PayPal App Pops Up on Droid X: You're Welcome

The PayPal mobile app showed up on Motorola's Droid X last week. And I think I might be responsible.

For months I had been wondering why PayPal's mobile application could be installed on all of the Android phones I've tested so far except Motorola's popular Droid X for Verizon Wireless. It was easy enough to find the PayPal app in the Android Market with other Android handsets, including the original Droid (left in photo), but it wouldn't show up if you searched for "PayPal" in the Android Market with the larger Droid X.

Last week PayPal held a nifty press event in New York to show off its close integration with the StubHub online ticket exchange and other sports-related services. I asked a couple PayPal representatives about the Droid X but no one knew why the PayPal app wouldn't show up on it. I followed up the next day with an e-mail and was told the matter would be looked into.

The next morning I searched for PayPal on the Droid X and, much to my surprise, it was there. It installed without a problem and is very easy to navigate on the Droid X's large, 4.3-inch display.

Kudos to PayPal for the quick action. And for those of you who may also have had the same problem: You're welcome. (I also blogged about this on PC World.)

Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features

New York Tabloid Wars: Looks Like a Tie

Is it just me or was yesterday the first time the "competing" free New York tabloids looked exactly the same in the sidewalk newspaper box?

On Aug. 24, amNewYork, published by Newsday, and Metro New York, published by Metro International, were blanketed by the same Time Warner Cable four-page wraparound ad, thus making them look identical to readers at first glance. Of course the content inside each paper was different, but you couldn't tell what was within these books by looking at their covers.

Makes one wonder who is fit to be tied when a wraparound ad blocks the view of a newspaper's front page: The readers or the editors who came up with the nifty headlines--which nobody saw? What do you think?

Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features.

The Lost Smartphone: An ID Thief's Dream

Where's your smartphone? Did it fall out of your pocket or did you leave in that rental car?

If you did those cameraphone photos from the bachelor party might be the least of your worries. With a wealth of personal information and possible application links to things like your bank accounts and your personal schedule, today's smartphones offer lots of data that would be valuable to an ID thief.

So what can you do to protect your data? Add-on applications like tenCube's WaveSecure can protect your phone even when it's out of your hands. Take a look at my latest piece in PC World for more information. And let me know what you think.

Copyright 2010 Stadium Circle Features