Originally Posted by gfunkdave (Post 14664233)

Angry Birds, the #1 game in the iTunes store, just came out in beta on Android. It's scarily addictive.

Originally Posted by tev9999 (Post 15186053)

Any recommendations on a backup app? My Nexus One power button failed and HTC sent me a warranty replacement. Much better than the old days of phone swapping since all of my contacts were automatically synced with my gmail account and music/files were on the SD, but I have to reinstall all of my apps, settings, and so on manually.

I would like something that would archive my settings, installed apps, etc. and automatically restore - preferably from an automatically synced location, like Google does with contacts.

Originally Posted by tev9999 (Post 15125712)

Apps that need data connectivity should work on both the cell data network and wifi. Wifi is usually offers much better performance for things like streaming music, video, etc. Really it depends on the quality of the 3G vs. Wifi signal.

The built in turn by turn navigation (Google Maps) needs a data connection to function properly. The maps are continually downloaded while you move, so if you can't get data you can't get much more than a longitude and latitude. It helps to get an initial lock to be connected to the cell network too - the GPS uses the tower location to get a rough idea of where it is to lock onto satellites faster.

There are some apps that will put maps on your SD card, but they are not free and tend to run close to the price of a standalone GPS I think. There are a couple free options to download and cache maps, but they are rather lacking from what little I have played with them.

For heavy GPS use I think a stand alone unit is still better. Navigation is also a huge battery drain since you are using the GPS radio, 3G radio and heavy display time.

Originally Posted by BobbySteel (Post 15204510)

Sipdroid just launched their newest version which includes support for Google Voice via pbxes.org. It's a bit of a pain to setup initially but it gives you direct dialing via a Google Voice account, which is rather big. No ringback - total direct dialing out of the app.

Originally Posted by gfunkdave (Post 15206404)

But Android supports this out of the box.

In Google Voice, choose Settings -> Making Calls -> Use Google Voice to make all calls.

Originally Posted by BobbySteel (Post 15212737)

That's the ringback & forward service. This is an end-to-end direct dial client. Over wifi or 3G it lets you send and receive calls like a landline.

Originally Posted by aspex (Post 15197081)

CoPilot Live North American version is very inexpensive and works really well. It does require 1.3G of SD card space for the NA map. I used it and was quite pleased.

Originally Posted by gfunkdave (Post 15217768)

No, this is an "end to end direct dial" application. If I select "Use Google Voice for all calls", then any time I call someone, it makes the call through Google Voice. My phone actually dials some access number, but it's seamless and just as quick as dialing regularly.

I also have the option to never use Google Voice, to use Google Voice only for international calls, or to ask me every time.

Voicemail and forwarding options are separate.

Originally Posted by BobbySteel (Post 15255093)

That's not truly end-to-end. It initiates a regular phone network call, then joins the calls based on your outbound call. So it still uses minutes technically. It feels end-to-end but it's hacky since it uses the phone network.

Sipdroid is 100% over wifi or 3G DATA only. Trust me. I use this daily in the UK w/o using any minutes whatsoever.

Originally Posted by BLI-Flyer (Post 15254935)

CoPilot North America (US, Canada, Mexico) is on sale for the Thanksgiving Holiday for $9.99. CoPilot US is also on sale for $2.99.