Three. More. Days.

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In case you haven’t noticed, it’s over 70 degrees outside, which means most college students are either already on Spring Break or have mentally checked out in preparation for break (or both?). The point is, when the time comes to pack for your week off, you should make sure you have as few things on your plate as possible because (1) your flight/train/car ride will likely be very early in the morning and (2) you will likely be hungover from partying the night before. So, before you forget, just scroll down to your Spring Break destination below and follow the instructions to download the most important app you will need for your trip.

Florida
Mixology: iTunes / Android / Bartender Pro: Blackberry

Aaah, the sandy, fratty beaches, and the loud, pumping house music. If only there were something other than Natty Light to drink around here… Enter Mixology! It’s the best, cheapest, most complete drink recipe app out there; with the ‘Liquor Cabinet’ option, you can enter the liquor and mixer types you have, and it spits out all the possible cocktails you can make.

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Yes, dear reader: this new column is for you. Whether you are iPhone-slinging, MacBook-toting, Android-rocking, or BBM-rolling, Techaccino is your weekly morning dose of new and upcoming gadgets, apps and websites to turn your fingers into multimedia WMDs. Follow @techaccinoblog on Twitter for instant updates!

When last semester’s Herald poll came out, it came as no surprise that nearly two thirds of Brown students own either an iPhone, Android or Blackberry device. Touchscreen phones nowadays are as ubiquitous as boomboxes in the ’80s, CD Walkmans in the ’90s, or iPods in the ’00s: everyone either already has one or wants one.

What’s slightly more surprising, though, is the proportion of each of these brands on campus — out of those two thirds with smartphones, over half have iPhones, while Android and Blackberry users are split even. In the US, according to data from comScore, almost half of smartphone users have Android devices, while iPhone users have about 30 percent of the market, and Blackberry 16 percent.

So, what’s the deal here? Are iPhones simply better for life on campus? Are Android users ahead of the curve? Are Blackberrys on their way out? In honor of awards season, let’s meet the nominees in the our first ever BEST PHONE FOR COLLEGE HILL competition. [Read more →]