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Custom Apps

Posted by tomwiles at 8:16 PM on August 11, 2010

The smartphone’s in many consumer hands today are as powerful as the desktop computers we were using five years ago. They may be as powerful from a hardware standpoint, yet the smaller interface demands different methods of interaction. The smaller interface also places different demands on the software that runs on it.

Smartphone software apps typically need to be smaller and very narrowly focused in order to be maximally useful. Smartphones have turned out to be convergence devices, with the functionality of traditional desktop and laptop computers concentrated into a handheld phone.

The best smartphone apps tend to be apps that present a finely honed slice of functionality.

Many podcasters are coming up with their own smartphone apps. One I recently installed is called “Survive!” for Android. It is an Android app for “The Survival Podcast” available at http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com, hosted by Jack Spirko. It’s a great example of simple, functional design that places the web presence of The Survival Podcast in a neat little Android app package.

“Survive!” has a simple home screen that simply lists Survival Podcast Episodes, Videos (YouTube), Twitter, a link to the main website, and recent website forum posts. The single configuration option decides whether or not to download new Survival Podcast episodes automatically or not.

The inclusion of both Twitter and recent forum posts is a great way for the community that Survival Podcast host Jack Spirko has built up around the podcast and it’s website to keep up to date with the latest posts. Additionally the app includes instant access to all of the latest audio and video media.

“Survive!” is an excellent example of a well-crafted smartphone app that presents all of the main podcast and web-based elements in a simple, extremely easy-to-use package. “Survive!” can be found in the Android Marketplace by searching the term “survival podcast.”

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Posted in Android, application, Information, New Media, smartphone, Social Media, Streaming, Twitter, video, YouTube

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Microlink FR160

Posted by Alan Buckingham at 1:42 PM on August 4, 2010

The Microlink FR160, from Eton, may be a niche product, but it’s indispensable in the right situations.  Which situations would that be?  There are two big ones that spring to mind.  One is if you live in an area where power outages are common.  Two is if you are heading out into the wilderness where there is no reliable cellular connection.

I have been eying it for the latter reason.  My son and I are avid hikers and frequently spend time in areas where cell towers are uncommon, to say the least.  With a hope of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2012, we will need a way of getting, at the least, weather updates wherever we are.  We need something small and light, since everything will be carried on our backs.  We need something that can be charged via solar, since batteries are weight and chargers don’t plug in when you’re in the wilderness.  And lastly, I need a way to charge my cell phone so I can let my wife know we’re alive on those occasions when we are in range of a connection.

So here’s what you get with the DR160:

  • Solar Charger
  • Hand Crank
  • AM/FM/NOAA Weather Band
  • USB Phone Charger
  • Flashlight
  • 2.5″ x 1.75″ x 5.25″ dimensions
  • 0.85 pounds weight

The keys here, for me, are the NOAA Weather band, Solar/hand crank chargers, USB phone charger, size and weight.  That’s everything you need on a trail or during a hurricane.  The flashlight is a bonus, and having an extra never hurts.

The best part is the price – $29.95 on Amazon.  Not bad, considering all of the options you get here.  And, for those who care about such things, it even comes in colors – green, blue, red, and black.

Soon we will be heading into Shenandoah National Park for a hiking and camping trip.  I know from experience that I have no cell connection there.  So, I am hoping to pick one of these up beforehand to test it out.  I have heard good things, but you never know for sure until you get your hands on the product personally.  If it fits in the pack and does what it claims then I will be a happy hiker.

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Palm Pre Plus – 3 Months On

Posted by Andrew at 5:29 AM on August 4, 2010

Picture of Palm Pre PlusPalm is definitely the uber-underdog in the battle of the smartphones with RIM, Apple and Android battling it out for supremacy.  Palm has been struggling for mindshare but with its acquisition of HP last month ago, it’s looking stronger ;-)

The Palm Pre Plus was launched in the UK on O2 back in May.  I have to confess that I already had a Pre that I’d obtained via ebay but as my contract was up, I renewed and got myself the Plus version.  I did seriously think about jumping to Android but in the end, I loved the underdog too much.

I’ve been using the Pre Plus now for about 3 months so I thought I’d give it a quick review for real-life usage rather than the feature-driven reviews that appear when devices first come out.

By far the best feature of the Palm smartphones is contactless charging using the Touchstone.  You place the phone on the Touchstone and it charges.  Simple and brilliant.  The Touchstone doubles as a desktop cradle, angling the Pre Plus so you can see the screen.

Battery life isn’t great and I’m seriously thinking about getting a second battery.  On quiet days, I can get through the day without charging but if I’m making lots of calls or using plenty of data, then I’ll get to mid afternoon before needing a charge.

Shape and construction.  The curved back and soft-touch rubber makes the Pre Plus feel great in the hand.  Apparently Palm were aiming for a water-worn pebble aesthetic.  The front is a bit plasticky and a metal surround would have been an improvement.

The slider mechanism has come in for criticism on the various Palm forums but I’ve had both a Pre and the current Pre Plus and neither have exhibited any problems.  If anything, it’s actually quite satisfying when you pop it closed.

The keyboard works well too.  Even as a man with biggish hands, I have no problems typing.  Ok, so you aren’t going to be writing “War and Peace” on it but for banging out some emails or text messages, it’s fine.

I’ve dropped the Pre Plus from waist height on two occasions, once onto concrete and amazingly, it survived albeit with a few dings in the plastic.  Thumbs up for overall construction.

Moving onto the operating system and software, WebOS is pretty good.  The multitasking of apps works seamlessly and on the Pre Plus, I’ve had over ten apps open at once.  This makes working with multiple information sources really easy – you can move between apps with a couple of flicks of the finger.

The other piece of brilliance is the Synergy technology which sucks in data from multiple sources into a single view.  For example, if I have a friend who is on LinkedIn, Facebook and in my Google contacts, I see only one entry for that friend in the Pre’s Contact app instead of three.  Genius.

The Pre lives in the cloud and I think it’s the way to go.  There’s no direct syncing with your desktop (unless you buy a third party product) but I have everything in Google – Gmail, Calendar, Contacts, Bookmarks and Docs. Other clouds such as Yahoo! are also options.  I’ve never measured what data rate I get out of 3G but it’s fast enough for me to download podcasts without thinking about it.  Having sync’d via the cloud, I’d never go back to a wired solution.

The Palm App Catalog has the smallest number of apps (2524 in UK at time of writing) compared to iOS and Android but this ignores quality over quantity.  There are some deficiences which I will come to shortly but frankly, there’s pretty much all you need available.  The basics (calendar / diary, contacts, web-browser, music player, video player, picture viewer)  are all built-in.  There are also apps for YouTube and Google Maps.  I’ve listed some of the other apps I have loaded below.

Social Media – LinkedIn, Facebook, Tweed (for Twitter)
Media – Evernote, Feeds (for RSS), drPodder (for podcasts), pReader (for e-books), Flickr Addict
Tasks & Projects – ToDo Classic, Outline Tracker
Security – SplashID
Money - ClearCheckbook, AuctionMate (for ebay)
Games – Hawx, Sudoku, Min-Golf, Brain Challenge and lots of other little games.

The one major deficiency is in Microsoft Office editing.  There is a viewer app for Word, Excel and Powerpoint but it’s viewing only.  Most of the time it’s not a problem, but there have been one or two occasions where it would have been handy.

The App Catalog itself is pretty simple to use and it’s all too easy to splurge on a few apps and games.

Finally, Palm has embraced the developer community, both official and unofficial, which has taken on the moniker of “homebrew”.  There are loads of patches which customise WebOS and apps in little (and not so little) ways.  You want more icons on each page? – you got it.  Want to be able to download YouTube videos? – you got it.  The heart of homebrew community is over at PreCentral and there’s loads of general information over there too.

So what don’t I like about the Pre Plus?  As I mentioned earlier, the front is a bit plasticky.  The door that covers the USB slot is poor but fortunately I rarely have to connect physically.  There’s no Flash support though it’s coming real soon now.  And the lack of market share means that it’s often the last to get an app or support.  For instance, there’s no Google Latitude or StreetView support.  It also means that it’s rare to meet someone else with a Palm – I work in IT with a hundred-odd colleagues and no-one else has Pre or Pixi - so I never get to say, “Did you see that new app GeeWhizzBang?”

But these are minor niggles in the overall picture.  Would I buy again? Definitely.  Choosing your next smartphone is never easy but if you are thinking of getting a new phone, don’t just head straight for the iPhone – the Palm Pre Plus or Pixi Plus deserve a look.

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Posted in Android, Apple, Palm, review, RIM, smartphone

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Video Cables Demystified

Posted by KL Tech Muse at 9:28 AM on August 3, 2010


I know having recently set up an HD system myself, the number of cables that are available in a store can be quite confusing. I did this short video, which will hopefully explain some of the differences between the various cables, and in what order you want to use them. This is just some basic information, for more in depth information I would start with Wikipedia. In the video I mistakenly said that component cables carry analog signals, although this is still true for most consumer grade application. Digital component cables are starting to gain popularity and can carry signals up to 1080p, although HDMI cables still have the advantage of also being able to carry audio.

Further Links
Composite
S-Video
Component
HDMI


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Posted in Information

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A Review of Gazelle

Posted by KL Tech Muse at 11:39 AM on July 30, 2010

When the new Iphone 4 came out I upgraded to it from an Iphone 3GS. Which meant that I needed to sell my Iphone 3GS. I thought of using Ebay or Craigslist, but I didn’t feel like going through the hassle. I had heard about Gazelle, through several podcast I listen too and it had gotten good recommendations so I decided to give it a try. After looking around I decided to also sell my PSP, Apple TV and DS Lite. The first thing you do when you go to the Gazelle site is you input the items you are going to sell and what condition they are in. It is important to be honest when you state the condition, you have the choice of poor, fair, good or excellent. It will also ask you if you have all the parts to the item you are selling, including the power adapter and any other cables that go with the item. They then let you know what price they will give you for the item. The price is a current price and will change over time. If you have older items that aren’t worth anything they will recycle the item for you. All together my items came to $235.00. You then choose how you want your payment sent either by check, Paypal or Amazon gift card. You can also elect to send the money to the non-profit group of your choice.

I decided to have my payment sent through Paypal. I then received an email with the packing slip and the shipping label. I do know they have boxes they send out at a certain price point, but I am not sure what that is. I packed up my items and brought it down to the local Fed Ex store on Monday, July 19. I got an email on the evening of July 22, that they had received my package and confirmed all the items in it. At that point they began to test each item separately to make sure it is working and in the condition I said it was. For example, I had checked to make sure my PSP turned on, but that’s all I had done. I hadn’t used it in such a long time that I had forgotten there was a sim card stuck in it and that it would start but then all of a sudden turn off after a short time. After they tested that item, I received an email with the problems they found and the reduce price they could offer. I had the option of either accepting the reduce price or they would send the item back to me. I chose to go with the reduced price.

The first item they tested was my Iphone and I received my first payment in Paypal on Saturday the 24th. After each item was tested, I received an email confirming how much they would pay. If you are looking to receive one lump sum, then Gazelle may not be the way to go, but I prefer their method. Its been almost two weeks now and I have received payment for all my items except the Apple TV, which I suspect will come in the next couple of days. All in all I am very pleased with the service, and would use them again. I do wish they would use UPS instead of Fed Ex, that is only because there are 2 UPS stores or drop off points within 5 minutes of where I live and I have to go downtown to get to the Fed Ex store. Other then that I would recommend using Gazelle to sell your small electronic items.

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Iphone iOS4 Review

Posted by KL Tech Muse at 8:53 PM on June 21, 2010

This is my initial review of the iPhone iOS 4.0 update.  I updated my 3GS phone, I will not get the IPhone 4 until the middle of July  Right now I am writing while listening to Pandora. The multitasking works well.  If you have multiple applications open, you switch between them by double tapping the home button. It works really well and quite fluidly.

The camera is a little flaky, the shutter continued to click after I had stopped pressing the button.  I had to do a complete shutdown to make it stop. I discovered the zoom in by mistake and I am having trouble duplicating it.  I think it appears when you place your finger in the blue square, but I am not sure.  I’ll have to do some further investigation to figure out how it works.  The zoom itself works well, although it will probably work better on an IPhone 4 which should have a better camera.

I do like having folders. To create them you simply press on an icon till the x appears then drag it on top of another icon and a folder is created.  You can have up to twelve icons in a folder.  A name for a folder is created automatically, however you can rename it what ever you want.  The mail is set up, so you can read all your mail in one inbox or in separate inboxes.  You can also read them by accounts, if you prefer.  I am not sure if both are necessary, but I am not an email power user.

You have to download the IBook reader  from the application store. It took me a little while to figure that out.  Like the IPad it comes with Winnie the Pooh.  I have been unable to reach the IBook store, to see how it looks.  I already have the Amazon Kindle app installed, so I will compare the two at a later date.

There are a couple things I haven’t tried, the tap to focus video, gift apps and the wireless keyboard support . I either don’t have or don’t use those products.  The final thing is the spell checker, if you think you’ve miss spelled something, you can select it then hit replace and it will give you some options.  The options can be somewhat humorous .

All together the update went without a hitch, the most important additions for me were multitasking and folders. Like most IPhone users I have been looking for both of these since the first IPhone came out.  Have you updated, your IPhone, if you have what do you think?  If you haven’t why not?

Update:  June 22,2010

When I got up this morning and tried to use Itunes on the Iphone, it kept on crashing.  If this happens to you, just resync it with Itunes and that seems to fix the problem.

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Posted in Apple, iPhone

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Yelp Makes Some Changes

Posted by KL Tech Muse at 6:09 PM on April 13, 2010

This is a follow-up post to an earlier entry I wrote back in on March 21, 2010, titled Trouble with Yelp. It was about Yelp being sued for manipulating reviews and pressuring businesses into buying advertisements with them.

Last week, Yelp announced some changes in its policies. The first change they made was to start showing all reviews, even those they believe are spam or have inappropriate language. The regular reviews are shown at the top. Those reviews that would not have made it through the previous review process are shown in a separate area. There is a link at the bottom of the page you have to click on to get to them. I suspect that unless someone has been following this story, they will never see this link or if they do know what its for. Its on the right path, but I doubt Yelps critics will think it is enough. Yelp also got rid of most favorite review option. Under the old policies, businesses who paid for advertisements had the option to pick their favorite review and have it highlighted. This has also led to complaints from the business community that they are being pressured to advertise through Yelp. Those that didn’t were only not having favorable reviews highlighted, but according to the critics they were actually being removed.

Yelp insisted they did nothing wrong and that much of the problem was a misunderstanding on how they dealt with reviews. That no one was being favored by the process, they were simply weeding out spam and false reviews. This maybe true, however critics will point out that Yelp could have made these changes at anytime, but didn’t until they were faced with a law suit. As a user do think the changes will make a difference on how you see Yelp reviews. If you’re a business do feel better about Yelp now or has it made no difference.

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Posted in review, Social Media

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Bose Mobile In Ear Headset Review

Posted by KL Tech Muse at 12:09 PM on February 26, 2010

I’ve owned an Iphone since it first came out and have always used the earphones that came with it. If for some reason I can’t find them I use a pair of cheap Sony headphones. I have also tried the Jawbone, but found it uncomfortable. Last week, my Iphone headphone broke, for the second time in less then a year the seal on the ear piece split. This left me with only the Sony headphones, which are ok for listening to music, but they have no mic. I decided it was time to get a good pair of headphones.

I ended up getting Bose In Ear Headphones. They were about $137 with tax at Best Buy. As I said before, I had gotten use to the sound of the Iphone and Sony headphones and thought they were ok. I was wrong. I did a completely unscientific comparison between the Bose and the Sony Headphones and the sound is definitely improved with the Bose. I choose three songs to use as a test, Simple Gifts, with Yo Yo Ma and Alison Krauss, Everything I Do Gonna be Funky, by O’Donel Levy and Foggy Mountain Breakdown by Earl Scruggs. I chose these three songs, because they are so different. Simple Gifts is just vocals and strings. Everything I Do Gonna be Funky has a lot of percussion and base. Finally, Foggy Mountain Breakdown because of its fast moving notes. All these songs were at 256 kbps and had been ripped from a CD into Itunes. The first thing I noticed was that the music was much crisper with the Bose earphones. The base was clear and the treble was not as tinny. This was especially true on the song Everything I Do Gonna be Funky, with the Sony headphones there was a definite background sound sort of like salt being shaken in the background. I didn’t hear that when I had the Bose on, it was much clearer and pristine. I also noticed because I was hearing the music more clearly I didn’t have the urge to turn the volume up.

Do I think the Bose earphones were worth another $110.00 over the Sony or Iphone headphones, that I am not sure of. They do sound better and are much more comfortable. The Bose do come with three sets ear tips; small, medium and large and it is important to chose the right tip for your ears. You may need a different size for each ear. The Bose does have the mic that the Sony headphones do not. However, the mic control only turns Itunes off and on to allow you to take calls, it doesn’t control Itunes itself like the Itunes headphones do. Also they are not noise canceling earphones.   I certainly think they were worth more then I paid for either the Iphone or Sony headphones, but $110 more that I am not sure of. I’ll need more time to make a final decision.

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Posted in Gear, iPhone, review

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Microsoft CES Keynote a Review

Posted by KL Tech Muse at 6:07 PM on January 7, 2010

I watched the Microsoft CES Keynote last night, on Ustream thanks to Cali Lewis of Geekbrief TV and I was not impressed. A little background, this is the first Microsoft Keynote I have watch. I have used Windows before, but I am presently a Mac user. I don’t hate Windows, I just find the Mac easier to use. So with that as a background here is my review

First the whole speech seemed disjointed, it reminded me of a community play where someone gets pulled from the audience to play a part and they are a little too enthusiastic. That is what Steve Balmer reminds me of, the person who thinks he is cool, but is not. Second, the big hype all day was the Microsoft was going to introduce a tablet along with HP. Steve Balmer did show a prototype tablet, but from the little he showed it looked like a tablet with Windows thrown in. A tablet is not a laptop and should not be treated as one, if Microsoft goes that route they are bound to fail. Of course until the product comes out everything is just speculation. They did announce that Project Natal who be available at the holiday season this year. Project Natal is the use of gestures and body movements to play games instead of a controller. It is an interesting concept, but I am not sure how successful it will be in the long run after all if gamers wanted to wave their hands and body to play a game they would become athletes. However if Microsoft allows other people outside of Microsoft to develop for it I suspect that there will be unique uses it for outside of gaming. I will admit the one thing that confused me completely was the demonstration of their book reader. Which from what they showed would require me to read the book on my computer, with E-books like the Kindle and the Nook available this is a nonstarter for me. The one thing that did interest me was the PC within a TV, which as a self profess geek, I find interesting. The problem is I am not sure if most people want a full computer on their TV. Most people just want to be able to get the videos they want to their TV and simple set top boxes like the Roku, TiVo, Popcorn Hour, not to mention the XBox 360 already do that. So I question why most people would use this over a set top box unless they have unique deals with content providers that the person is interested in.

All in all there was nothing announced at the Microsoft announced at the keynote that I said wow that’s something I just have to have. Most of it was either , looks interesting in concept, but lets see work in the real world, like project Natal, or was like the Microsoft TV, where I said I’ve already seen that and it was done better by someone else. What do you think, is there anything that Microsoft showed that peaked your interest and that you can’t wait to get a hold of.

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Posted in ces, Microsoft

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HP Mini 110 Netbook – Mini Review

Posted by fogview at 5:29 PM on December 31, 2009

HP Mini 110 NetbookNetbooks seems to be one of the biggest “old” technologies for 2009. I say old technology because it doesn’t seem to really offer anything that hasn’t been offered before, except in a smaller size. Under-powered machines have been around since PCs came on the scene back in 1981 (and before).

With that said, I been using one for a couple weeks and find I really enjoy it. So what’s changed? I think it comes down to having the right product at the right time. The right time being the ability to take advantage of the Internet with built-in wi-fi and internet browser.

I think another reason for the popularity of netbooks is that they are not trying to position themselves as your main machine. They are really intended as a secondary machine that you would use around the house or office or to take when you travel.

I’ve been using the HP Mini 110 netbook with Windows 7 Starter edition. I’ve been using Windows 7 on my other machines and decided if I was to get a netbook, it should have Windows 7 and not XP that is offered on some machines. (The HP Mini 110 does come with XP and you can add Windows 7 for about $30 extra).

Here are the main features of my Mini 110:

  • 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor
  • 1 GB DRAM
  • 10.1″ WVGA display
  • 160 GB Hard Drive
  • Wi-Fi and RJ-45 Ethernet
  • Webcam with built-in mic
  • 5-in-1 Digital Media Reader
  • 3 USB Ports
  • External VGA Port

I have both Mac and Windows machines (desktops and notebooks) that I use on a daily basis so why do I need “another” computer? There is something wonderful when you get a new computer. It’s so fresh and new and fast. (Fast is not something I would associate with my netbook, but its not that slow). The key is managing its use and the programs I don’t put on it. From my experience machines slow down from “program bloat” — installing too many programs on a machine. These programs take up disk space, desktop space (icon shortcuts), and each one wants to hack away at your registry. All the things that cause the machine to slow down over time. I know there are things you can do to clean up your system, but it’s never the same as a new machine (or reformatted hard drive).

I plan to take a “less is better” attitude to what goes on my netbook. I use it for Internet browsing, Skype and general note taking. I have installed a few utility programs that I can use to remotely manage my client’s websites but I don’t plan to burden it with Photoshop (Elements), Word, or anything else that will bring it to its knees.

So far I’ve enjoyed the experience. From time to time I check in on a number of live video sites, TWIT and Geek News Central, and find the netbook is perfect for that. I can open a session and take the netbook with me as I go to different parts of the house and not miss a beat. If I keep it in the kitchen, it’s there if I need to do a quick Google search and doesn’t take up much counter space. (I don’t need a memory, I have Google :) )

After a few weeks, here are my pros and cons of the netbook:

Pros:
- Lots of built-in features: 3 USB ports, VGA port, SD card reader, RJ-45 jack, wi-fi, web cam.
- Long battery life: about 6 hours
- Nice keyboard
- Small size

Cons:
- Speaker sounds tinny. (I use a small portable speaker system when I need better sound.)
- Display is only  1024 x 576 pixels. The 1024 width is fine but the 576 height is a little short for some programs that assume a taller display. I have some programs that don’t resize and I can’t access buttons at the bottom of the screen.

I don’t think the netbook is for everyone and I wouldn’t recommend it as your only computer, but I think it does have it place.  So far this netbook will stay a part of my toolkit and I’ll keep you informed as I use it more.

Happy New Years to all!

73′s
Tom

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Posted in netbook

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