Android Social Media

I spent the last week or so investigating the number of different Merchant Services Apps available for download in the Android market. In all the private consulting I do its quite handy to have the ability to take credit card charges at all let alone on my phone while I’m on the go.

Essentially, and for the sake of argument, I found that there are two types of apps in this category. The first type are the apps that are designed to integrate your existing merchant account with Paypal or the like. The second type are the apps designed to provide you with a fully functioning and new merchant account. The problem I have with the first type are the simple expense of the affair. You have the cost of your existing merchant account which probably runs from $15 to $30 per month (paypal is $30) and then the additional expense of either the app download or the monthly fee to the app provider who marries your phone to your merchant account.

In order to decrease overall expenses and keep the system fairly simple I was on the look out for an app/account that would be minimum in expense and from which the app developer could provide me with a merchant account. After doing some basic research I chose Paynet.

Paynet’s app is very simple to use and free to download. I called them directly on the phone to start the application process and after 24 hours I was approved. They sent me a merchant number and after a few setup items online I got a mobile pin number that I used to activate the app. This entire process didn’t take anymore than an hour and its super easy to use. I can use the app or the online virtual terminal to process a charge and the system auto-generates and emails a receipt to the customer if you want. It also keeps a log of all the charges so you can view your past history.

The first charge I made was on a Friday and the funds were in my checking account by Tuesday of the following week. The best part: the monthly fee for EVERYTHING is $10!!!!!!!! I canceled my Paypal Virtual terminal on the spot and am now using this exclusively!

Thank you PaynetSystems for making this a great App and a great and affordable way to accept credit cards online or from my phone!

If you are going to look into this I can also recommend one of the sales reps. I delt with Bill Johansen and he was really great. He has given me permission to list his direct number and email here so that our readers can reach him directly. His number is 1-800-809-1989 Ext 109 and his email is billj@paynetsystems.com. When he asks how you how you found them just mention our website or “jpsquared.” That way Bill will know you saw this article when you call or email. If you would prefer just go to the site and start the application process click here.

Jacob S Paulsen
www.jacobspaulsen.com

If you are in the process of researching merchant accounts I am providing here some additional information you may want to consider.

If you know anything about merchant accounts then you know there are thousands of different providers online that are eager to take your money and set you and your business up to take credit cards. What are some of the different factors that you should consider when looking at Merchant Account providers:

• Account Setup Fees
• Per Transaction Fees (fixed rate fee per charge)
• Processing Fees (% of each charge)
• Monthly account fees (anywhere from $10 to $40 per month)
• Escrow (Often they require a certain amount of money be held in a fund in case your customers request refunds)
• Processing Speed (How long until the funds are in the bank)

If you go with the PaynetSystems.com solution I described below you will find the absolute best of all of these options!

I had a 1st generation iPhone. When the iPhone 3G came out, I traded up and gave my wife the original iPhone. We used MobileMe to synchronize our contacts and share a calendar. It worked great. For the first time in recent memory I wasn’t buying a new cell phone every year; it had become every 18 months. That is, until the iPhone 3GS. I skipped that one probably for the same resaon you’re reading this article. The iPhone is a fantastic device, but it’s not for everyone. Some of us like a little more control. Even before I bought my first Android handset, I was already trying to emulate the things that I liked most about the Android platform on my iPhone.

I dislike comparing Apples to anything. The debate is as pointless as it is old. PC verses Mac commercials are funny; even more so if you own a Mac, or you’re a person capable of laughing at yourself and use a PC. Toss Linux into the mix and you’ve got an interesting situation. Mac people are generally fanatical about their computers. PC people are either all business or didn’t know there was an alternative. Linux users think they’re superior in every way for having discovered the best software is open, non-proprietary and they’ve figured out how to use it.

The problem with Linux in a nutshell is that it exists to be modified to fit a need. It’s open, usually free, particularly stable, and cryptic. It’s employed by elitist sysadmins who bathe as often as they reboot and who pride themselves on using an operating system that is arguably the best of what both Apple and Microsoft have tried to accomplish.

Lots of cell phones run on Linux, but just as Linux is employed and developed to fit a need that’s where they stop. They make calls, they’re stable, and that’s all. Enter Google and Android.

Why did I switch to Android and what have I learned about the differences between the iPhone and Android platforms? I switched because we’ve “gone Google” at work and decommissioned our Microsoft Exchange email server in favor of Google Apps Premiere Edition. I’m a big believer in native synchronization whenever possible, so I picked up a T-Mobile myTouch 3G with Google.

Physically, the hardware is very close to the same size in the hand. The iPhone is slightly wider and longer, while the myTouch 3G is a bit thicker. They both feel roughly equal in weight.  I also found that the way I’d become accustomed to holding my iPhone doesn’t benefit the myTouch 3G. The iPhone’s power/lock button is atop the upper right edge of the device, but the lock/off button of the myTouch 3G is found at the lower right corner on the face. Holding the myTouch 3G in my palm with an index finger on the upper edge, like I typically held the iPhone, results in an awkward thumb stretch to power off the myTouch 3G, and that’s where things get interesting.

Where should the power button be located? Am I holding the myTouch 3G incorrectly? These questions spawned this article and they don’t stop at the hardware. Where Android truly wins is in the ability of the software to run on vastly different hardware. The myTouch 3g is about as close to the physical form of an iPhone as Android gets, and it’s still radically different. But Android also runs on devices with full, sliding qwerty keyboards, trackpads or scroll wheels, bigger screens, and smaller ones. The choice isn’t iPhone or Android anymore; it’s what hardware do you want your Android device to have? Oddly enough, the thing I miss most about the iPhone is that SMS notifications would periodically repeat until I read the message. Now I enjoy a blinking LED when messages await. Why didn’t Apple think of that?

Which brings us to Google. Because Google is platform independent, it’s an excellent and free replacement for Apple’s MobileMe (known as me.com now). Each member of my family has a Gmail address, we all share our individual calendars, Google Latitude allows me to check in on the kids location whenever I want, and since my daughter has a myTouch 3G too, she can use Google Maps turn by turn navigation to direct her to my current location. My wife and son’s iPhones use ActiveSync technology to enable Gmail with true push notification. When their iPhones give up the magic smoke (AT&T doesn’t offer handset insurance on any iPhone), they’ll inherit the myTouch 3G, and I get to refresh my hardware to the latest iteration of awesomeness that Android has spawned.

Chris Swanson
http://www.covertpenguin.com/

When he’s not practicing Krav Maga or training for an AGPMA black belt, Chris writes from his offices in Houston, TX where he serves as IT Director for a trucking, transportation company. He’s worked in networking and systems administration since leaving the US Coast Guard in 1995 and shortly thereafter married the love of his life and raises 2 children. Chris has previously worked with Apple Computers, Kaiser Permanente, and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Chris bathes regularly.

Have you ever been out and about and had need of a specific file on your home computer? The solution is here with the PhoneMyPC app now available in the Android Market. I admit I was skeptical that an app could truly deliver the remote desktop solution over 3G but I was stunned at how well this works

Skip to the DEMO Video

THE APPLICATION:

• Access to all the files: documents, pdfs, ppts, pics, etc that are on your desktop
• Full Monitoring of others including children while on your computer
• Utilize your full desktop browser for websites that otherwise don’t display correctly on your mobile browser.

FEATURES:

(Click any feature for additional info on Dev’s Site)

• Control Mouse+Keys
• Control Screen Resolution Manually or by setting presets for 3G or WiFi
• View Snapshot
• View Live
• Interact Live
• Full MULTI-TOUCH Zoom Control.
• Extremely Easy Setup (View Tutorial Video Below)
• Execute Actions
• Control Processes
• Control Windows
• Install and Access Multiple PCs

LIFESTYLE:

Keep in mind that everything we do here at Android Social Media is geared toward lifestyle. This app really fills all the gaps between what you can only do in your office and what you can do from your phone while on the go. It no longer will matter if you are on the beach in Cali when you need access to your desktop computer.

There are a few other applications out there that will allow you to remotely connect to your computer from your Android device but none have all the features that this supports and none are so easy to setup and maintain.

WARNING: My understanding in talking with the developer is that the app will only be available for $9.99 in the Android Market until the end of the year. As they finish some of the more refined features the app will no longer be in BETA mode and the price will go up. I highly encourage you to get this app right away.

In the past, keeping track of your life online meant logging in to each of your accounts separately. Is your flight running on time? How many minutes are remaining on your monthly cell phone plan? How much money do you have left in your checking account? Now thanks to Pageonce – your Personal Productivity Assistant – you’ll be able to find the answers to these questions and more on a single page. With Pageonce, you’ll have access to what you need to know, when you need to know it, while increasing the security of your personal information.

Your Personal Productivity Assistant will help you save time and money while simultaneously managing your online accounts:

1. Monitor banking, credit card transactions and investment accounts
2. Keep track of frequent flyer miles, travel itineraries and flight information in real-time
3. Track cell phone minutes and get reminders when your bills are due
4. Stay on top of bill due dates and expiration dates
5. Guard against fraudulent activity
6. View your Netflix queue, eBay bids, and view feeds from your social networking sites

And much more…

Source: http://pageonce.com/personal_assistant_android.html

MyMarket is awesome. In short it allows you to scan through the market for great apps without having to see the same junk all of the time. Filter out developers completely or certain types of apps by key words such as theme, calculator, etc.

You can also recommend and bookmark apps to other users of the mymarket app. This is a great idea!!!!The app moves remarkably fast and has all the browsing options you could wish for.

Below I have provided a summarized version of the developers summary and instructions. The complete version can be found on their website: http://www.mymarket.cc/

MyMarket is a customizable overlay for the Android market which allows you to bookmark, recommend, remove, filter and preview items in the listings. The aim of this project is to bring more fun into browsing new and popular apps and games.

- Keyword filter for title & dev
- Description and comments preview
- Bookmark, recommend and remove items
- View recommendations based on user votes
- Basic search function
- My Downloads with Updates
- US and EU market results

Basics

MyMarket works quite similar to the normal Android market. The main categories are “Applications” and “Games” (with subcategories), “My Downloads” and Search, as well as Bookmarks, Recommended and Removed. In the settings users can select US or EU market results, and the way of searching for updates of installed apps.

Browsing

A single click on items toggles the options (detail preview, recommend, bookmark, send via mail, remove), a long click opens the Android market. The light bulb icon brings up a preview of the description and the first 3 comments of an app.

The menu includes the “Change View” to switch between free, paid and both type of apps, and “Filter”. Custom filters can be created to remove items which include certain keywords (in the title or developer name).

Recommendation System

The recommendations of apps and games are generated each hour, based on how often this item was recommended by MyMarket users in the last few weeks. An item needs 4 votes to be included in the recommendations, and the number of votes are displayed below the rating.

Quickfilter

On browsing the category listings and adding a new filter, the last clicked items will be suggested (autocomplete) when entering the keyword.

LOVE IT!!!

Jacob S Paulsen

Part of being highly productive is keeping track of your “to-do” list. We have seen a lot of high quality Android apps in the market place over the last year but I’ve been holding out for an app that synced with Google’s own tasks program that is currently integrated with Gmail and Google calendar.

Last week gTasks appeared in the Android Market to answer my need. So far there is NOTHING fancy about its features or look but at least I can go back and forth between my phone and my computer and maintain the same list of tasks.

This put the final nail into the outlook coffin since Android users now have email, calendar, contacts, and tasks that sync locally and are assessable from any computer in the world with internet access or from your own cell phone.

YEAH! YEAH!

Jacob S Paulsen

I often speak to new android users who are having a problem figuring out how to best set up their email, contacts, and calendar. The purpose of this post is to clarify how to best utilize your android device.

The overall vision: When you get an Android device you are making a small commitment to Google. Android is a mobile platform created and maintained by Google. In the past you might have had a palm device, windows mobile device, blackberry, or iphone. Each has its own unique platform and is designed to work differently. With Android you need to transition to using Gmail, Google contacts, Google Calendar, and Google Docs. This transition should be painless and frankly wise. Unlike your palm desktop or outlook software you will be able to access all your important information from anywhere in the world with internet access and unlike Apple’s MobileMe it won’t cost you a thing. Let’s look at each component and how you can make the transition the least painful.

Email: Right now you may be using a combination of webmail addresses (hotmail, yahoo, etc), and professional address (name@yourdomain.com). Your Android device comes with the default Gmail app and another email app. You will at first be tempted to setup all your non-Gmail email accounts in the email app using the pop3 settings just like you would for outlook. This is a mistake because the email app on Android isn’t very good and because it will mean continuing to login to multiple accounts from your desktop every time you want to check your email.

Instead take advantage of the Android’s strengths by logging into your Gmail account and going to the “Accounts” tab in the settings. Here you can setup up to 5 other pop3 or Imap accounts to arrive in your Gmail. Check the box that gives you the option to reply with the same email address instead of the default one. By doing things this way you have turned your Gmail into an Outlook. All your email from different accounts will be routed into your Gmail inbox both online and in your android. When you reply to emails it will show your email address as the one that the email was sent to and not necessarily your Gmail address. This is a good thing!

Contacts: Its important to maintain all your contacts and address book when you change to your Android device. If you currently have your contacts in Outlook, or any other software export them in csv format. This is a standard feature that even yahoo mail offers. Then go into your Gmail and click on “contacts.” Select the option to import and upload the csv file. Presto, all your contacts are now in your Gmail account and on your Android device!

Calendar: Much like your contacts your calendar can be exported in a csv file from outlook and then uploaded into Google Calendar. Just like Gmail and Gmail contacts, your Google Calendar will auto-sync to your Android device. If you can’t survive each day using Google Calendar alone you can download Google sync software for free and set your outlook or Ical to auto-sync with Google Calendar which will in turn auto-sync with your Android device.

Notes & Documents: Google Docs is an amazing online service that comes free to any Google Account holder. Navigate to http://docs.google.com to get started. You can upload or create new excel, word, powerpoint docs etc. Its really an amazing interface. To access these files on your Android device download the “Gdocs” app from the market. This is currently the only decent app for Android to access your Google docs from your phone. You can even create new docs right on the phone and them upload/sync them to your Google docs account. Its also important to note that you do not need the Gdocs app to view/edit your online Google docs. You can just open your Android browser and navigate to the mobile Google docs webpage which is very impressive.

The transition to android should be painless.

Google continues to change our world and Google voice is no exception. Google voice is currently available upon invite only but then again gmail used to be that way too. Your friends that already have Google voice cannot send you an invite but you can request an invite directly from Google. Visit www.google.com/voice for more info on requesting an invite.

What is Google Voice? Google Voice (GV for short) is unlike anything else on the market. Combining voip technology with google innovation, GV provides a simple solution to communicating with your various contacts around the world.

You first choose a number from the large selection provided. This is super innovative as you can search for a specific string of numbers if you choose. Then you enter all of your existing phone numbers including your home phone, cell, work, etc. Here is where it gets fun.

You set up a default setting for numbers that are not listed in your contacts. These settings include a voicemail greeting and where to route their calls (your cell, work, home, etc). Then you setup custom voicemail greetings and settings for groups of contacts. Perhaps you would like family members to always be routed to your cell and hear a more personal voicemail greeting. Work associates on the other hand can be routed to your work line and receive a more professional greeting. When people leave a voicemail message you get an email with the audio as well as a transcripted text of the voicemail message.

In addition your contacts can send you text messages and these will be routed to your cell phone where you can reply. All this without your contacts ever knowing your cell phone number. You can give everyone the same phone number and design a back system to route them accordingly. Its genius!

You can also access all your texts and voice-mails by logging into your gv account on your computer. The dashboard is very much like gmail where you can label and archive voice-mails and texts alike.

One more thing! In comparing GV’s international calling rates with those of Skype and Magicjack I found GV to be cheaper to call countries that I call. To make an international call I only need to login to my online account and enter the number and click call. GV will then call the number and my cell phone connecting me to the call.

What is the Google Voice App for Android? The recently released official GV app for android brings all the great settings described above right to your cell.

Features include:

1. Make international call via GV right from your cell phone using GV’s cheap rates.
2. Send and receive text messages via your GV number/account.
3. Listen to & read GV voicemails.
4. Add call credit (for international calls) right from the phone.

The possibilities become endless!!!!