Much like the update to the PC version that came out last week, the Dropbox Android app now offers free space for uploading your pictures and videos to the cloud. This is very useful as we all neglect to backup pictures and videos stored on our devices. It only takes losing your phone once to realize how much the pictures mean to you.

Do the smart thing and let dropbox keep then backed up on their servers. They’ve proven to be a great service many times. With updates and new features like these, more people should be using their service.

Thanks for the tip Stef

Source Dropbox forums

A new version of the Android market began pushing out earlier this week. Version 3.3.11 brought a welcome new feature. Popular apps that have Google’s support are now listed as editor’s choice apps.

This is sure to help anyone new to the android app market. Familiar names like angry birds and foursquare show up on the list.

The market app continues to improve and I’m sure we’ll see many new features come down the pipeline as we wait for ICS to release.

The first Android 4.0 device is about to hit stores in a week. The new blue matte design looks great. If you want to try out the new keyboard you can. If you prefer using the gingerbread keyboard you’ll like this one as well. Follow these instructions and you’ll be set. Root is required.

Instructions via xda

Minecraft Pocket Edition is a great example of how to port a PC game to a phone or tablet. The controls are simple and the building is quick. Thanks to third person view you can build a secure fort quickly.

The demo is free, unlimited (no saving), and there is wifi multiplayer.

The Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich event was packed full of great information. What you need to know about the Galaxy Nexus are as follows:

• 4.65″ HD Super-AMOLED Screen
• 1280×720 Resolution
• 1.2GHz dual core processor
• On screen buttons only (besides power/volume)
• NFC chip for fast sharing between devices nearby
• LTE and HSPA+ versions
• 5MP camera with flash and 1080p video recording

You can find my complete live blog after the break..

Android 4.0!

New cloud services! From google on Android!

Google and Samsung teamed up for this new nexus

Galaxy nexus intro video and hands on on stage

Such an exciting time, for Samsung!

Samsung outselling everyone!

4 main things

Speed with lte and Hspa+ and dual core 1.2GHz processor.

2 screen quality hd super amoled. 4.65 inch display 1280×780 resolution minimum for ice cream sandwich

Galaxy Nexus has great design curves. Contour display even skimmer and slicker. Very thin. Even slimmer than Droid RAZR

Not holding a device only information Galaxy Nexus

Zero shutter lag. Good in low light. 1080p video with enhancement. NFCchip included.

Galaxy Nexus launch in November.

OS is a big deal. Android only 3 years old evolving at a furious pace

What is the soul of Android? Tech is essential. They didn’t love Android. 3 design principals enchanting easy powerful and smart.

Roboto font face for Android. new lock screen makes him smile every time lol

No buttons. screen buttons are animated on screen. Gestures included.

Android now all about flipping screens and stacks

Completely realizable widgets no 4×4 grid.

Favorites tray is folders on the dock

Vertical scrolling multi taking screen with screen flick to end tasks

New screen shot feature for sharing scores

New things in the notification drawer visible on the lock screen and flick to clear single notifications

Live typing with voice to text. face recognition lock screen

New core apps. Browser has new tabs, flick to close. Mobile our desktop version selector. Bookmarks auto sync from chrome and incognito mode

Gmail new action bar also will be in many apps. Swype to view type inbox emails. contact selection is new and 30 day offline searching

Swipe through your calendar and pinch to zoom. YouTube, maps, Plus also all new

Simple tools to manage data usage including earnings and prediction

Kill background data for any individual app. view any selection of time to find apps using more data

Face Detection and camera app and zero lag for cherry quick pictures and photo editing and save a copy. New gallery app designed for photos

New panorama mode below the camera button

People app instead of contracts. Swipe to view favorites and most contacted Social network integration. Information is pulled from all sites

New quick contacting tab. New high res contact photos. Visual voicemail in the call logs. Instantly play voicemails Quick decline custom msg

New NFC feature to share anything between devices. Infared anyone? Just touch the phones back to back to share anything.

Minecraft on the Galaxy Nexus. Share apps with nfc. Invite people to multi player too. Android 4.0 sdk now online.

Anyone with a smartphone knows the agony of seeing their battery is low. While there are many things that affect battery life, the 2 biggest battery drains are the phones screen and radios (4G/3G/WiFi/bluetooth/gps).

I use Screen Filter to save battery by dining the screen but saving battery for the radios its more difficult.

You’ll need the app called SuperPower to do this. On the first launch it requests root access for even more battery usage control. After that the app is set up with a great configuration.

3G and Wifi are set to turn off when the screen is off for more than 30 seconds. What if you’re downloading something? It’s set not to disable until the download speed drops to almost 0 (3kb/s). Won’t I miss email and other data related notifications?
By default the app is set to enable data every 30 minutes for 3 minutes. This will allow you to receive those notificationswhile still saving battery.

Theres a market link below. Try it out, rate, comment, tell your friends if it works well for you.

http://market.android.com/details?id=nl.morose.superpower

Many handset makers looking for new ways to lock down their devices while still advertising their support for Android and its open environment as a feature. This is extremely hypocritical and the opposite of what Sony Ericson is doing. Hopefully the new Android Alliance that was announced at Google IO yesterday will help device manufacturers start moving in a more “open” direction.

Via Sony Ericson blog

While this isn’t surprising news given the handful of Honeycomb tablets getting ready to release, it is a welcome drop in price that will hopefully follow suit with the other carriers.

Source: Engadget

With SXSW this week, Austin TX is a very popular place for everything tech so of course there are a lot of checkins going on. One thing i haven’t seen here is the use of the Deals tag on certain places. More stores should be using this to encourage people to show up, check in, then save a little cash on a purchase they otherwise might not have made.

When you look at each venue you’re able to see who’s there now and what people have left as a tip previously. Of course you can see the current mayor of that place, which is a fun goal to shoot for at first but soon enough you forget about trying to become a mayor.

The points system has been revamped and you’ll now get points for visiting new states and currently active public events, such as SXSW this week. I still haven’t gotten a handle on the points system or why you’d even want more points. There’s nothing to really show off to friends besides a number which could be rather measly compared to theirs if they live behind a McDonald’s and check in 5 times a day. In my opinion they could get rid of the points system and no one would even care. That would make this next feature, which I love, even more important.

When you check in to certain places you’ll unlock unique badges for that place. These tell a much better story of where a person has been and how active they’ve stayed over the course of the last few months. I’m really looking forward to seeing if there are more hometown badges as opposed to more big city badges. Now that the smart phone market has expanded outside of the businessman with his BlackBerry, we can expect to see more additions for people away from the large cities.

With that I hope you at least try foursquare a bit and encourage others to as well. Tips are great if they become a regular thing. I’m sure it won’t be long before more features are added, but for now this is a nice app to let your friends know what’s going on.

Food Spotting Lite is a new app on the Android market this week. Much like location checkins on Foursquare, you login and share what you’re eating and where. Once posted, anyone nearby will be able to see a large image and where you ordered it from.

This application is great if you’re in a new area and would like to eat somewhere local but have no idea where to start. We all know what a McDonald’s Big Mac looks like but what about something local and new. One example is this Turkey Bacon double Decker from Blue Ash Chili, I had no idea that place existed but that sandwich looks great. The app shows what’s been said about the meal along with a phone number and mini map of the restaurant.

Its a great little app and I’m sure more will be added to it soon enough. Now you have no re

ason to go out and try something new. The more food you spot, the more other people are able to browse and find just what they’re craving.