musings about tech & miscellanea
Archive for February, 2010
Nexus One on Verizon March 23?
Feb 26th
This just in on AndroidCentral.com:
“Drum roll, please … We’ve known for a while that the Nexus One would be coming to Verizon. We just didn’t know when. Well it seems that we have finally gotten a date. March 23 is the date that the much awaited Nexus One reportedly will be available. According to an anonymous source, speaking to NeoWin:
The Nexus One, originally released on T-Mobile in January, has passed FCC inspection for use on Verizon’s CDMA network and according to a Google worker who wishes to remain anonymous it will be made available on March 23.
We don’t know how much it’s going to cost on the Verizon Network, but currently the Nexus one is selling for $529 unlocked, or $179 with a two year contract from T-mobile. [neowin]“
Comfort Foods
Feb 26th
Well, I’m on the road again …. this time up in Sacramento. Traveling for work gets old at times; airlines, rental cars and hotel rooms. It’s not like I get to stay and enjoy the local sites, rather, fly in, do my thing and get out. Good thing for GPS, one less thing to worry about getting to where I need to be.
To make things a little easier on the psyche while at different locations, I start out the morning with my usual Starbucks flavored coffee. The night before after I check into the hotel, I’ll go searching for comfort foods. No, not meatloaf at a local diner. Instead I’ll Google local happening restaurants, especially Japanese, check out rating sites and see what others have to say. Found a great place, Samurai Sushi! Nothing like hot miso soup, a spicy tuna roll and chicken teriyaki with tempura to bring order into the world. OK, now I’m feeling settled in … now to prep for tomorrow.
A note to myself, I guess the only time I iron clothes is when I’m on the road …
Android Market – highest percentage of free apps
Feb 24th
Great article at ReadWriteWeb.com on Android’s fast emerging app market.
“One of their most recent reports looked at which application stores have the highest percentage of free apps. Not surprisingly, the Android Market was the winner here. In an interview with Venture Beat, Distimo co-founder and CEO Vincent Hoogsteder said this was due to multiple factors: the nature of the open-source operating system from Google attracts the sort of developers that enjoy giving away their works and the open nature of the application- approval process (that is, no review board middleman exists between app creation and public release) makes it easier for casual developers to launch.”
“Android is now the second-largest application store, reports Distimo, with 19,297 apps. It’s still a far cry from Apple’s 150,998 apps, though. And other competitors are farther still. Ovi, we were surprised to discover, is the third largest with 6,118 apps available while Blackberry has a respectable 4,756. Palm has only 1,492 and Windows has 693. Apple is also the fastest growing store with a shocking 13,865 new applications added per month. Android’s growth is picking up too – they now have 3,005 new apps per month (15%). Relative to the number of apps housed, Android is actually the fastest growing store.”
Google Earth Now Available For Nexus One
Feb 22nd
Google Earth for desktop computers is awesome! I use it often to check out local mountain bike trails, downloading mountain biking trail maps off of the web. Now it’s available for the Nexus One!
From Phandroid.com:
“One of the most discussed applications shown at the Nexus One launch was Google Earth. Well, good news for all you Nexus One owners out there. Google Earth is now available for download in the Android Market! The application appears to be only for devices running on Android 2.1 and doesn’t show up in the Market on my 2.0.1 Droid. Similar to Google Maps, there are a several layers available including Places, Businesses, Panoramio, Wikipedia, Roads, Borders and Labels, and Terrain. Those of you with a Nexus One hit the Market and report back on Google’s newest app and let us know what you think.”
Setting up Gmail to push email onto your Android
Feb 21st
“One of the biggest complaints from those migrating over from a Blackberry to an Android device has got to be e-mail. We get used to doing things a certain way, and feel lost when things change. Even if you’re not used to Blackberry’s push mail this is a great method to not only get things more organized, but save some battery as well. Join us after the break!
“Before we begin, lets talk a bit about push and pull e-mail. On your computer, you’re pulling e-mail. You’ve set up Outlook, Thunderbird, or any other e-mail program to check for new mail every x number of minutes. This can be done on your Android device as well by following the Setup Wizard for the mail application. This works great, and is easy to set up. It also uses more battery power. If you’re like me, you use the heck out of your Android phone, and anything to help save battery is a good thing. That’s where push e-mail comes in. Did you notice that you never had to enter a time to check message through your Gmail account on your phone? That’s because Google pushes all Gmail to you. When a new message appears in your Gmail inbox, you get notified automatically, just like when a text message is received. We’re going to exploit that so Google checks your POP e-mail accounts, then sends you a notification when it gets one. That way you no longer have to check for new mail every X number of minutes, and it saves your battery!”
Read on at AndroidCentral.com…
Setting up new HTC Sense UI on Nexus One
Feb 20th
Crackberry.com AndroidCentral.com has a great post on setting up the new HTC Sense UI that’s been ported from the HTC Desire ROM onto the Nexus One.
From Crackberry.com AndroidCentral.com:
“Here we go, folks. The first round of a new day in the life of HTC’s Sense user interface. In Part 1 of our review, we take a look at setting up your phone for the first time, including the new “Friend Stream” service, which integrates some of your favorite social networks.
Do note that the ROM we’re looking at was taken from the HTC Desire and is running on the Nexus One. This is far from official, there are bugs, and so we’re not holding anybody but ourselves accountable here. Also, as the Desire currently is a European/Asian product, things are likely to change before the new Sense officially hits the United States. So with that in mind, check in after the break for our first look at setting up the new Sense UI.”
Freedom by Daniel Suarez
Feb 19th
“Darknet Top-rated Posts +95,383
At issue is not whether the global economy will pass away. It is passing away. Rising populations and debt combined with depletion of freshwater sources and fossil fuels make the status quo untenable. The only question is whether civil society will survive the transition. Can we use the darknet to preserve representative democracy or will we seek protection from brutal strongmen as the old order begins to fail?
Catherine_7***** / 3,393 17th-level Journalist”
Starting Chapter 6 on Daniel Suarez’s new book Freedom, a sequel to Daemon, and it’s an excellent read. I highly recommend these 2 books, especially if you’re an Internet or computer user…who isn’t these days? The implications from these books are mind boggling!
Using Google Voice and the Google Voice App for BlackBerry Smartphones
Feb 18th
A great article on Google Voice and using it on your Blackberry at Crackberry.com.
Tip: After getting a Google Voice invite and during the sign-up process, you can search for a custom number in the area code of your choice, such as an easy to remember number.
In case you’re not familiar with Google Voice, this free service provides a single number which can be forwarded to multiple phones, e.g., multiple cell phones, home, work, etc. When someone calls your Google Voice number, it rings all the phones you’ve set up, and disconnects all the other phones when you answer one of them. Another plus is when folks leave a Google Voicemail, it emails a notification along with sending a transcription of the voice message, which typically is about 80% or better in accuracy, enough to get the jist of the message.
You can also use the Google Voice browser interface to send SMS messages from your account. GrandCentral.com and its features were purchased by Google last 1-2 years I believe, and ported it over to the Google-verse.
Here’s Google explaining Google Voice on their YouTube Channel.
Video demo of HTC Legend, Desire and HD Mini
Feb 18th
The new HTC Legend, Desire and HD Mini shown at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain!
HTC Sense keyboard on the Nexus One
Feb 18th
The new HTC Legend and Desire have the newest version of Sense UI. Of course it didn’t take long for modders to figure out how to successfully port the HTC Desire ROM over to the Nexus One. Folks have reported that the Sense keyboard is a better experience than the stock one on the Nexus One. So here’s where you can find info and files to install it on your Nexus One!
http://www.droiddog.com/android-blog/2010/02/htc-sense-keyboard-working-on-the-nexus-one/
