I've had the Citi Dividend and AMEX Premier Gold for quite some time now, but I don't want to pay for the AMEX annual fee when it comes time. The Citi Dividend card has a low APR of 12.24%, and comes with cash back program of 2% on supermarket, gas, etc. and 1% on everything else. The AMEX card has no pre-set spending limit, but the more I understand the complexities of the system, the more I'd rather have a definitive credit limit. Also, the card is set to charge me $175 a year, just to have it. It's definitely going to be the first one to go.

I pay my bill every month and never carry a balance. If you do, don't look at cash back or rewards cards -- look at basic, low APR cards.

I've built a strong credit rating, which led me to search for the best cards available. The Chase Sapphire card has consistently stuck out and impressed me.

Here's the point system:

• 1 point for every $1
  • Points are actually 1% unlike AMEX. AMEX points can sometimes be about .75 of a point per dollar.
  • Gift cards start at just 2,500 points for $25
  • Or, you can pay off your bill in credits -- 2000 points for $20
• 2 points for every $1 on airline ticket purchases
• Like every other program, they have a bonus points mall

Just looking at the above, I'm not interested. My Citi Dividend card pays better and I get 2% cash back on common purchases. But, if you look at the insurance, things get interesting:

• Trip Cancellation Insurance
  • "Offers reimbursement for travel due to covered cancellations, losses and emergencies when you purchase tickets with Chase Sapphire."
• 24/7 Dedicated Customer Service
  • This isn't your everyday phone tree. Call the number and reach someone -- anytime.
  • "For direct access to a real person, just call the number on the back of your card. You'll be connected to a Chase Sapphire customer service advisor immediately -- without pressing '#.' Guaranteed."
• Chase Global LifeLine
  • AMEX has features like this, but as I prefaced earlier, I can't reconcile paying a $175 fee just to have a card.
  • "Whether you're traveling within the U.S. or abroad, emergency service assistance -- including Emergency Card Replacement and Cash Access -- is available to you around-the-clock."
• Concierge
  • Usually, you'd have to pay $450 at AMEX for this service. In this case, it's free -- anytime.
  • "Chase Sapphire comes with a complimentary concierge service. Call anytime, 24/7, and a personal concierge can give you recommendations on restaurant reservations and entertainment, and even help you select the perfect gift."
• Travel and Emergency Services
  • You might be liable for fees, but at least you'll get help.
  • "Get help coordinating medical, legal and travel services while you're away from home."
• Travel Accident Insurance
  • Most cards have something like this, and it's essentially a basic life insurance for the worst.
  • "Receive coverage for covered common carrier accidental death or dismemberment when you charge your travel fare on your Chase Sapphire credit card."
• Trip Delay
  • This is truly unique for such a cost friendly card. Once again, something you'd usually have to pay an annual fee for.
  • "When a covered trip is delayed more than 12 hours due to a covered event, expenses incurred as a result of the delay, such as meals and lodging, are reimbursed."
• Lost Luggage Reimbursement
  • "Carry-on or checked luggage is covered if lost or stolen when you purchase your common carrier ticket with your Chase Sapphire credit card."
• Baggage Delay
  • Yet another benefit/feature that's unique to this card and gives such tremendous value.
  • "If your checked bags are delayed for a period of 18 hours or more by a common carrier, you will be reimbursed for the emergency purchase of covered essential items."
• Auto Rental Insurance
  • "Receive coverage for covered damage due to collision or theft up to the actual cash value of most rental vehicles. Remember to charge your entire rental transaction to your Chase Sapphire card and decline the rental company's collision damage waiver."
• Purchase Protection
  • "Eligible items of personal property will be replaced, repaired or reimbursed within ninety (90) days from the date of purchase due to covered reasons."
• Extended Warranty Protection
  • "Extend the length of the free repair period under the original manufacturer's U.S. warranty up to one additional year on eligible warranties of three years or less."
• Price Protection
  • "Receive a refund of the difference between the price you paid for an item on the card and a subsequent covered lower advertised price for the same item within the first 90 days of purchase."
• Return Protection
  • "If a retailer will not accept a return within the first 90 days of purchase, you can get reimbursed for the cost of an item purchased on your card."

All-in-all, these benefits add up to one great card. While there is a preferred, annual fee version, I wouldn't recommend it unless you're traveling year-round or for your business. The basic, Chase Sapphire card is an excellent choice for those with excellent credit.

Feel free to check out the card here: http://www.chasesapphire.com/ and if you signup today, it looks like you'll get 10,000 bonus points (equal to $100).

For a complete list of benefits: http://www.chasesapphire.com/card-benefits/view-benefits/

When the Droid was first released, a couple of interesting accessories from Motorola followed suit. I was dismayed to find hefty, $29.99, prices for things like the Car Dock and the Droid Multimedia Station.

There's no reason that some sort of magnetic, plastic dock should cost so much. And for what? The docks are nice, but hardly a necessity. In fact, if you want to mimic the Car Dock's features, just press the Car Home app in Android 2.0.x. But until now, users haven't been able to mimic the Multimedia dock feature.

I was simply browsing the top app list in the Market, when I found an unassuming app called DockRunner. DockRunner is a FREE download and mimics the Droid Multimedia Dock (shown above on the left). The time, weather, music, pictures, etc. are all displayed and the phone thinks it's in the dock!

Save yourself $30 and just download this simple app. Desperately want a cheesy, clunky, plastic "dock"? May I suggest making your own? Stay tuned for a DIY dock later this December!

As always, with the help of Twitter followers and Luke, we've created a list of the Top 3 News and Weather apps. What we found particularly difficult was collecting apps that would actually do everything we needed from a news and weather application. I continued to go to different apps for more relevant and specialized content. Tell us what you think in the comments below and enjoy.

• USA Today - [Link to Site]
  • Winner: Best All-Around News/Weather App
  • The 678kb USA Today app is powerful and fast. Flipping through the different panels of Headlines, Scores, Weather, Pictures, and Snapshots is a breeze. The application is set to update each time you start up the program and can be manually updated on the bottom of the screen. Weather is conveniently located in the banner with degrees Fahrenheit and basic weather logos. This program does headline news really really well with an elaborate array of: Top News, Life, Money, Sports, etc. By clicking the Weather tab, you'll get a 5-day weather forecast.
  • Dislikes: Weather is by default, set to New York City. Doesn't allow for background news updates. Refresh interval isn't customizable. News articles are little snippets of what a New York Times article would be.
    
• Google Finance - [Link to Site]
  • Winner: Best Financial News Source
  • Unlike it's iPhone counterpart, the Droid doesn't have companies like E*Trade developing stock and market apps. Fortunately, the Google/Android team has created the Finance app. The application is a bare-bones streaming quote checker for the market. Check anything you want and it will stream the latest quote. In a simple, 3-tab design, the Finance application can have your Google portfolio synced and you'll see all your favorites in one easy to access tab. The "news" tab has a basic collection of overall market sentiment and news. Want to know what is happening today in the market and where your stocks are? Then Finance is for you. Finance comes with a little widget for the home screen that can load your personal portfolio write to your desktop.
    
  • Dislikes: It's too simple. The streaming isn't true streaming, just a periodic update from time to time with the most recent quote. Refresh intervals for the widget need to be quicker. A more graphical user interface could definitely make this application shine.
    
• Weatherbug - [Link to Site]
  • Winner: Best Weather App
  • The Weatherbug application used to be an ad-ware filled mess of spam for Windows computers. Now you can get it for your Android phones! All kidding aside, the Weatherbug application is the most convenient, simple, and easy to use weather app for the Droid. Personally, I use it because it displays a temperature in the notification panel of my Droid. Even on restart of my phone, the Weatherbug application starts up and displays an accurate temperature to my location. I don't need a fully featured weather application--just the barebones; current temp and high for the day. By sliding down the notification panel, I can see the current temperature again, but also see today's high and basic prediction (e.g., "Partly Sunny").
  • Dislikes: The actual application is buggy (no pun intended). The ads can be cumbersome in the free version. The user interface seems a tad slow and outdated.
    

What we still want to see:

• New York Times - [Link to Site]
  • Unfortunately, there isn't a New York Times application like the iPhone. The iPhone version is incredibly powerful and the user interface is truly intuitive. We'd love to see NYT wise up and develop for the Android.
• NPR - [Link to Site]
  • This was previously mentioned in our Top 5 Android Apps article, and we have yet to see the application in the Android Market. Recent reports and news has suggested that NPR is fast on its way to having on for the store. Also, the goal is to make the Android app more feature-filled than its iPhone counterpart. We'll see!

Please comment below or Twitter us if you have any other apps that we should take a look at or left out!

In a singular blog post, the tech news sources went crazy. The Google Mobile Blog, which covers most of Google's progress on mobile platforms, released a post on their "dogfood diet." The blog publicly announced a new device that would test the mobile gadgetry of Google and use the Android platform.

The new gadget will be tested by Google employees and in the meantime, the consumer will wait and see what they have up their sleeve. But like any device that is given to testers, those beta users snap shots, give feedback, and give us the insider information. What follows is a complete breakdown of the impending Google phone and what that means for soon to be competitors (i.e, the Droid and iPhone).

For starters, we'll look at the original blog post that lit the fire:

At Google, we are constantly experimenting with new products and technologies, and often ask employees to test these products for quick feedback and suggestions for improvements in a process we call dogfooding (from "eating your own dogfood"). Well this holiday season, we are taking dogfooding to a new level.

We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.

Unfortunately, because dogfooding is a process exclusively for Google employees, we cannot share specific product details. We hope to share more after our dogfood diet.

TechCrunch.com was one of the first to break the news. The site says that the impending Google Phone will be Google-branded and sport an entirely Google-designed interface with Android 2.1. Along with being an advanced Google phone, the Android device will sport 1GHz Snapdragon processor that has already been tweeted as being surprisingly fast and snappy.

While the phone is being built by phone manufacturer, HTC, the phone will be entirely develop and customized by Google. This is without a doubt, going to be more Google than Motorola's attempt with their Droid. The phone's name is still up in the air, with some calling it the Nexus One and other sources touting it as simply the, Google Phone.

TechCrunch says that the phone won't be sold by any carrier, but rather be a SIM-unlocked phone for GSM carriers. This is where TC may have diverged from a reasonable path. Evidence like Verizon and Google's news suggests that if a new, unlocked Google phone is released that it will be both CDMA and GSM unlocked, and ready for essentially any network in the United States and abroad.

The OLED touchscreen is bright and super-high resolution. The phone is thinner than the Apple's iPhone and features a 5 megapixel camera, which is comparable to Motorola's Droid. And from the camera pictures that we see, it looks like the camera is once again inadequate and just seems to take simple shots.

A new voice-to-text feature is supposedly on-board, which would allow for super accurate dictation of emails, texts, etc. Similar to Ford's new Sync technology, your phone could be told to send an email to a person and then you could speak the body of the email.

Here at MarketMatador.com, we speculate that the new Google Phone may be advertised as a data only phone, with a hope that phone companies will quickly offer data only plans that allow voice calls through applications like Skype. Wi-Fi may be the standard method of use for the phone, similar to Apple's iPod Touch.

There's no doubt that this phone will throw a wrench to Apple's future iPhone sales and also the Droid's recent success. Expect the phone in the second quarter of 2010 for an unfriendly, unlocked, unsubsidized price of $550+.

Stay tuned for more information on the Google Phone as we receive it.

After a several month hiatus from the Android market, version 3.0 has just been released. Fans of augmented reality have already been calling it the "Killer App of the Day." Don't be fooled, Layar Reality Browser is just another method of greater consumerism and hardly a reasonable information source.

Let's say you're in a mid-sized college town like I am. Here in Fort Collins, I turn on the Wikipedia Layer in the browser. My camera proceeds to turn on and show me an on screen radar and grid. I'm supposed to be immersed into the augmented reality. Instead of actually seeing the world, I see yet another screen -- it's mildly depressing. And if I thought the browser was going to truly change my perspective I ought to think twice. For instance, the only Wikipedia blip that results is Colorado State's nearby stadium, "Hughes."

Switching to businesses, I see a mildly larger population, with reviews, and a basic description of the food, service, etc. All the while, I reminded that I'm looking in a little box less than 4 inches, and the camera continues to shutter along while I comically lift my phone to face to look at a building or direction. I look like an imbecile. Perhaps this is the future of technology with these savvy technological devices, but count me out of this one.

Heck, if I want to look at review, location, and the type of food I'll be receiving at a restaurant I use Google's local search and/or a Google voice search with my Droid. Google has a highly developed voice recognition system that easily trumps Apple's iPhone. Command your phone by pressing the mic, and simply say something like "pizza." Google's search is off to the rescue, cataloging the closest pizza places to your location, offering numbers, and addresses. And all the while, I don't look like such an idiot.

Augmented reality is comparable to walking around with a metal detector. Interesting hobby, and I bet it produces a number of 43 cent finds, but is it really the future? I'd advise you to delete Layar Reality Browser after trying it out for yourself.

Leave a comment below, I'd love to hear what you think about augmented reality and Layar Reality Browser!

If you get an update over the weekend, please let us know in the comments below.

I could lay out a pros and cons list, be cliche, and hope that readers enjoy the breakdown. I could focus on Windows 7's major upgrades from Vista and XP. Or perhaps I could look at Macs energy efficient, sleek desktops. They're all appealing directions, but what is captivating me most is the social and business implications of the decision.

Am I the only Mac user that is contemplating switching entirely to Windows 7? The questions just seem all too numerous. Windows 7 has truly surprised me; and I hate to say it as a self-declared "Mac fanboy," but this is truly an amazing operating system.

Talk about the "everything works" stereotype of Macs, I've had plenty of crashes and freezes, it's not perfect! Windows 7 isn't either, but it certainly has moved into the same realm of "everything works." Google Chrome is fully-featured and completely amazing, unlike the Mac counterpart. And many of you will exclaim, "Well, it's in development and will be released for Macs very soon." But therein lies the rub, Macs software is frequently developed second. If you want the latest technology, go with Windows.

I can assure you that I'm not simply going with the age-old wisdom of Microsoft's totalitarian power. My college campus is full of Mac users; in fact, I'd say Macs have a 50-50 foothold on the college crowd. The only thing that stops most college students from buying a Mac is price, but god do they want one. The mystique and blind admiration for Macs is comical. Everyone wants one now, and they're captivated by Macs' unibody designs. Not to take away from them, they're beautiful, but it's what's inside that actually matters to me.

If you want beauty and ease of use, Macs may still have the market. But Windows 7 and the computers that are manufactured with them are powerful and geeky. Like my Droid, it's the power and geekiness that appeals most. Watch out Apple, I see a future where Windows 7 plays a greater role.

Where once I would've considered myself inseparable from the Mac way of life, I'm free. I'm free to choose whatever I want, and what I want most of all is a Quad-Core Windows 7 monster with a slick student discount at Dell ($569!). I feel disgusting even uttering the words, but at least I'll be able to run anything and everything! I'm excited and nervous, but I'm going to try not to look back.

Have you switched to Windows 7 from Mac (or vice versa)? If so, please let us know in the comments below.

Radio distributes content to a broad spectrum of people and shares news and music. Many frequent commuters have relied on radio for their early morning and post-work entertainment. Follow sports on ESPN, world news on NPR, and listen to the latest musical hits. There's still an aesthetic appeal to all of this.

While radio continues to broadcast out to the greater world, the deconstruction and decentralization of all things radio is swiftly occurring. The younger generations have their iPods for starters, and when they grow to have today's smartphones (Droid, iPhone, etc.), they'll probably be getting their news from it too. "There's an app for that" means more than the 100,000 some-odd apps, many a waste, but tens of thousands that can replace our previous needs with a car radio. The NPR app and DoggCatcher are perfect examples of this new web technology that's replacing old audio media.

Many of today's technology is ad-free or has very minimal advertisements. Pandora on both the iPhone and Android devices has nothing more than a little banner image. Unlike even the desktop version of Pandora, the mobile version doesn't have intrusive audio ads. Why would I go back to dialing into a radio station and suffering signal strength woes? Pandora is just an example of what I'm filling my ears with every day.

Part of the reason I love my Droid is because I can't download through the iTunes Music Store; the convenience would entice, and I'd be spending left and right on my iPhone. By turning on Pandora I save money and it's personalized, which I don't get by listening to my own music all the time.

Not to mention that podcasts are quickly replacing my TV watching and are perfect for casual walking. Download them over the air and have them in a couple of minutes. It's the future, and I have it in my hands. I haven't listened to the radio in years, and I'm predicting that they'll quickly lose funding in the next 10 years and wash away. Hello smartphone, you're my always connected computer!

Tell us if you're using your smartphone to replace your radio and music player! Let us know in the comments below.

has a 1.6 GHz Atom Processor, 1 GB of RAM, and a surprisingly large 160 GB HDD.

I've sold my MacBook, and until I splurge on some sort of powerful desktop or laptop, I've got this brand new netbook. My expectations are quite high and I need everything to work. I keep saying in mind, I have papers to write and things to do – it all just needs to work.

Picking up the 3.2 lbs Mini, I know that I have a powerful and sturdy device in hand. The keys are responsive and the QWERTY part of the keyboard is well sized and perfect for my keystrokes. The start time is a little slower compared to other netbooks, but I hardly notice it because I'm constantly having it hibernate.

I start up and log in to Windows XP Home, the computer is slow to allow any start to applications, but I get something open soon enough. It has a convenient on/off button for the WLAN card inside that has b/g wireless capabilities. Which begs me to ask the rhetorical question, “Are you kidding me?” There's a child-like card inside what's supposed to be an ultra-portable netbook. At least throw in Wireless-N. But the switch is effective and nice to have either way.

Connecting to a network, I realize the potential power behind a device like this; I'm connected! Connected anywhere and everywhere these days; internet and open Wi-Fi spots seem to pop up constantly. And I have an on-the-go device that can effortlessly slip into my backpack and go unnoticed because of its svelte weight and dimensions.

But here's where I run into trouble. The device is essentially incapable of running Flash videos. This cracks me up, we're in the tech age right now – how the hell can't these laptops play Flash video? I'm not the only one. Comment after comment on a number of different netbooks talk about “performance.” It's not real performance that's an issue – I can multitask relatively well. It's video that's essentially unplayable and intolerable.

Downloading the latest episode of the Totally Rad Show in HD, I find that the video plays back, and gets better as the video goes along, but it's still stuttering and the frames per second are barely cutting it. The HP Mini 311, featuring an HD-resolution screen can't even playback quality HD content! Seamless playback was never an issue on my MacBook. How does a 1.6 GHz processor and Nvidia Ion graphics card fail so miserably?

The answer is complicated, but the basic idea is that Flash media is processor and memory intensive. In future updates there's hope that it'll be reduced. It needs to be reduced before it'll run on devices like the Motorola Droid in early 2010. There's actually an update coming later this year or next for Flash 10.1, which can be downloaded in prerelease form here. Playback is mildly improved and analysts say that the HP Mini's enhanced GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) will help assist Flash to deliver even better videos.

The bottom line is that I love the simplicity and portability of netbooks. There's tremendous potential behind them and a growing market. People will be buying more of these, and makers of Flash and other HD content will become better producers of content for these devices. Now after a little less than a week of owning the device, I looked at Amazon.com to see the latest prices on my device and comparable ones; I'm shocked, Amazon.com is offering the bigger brother HP Mini 311-1025NR for $479.99 (probably for a limited time). It comes with an added boost in hard disk capacity, RAM, and is fit with Windows 7 Home Premium.

If you need something that can handle video whatsoever, I'd recommend the HP Mini 311-1025NR. But if you're looking at pure portability, look at some of the latest Eee PC's.

The Droid has been advertised as the king of devices and the multi-tasker of the powerful. I naturally said, “Let's see what you're made of.” I had long known about a little company called PDAnet. PDAnet is an app maker for devices like the iPhone or Android software. I had always been tempted to use it with my iPhone, but was unfortunately dissuaded by horror stories and awful reception. The iPhone would require a jailbrake and then the app download; not that big a deal, but much harder then I would soon find out on my Droid.

The Android market and software system is incredibly powerful, but it's taken me a few weeks to understand all of its potential. The market is very open, with few apps being removed because of the open market – users vote to remove an application. The market is so open that PDAnet, maker of the tethering app for my Droid, has a nice little home. Just do a simple search and you're off. Download the app and it'll be on your phone within seconds.

As a previous iPhone owner, this is where I say, “That's too easy, something is bound to fail or block me.” But then I install the software from PDAnet's website, USB tether my Droid, and plug it into my new HP Mini 311 netbook (review coming soon!).

Connect.

Verify.

On.

That's it. On the internet and surfing at rates up to 2.4 Mbps, but it's more like 115 Kb/s average. Regardless, it feels like high-speed DSL, and I'm insanely happy. My netbook can have internet whenever and wherever I want!

I have been reading about tethering for a few weeks now, and have noticed a common theme in forum posts. “Does PDAnet work with the Droid?” Verizon associates have been telling consumers that the Droid “does not tether” and that it will be about “$15 more a month to enable tethering on the Droid [next year].” Verizon is not exactly lying, but it isn't the whole truth. Verizon will most likely announce tethering software a la Verizon-brand to the market next year. After that, Verizon customers will be able to download the software and tether; albeit at a cost, $15 a month. Why suffer the extra cost burden and wait?

Tethering isn't illegal; in fact, the Android system encourages this type of open development, which is geared towards internet for all. Go try it out today – let us know how it works or if you have any questions below.

Caution: Remember Verizon still has a cap on the "unlimited data" -- it's still just 5GB of data per month.

I've been trying to hone in on the most important and vital apps for my new Android 2.0 phone. With the help of Twitter followers and Luke, I've come up with a great list of top 5 Android apps for my wonderfully powerful Droid. If you enjoy this, check out our Top 3 News and Weather Apps for Motorola Droid too!

• Google Voice -- [Link to Site]
  • I've been addicted to Google Voice, it saves me something like $15 to $20 every month on texting and I can call ANY number with a secure, controllable line from Google. Google Voice may actually be more important, relevant, and usable than Google Wave. There's so much potential with this technology. On an Android phone, unlike the closed off iPhone, you can have the Google Voice App take over all calls -- even international ones! By taking over the device, any call that I make through the phone emulates my Google Voice number. No inconvenient Google Voice mobile website for me [on an iPhone], now I just make a phone call. The application transcribes my voicemails and allows for a visual form too. This visual system saves me yet another $2.99 -- Verizon charges that for visual mail access.
  • Downsides: No messaging app support, SMS messages are not pushed (fetched at every 5 mins -- fastest rate), must have a data connection to make phone call through GV number.
    
• Pandora -- [Link to Site]
  • This is nothing new, and it's still the ultimate personalized radio. Pandora delivers a fantastic application and service to Android and iPhone. The experience is hindered by a basic ad on the bottom of the application, but it's nothing compared to the ads and messages that Pandora places on its website. Pandora let's you create personalized stations with a thumbs up/down voting system. It allows you to bookmark songs and artists for later viewing. The application also supports the adding and removal of new "stations" that can be based off of artist, song, album, etc.
  • Downsides: Advertisements on the bottom of application, improper Bluetooth support (doesn't stop playing if Bluetooth headphones are disconnected), and still slow, despite the Droid's processor power.
• DoggCatcher -- [Link to Site]
  • There is no native application to download, subscribe, and listen to your latest podcasts. DoggCatcher is the perfect accoutrement to your powerful device. It comes at a price though, $6.99, which makes it one of the most expensive apps in the Market. In fact, it's the only app that requires a purchase on this list. But it's still well worth it and powerful. DoggCatcher lets you select and subscribe to your favorite podcasts, and unlike the iPhone (AT&T), you can download as large a file as you'd like. While burning through battery, it can download that 131 MB episode of Diggnation for immediate viewing. And if you don't feel like burning through battery life, you can choose to have the device only download new episodes on Wi-Fi and/or while being plugged into power. Unlike Pandora, DoggCatcher responds to disconnects from headphones and Bluetooth, pausing where you are.
  • Downsides: Price tag ($6.99), no automatic downloads despite a subscription (still need to queue downloads), and small selection of suggested podcasts.

• i Music -- [Link to Site]
  • The internet has a number of ways to illegally download music. LimeWire and Kazaa are things of the past. So many people put music straight onto their websites, and it's just a matter of finding the songs. i Music is a powerful music search app that finds exactly what you're looking for. Looking for a Beatles song or something by Bob Dylan? Search on i Music and you'll find the song. After finding the song you want, you can legally listen to the song or you can illegally download it to your Droid. This is a gray area of copyright laws, but there's no doubt that downloading songs for free is still illegal. Whether you just NEED to hear a song once, or want to grab it for free, i Music a prime example of the power of open-source and spits in the face of Apple's closed system.
  • Downsides: The user interface (UI) is hideous, ads are on the top of searches (making queries unintuitive), and the apps widget is appallingly simple.
• FxCamera -- [Link to Site]
  • The Droid camera is finally fixed! But the basic camera application doesn't leave a lot of options for users. That's where FxCamera comes in. Offering basic image additions like the Toy Camera effect makes images look aged and artistically designed. Just look at my Twitter pic. FxCamera doesn't have some of the editing features of PicSay Pro, but it does spruce up the the basic camera. The application simple, and is relatively quick at launching the camera and processing the picture with its effect. What's missing is the ability to truly take over the camera and by default, launch the app after a picture has been taken.
  • Downsides: Doesn't connect with the Droid camera by default, needs more effects, and could use a quicker user interface.

Runner up:

• Twidroid -- [Link to Site]
  • A powerful Twitter client for the Droid, but still with a variety of faults. Twidriod is quick and actively processes new tweets in the background -- seemingly using very little battery from what I've seen. And you always know when you have a Twidroid notification; the program has its own notification light, it's a cool blue. But it doesn't give users trending Twitter topics, and the app doesn't have a proper widget for the Droid quite yet (free or paid).

What we still want to see:

• NPR -- [Link to Site]
  
  • The public radio company has yet to produce an app for the Android platform. The iPhone has a beautiful application that is insanely powerful and convenient for users. Android users are seriously missing out from any solid NPR player and program. It's the single app that I miss most from the iPhone.

Please comment below or Twitter us if you have any other apps that we should take a look at or we left out!

Apps:
We all know that there aren't enough, but it's growing and there are some decent apps already out there.

Navigation:
Google Maps with Navigation is an amazing upgrade. But it's buggy, slow, and a major battery hog.

Screen:
The screen is brilliantly clear and responsive. Great for watching video on YouTube or through a podcast. Unfortunately, it's been picking up finger prints too easily.

Speed:
The home screens are slow to switch between pages, but the actual in and out/start and close of apps is incredibly fast.

Camera:
Definitely better than an iPhone 3GS, but not a major step up. The camera has so much potential and this may just be a software error. It's slow, unresponsive and hard to tell when you've actually taken a picture.

On-Screen buttons:
Sometimes unresponsive. Frustrating, and I wish their was a better "home" button like the iPhone.

Battery:
Hard to charge the unit with a computer or on a non-traditional USB charging device. The Droid has to be plugged into the wall charger to make any battery progress. Otherwise, the battery life is fantastic after a full charge.

Google Voice:
Definitely a major upgrade over iPhone's non-existent support. Phone calls are quick and the quality is surprisingly good. This is such a time saver! Needs to send SMSs into the Messaging app for a more seamless interface with the phone (but that's an upgrade that the individual app needs to do).

More to come! Stay tuned and subscribe to Twitter updates @DrPsychology

Updated: Camera now works great! The focus is back and is taking fantastic pics! Now, head on over to this post to see the Top 5 Android Apps for the Motorola Droid!

For many US iPhone users, that means you can now choose between T-Mobile and AT&T. And if you're abroad for any reason, pick up a cheap SIM-card and plug it into the iPhone--you should have no problem (as long it is also a GSM carrier)!

Check out an eBay auction that is now advertising a 3.1.2 iPhone 3GS that's unlockable with Blackra1n.

Keep in mind that jailbraking can void your warranty! Watch out and mind the risk.

Facebook iPhone update: 3.03 with bug fixes coming soon, and 3.1 with push notifications to follow.

From Joe Hewitt on Twitter.