The folks at Amazon are at it again. Amazon just introduced the Amazon Cloud Player for Web & Android. Using the Amazon Cloud Player for Web and Android, you can stream the music contained in your Amazon Cloud Drive back using the Amazon MP3 Android app or a web browser.

Part of the introduction e-mail I received.

The Amazon MP3 app for Android page at the Google Android Market.

With the Amazon Cloud Drive, you get 5 Gb of space for free, if you already have an Amazon account. You can also store documents, pictures and videos along with music. If you don't have an Amazon account, create one (it's free too).

A default Amazon Cloud Drive page.

Any new MP3's you purchase from the Amazon MP3 Store will automatically go to your Cloud Drive. And if you purchase an MP3 album from Amazon, they will increase your storage tier to the 20 Gb level for a year. Here's a quote from Amazon's website:

Amazon allows you to securely store your entire digital music collection using Amazon Cloud Drive and play it on any Mac, PC, or Android device using Amazon Cloud Player. Any new Amazon MP3 Store purchases can be saved directly to your Amazon Cloud Drive for free. You can also upload your existing music library to Amazon Cloud Drive so you have all your music in one place, accessible from anywhere.

All new Amazon Cloud Drive accounts are given 5GB of free storage for uploading content. Additional storage is available for an annual fee. See the Amazon Cloud Drive settings page for more information on special offers and pricing for larger storage solutions. All Amazon MP3 purchases saved directly to your Cloud Drive are stored for free and don't count against your storage limits.

System Requirements

Amazon Cloud Player is a browser based application that supports both Mac and PC computers. Cloud Player is not optimized to run on mobile phones or tablets including: iPhones, Blackberrys, Windows Mobile devices, and iPads. For Android phones and tablets, we recommend installing the Amazon MP3 app for Android which includes Amazon Cloud Player for Android.

For more information on the Amazon Cloud Player for Web and Android, just click on the following links.

Amazon Music on the Web

Amazon Music Android app

Amazon.com recently released it's latest Android application, the Amazon Appstore for Android. Along with Amazon's other free Android apps (Shopping, MP3, Kindle, IMDb Movies & TV, and Audible), you can now download/purchase Android apps right from Amazon's website.

The Amazon's Appstore for Android website

Here's a quote from Amazon's site about the Amazon Appstore for Android:

"The Amazon Appstore for Android is a place where you can get a paid app for free every day, view app recommendations based on your past purchases from Amazon, and shop using Amazon's trusted payment technology. You can also test apps on a simulated Android phone using a feature called "Test Drive." You can shop from your computer, or directly on your phone or internet tablet."

To get started, you will need to download the Amazon Appstore for Android app and have an account on Amazon.com. For more information on the Amazon.com Appstore for Android app, click on the following links.

Appstore for Android

Detailed instructions for installing the Amazon Appstore for Android app

Geek Note:
• Amazon Appstore apps are currently only available in the United States.
• Some apps require root-level permissions on your Android device to work. Download these apps only if you know your Android device is rooted (allowing root access to the Android operating system).

Note: This article was based on OpenOffice 3. Since this article was written, OpenOffice version 4 has been released. Click here to read the newer OpenOffice 4 article.

A client recently asked me if I knew of any alternative to Microsoft Office. As a firm believer in open-source software, I told him about OpenOffice.org 3 from Oracle. It is a complete office software suite with a word processor, spreadsheet, multimedia presentation, graphics, and database programs.

OpenOffice.org is Java-based and requires it to be installed. It is compatible with other commercial office software and can read/write various file formats. XSLT and StarOffice formats are supported, but you will need to choose the custom installation to enable these filters. You can also expand the functionality of OpenOffice.org by using third party extensions. And you can also export to PDF in all of the applications. And best of all, it's free.

OpenOffice.org 3's main screen

Programs included in OpenOffice.org

Writer
Writer lets you design and produce text documents that can include graphics, tables, or charts. You can then save the documents in a variety of formats, including the standardized OpenDocument format (ODF), Microsoft Word .doc format, or HTML. And you can easily export your document to the Portable Document Format (PDF).

Calc
Calc is a spreadsheet application that you can use to calculate, analyze, and manage your data. You can also import and modify Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.

Impress
Impress lets you create professional slide shows that can include charts, drawing objects, text, multimedia, and a variety of other items. If you want, you can even import and modify Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.

Draw
Draw lets you create simple and complex drawings and export them in a number of common image formats. You can also insert tables, charts, formulas, and other items created in OpenOffice.org programs into your drawings.

Base
With Base, you can access data that is stored in a wide variety of database file formats. Base natively supports some flat file database formats, such as the dBASE format. You can also use Base to connect to external relational databases, such as databases from MySQL or Oracle.

Math
Math provides numerous operators, functions, and formatting assistants to help you create formulas.

OpenOffice.org 3 is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac operating systems. For more information on OpenOffice.org 3, please visit their website OpenOffice.org.

The one thing I love about my Android-based smartphone is the availability of applications for it. And finding and installing Android applications just got easier. Google has recently opened a web-based version of the Android Market.

The Google Android Market website homepage

The website is clean and easy to navigate, with clearly marked tabs. I found the amount of applications to be the most available for Android based hardware anywhere. I found quite a few that I had never seen on the Verizon version of the Android Market application.

A typical application category list

I browsed through a few categories and found an application to download. Remember that you have to be signed in to your g-mail account associated with your phone to install any applications. I clicked on install and got the following prompt asking for the installation location. I selected my phone and clicked install.

Android Market application installation screen

I got a confirmation that the app would be downloaded to my Android.

Android Market download confirmation screen

I checked my phone and sure enough, on the status bar on top was an icon indicating an app had been installed. A quick check confirmed the installation of the application.

This is, by far, the easiest way to find and install Android applications I have found to date. Hands down the best! If you have an Android powered device, I highly recommend you go over to Google Play and take a look around.

I got a notice on my Motorola Android phone the other day, telling me that the Android OS 2.2 (Froyo) update was ready for download. I backed up my Android, disconnected the USB cord from my pc, and started the update.

Home Screens for both Android 2.1 and Android 2.2

The first noticeable change is on the Home screen. The Home screen now has dedicated shortcuts for Phone, Launcher, and Browser. On either side of the Shortcuts are Home Screen tabs, which make switching between the five different panels and knowing which one you're viewing a breeze.

The Browser has been enhanced using a new rendering engine, V8, which enables faster loading of JavaScript heavy pages. The ability to play Flash videos is apparently on its way.

The Camera and Gallery got a makeover too. There are now onscreen buttons for controlling zoom, flash, focus, exposure, white balance, and geo-tagging. The Camcorder now uses the LED flash to record video in low light or at night.

A new feature is the ability to tether the 3G connection using the USB cable. On some Android models, like the Nexus One, you can also create a portable WlFi hotspot. There may be additional fees for these services, so it's best to contact your service provider for more details.

The support for Exchange has also been upgraded. Remote wipe, Auto-discovery, and improved security are just a few of the changes.

There are changes under the hood too. Using Dalvik JIT, performance has been increased up 2x-5x for CPU heavy code. And Kernel Memory Management Boost improved memory reclaim performance by 20% for faster switching between applications.

Note:
I did have a couple of issues with existing applications on my phone. One I had to remove completely. Another, DejaOffice, had to be reinstalled, as it had an updated version for this platform (Android 2.2).

Update 8/20/2010: I recently had my Bluetooth headset die, and since writing this article have replaced it. I am happy to report that the voice-enabled dialing feature in this update does work.