Here is a simple introduction:

I was lucky enough to register for the beta trial of swype. I’ve been using it for a couple weeks now and would like to provide a review.

My phone:

T-mobile G1 – Rooted, Running 2.1 Cyanogenmod

My texting habits:

Last time I checked, I’m not a high school girl that has tons of friends in my network and have to be in constant contact with everything dealing with everybody. In other words, I don’t text very much. Mostly twitter, search queries, market searches, etc…

My Review:

After you install swype, your default soft keyboard is replaced with the swype keyboard. I got the following message displayed when activating the Swype keyboard:

This input method may be able to collect all the text you type,  including personal data like passwords and credit card numbers. It comes from the application Swype. Use this input method?

That message is a little scary, and obtrusive. I figure it is because I’m using the beta and they (developers) need to see how accurate the swyping is.

I agreed to the warning, simply because passwords on mobile phones are unsecure anyway and I’m not going to be doing any texting that incriminates me. Which brings up a good question, do you enter credit cards, passwords and other personal information using your cellphone?

Pros:

• The Swype soft keyboard alone is nicer then the default Android soft keyboard.
• It’s fun to swype. When you first install Swype, you’ll quickly realize that you will have to memorize the keyword for swyping since you can’t see half the keys as you move your thumb around.
• It’s amazingly accurate. Even on words that you know you messed up on, Swype will either get the word right or pop up suggested words. Only a few times did Swype  return the wrong word.

Cons:

• There is a learning curve. I’m still learning a couple weeks after I first started to us it, which means that swyping words is getting faster, but still takes some time to put together full sentences because I have to wait to make sure the words are correct.
• It’s a little slow. I don’t blame Swype for this, since I am using a G1. I’d like to try it on a more powerful phone. When I say slow, I mean, I swype a word, then have to wait because I’m not confident the word will be correct, but again, most likely it is… I just need to man up and trust it.

I’ll definitely use this technology for soft keywords from now on, but I have to admit, I still like the real keyword on my G1. Mainly because I use both thumbs to type and it has a better feel to it.

There are a few competitors in the app market that allow for sliding keys for text input. Most notably, Shapewriter. Which I haven’t tried, but it does get good reviews. When I tried to get is from the app market, I couldn’t find it.

I found this message on Androidzoom.com

We plan to take ShapeWriter off the Android Market on June 20 for an indefinite period of time. We ask you to update your ShapeWriter to version 3.0.9 which will not expire. In particular, the paid user should upgrade to the latest version ASAP.

Slideit is another sliding input keyboard. It costs money, so no download or review from me… Not because I’m cheap, but because I have Swype installed.

A few months ago, I was in Office Depot looking for a printer. I used my G1 to find the same printer at Circuit City for about $150 less, and it was less then a mile away. I called CC and placed the order for in-store pickup while I was still in Office Depot. My wife and I were so happy. From that day I was hooked on the G1.

Back to buying crush it. I knew I overpaid for this book because I had my G1 with me loaded up with the Amazon app for browsing pretty much everything. It’s a good app and I recommend downloading it, not because of the price checking feature, but for product reviews. The app allows for  3 ways to find a product. You can enter the title, scan the barcode or take a picture of the book cover. Some books I tried failed on the barcode scan, but worked when I tool a picture of the cover.

The app lets you add  the product to a shopping cart and then sign it with your amazon username and password to order. I almost did order it, but since I only had one book in the cart, I would have paid shipping. I know this doesn’t  makes sense since I paid a higher price for the book and tax, but still I wanted it now.

I think one feature that is missing from the Amazon app, is the ability to find related books. I think I might have placed and order if I found related books so I could get free shipping. I spent some time looking for books on the shelf, but after scanning the barcode and then reading reviews, I found it to be taking too much of my time.

Like I said before, I recommend this app for the reviews, but if you are looking for an app to save money, download Shop Savvy barcode scanner. With Shop Savvy you can view multiple websites and compare prices, but Shop Savvy doesn’t provide reviews. Walmart.com is selling Crush it for the lowest price according to Shop Savvy ($9.50)

About 3 months ago, we booked a trip to Hawaii… SO yeah, I have to lose some weight. I was watching TV one night and browsing the Android app market on my G1 at the same time. I was looking for pedometers to track how far I walk and to see if any had a calorie counter on them. I found 3 apps that got me on my new diet, which have helped me to lose 20 pounds.

I don’t know how my thinking got so screwed up, but I will not drink a normal soda. I hate sugar and carbs and try to eat as much meat as possible. Yet, I’ll drink 4 beers a night and not think twice about it? I blame it on the media,  Atkins craze and slow burn diets.

The first app is aBMI, which is a body mass indicator. This will tell you that you are fat and need to go on a diet. If you already know your fat, skip this step.

The next thing I did was find out how many calories I need to maintain my weight at 190 pounds. I thought there was an app for this, but I can’t find it… So I just do a Google search for “How many calories to lose weight calculator”. Brings up a ton of sites that have calculators for this. They all seem to have different calculations so feel free to choose the one that fits your needs.

Since about 3,500 calories equals a pound, I need to cut down on my caloric intake and add some exercise to my day to lose weight. My goal is to eat less then 1,500 calories a day, and try to exercise and lose another 500-1,000 calories per day.

The next app I download for the G1 is awesome. It’s called CalorieCounter and tells you how many calories are in the food you eat. It goes way beyond just hitting generic food. You can find menu items from pretty much every major restaurant like TGIF, and Burger King. This app also goes into all food brands including generic store brands. It has everything. One thing I wish it had was a way to combine foods and make a custom food item like a sandwich. It will let you save foods you eat a lot, but doesn’t let you combine foods to easily add to your daily intake.

My plan is to eat small meals that are 300 calories each. So I can have 5 meals a day. Egg white and toast in the morning. Tuna sandwich for lunch… it is actually very easy to eat this way. I’m not hungry all day and I don’t get sleepy from large meals. Since I do go to bed really late at night, I seem to need a snack at around 10PM… I usually grab a banana or something (100 calories)

I look up one of my favorites, a foot long meatball sandwich from Subway… 1,600 calories, WOW

For the exercise, I want to see how many calories I burn. I download Cardio Trainer to map out where I bike, run, or walk and see how many calories I burn. Another really good program. Uses the GPS very well. Even when I don’t have a connection to the phone it still tracks my location. I mountain bike in the Oakland hills all the time and there is really spotty reception. I think the calories burned is off a little from other calculators I found on the internet. You can choose what activity you are doing, but I think biking on this app, is roadbiking, not mountainbiking.

I don’t use them everyday, anymore. I used them to change my thinking about dieting and food intake. Of course, the apps really had nothing to do with it. I could have done the same thing by reading a book or searching the internet, but with all the junk and bad information out there it’s hard to get your head on straight. Forget about all meat diets from the 4 hour work week. Forget about fats, carbs, sugar, etc…

1. Find out how many calories it takes to maintain the weight you want to be at
2. lower your calorie intake and exercise more
3. be steady and it’s easy to maintain.