Mindjet for Android, bad PR

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Edmond

Hope Mindjet will resolve the issues they have with Thinking Space Pro soon on Android. They may lose customers with their recent Android app changes.

So basically, Mindjet acquired Thinking Space Pro, which was a $4.50 app on Android for creating mindmaps. It was a great app until:

1. Mindjet acquired Thinking Space Pro
2. Created the Mindjet for Android free app
3. Downgraded the existing paid Thinking Space Pro app, removed functionalities, stop maintenance, and added ads to it.

So they force people to move to Mindjet for Android. Look at the comments and review of the new app in Android Market – here.

Bad PR to say the least. The kind of things you do to lose your customers fast (including myself) to their Mindjet MindManger for desktops ($399).

Arduino and Android

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Edmond

This is a nice overview video of Arduino & Android by Massimo Banzi at Android Open 2011. Check it out if you are new to open source hardware.

Google Android 3.0 tablet review (Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited)

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Edmond

After playing around the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition for a couple weeks now (gift from Google I/O 2011), here are my thoughts on the device and system:

(This post is originally typed on the tablet.)

I am surprised of how easy it is to navigate applications, the virtual desktop makes it a lot easier to multi-task. I can have the browser, google talk, facebook app, pdf / ebook, and other things all open without worrying losing what I was working on. Flipping through the screens can be done with one easy button.
The graphics is stunning, and it plays YouTube video almost without lag at 720 HD. (My WiFi was the issue.)
Some of the navigation still need time to get used to. And the keyboard… if you can type 80+ words like I do, don’t expect you will type half as fast when you get a new tablet.
However, I think having more productivity apps supporting tablets along with the tablet launch would make Google’s business strategy better. Tablets are not just about games! The OS and the device should be appealing to all kinds of people. For example, when typing a new blog post in WordPress app, why the word suggestion bar doesn’t pop up? And apps from Facebook, LinkedIn, Seesmic, nor Hootsuites are fully supporting tablets yet.
With more screen real estate, I was expecting more widgets being available.

Overall, I like the device because of the entertainment and portability factors. But to make this a business device, in general, tablets have long way to go. It may be good for IM, reading reports or review data visualization / BI. For productivity purposes, get a bluetooth keyboard or go back to a laptop.