I recently got to test out the Nexus 7, and I must say I am very impressed. If you are an Apple fan, and are considering the idea of buying a smaller tablet, dont buy the iPad mini just yet!

I would like to point out that I love Apple and have no complaints about the way they do things. I am very comfortable on the iOS platforms, and was frankly unsure that I would be able to adjust to the world of Android. Moving over was not difficult at all. There was a minor learning curve, but I actually liked a lot of the features Android had over the ones iOS offered.

I did not get a chance to “root it” or try and put together my own apps, though I would definitely do that if I had the time.

A Few Notes:

The Nexus 7 has a Quad-core Tegra 3 processor. The first game I tried to play on it looked awful and I wasn’t sure why, until I found out that there are games that are optimized for the Tegra 3. After learning that, I got to see how good games look on it.

I tried out a Voip app that lets you use Google voice to make phone calls. It’s really fun to hold this giant thing up to your head and place a call.

For whatever reason, I found the volume button to be the part of the tablet with the steepest learning curve. To turn it up, I feel like I am turning it down, and vice versa for turning it down.  I think that this is because when you turn it sideways, it does not invert the controls to make more sense with the position you hold it in.

There is no physical “Home” button like there is on the iPad, and I found myself constantly trying to press one. Thats not a big deal and I think I would rather have an onscreen button over a physical button just because my iPhone’s button is failing.

Best Buy does not carry the Nexus 7. For some reason, they have a deal with Samsung that keeps them from selling the Nexus 7, so you have to buy it from Staples, Amazon, Walmart, or basically anywhere except for the store that is supposed to be the electronic superstore.

The Good

Lighting fast- which makes it super nice for checking email, surfing the internet, and multitasking

Gorgeous display- Movies and books look great on it. Works as a second display with your computer by using the Splashtop App.

Just the right size- Not too big, not too small. Fits in most pant pockets, but I was able to use it for most of my daily work on a laptop

OS is solid- Android got the recipe right with 4.1 Jellybean. Adding widgets, and customizing things by having interactive backgrounds, was a foreign concept after being locked into iOS’s ways of doing things.

Price Point- Only $249 for the top model!

The Bad

No Micro SD Slot- You can go with 16GB or 32GB and unlike some of the other Android tablets out there, this one does not have a slot for more storage. The solution would be a flash drive with a micro USB tip, but it still would be nice to have the option to install more storage space.

No Rear Facing Camera- I didn’t think this would be that annoying until I wanted to edit some of the photos I had taken, and I was forced to email myself.

No additional ports- One micro USB did not seem like enough ports when there was no extra slots to store things. This isn’t that big of a deal, just something I would like to see.

No App Store- Don’t get me wrong, the Android marketplace has a lot of neat apps, but there are certain apps I can’t live without on my iPhone that I really wish weren’t exclusive.

Normally they avoid soda like the plague, but today is different.

Today they are not buying a bottle of Coca-Cola, it has too much suger and calories. They want the flavor of Coca-Cola, but they don’t have enough excuses. If it says diet on the bottle, since they are on a diet, they buy it.

Great products have great excuses:

Coca-Cola made an excuse for people on diets who wanted a Coca-Cola.

Nexus 7 is a tablet for half the price of an iPad Mini.

A registered gift card at Starbucks gives you free drinks and special opportunities.

Your customers want excuses to hear what you have to say, buy what you have to offer, and tell their friends.

Working as a barista at Starbucks, a majority of my time is spent interacting with people and hearing their stories.

I have started to realize more and more that if I can make a good impression on these people I can convert them into personal customers. I am not a sleazy used car salesman. I am just a barista interested in their life. Anyone you meet has the potential to be a customer, that makes anyone you meet a prospect.

How will you make them your customer?

I received the TGT (Tight) Wallet as a Christmas gift from Jon Dale last year. Thank you Jon!

The Tight Wallet is a simple wallet with only two pockets. The first is a smaller leather pocket that is perfect for bills, flashdrives, anything small enough to fit. The second is like a wide elastic band that can be used for cards, an iPhone, Just about anything else. I am a minimalist when it comes to my wallet. I don’t enjoy carrying around a beefy wallet with a bunch of unnecessary things in it. After reducing my card count to 5, I tried the TGT out, and I love it.

It started out as a Kickstarter project but is now available for anyone that wants it on their website. If you are looking for anew wallet, or are tired of carrying one that is causing back problems because of it’s weight. Get the TGT today!

If you are trying to learn HTML, and don’t want to invest in expensive programs and textbooks, Code Academy may be for you.

I was originally turned on to Code Academy by Justin Lukasavige who had been working through the courses a few weeks prior. I made an account and was flying through the intro Java Script course, and really enjoying the various projects it had me building. Very quickly it became evident that the course was not going to be a walk in the park. Stuck on a project I had spent hours trying to figure out, I put Code Academy down and didn’t pick it up for a few months.

I have dabbled in W3 schools, and looked over a few of the pages but it is really easy to lose interest. To keep things fresh Code Academy has a badge system that allows you to see your accomplishments. The courses available follow a linear pattern and allow you to see how much of a course you have completed. Code Academy is FREE, and is always releasing new stuff to learn.

Pros:

Linear courses help you stay focused and learn what you need to know

Wide variety of languages to learn

Easy to use built in WYSIWYG editor

New courses added frequently

Cons:

Occasionally the code you put in will not count as correct even though it accomplishes what it needs to

Bugs occur now and then, but nothing to serious.

As a whole I would highly recommend Code Academy to anyone interested in learning web-based languages, or trying to get an introduction to the language of computers.

Let me know what your favorite iOS apps of 2012 are, I would love to

try them out, and include them in my Best apps of 2012 post.