Posts Tagged ‘mobile web browser’

FactCheck.Org on the Mobile Web

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Curious to learn just the facts about the health care bill or the 2010 census? m.factcheck.org might be a good resource while you are on the run.

Factcheck.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases and then report on it on this site.

I have found this site particularly useful during elections when the mudsling is in full effect. They break down the topics in a digestible way and appear to give both sides.

The easy to use Search feature allows me to just find what I need and I can even email the editor questions or read the weekly FactCheck Mailbag to see what others are interested in.

The gubernatorial elections are coming up in many states this June. I’ll be checking back into this site before I go to the polls.

[del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Technorati]

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Political | 1 Comment »

Holiday Comparison Shopping App for BlackBerry and Web-enabled Phones

Monday, November 16th, 2009

That gift giving time of year is approaching again and this year I’ve vowed to get the best deals. That’s why I downloaded the “Frugalytics Shopping for Smart People” application from the BlackBerry App store.

Frugalytics allows me to quickly search millions of products to compare prices and review ratings while I’m in a store or on the go. It’s fast, free, and helps me know that when I make a retail purchase decision I’m getting a good deal.

You can use the service from any web-enabled phone – just go to frugalytics.com. If you have a BlackBerry Curve I suggest you download the app from the BlackBerry App World. Simply open App World if you already have it on your phone and search Frugalytics or go to this URL to get a link to the app emailed to you.

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/email/1712

As with any type of downloadable web enabled application, I recommend you have an unlimited data plan so you don’t need to worry about how much data you’re using with multiple searches.

Features:

  • Deal of the Day: This appears at the top of the page when you login.

  • Add item to Watch List: Once you add items they appear at the bottom of your screen. You can keep an eye on price changes and decide to buy if the price drops to a range that works for you.

  • Search Filters: Allows you to sort the results by factors relevant to that item. For example, my search for “audio headset” allows me to filter on items such as: Price, Brand, Plug type, Design, Ear Piece type, Store. Cool!

    • What I like:
    There is a lot to like about this app. It is fast and easy to navigate. The product images and descriptions are clear. Although not all product categories are represented equally, many are covered in great depth. If I have questions about a particular item I can easily click to retailer’s site for more information.

    Room for improvement:
    The primary downside I see with the application is that not all stores are searched. Regardless, the search seems to be large enough for many products that you can still get a really good idea as to whether the product you’re looking at is priced competitively or not.

    This seems like a solid application and I’d recommend giving it a try. If you know of other comparison shopping sites you like I’d love to hear about them.

    [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Technorati]

    Tags: , , ,
    Posted in Fun and Games, Utilities | No Comments »

    Opera Mini: A Better Browser for your Cell Phone

    Monday, June 22nd, 2009

    Opera touts their Opera Mini mobile browser as the world’s most popular mobile web browsers with over 20 million users around the world.  It’s free to anyone who wants to use it and getting it is as easy as pointing your clunky default mobile web browser to mini.opera.com and clicking on the download button.  Not all cell phone models are supported but the few models I tried – LG 160, LG Rumor, Moto W385 – worked.

    I took it out for a spin on on my CREDO Mobile LG Rumor.   Opera Mini gets downloaded to the “Applications” menu in the My Content folder – not the easiest place to find it but it makes sense given that it is an application that I downloaded myself.  I haven’t found a way to make Opera Mini start whenever I click on the web icon on my Rumor so I have to go into My Content -> Applications -> Opera Mini every time I want to browser the internet using Opera Mini.

    Immediately, I noticed that the browser is quick.  It loads web pages in the fraction of time it takes my default web browser to load the same page.  The extra bonus is that I can use it to catch up on the day’s progressive commentary from Slate Magazine’s mobile site while underground on my BART commute with very little signal strength.  Other applications and web browsers require too much communication to work underground.

    Unlike many mobile browsers, the Opera Mini can read full websites.  Clicking on the preset New York Times link on the front page of Opera Mini takes me to the internet version of the New York Times www.nytimes.com complete with pictures instead of the very plain mobile site mobile.nytimes.com.

    Opera has some built in features to make navigating easier.

    • Use the number keys: 2, 4, 6 and 8 to navigate top/left/right/down within the web page.
    • Press 5  to zoom out and see which part of the page you are reading
    • #* or “Menu-> Tools-> Find in Page” allows you to search within the page you’re browsing.  Searching “Iran” on the front page of the NYTimes brings up coverage of the election fraud and protests in Iran
    • #5 to see your browsing history
    • #9 to get information quickly with the search box at the top of the page.  Opera gives you 4 search choices:  You can Google search, Wiki search, price shop on Amazon, or bid on eBay.
    • Speed Dial your favorite websites.  Pressing * and a number will retrieve the home page that is set at that number on your start page.  For example *5 loads the AccuWeather page as that is the default page set at #5 on the start page.  You can customize the 0-9 preset home pages to your own tastes.

    To do so simply:

    1. Press #2 to go into bookmarks
    2. Select “Speed Dial” -> “Manage” by clicking on the left button right below your LCD screen (left soft key) -> “Edit”
    3. Type in the web address in the second box. (“http://www.credoaction.com”) and select “Fetch Title and Icon…” to automatically populate the Title box and  retrieve our signature CREDO tree logo.
    4. Use the *+# shortcut to instantly get access to the credo action page to sign the petition to support public health care.

    You can see the complete list of shortcuts by going to “Menu-> Help->Shortcuts”

    I don’t think I’ll ever go back to browsing on the default browser again – especially after I master the shortcuts.

      [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Technorati]

      Tags: , , , ,
      Posted in News, Productivity | 3 Comments »