Oh but I do love my phone

[classicman]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I've installed the app "where's my droid"

If I lose the phone, I can TXT a certain password to my phone, and it will ring.

Even if set on vibrate?

I can TXT a different password to my phone, and it will TXT back messages with its latitude and longitude,
a Google map link to where it is, and the nearest address to the device.

That is awesome!

[Undertoad]

I set up face unlocking.

I don't usually lock the phone, because most of the time I'm just at home and nobody cares.

But now I'm going into North Philly regularly, so I better get with the program.

So I set it up. You take a picture of your face using the front-facing camera, from a normal arm's reach away; and then when you want to unlock, you look at the phone, and it identifies your face as being the same as it pictured before, and unlocks the phone.

It works great.

[Undertoad]

Yes, "Where's My Droid" overrides any particular settings at the time, and rings at full volume. Also I have it set to use a "white noise siren" instead of a normal ringtone, so it's unique.

It will also turn on the GPS if you have that turned off. The only thing it can't do is make sure your battery hasn't run out so that it can do all these things.

[classicman]

Wow. Impressed I am - and all these apps are free?

[Undertoad]

Face Unlock comes with Ice Cream Sandwich.

"Where's My Droid" uses the approach that there's a free version, which is what I set up, and a Pro version for $3.99 that will let you lock the phone remotely, or even wipe all your data and settings from the lost phone.

So far I've spent less than $10 on apps. Most of the best ones are free or have free versions.

[Undertoad]

When I take pictures or videos with the phone, they are automatically uploaded right into Google+, in a private area called "Photos from your phone".

There, I can look at them, rotate them, download them, crop them, add decorations or text, delete them, look at the metadata (including a Gmap of where the photo was taken), or share them on G+.

There is also a "creative kit" where you can immediately do a lot of commonly needed things, such as cropping, rotating, fixing colors, sharpening, and re-sizing.

[jimhelm]

got that where's my droid thing, thanks. I'm going to make my kids install it on theirs too.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

So I set it up. You take a picture of your face using the front-facing camera, from a normal arm's reach away; and then when you want to unlock, you look at the phone, and it identifies your face as being the same as it pictured before, and unlocks the phone.

It works great.

Can you shave your goatee and drastically cut your hair, and see if it still works? I mean, for science and all.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Ibram

I almost don't even hardly ever talk on my phone

With phrases like that, I can't blame you. One phone call could take all day!

[HungLikeJesus]

You're like some kind of Austrian monk.

[Griff]

I've been told that.

[elSicomoro]

I have an Android tablet I use for work, so it only makes sense that I continue to own an iPhone, even though I love it anyway.

[Undertoad]

There is so little Internet to this house. But I am in Verizon 4G territory, and so the phone keeps me wired. I depend on it like a teddy bear. Today I TXTd, eMaild, and voice-called J, which helped get some things done as well as to have human moments with her. The Token 888 number emailed me a voice mail from a potential client; I called him back using the hands free earphones, the ones that came with the phone; they're pretty good, actually. I listened to the Adam Carolla podcast and now I'm listening to - what else - Mogwai, on Spotify.

Because Mogwai!

So it has been a tremendous boon, except for keeping it charged during all this. The big screen and 4G combination eats up the battery pretty fast. In the long run, this can be solved with an extended battery, or now they have special external battery packs that you can use to charge your battery or run your phone.

[Undertoad]

Heh heh heh OMG

I connected this desktop computer to the Internet using the phone.

Using an app called easytether and 15 minutes of setup, I am browsing the Cellar via the Verizon 4G network. On a desktop computer.

OMG. OMG. We're not supposed to do this!!!

See, you're supposed to pay extra per month, and perhaps buy Verizon's tethering modem, if you want to connect something other than a phone to the Internet via 4G.

But people on forums are saying they are doing it without punishment, as long as they stay under 2GB of usage.

IT FEELS GOOD TO BE A GANGSTA.

[limey]

I did the same sort of thing last week with my mobile, a local sim-card and data bundle and my netbook in Uzbekistan. This meant I could Skype Best Beloved at home as much as I wanted instead of feeling a little, uh, constrained, by the £1.60/minute mobile phone roaming charges on my UK sim, or the hotel wifi available only in the lobby, or the hotel landline phone charges in my room. Instead I spent USD16 for the week, and even then bought way too much data. Could easily have got away with USD10. Technology is teh awesome.
For those human moments, BB and I have found that playing games over Skype is nice, it means you can relax and just chit chat instead of thinking you must say Important and Significant Things because you are Making a Phone Call (am I showing my age here?).