pda

Provide an Internet connection to any PC with PdaNet for Android

Allowing you to transmit Web-based data and content via Bluetooth, PdaNet for Android allows your PC to connect to the Internet using both the phone's standard radio and its Bluetooth radio. PdaNet for Android is free to try but the full version will cost you $23.95.

The version of the app discussed here is the one paired with a 64-bit Windows machine. When it comes to the interface, access to the PdaNet for Android app is almost instantaneous. You are just given two options, to enable USB tether or to enable Bluetooth DUN. Each option, when chosen, provides … Read more

Building an iWristwatch: What smart watches need next

My watch is an iPod Nano. It's not perfect. In fact, there are many ways I'd like it to be better. But, it works. It also looks cool.

Those are two seemingly small details that are in fact quite major when considering a smart watch these days. "Working" is a matter of opinion and design in some cases, but the point is that the iPod Nano-as-a-watch does exactly what you think it does, and it does it well. So far, that can't be said for Sony's SmartWatch, a confusing remote for Android phones that ends up doing less than you expect it to, yet somehow is hard to even work in that limited capacity. I had a chance to try one out here at CNET, and was surprised at how Sony's solution was good-looking, but a complete slave requiring Bluetooth and an Android phone to get anything done -- even tell the time. That's a problem. A good watch can't mess that part up.… Read more

Meet Cluzee, Android's next Siri alternative

Android users looking to replicate the Siri experience have another option now, with the introduction of an app called Cluzee.

Developed by startup Tronton and touted as a "talking intelligent personal digital assistant," Cluzee attempts to step up where other alternatives fall short. The free app is available now for devices running Android 2.1 or higher and has already gotten attention in the tech community.

As you'll see in the video below, Cluzee is designed to answer simple questions with real, helpful responses. Need to find a nearby pizza joint or check the weather forecast for the next few days? Cluzee is the app to handle not only these requests but many other tasks as well.… Read more

Android Atlas Weekly 47: An Android phone for the fairer sex (Podcast)

The 404 co-host and known iPhone user Wilson Tang joins us this week and gives us Android guys a fresh perspective on this week's Android news. Speaking of the news, getting around your carrier's tethering restrictions just got a bit harder with carriers blocking tethering apps in the Android Market; Amazon and Barnes & Noble prepare to go head-to-head in the next round of the tablet/e-reader war; and we get news of a whole slew of upcoming Android phones, including a massive 4.5-inch model and the first Android phone targeted specifically at women. All of that, plus the answers to your emails, on this week's episode of Android Atlas Weekly with Antuan Goodwin and Justin Eckhouse. … Read more

New PdaNet 3 masks tethering from carriers

The latest version of connection-tethering app PdaNet masks its tether from your phone service provider, just as major carriers move to block tethered connections that bypass their services and hide unapproved tethering apps from the Android marketplace when viewed over certain carriers' networks. Released on April 30, the major feature update in PdaNet 3.0 (download for Windows x86 | x64 | Mac | Android) is the tethering mask. Additionally, publisher June Fabrics Technologies noted unspecific performance and connection quality improvements.

In addition to supporting wired USB tethering, PdaNet 3.0 also includes support for Bluetooth DUN tethers, and offers an SMS agent … Read more

Tether without rooting

Weak on pizazz but strong where it counts, PdaNet is a cross-platform app that lets you tether your smartphone to a computer either via USB or Bluetooth DUN. When you use PdaNet, you won't have to root your phone, a major time- and stress-saver. This version works on Android phones.

There are two ways to install it. You can download it directly to your phone, connect your phone to your computer, mount the phone as a drive, and the run the executable from there. Or you can download it directly to your computer and run it. Either way, the … Read more

Tether for free via PdaNet

Just because the Moscone Center in San Francisco hosts a veritable plethora of techie conventions, that doesn't mean it offers Wi-Fi. If your phone can pick up a 3G signal, you might not care--and you might not have to pay for it, either. Thanks to PdaNet's phone app and laptop drivers, and the unlimited data plan that you're already paying for, you can use many of the major smartphones as your Internet connection.

From the improbably-named software publisher June Fabrics, PdaNet is known for offering tethering solutions for PalmOS, but it also offers iPhone, Windows Mobile, and … Read more