Android Robot + Mario + Fun = Replica Island

Q: What do you get if you cross the Android Robot with Nintendo’s Mario?

A: A neat little game called Replica Island.

Android and Mario, as one in Replica Island

The game brings the classic retro side-scrolling back to life with it’s cute cartoon graphics and insane midi-style music.

For me, games are important on my mobile phone; they’ll never replace my Xbox 360 but they are there to fill in train journeys, car trips and just general boredom. So I almost cried when I saw this cutsey [is that a word?] little Android bot jumping around the screen on this trailer for the FREE Android Market game called Replica Island. Check out the video below and be sure to visit the site for more information.

[Via http://desirefanatics.wordpress.com]

LG Eve GW620 Slow Email

I haven’t written about Android at all on this blog. From a Canadian perspective I think there is no better blog than Androidincanada. I must check them out about once every few days for updates.  So I won’t try and simply rehash what they are talking about unless I think I have something unique to say, that being said… I love Android.

I own an LG GW620 (Rogers Eve) which runs Android 1.5.  This phone is a replacement for my HTC Magic that was kidnapped at gunpoint and taken to a house across the street from the park I was visiting where it continued to report its GPS co-ordinates until someone changed the SIM card in it and turned off the GPS… but I’m not bitter…. I had it replaced with Rogers newest Android offering the LG Eve GW620. I was initially excited to be getting something with a flip out keyboard and a headphone jack, (Seriously… HTC… I think the whole 3.5mm Headphone jack might catch on.  I’ve seen some company selling these things that people stick headphones into to listen to music… so you might want to look into that, I’m just saying.  Sadly the new phone gives me nothing but grief. (Except for the cool headphone jack)  I am writing this entry in the hopes that other people out there that have had this issue can perhaps point me in a direction to fix it.

The Rogers LG Eve (GW620)

This particular GW620 is the replacement of the original GW620 that I got when it first came out. The first phone I had froze all the time requiring me to remove the battery and restart the phone on about a daily basis. To make matters worse, the email function on the phone was so poor that I could not use it at all for business email. What happens is when I first setup the phone for email I can read email, however, after about a day of using this the process of downloading messages takes longer and longer. At last count it took nearly 20 minutes to give me the most recent list of messages. To make matters worse, upon clicking on any of those messages I am greeted with one of three scenarios.

1 – The message opens (this happens about 1 out of every 12 or 13 tries)

2 – Connection Error

3 – Data Error

The errors don’t seem to be related to the 3G network as the same errors occur when I am on wifi. I have googled this term over and over, and have NEVER gotten a single hit.

Rogers says there is no problem, but this is the second GW620 I have had that does this. As well, my co-workers each have one of these phones and both of them have the same issues as well. One simply uses the gmail feature (this works fine) and doesn’t check his POP3 email on the phone. The other had his pop3 email forwarded to gmail so he could do the same.

The problem I have is that this did NOT occur on the HTC Magic. Both phones ran Android 1.5, both are in bad need of an update to 2.0… (hurry LG) but something I have noticed is that the email client on the Magic was different than on the GW620.

If anyone out there has a solution PLEASE comment and point me in the right direction. I’ll update this entry if I figure one out, or anyone is able to help.

Thanks!

–malocite

[Via http://malocite.wordpress.com]

Browser-Based IDE s (programming environments)

As I wrote about earlier, HTML5 (Javascript, Canvas, WebGL, etc.) is allowing people to create rich, interactive applications that run in your browser and don’t require flash or java. Cloud computing (such as Google App Engine and others) and AJAX are also allowing us to run things in our browser that before were typically run on the desktop because they required quickly saving and retrieving a bunch of info. Google docs, gmail, etc.

So it’s no so surprising that there are now even some programming environments starting to emerge that you can run and develop from inside your browser. These are websites where you can edit code, run your application, and sometimes even instantly share your application for others to try. This is much more convenient than the typical process of downloading and installing a huge IDE such as Eclipse or Netbeans, and then compiling and packaging and distributing an application on your own. However, these browser-based IDEs are still nowhere near as powerful and flexible as traditional IDEs. Bespin is probably the most developed and powerful at this point.

Here are some browser-based coding environments I know about. All are free and most are open source.

• HasCanvas – an IDE for Processing.js. Processing is a very popular java-based development environment, with a free IDE you can download. Processing.js is a port of that to javascript. With either one, you can create animations and artwork and so forth. HasCanvas has a weird interface – hover over the arrows on the left side to show the source code for any animation, and use your mouse wheel to scroll. Click Browse to see other scripts.
• Bespin – an editor from Mozilla that you can use either on their site, or embed into your own site.
• CodeRun – Develop ASP.NET, php and Ajax applications in your browser. Not open source.
• App Inventor for Android – This is unique in that it has a visual designer, along with visual blocks-based language for creating application (similar to that in Lego Mindstorms and Scratch). From this description it does appear to be web-based, although you use it to develop applications that run on an Android cell phone, not the browser. Here’s a course that used the tool last fall, along with the beginnings of a textbook. Unfortunately, it’s still only in private testing and not available to the public. I’ve signed up to use it with students in my multimedia development course this fall. If that works out I’ll post all the resources and videos online, just like all my courses.
• There are also many programming command line interpreters (repls – read-eval-print loop) that work in the browser, such as Lord of the REPLs (lotrepls), which lets you try many different languages out.

[Via http://edtechdev.wordpress.com]

Google TV brings more Google at your home

Google is working with Intel, Sony, and other partners to develop Google TV, a service aimed at putting the Internet search giant’s Web offerings in people’s living rooms, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

Google TV will combine the company’s Android mobile operating system and applications with television devices made for the OS, including set-top boxes, the paper says.

The TV technology will run on Intel’s Atom chips and Google will develop a new version of its Chrome browser for the TV project.

The use of Android for TV could put applications and other software developed for the OS on TVs in addition to smartphones, the devices the OS was designed for. The companies working on the project, which also reportedly include Logitech, “envision technology that will make it easy for TV users to navigate Web applications, like the Twitter social network and the Picasa photo site, as it is to change the channel,” the New York Times says.

Google will open the TV platform to Android developers as part of the initiative, with a software developer’s kit.

Several companies have already started using Android in devices made for TVs, including set-top boxes and 2D/3D graphics accelerators, designed around MIPS Technologies’ chip architecture. MIPS and its partners have done the development work on Android to tweak it for use in such devices.

Android was designed to work with Arm processing cores, the most popular cores in smartphones, but some companies have ported Android to other chip processing architectures, including MIPS and Intel’s x86 processing architecture.

[Via http://blog.mobileweb.be]

ZumoDrive Comes to Android & WebOS Devices

Over on our sister blog jkOnTheRun, Kevin is reporting that ZumoDrive, a nifty cloud file syncing and backup service, has made clients available for Android (s goog) and webOS (s palm) devices, adding to the existing iPhone (s aapl) app and Windows (s msft), Mac and Linux clients.

Kevin’s been taking the Android app for a spin on his Google Nexus One, and he likes it, particularly the ability to stream audio files — check out his post for full details of the app and his opinions of it. The mobile apps are free, as is a ZumoDrive account with 1GB of storage.

Have you tried the new mobile clients for ZumoDrive? Let us know what you think of them below.

[Via http://webworkerdaily.com]

Android Market now contains 30,000 apps

Normally Google does not give the number of applications in the Android Market, but today the representatives informed  that Google Android Market includes 30,000 free and paid applications.

Three months ago there was an estimation from AndroLib that the Android Market included 20,000 applications. Google at the time matched these claimed stats against its own count, and said there were in reality some 16,000 apps in Android Market in December 2009. And today Google says the number grew from 16k to 30k apps in exactly three months, a beautiful performance.

Google will not say what percentage is paid or free. But AndroLib, a website which keeps an eye on Android Market, says that 39% is paid and 61% free. Interesting is the fact that paid applications are hardly sell well. FADE analyst has calculated that the estimated 8 million Android users from around the globe have downloaded 289 million apps. Of that 98.9 % was free. Compared with other phones, owners purchase relatively low-paid Android apps. This is around 35 applications per user, so that’s quite a bit. Calculate how much the developers earn from this users, then the number is very disappointing: the average user for Android has bought apps for $ 0.50. For the iPhone it is $ 1.

[Via http://blog.mobileweb.be]

Can I upload video to Youtube with my iPhone?

Some of you may know that you cannot upload videos clipss and replies to Youtube in Korea.

It is because Korean law that requires every internet services with more than 100,000 users per day should confirm users’ identity to upload a posts  or replies. Once you identify yourself, then you can write  with your nickname.

Rather complying with Korean regulations, Google Korea chose to block uploading from Korea in April 2009 when it approached the 100,000 user bar. “Don’t be evil.”

But don’t worry. You can upload videos or replies by simply changing your ‘Country Preference’ to another countries other than Korea.

Still annoyed? Then why don’t you take a shoot with your iPhone and send it to Youtube? It is no problem to send a video clip from your iPhone.

Nobody cared whether you could upload a video to Youtube with iPhone in Korea, till Google removed Youtube upload function from Motorola ‘Droid’, the first smartphone with Google’s Android OS in Korea. Google removed the functions over the concern for the Korean user-identifying regulation.

After the iPhone-to-Youtube issue aroused, KT, the Korean carrier which provides iPhone, considered blocking video uploading from iPhone. KT also postponed launch of new Android smartphone from LG Electronics because it had the direct Youtube uploading function.

But the chances are it ends up with just a silly fuss, as Korean Communication Commission (KCC) does not take it seriously. “Youtube is not subject to the Korean regulation that requires user identification because videos uploaded from iPhone go directly to Youtube global site, and Google Korea does not participates the operation of Youtube,” said an official of KCC.

[Via http://hahn32.wordpress.com]

HTC Touch Pro

The HTC Touch Pro (also known as the HTC Raphael, AT&T Fuze, XDA Serra or MDA Vario IV) is a smart phone from the Touch series of Internet-enabled Windows Mobile Pocket PC smartphones designed and marketed by High Tech Computer Corporation of Taiwan. It is an enhanced version of the HTC Touch Diamond with the addition of a left-side slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a microSD card slot, and a camera flash. The Touch Pro smartphone’s functions include those of a camera phone and a portable media player in addition to text messaging and multimedia messaging. It also offers Internet services including e-mail, instant messaging, web browsing, and local Wi-Fi connectivity. Depending on its market, it is a Quad band GSM or Quad-band UMTS phone with GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, and HSUPA or a tri-band CDMA phone with 1xEV-DO Rev A. All versions feature TouchFLO 3D – a new enhanced version of the TouchFLO interface, unique only to the latest Touch series. In March 2009, HTC announced a new version, the Touch Pro2 which has a larger screen (3.6″) and a redesigned slide out (and tilted) qwerty keyboard with spaces between the keys.

Specifications

The following specs are for the retail version of the Pro. Carriers may sell versions of the Pro with specifications that vary from this.

Screen size: 2.8 in (71 mm)

Screen resolution: 480×640 pixels at 287 ppi, 3:4 aspect ratio

Screen colors: 65,536 (16-bit)

Input devices: resistive touchscreen interface and slide-out QWERTY keyboard

Battery: 1340 mAh, user-accessible

Battery has up to 6.98 hours of talk and up to 462 hours of standby.

3.2 megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus and flash, .3 megapixel front-facing camera for video calling (Raphael 100 only.)

Location finding by detection of cell towers and Wi-Fi networks and with internal GPS antenna

Processor: Qualcomm MSM7201A(GSM) MSM7501A(CDMA) (528 MHz ARM ARM1136EJ-S processor)

RAM: 288 MB DRAM (192 MB for the Verizon SKU)

ROM: 512 MB flash memory

Removable Media: microSDHC, supports up to 32 GB.

Operating System: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional

Quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900)

Quad band UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA UMTS 850) ,(UMTS 900, UMTS 1900), UMTS 2100)

Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)

Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

Mini USB 2.0 (HTC ExtUSB)High speed (480Mbit/s)

TV-Out

FM 87.5 – 108MHz (Only on GSM)

Size: 51 mm (2.0 in) (h) 102 mm (4.0 in) (w) 18 mm (0.71 in) (d)

Weight: 165 g (5.8 oz)

Price

399.99 to 918.90 Depending on service packaging

An excellent device for your mobile needs.

[Via http://isomorphicryu.wordpress.com]

Prankdial For Android and iPhone

Ever thought you wanted to prank call your friends but didn’t know what to say? Well PrankDial for android can help you out. PrankDial for Android allows you to prank call your friends no matter where you are. But remember this is for US only. They have numerous amount of selections you can make to prank your friends and family. After you have pranked someone you can share the recorded prank call with your friends and family. Why not send it to the person who’s been pranked too. I’ve tried this app out and heres how it sounds like.  Actual Prank Call. You can get PrankDial for Android and iPhone as well.

Features:

• Library of hilarious prank calls
• Record the prank call
• Easily share your prank call with friends
• Login with your token id with tokens purchased from prankdial.com
• Receive free 3 token per day to prank call your friend

[Via http://fiercetechnology.com]

A long time ago....

I won’t finish that line since I’m fairly sure George Lucas would sue me…

Hello all my faithful readers, it has been nearly 1 year since my last posting, and even longer since I posted anything relevant to the blog.  Allow me to bring you all up to speed on my life (as if you care…)

Last year, around March / April I was given a sizable promotion at work.  This lead to a huge increase in my workload and sucked away any semblance of free time that I used to have.  A year later, with things looking up,  I have made the decision to take BACK my life and start blogging again.

I stopped for two reasons, one was the massive new load of work I inherited.  The second was a seemingly dull and unintersting landscape for my topic, Canadian Telecommunications news namely consuming television online in Canada.

Over the last several months a lot has happened however.  Canada welcomed a new Wireless Carrier in the form of Wind Mobile, Bell Canada scored a huge victory in being able to skrew Canadian’s everywhere, and Rogers released their first Android Phones.

Add to that massive bandwidth caps popping up everywhere and Rogers, Bell, and now other major Canadian telcos providing online television viewing through the barrier of a paywall, and you end up with a country ripe for discussion and change.

Lastly, the Conservative Government of Canada finally doing something Conservative (while technically Liberalizing Canada’s investment laws) and announcing plans to begin opening the Great White North to foreign investment in the telecom sector.

It’s an exciting time for Canadians (although many don’t know it).  The world is about to change (again… no one sees it, or cares) but I am going to be here, standing between the darkness and the light…. (sorry I am having a Babylon 5 moment)  Over 145,000 of you have read my blog, and I am humbled by so high a number.  I’ve updated the look with a new theme and will be writing more over the next few days.

–malocite

[Via http://malocite.wordpress.com]

My HTC Hero (Euro) Running Android 2.1 Reviewed

My HTC Hero running 2.1

So there I was, sitting in front of my desk gripping my phone, contemplating throwing it against a wall. Actually, let me step back a bit. I got my phone in November 2009. Initially I noticed a bit of lag while switching screens and going through settings and such, after a while it was atrocious. So I decided to Root my Hero and install Modaco’s custom rom, which at the time was based on 1.5 still. At first it was bit snappier, but after a short time I noticed that lag again, in fact it had gotten even worse.

I dealt with it for months, all the while contemplating buying an unlocked Milestone or maybe a Nexus One. A 2.1 rom leaked back in December 2009, but it was buggy to the piont of being useless, so I never even toyed with it. recently however, a much more stable 2.1 rom has been leaked from the Eris, and was quickly ported over to the Hero. So now I am happily running Villainrom 3.2, with 3.3 having just been released.

I now have the new market, google goggles, voice nav, 3d gallery (with a hiccup), and various other new features such as the ability to zoom out to all of my desktops for quick navigation. when my phone booted for the first time with that colorful X animation I was excited, once it booted completely to 2.1 I think I fainted.

The phone is so much more responsive, it’s retarded. I have yet to experience a freeze or a significant FC problem. I notice that programs are managed much better in 2.1, which I’m sure can be credited for some of the speed improvements.

The ability to zoom out to all 7 desktops is awesome, and the transition is exceptionally smooth, even on the Hero’s limited hardware. It used to take me minutes, literally, to get into application management through the settings menu, now its mere seconds. The keyboard is more responsive, and seems to support multi touch.

That’s not to say that there are not draw backs, such as the crappy battery life. The 3d gallery works fine in either portrait or landscape mode, until you rotate while in the gallery. It then goes crazy and you have to back out. Navigation through google maps w/voice works well enough, but the actual navigation application that comes in 2.1 does not seem to be working. GPS works, but you might have to turn it on, and then restart before it actually turns on.

do keep in mind that this is a custom rom based on a leaked Eris rom. It is NOT an official rom, and its fairly new, hence the issues that it has. I imagine the official 2.1 update, due sometime this month if I’m not mistaken, will undoubtedly be far more stable, probably even snappier, and should not have any of these problems. But that said, I am using this rom as my day-to-day rom, and have no intention of abandoning it until a better custom 2.1 rom is released, or the official update comes out. I won’t be going back to 1.5. Thanks to 2.1 I can now live with my phone, for now… but I want a Nexus One :p

here is the link to Villainrom if you would like to download it: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=622468

and if you’re phone is not already rooted or you don’t know how to load a custom rom, let me know and I’ll point you in the right direction.

if you have any other questions, leave them in the comment box.

[Via http://fonefrenzy.com]

Researchers build mobile botnet using Android and jailbroken iPhones

To help raise awareness about third-party application security in smartphones, a pair of security researchers were able to build an 8,000-strong botnet using an innocuous application for weather to gain control of Android and jailbroken iPhones.

A botnet is a collection of or network of computers that run distributed computing software that usually are used for nefarious reasons, such as the distribution of malware.

The researchers distributed the software through clearinghouses that offer applications to Androids and jailbroken iPhones. The term ‘jailbreak’ means to allow any code to run on an iPhone or iPod Touch as opposed to only code authorized by Apple. It should be strongly noted that the pair avoided the iPhone app store because of Apple’s strict security process regarding submissions.

The researchers stated that this proof-of-concept code have no plans of releasing the application.

More information

[Via http://freemiumtech.wordpress.com]

Cardboard Androids

Who needs expensive acrylic based, microcontrolled robots with only a few sensors available when cardboard and an Android cellphone will work much better  for much less in cost! The team over at Cellbots have done just that. While they did cheat a little by using a laser cut cardboard for exact measurements and including an Arduino to control the servos, they certainly attained their goal of “cheap” (assuming the already had the cellphone). We’re just wondering why it took them 4 weeks for a little CAD and code.

Regardless, one idea that immediately comes to mind is thousands hundreds a few little cardboard swarm bots ravaging homes everywhere, just don’t step on them.

[Thanks Mashable]

[Via http://hackaday.com]

Biweekly Links - 03-05-2010

1. Building a Better Teacher

A good article from NYT which talks about a quest to make high school teachers better and more effective . The article had some interesting points. For eg it implied that improving existing teachers is better than hiring better teachers. (partly because there are 1 Million+ teachers in US alone and finding so many good ones is hard). One of the ideas was that to be effective a teacher to grab student’s attention. Overall an interesting read. Although, it made me think if there is any similar studies made on university level education (especially graduate level). Andrew Gelman’s thoughts about the article is here

2. Top five gadgets from Microsoft’s research labs

I saw many interesting prototypes from TechFest. My favorite was Microsoft’s Translating Phone. Most of them were real cool.

3. Google News

Google had some nice posts this week and my favorite was Hopping on a Face Manifold via People Hopper. The application is very interesting. The problem is a real hard problem (even if you forget that they are handling millions of photos) and they seem to have done a decent job ! I noted that all people in Orkut are automatically opted in. Yikes .. Looks like another buzz like privacy controversy is in the making.

A polyglot Google Chrome beta, with new privacy features is a new feature in Chrome to automatically translate pages in foreign language. Cool !

Some cool applications for Android smart phones – Android app can recognize a person, pull up his status updates and Microsoft’s Tag Links the Physical World To the Internet . The concept of Microsoft tag looks pretty interesting !

Talking about Smartphones, NYT had a nice graph on who sued who on mobile patents – See more at An Explosion of Mobile Patent Lawsuits .

4. How To Improve Chat Roulette

A nice article on improving chat roulette.

5. At Last — The Full Story Of How Facebook Was Founded

A controversial and conspiracy theoryish article on how facebook was founded. Not sure how much to trust or what to make of it.

6. Spring 2010 jQuery Talks

Jquery recently has become one of my favorited libraries. I find using it pretty delightful ! This page has some slides that give a nice overview of JQuery.

7. Don’t Look Back

An interesting commentary on a book by Taliban’s Abdul Salam Zaeef. Had some interesting aphorisms. Another interesting but disturbing article from Joseph – The Karachi project.

[Via http://saravananthirumuruganathan.wordpress.com]

Apple, HTC, And A Few Good Patents

I read a contrarian view of the Apple/HTC lawsuit that wasn’t like the articles about invented sub-plots and psychoanalysis of what’s “really” going on. The odd thing is the latter articles don’t agree, so there’s no consensus from this group about what’s supposed to really be going on anyway.

As for me, I have no problem suggesting that maybe, just maybe, Apple thinks their IP is being stolen and is suing for it.

In any case, the contrarian article made me think of a certain speech from a movie we all know; I’ve modified it as appropriate below. Sure, it’s over dramatic, but then again…

Apple: You want answers?

Bloggers: We think we’re entitled to them.

Apple: You want answers?

Bloggers: We want the truth!

Apple: You can’t handle the truth! Boys, we live in a world that has patents. And those patents have to be protected by men with briefcases. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Mr. Pundit? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for “competition” and you curse the lawsuit. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that this lawsuit, while unwanted, probably saves innovation. And its existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves innovation. You don’t want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want those patents. You need those patents. We use words like IP, innovation, design. We use these words as the backbone to a life spent producing something. You use them for page hits. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to people who rise and sleep under the blanket of the very ecosystem I provide, then question the manner in which I provide it. I’d rather you just said thank you, and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a new device/SDK and start writing. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you’re entitled to.

Posted via email from The Small Wave.

[Via http://thesmallwave.com]

Apple vs. HTC: What the experts say

There’s a lot of second-guessing in the second-day stories

On Tuesday morning, Apple (AAPL) announced that it had sued Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC for, in Steve Jobs’ words, stealing Apple’s patented technology. See Apple strikes back.

By Tuesday afternoon, the experts had begun to weigh in, although few seemed to have any familiarity with the 20 patents named in the complaints. We’ll get to what they had to say in a moment.

For now, the closest thing we have to an expert on these particular patents is Engadget’s Nilay Patel, who did a thorough teardown of No. ‘949 –  so-called iPhone patent — last January. That’s when Apple COO Tim Cook, referring to the Palm (PALM) Pre, first threated legal action against “people ripping off our IP [intellectual property].”

In a long Engadget post filed Tuesday, Patel walked through the 20 patents at issue in these cases and concluded, as most observers have, that Apple’s real target is Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system. (The company seems content to let the Pre run out of steam on its own.)

Apple has “organized its attack very carefully,” Patel writes, splitting the case in two and filing it in two different courts.

Broadly speaking, the 10 patents brought before a U.S. District Court in Delaware cover the way users interact with a touchscreen — unlocking a device by swiping the image of a lock, for example, or setting in motion a list that seems to have its own momentum and bounces a little when it hits bottom.

The 10 patents filed before the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington are older, operating system-level patents — some dating back to NeXT — that cover such details as how an object-oriented programming language exchanges messages or handles multitasking.

The older, OS-level patents brought before the ITC, Patel says, would traditionally be considered stronger. But either court could issue fines or stop HTC from selling the phones named in the suits.

“The real question now,” he concludes, “is how HTC is going to respond — and whether or not Google is going to get involved.”

The rest of the experts — the ones who don’t seem to have read the patents — are more concerned with strategy and precedents.

Kevin Rivette, a patent lawyer and former vice president for intellectual property strategy at I.B.M. (IBM), told the New York Times‘ Brad Stone that the lawsuit “is the opening shot in a war”:

“Apple is island-hopping, attacking first the Asian companies. Then it can go after Motorola, gradually whittling away at Google’s base. They want to break the Android tsunami.”

Jonathan Zittrain, a professor at Harvard Law School, agrees, and told the Times‘ Nick Bilton that it’s not too late for Apple to drag Google into the case:

“It clearly involves some form of litigation strategy of picking off the weaker members of the herd first,” Mr Zittrain said. “They can always add Google to the suit later on.”

Several experts pointed out that these cases can go on for 5 or 10 years, which is why most of them — estimates ranged from 90% to 95% — are settled out of court. Ezra Gottheil, an analyst at Technology Business Research, seemed pretty sure that this one would too.

“No one will be prevented from importing their phones into the country,” he told BusinessWeek’s Arik Hesseldahl. “It’s just a matter of how much money flows to which party for the rights they end up swapping.”

But none of these experts have dealt with Steve Jobs, who can be very stubborn, or Apple legal, which as Daring Fireball’s John Gruber points out, is better known as a counter puncher.

“Off the top of my head, this is the first time I can recall Apple filing a patent lawsuit against a competitor except as a counter-suit (e.g. against Nokia). I can’t speak to the hardware and ‘architecture’ issues, but I despise the idea of ‘user interface’ patents.”

Eric Von Hippel, a professor of technological innovation at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management, agrees.

“It’s a bad scene right now,” he told the Times‘ Bilton. “The social value of patents was supposed to be to encourage innovation — that’s what society gets out of it,” he said. “The net effect is that they decrease innovation, and in the end, the public loses out.”

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

[Via http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com]

Reflecting this Moment

A couple of weeks we went out to the local bar with some friends. A buddy of mine got a new phone and I really liked the look and feel of it. The next day, after getting fed up with my Palm Pro not receiving calls for hours at a time, I decided to see if I was eligible for an upgrade. To my surprise, I was. So I loaded up the kids and went to my local Sprint store and got myself a new Samsung Moment with Google.

The phone itself has a bit of bulk to it weighing in at 5.67 ounces, but Ipersonally like that. It’s not huge or very heavy but it does feel sturdy in my hand. Part of its bulk is attributed to its slide out QWERTY keyboard. More on that in a moment. I like the screen although it does feel a bit plasticky, which it no strike against it because it is responsive, just that the glass screen on theiPhone is so nice to the touch. The few physical buttons and overall construction is sturdy, I don’t feel like its going to break under my fingers.

This is my first experience with the Android OS from google but it by farbetter than the Windows Mobile my old phone had. At some points there is a moment of lag between tapping a command and it getting executed. I attribute that to the 800MHz ARM11 processor and 512mb of memory. If it had just a touch more I’m sure it would fly. All the services work like they should. Calls don’t feel bogged down by the os, text’s and MMS’s come and good just fine. And all these default apps can be replaced from apps in the Android Store.

I love the AMOLED screen! It’s bright, crisp, clear, and beautiful. Animationsare nice and smooth. It does  both portrait and landscape modes but it feels like the transition from one to the other is clumsy.

The keyboard is in my opinion the weakest part of the phone. The slide function feels like it should, strong and built to do its job but the keys them self don’t feel right to the touch. All the keys are separated, back-lit, andrecessed with the keys bubbling up just slightly. They feel like they are made of cheap plastic. I am a little concerned that these keys could tear under my fingers with normal use.

The WiFi adapter does what it’s suppose to do with no problem. I love that on/off widget I found to handle it. The bluetooth works perfectly with the Sync system that’s in my new car, look for a post about that in the near future. Other notable features are a 3.5mm headphone jack, which should be standard on all phones. I’m talking to you designers! Lithium Ion battery with5hours of talk time. The battery does drane very fast when Im at work and trying to use it like a micro pc to stave off the boredom. 3.2 megapixle camera that does support video and has a nice led flash. Finally it came with a 2bgmicro SCHC card.

Service through Sprint has been almost flawless… almost. As long as I’m not in my plant service is great! No problems. Data is fast and reliable. When I enter my plant my connection drops through the floor. I don’t  think it’s Sprints fault as it seems anyone around my work area with Sprint just suddenly started to have connection trouble within the plant.

My opinion? I love this phone. It does everything I want it do and if it doesnt, I can more then likely  find an app on the store. integration with my google account was seamless and flawless. Automatically downloaded my contacts and colander information, which is expected when you get a google powered phone. Id defiantly recommend the Moment to anyone looking for a smartphone on the Sprint network.

Check it out and get more details here.

[Via http://geekalacarte.wordpress.com]

Whitepaper - Desktop Sync Options for Android

CompanionLink has published a whitepaper that explores the options for syncing Android to the desktop. Compare features and benefits between Google Calendar Sync, the Microsoft Outlook plug-in for Google Apps Premier, HTC Sync and CompanionLink’s wired and wireless sync options. This can be extremely helpful when looking for a solution to sync contacts, calendar, tasks and notes to an Android device. Feel free to download the whitepaper for your own reference or to distribute to friends and clients.

You can download the whitepaper here.

[Via http://companionlink.wordpress.com]

Introducing Native Applications of Epocrates Rx for Android and Palm Pre

Epocrates Rx, the free version of the Epocrates clinical drug information application, is now available for the Android and Palm Pre platforms as a beta release. This release is fully functional with multiple clinical tools (drug information, product identification, medical calculators, drug interactions); however, the clinical content will not be updated until the full version is released. For download details, see

http://www.epocrates.com/products/rx/

[Via http://thenewalchemist.wordpress.com]

my favourite apps on my android phone

seesmic – twitter app

gstrings – awesome tuner

purerss – rss reader

listen – podcast subscriber

ATK(advanced task killer) – the android is multi-tasking and you need this to keep that under control

handcent – sms apps with T9 keypad (messy to install, but worth it.

robo defence – best game

bible – 40 versions, 300 languages (!)

netcounter – data counter for 3G and wifi

fring – skype/google talk on my phone

apndroid – stops background apps from getting at 3G

aldiko – ereader/library

[Via http://stevevoisey.wordpress.com]

Find a green lender within walking distance in 5 seconds

So we all or most of us know Whole Foods as the local choice for a sustainable eating.  We can probably find the nearest location to our home or work.  What if I asked you who is the most socially responsible lender within biking distance from an area you happen to be visiting?  Well, with the help of an app I found I could give you that answer in about 5 seconds.  GenGreenLife app for the iPhone  or iPod Touch (and Android)  lets you select an industry, type of service and the preferred method of getting to this service (i.e. walking, biking or driving) and provides you with a map showing all search results based on your selection.

So to answer the above question, I can select Finance > Real Estate and Lending > Walking distance and enter my work zip code and the app tells me that 0.62 miles from my work is ACCION New York.  When I click on that it tells me that “ACCION contributes to the economic development of the NY metropolitan region by providing microloans business advisory services to people and businesses that do not have access to traditional sources of credit”.  It also provides their address, map, phone number website link and a GenGreen rating.  If I type in Biking distance it finds three lenders and Driving distance finds 8 lenders.

You can search either the area you are in currently by letting the device’s GPS take over or you can specify an address. It also has icons at the bottom for News, Green Tips and Search for green businesses by typing in related categories.  (Today’s green tip is is double sided printing at the office).

The application crashed once during my trial run, but I don’t have a problem with a free application crashing once. I really like this an will use it for finding venues that I might not otherwise find.

GenGreenLife contains a database of 65,000 green businesses and aggregates other related information on their site.  They have a good blog which covers articles with a national appeal.

-By Noerah

[Via http://innbrooklyn.wordpress.com]

Android: The Boys' Club of Smartphones?

Android, it seems, may be metaphorically stuck in a treehouse with a “NO GIRLS ALLOWED” sign nailed to the door.

Google’s smartphone platform has attracted a disproportionate number of male users, according to a report released today. And lest you think the gender gap is universal to all smartphones, Apple’s iPhone actually proved to be quite female-friendly.

Android and iPhone User Differences

The report, assembled by mobile advertising firm AdMob, is based on a survey of smartphone users around the world. While the sampling isn’t necessary 100-percent scientific, it does provide some interesting fodder for the always-popular Android-iPhone comparison game.



According to AdMob, nearly three-quarters of Android users are male. That’s not to say you have to be a dude in order to qualify as an Android fanboy, of course — but the fellas sure do hold a sizable majority in Google’s court.

iPhone users, in comparison, are pretty close to evenly divided when it comes to gender. A full forty-three percent of Apple fanatics are female, AdMob finds. Palm’s webOS is a similarly balanced story, with 42 percent of its user base waving the woman card.

(Windows Mobile — er, sorry, Windows Phone 7 Series — wasn’t mentioned in the study. Evidently, its users fall into some undefinable gender category. I won’t ask.)

The Android Gender Gap

So why the gap with Android? AdMob’s analysis didn’t go into detail, but one could certainly speculate that marketing may play a role. The Motorola Droid — arguably the fastest selling Android phone thus far, even with the debut of Google’s Nexus One — has been the subject of a widespread and memorable advertising campaign. In addition to the whole iPhone-bashing “iDon’t” thing, the Droid’s marketing has undeniably revolved around some male-friendly concepts.



From robot-focused commercials to spots featuring stealth fighter jets, the Droid’s marketing has made its target audience incredibly clear. One ad even famously asked if a phone should be pretty, then went on to slam the iPhone as a “tiara-wearing, digitally clueless beauty pageant queen.” The Droid, it explained, is a robot — “not a princess.”

Now, will all women be turned off by that kind of approach? Of course not; plenty of tech-loving ladies appreciate geeky stuff as much as any manly man. But it’s hard to deny that outside of the world of technophiles, the campaign was generally designed to appeal to guys. And that may be part of the reason why Android, thus far, is leaning heavily toward the boys’ side of the playground.

As the number of Android handsets continues to expand (exponentially, it sometimes seems), I’m guessing this gender gap will become less pronounced. Let’s hope so, anyway — this three-to-one guy-girl ratio sure doesn’t do much for our street cred.

[Via http://slikmusicchart.wordpress.com]

Android, iPhone and now Windows Mobile 7 - What will you develop for?

As an app development company we will have to make a choice of what (who) to develop apps for.  At some point there has to be a judgement call made, will it be cost effective for us to develop for all 3 platforms?  Here’s just a couple of items we will consider when making these decisions:

Is the UI the same?  Will controlling our app be similar on all 3 platforms? (remember KISS)

Can we use the same graphics files on all systems?

Do all 3 platforms have the same user type? (gamers, day to day, enterprise, kids)

How will the Microsoft team regulate app deployment?

Can the application be profitable?

Only time will tell, at this time next year will BustedAppZ! be as excited about building for Windows Mobile 7 as we are to build for Android today?

[Via http://bustedappz.wordpress.com]

Just an intro...

Hello everyone, or should I say, anyone?

I have a few things that have been on my mind and no real way to talk about them or gain more information about them. This is because i’m pretty much a geek. A geek who doesn’t know much at that! I recently keep ending up in situations where about 90% of my conversation starters, involve me receiving a look from the recipient like I’ve just told them their family cat has just died.

I have absolutely no experience in “blogging” so this, I am considering a stumbling first attempt in branching out to the big, wide world of online forum type things in the hope of getting feedback (good or bad) about what I have to say. That is, if anyone is listening. I can see myself being a nuisance to people I follow on Twitter in an attempt to gain comrades across the world and hopefully, will be accepted into different communities and be able to partake in any future discussions on the matter.

The first subject I wish to talk about is Google’s Android OS.

I’m a newbie to this fantastic operating system, but in my short time with it, find myself wanting to know as much as I possibly can about it. I read a lot, every day about new happenings with Android and the different handsets and manufacturers that are out there. My agenda on this topic includes the pros and cons of using it, how it is possible to make it more easily discoverable to others, the differences in information available to consumers in the UK and the US (the two main countries which I receive news from, no offence to the rest of the world!) and whatever else which happens to come up in conversation.

I must say that I have no influence over anyone and that I am doing this solely for my own interest. All I hope is that people will kindly take the time to read, comment and post information on what is going down.

Now for the hard part… finding people to listen.

Thanks for your time people!

hexagramcomplex

[Via http://hexagramcomplex.wordpress.com]

Smartphones 'conquistam' 19% dos usuários do Brasil

O tíquete médio para a compra do próximo aparelho no mercado nacional é de R$ 492 (40% superior aos R$ 351 previstos para 2009), bem maior que a média da América Latina (R$ 356) e da média mundial (R$ 365).

Mais próximo do Android e do BlackBerry, do que do iPhone.

Outra constatação foi a rápida aceitação dos smartphones no mercado brasileiro, que já conquistou 19% de usuários (em contrapartida aos 16% do ano passado), índice superior ao de outros países da América Latina avaliados no levantamento (Argentina 9%; Colômbia 7%; Guatemala 6% e México 8%).

Isso são 33,5 milhões de smartphones.

http://www.convergenciadigital.com.br/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm?infoid=20908&sid=17

[Via http://fernandoribeiro.eti.br]

Need some help with a Palmtop or Smartphone device?

I’ve been using Palmtop Computers and more recently Mobile Smartphones for 21 years now! Supporting users of: Symbian Smartphones, Psion Palmtops, Palm, Blackberry, Pocket PC, Windows Mobile, iPhone & iPod Touch and Android devices; otherwise known as PDAs with:

• Transfer of data from old PDAs (E.g. Psion, Palm, Pocket PC etc) to new PDAs (E.g. iPhone, Blackberry etc);
• Synchronisation of PDA data (Calendar, Contacts, Tasks & Notes) with PC software (E.g. Microsoft Outlook);
• Back Up of data on to PC/Mac or memory card;
• Configuration of email;
• Advice on upgrade options and
• MORE! (BUT, PLEASE NOTE – I don’t sell PDAs/Smartphones OR repair them)

Look no further, you won’t be dissapointed! get in touch with Ozzie on +44 (0)7889 374086 or via an email to ozziehallosman [at] btinternet [dot] com. I trust you can understand my email address (to avoid spamming software!!!).

[Via http://palmtopman.wordpress.com]

Cyrket Helps You Find The App You Want

Are you looking for an Android app?  Maybe you want to see what’s available for your Windows Mobile phone? Got a Palm Pre? Want to know if  “there’s an app for that”?  Look no further Cyrket is here to help.

Cyrket is another project by Saurik (follow him on Twitter) and it’s pretty slick.  At BustedAppZ! we like simple and it doesn’t get much more simple than this.  Go to the page and at the top there’s a search window, start typing and see what you get.  Our apps auto-filled within 24 hours of being available for download.

We have tested access to this site using an iPhone and a Nexus One Android device and both worked well.  Fast page loading, few graphics, really it only has what you need.

[Via http://bustedappz.wordpress.com]

60,000 Android OS Smartphones Sold Each Day

During his keynote address at the Mobile World Congress 2010, Google CEO Eric Schmidt threw out an amazing statistic: roughly 60,000 Android-powered devices are being sold every day.

That’s about 1.8 million a month. If it stays at that rate, it will total up to around 220 million smartphones running Google’s operating system sold this year.

Reaching this figure requires this OS to be available around the world. And it is –Schmidt said that devices using it are currently being sold in 48 countries in 19 languages. And to think that back in November of 2008, Android was available on one device from one wireless carrier in one country.

Mobile First

With growth like that, it’s no surprise that Google is switching its efforts from making web apps that can run on PCs to making ones that can run on mobile devices.

It won’t be long before more people are accessing the Web over their phones than they are with desktops and laptops. While those in many developed countries have both a phone and a PC, in emerging markets people generally have just a phone. And it makes more sense for this group to upgrade to a smartphone than it does to get a PC — phones are cheaper and a better match for their conditions, especially unreliable sources of electricity.

Google is riding this wave. If it succeeds, this company may exceed that 220 million device figure by a wide margin.

[Via http://brighthand.wordpress.com]

We Did It! Apps Available On iTunes Store

It’s been a long couple of weeks but it has finally paid off.  We are proud to announce our first iTunes app!  Flash CardZ!  The irony is that we have an update for it already, that will get submitted to Apple shortly.

BustedAppZ! now has half a dozen applications available on iTunes, the Android Market, Cydia and direct download here at BustedAppZ.com.  Current applications include BurpZ!, Flash CardZ! Alphabet, Flash CardZ! Numbers, Flash CardZ! with SOUND, and you will see BikiniZ! and LightZ! on Android soon!

Thanks for your support and we hope you enjoy our apps!

[Via http://bustedappz.wordpress.com]

Compaq Airlife 100, Netbook pertama di dunia yang menggunakan OS Android

Indahnya si Android ...

Ada berita bagus bagi yang penasaran sama OS android. Dalam event Mobile World Congress di Barcelona, perusahaan Hewlett-Packard telah menunjukkan sebuah netbook baru bernama Compaq Airlife 100, mini laptop yang berukuran 10.1 inch touchscreen, dengan memory SSD 16GB dan system operasi Android. Processor netbook Compaq Airlife 100 ini berupa Snapdragon, yang seperti ada di iPad, dan juga control sentuh, sehingga user dapat zoom ke section tertentu di layar display netbook HP Compaq Airlife 100 ini. Selain itu, masih ditambah, fitur Instant-On, terintegrasi dengan modem 3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g dan camera VGA, dimana baterainya dapat bertahan hingga 10 jam.

Mini laptop HP Compaq Airlife 100, memiliki keyboard berukuran 92 persen. HP mengatakan bahwa netbook Compaq Airlife 100 tersebut akan menjadi netbook pertama yang menggunakan system operasi Android, yang didesain juga untuk penggunaan ponsel. Sementara itu, netbook HP Compaq Airlife 100 juga dilengkapi dengan fitur GPS, namun belum ada harga pastinya dari HP. Netbook HP Compaq Airlife 100 ini akan dijual di Eropa (dulu) dalam waktu dekat. gimana? ada yang tertarik? atau penasaran dengan Android? Silahkan tunggu …

sumber: BeritaNet dan Gizmodo

Gambar: Gizmodo

[Via http://gadgetboi.wordpress.com]

Introducing: Unifeye Mobile Augmented Reality SDK

Let me proudly present our new product movie, introducing the most comprehensive mobile augmented reality software suite and showcasing fully integrated, working applications, which can be created and deployed by visionary developers in our growing domain. Besides some colour correction and one little tweak (guess where) there has been no post production. As you can also see, we are running on multiple platforms, including Symbian, iPhone, WinMobile and – ta dah! – Android. If you´re one of the happy few to be at the Mobile World Congress you can go to the “Creation Day” by Sony Ericsson and play around wiht our brand new Android demo on one of their new devices.

By the way: resemblances of the actors with real world developers at metaio in the spot below are pure coincidence. And: no Zombies were harmed!

The Unifeye Mobile SDK is the most comprehensive development software suite …

Kapitel 1

· … for creating mobile augmented reality applications …

· … supporting all major mobile platforms …

· … based on the proven AR platform Unifeye by metaio.

[Via http://augmentedblog.wordpress.com]

iPad Cited in Huge Spike in New App Store Application Development

Mobile analytics firm Flurry today released a report revealing trends seen in its user data for the month of January. Among the more interesting developments discussed in the report was a nearly three-fold surge of new App Store applications registered with Flurry to integrate its analytics into the applications. Such increases have typically been seen in advance of new device launches, and thus Flurry hypothesizes that the growth was the result of excitement surrounding Apple’s iPad despite the fact that the device was not formally introduced until the very end of the month.

Developers integrating Flurry analytics into iPhone OS applications in January increased by nearly three times over December. This represents the single largest spike in Flurry history, with over 1,600 new iPhone OS application starts for January. Historically, Flurry has measured surges in new application starts within its system in anticipation of new device launches, including for the Motorola Droid and iPhone 3GS. As such, we hypothesize that excitement generated by Apple’s iPad event in January is driving this growth. For developers who get a jump on customizing their applications for the iPad, there may be an opportunity to stand out early on, and earn more downloads.

Similar data for the Android platform has demonstrated steady growth ramping up over the past six months, with only a 25% jump in new project starts between December and January, substantially lower than that seen for iPhone OS. Consequently, the proportion of new starts dedicated to iPhone OS applications compared to Android rose to its highest level since last July.

Source: MacRumors

[Via http://ipadbuff.com]

Sometimes change happens too fast.

When I started making Auto Memory Manager (AMM…I really need to come up with a better name for this app) one of the things I tried to do was to let the user configure and apply the settings in as few steps as possible.  With this in mind I made it so that settings would get applied when a user pressed one of the buttons.  After looking at the feedback from Market and other friends it seems that this isn’t as intuitive as I imagined and has cause some confusion.  So the next point release as well as tidying up the code I’m going to also change how the buttons work so that it will be more in line with what people expect to see.

At this stage I will use the traditional select and apply model which is the most obvious (I hope).  The preset buttons will show the users the settings on the bars and when they have chosen the settings they want to apply they can press the (new) Apply button.  For a custom setting users can just play around with the sliders and press the Apply button.  Sounds simple/obvious enough?  I hope so.  :)

[Via http://madsquirrelapps.wordpress.com]

Customising the HTC Hero's built in memory management tool

This guide is aimed at people who have rooted their Hero’s (guide here), and have flashed the latest (v3.2b5) version of the MoDaCo Custom ROM (guide here – you will have to seek the latest version yourselves, although I strongly suggest you sign up for MoDaCo Ad-Free which costs £9.99/year and gives you access to the “ROM Kitchen” to create your own custom ROMs).

1 ) First, mount the /system partition, you can either do this using one of the many file managers on the phone that can mount filesystems or execute the following adb command from the /tools folder of the Android SDK;

d:\AndroidSDK\tools\adb remount (your AndroidSDK path will likely be different)

2 ) Next, fire up an SSH session to your handset (I recommend using PuTTY). Username is ‘root’, the password can be found in Settings > About Phone.

3 ) Enter SU mode

# su

4 ) CD to the correct directory

# cd /system/init.d

5 ) Disable compcache

# vi compcache.sh

Press “i” to go to insert mode

Comment out the following lines (prepend with a ‘#’);

/system/xbin/insmod /system/lib/modules/ramzswap.ko disksize_kb=131072

/system/xbin/swapon /dev/block/ramzswap0

echo “10″ > /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

So you now have;

#/system/xbin/insmod /system/lib/modules/ramzswap.ko disksize_kb=131072

#/system/xbin/swapon /dev/block/ramzswap0

#echo “10″ > /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

Press ‘Esc’ then type ‘:x’ (colon then x) to exit and save the file.

6) Create your custom memory config file in init.d, you should already be there

# vi custmem

then enter the following

#!/system/bin/sh

echo “1536,3072,4096,21000,23000,25000″ > /sys/module/lowmemorykiller/parameters/minfree

Press ‘Esc” then type ‘:x’ (colon then x) to exit and save the file.

7 ) Make the custmem file executable

# chmod a+x custmem

8 ) Reboot the phone

Check the source link below for details of what each of the memory settings actually mean – the defaults in step 6 above have been proven to give the best level of performance.

If you want to try the settings before having them used permanently, simply (from PuTTY or by using adb shell) type;

echo “1536,3072,4096,21000,23000,25000″ > /sys/module/lowmemorykiller/parameters/minfree

Source.

[Via http://djbenson.wordpress.com]

Google Voice

Image via CrunchBase

I can’t express how much I’m liking Google Voice!  Not only do I use it on my Samsung Moment Android phone, but on my laptop as well.  Google Voice has made my life much more simple.  This is what I love about Google Voice:

• Transcribed voice messages — no more listening to voice mail!
• Ability to have certain contacts directed right to voice mail, not even ringing your phone!  Good for bill collector calls!
• Ability to full-on block specific callers!
• Create personalized outgoing messages for specific contacts!

I absolutely abhor listening to voice mails left for me on my mobile phone.  With Google Voice, whenever I receive a voice message, it is transcribed, and I’m able to read it instead of listening to it!

On my Android mobile phone, I have the Google Voice app, which I got via the Android Market.  After launching the Google Voice app, tap Menu –> compose; this is where I use Google Voice to send text messages, sms.

I also love the ability to send sms right from Google Voice on my laptop.  All of my contacts have magically appeared in the Google Voice interface!  I love this stuff!  Now that I see my contacts, I have selected a few friends, clicked on “edit Google voice settings,” and recorded a personalized message for these people.

I’m loving the Google Voice Chrome extension!  The extension/add-on can be found in the Chrome Extension gallery at:  http://wp.me/pN9T49.

I’m citing Google’s description for the features of this awesome extension for Chrome:

Features:

• Adds a button to the toolbar, which displays the number of unread messages in your Google Voice inbox.
• Audible alert on new messages (can turn off in extension options).
• Gives you quick access to your most recent messages with transcripts and voicemail playback.
• Lets you initiate calls and send free text messages by just typing any number or contact name.
• Makes phone numbers on websites callable via Google Voice by just clicking on them.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Complete-ish Guide to Google Voice (notratched.wordpress.com)
• Use Google Voice to send SMS to multiple recipients (techburgh.com)
• Google launches click-to-call with Voice extension (v3.co.uk)
• Google Voice Extension For Chrome Adds Click To Call And Other Killer Features (techcrunch.com)

[Via http://myeverythinggoogle.wordpress.com]

Open Home 4.3 is out fro Android with nice new features

I love Open Home fro Android. It really lets you do anything to your home screen you want. They have just released and update, 4.3 to be exact, which actually brings some Android 2.1 features to any Android device. Check out the full details below from Better Android’s blog:

Yes, we released an update today again

It has the same screen indicators as you would find in Android 2.1’s default Home screen. Long pressing the indicators will also give you a screen switcher just like in Android 2.1. We also added a fancier animation to home switcher to make it look even cooler. Enjoy!

We are pleased to announce that Open Home (full version) is not now at its 4th major version v4.x . Here is a list of note-worthy changes/enhancements/features/bug fixes:

- Allow users to set the default fonts to any home screen widgets. Please note that only default fonts are changed because some widgets have custom fonts and we don’t want to give override them. (menu/more/font & color/Widget font)

- Performance enhancements from android 2.1, now home screen scrolling is much smoother, force close issues are gone for Motorola Droid and HTC Nexus One

- More home screen animations and effects, including an experimental 3D cube transition effect  (menu/more/Open home setting/3D cube)

- Live Wallpaper is now supported on Nexus One

- Home Chooser’s default setting check box now works as it should  (menu/more/home chooser)

Enjoy!

[Via http://thegadgetgurus.net]

Twitter as a Travel Tool

I just downloaded Seesmic for Android in an attempt to get more and more use out of Twitter on the mobile platform. A lot of people complain about Twitter, but recently I’ve discovered that its a great tool for keeping up to date with the world while you’re on the road. In the past when I was traveling, I’d often be in airports all day, work in the evening, and then get back to my hotel room and want to go to bed. Do this for a week and all the sudden it’s easy to see how news and current events pass you by.

On my last few trips, I’ve used Twitter as a means of keeping in touch. It lets me do a lot of things, including:

• Keep in touch with my family
• Get trending news
• Keep up on reading

Depending on who you follow, how you use lists, etc. Twitter can be a powerful tool for gathering and sorting information. With Seesmic’s support for lists, I may end up creating more lists because now I’ll have access to them at my fingertips.

[Via http://delayed-again.com]

Cross-Platform Gaming with iPhone and Android

I just tweeted about a Youtube clip that was shot showing two users playing the same game with different devices. Now that in itself is not a big deal but they are on totally different mobile platforms. One user is using an iPhone 3GS and the other is using a Motorola DROID. I hope more and more Gaming Applications start to make this possible. Take a look at the Youtube clip below:

[Via http://justlaze.wordpress.com]

Rogers OTA gives HTC Magic owners Sense, here is how to remove it

So just a couple weeks ago Rogers sent out and OTA giving HTC Magic owners HTC’s Sense UI. Pretty impressive for those who were getting bored of stock Android 1.5 on their phones. The question is, do you want Sense UI? Some would die to have it, others not so much. Here in the United States I am sure many HTC MyTouch 3G owners are drooling over the fact that Rogers users are getting HTC’s Sense. 7 home screens, nicer icons, and a lot more interaction and a much more polished UI. So if you are unhappy with your HTC Sense update because it feels either too slow or too abnormal compared to stock Android. Here is a short how-to on removing Sense UI and changing back to the stock home screen.

[Via http://fonefrenzy.com]

Debugging Android applications

I’ve been playing around with Google’s Android mobile operating system for the past month as part of a post-masters project I’m doing with the university. Though there are tons of articles and tutorials to get things started at the official Android Developer Center, you can easily get lost when finding how to do simplest of tasks.

Knowing how to debug your mobile applications is one of the fundamental things you should know as an Android (or any) developer. I use Eclipse IDE for development purposes, and the document simply states that I can view log messages from the “Log Cat” view. Few minutes into the development, I noticed that sometimes my log statements are not displayed in the Log Cat view at all.

In this article, I am giving a step-by-step guide on how to start debugging an Android application using the Eclipse IDE, along with how to write bebug statements and view them during run-time using the Log Cat view.

How to write log statements

Android provides a well-defined logging mechanism regardless of the IDE you use. There are five logging levels, as defined in the API here.

/* * Define a TAG (Generally the name of the class file) used when * displaying the log messages to know where they come from. * * NOTE: Use the Class#getShortName() if you want the displayed * name to be shorter. */ private static final String TAG = MyClass.class.getName(); public void someMethod() { Log.v(TAG, "verbose message to log"); // A verbose message Log.d(TAG, "debug message to log"); // A debug message Log.i(TAG, "info message to log"); // An information message Log.w(TAG, "warning message to log"); // A warning message Log.e(TAG, "some error message to log"); // An error message }

Now that you have a rough idea of how to write log messages, let us have a look at how to view them.

How to view log messages

There are two main ways to view the log messages that get generated when you run your application (either using the emulator that comes with Android sdk or using an actual device).

1. Using Eclipse IDE and its Log Cat view
2. Using telnet to debug without the use of Eclipse

Figure 1 (a) : Selecting the DDMS perspective

I am focusing only on using Eclipse IDE for now, and will write small guide on how to use telnet for debugging at some point in future.

Viewing log statements from Eclipse

1. Open the DDMS perspective from Eclipse.
   • Select the DDMS option by navigating through Window –> Open Perspective –> Other … menu, as shown in Figure 1 (a).
   • This will bring take you to a new perspective shown in Figure 2. This perspective allows you to navigate the file structure, simulate location coordinates and more!
   • You can add this new perspective to your eclipse toolbar for easy access, by selecting DDMS by clicking on the “plus” icon shown in Figure 1 (b).
     

     Figure 1 (b) : Adding DDMS perspective

2. Select the device from the devices panel, by left clicking on the device name (see Figure 2).
   • This action forces Eclipse (or rather, the ADT plugin for Eclipse used for Android development) to associate the Log Cat view with the selected device. From my personal experience, it seems like the plugin sometimes fail to make this happen automatically.
     

     Figure 2 : Selecting the device from the DDMS perspective

   

   Figure 3 : Selecting the Log Cat view

3. Open the Log Cat view in Eclipse
   • Select Log Cat view by navigating through Window –> Show View –> Other ... menu, as shown in Figure 3.
   • You will see a new pane been added to your views panel, which has an icon of letter “a” in a yellow background as shown in Figure 4.
   • The buttons to the right (V, D, I, W, E and clear etc) allows you to filter what types of log messages you want to view, as well as clear the log from the display menu. In this example, I’ve selected to view only warning messages and above (warnings displayed in orange colour, and errors in red).
4. Run the application
   • Once the application is started, you will see some log messages starting to appear on the Log Cat view (Figure 4)

     

     Figure 4 : Viewing the log messages from the Log Cat view

Hope this helps to get you started with debugging Android applications!

Useful Links

• API for Log class: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/util/Log.html
• More information about Emulator: http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/emulator.html
• Download Eclipse: (Download the Eclipse for Java Developers) http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/
• Download Android SKD:  http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

[Via http://thiranjith.wordpress.com]

Video: Prototype Android tablets with 2 multi-core NVIDIA Tegra processors

With all the talk of Apple’s iPad this week, there are many more new tablet-like systems coming to the market soon.

The video you see here shows two tablets. The black tablet on the left is made by a company called ICD and features a 7-inch resistive touchscreen. The beige tablet on the right is made by FoxConn – the same company that manufactures iPhones for Apple – and boasts a generous 10-inch resistive touchscreen. More importantly, though, both tablets are running on the NVIDIA Tegra2 1Ghz multi-core processor. Thanks to the dual-core Tegra2 CPU and the dedicated GPU core, both tablets made quick work of web surfing, Flash animations, HD (true 1080p) and high-resolution photos.

Notice how quickly high-res photos load and the smooth HD video playback. My new MacBook Pro was prone to dropping frames when playing Star Trek in 1080p, but the Tegra2 had no problem handling the huge video file. An NVIDIA Tegra2 developers kit was also hooked up to play Unreal in full 3D. The game played as smoothly as I remember playing on my desktop computer some years ago. That’s a testament to NVIDIA’s pedigree in graphics processing.

The prototype tablets were still getting some Adobe Flash-related kinks ironed out, so I couldn’t show you Flash video playback. But, you can clearly see that other embedded Flash content works like a charm. Both tablets will e fully Flash 10.1 compatible by launch time, which means that all embedded videos and interactive content will play straight from the web. Try to do that on your iPad.

If you want to play with the NVIDIA Tegra2 platform for yourself, or you feel like trying your hand at manufacturing a Tegra-powered tablet, you can grab the Tegra hardware developers kit here.

[via IntoMobile]

[Via http://fonefrenzy.com]

Nexus One Phones on T-Mobile Hit with Nationwide Data Outage?

Thanks to a tip from one of our readers (thanks Gerard!), it appears that there’s a huge data outage for Nexus Owners (s goog) on the T-Mobile network. I’ve verified the issue on my own Nexus One and just did a little digging. According to forums at both T-Mobile and XDA-Developers, it’s a wide scale issue and nobody seems to have an answer. One would hope that this has something to do with fixing the 3G issues on the handset, but I think that’s an overly optimistic view. The fix would likely be announced from Google or HTC, for starters and it wouldn’t hamstring the entire T-Mobile network for Nexus One owners.

When I try to access the web over 3G, I get redirected to a T-Mobile page with this statement: “To connect to the web with the device you are using, you will need a webConnect data plan.” It’s almost like everyone that has a Nexus One with T-Mobile SIM suddenly “lost” their data plan at the same time. Early reports say this happened around 4:30am ET. For now, I’m on Wi-Fi, but for Nexus One owners on the road, this is a disappointment. I’ll get an update out once I gain more info or the problem is resolved.

I have to wonder: are the only people with this issue the ones who bought the unsubsidized phone? When I bought a SIM for mine — which I bought unsubsidized — there was a hassle to get the plan I wanted. The rep ended up adding a different data plan and then told me he’d have to switch it to the Android data plan. Hmm….

[Via http://jkontherun.com]

Podcast: Talking with tnkgrl #22

It’s time for another podcast (26 min):

- Audio version

- Video version

Matthew Bennett (Nokia Daily News, US Mobile Industry) is back, but props to Tony Peric (fone frenzy) for editing the video

This week we discussed the Google Nexus One, the Nokia E72, the Motorola CLIQ and the Palm Pixi Plus!

Other topics include hacking the T-Mobile G1 on the bus (?), Twitter clients fro Android, and the free, reborn Ovi Maps…

Click here to subscribe to this podcast.

[Via http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com]

Android #2 Phone by 2012

Google’s Android mobile operating system will become the second most-popular mobile platform by 2013, according to a new report by IDC.

Who will continue to rule the cell phone roost? Symbian, according to the research firm.

By 2013, IDC forecasts that worldwide shipments of smartphones will surpass 390 million units, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 20.9 percent.

“Mobile operating systems have become the key ingredient in the highly competitive mobile device market. Although the overall look and feel of the device will still play an important role in the buying process, the wrong choice of operating system coupled with an awkward user interface can mean the difference between success and failure,” said Stephen D. Drake, vice president, Mobility and Telecom, in prepared remarks.

Key takeaways from the report:

• Symbian will remain the No. 1 mobile OS worldwide, thanks to Nokia’s strength outside the U.S.
• Android will experience the fastest growth of any mobile operating system: from 690,000 units in 2008 to 68.0 million units by 2013 (that’s 150.4 percent compound annual growth).
• Linux and webOS handsets “will struggle.” Android will suck most of the life out of other Linux platforms and Palm’s webOS, despite steady growth, will be limited by restrained deployment and availability of devices across multiple carriers.

[Via http://mobimatter.com]

five things you don't want to go without in 2010

It’s 2010 people. We might not have jetpacks and Jupiter hasn’t collapsed into a star but holy shit IT’S THE FUCKING FUTURE. Electric cars, touchscreens, smartphones, personal GPS, augmented reality, people literally hooking themselves up to machines, space tourism and in case you have a hard time remembering, there’s always Boing Boing.

In any case, it’s time to get with the program. What follows is a short list of things you’re going to want to familiarize yourself with in 2010, at the very least (not including any Apple products that might resemble a tablet). Maybe next year we’ll finally get those jetpacks.

1. Your own wireless Internet connection

I’m not going to waste a lot of words on this one. Just pay for it. Wardriving from your couch just isn’t worth the trouble.

2. Smartphones

I used to be careless with my phones, because well… They were just phones. These days my iPhone3G might as well be wired directly into my palm. It might sound hokey, but when I first held it, I knew my life would never be the same. My expectations would change. Information would come at me fast, whenever I wanted it, and it would be difficult to go back to not having music, video, the Web, a digital camera, GPS, and a virtual Zippo lighter all at the swipe of a fingertip.

Almost exactly a year later, a lot has changed. Owning a smartphone forced me to focus how I interact with the Web; I filter my information through RSS readers and social networking apps that work much better in a mobile environment (Twitter, Facebook, Yelp). I almost never aimlessly surf anymore, and tend to find the best stuff in links on sites I regularly visit.

For the record, I’m not tied to the Apple brand. In fact I’m very attracted to the open-sourciness of the Android platform, but aside from the DROID, there hasn’t been a lot of hardware slyly functional enough (form isn’t so much of an issue) to tease me away.

3. Pocket video

In the late 1960s and early 70s a kind of cultural underground movement began to form around the use of videotape, VCRs and affordable video cameras. The early adopters of this new medium – like the Raindance and Videofreex collectives –saw the ability to create their own video imagery for broadcast via alternative channels – art galleries and public access – as a subversive form of creative expression. Suddenly what used to be the new opiate was turning people on in a whole new way.

Having a video camera is a powerful thing. You can use it to capture the most innocuous, most personal moments of your private life, or you can use it to reveal the most basic hidden truths about the world we all share.

Now I take my Flip Mino HD camera with me wherever I go. I haven’t yet gotten completely comfortable with recording everything I see (and I don’t always remember that it’s there), but I’m growing more accustomed to the idea of just having the ability to capture all those innocuous moments and hidden truths.

4. Streaming media

I live in New York. I share a 500-square foot apartment with my girlfriend and a 50-pound dog. I don’t have the room for CDs, DVDs, or a huge bookshelf for all the books that I don’t even read any more. This is why in 2010 I’m going almost completely digital. I listen only to MP3s, I only stream movies and television over Netflix, iTunes, or Hulu (I haven’t tried Boxee yet, but plan to), and I only buy physical books if they’re not available to read on my e-reader.

The only way to live like this is to not be a snob about music or video quality. High or low resolution (and it will always continue to get better), I still achieve the same emotional effect as I would if I were using physical media. Yes, vinyl records and paper books do offer a tangible experience, but it’s an experience I’m willing to do without.

And on the topic of books…

5. E-Readers

Let’s give the haters some credit, because they do have a p0int. There’s nothing like holding a book. There’s nothing like the smell of a book (I’m a fan of the ancient, crinkly plastic-wrapped library variety). Dog-earing a book, writing in the margins, and admiring them upon a shelf… You can’t do any of these things with an e-reader. All of these things are true.

But when you’re walking around all day, or in class, or flying on a long trip, or commuting to work having a convenient way to consolidate your favorite reads isn’t such a bad idea. Maybe the book you want is out of print but but there’s a PDF of it online. Maybe you want to keep getting The New Yorker every week and even though you want to keep them around you hate they way they pile up so quickly. There are so many reasons an e-reader is a good idea, it becomes less of an argument and more of a matter of preference. It’s not like those smelly, dog-eared, scribbled-in books we all love so much aren’t going to go away any time soon. I for one, am glad to have the choice.

(I chose the nook.)

[All images used under Creative Commons.]

[Via http://blackgadget.wordpress.com]

doubleTwist coming to Android phones on T-Mobile

This is a major day for doubleTwist. doubleTwist is an iTunes alternative that is similar in appearance but exceeds in functionality because it can sync with more than just iPhones and iPods. iTunes can only sync with Apple products while doubleTwist can sync with just about any device. doubleTwist and T-Mobile have formed a partnership where doubleTwist software will come preloaded on future Android phones.

Read more:

This means if you get a future Android phone from T-Mobile and plug it in to your computer doubleTwist will be installed (if you want it of course). This is beneficial for doubleTwist because it is relatively unknown and with this agreement their mind share will increase. Mind share is how much of the population knows about a product. This will also benefit future Android buyers on T-Mobile because it will give them a program to start syncing media to their phone right away rather than having to drag and drop. doubleTwist also offers purchases from Amazon’s mp3 store so you don’t have to buy from iTunes. Though for some unknown reason T-Mobile has omitted this feature when it comes preloaded on future Android phones. You can download doubleTwist for free from their website: www.doubletwist.com.

Source: TechCrunch

[Via http://techsimplified.wordpress.com]

Nokia N900 Can Dual Boot Android And Maemo

Every one by now is familiar with N900 being a great phone with lot of capabilities but as it comes with Maemo 5 OS not much people use it and is not that popular as Google Android is getting everyday. Recently a person called Brandon Roberts has managed to get Nokia N900 to dual boot Maemo and Android which is amazing news to everyone, still a proof of concept but from the video posted it seems pretty usable.

For N900 users there are still no direction how to do that, but hopefully detailed guides on how to do that would be available as majority would want to dual boot there Nokia N900.

[Via http://techiest.wordpress.com]

Rocking the Nexus One

I finally got my Nexus One last week and after having fallen out of love with Androids maturity after the Hero I was not expecting much. But I must admit to being highly impressed with this phone.

At the same time as getting the phone I was kindly asked to beta test Slidescreen.

Slidescreen is an app that was advertised on the Larva Labs site at least 6 months ago as a revolutionary home screen for Android. But it didn’t exist. It was just an idea. This disappointed me. It could have really been the application to make the rather dull looking Android a serious contender.

But it’s here!

I love the way I have all the information I am interested in on one screen in a neat and not overloaded layout. Each icon on the end of a section symbolises a service and acts as a launcher.

This allows me to call the most commonly used components on a smartphone without having to navigate anywhere else on the phone.

The services available are:

- Phone

- Messaging

- Email

- Calendar

- Google Reader

- Twitter

The middle section of the Slidescreen also acts as an expandable divider. You can drag it up to show all items for any one service that is displayed below it (Google Reader or Twitter) :

Or you can drag it down to show all items for any one service that is displayed above it (Telephone, Messaging, Email, Calendar).

All in all, I believe that Slidescreen heralds the puberty days of Android are closing. Larva Labs have shown that the Android can be as swish as anything else out there. Surprisingly, it does this by mimicking a style employed in the early days of smartphones by adopting a very Palm and early WinMo layout, but the fact is it works.

I just love it and it really sets the Nexus One off. It shows off the fabulous large screen and clarity of the Nexus One.

Another one of my favourite apps is WaveSecure.

Wavesecure help secure your phone by giving you the ability to track where it is, remotely wipe data from it or lock the phone down. It can also sound alarms if the SIM card is switched!

But this application is actually geared towards protecting your data and not your phone. The feature I find valuable are the backup tools. You can backup your contacts AND text messages.

Useful if you hold confidential data on your phone or if, like me, you regularly wipe your phone because you have installed something you shouldn’t. :S

My next application is Trapster.

Trapster warns of speed traps and allows you to upload new speed trap locations to the community of Trapster users.

It’s nice to have on whilst driving. A womans voice warns you when you are close to a speed camera if you can’t see the screen for any reason.

Now onto the low level and system applications.

My first Android device was the Hero. It wasn’t a bad phone, it just wasn’t a great one. It was too small to be considered as a great phone. The software was a little flaky, the processor was under powered and the keys were in a strange position that were not practical.

But the Nexus One and Android have rectified all of these errors. Along with the bigger screen is a high quality screen. The software has matured to have a sleek feel to it. The “clunk” of cupcake has gone. The processor is almost twice as fast as the Hero and the keys are much better placed.

The system applications have been upgraded too. First off, “Running Services”. This is the Android “Task Manager”. But instead of displaying all the processes including the low level processes with ’scary’ names they have been neatly grouped inside section with more user friendly headers.

The ‘Applications’ list now has 3 filters. Downloaded, Running and All. Which makes it easier to scan and read than Cupcake.

The Battery Usage screen is a very useful one. It displays what services used your battery the most. Sometimes it is the display, sometimes it is the amount of calls you made. Other times it could be an application. Either way, you can find out what is making your battery run down.

All in all, I am loving the Nexus One. I love the screen size, I love the look and feel of the phone. I like the fact that it integrates into Google applications so well – as you would expect seeing as Google maintained the development on this one. I love the fact that I can run around the OS as quick as I like with no lag. Not like the Hero. I love the fact I can downclock the CPU and it *still* runs quick.

Is it an iPhone killer? No. But these reason is because it plays a different sport to the iPhone. You can’t compare the two. It would be like comparing the Wii and the PS3, they are completely different machines aimed at completely different markets.

The Nexus One has a quality build physically and technically. A lot of the applications I used to install to solve short comings in the Android system are not necessary any more as Google have fixed the problems.

I would highly recommend Nexus One if you like Android. Sure, it doesn’t have the software support of the iPhone, but it’s only a matter of time…..

[Via http://mobnooz.com]

Viewing source in eclipse with Android SDK (the easy way)

Forgot to mention, I finally got that article up on viewing source in Eclipse. I found the resources on how to do it weeks ago but wanted to write it up properly with screenshots and everything and was too busy! Anyway it’s over here:

http://android.opensourceror.org/2010/01/18/android-source/

I have a few things yet to do though:

• This gives some hints on getting exactly the right version of source as opposed to a branch
• Need to alter my published sources to comply with the license (oops)
• Move the images and downloads to better hosting :-/

In other news, I need to look through this thread and see if I can get debugging a device to work in Fedora 12.

[Via http://sosiouxme.wordpress.com]

One month with the Motorola Droid

I purchased my Motorola Droid on December 18th after months of debating whether to leave Verizon Wireless, my former employer, for the iPhone.  Before the Droid was released I was given the opportunity to play around with it as well as the Droid Eris.  At the time I was really disappointed.  The keyboard, which I rarely use now, is awful.  Actually it’s a complete waste.  In fact, I wish someone would come out with a case that would lock the keyboard completely.  Another issue I had at the time was the speed of the internet. It was slow…Slower than any of the other Rev. A products I have used.  My mind was set, I was making the move to AT&T and the iPhone.  Then something happened that changed my mind.

I received in the mail $75 off the Motorola Droid if I purchased the device through Telesales.  Hmmm…as a former employee I wasn’t eligible for a New Every Two because I was on a 1 year contract.  Now with the flyer the Droid was looking a lot sweeter.  The Droid was $299.99 on a two year contract and you received a $100 rebate. Now after the additional $75 off the Droid was only $124.99.  Plus I was able to get my wife the Droid Eris for FREEEEEEEE! (Just watched that Adam Sandler movie with my kids the other day.) So lets see, I can pay $124.99 for two phones or buy the iPhone for $299 a piece.  Not to sound cheap but come on.  Are you kidding me?  Add the AT&T activation fees into the equation and staying with Verizon Wireless sounds even sweeter.

Another issue that made my decision a no brainer.  Service, Service, Service!  I didn’t know how good I had it with VZW until I started carrying a competitors device.  It was a Sprint Curve 8350i.  Wholly cow! I can’t believe they charge for their service.  They should pay me to carry that phone.  I thought if the Sprint phone is this bad I better check around to see what my friends around town thought about their AT&T service.  Call one, went something like this…

Me – “Eug, how is the service on your iPhone?”

Eug – “Dude, stay with Verizon. I’m trying to get out of my contract. This service sucks”

After a few more of those calls my mind was made up.  I would sacrifice the “cool” factor for money and service.

So, It’s been a month and I f-ing love it.  I can do everything I want on the Droid and more.  I have played with the iPhone on multiple occasions and I honestly don’t yearn for it like I once did.  The Screen on the Droid is unbelievable.  Before the Droid I had the Blackberry Storm.  The screen on the Storm was beautiful.  This one blows it away.

The touch screen keyboard works flawlessly.  In addition, I was able to install the Swype Beta which I gotta say works like a charm as well.  I will talk about apps at another time.  Both the portrait and landscape  touch screen keyboards are accurate and the word prediction works flawlessly when you do mistype a word.  As far as the slide out keyboard goes, I never use it as I stated earlier.  What I like most about the Droid and all Android devices for that matter is the ability to customize.

Practically right out of the box you can make changes to the devices appearance and  functionality.  You make the device work for you rather than you figuring out how to change your habits for the device.  I was primarily a Blackberry user before I got the Droid.  I had an 8830, 8330, Storm and a 8350i.  I was a true Crackberry addict.  I am now a Droiddict.  I am able to get all the information I want as I want it by using pre-installed and downloaded widgets.  With apps like Beautiful Home, Better Cuts, Open Home, Better Keyboard, Home ++, Sweeter Homes, dxTop, GDE and aHome you can customize the phone in ways that make iPhone users envious.  In order to do some of these things on an iPhone you need to root the device.  Not on an Android device, the option to root the device is there but it isn’t necessary.  As far as apps go, iPhone has the volume and the quality but the Android market will catch up in quality.

In the past month I have downloaded my fair share of apps.  Some I kept some I deleted right away. Are they all pretty…hell no!  Are they improving with every update…hell yes! There may not be the volume of apps but the apps you want are available and if they’re not, they soon will be.  You have to remember, the app store wasn’t packed with apps the first day it opened up.  How long did it take to get to the point it is today?  I am a gadget geek.  I have a Slingbox and a Squeezebox at home.  I am itching to get the Slingplayer on my Droid.  I have updated my Beta page on Sling Media’s site so I can test it out when released.  I am also waiting for an iPeng like controller for my Droid.  There are a few adequate apps out there for the Squeezebox but none of them have iPeng’s functionality yet.  I know they will come, just like they did for the iPhone.

That’s about all the writing time I have…Wife is out and the kids and the puppy are starting to drive me crazy.  I think I’m developing a twitch?!?

[Via http://awlon.wordpress.com]