Build Your Own Windows Home Server
I was in the market for purchasing a Windows Home Server. What is Windows Home Server? WHS is your own home personal server that will backup your laptops and desktops you have in your household. If they ever crash, you can easily recover your files. Also, the server acts as a media storage server so...
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Build Your Own Windows Home Server
I was in the market for purchasing a Windows Home Server. What is Windows Home Server? WHS is your own home personal server that will backup your laptops and desktops you have in your household. If they ever crash, you can easily recover your files. Also, the server acts as a media storage server so all your computers can easily access the same files. If you’re like me, you setup the home server to stream movies and music to a media extender such as the Western Digital Live TV. The Western Digital picks up all my movies I have downloaded on the server and I’m easily able to stream them to my TV. Sound complicated? It’s really not.
Anyways, back to the building of Windows Home Server. At the end of 2010 HP announced it would no longer be building home servers. HP was one of Microsoft’s biggest partners in their Home Server product line. Now, just because HP dropped out, doesn’t mean you can’t still buy HP Home Servers. Those products are just going...
Samsung Galaxy Nexus Review
I’ve been using the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Verizon for almost a full month. I’m not going to right another review that many other tech blogs have already covered. Yes, we know this is the best Android phone on the market today. However, no phone is perfect. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is no different.
First off, I’d like to tell you a few things I like about the phone.
The 4.65″ display is absolutely gorgeous! I am an app hungry, media streamer, web browsing power user. No way could I still be walking around with a tiny 3.5″ screen, such as the iPhone. When I’m browsing the web on my phone, I need to be able to see what I’m doing on a big vibrant screen. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus has that covered.
NFC (near field communication). I love that the phone has an NFC chip in it. I doubt I will be using this on an everyday basis until payment by phone really takes off with retailers. However, the NFC chip is really cool, because I had someone look up a...
Retiring my HTC Thunderbolt for the Samsung Galaxy...
This is a sad and a joyful day. Verizon’s HTC Thunderbolt was the first 4G LTE smartphone that I had. I remember the blazing speeds of receiving 10 – 20 mbps! However, as of today, December 15, 2011, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has come out on Verizon. This is the first phone in America to have Android 4.0 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich). I am selling my HTC Thunderbolt on eBay (if you’re interested, hey let me know!) I will officially be getting the Samsung Galaxy Nexus tomorrow. I woke up at midnight last night to order online. I knew the Verizon stores would be sold out by the time I got off of work on December 15th. Therefore, I figured one more day of waiting isn’t going to hurt. Plus, I was guaranteed the phone then.
I will no longer be downloading custom HTC Thunderbolt ROMs and posting reviews on my site. However, I will continue to offer support and guidance for all past discussions to the best of my knowledge.
On top of that, I’m not sure how often I am...
How I Save My Precious Cell Phone Minutes
My cell phone provider is Verizon and I’m currently on the cheapest plan available for a family plan (700 minutes). The last few months we really had to crunch the minutes between two phones and one month we even went over by a few minutes. I also accepted a new paralegal position that will eventually allow me to work from home a couple times a week. With the new position, there may be times I need to be on the phone for an extended period of time. I really don’t want to have to keep checking my minutes every months. Also, if I upgrade to the next plan with more minutes, I want to say it’s an additional $20 or so a month. With all this happening at the same time I really thought it might be a good idea to get a home phone. When I say home phone, I don’t actually mean “home phone.” I could pay $20 for a basic Qwest land line that doesn’t even allow me to make free long distance calls, so I wanted to go with a cheap VOIP telephone service. When...
CyanogenMod 7.1.1 Stable ROM for HTC Thunderbolt
CyanogenMod is a VERY popular ROM that has been ported onto many Android phones. Since the spring of 2011 CyanogenMod has been in testing to get it successfully ported over to the HTC Thunderbolt. Now, it’s not officially listed on their site but the user that goes by the name of ‘slayher’ has been working on this and has finally released a ‘stable’ build. Which means there should be minimal bugs.
The only bug that I’ve found so far is GPS lock is still not working out of the box. The fix takes about 15 minutes and I can successfully say that it works for me. I will post the fix a little further down in my post.
CyanogenMod is not like the other ROMs that I’ve tested, posted, and reviewed here on WireValley.com. What’s different about CyanogenMod is that it does not have the Sense 3.0 or Motoblur software that you may be use to if you’ve owned a HTC or Motorola phone in the past. CyanogenMod is “smaller” size ROM since...
Android vs. Apple – Why Apple is For Zombies
If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, or have read past articles, then you know I’m not an Apple fan. I wanted to go in depth and explain why. I believe that you’ll find my points interesting, but I also praise Apple for their innovation.
Without Apple developing the iPhone I don’t believe our phones would be the same today. We’d probably still be running around with basic phones or Blackberry handsets with that horrible web browsing experience. I too had the first iPhone, so I don’t want you to think I’ve never not owned an Apple product before. That would be very hypercritical. I’ve owned numerous iPods along with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (only for 3 weeks), and the iPad.
The first iPhone didn’t even have apps that you could download. However, It was great phone that offered all touch screen, a great web browsing experience, and it allowed me to have my phone and iPod all in one. This was handy because when I was working out at the gym I didn’t have...
HTC Thunderbolt 1700mAh and 1800mAh Batteries
In regards to my post back in June, based on the extended batteries. I’m writing a follow up.
I’ve been using the “cheap” aftermarket batteries that you can buy on eBay on two HTC Thunderbolts and I haven’t run into any issues. I’m not noticing an increase OR decrease in battery life vs. the OEM battery.
I will say this though. Most batteries that are claiming to be extended, or have more mAh over the OEM battery are false. You can download a simple app from the market to tell you your battery’s mAh and my “extended 1700mAh” batteries are reading 1350mAh When I put in the extended battery it would read the full 2750mAh, so the apps do work. My guess is these “extended batteries” are just an original OEM mAh with a new sticker slapped on.
But I’m okay with the cheap red batteries from eBay. The seller I bought from had like 30,000+ feedback and I got two batteries and a wall charge for like $15 – $20!
With...
Why I’m Passing Up the Droid Bionic
Sure the Droid Bionic is the latest and greatest phone on Verizon’s LTE network as of today. However, speculation is next month HTC will be releasing the HTC Vigor which is going to pack a 1.5Ghz dual-core processor. The Vigor will also include 1GB RAM and 16GB internal storage– same as the Droid Bionic.
I went to Verizon Wireless yesterday to play with the Droid Bionic and I really did like it. It was fast, no stuttering when doing fast multi-tasking, looked good with the glass and metal… BUT I don’t like the Motorola junk software that comes with the phone! I REALLY like HTC’s Sense UI that is loaded on my HTC Thunderbolt. I like being able to change my lock screen around with Sense 3.0 and with Sense 3.5 on the horizon, the Vigor will almost certainly come with Sense 3.5 or eventually be upgraded to it.
Rumors have been fairly certain that this phone would be a 4G LTE device on Verizon’s network and today, that notion has been confirmed. So, you can...
Android has Changed my Music Listening Experience
I’m part of a “younger” generation who grew up with Napster and downloading MP3s. The iPod came out when I was in high school and downloading music became the future. I too changed with the times and started downloading more of my music and buying less physical CDs. Earlier this year Sony closed down a CD manufacturing plant in southern New Jersey which leaves them with one manufacturing plant left in the U.S. for Sony.
Now as our cell phones get faster and more music streaming services are launched such as Pandora, Spotify, Slacker Radio, I Heart Radio, (some of which you can get for free), I find myself downloading less now. I never though that was possible but you can pretty much have any song on demand with services such as Spotify and play whole albums for a low monthly fee!
I often find myself getting bored with the music that is currently on my phone. Therefore, I jump to services like Pandora and Spotify to just start playing music without having me do...
Droid Bionic Released. Price Slashed by $50
The Droid Bionic was released today and this is one phone that I’ve been patiently waiting for. I thought I would share that you can already get this phone for $50 cheaper than what Verizon is offering it for ($299).
Amazon, through AmazonWireless.com, is offering the Droid Bionic for $249. Whether you’re a new custom or upgrading from an old phone, you can get the Bionic for this price.
Now, you might think I would be purchasing this today, but after careful consideration I’m holding off on getting the Droid Bionic because:
I’m content with my HTC Thunderbolt.
The Bionic’s price is still too high.
No custom ROMs.
Personally, if you’re already running one of Verizon’s 4G LTE phones, but you’re like me and really want to get the Bionic, just hold off. You’re not going to be able to do anything more or less with the Bionic than you are with your HTC Thunderbolt, Droid Charge, or LG Revolution. Wait until the price drops on the...
Save Your Android Battery Life with 1 Easy App
There are many tutorials out there about how to save your Android battery life by turning off your bluetooth, GPS, WiFi, turning down your brightness, etc. Yes, yes, yes. We all know about these easy steps in reducing battery consumption.
This little app that I’m about to show you is a “set it and forget it” type of app. This app only reduces your battery consumption when your phone is not being used. Even though this is a draw back, it still comes in really handy. My phone is in standby a majority of the day since I’m at work, in school, or even when my phone is just sitting by my side when I’m watching TV in the living room.
With that being said, I introduce to you the app 2x Battery – Battery Saver. UPDATE: No idea what happened to this app, but it’s no longer in the Android Market. Here is another app that is similar – Juice Defender. The pictures below are still in regards to my first battery saving app, 2x Battery – Battery...
Download the New Android Market
Google has added the long-awaited +1 functionality to the Android Market; There’s a brand-new settings menu, as well as click-to-read explanations of app permissions (not developer customizable, unfortunately).
There are also 2 brand-new Market icons to spruce things up a bit.
The size in megabytes of each app, along with its latest update date, have been moved from the bottom of descriptions to the top of individual app pages.
you can now use an optional custom PIN for purchases on your phone, instead of leaving your Google Checkout wide open for anyone that picks up your device?
Download the new Android Market HERE. You do NOT have to be rooted in order to install the new market on your Android phone.
Pics below of the new Android...
How to Overclock Your Android Phone’s CPU
Overclocking your Android phone can give you a little more juice to speed up your phone and possibly improve your battery life.
Things you will need before proceeding:
A rooted Android phone
A custom Kernel installed on your phone (if your current Kernel does not allow overclocking). If you installed a custom ROM, then you may already be set since some ROMs come pre-installed with the Kernel of their choice.
If you need to know how to download/install a Kernel, you can find my guide here.
If you have everything above, then the next process is pretty simple. All you need to do is download an app called “Set CPU” from the Android Market. This app is currently $1.99. However, that’s not much for having total control over your phone’s CPU.
Once you open Set CPU you will have to allow the app super permissions. The next screen you see should be like the one below:
You can then drag the maximum bar and the minimum bar to your desired needs....
How to Install a Custom Android Kernel
Currently, I’m running the SkyRaider Zeus Preview 2 on my HTC Thunderbolt. This custom ROM is loaded with the stock HTC Kernel.
Are you wondering exactly what a kernel does?
The central component of most operating systems. Its responsibilities include managing the system’s resources (the communication between hardware and software components) and can provide the lowest-level abstraction layer for resources (especially memory, processors, and I/O devices)
Developers create custom Kernels so we can overclock, obtain better battery life, etc. Developers can sometimes alter the code to obtain much better results than the manufacture.
There are MANY Kernels available. However, DO NOT FLASH JUST ANY KERNEL to your custom ROM Android phone. Wherever you downloaded your custom ROM from, check their resources to see which kernels are obtainable and working the best for that ROM. So for instance, I’m stating Dream Kernel 2.3.6 is compatible and working just fine...
Fix Voicemail Notification on Custom Gingerbread R...
This is a solution to fixing the voicemail notification that many custom Gingerbread ROMs are being plagued with. However, in the end I found this to be a much better fix because it’s a work-around to get FREE visual voicemail without having to pay Verizon $2 a month.
Visit the Android Market on your phone and search for “YouMail”. YouMail is a FREE voicemail alternative to your regular greeting. As many of us are finding out, when you load a custom Gingerbread ROM on your Android phone, we are NOT receiving voicemail notifications up in the notification bar. Therefore, we’re having to check for a voicemail after every single missed call.
After you download YouMail you’ll have to setup an account. The process takes 1-3 minutes. During the setup process, do NOT forget to tap the button which will start directing all missed calls to your YouMail. When you press this button your phone will dial out, you’ll hear about 4 beeps, and then your phone will...
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