Since switching to Android from iPhone in an extended trial, there have been few applications that I've sorely missed on the new platform. Topping the list of app vacancies has been Cinch, from BlogTalkRadio. On multiple occasions since the switch, I've found opportunities where I wish I could just fire up the app and do an on the spot interview, only to be left wanting. And my opinion is not the only one. At a recent dinner, I asked Robert Scoble what app he missed most on Android, and he too answered, "Cinch". Luckily for us both, and for the many people who like Cinch and Android, that gap was filled today, as the simple podcast recorder and directory entered the Android Marketplace.



   Connecting the New Cinch App for Android to My Account

Just like its iPhone app sibling, Cinch for Android lets you record podcasts simply by opening the app, pressing the record button, and when done, publishing. You can customize the podcast with a title (under the magically familiar 140 character limit), a photo, and can simultaneously update the CinchCast site as well as Twitter and Facebook, should you so choose.



   Browsing Cinch Content from Friends and My Account
The Cinch app is free in the Android marketplace. While the debate can still rage over what OS is better, or what handsets are the greatest, having top-quality apps on both sides of the aisle is beneficial to all. Now, I just have to hope Redfin, eTrade and my6sense show up soon to make my phone complete.

You can find me on Cinch at http://www.cinchcast.com/louisgray.

See Also: RWW: From Your Mouth to a Thousand Ears, New Apps Make Mobile Podcasting Easy

As the debate around Android vs. iPhone continues to rage, I took time to visit the new Qik studio, and sit down with Daniel Brusilovsky (@danielbru), a marketing manager at the company, who is also the founder of Teens In Tech (where I am an advisor), to talk about why I've stopped using my iPhone, and why even the new iPhone 4 isn't enough to have me going back to Apple, instead of Android.

As I've discussed many times, the trajectory in mobile seems to be heading toward Android, and I don't want to be limited to my choice of handsets and carriers. More, in full, below.

With the world of Web pages turning to a Web of streams, there becomes a battle to find value in those streams and capture points in time, sharing with your social graph. Between the medium of full-length blogging and more instantaneous tweeting or status updates is forming a lightweight medium, featuring products like Tumblr, Posterous and an intriguing entrant, Amplify, which is built to let its members post short updates, engage with the community and more importantly, clip favorite pages or Web sites along the way for discussion. Showing steady traffic and user growth over the last year, Amplify is now branching out to mobile devices with a mobile bookmarklet, letting you post updates from your iPhone, iPad or Android handset.


One of the biggest drawbacks of surfing the Web on an iPad for me is the consistent reminder that its user agent tells downstream sites that it is a mobile device, and not a full-fledged computer, bringing me mobile versions of favorites like Google Reader and Twitter, for instance. Similarly, some site's widgets and bookmarklets don't behave in a standard way. But Amplify's new code is built to take advantage of the new world of advanced mobile devices and touch screens.


   
Using Amplify Mobile to Share a Link to Sports Blog Nation

If you go to http://amplify.com/m-bookmarklet, being rolled out this morning, you can now clip and share pages and posts you find interesting and share them downstream from your mobile device. It's not the most advanced technology I've ever seen, but it absolutely works. Just add a JavaScript bookmarklet to your browser, and tap it when you come across something interesting.

As with other Bookmarklet-driven services, Amplify offers you the option to share the URL and make notes about that share, which are added to your dedicated page. For example, my own feed is here: http://louisgray.amplify.com/. You can also "clip" from the shared page, which grabs not just selected text, but even graphics included, just as if you had clipped a newspaper or magazine article - which is very nice.


   
Clipping Twitter's Blog Post And Selecting Text on Amplify

For example, last night, when I shared Twitter's latest post about uptime struggles on Amplify Mobile, I was prompted to clip the article, tapped twice with my finger on paragraphs I wanted to include, and Amplify went above the call of duty to include the links to the company's Status blog and @Support. The resulting share (here) is displayed elegantly and captures downstream impact of likes, comments and retweets from the community.


Amplify's mobile solution doesn't have to be a dedicated iPhone or Android app - and mobile clipping promises to be the beginning of their off-desktop strategy. But it absolutely works great, and it seems they have an engaged community looking to see what you share. If you're an active bookmarker on Delicious, or have previously enjoyed using Bookmarklets on FriendFeed and other services, Amplify is very interesting indeed. You can of course connect to your extended social graph from Twitter and Facebook, so make sure you're not Amplifying the news alone. I'm here: http://louisgray.amplify.com/.

A truly brilliant Web service is one that impacts your life offline, and can change your life for the better. While there are many different Web sites considered must-visits practically every day, there are other vertical apps which can be especially important for a brief period of your life - such as those, for example, based around health issues, graduate test prep, or prenatal planning. In our home in the last few months, in companion with Mint.com, no single service has been more important, nor more heavily utilized and debated, than Redfin.com (and its associated iPhone app). As we anticipate our third child in a few months, we've known we need to move to a bigger place, and we have done almost all our research and comparisons through Redfin. Essentially, if the activity isn't displayed on Redfin, we assume it doesn't exist.

While there are no doubt many different real estate search sites on the Web, Redfin came well recommended by peers, and in my own comparisons, I often found that Redfin data was more recent and more accurate than others, such as Zillow.com, despite the fact that both services (and many others) pull from the same sources.


As a family looking to get a better home, but not being uber-rich, which would come in handy here in the high-priced Bay Area, my wife and I had to determine several things, including those factors which we determined were important to us, including location, size of the home, number of bedrooms, the type of backyard, size of the yard, and quality of nearby schools. Meanwhile, as I played with Excel to try and figure out just how much we could afford, I started dabbling with Redfin to find potential homes and stow them away in my favorites.


This dabbling soon became a full-time hobby. For the last three months, I've scoured the Peninsula for homes that made sense for us. If I thought they were a candidate, I hit favorite. I could sort by price, sort by the size of the home, eliminate those that didn't meet criteria, and find which ones had upcoming open houses. Meanwhile, Redin.com has been sending me updates by e-mail overnight to catch me up in case prices change, those on my watchlist saw sales pending, or if open houses were planned or canceled.



Redfin has become my hub for the entire search, and has been so effective that my wife and I haven't looked anywhere else. Every home we have looked at, we previously previewed on Redfin and had the specs memorized before we went through the front door. And after every visit, we went back to Redfin to make changes to our list.


Knock on wood, this search looks to be soon coming to an end, hopefully. As my wife's not getting any less pregnant, and the buyer of our condo is entering the homestretch on his approvals and paperwork, I hope we start planning the moving phase, and dealing with that major headache.

Redfin.com is not available in all areas, focusing on a number of select metropolitan areas - which, obviously, the San Francisco Bay Area is one. As somebody who prefers to leverage the Web for practically everything I possibly can, it's been awesome to have a strong silent partner like Redfin.com doing all the hard work of looking around for me and letting me know exactly how much I would have to pay each month, or in property taxes, or even how the price of potential homes has changed over the last few years. I love playing with data, and Redfin has a ton of it. If you are thinking of moving or selling your place, and Redfin.com is in your area, I can't see why you would go it alone.