The title of this post reminds me my experience with Windows Mobile and a post that I wrote about the Today Screen Add-ons. But today I'm talking about the Android's Widgets. Recently I installed Froyo in my Nexus One and I was very disappointed to find how after a brief call , reading 20 emails and 8 hours of Standby my battery level was at 30% when usually in 2.1 it was at 70%. Checking the web I found that others did not have that issue so it was something installed in my Nexus. Little by little I started uninstalling Widgets and checking my battery use. I had one Widget showing me the battery level in % and guess what, that was the one causing the issue! That's why I'm calling Widgets "little vampires" because they suck all the "juice" from your phone. So be careful about what you are installing.
Froyo has been released and the news is all over the web! After a little bit of digging in Google I found the file and here it's in my Nexus!
Last week Google announced officially Android also known as Froyo. But what is new in this version? Why everybody, including me,is so excited? Here is a video that explains it.
This is something that you won't believe until you have seen it.
Do you believe it now?
Guys if you are driving, please do not "text". And please, do not try to make a call unless you have it in your speed deal, looking in your contacts will distract you and eventually you may have an accident. But here is a solution, Talking Touch Dialer allows you to navigate in your contacts with very little distraction because it reads the contacts for you, once you find the one that you are looking for, with just a gesture it dials it for you.
You can find it in the Android Market using this barcode:
There is an Apple TV Advertisement that shots how in an iPhone you can run an application while you are using the phone in a call. At the end AT&T asks: Can you phone do that?
If you have an Android phone with T-Mobile, then the answer is yes. All you have to do is hit the home button while in the middle of a call. The call will be sent to the notification bar and allow the user to access any application. Since T-Mobile uses the same GSM technology as AT&T, it can handle voice and data at the same time.
Using apps during a call? My phone and my network does that! – Android and Me
Android 2.2 is coming and it's bringing new features currently hidden in Google's Nexus One.
Multicolor trackball notifications are definitely coming. Android hackers like ChainsDD have already unlocked this feature for users of custom ROMs. Google advertised the multicolor trackball during its launch of the Nexus One, but the feature was cut from the final Android 2.1 build.
When it comes to the FM radio, I have no idea. Other HTC phones on a similar Snapdragon platform (Desire and Incredible) include the FM radio so it’s not out of the question that the N1 has it too.
I spoke with Google’s Eric Tseng during CES and he told me there were many secrets left in the Nexus One that we would discover later.
Wow, what are the other secrets left to be discovered in Nexus One? Who knows. That sounds promising.
Shazam is a “must have” in every Android phone. But I was surprised to see that in my Nexus One the application was not opening Amazon MP3 Store app but Amazon web site where I could not buy anything. After a little bit of research I found that I was not the only one experiencing this issue and that it's Amazon the one blocking other applications from using Amazon MP3 Store app (version 1.6), according to this report.
However, it looks like the Nexus One shipped with a newer version of the Amazon MP3 Store app (version 1.6) and this method of linking now results in an exception.
Shazam without a direct link to buy the song is almost useless. I hope that this issue is fixed soon.
[android-developers] Linking to Amazon MP3 Store on Nexus One - msg#01591 - Android-Developers
I share something in common with Linus Torvalds, we own a phone but we don't use it as a phone. I personally end my month with 10 minutes in my voice account.
But I have to admit, the Nexus One is a winner. I wasn't enthusiastic about buying a phone on the internet sight unseen, but the day it was reported that it finally had the pinch-to-zoom thing enabled, I decided to take the plunge. I've wanted to have a GPS unit for my car anyway, and I thought that google navigation might finally make a phone useful.
Google maps for Android updated. We did not have to wait for Android 2.0 to get GPS navigation in Google Maps but G1 owners, don't get too excited. To use this new feature you have to install a Language package of around 4 MB. Space that in a G1 is hard to find free.
AndroidGuys has put together a list of tips to keep your Android phone optimized.
This is simply a general list of things that I notice on new users’ phones that really brings them to a stand-still. (Especially when you are guilty of all of them at once!) I understand that everyone’s experience of their Android phone and what they use it for is different; however, the more you give your droid to think about at once, the less efficiently it thinks. If you remember this very general rule, you are most likely going to be able to trouble shoot or tweak things on your own to be back in tip-top shape in no time.
He is absolutely right. I have seen this a few times already, phones overloaded with applications that I call vampires because they suck all the resources available in the phone.
Here is a video about an Android Tablet that is being shown in the IFA 2009 Event made by Smit.
4.8” 800x480, Built-In GPS and 8 GB Flash Memory.
HTC Sense is a visual fantasy with an added little bit of better functionality. There are rumors that it will be released for current G1.
Yes, VisionObjects has developed what I believe is the first handwriting recognition software for Android: MyScript.
According to a report posted at Ubergizmo…
Kinpo is working on a 7" Android tablet that will be powered by a Freescale processor, where it offers a decent 800 x 600 resolution on its 7" touchscreen display.
But, that’s not as important as the OS that will be used in this tablet… Android! I don’t know why but it seems to me that in 5 years we all are going to see Android as an alternative selecting what OS we are going to be installing in our PCs.
Acer has confirmed, according to news published at Android Community, that they will be releasing a Netbook using Android in Q3 of this year.
According to Acer’s global president for IT products, Jim Wong, “today’s netbooks are not close to perfection at all” and that “if we do not continue to change our mobile internet devices, consumers may not choose them any more.” However there’s still work to be done fettling Android in its netbook guise: “we’ll still have to see what kind of applications the Android software can run on and how stable it will be” commented Vincent Chen, an analyst at Yuanta Securities.
