Ron, Author at Droid Life

Good Artists Copy; Great Artists Steal [Opinion]

Ron June 12, 2013 202

On Monday, Apple revealed the latest version of iOS to the press and developers at its annual World Wide Developers Conference. Apple showed off a lot of new features on iOS, many of which are iterations on ideas from other companies. Unsurprisingly, I saw a...

Facebook Home is Good for Google and Android [Opinion]

Ron April 12, 2013 82

Facebook Home has been heralded by some as Facebook's first shot at Google and Apple and a warning that they're going to enter the phone market with their own phone and OS soon. Still others have warned that Facebook Home may spell trouble for Google. I think...

The Potential in Smartwatches [Opinion]

Ron April 8, 2013 52

When I first saw the Pebble I was honestly amazed. As the amazement wore off and the waiting settled in, I daydreamed about receiving notifications and being able to control my music from my wrist. Then, I received my Pebble and reality took over. Now that I'...

The Samsung Problem [Opinion]

Ron February 27, 2013 149

When Google purchased Android, their goal was to fight Microsoft and topple Windows Mobile's dominance. Instead, Google has found itself fighting off Apple as companies like Palm (now HP), RIM (now Blackberry), and Microsoft fell by the wayside. Instead of...

Building a Better Android [Opinion]

Ron February 20, 2013 29

Designing Android apps can be a monstrous challenge. Between multiple screen sizes, resolutions, Android versions, and manufacturer skins, developers have enough variables to make it nearly impossible to make an app that both looks like it fits the design...

Improving Google Now [Opinion]

Ron January 28, 2013 92

Google Now is great at putting certain pieces of information in front of you before you realize you need it. A traffic report for your drive home is there just before you leave work. You're notified about a package's location after you're emailed about it....

Google Apps on iOS and Android [Opinion]

Ron January 18, 2013 142

In the past few months it has become abundantly clear that Google intends to support three platforms: the web, Android, and iOS. Google's support for the web and Android should not come as a surprise; Google has always been a web company and Google bought...

Review: Windows Phone 8, a Look at the Competition

Ron December 21, 2012 98

For the past week I've been spending a lot of time with the HTC 8X on Verizon. The 8X is considered a signature Windows Phone, sporting a 4.3" 720x1280 display, a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage, NFC, dual band...