do it all.

When I get my hands on one of those, I'll be Liberated Super Mobile Man. If you get on that bus first, save me a seat. I won't be long.