09 · 02

Copy files to your storage card in Windows

Android storage count mounting

For as easy as Android can make your life, the simple task of getting photos, video and music from your computer to your phone isn't quite as straightforward as it should be. We're going to put an end to that right now. After the break: How to get your storage card to show up on your computer. No rooting. No extra programs. Just a few simple steps

Let's get right to it. Using the cable that came with your phone, plug one end into your phone, and the other into an available USB port on your computer. If it's your first time connecting, Windows should automatically download a driver.

Windows USB driver download

With that out of the way, you're just a couple of taps away on your phone from bringing this one home. On your device, pull down your notification bar and tap on USB connected. You'll then be asked if you want to "Mount" your SD card and copy files between your phone and computer. Choose "Mount."

Android storage card mounting

Android storage card mounting

That's it. Your storage card should now appear as one of your options under "My computer" or however else you're used to navigating through Windows. In the example below, the storage card shows up as the "F" drive.

USB storage card mounted

You can now freely copy files to and from your storage card.

DON'T SKIP THIS STEP: When you're done, you going to be tempted to yank the cable. But let's do things the right way. It's important to make sure you don't mess up any of your files. First you'll need to unmount or eject the storage card from your computer. In Windows 7, find it in your list of drives, right-click and choose "Eject."

USB storage card eject

Then go back to your phone. Pull down the notifications bar again, and choose "Turn off USB storage." You'll get a warning telling you to make sure you've "unmounted on the USB host," which you just did by ejecting it from your computer. So, choose "Turn off," and we're done.

USB storage card

USB storage card

For you Mac folks (and let's face it, this is probably old hat to you), just remember to properly unmount the storage card before you turn off USB storage on your phone. Otherwise, everything's largely the same.

09 · 02

Oil sheen spreading from Gulf platform explosion

Here we go again.....

Map locates site of new oil rig explosion

NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) - A mile-long oil sheen spread Thursday from an offshore petroleum platform burning in the Gulf of Mexico off Lousiana, west of the site of BP's massive spill.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Coklough said the sheen, about 100 feet wide, was spotted near the platform owned by Houston-based Mariner Energy Inc.

He said Mariner had deployed three firefighting vessels to the site and one already was in place fighting the blaze.

The Coast Guard says no one was killed in the explosion and fire, which was reported by a commercial helicopter flying over the site around 9 a.m. CDT. All 13 people aboard the rig were rescued as they floated in the nearby water in survival outfits called gumby suits.

The platform is in about 340 feet of water and about 100 miles south of Vermilion Bay on the central Louisiana coast. It's location is considered shallow water, much less than the approximately 5,000 feet where BP's well spewed oil and gas for three months after an April rig explosion.

All 13 people aboard the rig were found floating in the water, sticking close together, Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer John Edwards said.

"These guys had the presence of mind, used their training to get into those gumby suits before they entered the water. It speaks volumes to safety training and the importance of it because beyond getting off the rig there's all the hazards of the water such as hypothermia and things of that nature," Edwards said.

All were being flown to a hospital in Houma to be checked over. Coast Guard Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau said one person was injured, but the platform's owner, Houston-based Mariner Energy, Inc., said there were no injuries.

"Mariner has notified and is working with regulatory authorities in response to this incident. The cause is not known, and an investigation will be undertaken," the company said in a statement. It said the platform was located on Vermilion Block 380, approximately 100 miles off the Louisiana coast.

The platform is a fixed petroleum platform that was in production at the time of the fire, according to a homeland security operational update obtained by The Associated Press.

The update said the platform was producing about 58,800 gallons of oil and 900,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The platform can store 4,200 gallons of oil.

Seven Coast Guard helicopters, two airplanes and three cutters were dispatched to the scene from New Orleans, Houston and Mobile, Ala., Ben-Iesau said. She said authorities do not know whether oil was leaking from the site.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama was in a national security meeting and did not know whether Obama had been informed of the explosion.

"We obviously have response assets ready for deployment should we receive reports of pollution in the water," Gibbs said.

Mariner Energy focuses on oil and gas exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico. In April, Apache Corp., another independent petroleum company, announced plans to buy Mariner in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $3.9 billion, including the assumption of about $1.2 billion of Mariner's debt. That deal is pending.

Apache spokesman Bob Dye said the platform is in shallow water. Responding to any oil spill in shallow water would be much easier than in deep water, where crews depend on remote-operated vehicles access equipment on the sea floor. Mariner said in initial flyover for no hydrocarbon spill.

A company report said the well was drilled in the third quarter of 2008.

The platform is about 200 miles west of BP's blown-out well. On Friday, BP was expected to begin the process of removing the cap and failed blowout preventer, another step toward completion of a relief well that would put a finals eal on the well. The BP-leased rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11 people and setting off a three-month leak that totaled 206 million gallons of oil .

09 · 02

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab Commercial Is Live

We thought since all this Galaxy Tab info is coming across the line today with IFA-2010 going on, you might like to see the first Samsung Commercial that has been released. We do not know what kind of jacket pocket this guy pulls this thing out of, but it must have been custom built to have this 7 inch slate fit.

This commercial has us realizing how Samsung wants us to use this thing, and it appears as a tablet and phone together. However it ends up being, we wanted you to all know that the guy at the end sitting at his desk, is what some of us bloggers look like sometimes. Just so you would have a mental picture.

09 · 02

XDA to Have Android Tablet Development

XDA to Have Android Tablet Development

Later this year, a variety of OEMs are going to release Android tablets. These tablets have a lot of fantastic development potential thanks to their large, high-resolution screens, plentiful amounts of RAM, and fast CPUs. A lot of them even have cellular radios inside for getting wireless data on the go.

Yesterday we sent out a tweet asking if XDA should be home to Android tablet development. The results were pretty clear, with most people supporting the action.

Today we’re happy to announce the first Android tablet addition to the XDA forums for the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The Tab is a 7″ Android 2.2 slate that has dual cameras, A-GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, HSUPA, plus a nice-sized 4000mAh battery. It’s quite slim at around 12mm. The Tab goes on sale in Europe later this month, and will hit the USA by the end of the year. Ready to discuss it? Jump to the Galaxy Tab General forum!

P.S. For those of you wondering if adding tablets to XDA will make the site slower, the answer is “no”…we have enough server capacity to add additional forums. Rest assured that if the organization or speed of XDA is in any way compromised by adding tablets, we’ll make the proper adjustments.

09 · 02

Verizon Announces Pre-Paid Data Plans for 3G Smartphones including Entire Droid Line

verizon logo

Just as leaked documents suggested earlier in the week, Verizon has officially announced the arrival of pre-paid data plans for their 3G devices, including BlackBerry and Android smartphones. The new deal provides unlimited data at a contract-free rate of $30 per month. For feature phones they are also making available a $10/25 MB per month plan.

The list of devices covers every Android device on VZW, if I’m not mistaken. The Droids 1, 2, X, Eris, and Incredible are all eligible, as well as the LG Ally and Motorola Devour. No mention is made of the Samsung Fascinate, though the same leaked information that originally brought wind of this news mentions it among devices that are available for the plan.

The new rates are available today at Verizon stores and will be making their way to online purchases on September 28th. $30 a month for unlimited isn’t bad considering there is no contract involved, but the lumps of cash required to purchase one of the above devices from Verizon sans commitment isn’t exactly reeling in the savings.

[Press Release]

Kyle Reddoch

I am an aspiring Web Developer, Android Fanatic, Family Man, and all around Web Geek! I also do Freelance Development work.

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